Flower Jam for Center for Domestic Peace!

http://www.centerfordomesticpeace.org/

Yesterday this team of creative, organized,  and energetic women joined 7petals Design in making small centerpieces for the Center for Domestic Peace Annual Luncheon. This incredible organization, based in San Rafael, CA has spent 40 years helping survivors of domestic abuse with protection, housing, and support. It takes a lot of courage and  community support to break the cycle of abuse.

I have donated leftover flowers to CDP for a number of years and was delighted that the timing worked out to participate on 24 hour notice! The flower community responded to a call for help with great enthusiasm.

We used donated flowers from Cypress Farms and Whole Foods to make 40 something small centerpieces in 2 hours for 400 attendees that attended this fundraising luncheon.  Fatima Hansia,my contact and pal at CDP told me that they never were able to make the donated flowers go around for all the tables. I told her that we were going to attempt a "loaves and fishes" miracle to make that happen; a success thanks to  interesting foliage the team donated and a few composing techniques!

Women really know how to get the job done! Again, thanks to the Flower Jam Team. We will ride again!

All creatures Great and Small/ or Meet my Manager

"Where did that little cat come from?" I was washing dishes and staring out the window. A petite grey cat came walking along and stopped on the side of our house. The kitchen window gives a bird's eye view looking down from the second floor of our duplex. It shows a narrow, picturesque side street laden with plantings to either side. The street continues to the back corner of the property and makes a right turn onto another little side street. These two streets provide a quaint atmosphere away from all the hub bub of dense urban living. Those of us who live along this backwater of Gertsle Park affectionately call the two colliding streets the "L". We keep protective watch over this little sanctuary and this interloper was in our territory.

Suddenly a butterfly flew by and she lept up off the ground, her body fully elongating and arching in an attempt to snag it. Luckily for the butterfly she missed but I was entranced by the effort of  her young, extravagant expenditure of energy. Enter Aurora Bell into my life.

This young cat was newly adopted by a neighbor and was exploring the territory. She became a regular visitor to our yard and gradually worked her way into our house and hearts. About a year later, after many conversations with her mother, we all decided that perhaps Aurora Bell should try living here. It appears that she had that in mind all along. But she is a young, opinionated girl; hyperactive and one who still loves to roam. 

We didn't get to have kids, but have lots of them in our lives in the form of nieces, nephews and godaughters.....Somehow this very small being feels closest to having a child of all the animals that have come and gone in our lives. Ah, the Agony and the Ecstasy. ...Despite her roaming, she is a dear and  keeps a close watch on the comings and goings of the studio. She lets me know when I need to stop and take a break to smell those just stripped roses.