4 Roses Bourbon, Book of History and Anniversary Rose

Hello Friends ~ back in the middle of summer, I was contacted because of my love for roses (I assume), by the 4 Roses Bourbon Company. They would send me a book of their history, a bottle of their 4 Roses bourbon and from J&P  Live Roses Nursery, I would receive the rose they had developed for the 130th anniversary of the 4 Roses Distillary.  I wrote back accepting their offer, excited to do this.

I am so looking forward to adding this rose to my collection of roses.

From the website: “The blooms of this rose are exquisitely formed, fade-proof, and emit a lovely damask fragrance. Once they open, the blooms are 3- to 4-inches wide and comprised of 20 to 25 deep red petals. These blooms arrive in early summer and keep on going in waves all season long, especially if promptly deadheaded. It's a vigorous and easy-to-grow rose, heat tolerant, and resistant to rust and powdery mildew, meaning it's a good choice for warmer climates.” Photo from website.

I received the nice bottle of bourbon and the very informative and interesting book on the history of this company, nice photos. I read the book in one sitting. The 4 Roses name has a romantic history behind it.

I had my first sampling of this bourbon a couple of weeks ago. I am novice and do not drink a lot. I have wine with dinner, an occasional margarita when I feel like celebrating something, and on rare occasions with the right food I will have a beer with lunch. I googled bourbon and how to drink it. Some drink it straight, some dilute it. I tried a sip straight first, a bit strong for FlowerLady, I then added a tad of water as suggested, didn’t have sparkling water. That was much mellower and was nice to sip.

It will be good to have in my eggnog Christmas morning, a sometimes tradition for DH and I, started by my Cuban BIL when DH’s family were all together for Christmas when we were younger.

It would also be good as a ‘hot toddy’ when one is sick with a cold or the flu, with honey and lemon and ginger tea.

I pray that those who do drink will do so responsibly. In moderation.

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That’s it for now. May you all have lovely Christmas holidays and please stop to think on what this season is really all about. God, come in the flesh, His name, Jesus. Creator and Savior of the world. To Him be glory now and forever.

FlowerLady Lorraine

The Garlic Vine Blooms & ‘baby it’s cold outside’

Good Wednesday morning from Plum Cottage. Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is almost here. Had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and their pets. Food scrumptious and a goodie bag for home.

This morning our lowest temp was 48 and real feel was 42. Brrr! The thermometer in the bedroom said 70 so it was comfortable in here. The sun is brightly shining now at 9:49 a.m. in a great big blue sky. Monday it had been 84 and real feel was 92. Quite the difference, but oh how welcome the cooler temps are. It feels more like the holiday season should feel. The scullery window this morning, cold outside, comfortable inside.

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Monday I started decorating for Christmas. Going slow and enjoying the process. The lights are on the two small trees and it was a joy to turn on the lights when I got up yesterday morning. There is something about the lights that make me feel happy and content. This morning I’ve started decorating the main tree, etc. I shed a few tears hanging one ornament that I had made for us, and now my heart feels a tad heavy.

Holidays are rough especially the month of December. On the 9th, my dear husband left this earth, immediately was with his Creator/Savior and he was immediately well and at peace. I am thankful for that. On the 20th is his 71st bday and I will miss making him a special meal. Then we have Christmas. I will be glad when January is here.

There is a church Christmas party coming up but I have decided not to go. Being around lots of couples is just hard to take especially at this time of year. In the Grief Share meeting about Surviving Holidays they said it is ‘ok’ to say ‘no’ to events. There is already enough going on this month to keep me busy. I’ve already been to 2 potluck dinners and then Thanksgiving in the last two weeks. I need solitude and quiet times to be able to deal with life. Some of you may be thinking, but she already lives in solitude and has quiet times. Yes, I do, but going out, shopping, social events all wear me out, always have. I’m more of a home body and so was DH. It’s nice to be with people for short periods of time. It always feels good to pull into the driveway and be home sweet home.

Ok, I think I need to go outside for some brisk, fresh air, to enjoy God’s beautiful creation, boost my spirits back up. Some beauty like this below, the wonderful garlic vine. This vine blooms at least twice a year, maybe three times. It is called garlic vine because when you brush up against the leaves you get hit with a gentle scent of garlic. The blooms fade out to almost white and are gone in a few days.

Ok, that’s it for now. There are more blooms to show from the past week or so that I will share in another post.

Happy Christmas holidays ~ Enjoy each day you are blessed with ~ FlowerLady

November Blooms & living room bookcases

Hello Folks ~ Can you believe it is almost Thanksgiving, and then Christmas is right around the corner? This year really has zipped by.

This week I changed out my bedspread from spring/summer to fall/winter.  Miss Tork doesn’t care what the season is, she enjoys the bed anytime of year.

Also put on a favorite sheet set that I got at a small flea market for $8. I save these for this time of year also. I was thrilled when I saw these. They are queen or king size and my bed is a double, but they work for me. I love the floral design.

As I start to work on this post, I listened to some lovely instrumental Christmas music. Really early for me with the music, but I felt like it.

Christmas Songs

I emptied containers of books into the new-to-me bookcases and added bits & pieces of decorative  ‘objects d’art’ from around the cottage.

The bunch of grapes are made of alabaster. While we were living in Spain, when DH was in the US Navy, 70-73, a Navy friend of his went to Italy and DH asked his friend to get these for me. The stem is a real grape stem. The brass oil holders were bought at a flea market while we were there.

Books on next shelf are most of my ‘first’ cookbooks. The little pumpkin I crocheted this year from a pattern I found online.

The clock doesn’t work, and is set to the time when God called DH home.

More cookbooks.

Bottom shelf has bookends that are DH’s initials that I bought at our flea market many, many years ago, 50 cents each. They might be made of walnut. They are resting on sweet, wonderful books by Jerri Landers. I love these. She is an exceptional artist in many mediums. You can visit her blog here, Hopalong Hollow Gazette.

On this shelf is an old ‘white or pot’ metal statue we bought at our local flea market a long, long time ago. The jug we bought in Spain in an area of the country where they are famous for making all sorts of things using the red clay and painting technique.

Next is a piece of coral. Then in the background is an old icon of Mary and Baby Jesus. The ‘Bible’ is made out of marble. The lettering is etched into the marble. on the side it says, ‘Learn of Me’.

This shelf is filled with natural ways of healing, aromatherapy, herbs. The brass mortar & pestle were bought in Spain.

Some of our rock collection. The two heart shaped rocks DH bought for me from a garden center that had different bins of rocks. He asked the lady if he could pick out two rocks shaped like hearts and only buy them instead of by the pound or however they were being sold. She said yes, and he looked through them and picked out these two.

I bought David and Venus at our local flea market for $6. They are some sort of composition material.

Gardening books.

Now for some blooms from Plum Cottage Gardens

‘Blue Lips’

‘Mexican Petunia’

Orchids

‘Plumbago’

‘Wild Petunia’

Unknown

A ‘carpet’ rose.

‘Granada’

‘International Herald Tribune’

‘Louis Philippe’ or ‘Florida Cracker Rose’

‘Mozart’

Unknown

‘Pink Muhly’ grass

‘Hibiscus tree’ bloom

‘Hibiscus tree’ leaves’

Let your hearts be filled with thanksgiving. Let us give thanks to our Creator God, Jesus, for all that He has done for us out of His GREAT LOVE for us. Let us trust in Him, believe in Him. He is the Savior of the world.

Happy November

FlowerLady