I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers...

As I'll be moving out of my flat in just over a month for new adventures in France, I've had to start sorting out all the junk and clutter in my flat. Not everything in it will be coming along in the move - my local charity shops are about to get donations a-plenty! Other things won't be coming, but they'll be going into storage at my parent's house. One of the things I don't really know what to do with is my collection of dried flowers (I don't think they'll really travel all that well). Here are some of my favourites....

This collection started by accident really. I got a giant bunch of sweet williams shortly after moving in and they sort of started drying themselves in the vase I put them in (and forgot to top up with water). Eventually, I rescued them, trimmed the stems a bit and decided to dry them properly, tying them into bunches with ribbon and hanging them upside down from the skirting board all around my front room. As I got new, different types of flowers, I experimented with drying them out. I love the way the colours fade and the petals acquire a new kind of delicateness...

So they've been hanging quite happily all around the room ever since and I suppose I'll get them down, dust them off and sort them into little bouquets to give away to people...

We always had Chinese lanterns in the house when I was growing up as my nan and grandpa grew them in their garden. I love these puffy orange plants. These ones have been hanging in my flat for a couple of years now ( I got them during my first autumn in London three and a bit years ago) so they've lost a bit of their vibrancy, but I love their faded hue and the layer of dust, reminding me that this has been a home for a while now....

Hehe, here I am with an old bunch in my hair, being Queen of the fairies...

(Photo: my good friend Dave, photographer extraordinaire)

My lovely friend Fi got me this bunch around Christmas time one year (hence so many festive red bits). I love the texture of the flowers and they dried so nicely, keeping their scarlet hue and prickly texture...

I love these crazy gnarled up thistles and prickles and dried up berries, all autumnal and crispy...

This one lost its stalk, and usually sits on a shelf in an eggcup...

I grew these lavender seeds myself! Thay don't look very pretty compared to other flowers, but they are brilliant for making your own lavender bags. Full of delicious soft calming lavender perfume....mmm!

Look how delicate and frazzled this rose is. And yet, at the tips of its petals it retains some hint of its former glorious shade. It's like an old lady, full of stories of times gone by...

And this last one - a single branch of silver penny seeds - is a little bit magic... You see, I found it on the pavement the last time I went to Bordeaux a few years ago. It was the last evening of our holiday, a balmy september evening and I found it on the cobbled streets as we walked back to our hotel, not really wanting to leave the lovely old city and return home just yet. So I brought it back with me, pressed flat in a notebook full of dreams and wishes for a Bordeaux life in a parallel world...

This one's coming back to it's hometown with me for sure :)

"The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers." ~Basho~

his haiku captures their faded beauty perfectly. They're quiet and old, dried out and tired, but I can still hear the sound coming out of the flowers...
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