Cottage Review: A Vintage Garden Book and the Wicker Settee

Hey Friends! Last week I shared a post from my first blogging house with a precious floral teapot and a small bouquet of hot pink (Barbie would love them) knockout roses. I mentioned then that growing roses wasn't something that I excelled at, but knockout roses were a good substitute and made me feel better about my not-so-green thumb. So when I ran across this section on roses in my vintage Better Homes and Gardens Garden Book I wanted to share it with you.

Cottage Review: Roses and Redoute

Hello friends, now that our Monday party is on a hiatus this summer, I have a bit more time to share some creative ideas and inspiration. The Weekend Cottage Review is a time that I can share some personal thoughts, ideas and inspiration around the blogosphere, and some oldies but goodies. 

Loving September at All About Home #57

Hi Everyone, I hope you're having a great September!

I look forward to it all year because Fall is my favorite season.
(you all probably know that)
I try to slow down and be more purposeful in Fall.
We're having some cooler temps and working outside this last weekend
we even felt a little chill in the wind.
It was wonderful!

I'm so glad you're stopping by and I hope you'll link up
and share what you all have been up to. 

Valentine's Day Makes an Entrance

I'm going to admit right up front that this is one of those "photo shoots" that continued over the course of a day or two. I've been know to start taking pictures, then add or subtract items from the vignette. Instead of completely starting over, I just incorporate all the photos and we can do one of those "Highlights" photo puzzles along the lines of, "what's different in these photos?"

I was busy taking pictures of the Entry when I thought it would be fun to do a small Valentine's Day Cloche with one of my antique Valentines and some of the little pink mini carnations that I used earlier in the week. That's the nice thing about carnations, they stay pretty for days.

Vintage Finds for Valentine's Decor

The last few days I've been hunting down my boxes of Valentine's Day things and I've located one tub, but the other is somewhere in the vast nether regions of the Arctic Storage; AKA, the garage. Since I'm not into freezing, I'm having to try to rethink some other vintage items that can become stand-ins for my usual Valentine goodies.

Roses Revisited...

Hi Everyone, I thought I'd stop by for a quick update on this last week. I'm sharing some pretty and peaceful photos from a few years ago that were taken on my sunporch. That was my favorite spot for photos, since the room was north facing and the light was always perfect. I've never had regular rose bushes, but we did have this lovely Knock-Out bush in the front yard. It would bloom proficiently from Spring, all Summer, then into late Fall.

I'll share some prettiness before I bore you with my day-to-day fun...

A Little Valentine Chaos

Hello Friends, 

Hope you're having a "Sweet" Valentine's Weekend!

Pink Flowered Dishes

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! Can you guess what we did? If you guessed painting walls, ceilings, and closets then you're right!!! We're getting there, but wow, are we bone tired. Oh, I forgot about pruning dead shrubs and rose bushes...and going to Lowe's three times and Wal-Mart three times. No matter how hard you try, you just can't think of all the "stuff" you'll need for a marathon working weekend. And also finding the paint you had mixed that looked perfect on the paint card is actually waaaay too light so you go back once again.

OK enough whining, something pretty to look at... A couple of weeks ago we did the attic clean out and I found two boxes of this oh so sweet Homer Laughlin Virginia Rose China. It had been my maternal great grandmother's. Most of it was well used, so some is chipped, but other pieces like a few of the plates were pristine. I found a few old "rose" postcards to add in for a little vignette in the sitting room.

There were two varieties of cups,

 this one on the bottom looks like a little newer version.

I was looking through some of my books last week, and realized the roses on the cover of this edition of The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady had the same pretty trailing roses.

Here's another pattern of Homer Laughlin hiding behind the first plate. It has a little green band on the edging. My Peonies are blooming out front and they are fabulous! covered with ants... but fabulous! Click Here if you'd like to see last year's post on my Peonies and pink dishes.

Dog roses?

Sort of like a shrub rose bush to me.

(I see they're native to Europe)

I found this little metal wheelbarrow a few months ago, and it was just waiting for something fun to haul around. And of course, every little wheelbarrow needs some gardening tools!

When I finished playing with the dishes, 

I nestled them all in my white basket tray on the bottom shelf of the baker's rack.

When I started packing dishes back in February I had to decide what to keep or try to sell. I just couldn't part with any of my old china pieces, so they were all packed away. Now finding these, I'm so glad I didn't let them go and now I want to locate all my other "pink rose" china. (boohoo, they're in a storage unit until a house move...) Can't wait to put them all together for some fun vintage place settings.

One of my vintage embroidered tea towels...

Hard to believe it's this close to Summer. Often, Memorial Day is cool and rainy here, but we had hot and rainy instead. Our Realtor is ready to get the house listed since we have the pool. I was tempted to just jump in this last weekend, but resisted. Painting with wet clothes didn't sound like a lot of fun.

I miss you guys...I'm hanging in there just counting the days until I can see my new doctors. In the meantime I'm trying to not overdo it and rest alot in between house duty. Sending each of you a big hug!
joining in at
Savvy Southern Style
From My Front Porch to Yours

xoxo,

Vintage Botanical Window

If you're like me, then every once in awhile, you get the urge to move things around. Changing furniture arrangements won't work here, (believe me, I've tried), so I have to change up smaller things; new vignettes, different accessories like pillows and tablerunners. This week I had that urge, and it landed on this great old window with original botanicals that I put together a few years ago. I dragged it around the house looking for another spot for it, but when I had worn myself out, I brought it back here in the Living Room right where I found it.

It just "fits" this space...

So I decided to share it again with all of you, since so many of you are new followers. A few years ago I found a college notebook probably from sometime before the 1930's filled with these individual sheets at a local flea, and grabbed it up. They sat unused for awhile, thinking I might frame them individually. I still may do that with some, but I picked out a few for this great old window that I'd had for awhile in the garage.

(I've had a few people inquire if I would sell any of the individual sheets,

but I just cant' part with them)

We have ten chairs that go with our Dining Room set; more than we could ever use. So when I was on my white painting spree a couple of years ago, I decided to go ahead and paint out two of them to flank the sofa table. There's a part of me that would love to paint the whole Dining Room set, but I just haven't been able to make that leap.

(roses from my birthday a few years ago)

This is a hard spot to photograph because of furniture placement...

Here are closeups of a few of the individual panes of glass. Each specimen sheet is categorized and labeled in old type and taped. Over the years they have faded to a perfect study in neutrals; delicate blossoms and stems have separated, but each one is work of art to me.

this pic required standing on one of the sofas...

This pic sort of gives you a reference idea of where it's located.

I found those wonderful French-y sconces two years ago,

but still haven't put candles in them...
maybe soon.

Thanks for revisiting one of my "favorite finds".

Hope you're having a wonderful week.

joining in for these parties:

Inspire Me at Liz Marie Blog

Inspire Me at A Stroll thur Life

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Three Mango Seeds

Blissful Whites at Timewashed 

WOW us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

The Inspiration Exchange at Ella Claire

House Party at No Minimalist Here

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Swing Into Spring at DIY by Design

Tips and Tutorials at Stone Gable

Shabby Art Boutique

Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush

Funky Junk

xoxo,

Of Roses and Redoute...

Last weekend I shared some photos of the front yard, and a Knockout Rose bush that is blooming profusely this year. Our yard has two levels and this bush is nestled in a little grotto area that is shared by a much used bird bath and surrounded by Black-eyed Susans.

I thought I'd clip a few sprigs of blooms and bring them inside to enjoy up close.

I thought they'd feel at home in this petite Staffordshire Crown China teapot, trimmed out in a lacy pink pattern of flowers with gold trim.

I  also just recently found this little white chippy box and thought it might work for one of my "Vintage Seed Box" embellishments. Spring and Roses go together beautifully with one of my two vintage Redoute framed prints from the 40's, that I had on my baker's rack on the sunporch.

Below, I included some interesting information about Redoute. Knowing a little about the artist makes these beautiful prints all the more interesting.

 Pierre-Joseph Redouté (10 July 1759 in Saint-Hubert, Belgium – 19 June 1840 in Paris), was a Belgian painter and botanist, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at Malmaison. He was nicknamed "The Raphael of flowers".

He was an official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, and he continued painting through the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Redouté survived the turbulent political upheaval to gain international recognition for his precise renderings of plants, which remain as fresh in the early 21st century as when first painted.

Paris was the cultural and scientific centre of Europe during an outstanding period in botanical illustration (1798 – 1837), one noted for the publication of several folio books with coloured plates. Enthusiastically, Redouté became an heir to the tradition of the Flemish and Dutch flower painters Brueghel, Ruysch, van Huysum and de Heem. Redouté contributed over 2,100 published plates depicting over 1,800 different species, many never rendered before.

 Marie Antoinette became his patron. Redouté received the title of Draughtsman and Painter to the Queen's Cabinet. In 1798, Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, became his patron and, some years later, he was her official artist. 

What perfection is found within the bloom of a rose.

My heart is heavy with all the devastation in Oklahoma. We are in the same "tornado alley" as they are. Storms start in North Texas and then take the northeast route each Spring. Many of us here in Missouri have basements, but Oklahoma has so much bedrock that basements aren't incorporated into a home's structure; not much comfort, but a little. I'm praying for all those who have lost so much in these storms this week.

I'll be linking up to these parties this week:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Stone Gable
House Party at No Minimalist Here
Rooted in Thyme
The Charm of Home
French Country Cottage
Shabby Art Boutique
Jennifer Rizzo
Craftberry Bush

xoxo,