IGEC : Flora

Who can resist a luscious, colour filled flower shot? Not me. Especially when it's taken by one of these three Instagram favourites. 

First up, the breathtaking work of @thechoirgirlhotel. The ever mysterious Birdie only posts once a month but when you catch her in full flight...well, it's wonderful. And whilst the individual shots below are gorgeous in themselves, you really need to look at this Instagram feed on your phone - in the three shot across format - to truly come to grips with her genius.

I have no idea who she is or where she lives (I've googled and everything) but none of that matters because my goodness @svenjalinda knows her way around a bunch of flowers and a square frame. Simple, gorgeous, perfect.

Phil, aka @afloralfrenzy, does incredible things with flowers. Really incredible (just ask The School). An ex-doctor turned florist, he makes the humblest of blooms look stunning.

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Instagram is chockfull of the some of the most inspiring, creative, hilarious, clever people I've ever had the pleasure of encountering on the internets. IGEC is my chance to share some of those inspiring, creative, hilarious, clever people with you! Oh and you can find me on Instagram here. 

Weekend water flowers

In our garden we have two heavy stone containers which the dogs love to drink out of.  We've had these water plants growing in them for months now and I've been waiting and waiting to see if they'd flower, and they finally have!  Somehow they've survived being dragged out of their natural habitat on a near daily basis - for some reason Elfi seems to have a vendetta against them and picks them out and leaves them to dry on the paving - and have just started to bloom.  Beautiful!

Spring in the Garden: Azaleas

As I've already confessed I am not a gardener.  Luckily we have a garden full of low maintenance plants that just do their thing,* and I am constantly fascinated and amazed by their transformation through the seasons.

A few short weeks ago the azaleas where just a bunch of straggly brown twigs.  Now, thanks to some sunshine, warm weather and lots of rain, they are literally bursting forth with green growth and a carpet of bright purple blooms.  Lovely!

*(Plus we also have some people that come to our apartment every fortnight or so and keep all our plants happy and healthy - they are Korean retirees actually, with a passion for plants, and they do an amazing job).

Pink

Due to the thoughtful, inquiring, hard-hitting kind of approach to life that I so clearly take, I've been wandering lately if there is enough pink in my world.  I've never been a big fan, but lately my eye is being drawn away from the long-time favourites (blue, green and orange) to all things pink.  Coral, fuchsia, salmon, rose - I'm all over it.  And I adore the soft, dusky pink hues of these Persian Buttercups (bought for me by my super lovely sister on her recent visit) - just gorgeous don't you think?

And ps. keep it to yourself please but I may have even bought a neon (and I mean neon) pink mini skirt from Zara recently.  In my defense it was really, really cheap and I'm pretty sure I'll never wear it in public.  It does add a rather bright note to Sunday breakfasts at home though...