Disaster Strikes! But the Daves carry on...
If you've been keeping up with our blog or some of our Twitter news, you'll know that this is the week of the big fundraising event - our very own Dave M, and friend Dave B, set off from London on Saturday on their cycle back to Edinburgh in aid of two fantastic charities: Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and the Lothian Autistic Society.
Three days in and everything was going smoothly - They were making good time and not feeling too weary from their efforts...
But as they neared Sheffield, they hit a bump - or rather, a tram line - in the road, and disaster struck when Dave M caught his front wheel in the tram lines, causing him to go over the bars.
Now sporting a fractured elbow and various nasty cuts and bruises, poor Dave's left devastated at having to give up the remainder of the cycle. Determined to carry on and make it all the way home, Dave B will continue the cycle alone, with Dave M lending plenty of moral support from the safety of the backup van. Let's hope the rest of the trip is a bit less eventful!
They're now over halfway through but still some long cycles ahead, so please send them your comments and words of support to spur them along!
Training continues...
Only a couple of weeks until the guys set off on their cycle, so time for a quick training update, but instead of writing too much about it this time, we though we'd let the pictures do the talking...
In a change to their normal training this weekend, the boys'll be cycling at the Gyle shopping centre, Edinburgh. Come along on Sunday and show your support!
Or donate online for Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and the Lothian Autistic Society.
Charity Cycle Training Update
Time for an update on how the training's going for the London to Edinburgh charity cycle. And, after much pestering, I've got my hands on some new photos to share with you all, so have a look for yourselves and see how the lads have been getting on...
Since training began in January, every Sunday has seen a training session with the distance steadily increasing, and they're always looking for new ways to challenge themselves by changing up the route and finding harder climbs. Additional training in the week has been harder to organise, trying to fit it in around other commitments of work, family, and so on. It certainly seems to be paying off though, as Dave M has been telling me today:
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"It's working. I can feel the difference - roads that used to hurt don't hurt anymore, and hills that you used to look at and groan you can now go up relatively easily. There are no hills now on the Lanarkshire route that I look at and think 'How am I going to get up that?!' You just hit a low gear and off you go!" |
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So what adventures have they had along the way? Early on, Dave M suffered a bit of an injury after coming off his bike on a sharp bend and his poor foot still hasn't quite recovered, but he didn't let that put him off and was back trainng again straight after. Just the other day, they tasked themselves with the steep climb at the side of Edinburgh Castle. As they reached the top, they got talking to a Londoner who thought they were mad for having cycled up that hill - and that was before they told him of the main event!
The weather's given them some interesting experiences as well. As usual, the Scottish weather has been a bit unpredictable, so they've been out training in all sorts of conditions. Were any of you out in the crazy winds we had a couple of weeks back? You'd think that would put the guys off their training, but dedicated as ever they were even out in that! As it turned out, the wind on their backs on the uphill sections gave them a massive push - at times they made it up to 8th gear! Downhill though, the wind was against them making it a struggle to get past 1st gear, and having to pedal hard to not be pushed back up the slope - crazy weather indeed!
So quite a mix of experiences so far, and I'm sure there'll be lots more stories to share so keep an eye out for more news soon! If you're feeling generous, head on over to the JustGiving pages to sponsor in aid of Maggie's Centres or the Lothian Autistic Society. They're still a long way away from their targets for both causes, so your donations and any tips on raising even more for these amazing charities would be gratefully received.
London to Edinburgh Charity Cycle
To raise £10,000 for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres and Lothian Autistic Society, Dave Baxter is cycling from London to Edinburgh from 13th to 20th August. We did a similar, though much shorter, Charity Cycle Ride last year, from Dunfermline to Edinburgh, so when one of our team was invited to join this challenge, Dave Marshall jumped at the chance.
For Baxter, both charities have provided much needed support in raising his Autistic sons and coping with his mother’s battle with cancer, which she sadly lost in December 2009. Here at Clare Florist, we are also proud to support these causes. The Lothian Autistic Society offers valuable assistance to children and young people on the autism spectrum and their families. As it is a small, local charity, it’s great to be able to do something to raise money and awareness of such a worthy cause. Maggie’s Centres provide a variety of help, support and information for living with cancer, and is a cause that is already close to our hearts and to which a donation from each sale of our Maggie’s Flowers bouquets is made.
The cycle itself begins at the Maggie’s 
Centre in London, and after 8 days and over 500 miles, it comes to an end back home in Edinburgh. With an average journey of 60+ miles each day, the guys have been in training now since January to prepare themselves for the challenge ahead. Possibly not the best time to begin the hard work of training, with the ground still dotted with pockets of snow and both men choked with the cold, but off they went, eager and determined. They now train together every Sunday, cycling 50-75 miles each time, and fit additional training in on weekdays where possible, though generally for shorter routes. For the longer routes, they tend to favour the Lanarkshire route followed by some city cycling, but don’t have a regular route so vary this from time to time, and plan to do the Forth route cycling out to the Forth bridge, Kincardine bridge and back.
To increase their training as the main event draws near, the plan is to continue the Sunday sessions as they are, but up the ante during the midweek sessions, steadily increasing the mileage until all sessions are at the target average. Measuring their progress along the way, both Daves have noticed an increase in their average speed and are finding some of the more challenging climbs on their routes less arduous – so some great progress already evident. Another measure of their success to date has been the attention they’ve received from fellow cyclists. Initially, the two were only really greeted by the more casual cyclists on route, however now the lycra-clad enthusiasts have acknowledged them as serious contenders, offering nods of recognition as they pass.
So that’s the story so far… we’ll keep you updated as the training continues! In the meantime if you want to find out more about the Cycle, or donate to either of the charities, please visit the Just Giving pages for the Lothian Autistic Society and Maggie’s Centres. Thanks!
Spring Flowers - Daffodils vs Tulips - You decide...
The most popular and familiar spring flowers are daffodils and tulips. As seen all over the country in many varied locations. Both very different in appearance from each other, they are the sign to us that spring has sprung and finer weather is on it's way. Both are well recognised and very popular, but is one more celebrated than the other?
Narcissus is the botanical name for a daffodil; a mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs in the Amarylis family native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The flower meaning of daffodil is; You're the only one, regard, unrequited love and the sun shines when I'm with you. The daffodil is an emblem of Wales.
The tulip is a bulbus plant with showy flowers from the family Tulipa and belongs to the family Liliaceae which is native to North Africa and Iran to the Northwest of China. The flower meaning of tulip is; Perfect lover, fame, love and passion. The tulip is the national flower of Turkey.
Here is our interpritation of Spring Delight; an arrangement of 100 stems of glorious golden daffodils and tantalising tulips, encompassed in luxury florists gift wrap. Hand-tied in house by our expert florists, ready to place in a vase and situate where ever you want the essance of spring to be experienced.
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Happy Mother's Day to all you Magnificent Mum's
This Sunday, 3rd April is Mother's Day in the UK. It is the celebrated annual occasion when children pay respect to their mother's. Often by bestowing them with a gift and a card, and as Mothering Sunday occurs during spring, a present of spring flowers is often a popular choice - presented as an expression of gratitude for all their kindness, love, affection and attention that they have exhibited throughout the past year.
In the UK, Mothering Sunday or Mother's Day (as it is widely known) has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday of lent - 40 days before Easter. This is why the date of Mother's Day changes each year. Originally a day to honour Mary, the mother of Christ and then becoming more traditional during the time when the wealthy employed the poor (specifically poor children) as servants, who lived in quarters in their employee’s homes - it was a day dedicated to celebrating Mother's by their children especially those who returned to their families from working away. Since these times it has become the special day to celebrate and to show gratitude and acknowledgment to our Mother's.
Mother's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world and at different times of the year, but when and wherever it occurs, the meaning is the same...
To commemorate our marvelous mum's!
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Our March twitter winner, Saint Patrick's Day and Mother's Day
Congratulations to our Twitter; #randomfollower March competition winner - Vicki, who has won a bespoke Clare Florist hand-tied bouquet. Here is what she had to say upon recieving her flowers:
'These are the BEAUTIFUL flowers that I won from ClareFlorist! Aren't they gorgeous, guys?! They asked me what colours I like and my favourite flowers so they could personalise it for me. I was so speechless though that I just said 'UHHH, I like purples, pinks, yellows and iris'! Not very helpful but they came up trumps! Thanks you so much! xxxx'
Thank's Vicki, the team here are so pleased that you like them!
Irish eyes will be smiling today - Thursday 17th March is St. Patrick's Day!
We'd like to send our best wishes to all of our friends from Ireland on their special day. Click on the green shamrock to see Saint Patrick's Day on our Special Dates page.
Mother's Day in the UK is on Sunday 3rd April this year. Mother's Day or Mothering Sunday is the time when children pay respect to their Mothers – often by presenting them with a card and a gift and as the day falls during spring, a gift of Spring Flowers is often given; by way of a thank you for all their love, attention, kindness and affection that they have shown throughout the year.
So there is still plenty of time for you to order your magnificent Mum some fabulous fresh flowers from our gorgeous Mother's Day Flowers collection.
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Are Flowers Relevant?
I like to browse through flower related compositions, blogs and web sites, searching for articles of interest to digest and comment on. There is so much information available to us, that at times it can be a bit overwhelming. Whether looking for information on floristry, flower meanings, flower delivery, the latest designs of flower bouquets or flower trends, there is sure to be plenty of articles of interest to satisfy the keenest of flower enthusiasts.
Here is a short list of some of the best informative blogs and sites I have come across that I would like to share with you:
Recommended Blogs to follow, read, peruse and enjoy:
- Planet Flowers Blog
- Simply Flowers Blog
- Gardeners World Blog
- Frary's Fresh Flowers Blog
- Only Flora Blog
Wonderful Websites for you to look at:
- About Flowers
- Garden Guides
- Flower Experts
- The BBC - Nature - Flowers
- Floral Craft Resource
And so, Are flowers still relevant?
Of course they are! We all love flowers and the feelings that they evoke, their shapes, colours and scents, the way that flowers are used for so many occasions and celebrations, to say thank you and sorry. To commiserate and show sympathy and to congratulate. Flowers today are as popular as they ever have been and these wonderfully inspirational blogs, articles and web sites just go to show that the spirit and the powers of flowers is blooming.
I hope you find them as interesting and enjoyable to read as I have.
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Hip, hip hooray - Spring is on it's way!
So Valentine's Day is a week behind us and based on the amount of beautiful bouquets that we sent out love was and is truly in the air.
So a week on, it is still possible to display your affections to that special someone with fabulous fresh
Spring Flowers. Be it as a display of affection or to say thank you, that you care or just because you can, one thing is for certain, here at Clare Florist we have the perfect bouquet for you whatever the occasion.
With spring having sprung or at least beginning to spring, as early as it may be – Snow drops are awakening from their winter slumber showing their pretty white delicate flowers, crocus’s are showing signs of life, shooting their dainty colourful flower heads up on green wintered ground and even the glorious yellow daffodils are showing signs of emerging life; getting ready to welcome us to the vibrancy of spring.
That is why we are proud to have in store the most amazing array of quality fresh flowers, ready to be hand-tied by our expert florists and fashioned into stunning next day delivery bouquets.
All of our bouquets are lovingly individually prepared and hand-tied in house by our expert flower technicians.
The Burst of Spring is a customer favourite; it evokes feelings of the colourful bright times ahead of us.
Blue Dew is a cool contemporary bouquet comprising of handsome blue hyacinths and cool crisp white tulips forming a sensational spring colour display.
50 Lemon Tulips is a simply stunning spring time arrangement, composed of the finest Dutch Tulips in subtle yellowy lemon hues embraced in lush green foliage.
And don’t forget the Maggie’s Flowers bouquet – our special charity bouquet made up of sweet pink germini, fresh lemon chrysanths, lime zest santini and alstromeria lilies among other pastel toned flowers. With 10% of the sale price (that's £3.50) of every Maggie's Flowers Bouquet ordered going to the Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres Charity, it is the gift that gives.
For more information on the wonderful fresh flower bouquets that we have on offer this spring time, simply visit our website; www.clareflorist.co.uk
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The Valentine's Quiz Answers
A BIG Thank you and congratulations to all of you who have taken part in our special Valentine's Quiz. I must say that I am very pleased with the response. I have posted the answers to the twelve questions below and the winner will be notified at midday today and everyone who entered will receive a little thank you gift. All will be notified by facebook message.
Right then, here are the answers:
1) Love - 20 Red Roses.
2) Valentine's Tulips.
3) Bob Marley.
4) Two dozen (24).
5) Single Best-Grade Red Rose.
6) Heartfelt sentiment.
7) The beautiful Dozen Valentine's Red Roses hand-tied bouquet, a chic glass vase, a sumptuous box of Thorntons Continental Chocolates and a handwritten Valentine's card.
8) 12 first grade red roses with gypsophila and hypericum berries.
9) A Dozen Orange Roses.
10) Yellow Roses.
11) The Freesia Fragrance Bouquet.
12) A Single Red Rose and Thorntons Continental Chocolates.
I hope you enjoyed the quiz, we shall be doing some more throughout the year so keep your eyes peeled!
I'd like to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day - All you need is Love!
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