Drapes in the Dining Room

This post could also be titled "Following My Heart, and Being Myself No Matter What Others May Think".  You see, the journey from a 'lightbulb moment' in a fabric store to beautiful drapes that are perfect for our house was an emotionally difficult one.

In September, I was in Hancock Fabrics and I saw the most perfect potential drapery fabric.  I knew instantly that it would be totally wonderful in our house.  I snapped this photo, and I brought home a couple of their tiny sample swatches.

The little swatches hung on the windows in our dining room and family room, and the colors in the fabric were even more perfect in our house than they were in the fabric store.  I knew that I had found THE ONE!

I visited Janet at her shop a few weeks later, and I saw a roll of MY fabric in her work area.  I told her how much I loved it, and mentioned that I was planning to use it to make drapes in our dining room and family room.  Janet said, "That's the fabric Miss Mustard Seed used for her drapes."

When she said that, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.  MY fabric was actually someone ELSE'S fabric ... I knew I would feel like a shameful copycat if I used it ... especially since the simple drapes I had in my imagination were very similar to what MMS has.  (I googled them as soon as I got home.) 

It wasn't that I minded that someone else had used the fabric and published it online ... I'd be silly to believe that no one had EVER made drapes like the ones I was imagining.  I got myself pretty deep in a feeling of insecurity, worrying that other people would THINK I was a copycat.  It's totally unlike me to even consider stuff like this ... what was I to do?

It was my friend Kat (dear, sweet Kat) who set me straight.  When I wrote to her about maybe not using the fabric, even though I loved it, she replied, "I say use that fabric and enjoy those drapes.  We can't decorate our houses for the internet, nor should we deny ourselves something we like because someone else has already used it..."

Thank you, Kat!!  Your words of wisdom helped more than you know, and I am very, VERY grateful that I took your advice, and followed my heart.

Without further delay, allow me to introduce ... our new dining room drapes.  (I snapped a few quickly-styled photos for you with my iPad this morning.)

The ceilings on the main level of our house are nine-and-a-half feet high, and these drapes emphasize that height and add definition to the room.  I am over-the-moon delighted with how they look.

Since the drapes are wonderful, I decided to do what I could to pull the rest of the dining room together.  I hung this gallery of The Husband's paintings on the wall above the blue buffet, and I love how it looks ... I need to find something to put on the top of the buffet, tho.

This corner cupboard holds a little flat-screen TV, so I can watch the news while I cook.  The top of the cupboard looked like a good place for a graduated stack containing two of my primitive painted tool boxes and a child's toy trunk.  The wall clock is an 1840's ogee clock from Connecticut, and the antlers are the same ones that I originally hung over the door in our office ... they look way better here in the dining room.

From the moment I hung the first of the two sets of drapes in this room, I knew that I had done the right thing.  These simple drapes, gathered on a rod, hanging from ceiling to floor, are the perfect choice for this room ... I am so happy about this!!  

The moral of this story is .... I followed my heart, and I am delighted with the results.  Kat, my friend, I am ABSOLUTELY enjoying these drapes!

A Girlfriend Day Away

(Thank you for all the kind comments and emails about my friends and me and our wedding hats.  My hat was WAY too casual for my shiny mother-of-the-bride dress, so I ditched it right after the photos.)

Yesterday's girlfriend afternoon with Kat was exactly what the Dr. would have ordered ... if I had asked his opinion, you understand.  We had a long, chatty lunch at Panera, then we hit the road to see what things La Plata, Maryland, had to offer us.

Kat's post today is all about our first stop, Waldorf Pottery.  I find it fascinating to see the different types of things she and I photograph while we are together.  We compliment each other pretty well ... she takes artsy photos of stuff, and hones in on the decorative side of things, while I tend to take photos as notes for inspiration for future projects.

Hosta 'Sagae' is one that I MUST add to my collection.

The flowers on 'Endless Summer' hydrangea were beautiful.  I probably need one of these, too.

The day was hot and steamy, and I took every opportunity I could to stay in the shade.  This shade structure was wonderful!  I can see something like this back by my barn .... can you hear the wheels turning?

Detail photo to show the framing of the 'roof'.

Kat, dear, you could build a simple lattice grid like this to attach to your house to hold your New Dawn rose.

Hostas!!  Have I told you how much I LOVE hostas?

Notice the little green table in the photo above?  Something like this would be absolutely perfect to hold flats of roses ... must take a photo so I can remember how it's built ...

As we headed inside, I spotted this fantastic little pot of succulents. 

Inside was a wonderland of gift and garden items (and air conditioning!).  I was particularly attracted to this table ... another inspiration photo, coming up.

Look at all the fabulous container arrangements!

Kat told everyone that I would show you what I bought, so here goes.

I love pigs, and years ago I had a collection of pig items.  The collection got completely out of hand.  Years ago I stopped buying pigs, or accepting them as gifts, and most of my pigs are now stored or given away.  This little piggy, with his beady little eyes and huge personality, spoke me and I had to have him.

My other buy was a set of greyhound bookends.  I have a HUGE collection of greyhound items (including Emma and Daniel, my two REAL greyhounds ... ha ha), and I am always on the look out for interesting greyhound things to add to my collection.  These will be perfect in our library!

I totally forgot to take a photo of these styled in the store, so I have to make do with a photo taken on my kitchen counter.

We stopped at a few other stores (I can't remember the names of any of them).  One was a decor and jewelry store with a wonderfully chatty, friendly owner.  There was an arrangement of subway-style signs on one wall, and one of them in particular was hillarious.  It said,

MONEY CAN'T BUY

HAPPINESS, BUT IT CAN

BUY MARSHMALLOWS,

WHICH ARE KINDA

THE SAME THING.

Knowing what a history freak I am, our last stop was Port Tobacco, a historic formerly-bustling commercial town, which contains the reconstructed Charles County courthouse,

some beautifully maintained 18th Century houses,

Stagg Hall, built ca. 1740 for merchant John Parnham.

and this outbuilding and pile of bricks that had my imagination whirling.

I will finish with this random photo I took at a traffic light.  If anyone wants a really cool old Volkswagon, it's for sale.

Many of you have said here, or in comments at Kat's blog, that you would love to spend a day with a fellow blogger or two ... what's stopping you?  Pretty much the only thing that gets in my way if I want to contact someone is no-comment@blogger.com.  Whenever I see that, I know I probably can't get to know that person better, no matter how nice they seem. 

If you haven't enabled email responses on your profile, will you please consider doing it? 

Pretty please.

There Are No Words

Yesterday evening, Kat from Low Tide High Style published a blog post about her visit here last Friday.  Kat is a wonderful photographer and a very gifted writer, and I was beset by so many emotions as I saw her images and read her words.  (all of the photos in this post are Kat's.)

I knew from watching Kat on Friday that I would love her images.  I was totally unprepared, however, for the genuine magic that she captured with her camera.

I was also unprepared for the the glowing words she used to praise me personally and to describe the gardens that I have created here.  I am a very humble person, and most of the time I am uncomfortable with compliments and recognition.

I cannot accurately describe the depth of my reaction to what Kat wrote.

I smiled,

I nodded my head,

I laughed,

and I tried not to cry.

I'm still a little bit weepy about it, sitting here playing with her images and trying to put my feelings into writing.  How can I adequately thank her for making me feel so admired and appreciated?

I sent Kat an email after I read her post, thanking her for making me feel so special.  Because of her, I will now look at my gardens ... my creations ... in a very different way.  I design these gardens to please MYSELF and to beautify my environment ... I had no idea that they would have such an emotional effect on others.

or that hearing about these emotions would have such an effect on ME.

I will state this here ... now ... and quite publicly:

Thank you, dear Kat, for your friendship, your support,

and for being who you are.

My life is a better place because I have you in it.

While Kat was here, she and I talked about giving a rose, and other rosy things, to a lucky reader of her blog.  Please use THIS LINK to go to her blog to read the whole post she wrote and see the rest of her amazing photos.  Follow the instructions at the end of the post, and you may be the lucky winner.

I already feel like a winner!

A Visit from a Dear Friend

When Kat came to visit me last Friday, we spent most of her time here wandering the gardens and snapping photos.  (There was quite a bit of conversation going on, too, because we are both VERY chatty.) 

La Belle Sultane.  (gallica)

The weather was beautiful!  The temperature was warm, but not too warm, and the sun wasn't blazing ... so it was a perfect afternoon to spend in the garden with cameras.

Barbararosa.  (climber)

I always enjoy watching other people move through my garden.  I'm here all the time, so I'm almost used to the rose overload, and I love to watch how others react.

Variegata di Bologna.  (hybrid perpetual)

It was also very interesting to see how my style of garden photography differs from Kat's.  I aim for 'catalog quality' shots that I can share here or use on my nursery web site.  It looked to me like she was capturing things as they are ... blackspot and spent flowers and all.

Elegant Gallica.  (gallica)

In the spirit of full disclosure, here is MY blackspot photo.  This rose is one of my best repeating hybrid perpetuals, but it is very susceptible to blackspot.  (Regular application of fungicide keeps this at bay, but I haven't sprayed it yet this year.)

Ulrich Brunner Fils.  (hybrid perpetual)

Speaking of spraying, it's time for me to get outside and see how much I can get done.  The weather this morning is perfect, and I am aiming to get the whole garden done.  Wish me luck.

I'm gonna go wordless to share the best of the rest of my photos from Friday.

Basye's Purple Rose.  (hybrid rugosa)

Maid Marion.  (hybrid musk)

"Tidewater Trail" (a found Hybrid China)

Inspiration.  (climber)

While I'm outside, I plan to take a photo or two of the baby Mockingbirds.  I've discovered that I can sneak in and sneak back out quickly during the short interval while both parents are off hunting for bugs.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Flowers on Friday ... Full Bloom in a Friend's Garden

My friend Robert, my dearest garden buddy, fellow rose addict, and all-around partner in crime, lives only 10 minutes away from the place where I picked up my fabulous dental cabinet earlier this week.  I made sure to take my camera along with me, so I could make a stop in his garden to take a peek ... and snap a few photos if the light was good.  (It was!)

My, my, my.  His garden is certainly a place of wonder!  Unlike my garden, Robert's garden isn't all about roses ... but the roses are definitely the star of the show right now.

This is the view I saw to my left as I pulled into his driveway. 

The large roses on the arch are Alberic Barbier (white) and an unknown red climber. 

Here is the view of this arch from the other side.

Robert and I have tried for years to identify the red rose ... and we have been unsuccessful so far.  It was given to Sherando Roses as cuttings of 'Jaune Desprez' by the folks at the Lynchburg City Cemetery.  ('Jaune Desprez' is an apricot Noisette, so that's not it.)  This rose is fragrant and healthy, and it blooms like crazy.  One day, we'll figure out what it is.

There are beautiful views everywhere you look in Robert's garden!  This is what you see looking toward the barn from his back terrace.

Look a little to the left, and you get this view.

1.  Climbing Clotilde Soupert

2.  Paul Transon

3.  The Alexandra Rose

Speaking of the barn .... that's where Robert keeps his alpacas!  I want some of these so badly!!  (Later.)  The Husband assures me that I can have my own alpacas once we clear a few things off our To Do list.  I can hardly wait!

Russelliana, a beautiful purple rambler, grows on the fence in front of the alpaca yard.

(wide shot)

(close up)

To the right of the barn is this circular garden. 

The concrete table, with umbrella, is surrounded by raised beds with rebar arches that contain alternating purple and white climbing roses.  'Violette', a purple rambler, was particularly photogenic!

This vignette is beside Robert's chicken house.  He bought this rooster sculpture when he and I went to the Maymont Flower and Garden Show in February, and I love how he is displaying it on top of an old rusty axle from a piece of farm equipment.

'A Shropshire Lass' is a David Austin English rose Robert grows that I have never seen before.

One of my favorite roses is 'Banshee'.  Robert's was blooming when I was there.  I'm still waiting for the first flower of the year on mine.

Beside Robert's greenhouse is a great example of growing roses into trees.

1.  Veilchenblau

2.  Darlow's Enigma

3.  Tess of the D'urberbilles

Darlow's Enigma is planted on a rebar tripod beside Tess of the D'urbervilles.  Darlow is trying to swallow poor Tess, and looks to be determined to escape up into the holly tree, which already contains Rosa fortuniana (not visible in this photo) and the lovely purple 'Veilchenblau'.

My favorite view of the afternoon was this one I saw on 'Ghislaine de Feligonde'  I love how the soft apricot yellow of the roses perfectly contrasts with the brilliant purple of the clematis.

I have to stop now, so I can get ready for a very special visitor.  Kat from Low Tide High Style is coming over this afternoon!!  She and I are going to eat, and visit, and spend time with our cameras in the garden.  Speaking of cameras ... I have to go pop my camera battery into the charger.

Bye for now!