Beauty around us

No, it's not quite time to reveal what I promised you in the last post yet, please please please bear with me , it won't be long.
However in the mean time, these are some things I saw the other day when I was in town. Are we a city of sculptures here? I have to say I love these though, they are good healthy looking ones, not abstract and weird ones, don't you agree? As for the top picture, I just love vintage looking architecture, so much so that I really dislike the modern looking ones. Which style do you like best in architecture? Have a lovely weekend, hope you'll see some interesting things around you.

A Quick One

This is just a quick post to show you some more rosy photos I took a few rosy days ago, I'll show you more when the time is ripe, I'm not trying to be secretive or mysterious just to tease you, but I'll tell you why and reveal more in another post. So please stay tuned! Till next time.The roses in the photos above consist of English Roses St. Cecilia (light apricot), Heritage (pink) and Floribundas Seduction (pink and cream), don't you just love the old rose shapes and forms of these roses? Oh! I can't get enough of that look!

Roses, gotta luv 'em!

I've been reading a few books at the same time in my very limited spare time, one of them I got from the library which I've started is called "Through the Rose Arbour" by Rosemary Houseman, it looks like a very inspiring story. The author has played a key role in educating the Australians about the beauty and hardiness of old roses. This book is notes from her journey in her gardening life in Kinbrae, Victoria and later, others. She also established a specialist rose nursery called The Rose Arbour. It's been a great read so far.

These roses consist of Anne Boelyn(the photogenic pink apricot blend), Radio Times (Medium Pink), St.Cecilia ( creamy apricot) and Sir Edward Elgar (reddish pink). Yes, there are still roses in my garden, I'll be very busy pruning them around mid July. There are some aphids on some of the rose buds because of the time of the year. Every time I see aphids, I think of my friend who's in her seventies who calls herself a mad gardener, a real green thumb, I'd call her. I asked her what she did with aphids when I first started gardening, she told me she just squishes them with her bare fingers, no sprays needed, nothing!! At the time I went "Ewww!" But guess what, now I do the same. Roses really have a way of making one grow tough. Of course it's only possible when you don't have hectares of rose bushes. Ahhh!! These pictures make me think of lazy afternoons, reading and pottering around, or simply relaxing in the couch............ No, no, no, not for me in reality! I've been too busy in fact. It was just so therapeutic to take some time out to take these photos. Hope you get to have a lazy afternoon or two..........

Vintage and Sentimental

Here are some of the vintage embroidered and crocheted linen, napkins and doilies which my mum passed on to me a few years ago. I remember us kids used to sit in a circle to go through some of these pretty things with mum every now and again and I used to ask if I could have them when I grew up. She remembered that and gave a whole lot to me years ago. I hold them dear to my heart as they have tremendous sentimental value to me. Some truly have that aged look, probably around 50 years since she bought them. I'm too afraid to use them as they might be too fragile for laundry, so I pull them out to have a look at them every now and then. This iron is made of wood, I painted and antiqued it many years ago. Just something that has followed me everywhere through the years. I keep the smaller doilies in these pretty boxes. Did you notice I like birds' ornaments?
Hope you'll all have a cheerful weekend, we're going to have a wet and dark one, but I'll be cheerful nonetheless. Ciao!

Belle our babe

Pink pink beauties

The most translucent, pinkest of roses are no doubt extremely breathtaking. Recently my English Roses "Heritage" have been producing a great number of blooms with the softest pinkest hue and the most pleasing globular old rose shape. They obviously love the winter chill.We've had ice on our car and frost on plants, I thought the roses would be affected, but surprsingly they didn't seem to be fazed by all that, some have red dots on the blooms due to the cold, but apart from that, they are doing quite well.

Heritage and Pierre de Ronsard English Roses Ambridge Rose and Tamora have been productive too. Enjoy the rest of your week and my love to you all, chirp chirp, which means xoxoxo!

Welcome to my Garden Party

The House in the Roses is hosting a "Show Me Your Garden" Party to celebrate the beginning of Summer. Since we're on the "wrong" side of the globe and there ain't no summer at the moment in this part of the land Down Under, plus I have posted quite regularly on my garden in my blog and you probably have seen my garden featured in Cielo's blog in "Garden of the Month" in May, I decided to participate anyway by showing you this afternoon tea which was held in my garden and has been in the pipeline for a while. I call it "You're Special" Afternoon Tea, it's a special afternoon I set aside for my children and I to have afternoon tea together. It all started last year and I can see it's already becoming part of our family tradition which they greatly appreciate as we plan to continue having it every year. So no, I haven't misread "Show Me Your Garden" Party, I just made it more like "Show Me Your Garden Party"! Yes, different emphasis. Sorry if you came expecting to see my garden, I apologise for not showing my garden as such, but please make yourself comfortable and do go through my garden in the sidebar labelled "My Garden". I wouldn't like you to be disappointed at all.Last year around this time of the year, while I was cooking and baking away, it dawned on me that my kids were getting older and how time just slipped by oh-so-quickly. I really wanted to spend even more time doing things and making good memories with them. So this idea came to me that I'd surprise them with an afternoon tea when they got home from school (this way I had time to prepare in their absence) not just the normal afternoon tea that we have everyday, but a more special, table-nicely-set-up, drinking-from-nice-cups, yummy-homemade-treats-to-eat type afternoon tea, for no other reason than to tell them they are "Very Special" to me. I also handwrote invitations and gave them to each of my little guests as they came in the house. So as you can imagine, the little guests were more than thrilled to join me.
Last year's Afternoon Tea, indoorsThis year in this month we've had quite a few rainy days, so I'd been waiting for a nice fine day when I'll be free to make all the preparation since I decided to have it in the garden. Here you can see these photos were taken just before the garden party, during the preparation, before the "guests" arrived. It was a beautiful day, we had a ball, let me tell you, it was a real blast. I'll remember the look on their faces forever when I announced the surprise, it was such a pleasure to watch. Of course we gobbled all the goodies up with glee, the kids are always extra hungry just after school. Please bear in mind though my kids are at that age they appreciate things like this with me, this idea wouldn't have worked if it wasn't age-appropriate and if I had to try and keep them from spilling drinks or breaking cups all that time. So don't despair if your kids don't like Afternoon Tea with Mum, simply do something else that will suit you. The key is to spend time together doing something different to make good memories and of course, have lots of fun.After this one, I'll be having grown-ups' tea with my most valuable antiques -- my old friends!!!!! It'll be a real treat for me to get together with my old friends who've been through thick and thin, the test of time and circumstances with me, not fair-weather friends, but true and honest friends, I'm excited and we'll be sure to chat up a storm...........

Did you know? **The Most Valuable Antiques are Old Friends** (Authour Unknown)
So there, all you antiques collectors out there, I hope you've collected a few of those most valuable antiques over the years.

Now let's go inside and pop those roses in a vase before they wilt away...........Thanks for visiting me, I really enjoyed having you here, feel free to visit often. You can click on all images to view larger pictures. Also be sure to go to Cielo's blog to take a tour and visit all other charming gardens linked, I'm sure you'll be inspired. Have a lovely weekend, my Blogville pals! Till next time.