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~ My love of gardening, making home comfortable and entertaining friends and family.

Garden, Home & Party

Tag Archives: English gardens

Spring has arrived…per the calendar

30 Wednesday Mar 2011

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening, Outdoor living

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

English gardens

Since spring is sure to arrive any minute now…it’s officially on the calendar but isn’t in full swing.  Mother Nature has toyed with us and there’s been a couple of spring-like days but I’m still waiting for the real deal.

So while I wait I thought I’d dream of what I want my garden to look like.

No, I don’t have a thatched roof cottage but I wish I did!

Somehow the Brits just know how to grow flowers without them looking too contrived, almost as though they grow wild.

Braeburn House, via Options 1st

In case you imagine this entire post is a fantasy, I do have a white garden gate to the back yard…now I just need to tame the wildness that has occurred over the winter months.

Okay, this garden is being shown because wouldn’t we all love a tennis court in our back yard, especially a grass court!

Herb garden, Belmont House

I am going to work on my herb garden this spring.  I want more herbs than I’ve had in the past, maybe even a pepper or two.

This image is not part of the Options 1st set, Flickr

If my yard had more sun I’d definitely be down for a few raised vegetable beds.

It seems that in England flowers even grow in baskets on bicycles!

The above images are via a website I discovered thanks to Rosemary at Content in a Cottage called Options 1st…enter at your own risk!

Ugardeners FlickrVia UGardeners, Flickr

I will work on my roses so that they bloom like these (above) and try my best to get rid of the sawfly that has plagued them every summer for the past 5 years!

And finally, I will tend to my sheep…oh wait, I don’t have any sheep.  Sheep and chickens, I’d like them both but might have to move to be allowed any!

Happy Spring and hopefully, we’ll all feel the warmth of the season soon!

 

 

 

Christmas past, present, future…Ebenezer and me.

10 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

English gardens, holiday

image by tartanscot

Maybe its because I’m a first time grandma, or maybe it’s just that time of year when I reflect on events of the past…but I’ve been thinking about how time has flown by and before we knew it our children were adults and now we have children with children! What does this have to do with Christmas, you ask?  I guess it’s the time of year we all start reflecting a bit on years that have passed…and for me, the eternal optimist, an eye on the upcoming year.

image above via tartanscot

I love the activities around our home this time of year and embrace how they (activities) change as a family changes.  I still delight in baking, putting up the tree, dinners with friends and family and presents.

images via Southern Living

I enjoy reading Polar Express and believe with all my heart in the spirit of the story.  (If you’ve only seen the movie but never read the book, you may be disappointed).  Some years I join my dear friends with a ticket to Handel’s Messiah.  The traditions can change and new traditions can become the standard, at least for now.

Christmas can be simple and wonderful; it’s what you make it, right?

I hope you enjoy a Happy Christmas with family and loved ones and the best the holidays can offer!

I’m off to Austin to meet my very first grand daughter, born November 28th!  I’ve scheduled some holiday ideas and will return on December 17th to share more ramblings.  Happy Friday

It’s a small world…after all

22 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Gardens

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

English gardens, Petersham Nurseries

The world of blogging has taken me to some amazing sites where talented and enthusiastic folks write (blog) about home, garden and entertaining.  I find it almost overwhelming (in a good way) at the number of creative individuals living in our world, and there are hundreds more that don’t even use a computer!

I recently visited one of my favorite blog sites, Trouvais, and marveled at the beautiful magazine photographs she posted on this particular day—her question was “who do you think lives in this house?” and the home in question was grand, by my standards.  I say that because I’m aware that there are people who participate in blogland that might in fact believe the house was no different than their own homes or that of their neighbors.

Vogue Living Australia

Imagine...

images via Trouvais via Vogue Living-Australia

As I scrolled down and took in the beautiful details of each room I thought to myself, well this is probably a U.S. East Coast “country manor house” where a) a successful businessman and his lovely wife live or b) a 5th generation blue blood and his lovely wife live.  In my fantasy they are always happily married!

So when Trouvais revealed who owned the house,  Gael & Francesco Boglione the name meant nothing to me.   There was a link to their business and I was still in the dark (for a second) because I first saw that the Petersham Nursery and estate was located in Richmond (so I was thinking of the U.S., Richmond, Virginia.  Then it dawned on me, they live in England.  What surprised me is how the internet has made our world smaller—I believe that can be a good thing.  And trust me, I realize this is a huge “duh” to most of you, but when I think of what you can see, sort of up-close and personal, with the click of a mouse it astounds me and makes me very happy.

Petersham Nurseries

an excerpt from Petersham Nurseries website…“If the nursery itself wasn’t photogenic enough, it is set at the centre of an Arcadia created in the 18th century. Just over one hundred years ago, threatened with development, an “Indignation” Campaign ensured the view from Richmond Hill, of which this Arcadia was key, became the first and only view to be protected by Act of Parliament. Running alongside the Thames, this exquisite area of woodland and water meadows has inspired poets, writers, composers and artists such as J.M Turner and Sir Joshua Reynolds”.

In addition to the beautiful estate and the breathtaking nursery, they own Petersham Properties—a company that rents out manor houses for holiday for ordinary folks like you and me—well, maybe.  I’ll have to check the prices and get back to you on that.

Petersham Properties

This lovely little country house in the Cotswold sleeps 8---yes, please!

Where in the world would you like to visit today or over the Thanksgiving weekend?

Note:  When hubby and I were first married we worked at Disneyland—hubby wore the cute straw bowler hat and was supervisor for the Fantasyland ride, It’s a Small World!

In a former life…I may have been British

09 Friday Jul 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

English cottages, English gardens, living in England

Most of my adult life and certainly after my first visit to England in 1985 I began to think of the U.K. as ‘home’ away from home.  I absolutely fell in love with all things British and have returned 3 times since the initial vacation.

I visited this charming cottage in Chipping Campden and yes, it's as lovely as the picture.

I love the weather—okay, I know I haven’t actually lived in it for any prolonged period of time and might (as some suggest) grow tired of all the gray days.  I don’t think so.  I am so much more comfortable in cool weather than I am in warm so I believe I’d love the fact that most of the year you really need a sweater.

Since I have a passion for gardening I am sure I’d enjoy growing some of the amazing plants that thrive in England’s climate.

It seems that there are beautiful flowers in the front yards as well as the back.

One huge bonus would be that I could grow peonies—which I can’t do in Southern California (not enough cold weather).

There are plans available online for those interested in building their own English cottage.

Isn’t this pretty?  Yep, I think I could live in England…if only I could talk all of my friends and family into moving there with me.

This is a typical village scene.

Happy Friday!  Do you ever believe you love something/somewhere so much, you must have been a resident in a former life?

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