Our ikebana workshop with the young students at the Shambhala School in Halifax last January, 2020 is featured in the April 2021 edition of "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association.
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Shop Temporarily Closed
Seeing the COVID-19 case numbers in Halifax are not abating, we have decided to temporarily close the bricks-and-mortar shop from Apr 26th, 2021 until further notice.
Our online shop remains open.
Curbside pick-up (including knife pick-up/drop-off for sharpening) is available.
Local delivery, powered by Haligone, is also available (for a small fee). See here if your address is eligible. If your address is not within the service area, we can still use Canada Post to ship.
If you find yourself outside the shop and you know what you’d like to purchase, please give us a call (902-407-0487) and we can bring the items to you. We encourage payment by e-transfer as much as possible.
All ikebana lessons for May, 2021 are also cancelled. We hope the situation gets better soon.
Stay home. Stay safe. Be kind.
"Sō" Magazine October 2020
The pandemic is certainly not good for the mail! We just received our copy of the Oct 2020 edition of "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association. It’s about 6 months late but better late than never!
Our ikebana workshop at St. Mary's University back in November, 2019 is featured in this issue.
Happy New Year 2021
2020 started out business as usual…until COVID-19 upset the applecart!
“perii, plaustrum perculi
(I am done for, I’ve upset my wagon!)”
2020 turned out to be a year of reflection, recalibration, and resilience.
2020 was the year that told us: “Whoa! Take a step back!” It was painful. There were some dark moments when we had fleeting thoughts of “the end” as we cancelled everything and faced a lockdown with no certain outcome. And we weren’t just thinking of business… COVID-19 took its toll indiscriminately across our community.
2020 forced us to think about what’s important (toilet paper? Haha!) and what we can do without. We decided to roll with the punches and came up with new ways of going about our business (aka our lives) and, in many ways, found improvement and opportunity. Many little discoveries (or re-discoveries?) paved the way for a better way of doing things.
“七転八起 [Nana korobi ya oki]
(Fall down 7 times; get up 8 times.)”
We fell down 7 times in 2020. Come 2021, we are rising up for the 8th time!
We’d like to thank our customers for all the support. We could not have seen this year through without you. Our community is the best. From the time we re-opened after lockdown, not once did we have a problem with anybody refusing to follow Public Safety rules. You were all very understanding, cooperative and caring and we love you for it!
A very special thank-you to the people in the front lines. You kept us safe and you kept us going. (Canada Post, we love you!)
With that, we give you our 2021 New Year greetings. 明けましておめでとうございます。Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu. May the Year of the Ox pull us forward, slowly but surely!
"Sō" Magazine December 2020
Our ikebana presentation at the FASS (Faculty, Alumni, Student, Staff) exhibit at St. Mary's University Art Gallery last year is featured in the December, 2020 edition of "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association.
2020 Year End Store Hours
Free Local Delivery (Limited Period)
Good news Halifax, Dartmouth, Clayton Park and Bedford!
We are pleased to offer free delivery to our local customers!
* The following conditions apply:
Free Delivery Campaign Period
This free service is applicable to online orders received & paid for on or before Jan 5th, 2021.
Free Delivery Service Areas
We wish we could serve all of HRM but lines must be drawn somewhere. Basically, the service is applicable to addresses in the Halifax Peninsula, Dartmouth, Clayton Park, and Bedford. Click here to see the delivery service areas.
Minimum Order Amount
A minimum order amount of 20.00 before tax is requested.
Other conditions:
1. Package weight is maximum 10kg.
2. Package width + height must not exceed 100cm.
Do you need to do anything extra to get the free delivery service?
No. Just order online as usual. We will reply to you via direct email and let you know if your order qualifies for the free delivery service or not. We will make all the arrangements with you after you have placed your order. If your order does not qualify, we can still ship to you via Canada Post (but shipping costs will apply), or you can opt to do an in-store/curbside pickup.
Deliveries will normally be made within 2 business days after payment is confirmed.
The service areas & conditions are subject to change without prior notice.
Please take advantage of this campaign while it lasts!
Updated 18-Dec-2020
Now it can be told! We have been waiting for the official press release and now it is finally out! (Read here.)
This free local delivery service is made possible through the generous support of the Halifax Innovation District— in collaboration with the Halifax Partnership, the Halifax Regional Municipality, and the Province of Nova Scotia, and the wonderful people at Haligone, an innovative start-up that uses an online platform to optimize schedules for a quick & efficient delivery system. Not only that, they are environmentally “green” and sustainable using electric vehicles (EV) as their mode of transport!
Thank you very much!
Updated Jan 6th, 2021
The Free Local Delivery offer has now ended. We hope you were able to avail of this service. Thank you to Haligone for the extraordinary service. Thank you Halifax Partnership for the sponsorship!
December Ikebana Lessons Cancelled
It saddens us very much but we have decided to cancel the ikebana lessons scheduled in December.
Affected dates are:
Dec 2nd (Wed) 10-12 morning
Dec 13th (Sun) 10-12 morning & 1-3 afternoon
Lessons that are already paid for will remain valid and will be honoured with your next booking when we are able to re-start.
We are still hoping that we can start lessons again in January, 2021 so we will keep those bookings active until further notice.
If you have any questions, we are a phone call or email away.
We thank you for your understanding. Please keep safe and we hope we can enjoy flowers together again soon.
Second Wave Safety Measures
Updated Nov 28, 2020:
Customer limit inside the shop will be 3 persons maximum at any time. Thank you.
Updated Nov 24, 2020:
Customer limit inside the shop will be 5 persons maximum at any time. Thank you.
Although we are very fortunate to be in a “safe” province like Nova Scotia, we cannot relax our guard. As the weather cools, the number of COVID-19 cases are beginning to rise again. We need to remain vigilant!
Starting Nov 16th, 2020, we are limiting the number of customers inside the shop to a maximum of 6 persons. If you’ve been to our shop, you know that our space is small and it is a challenge to maintain social distancing at all times. The NS Public Health guidelines allow a maximum of 10 persons without social distancing but we decided to make stricter rules for the safety and comfort of everyone.
“Gathering limit for businesses and organizations that can’t maintain a physical distance of 2 metres (6 feet) because their physical space is too small - 10 customers or clients maximum without social distancing (keep as much social distancing as possible)”
So, if we are going to exceed the six-customer limit, we may ask you to wait outside for a while. There are Q spots on the sidewalk to guide you where to wait for your turn.
Please queue on the Q’s!
Everyone entering the shop is also requested to wear a face mask.
Thank you very much for your cooperation and understanding.
P.S. Online shopping and curbside/in-store pick-up are still on-going as well!
"Sō" Magazine August, 2020
Our exhibition—Connecting—last June, 2019 at the Lunenburg Library, was featured in the August, 2020 edition of "Sō" (「草」) magazine, the official publication of the Sogetsu Teachers' Association.