Because… roses… and not packing.

Just because I love them and I'm going to miss them. (Do not ask about the packing. Do not ask about the packing. O? You asked about the packing? We leave in under three weeks and the more I pack stuff the more the kids unpack, completely deconstruct and scatter through the house. But look at my roses! With added raindrops.)

Apple Blossom… Just Because (And the Rose of *near* Death)

I was just going to post some photos of our recent apple blossom - because it was beautiful and I love it - but while I was re-sizing photos some of my roses got added as well. Because. Well. Roses.

Apple-blossom and roses are some of the things that I will really miss about the valley.
I suspect mangos and frangipani will make up for them and you know - air that doesn't give Beloved asthma, Poppet wheeze and Littlest gunk-eye - but I will miss the roses.

And the apple blossom. We're due for a bumper crop - the trees are laden with tiny green apples and it's strange to wonder who will harvest them. The fact we couldn't go out to get the apples this year because of all the toxic smoke makes me quite reconciled to leaving.

But o my roses. The roses of the valley are spectacular. Heady, dreamy, lushly scented, deeply coloured. The girls and I went to the Rose Gardens again yesterday and Poppet and I agreed it was a garden fit for a princess, even a fairy princess. (These roses are from our garden, I brought my camera, but forgot the camera card… duh, so we just enjoyed them.)

It's possible I've been googling and discovered a Queensland rose growing society and a place that sells roses designed for the tropics. But, while I reserve judgement, I've never seen a tropical rose that has the same wild, lush soul as a temperate rose.

Please particularly admire the Rose of Death. The big pinky orange rose is the one that was in the cup that Beloved knocked onto a power board reaching for his phone in a dark room. We don't actually know when the pain in his chest will go away, although they steadied his heart and over the course of a night his heart readings went from saying a part had been fried to normal. All because of a rose. If it wasn't so completely petrifying, it would be almost poetic.

Do you have any Spring Garden love? (Or Autumn?) Or stories of electric shock. (The comforting variety would be best…) 

Weekly Stills

-Rose Blossom Flowering Tea - it looked amazing and I watched enraptured for at least five minutes while it unfolded. But... my taste buds are not sophisticated enough to enjoy the taste. I was going to go thrifting for a glass tea-pot - but it turned out the bottle-in-a-glass glass my sister in law gave me for Christmas was perfect! Onwards with the search for the perfect tea!
-Happy happy joy joy! I can eat again! In the early weeks of pregnancy I used to wake in the night starving, as I couldn't think of anything that seemed remotely edible. Now all it seems I can do is dream of food. For breakfast I made a massive fruit platter - melons and mangoes, nashi pear, nectarines, walnuts and yoghurt and the kids and I went out onto the verandah and indulged.
-Poppet - eating mango. Even my Sprocket reluctantly tried it when I declared it a special Queensland food. "It's good!" he said in surprise. Mangoes - mm summer is definitely on the way! Sprocket seems convinced we're trying to poison him. He looked at us very suspiciously when we suggested that he really might like to try maple syrup on his pancakes this morning...
-Sprocket, looking so grown up.
-No more photos, mummy! Poppet hiding under the bench so I don't take any more photos of her...
-A rose in my garden. Me and roses? True love.
-Prunes and walnuts. Yep. The delights of pregnancy. Those of you who have been there might know why I ate these till I felt bloated. Those that don't? I'll leave you in blissful ignorance.
-Poppet running in the Rose Garden.
-My Sprocket - smelling one of the roses. He loves finding bees in the roses, and smells them sweetly when I rave about the scent.
-The Super -Villain in action. Every day every. single. one. of my edging bricks is moved. The children tell me it is a 'super-villain' who does it.  Oddly, they also come to show me a variety of slaters, millipedes, centipedes, grubs and spiders they find under said bricks. As soon as my Beloved finishes his exams we are concreting these bricks in place!

Joining with the lovely Em at The Beetle Shack for moments from our week. 

A Romance of Roses

It is one of my dreams to go to Turkey when the roses are blooming. I dream of walking amongst endless rose fields and throwing myself into the sheds of roses where they distill the oils. I can imagine few greater joys.
While I'm waiting to visit Turkey, I take the kids to the Morwell Rose Garden, and while there aren't exactly fields of roses in all directions, the roses are spectacular and the scent of them clouds around you and drifts over you and you can walk through numerous rose beds and rose draped pavillions in a delightful dream. The kids love running down the paths and climbing the walls (ahem) and I walk around joyfully, taking photos. I've tried to narrow the photos down, with little luck. I am afraid I am a rose addict. They are all so beautiful, the scent so intoxicating.
Luckily, my Sprocket left his toy behind, so we're going back tomorrow.

The problem, of course, is that I have a tendency to go - this rose is stunning. It really would look beautiful in my garden. I am trying to avoid (another) trip to the nursery. Particularly the specialist rose nursery near us. I know the best time to get roses is in winter when they're bare-rooted, but just look at them! The gardens around us are also full of beautiful blooms at present, which we always pause and admire. I am exceptionally happy with my own garden, and not a day has gone by this past fortnight when I haven't commented to my Beloved, 'have I mentioned how glorious my roses are?' to which he tends to reply 'not today' or 'not this hour.'

Are you a rose addict? Is there a cure?

Weekly Stills

-Baby Scan for baby three - due next May!
-Me - trying on my wedding dress - twelve weeks pregnant. I was seven months pregnant at my wedding, but having lost weight with morning sickness and being at my lightest since pre-kid times, I wanted to see how much it needs taking in. Quite a lot!
-Beautiful rose in the front garden. The last twelve weeks have been miserable - sinusitis and then morning sickness - the roses coming out have seemed like a promise that better times are ahead. Please...
-Silkworms at my Sprocket's kindy. When I looked at them four hours earlier there were vast quantities of mulberry leaves - which they chomped through voraciously. I love the interesting things they do at the Kindy - there always seems to be something new and interesting.
-Some of the goodies at the stall my mum was manning on the weekend. Everything is made in East Timor and the profits all go to the region of Same.
-Poppet - checking out the world from a different angle.
-White roses on a red brick wall.
-Lavender and roses on a sunny spring afternoon - perfection. This is the lavender bush my Sprocket haunts, studying bees. He's been stung multiple times, but it doesn't put him off. I have explained how the poor bee dies when it stings... but the temptation to stick his nose closer is too strong!
-Bed. Where I want to be 24/7 at the moment. My Beloved has suggested that my extreme exhaustion may be caffeine withdrawal as well as morning sickness - I don't know. All I know is I would happily sleep for a couple of centuries... and then a few decades more!

Joining with the lovely Em over at The Beetle Shack for moments from our week.

Weekly Stills - Floral

Various Blossoms and Roses of Spring. I have been so excited about my roses (finally!) coming out, and have recently noticed that the local rose garden is in full and glorious bloom. These roses were actually at my mum and dads, but rest assured, mine are just coming out as well! 

My Poppet - climbing in my bedroom window. Sometimes it seems the kids spend all day going in and out of my bedroom window, either going to search the front garden for bugs or returning with 'cute, darling, baby millipedes' or 'the biggest slater in the world.' 

My Poppet - holding one of her favourite cups. For her first birthday my mum got her a tea set of La Rosa from the op-shop, as Poppet and I share the same middle name 'Rosa'. She's devoted to it, but not particularly good at being gentle. We've been shifting a lot of furniture around on the weekend and Poppet managed to get hold of one of the hidden tea cups. "See, mama, I won't break it." 

The most exciting and wonderful arrival of spring - my little nephew. He is completely adorable and his big sister is devoted. 

Joining with the lovely Em from The Beetle Shack for moments from our week.