I feel guilty for not having posted anything in a week but to be honest it's all we can do here in London and the south of England to cope from day to day with the horrendous weather conditions and the feeling of apathy. As you have probably read or seen on the tele, the south of England has been battered by the worst storms and rain in over 60 years.  It's not been cold but nearly every day it rains and there are wind gusts reaching 80 mph as they were last night.  Fences have fallen down, tiles off roofs, branches/trees down and general havoc caused for daily life.

Rain seems to find its way into your house in places where it doesn't seem possible. My south facing sitting room has Victorian sash windows which were restored and painted only last summer yet last night with the driving rain and wind gusts, rain started to seep in between the bottom of the glass and the wooden frame!  I also have rain coming in under my French door in the sitting room. The room is very exposed to the elements as the flat is on the first floor and south facing. All these weather conditions are coming from the south and south/west so my sitting room is in the direct line of fire!

I ride a moped so I'm more than aware of the rain!  On Friday I got absolutely soaked driving half an hour into town and sections of the roads were like a lake.  I also jog regularly outdoors and huge swathes of it are under water and have been since December.

It's very depressing as we have had this weather since December and the forecasters say it is going to rain on and off for the next four weeks :)  However, we must give a thought to all those poor people whose houses have been flooded and the farmers in Somerset who have half or more of their farmland under water for over a month. I wouldn't want to be living close to the Thames as it has flooded in many places and they do not expect the flooding to abate for several weeks.

The only way to cheer myself up is to fill the house with spring bulbs and cut flowers.  Here are some photos of a few of the flowers currently in my house. I also have loads of spring bulbs but they are taking forever to flower with the lack of light.

These beautiful roses were part of a large bunch that my local florist, Jayne Copperwaite Flowers very kindly gifted me last week. They are divine and look a little like a double camellia.  I found the glass vase jug in an antique shop recently. The pink of the roses brings out the pink in my favourite Designers Guild shawl draped over the arm of the grey linen armchair. 

The other flowers that were in the bunch that my local florist gifted me are tulips in three colours (purple, mauve and pink), dark blue/purple anemones (my favourite flower), beautiful mauve roses and some sprigs of pussy willow. 

They are in an old vase I bought in the same antique shop (Phoenix on Golborne) as the pink glass jug above and sitting on an old pewter tray.

You can never have too many flowers and plants in the house is my motto.

Let's hope we get some sunshine and a break in the weather to allow the ground to dry out and the bulbs to start sprouting. I've planted tulips and irises in pots so can't wait to see them in flower.

I need to start some serious furniture painting in the next few weekends with my favourite Annie Sloan paint so watch this space!

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