Mademoiselle Rose

Front Entrances

A couple of weeks ago I found this absolutely fabulous magazine, Country Gardens by Better Homes and Gardens (US). and also Flower Gardens by Country Almanac.  Big wow!  I am addicted to magazines (my wallet hates it!) but they are so inspring.  As you all probably know from my blog, I'm very keen to make a beautiful cottage garden, but it's so slow going ... no money, seasons, heat and no rain, everything takes so long to grow ... blah, blah, blah.  It's going to be a slow process, but it's fun!  It is difficult when you haven't done it before to know where to put what (my mind sees the big picture, but not the details), so these magazines have not only been helpful with information in that regard, but have really inspired me to try a bit harder.

I have made some progress, and I'm sure it will get there ... unfortunately I'm not very patient!  Anyway below is a photo by the real estate agent when we bought the property 18 months ago, and the one after is one taken the other day just to see how it's all going!  Wish Dear One had taken the sign away before he took the photo!

 

  

Our arbour at the front is finally looking a little more covered with roses and passionfruit ... and it is difficult to see, but the Pierre De Ronsard climbing roses are wending their way across the top of the fence.  All of my roses have flowered well, except the Pierre De Ronsards so I'm a bit disappointed, don't know what their problem is, but they look healthy and I have fed them a few times.  The one next to the arbour below needs a bit more sun I think, but the Crepe Myrtles (or Crappy Mrytles, as Dear One calls them) will lose their leaves soon and give the roses a chance.

  

The tree on the right above is the blossom tree ... doesn't seem to have grown since I bought it last September, but it looks healthy enough!  The grass around it and down the other side of the path will become garden soon ... I'm waiting till about June to do it, as I am going to fill those spaces mainly with roses around the edges which have to come bare rooted so they won't come till July.  Not much point removing the grass and making a dirt bowl for the next three months, so that's the next job when it gets a bit cooler.  The roses I want to use are below ... Bordure Roses ...

   

I want to mix it in with some white ones and add heaps of cottagy plants in between them on the edges and in the middle of the garden.

And the wonderful vines I put up have gone crazy, so much so sometimes I worry I'll wake up with a vine around my neck, they grow so fast! 

 

The vne is always covered in bees, in fact never seen so many in one spot, and I'm too nervous to get up there and give it all a trim!

I suppose the gardens I love have taken years to do, so I shouldn't get too disheartened, but I must admit I do feel a bit like not much has changed, and yet I've worked in the garden every weekend for the last few months.  I've put in so many plants and so much effort and yet it doesn't really look like I've done much at all.

Anyway, time for some dreaming!  Here are some photos of entryways I admire so much out of the magazines mentioned above ... I still have quite a way to go ... I'm quite happy with what I've done, but looking at these pictures I am a bit frustrated that I have such a long way to go.

 

The above two photos are my favourites by far ... the garden belongs to Cindy Ellis, whose paintings I've admired for years.  I should have known she would have a garden like this ... so dreamy and perfect!

 

These other entryways below are also absolutely beautiful.

 

This garden above has the colours I've chosen for my garden ... blue, mauve, pink and lots of white.  I must admit, the little splash of red in my garden is quite nice, with two red rose bushes which were already here. 

 

 

I love the idea above of the row of rose standards along the entry path ... this is what I had planned originally, but now I've put the cherry blossom tree in the middle of the middle garden, I probably won't do that now. 

Absolutely Beautiful Photography

From http://www.sarahkaye.com

 

 

Carolyn Westbrook Home and a fabulous new magazine

Cruising around the internet I recently noticed that Carolyn Westbrook, who has a lovely book which I have owned for quite a while, as well as being a vintage queen, has opened a new website with lovely products, a blog and an online magazine which is definitely worth a visit!

 

I love this photo.  It was used on the cover of the Where Women Create book which I've had and loved for a while ... so inspiring.  This is my favourite workspace from that book, it's so vintage and looks like a space that is really pretty but still well used. 

 

Another angle of her workroom ... I love the floorboards.

I love the way she uses all the old found "junk" and puts it together and makes it look great!  I wish I could do it ... unfortunately a lot of the time my old junk just looks like a pile of old junk!  This porch is not only so lovely to look at, but most importantly looks really comfortable!

  

I also love this area ... again a lot of old stuff but looks so lovely put together.  I've just finished working on my kitchen (almost ... a couple of things to get done before I show you all!) and my workroom ~ I'll put some photos up soon ~ and my next project is to get a potting area together.  With a huge garden to design (got it sorted with inspiration from visits to Foxglove Spires and the War Memorial in Canberra) and lots of planting, I really need to learn to sow seeds to keep the cost down and also to get what I want with the cottage plants, so a potting area will be a must!  Something like this would suit me just fine!

Visit Carolyn Westbrook's new website and blog ~ it's definitely worth it.  Her online magazine is a neat idea ~ not sure how often she will update it ~ but for some extra gorgeous photos it's worth a visit often!

Speaking of Where Women Create, Stampington have a new quarterly magazine called Where Woman Create, which I've been wanting to order for ages, and I will soon.  I think the first magazine looks absolutely fabulous.  I love checking out creative women's workrooms.  I've bought magazines from Stampington before and they are such good quality they are almost like books. 

  

This is the first one and below are some pictures from it...

 

 

If only mine would stay this tidy ~ it's an ongoing effort!  But aren't they just gorgeous!

  

This is the current issue just come out ...

 

Sunday (above) is the stylist who works with Fifi on the shoots for Romantic Country magazine which is always gorgeous.  I love her colours, so light and bright.

Just from the pictures above, it's easy to see that everyone has their own style of decorating their workrooms ... some are light and bright (like mine ~ I love lots of light, which is probably why I love white on white and the first thing I do in the morning is open the curtains to let the light in) and some are quite dark and moody.  So interesting!