After what seems like an eternity of waiting since we
were first contacted by Country Living Magazine about their exciting
collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society for the Hampton Court Palace
and Tatton Park shows; one of the countries preeminent flower shows finally arrived.
When July 8th finally rolled around I was to be found sat
quietly at my desk, unable to sit still as I waited for the first photos of the
event to arrive back at FSF HQ. It was perhaps in vain that I tried to focus on the work
in front of me.
Flyte so fancy is immeasurably proud of the quality and care that goes into all our houses. The use of Joinery grade timber, a
selection of the best materials for the fittings and precision down to the
smallest millimetre, all result in something that we have no compunction in putting our
name on. Talking to Phill and Anne a few days ago about the upcoming show, Phill had nothing but joy to express about being chosen to participate in this
collaboration; "I really can't think of enough adjectives to describe how
happy we are to have our long legged hobby hen houses in this display and how
excited to see what unique personal touches the six celebrities will bring to
their houses."
Luckily my excitement and expectation was not misplaced
as the photos from the Hampton Court Palace Show Press Day came through. My
eyes were quickly drawn to the exuberant colours of Nikki Tibbles design,
before focusing on the soft colouring of Philippa Forrester's hen house and ending on the
clever design of Kate Humbles chicken coop window boxes (specially made for her by Phill, no favouritism of course).
Philippa Forrester, David Domoney and Sophie Conran all
painted their houses in an individual way. Philippa Forrester's subtle shades and
endearing poems on both sides highlight someone with a true passion for
poultry.
David Domoney's (the gardeners gardener) fun egg
decoration is an hilarious and cheerful design that really stands out and a
clear centre piece for any sort of garden.
Sophie Conran's stencil style fabric print on the roof of
her Hobby hen house is a striking and pretty design that I shall be attempting
on my own Annie's Ark as soon as I can get the paint and a helper with a
steadier hand than my own.
Nikki Tibbles flower decorated hen house is hard to
look away from and would provide blooms in the garden year around for any
chicken to enjoy. Secretly my favourite, it had drawn many comments of
admiration for one of the countries top florists.
Kate Humbles window boxes of delight, make the chicken
coop a one stop shop for fruit (yes those are strawberries either side of the
pop hole) veg, flowers and eggs.
Deborah Meaden's Dragons Den orientated coop is a hen
house with a lot of humour, especially on the boards around the pop hole and
topped with two regal dragons on the roof.
Each one of these coops was an individual masterpiece,
that we would all love to have in our gardens and all proceeds from the auction of them went to the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and Country Livings charity the Addington Fund which supports British farming.
Talking to Anne as we were looking through the photos
(incidentally her favourite being Deborah Meaden's Dragons Den design, she says
its because they're both "business savvy women"; I think it's because
of the Dragons on the roof personally) we both agreed that the whole event had
been a triumph and decided that we've actually run out of superlative synonyms
to describe the whole thing. We were however, as excited to see the houses go to
the RHS Tatton Park Show on the 25th July and to hear the same great
feedback from everyone who clapped eyes on these six very special hen houses.
Hopefully, sharing these photos with you has inspired you to try some custom painting of your own.
Hopefully, sharing these photos with you has inspired you to try some custom painting of your own.
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