Friday 16 May 2014

The best smell in the World is ...

My roses ... they make me happy, intrinsically tying me to my happy place. 




Mingled with the salty tears of grief and loss , I loved my rose garden.

One of my favourite things raindrops on roses ;)
Regrets.
I've had a few.
Truth be told. Well more than a few.
One of my regrets about our tree change is leaving Charlotte's rose garden.


The house we bought for our baby who never got to live here, except in our hopes and dreams and then in our hearts. So many memories are planted here.

The roses were given to us at her funeral.
Her funeral being the same day we officially became the home owners.
It happened just like that.





This chair and the Cat came with us.








Charlotte's garden became our happy place.
We turned the soil, measured and laid the garden edging, constructed the wishing well and planted her roses. 

Watching them bloom seemed to take the raw edges off our grief.
Charlotte's roses gave me immense pleasure ~and most of all the fragrant blooms.

Admiring the colours ; yellows, orange, pinks, mauve, red and white.
Month after month, year after year  they bloomed save for when we give them a good winter prune.
   
The smell of one red rose would fill our house.
In a small way, a measure of Her presence.
Her garden in our private little courtyard, was my quiet place
I still hope to re-create a measure of it.

So far we  transplanted three roses - "Charlotte" and the "Charlotte" standard and "Mother's Love" into half wine-tubs & a pot.I have one other new rose.

I have found the following true, many times over;
If ever you're feeling depressed and a bit frustrated on a cold winter day, get out into the garden and start pruning the roses. Honestly, you'll feel so much better.Peter Cundell
Any season being in the garden is therapeutic.
Even when we are busy and neglect the roses or forget to water them , they continue to bloom.

These old photos were straight out of my camera a few years back - no photo-shopping.

The next best smell is - a freshly laundered baby or two ....



and roast lamb ...but I still feel a bit guilty, after  'oh ah' ing over these cute neighbours.