Clutter, antiques, dog snot on the windows, black hair on cat shapes embedded on the duvet, fruit in a bowl and photographs on the wall....the list could go on and on and on.
Ever since I bought my second home, which was a Victorian terrace over three floors, I had always gotten into the habit of having flowers in the house. It was a sort of promise that I made myself when the mortgage was agreed.....
It was a " flowers maketh a home" sort of thing even then.
And I have no real idea where the need came from, after all I was never a fan of Home & Gardens or anything like that.
It always used to be an expensive luxury
The florist was located just around the corner
Now, with a cottage garden in full bloom, and a lane bursting with flowers, it's cheap and easy to treat the house with vases of colour
I am such an old lady
Not so much an old lady, John Dear, as a wonderfully sensitive man, with a heart full of love for all creatures, the ability to appreciate beauty, and the most astoundingly funny way of writing that I've ever had the privilege to read.
ReplyDeleteAnd certainly the most bleached bum that ever walked the earth, I'm sure...
I have not bleached my bum for ages..... .....thank The Lord!
DeleteI never mind the dust but flowers are a necessity. Yours are delightful.
ReplyDeleteFlowers are fabulous..they do indeed really make a home
ReplyDeleteI can feel it bubbling up from the very depth of my soul... I know I'm a bit of a tart, first to admit it! When I fall, I fall deeply, no worries it's usually gay men. I love you, I really love you, let's run away, and be two old ladies together.
ReplyDeleteLLX
Lol...fraud I only have eyes for Chris...... And Russell Crowe of course
DeleteDear John,
ReplyDeleteI share your love of flowers - and flowers in the house. On fleamarkets I collect little vases (I am a fan of flower-arranging in every way - orderly or rampant, husband always tells me that would have been my real vocation). So enjoy your cottage garden in and out. By the way: it is not necessary to be an OLD Lady to like bunches of flowers - you can spare that breast-plate for 20 years ahead.
It's not flowers that maketh a home - but builders, plumbers, roofers, electricians, plasterers, decorators, carpet fitters etc.. Got any of them on your mantelpiece?
ReplyDeleteOh you are a wag YP
Deletea home should be filled with things that make you smile and feel good.
ReplyDeleteLike scotch eggs and Russell Crowe?
DeleteI keep flours in the house... wheat, rye, buckwheat, maize...
ReplyDeleteOh so are you too BBB
DeleteYou are, you really are ..... and that's why we love you :-)
ReplyDeleteShucks
DeleteI keep finding myself coming back .... I do love a nice old lady!
ReplyDeleteSo do I.....
DeleteWelcome aboard x
my boyfriends have the cleanest, most lovely decorated homes. mine is a pigsty. and I have cat snot on my windows.
ReplyDeleteThat's my gal
DeleteJust picked some sweet peas !
ReplyDeleteSomeday I am gonna buy or build a home for myself. It will be the DIRTIEST home ever :-)
ReplyDeleteNow why would that be KK?
DeleteNow that is strange, John: I wrote you a comment, and it was to be seen after 'lettice Leaf' - and now its gone! Maybe you pressed the wrong button when replying LL - whatever: your flowers are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteFound your comment in my spam folder
DeleteHoho!
DeleteLove sweet peas! I have had my roses going gang busters this summer. When nothing is blooming I treat myself to shop bought bouquets....just because.
ReplyDeleteSeeming to lack a strong visual sense I'm unable to appreciate art to the same extent as music and literature, both of which can penetrate to my very soul.
ReplyDeleteBut there is one single. glorious exception. I'm absolutely knocked sideways by the sight of flowers, virtually any type - even a simple, wild thing like a buttercup.
If I was in your room looking at that vase and its contents you'd think that I'd gone into a trance. As for passing a florist, I have to cross the street for fear of having an orgasm - in mind only, I might add! (We just might be soul-mates here, J.G.)
love!
ReplyDeleteA old lady in a big girl's blouse... we wouldn't want you any other way.
ReplyDeleteEls
I have a friend who began gardening in her retirement in order to have flowers for the vases in every nook and cranny of her house. I know the florists miss her.
ReplyDeleteA woman after my own heart
DeleteI love having flowers around the house. Flowers maketh a home indeed. Well, flowers and ice cream.
ReplyDeleteThen I am an old lady too.
ReplyDeleteI AM (well almost) an old lady too!
ReplyDeleteLove flowers in vases,in the garden,in other peoples' gardens, on the bedding,curtains,clothes.......you get the picture?
I don't have cat snot on the windows anymore, my old lady cat is 16 plus and can't be bothered (or maybe physically can't), to jump up onto the windowledges.
Shame really, as sometime when the sun shone on it, I used to get the most amazing 'crystal-like' colours!
Sandie xxx
The sweet peas are lovely. I wish I could get them to grow in my garden!
ReplyDeleteI love those finishing touches! My house is such a eclectic collection of things that were given to me or things I bought because they just appealed to me. I don't have a decorating "style", or maybe I do........random junk. :)
ReplyDeleteKelly......it's all about finishing touches......it always has been
DeleteYour photos are so pretty - Martha Stewart-ish without bars.
ReplyDeleteBras?
DeleteNothing looks better than a jugful of roses out of your own garden John - or smells better for that matter. I agree about flowers though - they make a home look lived in and loved. My sweet peas are just coming into flower and the smell lasts for about two days. Is it your flower show this weekend?
ReplyDeleteOn the 10th aug pat!
DeleteI love Sweet Peas !
ReplyDeleteI have planted them in many homes I have lived in. Nothing better than a vase of Sweet Peas or Roses. I don't have a place to grow them where I live now. Hungry critters make short work of any new or tasty new growth around my home and even inside fenced areas.
I envy your and Weavers gardens.
cheers, parsnip
also, when is your open house ? since I can't be there I would love to visit can I send you for the raffle a set of my note cards ?
That would be lovely
DeleteOur open day is on September the first
I would be ever so grateful for anything you could send me
Thank you xxxxx
I don't often have flowers in the house, although when the ones bloom around the house, i've been known to pick a few poseys. I wanted to make it more of a habit but Jim (youngest cat) kept trying to eat them, so i figured it was better to enjoy them outside for a while. He doesn't bite them outside, only when they come into the house.
ReplyDeleteOne can never have enough sweet peas. I cut huge bunches for friends, then they stop visiting me until the season is over.. Philistines.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with old ladies...join the club.
ReplyDeleteI envy the sweet peas...I cannot get them to grow for me.
Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! And I love dog snot on the windows.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
ahhh but an "old lady" in a beautifully bedecked and perfumed home! and your home has what some H&G homes lack, with their sterile beauty...your home has "HEART" :)
ReplyDeleteYou are quite the package aren't you? Russell Crowe looks and old lady sensitivities. No wonder Chris puts up with the menagerie.
ReplyDeleteLol
DeleteHe doesn't x
Love vases full of fresh flowers around the house. You arrange very nicely.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever take a peek at the English bull dog rescue , was excited to read that somewhere ...know you miss Constance.
I am registered with them willow...
DeleteI have a bulldog story tomorrow too
I thought the post was going to be about "Bosoms"...
ReplyDeleteI like your taste, you're a soft touch John.
~Jo
There's a lot to be said for being an old lady. Your flowers are gorgeous. x
ReplyDeleteI made my daughter's wedding bouquet from the wildflowers blooming on our farm... wild roses, honeysuckle etc. A person really doesn't HAVE to have a flower garden to enjoy those vases inside (but it's a lot easier). I miss not having flowers like you have but in our motorhome there's just no space. Yours are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe are trying to grow more roses
DeleteThat first picture is especially gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThank you susie
DeleteA visual and cerebral treat, and a lovely insight into a man of taste and discernment (apart from the Scotch Egg fetish) x
ReplyDeleteI have just returned from the Samaritans and have eaten two on the way home!
DeleteMy brother would agree with you. If you've seen his blog, you've seen his amazing gardens.
ReplyDeleteHave a good night, John. ♥
I have and he has
DeleteThank you all....
ReplyDeleteYou flower lovers you x
I like flowers in a house, but not cut ones. I hate sitting around, watching them wilt and die. It's bad enough watching myself do that.
ReplyDeleteOh bleeding hell you've gone all Ingmar Bergman
DeleteI thought I'd gone all Oscar Wilde - just shows how people perceive each other. Anyway, I'm better now.
DeleteAnd that is precisely why we all love you John! I love old ladies!!
ReplyDeleteI worked at a vets office in Mission Viejo, Ca. many moons ago, and there was the cutest little flower shop that I passed on my way home. They always had tin buckets of flowers sitting outside. Whenever I had a few extra dollars (not often), I'd stop and pick out a few stems. They wrapped them up so pretty...I'd lay them so gently on the seat of my car, like they were glass. It was such a special treat.
ReplyDeleteYou're a damn nice "old lady", John!
I am so jealous that you get fresh flowers every day. I need to plant a cutting garden.
ReplyDeleteLooking and smelling flowers makes life more joyous. We put them out to make us feel good and to make people feel welcome. Nature is always a catalyst to feeling at peace and one with the world.
ReplyDeleteA house must look lived in, complete with pets, photographs, and daily life all around. Love that you love flowers in the house.
ReplyDeleteSuch a civilized life you lead!
ReplyDeleteExcuse me John, but 50 is not old !!
ReplyDeleteSue
Flowers always make you smile.
ReplyDeleteYummy! Sweet peas! I would eat them for you. hee hee
ReplyDeleteYou can't be a proper old lady unless you smell of wee and knit tea cosies. Ask me how I know *grin*
ReplyDelete