Time Just Seems To Fly...

As the year is drawing to a close, I have been reflecting on my blog and all the fabulous
friends I have made both in real life and in blogland.  From the bottom of my heart I thank
you all for your support and friendship.

In my reflecting I decided to show a few of my posts from this past year which have
encouraged me to go forward with new and creative ideas.  I hope you will enjoy the
visit...

This post was called I Just Couldn't Help Myself and truer words were never spoken.
I love peonies and I love silver and adore the combination...

I so enjoyed my visit to the Remnants of the Past sale earlier in the year.  I was able to
spend some time with some of my favorites like Atelier De Campagne, 3 Fine Grains and
A Beautiful Mess Antiques...(Links to all are found within my link)

On A Beautiful Hot Summer Day was such a lovely day .  As you know by
the name of my blog, I love roses and a visit to Roger's Garden was absolutely the perfect
way to spend a hot summer day.  The only thing I like better are my own roses but this
was the perfect introduction to Roger's Garden because they not only have beautiful
gardens but a wonderful art gallery and gift shop...

Fields of Lavender was a very special day. Jermaine from French-Kissed and I spent

some wonderful time in the lavender fields and then had a lovely lunch followed by a

visit to the lavender festival in Ojai, California. (Again, links within my link)

The post Violets for Valentines was a chance to share with you the lovely violet plates

my mom gave to me many years ago.  I love them and they are perfect with chocolate

heart shaped tea cakes...

I am always up for going to Country Roads Antiques and a visit with Sue...(Again, link

within my link)

It's always good to see the wonderful Alpacas and this last time I was able to purchase

some yarn that came from a wonderful alpaca named Yuletide.  I now have two lovely

scarves that I have made from Yuletide's wool...

**You can see links to all blogs and places I have mentioned by clicking on my link that

will take you to their links.**

I wish you all a very, very Happy New Year with an abundance of happiness,

good health and prosperity.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am linking to Privet and Holly for Monday Moments...(1.8.12 sorry to be late)

I'm linking to Rose Vignettes for Fresh Cut Friday...(1.8.12 sorry to be late)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Santa Claus

is coming to town!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Sending you warm Merry Christmas wishes.  I hope you all 
have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the beauty of the season.

XOXOXO

Fire & Ice, Neptune's Bounty, O Holy Night & More...

Well, I am embarrassed to say that it is two weeks before Christmas and I haven't even
begun to decorate or wrap gifts.  Yikes!  But you see, I have been working long hours
and have also had the flu so I am way behind in preperations.  I guess I had  better get a
move on this week!
Anyway, because I am not prepared to show you my decorations(they will be very simple
because I will be going out of town for Christmas), I wanted to show you the beautiful
decorations and trees at Rodger's Gardens.  They took my breath away.  It all started
with the entrance and being greeted by the lovely statue above.

From there we were greeted by beautiful wreaths...

Being a lover of roses this was my favorite...

The secret is to always look up.  In this case for some carolers...

After walking past the carolers I entered the room and still looking up I saw more
wonderful wreaths. This time with some antlers...

My neck was beginning to hurt but there was still more looking up to see for these
wonderful silhouettes...

And then my attention was caught by a spectacular tree decorated in all crystal and
cranberry glass, mostly etched.  They named it Fire & Ice and that is the perfect name
for such an exquisite tree.  I only wish Christmas trees photographed better because
this tree is truly spectacular...

Beautiful etched cranberry glass...

I spent lots of time looking at each and every ornament.  Well, maybe not each and every
ornament because the trees are all over 20 feet tall.

I'm going to break this tour up into a couple of posts because I don't want to send you into
overload.

The next tree is all about honoring the sea.  A fabulous tree and the decorations are so much
fun.  The name of the tree is Neptune's Bounty...

O Holy Night is the golden tree celebrating the religious meaning of Christmas. Another

absolutely exquisite tree...

Next to the tree is a larg cupboard filled with ornaments and other religious decorations

for Christmas...

Angels everywhere...

I will save the rest for another post.  I have a confession to make, I took all of these photos

last October when the decorations first went up.  The garden shop was already very

crowded with people anxious to see the beautiful display Rodger's Gardens has every year. 

I went back this past weekend and the trees were almost empty.  I think everyone was so

very impressed with this year's display and just had to take a few things(maybe lots of things)

home with them.  As I said, I will show you a few more trees next time but if you want to go

to Rodger's Gardens site they have a lovely slideshow to share with you.

I hope you are all enjoying the season.

I am joining Privet and Holly for Monday Moments.

The Holiday Flower

You might remember that last spring I visited the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California.
I was so surprised to find the Ecke Family Ranch greenhouses already growing poinsettias.

Well, the other day while I was in Trader Joe's I noticed a woman asking about a particular
poinsettia she had once seen and was hoping they might be able to get for her.  She gave a
wonderful description but didn't know the name of the variety.  Unfortunately, the man told
her he didn't know one poinsettia from another.

So, I thought since we are now officially in the holiday season you might enjoy a visit to
the Ecke Ranch greenhouses where they were already growing poinsettias for this Christmas
season last spring.

The Ecke Family Ranch is known worldwide for their beautiful poinsettias.

Most commercially grown poinsettias in this country originate from the Ecke Family Ranch.

The poinsettia is considered to be the official holiday flower.  I believe the flower for the
month of December is the narcisssus but the holiday flower is the poinsettia.  Actually, I
believe a few different flowers claim to be December's flower of the month.

Here are a few of the many varieties...

Winter Rose...

Shimmer Surprise...

Ice Punch...

An interesting fact is that the Aztec Indians prized the poinsettias as a symbol of purity.

They made a purple-ish dye from the colored flower which are actually the leaves called

bracts.  They also made medicines to cure fevers from the sap of the plant.

The flowers are actually large bunches of leaves and the flowers themselves are in the

center of each leaf bunch and quite small and inconspicuous.

A few more varieties...

Monet...

My goodness, this really does look like a Monet painting...

1188...

The 1188 and the Winter Rose varieties are my favorites.

Now I must admit that I've never been a big fan of the poinsettia and almost didn't bother

to go into the greenhouses.  But I'm certainly glad that I did and now I even have two

favorite varieties!

I would love to know if you like poinsettias and if you have a favorite variety and color.

Do you plan to have poinsettias in your home this holiday season?

Have a great weekend.

I will be joining

Rose Vignettes for Fresh Cut Friday

Privet and Holly for Monday Moments

How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday