Remember when I won the scholarship to go to Floret a few years ago? No? I did, and it was amazing. I learned a huge amount from her and almost none of it about flower farming. I still haven't built a low caterpillar tunnel nor have I burned holes in mypex for planting at six inch spacing. But oh my goodness, some things I'll never forget. She told a story about how, quite early on in her business, she posted a picture of how hard she was working and how tired she was. For the first few years of her business, she hid behind the corporate and more traditional model of business and it was only when she started showing up as a person with chickens and children that her business took off so you can see the logic of why she shared. What could have been more authentic than talking about how there are bits of the flower farming year where there are not enough hours in the day, when it is just absolute slog?

Her orders dried up overnight. 

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People are kind, and they responded to her exhaustion by not wanting to overload her further and so they took to buying their flowers somewhere else. She never did it again. She has a wardrobe and a make up bag at the edge of the flower field and when Chris (her husband) comes out to take photos or if there is a particularly wonderful moment to share, she makes sure she puts a clean outfit on and enough make up to hide any signs that she might not be living the absolute dream. I've included a picture of their photography set up so you know that a lot of work goes into making things look very simple. 

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I have been thinking about this often this week. I have had had multiple 5am starts and many many late nights. I have had to send Mr A to different post offices across town because postmasters and postmistresses have started to pale at my approach. I am, strangely, not particularly tired, but I keep thinking that I haven't dyed anything for a few weeks now. I haven't got my camera out since last weekend's battle with the low light. I haven't had any fun. And I feel I have been neglecting you. Should I be telling you this? Should I pretend that everything is smooth and easy? I'm still not entirely sure. I'm certainly not going to talk about it on the grid. 

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