Roses, roses, roses

Hi Folks ~ Hope you are all having a lovely start to this month of February. Today was a gorgeous day.  Yesterday was too and I was outside working up a small sweat.  The a.c. is on. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 80.

This morning my heart was tugged on for roses once again. This time by Connie's blog, Hartwood Roses, and by a new blog I'm following, les roses du jardin secret. 

Last year Connie offered up some of her baby roses for sale, and I asked her if she'd do a trade for one of my needleworked pieces, and she said yes.  The two roses below are the ones I got. They both are sweet and scented. They are just starting to really take off.

Click on photos for a larger view.

This first one is a seedling called 'Cemetery Rose'. 

From a cemetery in CA. It has a sweet, delicate scent.

This one is called 'Ruth's White Wavy leafed rose'. This has a bit heavier scent. Aaaahh!!!

Connie is a 'serious' rose grower, among other things. She inspires me in many ways.
Here's a link about her.

I went out into my humble cottage gardens the other day and took some pics of roses that are blooming right now.

'Crepuscule'

    This next rose is 'Penelope'

  

  This is an unkn.

  After reading Connie's blog and the other blog on roses, I visited Rose Petal's Nursery, where I have had a wish list going. I went through my list, and also checked again the roses they have in stock. Since Valentine's Day is this month and my birthday is next month, I have treated myself to 4 new roses. :-) They are: Barnhouse Rose, Basye's Purple Rose, Mozart and International Herald Tribune. I will take photos when mine bloom.  You can check them out on the website, also on Help Me Find. They should be here on Tuesday. :-)   *** I am reading a book called 'God Said It, Don't Sweat It ~ How to Keep Life's Petty Hassles from Overwhelming you' by Neil Clark Warren.    Last night I read the following:    "If you get your attitude right, your life will be a thousand times more enjoyable.  For, instance, if you wake up in the morning and focus on all the things that are exciting and meaningful in your life, your energy level will be high.  You will be eager to meet the day head on. Focus on the positive in your life, and you will automatically become more appreciative, more joyful, more thankful.  Life will take on brighter colors. The apostle Paul encourages us to see the positive and then to respond to God with thanksgiving.  When you do, you make an investment in your own contentment, you enrich yourself down deep in your soul, and you maximize every relationship you have."   It's been hard for me to focus on the positive the past three years, yet for my health, mentally, spiritually and physically that is what I need to do.   Growing roses is exciting, they make me feel joyful and thankful, so I need to think about them and look to God to take care of me in every aspect of my life.  He didn't promise us an easy life, but He did promise to never leave or forsake us.   Another saying I came across lately was this one:   "When you arise in the morning, Think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive... to breathe,  to think, to enjoy,  to love." ~Marcus Aurelius~   (My dear husband was called Marcus Aurelius by his Mom and by me on occasion, because of his first name. Reading this was like a little message from him.)

God encourages me in many ways.  Sometimes I just need to be still and know that He IS, and trust Him completely.

Enjoy each day you are blessed with,
FlowerLady