It was a cold, frosty evening which set the scene for our BFAS December meeting on Tuesday together with a very festive sales table, a plant stall with seasonal foliage and Christmas refreshments. In addition to producing beautiful seasonal designs Jacqui Aldous kept us very entertained with her humorous stories as she presented her ‘Christmas Magic’ demonstration. By the end of the evening we were certainly in a relaxed and festive mood and we all left feeling more ready for the preparations and the celebrations ahead.
The designs were varied in shape and colour (not always traditional Christmas colours) resulting in a beautiful, final stage display. There were tributes to John Denver and The Muppets , Jacqui’s favourite NAFAS demonstrator (we won’t spill the beans who!) and to her favourite Christmas show in addition to the more traditional themes of Winter Wonderland and The Night Before Christmas.
Jacqui used a vast selection of foliage including various varieties of pittosporum, rosemary, arbutus, eucalyptus, skimmia and the expected holly and spruce. Flowers included eustoma hot lips, carnations, mimosa, agapanthus, delphiniums, roses, chrysanthemums, clematis and orchids. ‘Christmassy’ accessories which embellished the designs included baubles, apples, peppers, cones, reindeer, silver birch and red glitter twigs. This only gives a flavour of the arrangements which we have tried to show in the pictures we have included below. There is also one of the first complete design – thank you Jacqui for a allowing us to include those and also for a very entertaining evening.
Thank you also to everyone who generously donated to and then participated in our very successful bottle tombola the proceeds of which go to our charity. Many of you have also taken quizzes – thank you – this is the first of several proposed fund raising activities.
We have had a varied and interesting year; demonstrations, workshops and visits – thank you to everyone who has worked hard in any way to make this happen. A very Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2020 – we look forward to seeing you at the AGM on February 4th as we also look ahead to our Diamond Anniversary year.
