The David Austin Rose Catalogue

A friend of mine recently went on a trip to Germany, where she attended an international flower show. She was interviewing different rose growers for research here back home. I had asked, if it wasn't too much, if she could bring me home a copy of the David Austin rose catalogue to browse through.

I always see the ads for ordering it in British Country Living, but I never have.

I was quite excited when she handed it to me the other week, and I've since been reading up on different varieties in hopes of possibly ordering a few more for my gardens.

I was so lucky the other year - in fact, the girl working the garden centre probably thought I was nuts - to find two varieties in town. I have never seen them sold here in Canada, and last year I searched all over unsuccessfully.

Here are some that I have dogeared.

Carolyn Knight

Gentle Hermione

Queen of Sweden

Lady Emma Hamilton

And both Lichfield Angel and William and Catherine.

This is the variety I have planted - Winchester Cathedral.

Have any of you had any luck ordering roses by mail? Or even Peony roots? I've also found quite a few lovely varieties that are very reasonable on eBay, but I'm so leery.

Hudson's Bedroom

The next room that I have been busy working through is Hudson's room. Originally, this was a guest room. It then became our nursery when Willen was born. When Hudson came along, Willen was moved into the second upstairs bedroom, formerly our office.

Half a year ago, on Hudson's second birthday, I purchased a pair of the beautiful four poster single beds. I wanted them to match because I loved the look of matching beds in a shared room.

When Hudson graduated out of our crib, we moved the boys into the same room. This allowed for a smooth transition into a proper bed, and it also freed up the second room for a play room for toys.

Now that Hudson is settled in his "big boy bed" though, we felt it was time to move him back. Willen has many little toys that are a little small for Hudson to play gently with. And at times, Willen would prefer to read a bit before bed and that doesn't make for the smoothest of bedtimes for Hudson.

So, this week the rooms were once again rearranged, and this is the result.

This trunk is a family heirloom that's quite special to us, if one can be more special than another. This was the boys' great grandfather's trunk (Ryan's Papa). It's stamped with his address on it because it was what his entire life travelled in as he toured around during the second World War. I can't imagine the places this trunk and been and how precious all of it's contents must have been at that time.

This old buffet has been used as a change table for both boys and now houses baskets with toys. It's very worn, but I have a hard time parting with it. I found it before we were married and kept it in my parent's garage. It was the first piece of furniture that I hauled home, abandoned at the side of the road by a neighbor.

Not much changed with the room other than some rearranging and cleaning, but here is what the room looked like the first time we did it.

It was a chartreuse green colour and it had carpet. After countless times of trying to carpet clean these carpets (we actually have one!), and seeing how disgusting the water was every time, we ripped it all out.

The Living Room

We have had a whirlwind of a week, and before the week is over, I wanted to share some photos of what the living room looks like now that it's finished.

Now, let's be honest. By "finished", I don't really mean finished, finished. Is a room ever really finished? I don't think so.

But, for now, it's as finished as it's going to be.

You'll notice my large empty frame is missing. I intended to hang it above the loveseat, but I'm afraid it might be too much on that wall. It's still undecided.

As you can see, the layout has changed around a bit. Our love seat has been moved to the right wall, and the display case where the love seat used to be. Because of the narrow depth of the display case, we were able to squeeze in an arm chair in front of it by the bay window. I've been on the hunt for a smaller occasional chair, and I've come across some good options, but until then, this one adds an extra seat.

The general opinion is that this layout is the most flattering for the space. 

Here are a few photos of different variations of this same room. It's actually quite ridiculous how many times it's changed... But it's been an evolvement of personal style, and finding what's most efficient.

Our living room when we first moved in. It was very dark.

After a year or two, I finally tackled trying to put my own stamp on the space.

Theses couches are actually burnt orange, and because they're a camel-back shape, you can't buy slipcovers for them. I did find generic covers though, and I tucked and tied to try to make them work on a budget. I still have these couches in hopes of one day recovering them.

Also, I had painted the entire space grey. This was when grey started to become quite popular. I regretted it as soon as I put away my paintbrushes. I forced myself to live with it for a few weeks, but I didn't love it. So out everything came again, and I repainted it white - the colour I really wanted to paint it, but was too scared to.

Five years later, I've never repainted a different colour, and am just as happy today as I was then with the look.

Here we have the white walls, and you can see that over time, my style is becoming less cluttered and more focused. However, this layout provided us with only three seats thanks to the piano. Soon after, the piano left, and while I loved the look of it, I was thankful for the extra space.

A new coffee table was purchased, as well as a darker slip cover, and any clutter that was in the space was now completely removed.

Today, while I wouldn't call the room cluttered, I do feel it's more curated.

There is now comfortable enough seating for five, with an occasional chair to the side of the room for the possibility of seating for six.

This is the view from our master. The main bath is to the right, and the front entrance is the french door behind the pair of arm chairs.

It's funny how different the space looks, and how quickly you forget.

Recent Finds - A Salvaged Ceiling Tile

My parent's recently picked up this old ceiling tile from a salvage shop across the river. They actually have been quite lucky lately in finding old ceiling tiles.

I took two home before they could put them in the shop. They would have made one large tile, but were cut into two pieces. My original plan was to display both, side by side, above my couch in the living room. However, they would be within reach of little fingers and even if I sealed them, I still didn't want them that low. So I decided to put one on it's side, up on top of my dining room cabinet.

It makes the ironstone pitchers stand out more obviously.

I loved the colours and the patina, and even the Fleur de Lis pattern of the tile itself. 

A Valentine's Weekend

I've been enjoying a lovely Valentine's Day weekend. Yes, a whole weekend.

Willen had a long weekend off of school, and Ryan worked extra hours last week and could therefore take an extra long weekend. So we've had some much needed family time together.

I can't say that we've done much of anything. We spent Friday decorating the house for our little Valentine's party. We thought it would be fun to spend the night in and make the boys feel like it was a special day for them too. Thanks to more wonderful winter weather, I was rear-ended on my way to work on Saturday. I'm very thankful that it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, but, I decided it was best for me to head back home. We had a nice little get together on Saturday night, and a relaxing Sunday and Monday. Today, Ryan and I are spending the afternoon together.

Willen and Auntie Monica spent the afternoon cutting out hear decorations.

We displayed some beautiful artwork he made at school.

He even made little cupcake toppers for his cupcakes. He later added some cinnamon hearts to make them even more festive.

I made a batch of chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert.

They were so delicious.

We also spent some of Saturday reading through all of Willen's valentines from his friends at school.

And my beautiful bouquet of flowers from Ryan, from Bremfield's of course.

The Myrtle and the Rice Flower makes the bouquet smell so wonderful, as will the Lilies when they are more open.

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day.