Garden Party

In celebration of the first day summer, Cielo at The House in the Roses is hosting a garden party! If you'd like to see all the pretty gardens, you can click on the picture or go to http://www.houseinroses.blogspot.com/


Here is my garden. Please sit down and have a refreshing snack before we take a tour of my yard and flowers.
See where the sun is shining through? I can watch the sun set over the river from that spot. The whole line of trees is the top of my riverbank.

I wanted to set an especially pretty table for you! Here I have a depression glass collection with a sandwich plate and sugar and creamer set in the Mayfair open rose pattern. I love depression glass! The vase is by Lenox and was a gift from my father's cousin and his wife for my wedding. (Ha, I just realized that was 21 years ago yesterday! The marriage ended 8 years ago, but I still have the pretty vase!)

Here is another view of my yard looking toward the river bank.

Before we begin, I'd like to mention that I did not plant these beautiful flowers. The woman who lived in the house before me must be given full credit. She did a beautiful job and planned it so that there would be flowers blooming from earliest spring until late fall. I thank her in my heart every time I look at my yard and gardens!

My son took this picture of luscious berries growing on the banks. Alas, he could get a zoom pic, but I couldn't reach the berries because of poison ivy! All of the rest are pictures that I took of flowers in my garden. A few are reposts. Enjoy!

The picture above is one of the gardens in early spring when everything was blooming. It's my favorite pic of my gardens.
I don't know what the purple flowers shown above are, but the butterflies and hummingbirds love them! They bloom in late summer.

My duck and ducklings statuary! It's from Home and Garden parties.


Hope you enjoyed your tour of my gardens! I'd love to have you stop by again.

P.S. The statuaries of Pan and the fairy in my sidebar are not from my garden. They were taken at the grounds of Ravenwood Castle in the Hocking Hills of Ohio. They were featured in an older post.

Come with me to a magical realm...

Come with me to a magical realm, to a castle high atop a hill. Travel along a country road in a remote land, and travel up the path that winds up the side of hill, and at the top, find paradise! Where might you find such a wonderland, full of magic? South central Ohio, of course, just east of the Hocking Hills!

My sons and I have visited Ravenwood Castle twice now, once in 2006, then again last summer. Each time, we came for a special weekend so that they could have magic lessons and at the end, a magic show in a small stage set in the woods. This is the coolest place! It's actually considered a bed and breakfast, but you can rent rooms inside the castle, cottages in the castle "village," and little cottages at the bottom of the hill. That's where we stayed! We love this place so much that I wanted to share our visit there! For a link to Ravenwood's official website, go to the bottom of the post.

Below is the entrance to the fairy tale village, a collection of old church camp cabins from the 1930s, all refurbished with a bathroom, kitchen sink, small fridge, and microwave. I remember the first time I came to the entrance to the village. Walking through the archway was like walking into another time and place. Isn't the purple cottage beautiful! That's where I really wanted to stay.
However, we stayed in the Snow White cottage, the same place as last year, but this year there was a new color on the outside, and fresh new linens on the bed. Let me tell you, that bed was very plush and comfortable!
Here is a mural behind the bed.
And here is the pretty bed, fit for a princess in teal blues and pinks! The boys slept on the futon.

Here is a pretty babbling brook that was directly behind the cottage.
Look what I found next to the little bridge that crosses the stream!
Next to the castle is a village of more cottages. There were several to choose from. This location is wonderful as it is next to the castle where breakfast is served each morning in a grand dining hall, outfitted with stained glass windows, medieval banners, a big fireplace, and of course, a knight in armor! Or at least just his armor! Here is the cottage I really wanted to rent, but it was already taken. We found out later that's where the magician and his family stayed.
Here is the cottage that I would have loved to stay in if I were rich! It had an upstairs and downstairs, and I heard it had a heart shaped jacuzzi tub in the tower! Don't you just love all the flowers? The pathways on the property were lined with flowers and all kinds of interesting things!
The castle dog Raven, and lord of all he surveys, is always there to greet you. Or not. He likes to sleep too. He is a friendly and gentle giant, protecting his castle from intruders. Or not. He would rather lick you.

Come take a walk with me through the castle grounds and let's see what we can find!

Wow, what's that on top of the castle? It's own castle hawk! Oh, just a replica made of stone, but cool anyhow.
Here is an interesting lantern next to one of the doors leading into a room at the side of the castle.
I love this sad little broken gargoyle. He just looks so miserable, but he has a quality about him that I just adore, despite his missing ear and toes and teeth!
Behind the castle is a maze and a statue of Pan playing his flute. If you're lucky, you'll be able to take breakfast on the enclosed porch overlooking the maze.
My youngest son took this pic. I loved the little worn fairy. She would be perfect in my garden or my living room! Until I saw her, I didn't realize they did shabby chic at the castle!

Here is a pretty little vignette between cottages in the castle village.
There were the most beautiful flowers growing on the walls on the castle grounds! I don't know what kind of flower this is, but it was gorgeous. (Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses says it may be a trumpet vine. Thanks Rhondi!)
And here is another beautiful flower. I don't know what it is either, but it was striking! (It's a day lily. Thanks again, Rhondi!)
Thought I'd end with a picture of my boys, enjoying their day outside, soaking up the sun. They are sitting next to a big checkerboard patio where people can actually play checkers with big round discs! It's so lush and green here!
To learn more about Ravenwood Castle and their special weekends, you can go to http://www.ravenwoodcastle.com/ . It's affordable too! The Hocking Hills is a vacation wonderland and full of different places you can stay, mostly in cabins which have hot tubs outside! It is full of winding roads and soft rolling hills. There are many places to hike too, including Old Man's Cave. It's about a 5 hour drive for me since I don't like to drive main highways and prefer smaller roads, but it has always been well worth the trip.

Hope you enjoyed your trip through Ravenwood Castle!

Spring has sprung!

Welcome to my blog! I'm inspired by so many of the Rate My Space ladies who have begun blogging. I can't wait to get started on this space and join the fun. Hope you share my joy of living in my most favorite home yet!

I'm so happy that it's finally spring! After a long, harsh winter, I find the warmth and sunshine practically intoxicating! I'm so fortunate to have moved into a home where the previous owner was a gardener. Though I am queen of the brown thumb, the former lady of the house was so wise to have planted perennials that bloom at all different times of the spring and summer.It was just two months ago that we had our last significant snowfall. Hard to believe!



Makes me shiver just to think of how cold it was then! Look at what spring has brought to my gardens though! It just warms my heart and delights my eyes!

I have to confess that the little red shed isn't mine. It belongs to a neighbor, but I just loved the bright colors and the rugged fence. Everything is so colorful!

Have a great day! I'll post again soon.