Goodnight Irene

As Hurricane Irene whirls her way up the eastern seaboard of the US I've been busy gathering the necessary supplies to help us weather the storm.

A good book is a must, since TV and internet may be scarce for a few days.  I've been down this road before, and though we have a whole house generator for just such an occasion, invariably trees come down and service is disrupted.

Perfume is nice to have on hand, just in case you can't shower for a day or two.  My Lollia "Calm" should do the trick.

And you really need cake, we all know that cake makes everything better!

Along with a good book, it's important to have a few magazines on hand.

Ok, maybe more than just a few!

Bringing in all of the garden veggies is important too, so I've harvested the ripe tomatoes and peppers and I might whip up a yummy sauce or salsa.

And of course we need tea, lots of tea!  You may have noted that no alcohol is included in this "must have" hurricane ready list.  I'm not irresponsible my friends, you have to keep your wits about you in a storm!  I will bet donuts to dollars that someone on my street will host an impromptu hurricane party though! ;-)

If we don't lose internet due to Irene, I will also be taking the next few days to reply to the many wonderful emails I've received in the last few days...thank you to each and every one of you, many of whom brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my heart!

To everyone in Irene's path, let's hope she bids us goodnight and veers off to sea.  But if she insists on stopping by, I hope each of you will be safe and sound!

Terry John Woods...and a Sale

This week is off to a busy start.  It's funny how that happens after a holiday weekend when you've kicked back and done nothing, and then all of a sudden you check your email to find that everything is happening all at once!  It's a good kind of busy though, one filled with excitement and anticipation for projects to come and fun assignments!

It's been hot, hot, hot here the past few days, so I'm staying inside and pretending my AC is really a cool bay breeze.  Last week was much more pleasant, and I even spent some time out in my hammock catching up on reading.  You see, I got a wonderful surprise in the mail last week...Terry John Woods' new book...Summer House!  Amazon said it wouldn't ship until June the 1st, so I was thrilled when the mailman dropped it off last Friday!

I couldn't wait to sit down and properly devour it since you might recall how much I loved Terry's last book which I wrote about in this post.   I had loved his first book so much that I was almost a little nervous that this one might not live up to my expectations.  The moment I opened it and began reading the words so lovingly written by Dale West and began gazing at the amazing photos taken by Kindra Clineff, all of my fears were put to rest.


 

The book, which is peppered with wonderful vintage family photos from summers gone by, takes you back to a time when the scent of honeysuckle filled your soul as you rode down deserted roads with "no hands" and skinned knees.

The words and pictures intertwine to create an image of the perfect carefree summer, and a decorating style that lets summer live year round in our hearts and in our homes.

The more I read, the more I thought...I wonder if Terry and I were separated at birth...maybe we are long lost twins?!  Ok, ok, I know we were born on different days, in different places, to different people, and in different years...but the similarities are quite striking!

I mean he loves old watering cans and so do I!

And see that vintage Wayrite kitchen scale in the photo above...yup I have one of those too!

A love for old white wicker and petunias...yes, we share that same love.

Now this may just convince you that we truly are long lost twins, see those shell covered pillow shams in the photos...well guess who else has those same shams?!  Ok, are you freaking out a little about this...should I call someone from Ancestry.com to clear this up?!

And while Terry and Dale are sippin' on some San Pellegrino, there is always some chillin' in my fridge!

Blue and white platters with starfish anyone?  Why yes, I think I will!

Even if you aren't Terry's long lost sister/twin like I clearly am *wink, wink*...I think you will still love this amazing book.  Once again, I'm left speechless at how this book, Summer House, will have you plotting ways to sell everything you own and move to your very own summer house in Maine!  If you haven't ordered your copy already...then RUN, don't walk over to Amazon and get yours today!

Thank you Terry, Dale and Kindra for another wonderful book that will be a fixture in my decorating "must have" library!  And I would also like to give Kindra Clineff a special shout out and thank you for spending time talking to me on the phone recently about creating my website!  Your advice and help were much appreciated!

Now, on to some important info if you are within driving distance of southern Maryland and are looking for something to do this weekend.  My friends Susan and Julie are working on another wonderful sale to be held at Susan's waterside cottage, and you won't want to miss it!  Below is a flyer with all of the info...it's sure to be another winner, just like her last sale!

I Beg Your Pardon...and a Giveaway

I never promised you a rose garden...oh wait, I kind of did, so here goes!  Oh, and be sure to scroll ALL the way down to the bottom of the post to register for my latest Giveaway!

If you read my last post, then you know that I spent last Friday with my blog pal Connie from Hartwood Roses.

It was a perfect day to visit her beautiful home and gardens since it was a little on the overcast side and not too hot.  When it's sunny, it makes it much harder to photograph flowers during mid day, so we were both hoping for clouds on Friday, and we got our wish!

Visiting Connie's yard and gardens is a little like walking in to a fairy tale.  As you wander the rose gardens, you can't help but feel like a princess from a story book and it makes you want to break out in song and don a frilly frock.


 

Because everywhere you turn there is color, fragrance, and beauty, the kind that illustrators have tried to capture for years.

And perfumiers and candle makers long to recreate the wonderful unique scent of a rose so that we can enjoy it year round.

As we wandered around, Connie gave me lots of info about roses, she's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to heirloom and old fashioned roses...you might even say that besides her family and pets, it's her passion!

Until I met Connie, I was a bit of a rose dummy, preferring Knock Out brand shrub roses that seemed to grow on their own.  I thought that growing "real" roses would require me to purchase a wide brimmed hat, gloves, and spend hours on my hands and knees out in a rose garden treating things like black spot and Japanese beetles.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my Knock Out roses and they make great border "shrubs" as Connie likes to say, but they never gave me the rose smell and look that I envision when I think of roses.

I've long been a fan of old fashioned flowers and cottage gardens, the kind our grandparents and great grandparents planted without giving much thought to it really.  Those were the roses I longed for, and I kept thinking to myself, that those hardy farm folk didn't have time to sit outside tending roses all day, so there must be a rose that would give me the look and the fragrance I was after without becoming a full time job. 

Thankfully, becoming friends with Connie has shown me that I can grow roses successfully and she's turned me in to a rose lover too, and I can't thank her enough for that!

When I met Connie I was immediately taken with the fact that she fearlessly began a rose business in spite of a down trodden economy because she simply loved finding and preserving the same roses I recalled from my childhood.

On Friday, Connie showed a little more of that fearlessness as she mocked Mrs. Mockingbird and peeked inside a rose bush to get a shot of her babies in their nest.  Mrs. Mockingbird, who you can just make out sitting on the cement fence post, was NOT amused, and you can see pictures of the babies in this post on Connies blog.


 

Wouldn't living in a rose bush be the most wonderful thing in the world?  Well that's kind of how Connie lives, with all of the gorgeous roses she is surrounded by much of the year.

As we walked around, Connie told me that what she does to remember the roses she is photographing is to take a picture of the flower followed by a photo of the plant marker beneath each rose.

This is a great idea, but by the time I started that method, I had already snapped a lot of photos, and then when I was looking through the photos I took to decide which ones to use, I couldn't remember if I snapped the picture of the flower first, or the name first!  So you'll have to visit Connie's website where she sells roses to identify the names of the flowers I've featured.

Along with speaking at various rose functions and running her heirloom rose business, Connie has been busy this spring planning the wedding of one of her daughters which will take place right on the property!

This is a view from the pavilion where her daughter and future son in law will tie the knot.  While I was there visiting, Connie's husband was busy getting things ready for the big day.  So far, they've mulched, weeded, laid sod, and reconfigured the entire pavilion where the bride and groom will say their vows as the lucky guests watch on from the lush green lawn.

And what flowers will they be using for the wedding...well roses from the property of course, plus some other flowers!

And with hundreds of varieties of roses to chose from, there are more than enough roses to go around.

Can't you just imagine how beautiful the pictures will be with a setting as pretty as this?

This beautiful blush pink rose would be so pretty in a brides bouquet don't you think?!

And here is an example of the signs Connie uses to identify each and every rose in her garden...that's a lot of signs folks!

Even the roses that aren't yet in bloom are beautiful, like this one along the back fence line.

On the back portion of the property is where Connie's biggest rose garden is, and oh my, what a garden it is!

There are roses of every color, size, and variety...something for everyone.

And it's simply a magical place to be.

Connie apologized for the weeds which have taken hold of this part of her garden...but I simply looked at her and laughed.  She has HUGE amounts of gardens to tend to and goes a million miles an hour with everything from raising money for cancer research for canines, to planning a wedding...so I told her that she should cut herself a little slack.

If she could only see my flower beds right now, which are dwarfed in size by hers, she wouldn't have been apologizing at all!

This little shovel is evidence that both Connie and her husband have a never ending job tending to this historic property.

Weeds or no weeds, this garden is a magical place full of the most beautiful colors...I could sit here all day and drink it in.

Everywhere you turn there is color, and each rose is more beautiful than the next, making it hard to pick a favorite.

And who would want to choose anyway...when like Connie, you can have them all!

There are delicate peachy pink roses...

And vibrant pinky red colored roses full of petals.

And there are climbing roses which soar skywards.

These ruffle'y magenta colored roses were so colorful, they were one of my favorites!

This is a view of Connie's yard looking back towards her house from the large rose garden.  You can see the pavilion where her daughter will be married in just 2 weeks.

If I had to pick just one rose as a favorite from last Friday it would have to be this one.  It had petals which looked like a beautiful summer sunset to me, and I loved how full it opened as if to say, lean over and smell me!

It truly was a magical day to be surrounded by such beauty, and I want to thank Connie for inviting me to come and take pictures of all of her hard work!  I even came home with four new roses of my own!

So now, after being ever so patient, I'd like to announce this rose inspired giveaway!  Awhile ago, my friend Doug Vogel gave me a wonderful CD that shows you how to take roses and create several arrangements with them, so that is the first part of my Giveaway.

Doug also gave me this great book created by his friend Dottie Harrigan.  Inside the book you'll find lots of charming flower quotes!  So that's part 2 of my Giveaway.

And the 3rd part is that I'll be giving away one of Connie's beautiful rose plants!

The Giveaway is open to EVERYONE...so, in order to be entered for a chance to win here's what you need to do.

#1.  Visit Connie's Hartwood Roses website by clicking HERE and then come back and leave me a comment telling me which rose you would like to win!  (if you live in a state that won't allow the shipment of roses, or if you live outside the US, I will substitute something else rose themed instead.)

#2.  For a second chance to win, simply become a follower of Low Tide High Style, and if you are one already, simply leave me a SEPARATE comment letting me know that you have become a follower or already are one.

#3.  For a 3rd chance to win, you can tweet, Facebook, or blog about the giveaway.  Just be sure to come back and leave a 3rd comment letting me know that you did one of those things to spread the word!

The Giveaway will be open until Midnight PST, May 29th, 2011.  The winner will be announced on Monday the 30th.  Good Luck!