A ROSEY WORLD

Hello dear friends! The roses are beginning to bloom here at Sweet Briar Cottage in spite of the fact that the temperature have rarely reached the seventy degree mark this year.  I think the cool weather has been beneficial to them,because the canes are just loaded with buds, especially the New Dawn on the arbor.   The rose pictures above is Zephrine Drouhin, a wonderful climber as you see  and it grows in the shade.  Did I mention that it smells heavenly too? 

On the subject of heavenly scents,  the rose  at the right started out as Heaven Scent, but after years of harsh winters, it had to be cut back.  I guess I must have been a bit prune-happy because what was once a pretty yellow rose, is now this dark red rose.  Guess I pruned it back to it's original root stock.  Ah well!  Whatever it is, it is certainly hardy and loves to climb.    A truly wonderful climber is Paul's Himalayan  Musk, pictured below.  Such dainty sweet blooms and a can it climb!  Up to fourty feet!  I'm hoping that it will someday grow high enough to ramble over the top of the roof.

Soon the New Dawns and Evelyns  will bloom.  Then everyone will know why our house is called Sweet Briar Cottage. 

Speaking of rose covered cottages, I have a book recommendation that's perfect for summertime reading, Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart. It's supposed to be a mystery, but you certainly don't have to be Agatha Christie to figure it out by the first few chapters.  It's just a sweet little bit of fluff, with one of the nicest of endings.  And it's a lot cheaper than a plane ticket to the Cotswolds. It's been ever so long since I've read a book that I've loved.  Lately, I've been just slogging through books, trying to give them a chance by reading the first one hundred pages, then figuring since I have that much invested in them, I might as well see it out to the end.  When I truly love a book, I can imagine myself right into the action.  I have a very rich imagination, that's why I can see cute little cottages in run-down shacks, much to my husband's consternation!

 Imagining life as you'd like it is such a wonderful catalyst for attaining your dreams.  I'd like to imagine myself as a proper lady that wears wellies and tweed skirts while she gardens.  And I'd look fetching in a sun hat instead of looking like Ma Barker.  When people stopped by, I'd say, "Darling, you must simply stay for tea!", although I've never called anyone darling in my life and we never have any tea in the house, except for Ran's Arnold Palmers. Oh and did I mention, I'd look and sound like Greer Garson while I did these things?  Well, I'll never look like Greer, but at least I can match my gardening clothes and perhaps find a hat that's a tad bit more flattering  as I wheel my barrow about.  What is life without hopes, dreams and goals?

I leave you with one of the philosophies of my life, put to word much more eloquently by Emerson, then I could ever say:

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing

anything that is beautiful

for beauty is God's handwriting

- a wayside sacrament.

Welcome it in every fair face,

in every fair sky,

in every fair flower,

and thank God for it as

a cup of blessing."

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                                                          ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson~