Ardenwood Victorian Home 2

Let me begin by saying that the victorian home in this historical park was closed the day we were there. However, a caretaker saw us admiring the home and taking photographs. He then told us to go stand on the porch. We couldn't figure out why but then the front door opened and he gave us a private tour for about an hour. We were thrilled to have a personal tour and all of our questions answered. He was a sweetheart and showed great kindness to us and for that we are much appreciative.

But all the shades were down and it was very dark in there so these pictures were not taken under the best of circumstances so they are what they are and we thanked him profusely for the personal tour.
~*~

Braiding their plants was something I'd never seen before but here is a picture of it in their front porch area.

This is the front. It's one of the first homes in that area to have electricity when it was originally built. The turret is mosaic just below the roof.

Close up of front balcony.

Gazebo I would love to have in my yard.

Roses in front porch garden.

Original settee in front parlor. That floor is parquet but each tiny piece is hand set in and nailed. Not like we get now but artisan perfect with each piece put in separately. Magnificent!

Turret windows in front room parlor.

Close up of original stained glass window.

Fireplace and original mantel in front parlor.

Family private parlor, which is akin to our family rooms today. Looks like they played a lot of games with that table and chairs so prominent in the room.

Original mantel and fireplace in family parlor.

Upstairs and just starting to go through that area.

More soon!
~*~

Walking Through Ardenwood

A bit of eye candy for you today.

~*~

During our most recent trip back to Calif. we toured Ardenwood in Fremont. It's an old historical farm donated to the state by a man named Patterson. The victorian home on it is just lovely and I'll have pix on that in a day or so and, although I'm not too keen on viewing historical places, this one was interesting and took our minds off the sadness we were experiencing. It actually was a lot of fun that day.

The door to the old servants quarters. It is now the home office.

Flowers were abundant around the home.

The old ice house.

Ferns were abundant all over the acreage.

My family. Son, Keith, still on crutches, daughter's son, Adam, 6'4" in white shirt, granddaughter, hubby looking at the trains and granddaughter's hubby in red shirt.

They had their own railroad side there with several cars still on the track but definitely not in use anymore.

A place to rest and reflect.

Path to a gazebo.

Desert plants and California live oaks, one of my favorite trees stand together on the land.

An allèe through the park.

And a peacock that allowed me to get so close I had to take its picture for my friend, Katie. Katieeeeeee, ya better look and comment on this dude, huney!!

More pictures of the actual house next time! We got a personal tour while there.
~*~

Random Thought:

I cannot talk or text while hubby's driving because I'm the back seat driver and drivers aren't allowed to do that while driving. :-)

A Celestial Home and Celestial Language for Pink Saturday 6/6/09

I've said many times that my home is a refuge from the world. It is. In doing some reading lately I want to speak to the issue of beautiful homes and beautiful language.

I know of a man who determined to please his wife by sharing a specific compliment each night as he returned home from work. One night he complimented her on her cooking. The next night he complimented her on keeping a lovely and clean home for their family. Another night he complimented her on her sweet influence on their children. Then one night before he could speak she told him she was aware of what he was doing and thanked him for it but she then said, "Don't say any of those things to me; just tell me you think I'm beautiful." Captured my heart! I praise hubby regularly for being such a good provider for us and I sincerely mean it. He works hard so I'm able to stay home and take care of it and him.

As my close friends know I am a stickler for proper language. Oh, I sometimes slip and say a bad word but I know better. I hear filthy language all the time when out shopping or in some restaurants. It's become the "cultural" thing to do. My advice is "stop it" and stop it now! It shows ignorance when we use filthy language and allow others in our presence to do it. I've heard conversations that include the word "like" so many times I thought I'd scream. Yes, it's the teenagers and young adults and they have no verbal skills whatsoever. It shows that the teachers are not teaching them proper language skills or correcting them because it's "insensitive" to do it. Rubbish. I correct people as much as I can without being totally obnoxious. I think it's very sad that as an English speaking country we can't form proper grammar in our sentences. And the fact is that they have no clue they are incorrect!

Let's talk about music now. I am in shock at some of the songs I'll hear from MP3 players or at some homes today. (By the way, "awe" means a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear OR wonder. It does NOT mean what the cultural norm is intending it to mean today. I refuse to use it in any other way than what it is supposed to mean. I do not use "awesome!" to describe every little thing that I find astonishing.) Have you ever listened to classical music even by some of today's composers? Beautiful. It will almost always bring me to tears. Shouldn't we be allowing "beauty" in our music to permeate our homes also? I think yes. Your home is only as good as the things you allow in it: music, books, language. Think on it. I want my heart and my mind to be "heavenly" and I strive for it. I am NOT perfect. I happen to love the Air Supply, Dionne Warwick and Credence Clearwater Revival and always will but they don't play on my CD player all the time. The other day I was listening to a blog that had loud music and quickly switched it off. I then found one that had adagio music playing and it brought my heart to tears.

There is a story about Audrey Hepburn when she was making My Fair Lady and she was "disheveled and unpolished" with her face besmirched with charcoal in the opening scene. She told this man, "But I was wearing my perfume and inside I still knew I was a lady." She had to feel self-respect and pride in her appearance even for a movie role. That's how I feel about myself. I must feel clean and good inside.

Let's look at some of these pink rooms in homes.

This one takes pink a step above pink into almost fuchsia. Gorgeous!

A traditional home in pink is a rarity today but oh so lovely. Who says you have to have dark colors in traditional style?

Chartreuse and pink?? Yesssssss!

Movie star gorgeous bathroom. Clean, simple, pink.

A "gray flannel suit" wrapped in pink. Very striking.

The proverbial little girl's room in pink but with a "grown-up" twist.

A library in pink and gray. I truly believe, because some men have told me they love my home, that men do love pink romantic surroundings. The room below is a masculine room as well as a feminine room.

Ditto the above description.

A very inexpensive way to make a dramatic statement in a room.

A tad "Jetsons" style but very cute.

Drama in the dining room here. Very french and froufrou-y pink.

I would probably have fabric on the sides of the windows but I absolutely love this room and would live happily in it. Very stylish.

~*~

Random Thought

The world doesn't need any more coarse women. It needs women of virtue, strength and softness.

Pink Patio and Light and Shadows

Some little signs I've had for a couple of years that had some prints of garden items on them couldn't take the hot desert summer heat anymore and gave up th' ghost—that's Idaho talk for "peeled off." I was ready to trash them but hubs—YES, hubs— said to try and paint them. I almost fell out of the dining room chair, chicks!! Ohmygosh, I couldn't believe he was telling me to keep something and not to throw it away. Well, I didn't want to spoil his party so I did as th' man said. I painted them the other day and then decided to go for it totally and paint the patio table since I had my painting apron on, the wind was not blowing and I had paint cans in my hands already. PinkkkkkkKKK. While I was at it, and being totally embarrassed at our yard at the moment since Love Bunny is campaigning for a state position and barely has time to mow the front yard. I decided to show you what the back yard looks like at the moment. This will change very shortly I can assure you. ;-) They don't call me the "nag" for nothing, ya know.

Krylon's Ballet Pink spray-on paint is the color and it is a lively pink but looks lighter in the photos however. I was just so sick of looking at that black round metal table all rusted and dust covered. (I figure the dust won't show as much on the pink! "I don't do dust" has always been my motto.)

Then as I was photographing it I noticed the light and shadows across it and saw how pretty it was. Looks almost lavender where the sheer curtain shadows fall across the table.

It almost felt ethereal out there early in the morning all by myself and no neighborhood noises yet. Actually, we live in a very, very quiet neighborhood. But I felt like it was almost transformed with the light falling softly on the top.

Concord grapes grow here for hubs because he loves them. He gets just enough to satisfy his appetite for a year from this small vine. I don't care for grapes with seeds and am not fond of concord grapes so he gets them all to himself, much to his glee.

Our little patch of garden. Last year we planned on putting stones around it this year but haven't had the time yet so this is—embarrassingly—it for the moment. I plan on getting this done posthaste though. Remember, I'm th' nag here and I'm very good at it. ;-) We've got 3 tomato plants started and will have cucumbers, lettuce and a few other things. Not much as I am NOT canning anymore.

That little beige pot next to it is my gardenia we're nursing back to health. It stays in the house for the winter and then goes back outside in the summer. I love them but it gets pretty cold in the winter so we have to bring it inside.

Forget-me-not seed packet was a gift from an order I received over the internet. We'll—meaning Love Bunny, I can assure you—will plant these soon and then I'll use the package to hang in my laundry room on a wall.

I Walked Through the Rose Garden Today

Life is getting back to somewhat normal around here after the tragedy for this family. It was a terrible and horrific loss to us all. If anyone is interested we placed a video on Youtube to watch. It's about 5 minutes long and shows Bill through his life. This is a man who never ever complained about his circumstances in life. In the first picture he is the second from the left and also he is the saxophone player on the audio. I suggest you put youtube into full screen mode and turn up the sound to hear what a talented saxophonist he was.

Bill Cormier
November 1962 - May 2009

I thought I'd share some of his garden with you today. He absolutely loved tending his garden and had so many rose bushes we couldn't keep count, well over a hundred.

Let me tell you what this valiant young man went through.

In his early 30s he started losing his kidney function through a disease he had with his blood and too much protein in it. He was started on steroids knowing full well the eventual outcome of steroids eating away joints. He endured numerous operations including one where his father donated a kidney. It worked for about 3 days and then they had to go back in and remove it as it was being destroyed by his disease. He had knee surgeries, a hip replacement, a shoulder replacement, diverticulitis and eventually a part of his colon removed and so as to not get graphic he was on immodium every single day his whole life after that operation, the fistula on his left arm to bring the vein to the surface so he could receive dialysis easier with the full knowledge that his arm could burst at any time and he would bleed out. He was to have that replaced with a cow or pig vein and then faced a shoulder replacement a few months after that would have been done. He died before that took place with his arm bursting open and bled out within 2 minutes just as they had warned him. Last year his face seemed "frozen" on one side and he and Nan thought it might be Bell's palsy but it turned out to be a tumor on his ear so they operated on that ear, cut out the tumor (benign) and he was deaf in that ear. Only then did he ask his mom "what did I ever do to deserve this?" He never ever complained up until that time. He and Nan traveled, camped and never let it get them down. We had to fight with him to get a handicapped sticker for his cars because he hated them and rarely used them although he was so sick. He wouldn't even park in the handicapped place at work or at dialysis center since he thought other dialysis patients would need it worse than him. He would only use it when we visited with them and since we're "older" he'd use it then—for us and not himself. (We truly didn't need it.) His co-workers were stunned when he died because only his immediate boss had any idea of his circumstances and he didn't know how bad it was. They wanted to bring in grief counselors because of that. He was Director of Product Development at his Silicon Valley company and absolutely loved going to work each day. They loved him. The chapel was full at his memorial service.

I've included roses from his garden. I went out friday evening and photographed them and then cut one from each bush to put into a boxwood wreath we ordered online.

The bushes are in bad need of trimming but he didn't have the time to do that since he was still recuperating from the operation. The gardener will prune them soon.

The roses almost seem as though they know Bill is gone and won't be tending them again. Some are wilted and some are budding out but a few are in full abundant glorious bloom.

He had all colors in the yard. This one is especially beautiful I think.

This is his favorite rose outside their kitchen window on the deck.

Another photo of his favorite rose.

This one is truly exquisite looking in its colors.

From the front of the house looking across the street.

Hubby got in this picture!

I gathered up a basket and clipped these to put into the wreath for his memorial. He wanted donations to the kidney foundation in lieu of flowers but his company and co-workers sent some bouquets.

All the roses in the wreath are from his beloved garden.

This phrase is said so often and truly meant by those who say it but he truly was a brave and dear young man who will be greatly missed by all.