A giant visited my garden earlier this morning

No no no noooooo! No! No! Well, yes, we were ‘graced’ by a much unexpected snow storm last night. Snow-covered roofs had white little ghosts dancing on them earlier this morning, and an invisible giant had covered the garden in sugar. Maybe he thought that my garden was a cake and wanted to have it decorated with cream cheese frosting? Ah yes, that must be it! A giant with a sugar sifter shaking powdered sugar in the garden because everything was covered in a thin layer of something white, something that looked like sugar, but really it tasted more like snow… What would you have done? I wanted to shout at the giant for doing such naughty thing, or maybe shoo him away, but then I decided that anyone can live with flowers, even in the midst of a snow storm... even if all you have is a container and some roses from the market… at last, I can enjoy a bit of summer…. Sigh!

Rain or snow, sunshine or shade.... may you all have a blessed weekend, my friends!

Excerpts of my life

It rained all day last Friday. Then on Saturday a marvelous bright sun came up bringing with him a sort of magical vapor that wafted from the ground, making the garden smell like maple syrup... We had a special Easter program at church that morning, and so I got to wear my favorite silver high heels. I love those shoes... I can’t tell exactly why, but when I wear these shoes I feel like Cinderella in her beautiful ball gown. I say they're enbued with magical properties. They’re my talisman. I wear them almost on every special occasion.

Oh and I do have a face! ;) That's just the back of my head on the above picture! ;) People say long hair can be aging, and I see so many women my age with the same short, layered hair... but I want to be me, and you can never go wrong being who you are, right? So it will always be extra long hair for me!

I hurried back home after church, as some of our friends were coming for lunch and I had to get things ready. So I went to set up a pretty table with all sort of yummy and pretty things in it.

I had already prepared a marvelous cheesecake the night before, and because this was my first time ever making a cheesecake, I was super thrilled at how it turned out! That cheesecake was simply the best, most wonderful cheesecake I have ever had, and have ever made! ;) You can find the recipe I used here.

I made extra frosting and let it drizzled onto the plate for extra goodness. This recipe produces enough sour cream topping for a thick layer, but I used a thinner layer by reducing the amount of sour cream in half. It was super yummy!

Do you ever find yourself waiting impatiently and watching the flower buds, just wanting them to open so badly? I faithfully stroll through my garden every single day to see what small miracle is unfolding out there... I do this every year. Even in the grip of below freezing temperatures, at the beginning of March when nothing is alive. I talk to my plants. One by one I check them, one by one I talk to them and tell them to hurry up and grow and unfold. It’s a game of patience but really, it is more a game of eagerness and excitement, and sometimes even annoyance. Things just don’t grow as fast as I’d like to, and the sight of my dear roses in early spring could be very discouraging... waiting to see if they have yet survived another winter kills me...

Oh, and remember my "Enchanted Ivy Path", last year?

Well, now it’ll have to be called the "Enchanted Daisy Path! Yeap, my precious ivy had to be removed to keep it from tearing up our walls. Removing ivy roots wasn’t a fun job. I don’t like the use of herbicide, so the job had to be done all by hand and the help of Mr. Muscle.

I love English Ivy; they’re such a lovely intricate little plants and they conjure such fascinating mystery. They remind me of shadowy places, and abandoned castles and ancient stone walls and lovers in secluded secret gardens. But ivies are infamous for suddenly popping up in cracks and holes, and they can causes building walls to break further and badly damage the entire structure.

The impairment becomes more severe when ivies come into contact with wood. The roots would cause the timber to split, allowing moisture and fungus to enter and begin total destruction of the material. So I had to give them up.

I have planted a full row of Shasta Daisies in their place. Daisies are native in our area and they’re a magnificent source of attraction for birds and butterflies. I can hardly wait to see them grow! And of course, I have to have another type of climber growing there, but I haven't done that yet. Any suggestion on what would thrive in a semi-shady environment and won't destroy my wall?

May the birds come sit upon your window sill,

and may the flowers sing you an enchanted song

and may the sun shine sweetly upon your shoulders.

Peace be with you.

I'm linking this post to: Cottage Flora Thrusday

Show Off Your Favorite Room

Welcome to "SHOW OFF YOUR COTTAGE MONDAY", a blog party I host at the beginning of each week to celebrate the things we love about our homes and how we live.

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Hi everybody! If you didn't know it, The house in the roses and friends are celebrating a party today to show off our favorite room in our house, so please do come in and make yourself comfortable as we have prepared a very special show for you to enjoy! Here they are! Enjoy!

Sandra's favorite room, at The Veranda House Marydon's favorite room, at Blushing Rose Lindy's favorite room, at Cottage Hill

Mary's favorite room, at Mary's Meanderings

Karie's favorite room, at Karies Chic Creations Favorite room, at Oatmeal and Whimsy

From Marie, at Marie's Maison

From Emily at Crisp Interiors From Nita at Mod Vintage Life From Kathy, at A Delightsome Life From Shannon, at North Dakota Kitchen From Tracie, at Fishtail Cottage

And have I ever mentioned that my favorite room in my entire house is our grape covered back porch? Actually, it is my favorite room in the whole wide world... and you can see why!

A huge THANK YOU to all and every participant! It is your turn now! What are you celebrating? Remember: You’re still welcome to participate by linking as you usually do every Monday, even if you didn’t send a photograph. So linkup, but please remember, linkup should be beneficial to both authors and submitters, authors usually require a link back! Thank you for complying to the rules!

Spring has sprung

She’d already had far too much reality. She’s been waiting for this moment for a long long time, and now the fairies are making sure she understand the time had finally come…

They have sprinkled the garden with fairy dust just for her, and they have scattered charms of apple blossoms pink just for her, and the sparrows have returned to the flowering pear tree... and so, it is time…

Summoned by the fairies, the girl follows the paths to the garden—light jacket, old garden boots, wild hair, billowy breezes dancing in the hem of her skirt…

She hears the cheerful giggles of fairies and wonders what’s going on...

When finally the fairies removed the silky cloth they had tied around her eyes, she could not believe what she was seeing!

The grass had finally shed its blanket of chilly white, tulips were popping out of the ground everywhere and her little world was now decked in light green leaves and flower buds in colors like a rainbow bursting in the air...

Soft sunshine dappled through the trees as the smell of sweetness danced from and around the trees, and above, mourning doves serenaded the skies as they busied themselves in preparation of new nests. She gasped and whirled around; her heart bursting with happiness. "Was that even possible?" Ah yes, spring has finally arrived to her little world!

Spring had weaved a lovely magical shawl for her to wrap herself with, and from now on until the wheels of time bring new seasons once again, she will wear it and live in it as one with herself...

And so, this is how her life fairytale begins… This is back to the garden, back to Nature, back to life... Has spring sprung in your part of the world yet? Oh I do hope so... I cannot say that it is already warm and sunny around here, because that’s not so yet, but this is the beginning of what’s to come. And I have so many plans and dreams for my garden this year. The two climbing New Dawn roses we planted last year are filled to the brim with new buds ready to burst open in a few more weeks, and little strange plants I’d never planted, or forgot I had planted them are coming forth from the ground with such life I tremble at the sight... were they here last year, I wonder? How magnificent this force of life is! I am grateful, my heart is the treasure box where I gather days like these and memories like these forevermore...

Please remember our Show Off Your Favorite Room on Monday! And don't forget to send your pic!

I'm linking this post to Cottage Flora Thrusday! Happy weekend everyone!

Romantic rainy days

It’s been raining off and on all day. There's something magical about days like these that drives me straight to the back porch... so I grab a blanket and curl up in its warmth to watch the rain from my comfy spot in the settee.

I like to see how the rain washes off the land, and I like to watch how after it stops raining the sun comes up and ever so gently starts spreading itty bitty specks of gold through the rain-damped grass and over the trees and atop the leaves. Rain drops looked like shiny stars on the leaves, and wiggly woozy worms were everywhere this morning for the robins to feast on… Ah yes, I’m almost certain I heard the robins talking among themselves as they hopped and leaped all over the wet grass: "I’m gonna eat some worms!... big fat juicy worms, and little skinny slimy ones, and fuzzy wozzy pretty worms!"

I believe in seeing beauty in every thing in nature. Nature is the greatest expression of our Creator’s love. We should never give up an opportunity to turn whatever beautiful element we encounter in our daily lives into a personal experience. I had the opportunity to make one of those magical moments today by simply opening my senses to the wonderful smell of rain. The smell of rain is something that I’ve always loved, even as a child. That scent is somehow more than just something we smell. We feel it as well. It is visceral, and it certainly has an effect on our brain chemistry. The minute you step outside on a rainy day and inhale deeply, letting that scent fill you up, you will experience that peaceful quality it brings with it.

It was a magical morning, indeed! And extra special too! You see, a little while later, I heard a knock upon my door. I went straight to open it, and what do you know... It was Peter Pan! It was so naughty of him not to wipe his feet from all the rain and mud outside, but when he showed me what he had brought for me straight from some garden in Neverland, I melted... it was the most exquisite rose bouquet I'd ever seen!

There were not just pink roses, or red roses, or yellow roses, but a delicious assortment of roses in lush variety and scent! Oh he knows me real well this sweet Peter Pan of mine... I have a feeling he have fallen hard and fast head over heels for me... but oh please don't tell Wendy!

I played house with my roses all afternoon, rearranging them, changing the setting, trying different places...

I had a lot of fun, and then to properly thank sweet Peter Pan, I invited him to stay for dinner, so I started to set up the table...

And baked his favorite super tasty quiche with a super flaky crust... he even offered to help with the salad!

Later, he came to my room in the night and sat on the foot of my bed and played on his pipes until I fell sleep... Ah yes, we had a super lovely romantic day, and all thanks to the rain, which makes everything ever so romantic, and dreamy...

Oh oh... and if you haven't sent your picture yet, please remember to do so as soon as possible, as we only have a few more days until our party, next Monday, April 25th. In the mean time, I'll wait for you reading all the letters I'm already getting! Just click on the image below to send your photos!

See you super soon!