Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Review & Giveaway: The English Roses by David Austin

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Today, I get to share a gorgeous book with you, The English Roses by David Austin. If you love roses, you have certainly heard of David Austin, the creator of English Roses and owner of one of the world’s leading rose nurseries, David Austin Roses. Whether you know of him or not, you’re in for a treat.

This is a sumptuous book, full of gorgeous photographs as well as essential information. It’s divided into three sections: Part One – The Origins and Nature of an English Rose; Part Two – A Gallery of English Roses; Part Three – English Roses in the Future and Rose Cultivation.

You’ll read about the rose and its ancestors, the qualities of an English Rose, the first English Roses, along with a host of helpful information.

Yes, I’d like a garden exactly like this one, please.

Part of the Gallery of English Roses.

This is in hardcover, 319 pages of beautiful photos and essential information. It is large – perfect for your coffee table.

I love roses, though I do battle with them every year! This book is a gem and I’m so enjoying what it has to offer, not the least of which is its sheer beauty.

One of you lucky readers will win a copy of this book. Just leave your name on this post and I’ll pick a winner on Tuesday night. Good luck!

Thank you again to Firefly Books for so generously sending me these gardening books and, in equally generous fashion, sending a copy to one of my readers. Beautifully done.

One of my readers mentioned that she received a questionable email from me. I’m assuming it’s from an earlier hack. If you get one, let me know what email it originated from. And don’t open it, of course.

Happy Saturday.

March: You’re Driving Me Crazy

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Buds on the lilac bush.

Leaves on the wild honeysuckle.

Buds on the Climbing Hydrangea.

Not to mention the daylily leaves coming out of the ground that I keep covering up with mulch. It’s cold here and this weekend the temps are going down into the teens again. Next week, a little – not much – snow. March is turning out to be very changeable, indeed. And it’s driving me crazy.

Still congested, though I think it’s due to the recent extremes in the weather. Nevertheless, it leaves me feeling like I’m still fighting off this virus. And now Don isn’t feeling well. That started yesterday. Not sure what’s going on, but I’m doing my best to take care of him because he did such a good job of taking care of me. Poor baby.

But…I have to go into the city today for a final run through of Anastasia. Thursday, the cast moves to the theater and the long tech process begins. Very exciting!

I’m reading Rules of Civility  by Amor Towles and am enjoying it very much. And obsessively following my Twitter feed as this “administration” – I use that word very loosely –  implodes before my eyes.

As Dorothy Parker said, “What fresh hell is this?”

I have to get going, my friends. Today, work. Tomorrow, rest.

Rest in Peace, Robert Osborne. You were and are irreplaceable.

Happy Tuesday.

Patina, Flowers, Light & Nasty Women

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Late afternoon still life.

I am still taken by surprise when I see that table and its patina. What a treasure we found!

This is the scene in the cottage this morning:

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And they go all the way to the front door. It was to go below freezing last night and as I obsessively scan the Weather Channel app on my phone, I look ahead 15 days or so to see if it’s worth trying to save the plants. And it is.

At some point, I’ll give up. In fact, I forgot to cover the geraniums that live in the barrels last night. I could kick myself. They may be gone. I’m afraid to look.

But these beauties are still budding and blooming, so in true tag-team fashion, Don and I bring them inside around 6:00 and they’ll go back outside later this morning.

By the way, I straighten that little red lampshade about ten times a day. Oy.

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Frost is covering everything this morning, but the sunlight is warming up the living room, slowly but surely. One of my favorite things in any house I’ve lived in, but especially in this many-windowed cottage, is watching the play of light on the walls and floors and furniture. I think that’s what keeps me sane in the winter. That bright winter sun.

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved reading the Sunday New York Times. When I returned to my parents’ house to live for a couple of years after college, I would look forward to Sunday morning, when I could buy a copy of the Times and read it while sitting in my dad’s recliner. Since then, wherever I’ve lived, east coast or west coast, I’ve tried to keep that habit going. There have been times when I couldn’t get a copy or was just too busy to find the time to buy one. But lately, we’ve been grabbing a copy every Sunday.

Happiness is the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.

I read the latest edition of Louise Penny’s newsletter this morning. She wrote about Michael. I cried.

Those of you who are friends on Facebook have already seen this photo. I want to share it with all of you today because I love this t-shirt (it came in the mail yesterday) and we had such fun taking this picture:

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Oh yes, we do.

Vote. Nasty woman or otherwise.

Happy Tuesday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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