{Point A La Ligne the Rolls Royce of Candles}

Roses are all about romance; for kindling the flame of love!

 The flame of the most romantic candles in the world: Point à la Ligne. See page 12 for Christmas rose candle.
For more than 30 years Point A La Ligne has the reputation for being the Rolls Royce of Candles.

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On the left you see my Point à la Ligne red Christmas rose floating candle. 

 When we lived and worked, in the Province of Treviso, in the little town of Cornuda/Italy, I loved the Gift shop that was around the corner. 

That's where I found this treasure, a large tray made out of silk faille in a Lucite embedment. 

It is so romantic!

The crystal rose is from Swarovski and the other silver rose is a brooch; both from my private collection.

A most romantic duo; both from Italy...

The solid silver rose from Giovanni Raspini, Italy and available at my Mariette's Back to Basics on line boutique. Only one available; rest is SOLD.

The tray is not for sale - no way!

Sorry, sold out...

{Romantic Italian all Silver Rose by Master Giovanni Raspini}

After all the angels, we still continue with highly romantic pieces; this is a perfect all silver rose by master Giovanni Raspini in an 800/000 silver content. The sturdy rose measures 7" in length and would make the utmost token of love and perfect gift for a bride or any special loved one...
How about a silver wedding anniversary?

Comparing this ever-lasting rose with the price of some real roses; it surely is a bargain!
This is item # 1706 and you will find more info, visiting my Zen Cart powered on line boutique Mariette's Back to Basics

This is such a romantic and realistic rose in solid silver.
Shown here on my favorite, large Italian tray.
Will write more about it in another blog!

As usual, this unique piece of silver comes in a beautiful gift box with satin lining and gift certificate.

Sorry Sold out...

{Wooden Frame with Silk Roses under Bubble Convex Glass}

Very romantic and unique, large gilded wooden frame with dark pink roses that are handmade out of silk. 

It measures 12.5 x 16.5 x 2".

They look so realistic atop the burgundy velvet. 

The bubble convex glass makes it into a very rare and special wall hanging. 

Please visit: Spectrenoir for more information on this vintage French Country Style piece.
Free shipping within the USA!

Just yesterday, Bella from Bella's Rose Cottage in her post: Something Old showed another antique, convex glass frame with ornate gesso decorations. Bella's has the wood body over-layed with plaster glue compound, called gesso and then sculpted with scrollwork and leaves to create such ornate frame. Very striking and unusual, finished in a brassy gold tone. 

Mine is just gilded wood...

Due to the bubble convex (domed) glass it is extremely hard to capture on camera without any glare. 

 The photo below shows the flash that I used, but less glare...

This one shows more the true color of the silk roses and the burgundy velvet on which they are mounted.

The photo below, taken from the side, gives a lighter color of the velvet but that is just because of the nap.

This pretty much shows the true colors.

{Giovanni Raspini 800/000 Silver Frame with Rose from Italy}

Romantic silver frame, with rose by Giovanni Raspini, Italy. This item # 1276 is from their vast silver Giovanni Raspini Frames collection. For more detail please visit my Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics.

As usual, this unique piece of silver comes in a beautiful gift box with satin lining and certificate.

Sorry Sold out...

{White Waterlily Nymphaea odorata in our Pond}

Mid August, our pond looks so tranquil... yielding the beauty of the white waterlily; Nymphaea odorata.

The bench under the huge oak tree is a pick-nick bench. The back converts into a table. That's a favorite spot for having our afternoon tea; provided it's not too hot and humid outside! Observing the fish in the pond or the baby turtles for whom Pieter build an island from planks; for perching on. Those babies are out there in April when the pond is full of pollen and blossoms from the trees.

To the left is that plank... but you cannot come near, or they dive into the pond!

Zooming in, from the greenhouse area... you can see them now.

From the other side, facing the greenhouse with its patio.
That's where we put all our pot plants  for the three months period in winter.

A couple of years ago in August we had a tame 'wild' duck on our pond with her ducklings. Such a joy! The little ones can walk on those waterlily leaves! This was maybe her third brood for that year...

Not many ducklings survive. Big turtles do pull them down for a snack; hawks prey on them and the bull frog does not spare them either...

And the big mama turtle depositing her eggs in June so in April we again can observe those baby turtles... Nature coming full circle!

{Giovanni Raspini 925/000 Silver Frame with Acrobat Angels from Italy}

This is the last item with angels, well... mischievous angels! These are the acrobat angels from Giovanni Raspini Frames with their vast silver frame collection. This is item # 1823 and for more info please visit my Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics.

As usual, this unique piece of silver comes in a beautiful gift box with satin lining and certificate.

Sorry Sold out...

{Murraya Paniculata 'Orange Jasmine'}

• Today I want to introduce our 'Orange Jasmine' Murraya paniculata.
• Again, a plant with highly fragrant blossoms. We have them in planters, outside during the three seasons and inside during winter.
• This tropical plant is available from Logee's: Orange Jasmine Murraya Paniculata in  Connecticut and that's where ours came from. They do have all kind of exotic plants and lots of citrus plants too. Look for some photos at the very end of this blog, our citrus trees in a pot do even bear fruits!

• This is such a heavenly scented plant; like the: {White Indian Jasmine the Queen of Flowers} in a previous blog, which I showed on August 17th.

• The planters are on the stone patio, in front of our greenhouse. My Dad helped building it, together with Pieter. That's where all our pots will spend their three months period, till the weather is mild enough to be put outside again. Of course it is always too small... 

• To the left of the greenhouse there are numerous pots that also need to be placed inside the greenhouse... 
• This is the wooden trail that Pieter build, going alongside the gazebo towards the house. 
• Our own private walking trail and there are also trails in the wood garden, when crossing the three bridges over the creek. Lots of work done, one day I will show photos how it looked 20 years ago and what we made out of it. 
• We are the very first people ever living and working on this lot. That's the name for the land where you build your home; used here in the South East of the USA. 
• We are blessed for having such a private paradise all to our own!
• Now as promised our citrus trees; in pots:

• This is a closeup of the pot you see to the right in front of the greenhouse.

• This gives a good idea of its size... a photo from last year. They ripen inside the greenhouse as our season is not long enough.

• Yet another variety, inside the greenhouse during winter.
• One year when Mom & Dad were visiting again in March 1996, from The Netherlands, I left them all on the tree and gave Mom a basket to pick the oranges from the tree behind the gazebo on the patio. 

• That moment from Monday, March 25 of 1996 is being videotaped...
• Mom enjoyed that very much and they were sweet and tasty too in our yogurt with granola for breakfast. 

• The orange blossom is something to enjoy. Often I did use them with jasmines and floating candles for a center piece when friends came to dinner...

{Giovanni Raspini 800/000 Silver Rectangle Frame with Two Angels from Italy}

The angel show is not yet over... Here is another cute one, with two angels from Giovanni Raspini in Italy. Their Giovanni Raspini Frames page shows a vast collection. This is item # 1822 and for more info please visit my Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics.

As usual this unique piece of silver comes in a beautiful gift box with satin lining and certificate. For more silver gifts from Italy, please see my labels for Giovanni Raspini, at the right side of this blog. By clicking on it, you get all blogs with their silver gifts.

Sorry Sold out...

{3 Hibiscus Varieties 'KONA' - 'CONFEDERATE ROSE' and a RED variegated}

In-between my silver Giovanni Raspini gifts, I love to show you what's blooming in our garden. 

First let me introduce you to this exotic beauty: Hibiscus 'KONA' which is available from Logee's in Connecticut as Hibiscus 'Kona' (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis hybrid). We have lots of special plants from them, just check them out.

Bring a touch of the tropics into your life with this exotic cultivar from Logee's. Large, rich fully double blossoms, resembling puffy crepe paper, adorn this vigorous grower.

This one shows a visiting insect...

This is where the two planters with the Kona hibiscus are; behind our gazebo on the small stone patio.

To the left of the gazebo, facing the back of our house.

Here is another planter with a variegated leaf Hibiscus in a flamboyant Red.

We did bring a cutting home from the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and voilà:

Pieter's hand for comparison, though it is by far not as large as the Kona variety.

It was on Friday, September 5, of 1997 that we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We had checked in early at 2:00 PM and were inside in time for the heavy weather in relation to Hurricane Erica near Puerto Rico. On Saturday morning at 4:00 AM we sat in our beds with the pillows propped up and the special curtains (triple!) closed to keep the noise of the raging winds with heavy rain out of earshot. We watched the funeral of Princess Diana... (she died on August 31). A day we never will forget. Our vacation was not planned at the right moment and being high in the tower with a huge balcony on two sides, did not do us any good!

But their gardens were lush and the hibiscus cutting flourished at our home; that made up for the heavy weather...

In our adjacent wood garden we also have since one decade this Hibiscus mutabilis 'Plena' also called: Confederate Rose. We obtained this from  Woodlanders in South Carolina. Another great nursery that has a huge variety and is in business for a very long period already.

This photo is from October 31, 2000. They are not yet blooming but I wanted to show it today.

Hibiscus mutabilis 'Plena' is a wonderful big mulit-stem deciduous shrub with leaves like a cotton plant and large double peony-like showy flowers in the fall that open white and change to pink as the day goes on. Freezes back in winter but does re-sprout here in the south.

Hibiscus mutabilis 'Plena'