Cottage Review: Roses and Redoute

The Weekend Cottage Review is a time that I can share some personal thoughts, ideas and inspiration around the blogosphere, and some oldies but goodies. 

Today I thought I'd share some pics from my first blogging house of some sweet knockout roses that I enjoyed for the 12 years we lived there. Also at that house, I had a smallish sunporch that was the perfect spot for photos as it was north facing with always wonderful natural light. 

I've always envied people that have lovely rose gardens. Maybe it's me and maybe its our climate, but I've never been able to have much luck with rose bushes other than Knockout Roses that are a little more forgiving. At our current home we have a very similar bush to this previous one, and it blooms from May through October with these gorgeous perfect little blooms.

This day I thought I'd snip a few of these luscious little beauties and display them in one of my sweet vintage floral teapots. This is a Crown Staffordshire pink floral tea-for-two teapot. I mostly collect transferware, but I do have a small collection of floral teapots, pitchers, and cups and saucers, that I started before the transferware bug bit me.

             

I have a set of vintage pastel rose prints from the 40's and two by the artist Redoute that went perfectly with this lovely summer vignette.

               

                 

Old hinged and lidded boxes used to be "a dime a dozen" 10 or so years ago. You could find tons of them for just a dollar or two. Some unfinished, others painted. I grabbed this one because it had a nice chippy white finish and was small and shallow. I have no idea what it's purpose was originally, but it's the perfect size for small vignettes. It could have been a cigar box originally, but not sure.

Below, I included some interesting information about Redoute. Knowing a little about the artist makes these beautiful prints all the more interesting.

 Pierre-Joseph Redouté (10 July 1759 in Saint-Hubert, Belgium – 19 June 1840 in Paris), was a Belgian painter and botanist, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at Malmaison. He was nicknamed "The Raphael of flowers".

He was an official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, and he continued painting through the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Redouté survived the turbulent political upheaval to gain international recognition for his precise renderings of plants, which remain as fresh in the early 21st century as when first painted.

Paris was the cultural and scientific centre of Europe during an outstanding period in botanical illustration (1798 – 1837), one noted for the publication of several folio books with coloured plates. Enthusiastically, Redouté became an heir to the tradition of the Flemish and Dutch flower painters Brueghel, Ruysch, van Huysum and de Heem. Redouté contributed over 2,100 published plates depicting over 1,800 different species, many never rendered before.

 Marie Antoinette became his patron. Redouté received the title of Draughtsman and Painter to the Queen's Cabinet. In 1798, Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, became his patron and, some years later, he was her official artist. 

What perfection is found within the bloom of a rose.

Here's a post from that previous week sharing some plant pics in our yard.

What's Growing On...

and here's a post from a week earlier showing that old sunporch that I loved.

Sun Porch Switcheroo

This week my daughter and the grandbaby, (can't say "new" anymore) and I had lunch with my mom and sister at my sister's home. My mom went all out and prepared a wonderful lunch and we had all afternoon to visit and play with Miss O. Here's a pic of my mom with her on her lap. O is 7 months old and is honestly such a good baby. She always has a smile and little laugh, and content and satisfied to be passed around and cuddled. She's into face "patting" and is working on a tooth as she has fingers in her mouth constantly.

My mom and her first great granddaughter.

I fell in love with her little denim Mary-Janes shoes.

All the girls in my family are petite, but Miss O has some loooong legs, so maybe she'll bust out of our "shorty" syndrome. I guess because her daddy is over 6 foot might have something to do with it. And another sweet gift... my mom found these adorable Staffordshire dogs in her storage, that my sis and I gave her back in the 80's. Now I get to enjoy them here. So excited to work these into my buffet decor in the dining room.

photo of similar pups via ebay

thanks for coming by, friends.

Did you get a chance to check out my last post on rustic garden urns and seashells?

joining in at these great parties:

The House on Silverado,  Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda, 

Inspire Me Monday at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia 

 Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch 

  Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life  

Turnabout Tuesday at My Wee Abode, 

Whimsy Home at  Fifth Sparrow No More

 Wonderful Wednesday at Eclectic Red Barn

 Centerpiece Wednesday at Karin's Kottage Share Your Style at French Ethereal,  

Vintage Charm at Our Hopeful Home, and My Thrift Store Addiction

Thursday Favorite Things at Follow the Yellow Brick Home,  

Farmhouse Friday at  County Road 407