Inspiring Beauty at Chateau Dumas

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in,

where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. 

                                                                                                                   ~John Muir

(Note: There are many spectacular images capturing the amazing beauty of Chateau Dumas. Allow enough time for your computer to load the images so that you don’t miss any. This is the second in the series on a millinery masterclass held in southwest France. Won’t you follow along with me?)

outward beauty

The 18th-century Chateau Dumas is totally enchanting on scales grand and small. There is so much to see and take in on this breath-taking estate in the small village of Auty, France. The late summer afternoon interplay of color, light and texture of the Mediterranean region creates dreamy illusions of French Impressionism. I marvel at and feel priviledged to spend several summer days in such a superb setting whilst learning from a master English milliner and designer in the days ahead.

I am a bit weary from the long travels. The magnificent gardens are beckoning me to sit with them awhile.

Would you like to select  a garden hat from the basket in the foyer and stroll in the gardens with me?

Monet-inspired weathered teak garden benches strategically placed throughout the Chateau Dumas gardens provide opportunity to reflect and soak in as much of the beauty as possible. The teak benches and French metal chairs provide numerous invitations for varied perspectives of the gardens and vistas. I am quite taken in by the setting, and am totally mesmorized by it’s beauty. I pause frequently along the garden paths, sit and try to absorb all that I see into my memory. The beauty is stunning. I am starting to feel refreshed in my soul.

 

The garden benches and chairs are bekoning me to sit awhile and reflect. I can’t resist–the tranquilityand depth of “old-soul” in the gardens are drawing me to linger under the French sky.

Won’t you sit awhile with me, too? There is room for both of us on the bench . . .

My worldly concerns and weariness from the travels begin to dissipate with the warmth of the Mediterranean sun. I am feeling soothed from the intoxicating lavender oils perfuming and lingering in the garden air. Listen. The song birds serenade the garden repose with their afternoon revelry unlike those heard at Rose Cottage.

There is so much to see within the gardens…butterflies and bees dizzy from endless visits to the lavender blossoms, sweet soft pink and white roses reaching for the sun and rewarding the gardener for her caring efforts, and window boxes and clay pots with trailing pink geraniums–all with enough fortitude to withstand the warm, dry summers in southern France.

The gardens at Chateau Dumas are a living and breathing tapestry of texture. The whisps of the lavender fronds provide the feather stitches between patterns of trimmed coniferous hedges, roses, speciman plants and the sweeping views of the patchworked valley just beyond the terra cotta brick walls and iron garden gate.

 

inward beauty

Feeling refreshed from garden lavender, vistas and bird choirs, I explore the Chateau. Guests usually enter the foyer through the double French doors that are flanked by large blue wood shuters. So French. Gorgeous gold gilded mirrors, a large foyer table, a grandfather clock, antique settee and chairs, woven market baskets and assorted vignettes accentuate the welcoming, but massive foyer. My footsteps echo on the large square tiles.

Through the foyer and past the stunning centuries-old marble staircase, is a light and airy dining room with expansive southern views capturing the pictureque valley and countryside. The black, white and red antique tile floor creates energy and lightness, and brings the outdoors into the Chateau. Simple–but stunning–vignettes throughout the room carry nature’s elegance even further.

Through another large set of double French doors is the outdoor dining terrace.  Off in the distance is the unmistakeable hum of combines and other farm equipment as hay and straw is baled from sections of the golden patchwork near the misty Mediterranean horizon. Other than the distant sounds of French farmers at work and the merrymaking of songbirds, no other distractions are heard. It is heaven. . . Fellow adventurers linger for hours after sharing meals while marveling at the incredible country setting.

The moderate-sized–but efficient kitchen–is off of the dinning room for easy access for refreshments throughout the day. A lovely view of the valley is framed by pots of fragrant herbs at the bottom of the kitchen window. I am convinced that dishwashing would never be a chore with spectacular views such as these, and with the cheery serenades of the bird choirs! Please, may I help with the dishes?

Totally charmed by the hospitality, kindness and care of the Chatelaine de Dumas, I dream of  lingering at Chateau Dumas indefinitly.  I really won’t be much bother. Really.

My stay at Chateau Dumas is everything dreams are made of…the beautifully appointed Chateau, gorgeous gardens, rooms with spectacular views, lovely song bird symphanies throughout the day, and the millinery atelier in the fantastic carriage house–all is a invigorating, sensory feast in every way! I am delighted to have arrived.

We live in a wonderful world

that is full of beauty, charm and adventure.

There is no end to the adventures that we can have

if only we seek them with our eyes open.
                                                                           ~Jawaharlal Nehru

More about the Chateau’s amazing trompe l’oeil, upper floors, millinery atelier, one of the world’s great Estivales du Chapeau, a visit to a 1824 French hat factory and other sights of  a dream trip to France in the days ahead as they unfold.

I would love to know what you think of this amazing adventure using the comment link below.

à bientôt mes amis!

Read more at French Dreams at Chateau Dumas.

Visit The Inspired Room for others’ inspirations about creating a beautiful life.

You may want to take a morning walk over at The Southern Daydreamer for more Outdoor Wednesday posts.

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Dreaming in a Kitchen Garden

One of the most delightful things about a garden

is the anticipation it provides.

                                                                                                                                                                                                             ~W.E. Johns

the early bird gets the worm

Bob the Rooster starts his wake-up call about 4 a.m. at Rose Cottage.  Usually, it is fairly easy to think about an early start to the day when the morning is clear and fresh, the sky is starting to brighten with the first hints of sun and the song birds are warming up their voices for the “Sunrise Chorus.”

This morning, it is different. It’s about 40 degrees with a high probability the mercury won’t budge much, and the needed rain is expected about 8 a.m. Knowing there is a lot to accomplish, I decide to get up when Bob the Rooster sounds the alarm… in hopes of staying ahead of the rainfall.

In spite of weather predictions, my walk up the hill to the kitchen garden is full of energy and enthusiasm. Jenny Wren twitters away that I am disrupting her sleep as I bring the hoe, rake, cultivator, spade and pruners into the garden.  It’s just not spring and summer without several families of wrens in the birdhouses. Jenny Wren intermittantly peeks out of the old gnarly gourd birdhouse hanging from one of the rustic cedar arbors between the 4 x 8 raised beds. She scolds me for nearly an hour, and finally gives up and goes back to her cozy little nest…leaving me to my early morning folly and dreams. Ah, the dreams…the hopes…the optimism…

I bring out a few packets of garden seeds–a source of inspiration, I suppose. Adding compost and other magical organic nutrients to the raised beds, I have visions of exuberant lushness in just another month or so. I frequent sideway glances at the basket filled with some of the magical seeds that will make my garden dreams come true. What are your garden dreams? What do you like to grow in your kitchen or vegetable garden?

first fruits

The rhubarb plants (Canada Red and Victoria) are exceptionally lush this year–inspite of the the near-record drought conditions in May. The leaves are supersized–as if on steriods over the winter months. Most are over three feet long, and as much again as wide. I notice a lot of pollen from the white pines on the rhubarb leaves. The rains later this morning will wash all the pollen off. The rhubarb stalks are red and seem quite tender–perfect for a rhubarb dessert. The plants have not yet developed a seed head. Although, it can seem as if the seed head can shoot up well-past the plant in just one day. This time of year, I watch for seedheads and remove them until July 4th or a bit longer depending on the growing year.

Wouldn’t some fresh, warm rhubarb crisp be delicious? Or maybe, rhubarb cake or rhubarb sauce? I am reminded to look for the refreshing rhubarb punch recipe received from a dear neighbor almost 30 years ago. What is your favorite rhubarb recipe?

 

The ever-hardy chives are already showing off their lavender-colored flowerheads. The garlic chives have a pungent fragrance as I brush past them while working around the garden beds. The chive bloosoms, along with minced Italian parsley and green onions wintered over, will make a nice addition to the spring greens salad for supper tonight.

and the bells toll

It seems like I have only been in the kitchen garden an hour or so. The distant chimes of the carillon from the Lutheran church just down the hill from Rose Cottage tells a different story–it has been over five hours! Time for a  cup of tea.  Walking back towards our cottage, I notice that more flowers are blooming. One of the favorites–the white bleeding heart–is blooming near one of the bird baths and hostas. They are so beautiful with their nodding blossoms! I am reminded that there are probably 50 or more pink and white bleeding heart on the woodland path to le palais de poulet (Bob’s house) that should be moved. So many things to be thankful for this morning.

The sweetly fragrant white alyssums are quite romantic as a border flower, and are filling out beautifully near the bleeding heart and hostas. The alyssum will be so fragrant on warm summer evenings.

After a cup of tea and some dry clothes, it is time for more day dreaming in the kitchen garden while gently working the soil for planting. I decide to walk around the other side of Rose Cottage to see if the pink lilac is finally blooming. Though not as fragrant as the white and lavender lilacs, it has a soft, lovely fragrance all it’s own.

There is a welcome surprise in the next garden bed on the way up to the kitchen garden–blooms on the Frau Dagmar Harstropp! While simple and no bother at all–Frau Dagmar Harstropp produces the first roses of the season and signals the beginning of the best season of all–that of roses! The heady rose fragrance of this rugosa fills the June air, and will have almost continuous bloom throughout the summer. The rugosas are perfect landscape roses that can tolerate our severe climate changes. Now, time for more dreaming…

 What are your garden dreams this year?

You may want to talk a morning walk over at The Southern Daydreamer for more Outdoor Wednesday posts.

Gathering Roses

Won’t you come into the garden?

I would like my roses to meet you.

     ~Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)

rose of sharing

I am learning that one fundamental aspects of writing and reading blogs is creating community by sharing with one another–whether it be experiences, ideas, information or stories. By sharing, I learn more about creating a beautiful, inspired and simple life at Rose Cottage. There are some roses I have gathered and am sharing with you on this fine early spring day.

Bouquet of Roses from Camrose Hill

rose of remembrance

If I had a rose for every time I thought of you,

I’d be picking roses for a lifetime.

                                                                                                                  ~ Swedish Proverb

How have you “gathered roses” by creating memories?

Rose in My Garden and Other "Rosey" Vintage Music

 

rose of creating

{Rose} gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint,

and the soil and sky as canvas.

                                                                                                 ~Elizabeth Murray

Bright and early Saturday morning,  Mi and I linger over a three-hour breakfast at the charming Savories European Bistro in the historic river town north of Rose Cottage. Our conversation is filled with ideas for some new projects sprinkled with generous helpings of laughter. I treasure this time well-spent with one of my most creative friends. Later, I gather a few vintage rose treasures that are just too sweet to pass by.

Vintage Moss Rose Creamer, Sugar Bowl and Tea Cup in Dawn's Light

 Sixteen (yes–16!) vintage moss rose tea cups are gathered, along with moss rose berry and soup/salad bowls. Perfect for a spring tea party or luncheon to share with family and friends! Plus, there are a  few more treasures to share for creating  future memories…

Vintage Moss Rose Tea Cups with Moss and Roses

Vintage Creamer and a Rose

Vintage Rose Chintz Creamer with Pink Roses

 

rose of anticipation

A {rose} garden really lives only insofar as it is

an expression of faith,

the embodiment of a hope and the song of praise.

                                                                        ~Russell Page

April Showers Bring May Flowers

 

rose of planning and doing

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still aflying,
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorow will be dying.

                                                         ~Robert Herrick

Getting Ready to Gather More "Roses"

What are the roses you hope to gather this spring?

Awake! It’s spring…time to get organized!

Awake, thou wintry earth –
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn

tip 1: a place for everything

Do you sometimes feel “weighted down” or dreary during March even though the signs of spring are emerging everywhere?

Signs of Spring: Roses and Peony

Signs of Spring: Bird's Nest

Do you look around your home and wonder “where did all this stuff come from?” I do–tell me I am not alone!

For me, spring is a perfect time to help renew and refresh my spirit by organizing a closet, corner or a room. When organized, I am free of the burden of wondering, “where did I put…” and am not spending countless moments looking for something! I remember one of Grandmother Ione’s sayings, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Spring is a great time to be reminded of not giving clutter a chance to form.

Time for Spring Tea Joined by Grandmother Ione's Mother (Myrtle Maderson)

tip 2: quality over quantity

At Rose Cottage, there is a closet under the stairs that is a catch all–it is Fibber McGee’s closet! Get a quick peak at the closet by watching the video. Time to tackle that closet–even though the mere thought is colossal! With my Very Best Boy’s help–yes, the same one as the cinnamon roll baker on the “Home Alone” post! We take EVERYTHING out of McGee’s closet. Soon there is only a path through the living room and the dining room!

Please tell me that someone else has a Fibber McGee’s closet!

tip 3: don’t put it down {put it away, give it away or throw it away

Living in a small 1880’s cottage with very limited storage for nearly thirty years, requires on-going organization. Asking, “how will I use…this year?” can help reduce the quantity of “stuff” that gathers over the winter months. Next, it is time to make decisions about what to do with the stuff!

tip 4: pile, don’t file!

…that is, pile so that “stuff” can find new homes! Soon piles grow destined for recycling, tossing or giving away. My Very Best Boy decides there is some “stuff” he can use at his house away at college! I decide in order to have a more beautiful and inspired life this year, I need to simplify and have less quantity. There is a lot of accumulation over the winter!

Do you have a proliferation of “stuff “over the winter, too?

tip 5: spring forward!

Time at last for all the piles to move out the door. Bags, bags and even more bags (too many to count!) are dropped off at the Good Will. Going off to the GW is not without risk of bringing stuff home. I come home with just a just a few vintage treasures for spring nest fluffing from some favorite shops!

Sweet Velvet Bunnies Making Spring Deliveries (from Rose Mille)

Vintage Moss Rose Finds, Millinery and Bird Frame

For more about getting organized, Melissa over at The Inspired Room has some stylish ideas and tips to help you getting started on fluffing your nest.

Fluffing the Nest at Rose Cottage

Won’t you leave a comment and tell me how you are fluffing your nest this spring?

Time in a Bottle

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey.

It reminds us to cherish each moment,

because it will never come again.

What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.

                                                                                                               ~Jean-Luc Picard

springing forward…reluctantly!

Today, I am taking the leap! I am setting my watch an hour ahead for daylight savings time–yes, it is the Friday following the change to daylight savings time! “No kidding! But, I haven’t changed the time on the clock in my car…I want to save all the time I can! What is that you say? I won’t really save time by not changing my clock? Ah…well…!

Thinking About Time

cherish is the word I use to describe…

Cherishing moments I have with my VBS, children, family and friends is something I am thinking about a bit lately. Cherishing is the fundamental essence of living the beautiful life that Melissa writes about on The Inspired Room –whether it is cherishing a family keepsake, finding a long-forgotten treasure, making our homes lovely or spending time with loved ones!

What do you cherish the most to create the beautiful life?

Each spring as my watch is set ahead, I think how quickly time passes! How is it that it is just a blink and our babies grow into amazing adults that we want to be around! When the babies were…well, babies…it seemed like they were always going to be little, sitting next to the table in their high chairs during meal times, climbing into their cribs at bedtime or asking to have just one more story read…”ohhh, pleeeeeeease, Mama!” In reality, there are only a finite number of times to enjoy shared meals, bedtime stories or sunsets…but usually we treat these as inexhaustable!

Taking Time for the Inspired and Beautiful Life

What are the moments that you want to treasure with your children, family or friends?

Because time is not limitless, it is important to “stop the clock” for a minute or two and think about what is it I really want to do or pursue. Then, I consider how to prioritize or balance time between numerous responsibilites and ever-expanding interests of things to do, make and see!  This year, one of my goals is to write the Rose Cottage Gardens and Farm blog as a way to connect with family and friends–old and new. I am using the posts as one tool to think about how to create a beautiful life, and how to resoucefully, creatively and intentionally live in that beautiful life.

one moment {month} in time

I am so grateful that you are stopping by for a chat today, and to share your kind words and support in this journey! You see, today marks the completion of one month in the blogsville! It is so wonderful to meet you here—to pause the clock for a moment or two and share a bit of our lives. I want to bottle up all this time we spend together and save it for a rainy day!

Finding Time in a Bottle at Rose Mille

 

I would love if you would take some time to send me a comment!

Thank you for your visit and a little chat!

Inspired by Red

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies.
~Christopher Marlowe

it only takes a spark

I wake up on a Saturday morning thinking, “red might be a fantastic color for the bedroom!” I quickly quench the idea for a simple reason…I don’t like the color red! The thought persists, and I keep dreaming about red!

Dreaming about Red Inspirations

Surprisingly, I hear my own voice asking, “why not? The splash of red might be just the spark needed to renew our spirits!” I am becoming convinced that red accents along with soft yellow walls will give the room a warm, French-inspired feeling. Maybe, it is just what we need! The notion gradually grows and takes hold: “I MUST have red accents in this room!”

What color must you simply have in your home?

A few days later, I spot a fantastic buffalo checked silk taffeta in raspberry red–perfect for the window treatment! The taffeta curtain is layered over a creamy lace curtain, and sweeps across the large window with a black velvet tieback made with vintage millinery posies. Oh, it is so romantic! Read more about romantic millinery magic! But that’s not all…

 

say it in red

Next, a little red is needed to set off the cream bed linens. Victorian layover pillow shams, made using a single color in an outline stitch on cotton called redwork, will fit the 125 year-old Rose Cottage. Even though simplistic, the stitching on a crisp soft-white cotton using red embroidery floss can capture the center stage of the room. The “Good Morning” and “Good Night” shams are added to the pillow collection on the antique brass bed.

seeing a bit more red

Having a penchant for antique and vintage textiles, I search through the linens stashed carefully away in a dresser. I find some lovely woven damask linens, Italian redwork, a penny redwork square of a single rose, and a treasured woven red shaw/throw from an Italian adventure over a year ago. My favorites are the antique French red bird toile–I just can’t get enough of it! There is a fabulous Tuesday Toile party going on at Pretty Organized–don’t miss out if you are smitten with toile!

While there are variations in the reds, it all works and the reds play very nicely together.

 

 inspirations from red

 1. Red is one of those colors that a little goes a long way. Just enough red adds energy, inspiration and warmth to a room, too much red…well…it is just too much.

2. Surprise yourself — do something unexpected to create joy in your home and for those you love!

3. Be open to new ideas and inspirations from unexpected things or places.

4. Simple changes helps see everyday things with new eyes.

5. Using slight variations of a color or a theme can add more interest.

What are your inspirations or insights when you step out of your “decorating comfort zone” and try something new?

The French-inspired look is dreamy and amazingly romantic. Though fabulous for cold winter months, the bedroom will need to to feel lighter with softer colors and fabrics for the warm summer months that are just around the corner.

This gives me another idea as a creative frugalist: two season decorating–switching up the colors and textiles so rooms have a new look based on the season. Now, it is time to start planning the warm weather look! The perfect place to start is a luxurious antique silk and damask bolster pillow from Rose Mille to create a summer “bed of roses!” 

romantic millinery magic

a still life with a bouquet of flowers

The skies are gray at Rose Cottage, and winter’s uninvited chill is lingering a bit too long. Snow is once again in the forecast. I am longing for warm sunshine again! Are you feeling this way, too? Wouldn’t you love to walk out to the garden and bring in a huge bouquet of freshly-picked flowers…spicy sweet pink roses, armloads of fragrant peonies and stately blue bird delphinium…into your home?

Maybe, a bouquet that is somewhat reminiscent of famous sumptuous Dutch oil paintings from the 17th century, such as Jan van Huysum’s Still Life with a Bouquet of Roses and Other Flowers? I can almost smell the old rose fragrance of the bourbon roses in that painting!

a reinvented 3-D still life

There aren’t any van Huysum’s and, in the middle of below freezing temps, the gardens are not in bloom at Rose Cottage! (Sigh!) So I envision my own version of a still life using a bouquet of millinery roses and other flowers. My still life will be a curtain tieback on the bedroom raspberry red buffalo check silk curtain. But, I will need to gather a lot of flowers–it needs to have the feel of a van Huysum!

Some of the bouquet’s elements are carefully wrapped in tissue and tucked away in a vintage hatbox. Other elements are currently in service in another small arrangement; time to “re-purpose” that one.

Lovely Vintage Millinery

Realizing there aren’t quite enough millinery for the voluptuous bouquet of my dreams, I am off to Rose Mille–just up the river, to pick more flowers for the still life. Mi has fabulous millinery to add to the bouquet!

The white silk rose from Dulken and Derrick gathered at Rose Mille is spectacular with the gently rolled petals!

Vintage Millinery Trio

 

 

 

Mi has a gorgeous small vintage piece of  “drapey” black velvet–perfect for the base of the bouquet!

 

 

For a bit of the unexpected, I decide to use a few pieces of vintage spun cotton fruit gently sprinkled with fairy dust–glass glitter.

 

 

 

 

Some Gathered Millinery and Spun Cotton Fruit

creating millinery magic

Now, it is time to create some millinery magic! Some of the little beauties need a gentle freshening. Mi glady shares a tip with me: simply hold the flower over a steaming tea kettle, and the petals will unfurl right before your eyes! It takes only a few minutes to liven up more than 50 pieces of millinery.

The black velvet is cut the length and width of the tieback needed for the curtain. I decide to use some pellon as a stabilizer between the front and back of the black velvet. Two six inch pieces of black silk cording are cut to serve as the hooks, and each are looped at each end of the tie back. The black velvet is stitched with the fronts facing, leaving a small opening. The velvet is turned right-side out through the small opening. The tieback is gently steamed, and the opening is whip-stitched closed. Now it is time for more fun!

Shades of White: Romantic Millinery and Great-Grandmother Myrtle's Needlecase

The millinery is laid out in a design that balances size, color and texture. The first step is to create a base with the vintage black and green velvet leaves. The leaves are carefully handstitched to the velvet.

Starting at the inside end (opposite of where the tieback hooks to the wall), the roses, apple blossums, flower buds and spun cotton are carefully stitched to the tieback.

After careful stitching, the romantic millinery magic is done! Time to see the results on the raspberry silk curtain.

 

 

 

 

Romantic Millinery Tieback (2)

 

What do you think about this still life of romatic roses and other flowers?

Can you leave me a comment below about how you have created millinery magic? Or just let me know what you think! Thanks for stopping by for a chat!

 

Woman Making Millinery Magic (c.1910)

Mailer’s Malady

a postscript note to Valentines

I have to come “clean.” I am afflicted with with a deep-seated disorder–“Mailer’s Malady!” Never heard of it you say? Maybe, you have it too? Mailer’s Malady affects everyone–men, women and children, young and old and rural or urban dwellers. Mailer’s Malady knows no boundaries, and it can lurk anywhere.

Vintage Sealing Wax and a Red Rose

The symptoms are unmistakeable and emerge throughout the year. Although, there are certain times of year the symptoms are more evident and difficult to conceal, such as Christmas and other celebratory days. 

Inside one of the drawers of my beloved Grandmother’s secretary is additional evidence of the ailment: stacks of the most amazingly beautiful cards and stationary carefully selected and purchased to pen off words to those I love and care about. Some of the pigeon holes in the desks even have addressed cards and notes in sealed envelopes with 21 cent stamps. How long ago was that?! Yes, at one time 21 cent stamps were in vogue and used by some!

There are gentle reminders around Rose Cottage patiently telling me to post a little note to someone dear every time I pass them throughout the day.

Victorian Paper Mache Writer's Desk (c.1880)

 A lovely Victorian paper mache writer’s desk with delicate inlaid mother of pearl encourages me every morning and evening…but I look the other way and the confounding malady afflicts its grip on me once again. 

Tucked inside a well-worn address book are words of wisdom from the past to encourage me to overcome this desperate condition. The words confront some conceivable reasons for not writing…

Time…

“A letter not be long to be welcome.” ~Emily Post

“A line is enough for memory.” ~Old autograph album

Money…

“Good words are worth much, and cost little.” ~Geroge Herbert

Not sure what to say…

“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.” ~William Shakespeare

“Begin at the beinning, go on until you have finished, and then stop.” ~Anonymous

however…

“Love in a letter endures forever in our memories.” ~Emily Post

and

“Blessed be letters–they are the monitors, they are also the comforters, and they are the only true heart-talkers.” ~Donald Grant

Today, I resolve to send a long-overdue note to a friend

who has been on my mind…after I find some stamps!

Will you send me a comment below and let me know what you think?