Lovin' My Pink Bush Rose!

About this time last year I told you about my new bush rose. I'm enjoying it so much. It peeks out of the garden fence.




It's a constant burst of pink!



And I'm even willing to share it with the daddy long legs. But it really is wonderfully bug resistant.



I think I'm going have to have another one soon!

Vintage Rose Girl

Vintage Lovers...we are a dedicated breed. We love to collect, we love to decorate, we love to talk about collecting and decorating...Doesn't matter what we collect, it expands and seeds another collection. For example, I collect vintage tablecloths, but don’t they just look wonderful with Fiestaware? So now I have to say I have a nice little collection of Fiesta. I also collect vintage powder compact…what came next? Vintage purses, vintage powder boxes, little vintage vanity items.

So where did this love of vintage come from? In my case, it probably first came from my grandmother (my dad’s mother). She was an avid collector and an antique dealer. I remember going with her on a few of her hunts when I was just a little girl. And mom most likely had a hand in it too. My mom can put a room together like no other. She can mix the old with the new and it will take your breath away. Her vignettes are amazing! She was Martha before Martha was Martha!

Now I may not be the collector or decorator my grandma was and my mother is, but I do have a deep love of vintage. Collecting to me is being able to hold and to touch a little piece of history. A connection to the women who have gone before me.

So this generational love of vintage, will it end with me? Yes. My beautiful daughters prefer a basketball to a vintage hanky, an IPod to a swan down powder puff. Nope, I did not pass the vintage gene to my girls. They are smart and fun and will blaze their own trail. I am grateful that they tolerate my “habit.”

So where am I going with this long story about collecting habits and genetics? Well, I think in the fast paced, changing world, vintage loving young ladies are rare. But I just happen to know one! Let me introduce you to Eliza.

Eliza is the daughter of my friend Tracie who I met though The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club. She did inherit the vintage bug from her mom. (Although Tracie tells me her other daughter is not a vintage gal!)

Eliza has a love of girly vintage! (Oh be still my heart!) Her beautiful blog is Vintage Rose Girl. Visit her blog and you will see how Eliza intertwines vintage with the life of a modern day teen. She’s smart, talented, and oh so pretty too! Her blog is a reflection of the next generation of vintage lovers who will be the keepers our little piece of history!

Oh, and by the way…I still hold out a little – just a little – hope that someday one of my girls will get the vintage spark. If not, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a vintage loving daughter-in-law!

Visit Tracie at 3floridagirls on Etsy

Visit and follow Eliza’s blog at Vintage Rose Girl

Visit Tracie, me, and all the other members of The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club

Weekend Finds ~ Wonderful Wilendurs!

I'm always excited when I find vintage tablecloths during my weekend treasure hunt! But a stack of Wilendur just makes me plain giddy!

This pretty gingham was designed by a Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club member's father, John Madsen. The color is amazing. Unused condition. I gave it a little soak to remove the age yellowing. Isn't it just gorgeous? I can't wait to use it! Thank goodness for red and yellow post 86 Fiestaware. LOL!

While, this beauty is going to be added to my collection of Wilendurs, I picked up six more! So look for those soon at The Pink Rose Cottage! They are beauties too, just duplicates of some in my collection already.

If you are stopping over at The Pink Rose Cottage today (Monday), check out the items in the Monday Markdowns category. All items are 50% off. Lots of great vintage items left. And if you'd like advance notice of all our Monday Markdown sales, make sure you sign up for our newsletter email. You can find the link on the home page, bottom left.

Happy Monday my friends!
~Holly

Pink Iris

This winter and spring has been a season of weird and wild weather. But my garden must have loved it! I can't remember the last time my pink iris have bloomed! I planted them over 20 years ago, moved them a half a dozen times. They are very particular and don't like change, so I figured they were gone. But SURPRISE! My beauties are back!

Magical Summer Reading...

I love to read. A little mystery, a little history, a little romance...I love it! I never thought about adding a little magic to the mix. But I stumbled upon Sarah Addison Allen and I'm captivated!

Sarah has four books: Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased The Moon and The Peach Keeper. I've read the first three. Each has a main character who has a family with extraordinary secrets. The road to discovering these secrets is scattered with deep and unusual family history, a touch of romance, and dose of magic. Actual fairy tale magic! Magic is brought in to these stories in an accepting and factual way. The reader is so drawn into the lives of the main characters that these odd family traditions do not seem so unusual by the end of the book. Magic seems normal.

These mysterious and enchanting characters, artfully described small southern towns, and magical plots that are found in Sarah Addison Allen's books are wonderful summer getaway!

I truly felt a bit of sadness at the end of each book...Sad that it ended and couldn't go on and on...I try to wait patiently for my copy of The Peach Keeper to arrive and hope that more Sarah Allen's magical books are in the works.

The First

The first rose in my garden this season...and it's PINK!