Saturday, December 31, 2016

Happy New Year 2017!

Just before we start our own New Year's Eve celebrations I would like to take a moment and wish you all, my dear readers, a very Happy New Year 2017!  May it be filled with health, happiness, and love.



New Year's Eve is gray, dreary and rainy here in San Diego, but I don't complain. As a matter of fact, it is a reason for great joy, since we have gotten more rain this winter so far than in the winters of the last couple of years. That may help us to get out of the severe drought. 

The rose bouquet on the table is composed out of flowers of rosa 'Madame Alfred Carriere', a Tea Noisette rose, freshly cut from my garden this morning. I casually arranged them in a simple wine decanter and love the informal look, which goes well with the blowzy, off-white flowers. 


 

It is one of the great luxuries of living in the mild Southern California climate, that you are able to pick roses from your own garden at this time of the year. 



We don't get snow here, which I miss sometimes. To at least evoke the feeling of a real snowy, cold winter, I put this little vignette together.  





While I was shooting the photos for this post, I was encircled by the wonderful perfume of 'Madame Alfred Carriere'. I was surprised that the blooms smelled so strongly since outside I only recall a light scent, but somehow the warmth of the house brought the fragrance really out.



I am so glad, that I cut these wonderful blooms to be enjoyed indoors. One of my New Year's resolutions is to bring more often fresh flowers into the house, so I am off to a good start already.

Cathy from the blog 'Rambling in the Garden', who is hosting the well-known meme "In a Vase on Monday" has greatly inspired this intention. The beautiful bouquets, plonks or sometimes just single flowers that she and the other participants cut from their gardens are such a delight to see. I will link this post to her meme on Monday (please, find the link at the bottom of this post) and encourage you to pop over and see what other gardeners found in their yards and brought into their homes in the first week of the New Year.



This little white, ceramic, snowed-in house is really dear to me. When I see it, all I want to do is to cozy up with a blanket, a cup of tea and a good read in front of the warm fireplace. 





I hope you spend a wonderful New Year's Eve and ring in the New Year in the company of people that you love.



My husband and I will stay home tonight together with our beloved dogs and will say hello to the New Year in a more quiet way. We had already a nice tea time with homemade apple tartlets and later on my husband will cook and I will be the sous chef. The little bubbly is ready and the white rose bouquet will move over to our dining room table and continue to delight us there!

Many thanks for reading my blog this year. I would love to see you around in 2017 as well! Looking forward to a (hopefully good) new garden year together with you!

Warm regards,

Christina







41 comments:

  1. I have always wanted Madame Alfred , but am out of room for the present. I am a morning person so no longer do the midnight thing , and my traditional rose pruning kick-off is New Years Day-depending on weather of course ! Happy New Year !

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  2. ks, 'Madame Alfred Carriere' is the tallest rose in my garden, she definitively needs room to be at her best. My rose is three years in the ground now and I can't wait to see what she will do this spring, I expect a phenomenal spring flush.
    I usually start to prune the roses in the last week of December, but because of the weather and time constraints I only have deleafed and pruned four roses so far. I better get going from tomorrow on.

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  3. The little house, the roses and the candles make a lovely vignette, Christina. I hope you enjoy your evening. Best wishes for the new year!

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  4. Goodmorning Christina on the first day of a whole new year. I hope for you it's going to be a year that brings you a lot of joy and happiness. I love your Alfred Carriere rose. Must be great to have a rose with that beauty in your garden. It was the first year for us we have been only with the two of us on new years eve. Our daughter is working in a hotel and our son celebrated new years eve with his girlfriend. But it felt very good being together with my husband.
    Dear Christina I wish you a wonderful 2017.
    Rosehugs Marijke

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  5. Feliz 2017. Le deseo mucha felicidad y muchas rosas. Besitos.

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  6. Dear Christina,
    thank you! I also wish you a happy new year! Your rose bouquet is really beautiful. it´s indeed a luxury to have roses blooming in your garden that time of year. Here in Vienna it´s snowing and I am so much looking forward to my roses blooming again, though it will be quite some time till then. Do you have any great traveling plans for 2017? You always seem to visit the most beautiful gardens. I especially love your posts on Mottisfont Abbey. I have been thinking about visiting some rose gardens in England this year, but haven´t made up my mind about it yet. I am sure I would love it but at the same time I am afraid that I will miss seeing my own roses blooming.
    Best wishes,
    Lisa

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    1. Lisa, thank you so much for your comment!
      I would love to travel to England this year, again, but even if this dream doesn't become reality, I have so many photos from previous visits of English gardens, that I can easily do many more posts about them.
      Since you mentioned Mottisfont in particular, I have more material for at least one more entry and intent do write it soon. So please stay tuned!
      Thanks for taking the time to letting me know what you would like to read about on my blog, I will consider this in the future.
      I wouldn't like to miss the spring flush of my own roses either, but I am lucky, the peak of the spring rose bloom is around the second week of April here, and we usually travel to England in June, so my roses are already beyond their prime, when the roses in England reach theirs!

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    2. Dear Christina,
      that´s lovely! I would so much appreciate further posts on English gardens! I´d love to read another post on Mottisfont! Thank YOU for considering your reader´s interests.
      Wow, how convenient that the spring flush of your roses is already in April. Unfortunately my roses will probably have their spring flush at approximately the same time as they have in England. I am still thinking about booking an England garden tour. I guess if its a one week tour, I shouldn´t miss too much in my own garden. There is one tour including (among other less famous gardens) Mottisfont and Sissinghurst. There is also a second tour including Mottisfont and David Austin garden and although I would love to see the David Austin garden in England I think I am even more interested in visiting Sissinghurst garden. Have you ever been to Sissinghurst or to the David Austin garden, Christina? Could you make any recommendations?
      Best wishes,
      Lisa

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    3. Lisa, I am happy to do a few more posts about English gardens. I just need to find the time...
      If I were you I definitively would book the English garden tour, especially if it is only for one week. Yes, you will miss one week of your own roses' spring flush, but you get to see English gardens in person. They are so special, I don't think you would regret this decision.
      Mottisfont and Sigginghurst are both "must see" gardens in my opinion, especially for rose lovers. If I had to choose between the two I would opt to visit Mottisfont, though. It is less famous than Sigginghurst, but to me it is one of the most beautiful rose gardens that I have ever seen so far.
      Unfortunately, I can't comment on David Austin's rose garden because I haven't seen it myself, yet. It is on my wish list, though ;-)!

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  7. Christina, I love your "snowy" vignette! I used to have a couple dozen rose bushes, but haven't had even one for a very long time now. Must get at least one this year! Have a wonderful rose-filled 2017!

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    1. Jean, thanks for your comment!
      Yes, you must get at least one rose :-)! Wouldn't it be a lovely resolution for 2017 to set the intention to plant a rose?

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  8. Dear Christina!
    What a lovely rose, and how nice to pick it in your own garden. We will have to wate until summer, before we get any roses. The winter is warm, the snow we had has all melted away. I wish you all the best,for this new year.
    Best regards Marika

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  9. Mme AC is such a floriferous rose in my garden although not at this time of year - last Christmas I had the odd bloom on other roses though. Thank you for sharing yours and best wishes for 2017

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  10. Beautiful roses (another one I need to add to my wish list!) and I love your charming photographs. The arrangement look so pretty with the lit candles.

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    1. Alison, welcome to my blog and thanks for leaving your nice comment!
      'Madame Alfred Carriere' is a very beautiful rose, but unfortunately the blooms that I cut for the bouquet in this post don't last that long. Quite a few flowers have already started to drop their petals. I wonder if it is because they got rained on before I cut them? Have to observe the "vase life time" of 'Madame Alfred Carriere' in the future...

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  11. Liebe Christina,
    vielen Dank für den Besuch auf meinem Blog.
    Dass ihr in Kalifornien unbedingt Regen braucht, habe ich schon mehr als einmal im Fernsehen gesehen, ob das jetzt für ganz Kalifornien gilt, weiß ich nicht.
    Ich wünsche Dir ein gesundes, friedvolles und glückliches neues Jahr.

    Viele liebe Grüße aus dem Westerwald
    Wolfgang

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  12. Dear Christina, first I want to wish you a wonderful 2017. I hope the roses will flower abundancely like the ones on your table. Lucky you to have a vase full of roses from the garden! We have to do with gray weather. Not a sign of roses..... Groetjes Hetty

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  13. What a lovely vignette with beautiful snowy roses! Happy New Year.

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  14. Thank you so much for your nice comments on my vase. You are so lucky to be able to enjoy such a beautiful rose in January. And it is much more fun to look at a snowy little cottage than to live where it snows!

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  15. Happy New Year, Christina! I love the vignette you created with the Madame Alfred Carriere', the snowy cottage and the candles! I wish we had a bit more snow here than we get, which is usually very little, though we may have a possibility of flurries this coming weekend. Best wishes for all good things for you and your loved ones in 2017! Deb

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  16. Hi Christina, this is a beautiful and festive still life with one of my favourite roses! Wishing you all the best in 2017 and lots of joy in the garden, Annette from Annette's Garden

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  17. What a truly beautiful vignette! Like you, I enjoy seeing the flowers in a vase meme - there is so much creativity there. I hope that you enjoyed what sounds like a perfect and romantic start to 2017. Wishing you health and happiness in the coming year.

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    1. Sarah, I am glad you like my little still life! I agree, the 'In a Vase on Monday' meme is very inspiring. I really, really wish to participate more this year and hope you join in as well.

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  18. Dear Christina,
    what beautiful pictures!
    For the new year I wish you a lot of health, happines and nice moments in the garden.
    Lovley hugs,
    your Manuela

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  19. Happy New Year, Christina! Your winter vignette is very elegant. I would love to cozy up inside the charming ceramic house. I'm glad that the tea room list I sent you was helpful and I look forward to reading about your tea room visit(s)!

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  20. Happy New Year Christina! This is such a lovely vignette with beautiful blooms :) I love that tiny bottle of Prosecco, how cute! I follow along with In A Vase Monday, and hope to be a part of it this year. Thank you so much for joining the party at Dishing It & Digging It!

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    1. Freckled Rose, welcome to my blog! Thanks for leaving your nice comment and becoming a follower!
      I always fall for pretty bottles of Prosecco or Champagne, they give me almost as much pleasure as the bubbly itself. I have to admit though, that I am not much of an alcohol drinker, that's another reason, besides being cute, why we only got the small bottle of Prosecco.
      Hope you can join the In a Vase on Monday meme this year. It is so much fun to pick something from your own garden and bring it into the house. To me homegrown flowers are so special.

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  21. I love to do white in January, it is so clean after the clutter of Christmas.

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  22. Your roses are gorgeous! I can imagine how wonderful the smell in your home. My roses are buried under snow. :) The little cozy cottage is the perfect addition to the vignette! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  23. Happy New Year to you! That is a gorgeous rose. Thank you for joining Home Sweet Home!

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  24. Beautiful photos - wishing you much happiness in 2017

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  25. Christina, I how you have used the metal candle holders. I have a couple of those which I will have to dig out. Roses are always special. I'm glad rain may lessen the drought. Have a Happy New Year in 2017! Sylvia D.

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    1. Sylvia, thanks for your comment! The metal candle holders are actually Christmas tree candle holders, that I brought with me from Germany when I moved to the US many years ago. They are made to be clipped into the Christmas tree and hold small, wax Christmas tree candles.
      I think the beauty of a Christmas tree lit with real candles can not be beaten by any artificial lights chains that people mostly use nowadays. But, of course, there are disadvantages like the fire hazard and you can't just switch on the lights on the Christmas tree by simply plugping a plug into the socket.
      Anyway, I like to clip these small Christmas tree candle holders onto plates (they look great clipped onto the edge of dinner plates for a festive dinner look) or anything where they would fit for that matter all winter long. They give these wonderful warm light and create a great cozy atmosphere and are so easy to use.

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  26. The candles really bring your little scene to life and lend it a gentle warmth. Your little house makes me think of being cosy inside on a snowy winter's day.
    Happy new year to you and yours, Christina x

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    1. Jane, thanks for your kind comment!
      I love the warm light that real candles radiate. Here in the US artificial candles are quite common and even though I get the convenience aspect and the benefit of not being a fire hazard, in my opinion their light is always somewhat cold and sterile, they don't come even close to the beauty that real candle light has.
      So in my house there will be always plenty of candles lit, especially in the winter time. I simply love the cozy and romantic atmosphere that real candles add to a room.

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  27. Christina, your little snow house is very cozy. Like you, I want to go inside and snuggle by a fire. ;-) Your candle holders clipped to the side of the tray are much like ones that were on my grandmother's tree as a child. She was German, and yes, they had candles on their tree in those times. My parents never allowed us to do that, but Mother kept the tradition of placing them on the tree (never to be lit). I have them in my Christmas boxes, though I don't use them anymore. The spring action is no longer tight. Are your clips old?
    Thanks for sharing.

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  28. Rosen aus dem eigenen Garten, wie schön !!! Ich wünsche dir alles Gute für das Neue Jahr, liebe Christina :-)
    Herzliche Grüße aus dem seit heute winterweißen Krems an der Donau, helga

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  29. Hi Christina, just popping in to let you know that you will be featured at SYC this week.
    hugs,
    Jann

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    1. Jann, that is wonderful! Thank you so much, I feel really honored!

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