The joy of proteas ...

Proteas are the national flower of South Africa & they have always been special to me. 

I blogged about them after a previous trip to South Africa - proteas in many guises. 

I have them at home too, a reminder of my roots. Daughter had them at her recent wedding too …

I have a generous vase of faux silk proteas in the living room, they look real with the red & silver foliage branches too. 

I recently sewed two cloths with proteas, as well as doing them as my glass painting design. 

In this blog post, I shared buying some unique wire & bead proteas I bought at a craft market in Howick, Natal, South Africa. I had previously visited the same market with both my parents & revisiting brought back memories of my parents choosing a hand crafted picnic basket there that I still use. My now late Dad chose the beaded proteas with me & they are a reminder of that shared experience. 

The 2 vases are in the same space, the beaded ones on a side table next in the corner by the clock, the faux ones on a console table along with the assorted drinks etc. 

My good friend Ellie messaged to say she had been out browsing & had found 3 large wire proteas like the ones I have & she immediately bought them as a gift for me. 

It is special when friends know your home well enough to know your likes. She came by for tea this week & brought them over. 

They are a perfect match to mine - slightly larger but perfect. 

I am naturally delighted but then realised the vase I have for them will not be able to take another 3 stems because the beaded ones have chunky stems. 

I switched the faux & beaded ones vases but that did not work out either. 

On my travels today around a local market town chunky vases were on my list to keep an eye out for. 

I struck lucky when I spied a generous vase in passing one of the charity shops. It was not as heavy as the ones I have but a more generous size & at only £4, I had to have it. 

Once home, it was washed & then I tried out the vases - the heavy jug shape vase that had the faux proteas could hold all the beaded ones - now a weighty 10 stems. 

The charity shop vase could hold the 9 faux protea stems as well as the red & silver foliage too because the neck was wide enough. 

It will need some weighting down with pebbles in time, but that is a minor adjustment to this elegant new vase. 

The previous narrow necked vase (left) is replaced by the heavy jug shaped vase to hold the 10 stems.

 

After faffing with the various protea stems in the two vases, they could be returned to their 2 spots in the living room & they look impressive with their generous stems.

What a thoughtful gift that goes well in my space. The curtains will soon change from the neutral creams to heavy berry coloured ones for winter to keep out the chills & the proteas will hold court with their elegant ways. 

Am I the only one inclined towards certain flowers & colours. Tell all. Thank you for stopping by, it is appreciated. 

Dee