"I must have flowers, always, always." Monet

And.....who am I to contradict the great painting Master. Certainly not I.

Though Spring in Tassie is hard to beat, Summer in Tassie also comes up trumps with a most spectacular flower show. Gardens abound with riotous, impressionist brushstrokes in every hue imaginable. It is truly a dream to meander around the Tassie countryside in Summer. And....our garden is no exception. So, because our garden is overspilling with beautiful blossoms, I have taken the secateurs and picked a flower or two; and in my own peculiar fashion, plonked them in a vase or basket ready for a photo shoot. =) Actually, I have been playing "Let's Pretend I am a Florist".

Beautiful, beautiful Hydrangeas of every shade of the hue blue, with a few pinks and lilacs thrown in. They are truly stunning. There is nothing demure about these beauties, is there. Their dinner plate-sized, pom pom blooms demand one to stop and take notice. Hydrangeas are up there with my favourite flowers. I remember not so long ago, they were out of fashion, but now these vintage-like flowers are seen everywhere. I can remember having a friendly argument with a friend many years ago as to the beauty of these "grandmother's flowers". She didn't like them at all, whereas I, of course, waxed lyrical till the cows came home about their lavish beauty. Funnily enough, my friend now adores them. You might say she saw the light!

We have many cultivars of Hydrangeas.....Mopheads, Lacecaps, Oakleaf, to name a few. There is something peaceful about the calming blue shades of  Hydrangeas in a pretty white basket. This basket is about 20 inches wide, so there are oodles and oodles of Hydrangeas sitting ever so perkily in it. Don't they look opulent, en masse??

Yes indeedy, is there anything not to love about the gorgeous Hydrangeas?? Me thinks not!!

Then, there are the roses. Before my husband's operation, he designed and made a new rose garden. We have been slowly planting lovely rose bushes, all with intoxicating scents, all with glorious shades; some lovely pastels shades and some vibrant shades. Of course I again 'attacked' them with the secateurs to make little arrangements.

Some of the Roses flowering in our garden are..... Isn't She Lovely, Heaven Scent, Forget Me Not, Chartreuse de Parme, Pierre de Ronsard, Perfume Passion, Falling in Love, Mr Lincoln, Margaret Merril, Remember Me, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Darwin, Henri Matisse, It's a Winner, Aotearoa....amongst others. My husband and I have had a lovely time selecting Roses for our garden over the last couple of months.

A gorgeous hexie quilt I am restoring. Me thinks scrappy, vintage hexie quilts and beautiful roses are the best of bedfellows.....especially for a photo shoot!!

Then, there are the 'Darling Dahlias'. There are quite a few of these lovelies in our garden. Over the years neighbours have gifted us many varieties from their gardens. One of the wonderful things about living here is people are always willing to share their floral pretties. Each year the Dahlias have multiplied, delighting us with masses of glorious colours; bright pinks, mauves, salmon pinks, yellows, lemons, yellows bordered with orange streaks, deep ruby reds, whites..........there is a Monet's palette of Dahlias blooming profusely in our garden.

I cannot say it any better than Victor Hugo, when he penned in Les Miserables, "A garden to walk in and immensity to dream.....what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars."

Yes indeedy, most of the time all this gal needs is a garden in which to walk in and dream, and those amazing stars above. Me being me, of course, I would have to throw one or two hexie quilts into the mix as well. Aaah....yes the simple things of life.....such bliss!

I hope you took a li'l pleasure in strolling through my florist shop. 'Twas a li'l protracted, wasn't it, but I thought you lovely ladies up there on top of the world might enjoy a li'l vibrant Summer colour and sunshine, from way down here at the bottom of the world.  Until the next time.......

Linking up to
Bernideen's,  lovely BTTCG Party and Stephanie's, lovely Roses of Inspiration.
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My letter box beareth a pretty gift

Sometimes in life people do the sweetest things. A little while ago my letter box beareth the prettiest  of gifts. It is always exciting to receive a present in the post; sooooo much nicer than a nasty bill, which unfortunately appears much too frequently. The gorgeous Jeneta from Plum Jam gifted me this treasure which she had found at an op shop, taking it home to live with her. This treasure sat......sat some more .........and sat even longer in Jeneta's lovely home. Jeneta said, try as she might to find the right spot in her home for this pretty, 'it' just wasn't at home.  Jeneta said she felt very strongly that this pretty should come home and live with me. I can think of no lovelier gift to come and live with me in my humble abode.

It is a lovely impressionistic-like printed canvas with dainty cross stitches interspersed here and there. 

There are two young ladies of a bygone era, dressed in pretty lace trimmed dresses, carrying  parasols; and a little girl standing in a meadow of dainty flowers. This pretty really is exquisite.

This lovely print brings to mind those paintings of the Impressionist era. The Impressionist era is my favourite period of great art works. I have enjoyed many a bewitching hour strolling through art galleries drinking in works by Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas and the like. These artists, especially Monet, strike a chord deep within me. In my mind's eye it is easy to visualise Claude Monet painting these ladies plein air in one of his flower-filled meadows in Giverny.

I deliberated for a while what I would do with these ladies. I thought of stitching a cushion but then I remembered I had a shadow box like frame in which I could place it. The shadow box frame is 46cm x 38cm so the lovely canvas would fit perfectly.

Of course this pretty cannot sit in the shadow box unadorned, now can it. Though the canvas is beautiful just as it is; me wouldn't be me if I didn't embellish.....if only a little. Besides, the embellishing of this pretty makes for a more alluring post.......does it not??

Once again I found myself rummaging amongst my snippets of lace and crochet doilies and all those little bits that would add a little  pizazz when embellishing.

I gathered together various visually pleasing French and vintage laces, carefully stitching them around the border of the canvas.

I espied a crochet basket of flowers hiding in my plethora of pretties. I stitched it to the canvas, filling it with a beauteous, floral arrangement using a melange of crochet flowers that I snippety snipped from doilies. I added various leaves, fluttering butterflies and tiny silk flowers to fill in the gaps.  I do find the prettiest things in my lace and doily stash!!

A basket always looks so much more appealing with the addition of a pretty bow.

I twirled and swirled the ribbon in a rambling fashion across the top, meandering it's way down the side and across the bottom, adding swirls and swirls of other ribbons, cinching them down with various pearls, buttons and a few pieces of vintage ornamentation.

The embellishing of these ladies has been such a delight. I spent many a happy hour in my sunny sewing room this week playing.......stitching a button here......stitching a pearl there......swirling ribbons round and round till they happily found their resting spot.

I spent many a happy moment in my sunny sewing room reflecting what a blessed gal I am that Jeneta should think of me and gift me this lovely treasure.

Yes indeedy, my letter box did indeed, beareth the most wondrous of gifts.......thank you, Jeneta, from the bottom of my heart!

Wishing you all the most wonderful week. Until the next time...........

Linking up with the lovely Stephanie's 'Roses of Inspiration'.