Road Trip

Last weekend I snuck away for a few hours and got a chance to hang out with my dear friend and fellow blogger Connie from Hartwood Roses.  I have been dying to get over and see Connie's beautiful historic home in person, and to buy some of her wonderful roses to add to my new fence...so off I went!

Connie lives a few hours from me over the river in Virginia, not far from where I spent my freshman year of college before transferring to play tennis at a school in Maryland.  When you come down the country road leading to her home, you know that this is a land of genteel living.  Just look at her driveway and those grand old growth trees!!

And when I pulled up this is what greeted me...a gorgeous 1800's home that has been lovingly restored by Connie and her wonderful husband Steve!

The beautiful trim work and antique brickwork had me at hello!  And as if restoring an old home wasn't enough, Connie and Steve also run an heirloom rose business on the property known as Hartwood Roses.

Now I complain regularly about trying to keep up with the various flower beds I have around my house, but after seeing everything Connie has to take care of, I won't be complaining again anytime soon!!  This summer has been brutal in our region, with very little rain and extremely high temperatures, so even with all of her loving care, some of the roses weren't blooming.

But because Connie has over 800 varieties of roses from tea roses, to hybrid teas, to climbers and miniatures...you name it this girl has it, there was color to be found almost everywhere in her breathtaking yard!

And everything from the rose beds to the fencing was picture perfect!  I love this unique old cement fence, that runs down the property line on one side of the house!

Now unlike me, Connie can rattle off the names of hundreds of roses!  And these little beauties have the greatest names, if you click on the picture you can read some of them, which are sure to bring a smile to your face.

These are just some of the potted roses that Connie has for sale each weekend and that she ships all over the country to other avid rose enthusiasts like herself!

Connie patiently propagates these sweet smelling roses on her property and then shares her love of roses with anyone who is interested...including me!  I picked up two climbing roses, including a fragrant New Dawn, while I was there, and I can't wait to watch them flourish along my fence line the way Connie's do on hers.

She has so many wonderful varieties growing all up and down her fences, some of them extending 16 feet from where they are planted!  I plan to visit next spring when I imagine it must feel, and smell, like you are in a French perfume factory or flower market!

And not only is her house beautiful, both inside and out, but Connie also has the most awesome outbuildings!  

I want a red barn like hers!!!  She hopes one day to use the barn for a few Alpacas...sure Connie you don't have anything better to do...buy yourself some Alpacas girl! ;-)

Her rose gardens just go on and on!  Even in the heat of the day I didn't mind wandering around and seeing every last rose bed!

And if you weren't quite jealous enough already, take a look at the property which borders hers...yup, that's a winery!  So not only is Connie's property to die for, but she gets to be neighbors with the Hartwood Winery!  Connie says they are the best neighbors ever and she raved about their wines!  How cool is that to be able to wander across your rose garden to the winery next door to pick up a bottle for a dinner party?!

And speaking of dinner parties, she has the perfect spot to host those too!!  This wonderful gazebo overlooks the barn, the rose gardens, and the winery!

And the gazebo is shaded by this huge Pecan tree that must be hundreds of years old!

There is also a lovely fenced in back yard for her two VERY sweet greyhounds and three kitty cats to roam around in!  Connie does tons of great work with Greyhound rescue and cancer research within the breed through an organization called Greyhounds Rock!  Ok, are you like me and wondering if she ever sleeps?!

She is also a very thoughtful person and gave me this book she found at her local Goodwill.  I've already perused it and plan to use some of the wonderful decorating ideas I found inside it!

After  touring around her home (sorry I didn't have my bounce flash or tripod so you'll have to visit Connie's great blog to see inside pics of her home!) we headed out to a lovely old tavern for lunch and then on to The Big Flea show at the Expo Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia!

We were both good girls and didn't come home with too much stuff!  I bought some Howard Restor-A-Finish for my dining room table, and then a C and a W to add to my old printers' type collection.  And Connie picked up a beautiful old rose painting!

I needed these two letters so that we all have our family initials represented, and Connie was so kind as to get her fingers all dirty along with me trying to find a C.  Who knew that C's were so scarce in the printers' type world?!

After a wonderful day filled with fun and friendship, Connie and I hugged and said our goodbyes and I headed back home, across the river!

It really is a lovely drive between her house and mine, filled with spectacular scenery and lots of open spaces!  I decided to try my hand at snapping pictures with one hand out the passenger side window!

I'm pretty darn sure there is a whole chapter on the dangers of doing this in driver's ed...so please kids...don't try this at home!

I just couldn't resist when I passed one of my very favorite spots in the whole world known as Allen's Fresh.  And aside from feeling like the world is tipping over, they really turned out pretty good, all things considered.  I didn't ever take my eyes off the road and just held the camera up and hoped for the best!

So there you have it, my fantabuloso, fun, flower filled day over the river and through the woods!  Connie and I have already begun scheming our next get together, flea market, food, and lots of chatting are in the works!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for Ms. M, she continues to improve with each passing day!