{Fragrant Chrysler Imperial Rose}

Several years ago, we lost all our roses due to drought...
Finally we have found our highly fragrant Chrysler Imperial Rose back!
It is such a lovely Hybrid Tea Rose.

Chrysler Imperial was a 1953 AARS winner. (All American Rose Society)
A dream in a tiny Baccarat crystal vase.

It is a stunning and also a rather large rose...

My Rheinpfalz Hartporzellan cake plates from Germany also have red roses... They still are from my original trousseau. Yes, I did start quite young with gathering some nice pieces; several of which I still possess!

My home baked Amaretti cookies are on the cake plate...

Guess I always have loved roses.
That's also why we do have our {New Rose Arbor on High Heels} and it is visible from our bay window area as you can see here.

The teacups and teapot are by Seltmann Weiden Bavaria in then W. Germany in the Mirabell pattern.

The tablecloth is hand crocheted and was a gift from my dear friend Ellie.
Does any of you have this highly fragrant Chrysler Imperial Rose?

{Angel Candle Snuffer Gift}

My dear friend Mariëlle, from The Netherlands, did stay with us from May 2 till May 9. A brief vacation for her, but she had to be back at her Kandinsky College Malderburchtstraat for dealing with the exam week, before the summer vacation would start. 

Mariëlle also lost her dear Mom, on January 3, and I lost my Mom on January 27...

So it is obvious that both of us had Angels on our minds.

Mariëlle actually did create one for me!

A very unique Angel Candle Snuffer...
Angel's head and handle are made out of wood. The body, halo and extension to wooden handle are made out of Alpaca, or nickle silver, and spray coated with a heat resistant paint in matte silver.

LOVE the ergonomics of it, as it feels so perfect inside my hand.

Super cute Angel!

The hand crocheted table cloth is a gift from my Dutch friend Ellie...

Candle and Chrysler Imperial fragrant rose are in Baccarat crystal.

More up close... 

Candle is from Point A La Ligne France, the Rolls Royce of candles.

Don't you love Mariëlle's sweet Angel design?

Related link:

{Point A La Ligne the Rolls Royce of Candles} | previous post by me

{Roses and Tea}

We did have some lovely looking roses in our garden. With the emphasis on 'looking' because for handling them they were not lovely! Very sharp thorns and thus rather prickly for arranging them inside this crystal Baccarat vase.

Looks lovely though; or not?

A healthy living snack... home baked almond cookies; my version of Amaretti cookies.

Tea and some fresh fruit.

You can see the many thorns on those stems!

Grapes are seedless...

Husband Pieter LOVES my home baked Amaretti cookies!

Sad thing is that Trader Joe's discontinued the Organic Coconut Sugar... Whole Foods Market does have it too, but they're far more expensive!

Are you also using the low glycemic index Coconut Sugar?

Related link:

{Coconut Palm Sugar with Glycemic Index 35} | previous post by me
{Antique French Gilt Metal & Glass Biscuit Box with Handle} | previous post by me

{New Rose Arbor on High Heels}

Sure, our entire property is on a slope so there hardly is an even spot. This resulted also in placing our New Rose Arbor on High Heels!

Eden Vienna 7.5-ft. Vinyl Arch Arbor

Quite expensive...

But we found ours for a lot less: Hayneedle Eden Vienna 7.5-ft. Vinyl Arch Arbor and even with free shipping.
Searching on line can often yield surprising bargains!

Our pond has an overflow into the creek and Pieter still had some of those 6" Pvc pipes so his idea was for filling them with concrete and letting the Rose Arbor's feet stand (with of course the vinly 2 x 4s inside the legs) partly in the concrete.

It was still during the very wet season. This was April 13, when I took these photos.

Bird & bat house visible to the left.

This little 4-wheel Utility Cart is handy for towing things around.

On May 19, our two new climbing roses got planted.

I'd seen on María Cecilia's blog post from Casa Dulce Hogar in Chile, her incredible pink Eden Rose: Pierre de Ronsard roses (and clouds) and wanted to know if there also was a white variety.

Yes, I did find them at Roses Unlimited in Laurens, South Carolina, where Pat Henry & Bill Patterson offer a very extensive collection of all sorts of roses.

We also bought other roses from them, Jardins de Bagatelle a very fragrant hybrid tea rose in a cream color.

Excellent plant material and perfectly boxed up with their pots secured in a genial way!

Very healthy roses! Far better than the usual bare root shipment.

Our happy Eden white or Pierre de Ronsard roses!

Now we just have to wait for the first roses to show up and grow along this beautiful Rose Arbor.

Here you also get to see a detail from the redone wood trail which got extended a little for this Arbor.

That's how it looks from the other side...

Again a bird house visible on that holly tree.

Speckie-girl is making sure that the new roses are protected!

Do you have a Rose Arbor?

Related link:

{Cashmere Words of Wisdom & Update} | previous post showing the wood trail being redone.

{My Very 1st Blogpost: Romancing the Home}

As usual, I forget my Blog Anniversary!
Maybe it is because of such a sad period in my life, you can read more below blog post from previous links...
Anyway, now in 2014 on November 23, I had a total of 1,205 blog posts written.
So let's go Back to Basics and show the beginning.
On November 23, 2009 I started blogging and here is my very first post:

Autumn is the time of year to turn inward again, for making the home into a warm nest where we savor the memories of summer and sunshine. All about Romancing the Home...

A few last Midas Touch roses from the garden in a lovely silver vase adorned with a silver rosebud (that will at least last all winter long!) while indulging in a cup of hot chocolate with a Bon-bon, while reading an invitation to a winter wedding on February 13th... How romantic the outlook; just a day before Valentine's Day!

After all, these special moments will pull us through the dreary winter. With the memories of warm sun rays kept alive inside our hearts, we will get to springtime again.

Romancing the Home... Indeed, trying to extend the season of roses all year long!
The yellow roses on the tablecloth are hand embroidered by me...

Detail of the silver rosebud vase with rose...

{Post # 484 and my blog is 2 years old today!} | previous post by me with the sad story...

{Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs}

This is such a lovely Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs. Would make a perfect bridal gift or as a very special, romantic gift.
Again this is only available at my on line Boutique and I will as always, do ship Worldwide.

Just click here: Silver Repousse Pastry Server with Cherubs in order to go to my online Boutique.

One can only admire the talented silver smith that once created this ornate piece in solid repousse silver...
Perfect match with the beautiful hand crocheted table topper by blogger friend Susan from Ava Grace's Closet's Mama.

Yes, I certainly love to use our roses whenever I photograph beautiful silver pieces. It is such pure romance.

Together with a healthy piece of dark chocolate, filled with dried apricots, nuts and seeds, that I made myself, it displays very well.

Here you can see the silver mark which is German.
First the 800 is visible, followed by a half moon and a crown.

 On Page 21 of Johanna Gehrlein's book: Rosen-Bestecke you can see those silver marks shown in the 1st and 2nd image, resembling a half moon and a crown.

Johanna's excellent book Rosen-Bestecke, about Rose Silver flatware has always been such a great reference!

Sold out...

Related links:

{Splendid book about Silver Rose Flatware} | previous post by me

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver ANGELS Napkin, Letter or Card Holder} | previous post by me showing similar cherubs, angels or putti.

{Antique German REPOUSSE Silver Roses Napkin, Letter or Card Holder} | previous post by me 

{Our Fragrant Cloud Roses + Update}

Wow; the painters left yesterday around noon after working for about 3 weeks on our exterior! Great quality job they did and you will soon get to see the results. First I need to show you the previous projects. Today I just have a little vase with 3 Fragrant Cloud Roses for you. Not even a great photo, as I took it with my iPhone... Yesterday I did serve candied rose petals (from our garden!) to our 10 dinner guests. I had made the evening before baked chocolate hearts and roses and decorated them with marzipan roses and my candied rose petals... A busy day, cleaning and arranging fresh gardenias for the dinner tables. Setting the tables and low and behold I even forgot to take photos. No time actually, as I was cooking and doing it all. My usual help for serving, started her vacation so I did it solo. Feeling satisfied but tired after I got done. One of the ladies that came for dinner did help me serve the main course; very sweet of her.

Hand crocheted doily is done by my sister-in-law Elly.

I just got in a hurry to take this photo before those perfect buds would open up completely...

Today I planned to take more photos inside the home but it is such a dark and HOT day with thunder in the far distance. Wish it would break and change to sunshine again!

LOOK: at 11:45 AM already RealFeel 40°C... It looks like this will not change the coming days.

Let's hope for the best so I can make my photos.

Related link:

{Our New Roses from Costco} | previous post showing the Fragrant Cloud Rose

{Our Queen Elizabeth AARS Rose}

Along with singer Lynn Anderson who sang: I never promised you a rose garden we can say:

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.
Link above is from YouTube and below this post you will find a link for the full lyrics.

Husband Pieter did bring in some beautiful roses the other day; with rain drops on them. One was our Queen Elizabeth AARS Rose that I like to share here with you.

LOVE those rain drops on this Queen Elizabeth Rose.

Don't you like it too?

Husband Pieter took these photos...

Fresh from our garden...

This photo I took later with my iPhone after I'd placed it inside this silver rose vase...

Crocheted pineapple doily is done by my sister-in-law Elly.

Related link:

{Our New Roses from Costco} | previous post by me

{Our Yellow Midas Touch Roses & my Embroidered Yellow Roses}

Not only real yellow Midas Touch roses but also my yellow embroidered roses that I cross stitched on a rayon damask tablecloth.

• That was part of my trousseau at the time I first got married. It is French 3 Suisses.

• This is almost heaven; coffee with chocolate, silver roses, real roses and my hand embroidered cross stitched  roses...

• Why not join me for a cup of coffee  & chocolate, over reading the mail...?

• This silver teaspoon with rose is one of my favorites.

• My Giovanni Raspini silver rose

• Pure bliss with yellow roses in a bud vase with roses in silver!

• We MISS our Midas Touch roses...

• Are they not a dream?

• Whomever created these silver roses on that bud vase I admire...