LET'S CELEBRATE!

TODAY
is the 
BIRTHDAY 
of

Charles Dickens
February 7, 1812-June 9, 1870
 
"The smell of sweet herbs 
and
 all kinds of wholesome growth
 made the whole air
 a great
 NOSEGAY."


from The Bleak House
  by Charles Dickens


Happy 200th Birthday
Mr. Dickens!
 
Tussie Mussie in honor of Charles Dickens
hyyc


Have a wonderful February 7th!
xo
Harriet

It's "Tussie Time"!

Tussie Mussie, that is!


How much do you love those words together? 

I just love the way they roll off the tongue.  
Say "tussie mussie" a few times aloud.

A Tussie Mussie, is a small bunch of flowers that are held in a little special
"vase for the hand," if you will.

Tussie Mussie

Here is one I just made with hot pink spray roses and greenery.

These little bundles of joy are great for mothers of the bride and groom to carry and

they're precious for flower girls and/or bridesmaids to carry, too!

I think they may even make sweet Valentine's gifts for daughters and sweethearts.  
Let's start a trend!

Many moons ago women would a carry tussie mussie to squelch their own or others' stench when personal hygiene was non-existent and the plague
 was running rampant with stinky bacteria, etc. 
... No need to go into details, on that!

Word Detective


There is an entire language surrounding flowers and I don't just 
mean their botanical and latin names. 


 Some three hundred years ago, suitors gave their ladies carefully selected arrangements of tussy mussies.  Each flower had a different meaning, emotion or intention attached.  


Women would receive their tussie mussies and then look in their Tussy Dictionary to determine what the suitor was trying to say.  


(Basically, nothing much has changed over the years... we're still trying to figure
out what the men in our lives are really telling us.)
.......

someecards.com

Let's translate...  
If you receive a tussie mussie with the following:

Lilac 
You are your partner's First Love
(Lucky you!)

Rosemary
Remembrance
(Not sure if you want to receive, alive?)

Salvia
"I Think of You"

Pansy
Thought, love


What would all of these flowers say, combined?

Bright Star


I will let you ponder on this.


My interpretation is:
Someone might be trying to remember if they love you or 
they can't stop thinking about you, their first love!


We have to remember that 300 years ago when the great tussie mussie first
became popular, global transportation had not yet begun (clearly.)  


So, truthfully,
a combination of all of these flowers 
-- which bloom in different season -- 
would not have been possible.  


That would make decoding a little easier, huh?

simplemom.net

So, this Valentine's Day... 
pay attention to what your suitor is saying
with his floral arrangement!

There could be some subtle undertones in those flowers you receive.

Language of Flowers