The Nancy Steen Rose Garden

Hello dear friends

I think if you're a regular visitor

to my blog you will have an inkling

that I'm very fond of roses.

Not just any roses though....

about 35 years ago I fell in love

with  the old fashioned roses.

Such as the Damask roses

regarded for their wonderful fragrance.

They came from Iran (Persia that was).

In the tenth century there was a European

demand for rose oil.

The trade markets were concentrated in

Damascus, Syria - hence it got the name

the Damask rose.

The various branches of the old rose family

have romantic names such as the

Gallica's.
While in France this year I visited the
ancient market town of
Provins
which in the 12th and 13th centuries
was the centre of a great rose industry
based on the Apothecary's Rose.

When dried and reduced to a powder
this rose retained it's heady perfume.

Provins then became a special place on the map
and people travelled from far and wide
to purchase all manner of products derived from
this great rose!

I belong to a group called
The Heritage Rose Society.
November is the height of the flowering season
and on Saturday a friend and I
spent the morning "dead heading"
in the Nancy Steen Memorial Garden.
As you probably already know
this procedure encourages more blooms.

I will tell you more about Nancy in another post....

There were many visitors in the garden
most of them taking photos of the roses
with their super duper cameras with zoom lenses.
Probably like your cameras Donna and Eileen!!!
(I was green with envy)!

 If you are still with me after all
my rabbiting on...
you'll have the message by now
I'm an old rose lover....
or should that be
a lover of OLD roses - that's better!!!

And now a cautionary tale....

My talented friend Karen of the blog

TODOLWEN

had a bad experience after making some

behind the scenes changes to her blog and the

URL

......her blog vanished

along with a 1000+ faithful followers.

Thankfully she was rescued by

the expert in all things bloggy,

Karen of Valentine Design.

Sadly her followers couldn't be rescued

so if you were a follower

please go over to Karen's blog

here 

and re-join her blog. 

I'm so glad you've come back to us Karen!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING
to all my wonderful American friends!
I'm looking forward to reading your
posts about your special day.

 My garden bag containing all the roses - I wish you could smell the perfume!

Thank you as always dear friends for being here
WELCOME
to my lovely new friends - it's lovely to meet you.

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

♥ Shane ♥

Afternoon Teas...

 Hello dear friends

 It's hard to believe we are now in the

last week of November!

My dear mother had a great fondness

for fine china and she passed on many

lovely pieces to me

including this Hammersley tea set.

 

Hammersley & Co, Longton, Stoke on Trent, England.

 I really feel privileged to be the custodian

of this precious china and

I will be passing it on to my daughter one day!

Each piece is hand painted so beautifully

and the colors are still bright

after all these years.

I treat it with great care

and hand wash each piece in

Softly. 

 From the middle photo above you can see

how fine the china is by the gtranslucence

you can almost see through it.

Walnut and parsnip cake

which I served at one of our

embroidery group Tuesdays.

(let me know if you would like the recipe)

 Mauve, purple, lilac shades are not my color choice

usually, but I have grown to love these.

I still remember my mother's

elegant afternoon tea parties

with her dear chatty friends.

Today I'm joining

Mary  for Mosaic Monday

and the following tea parties

Ruth for Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday
Terri for Tea Cup Tuesday
Kathe for You're Gonna Love it Tuesday 

Bernideen for Friends Sharing Tea

Nula, Rosie and Becca from here

Thank you dear friends for being here

WELCOME

to my new followers it's lovely to meet you.

 Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

 

♥ Shane ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

French Village Greys

Hello dear friends
it's Thursday so it's time for
Michelle's party

GREY DEY THURSDEY

 

My photos this week were all taken

when I was in France this year.

I visited lots of villages

while driving the girls out and about to

ballet classes

and

the library

and

school

as well as

shopping

lots of girlie shopping!!!

   

Please pop in and see more lovely

touches of grey over at

Petite Michelle Louise's blog

I've just been over for a sneak peak

and you are going to LOVE

Michelle's post today!!!

THANK YOU

my dear friends

for your kind comments and visits.

WELCOME

to my new followers

it's lovely to meet you!

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

 

♥ Shane ♥

 

Embroidery Note Cards

Hello dear friends

today's post is all about my embroidery efforts!

I'm joining

VEE

for my favorite blog party

Vee's Note Card Party

I thought I would make some little

note cards that I can have on hand to

send to family and friends.

The angel above was on my second

granddaughter's

Angel Christmas stocking

which I made a few years ago.

 A little Kiwi button to remind her she is part
Nouvelle Zealandaise!

I must tell you,

with every spare second of time

in the last couple of weeks, I've been

working like a beaver

to finish the baby's stocking

and get it in the post to reach France

in time for Papa Noël's sleigh delivery

on Christmas Eve 2013!

(my right hand is quite sore from the constant stitching)!!

This month Vee gave us a new challenge

to create a Box Cover

for our Note Cards.

You are so imaginative dear Vee!

This is my version which will hold my

Embroidery Cards.

Please pop over to Vee's here

where you can find all the info on taking part

 it's fun and we would love you to join us!

Thank you Vee for hosting!

Thank you to my followers for your kind comments.

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

 

♥ Shane ♥

Roses for the Philippines....

Hello dear friends

while I prepared my mosaics to join

Mary for her (not happening this week) party

Mosaic Monday

my thoughts were on the poor people in the

Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan was one of history's

strongest recorded typhoons.

The scale of destruction is horrific

and has left 2.5 million people

in  urgent need of humanitarian relief.

My new rose Pierre de Ronsard

Like me I'm sure you've seen the

news reports on television.

There is dreadful suffering

my heart goes out to everyone,

especially to the little children.

Thank goodness aid is now pouring

in from all over the world.

So as you are enjoying your day

could I ask you to spare a thought

and a prayer for the people of the

Philippines.

Thank you for your kind comments.

(I've just re-read Mary's last post so I am now aware
there is no party this week - it's an age thing)!!!
Thank you dear Judith for reminding me!!

I am also mindful of the deadly tornadoes in
the American Mid West region.
There is definitely a strange weather pattern emerging,
I wonder if you are of the same opinion?

WELCOME

to my new followers - it's so lovely to meet you!

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

 

♥ Shane ♥