“ RED ROSES"

                                                 WELCOME TO 
                             FEBRUARY
   

                             Teatime is dedicated to the color red .
     One of my hobbies is photography ... I particularly love
                                     to capture flowers.
                                                 
                           RED ROSES make me HAPPY

 I took these pictures at the SHOGUN Gardens in

 Iwakuni, Japan.

Wandering  into a SHOGUN reality is like discovering  a gateway into botanical heaven ...
 but first you have to get past the gate.

PLEASE COME IN 

Everything is handmade.

Of course, many gardeners dedicate hours of loving  maintenance in honor
of the
gardens
 and the gifts they bring to us all.

Snapping pictures seems so insignificant in comparison to

the momentuous  task spent
cultivating and caring for the plants.
Most of the roses are vintage, so the aromatic scent in the air was intoxicating, especially in the red and pink ones.

It is nearly impossible to describe the scent or beauty of a 

rose. 
"A rose by any other name would not smell as sweet"
(William Shakeskpeare)

" Oh my luve's is like a red, red rose,
that's newly sprung in June:
My luve is like a melody that's sweetly
played in tune.
As fair thou art my bonny lass,
So deep in luve am I;
 and I will luve thee still my dear,
tho a' the seas gang dry."
(Robert Burns)

 OMG... I almost forgot ... It's time for tea.

Old Country Rose tea cups are so simple and yet so elegant.

                  I have a setting of six with the cream and sugar.

               I have  collected black china sets with roses, 
                   since childhood ...What do you collect?

                           There now, let's take out two cups for tea.
                               One for you and one for me.

 I do hope that you like "Mighty Leaf "mint tea, it's probably the only bagged tea that I truly enjoy.

In the meantime, I had a lovely Japanese napkin that I made into a paperdoll for Valentine's Day.

YES, I still play with paperdolls ... Don't you ?

My mother designed evening gowns and wedding dresses, as a result, I have inherited her love of drawing gowns on paper.(ie) paperdolls. It's a happy past-time.!!!

Though I very seldom wear red, who could resist trying on a beautiful gowns like this one 
which was displayed in the Kyoto hotel lobby. 

While looking into old boxes, I just happened to find some romantic literature from my college days and thought that they would be  quick and fun to re-read.

 " My Beloved, Classic Messages of Love",  fit perfectly into the Valentine's Day theme. It is a small book that contains  various intimate love letters and passages from famous people like, Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Robert Browning, Cassanova,

( that one made me laugh),  Napoleon to Josephine

 and( below)

 Ludwig Von  Beethoven to his Immortal Beloved... truly a tragic love affair.

"Though still in bed my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then saddly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us "

" Love me--- today-yesterday-what tearful longings for you-you-you-my life-my all---farewell----Oh continue to love me ----never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved L.."

SOUNDS LIKE TRUE LOVE TO ME !!!

You may view or order the movie, " Immortal Beloved" on Amazon or Netflix.

THANK FOR THE VISIT LADIES 

                                      May you all receive
          RED ROSES for VALENTINE'S DAY