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Monday, May 23, 2016

Clear Vision In A Vase On Monday May 23, 2016

Welcome to my blog, May is living up to all expectations for glorious flowering, indeed many flowers are 2-3 weeks early, like the roses.  So the easiest flowers to choose today for my Monday vase for the addictive meme, with the challenge to find flowers in your garden to plonk into a vase, hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden, are of course roses.  15 or so years ago I collected a lot of Old Garden Roses (OGRs), from various sellers of own-root roses, including the fabulous Sequoia Nursery owned by Ralph Moore, hybridizer as well, who ran his nursery until over 100 years of age, and who had an amazing variety.  I also collected a lot of minis when Justice Roses went out of business.  I'm sad to say that I lost most of the mini's, I think rabbits ate many of them down to nubs in the winter.  For a while they made a delightful miniature rose garden.

Today I am linking with-

Today's flowers hosted by Denise

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy


Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

For my first vase I am using a newer rose, the very fragrant Scentimental, striped roses were another collection of mine.  Also newer Dublin Bay, a gorgeous deep red climber which also lasts a long time on the plant or in a vase but mine has no fragrance.  It was a slow grower but is big now.  Also in the vase is an OGR, Reve d'or, which gets paler as it ages.  The vase is Delft, not very visible, from a garage sale-



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Reve d'Or outdid herself this year-


My second vase includes a red Rhododendron, another major May-blooming species.  The red ones bloom last and are not as vigorous for some reason, but are also planted in poor shady locations. The vase is one passed on from my mother-in-law, with its own rose decorations.   Also in the vase are the fragrant OGR Hybrid Perpetual Baronne Prevost- the larger bloom with the quartered pattern, and the very prolific but rather short-lived in a vase Old Tea Monsieur Tillier, which lives up to its reputation of being very tough flourishing in spite of being planted on our inhospitable front bank-



Another unbelievably vigorous and productive bloomer is Madame Plantier, an Alba hybrid.  She was hard to deal with but The Motorcyclist built me a large trellis enclosure for her with some cut tree branches that does well to hold the canes up.


Another tough rose that manages to flourish on my unwatered front bank is the OGR Rambler Celine Forestier, not only covered with small flowers now but one that will repeat bloom occasionally all the way to fall.  The buds start out a lovely peach color and fade to white-


 Here in a charming little vase from the thrift store-

The vase makes me think of weddings, so I am including a photo of my son when he was in my sister's wedding at the age of 5, I made his vest, bow tie and short pants-

He is now a computer programmer and has 5 kids ages 4-13.

Well, in closing I have to say that I've learned the hard way that the blue light of computer screens and TV's has a detrimental effect on the back of the eye, and have developed some problems related to Age Related Macular Degeneration, so an obvious thing I can do to help slow down or stop this process is to do less on my computer, though I try to use UVEX golden yellow glasses over my reading glasses to filter out the blue light, when I remember to use them. Anyway the result is that I am going to drop out of regular participation in the weekly blogging world, though it has been fun to have a creative outlet, and meet so many other fun bloggers.  To use my time otherwise I'm trying to get back into regularly playing my keyboard and even hopefully get better as an accompanist.  My paternal grandmother Edith was my childhood inspiration, she was a concert caliber performer of Chopin and Beethoven music, which I got to enjoy as a child when she visited.  She was my inspiration to play the piano.  She was also a church organist and taught music lessons, in fact she was walking home from her bus stop from teaching a lesson on the last day of her life when she fell and had a stroke and passed on at around 81, what a way to go.  She is probably making beautiful music in Heaven, one of my fond memories is playing my violin with her to the song, Jerusalem, the Holy City.  So have fun out there in blogging world, I appreciate all of you who have followed me and faithfully visited and commented here, I will miss you, and perhaps come back to write occasionally.   -Hannah

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31 comments:

  1. Oh Hannah I am so very sorry to hear about your eye issues and that you will not be blogging. I will miss your posts and comments....I hope you will visit on occasion. I will also miss your garden....but what a lovely spot to show us, all those roses and beautifully displayed in vases.

    Be well and enjoy that keyboard!

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    1. Thanks, Donna, I always enjoyed your blog and comments. I will see how I feel after the doctors get through with my retinas.

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  2. I'm sorry to hear about your problems Hannah, our sight is such a precious thing so I feel you are making a good decision. I will miss your comments and vases; good luck with your music, I'm sure that will give you a lot of pleasure, I wish I could play something.

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    1. Thanks, Christine, I don't know what I will do with myself. So much of my time has been oriented to the blogging activities and schedules. Getting back into music will help, I'm working on being able to play my Chopin piece again, I had let it slip and it seems hard to get back into playing all the notes right, though my Grandma who had no garden or outside interests could play all the music so well to the end of her life.

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  3. Our eyesight is so precious and of course you must do what's necessary to protect it, but I'm sorry to hear you'll no longer be blogging. Enjoy your garden and getting back into your music. Take care. Sam x

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    1. Thanks, Sam, I am looking forward to the next bean season, last year's was great. Thanks for visiting!

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  4. Your roses and vases are delightful Hannah. Will miss your posts and insights but trust you will be very happy focusing on music. Wishing you the best. Susie

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    1. Thanks, Susie, I hope it makes a difference for my eyes.

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  5. Hannah your roses are gorgeous. Sorry to hear we will loose you,but health comes first,especially eyes. Eating lots of spinach and kiwis is supposed to help - but you probably know this already.
    Have a lovely summer in your wonderful garden.

    Best wishes,
    Ruby

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    1. Thanks, Ruby, I cut out the grains and eat lots of vegetables, and grow them too. I even grow hardy kiwis! I appreciate your visits and comments.

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  6. Hello Hannah, your roses are all so beautiful. I am sorry to hear you will stopping the blogging. Very sorry to hear about the health of your eyes. You must do what is best for your health. I wish you the best! Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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    1. Thanks Eileen, it's been fun participating in your meme when I had some critters to show off, and visiting your blog, thanks for visiting and commenting here. Hopefully the retinal specialist can help me with my present problem.

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  7. I will certainly miss you, but I completely understand - you must take care of your eyes. Hopefully you still have years to enjoy seeing the real world.
    Love the roses. I have a Scentimental Rose. Photos do not come close to showing their real beauty.
    Best Wishes!
    Lea

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    1. Thanks, Lea, I've enjoyed having you visit my blog and comment, and visiting your blog as well. Scentimental is so pretty!

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  8. I'm so sorry to hear about the eye problem, Hannah. I'm also sorry to learn that you're going to stop blogging. But I'm very impressed that you already have a solid plan for using other skills to brighten the world. Best wishes with the new plan and with the treatment for your eye condition. I'll miss your lovely flowers.

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    1. Thanks, Kris, I didn't anticipate the drawbacks of getting older happening so soon. But at least my knees recovered enough from injury last summer that I am keeping up with my vegetable planting schedule, though behind on the weed control.

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  9. Let the music begin!! I will miss you here, and hope the music and other activities will fill your blog gap. I have heard spinach and kale are helpers for the eye problems, And your roses and the vase, truly beautiful.

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    1. I find that playing for a while before bedtime makes me nicely sleepy, Jean. I like to eat kale and collard greens, I haven't had much luck growing spinach. The roses are such a treat now, blooming early even.

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  10. Your son sure was a cutie. All your flowers are wonderful. I'm going to miss you participating but when it comes to your eye-sight there is no contest between the two. You have to take good care of yourself and do the most sensible thing, especially when it comes to your vision. To tell you the truth I have been wondering about that myself lately. Anyhow, thank you so much for all the linking in with Today's Flowers, can't tell you how much it has been appreciated and there are not enough words.

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    1. Thanks, Denise, my parents had cataracts but no ARMD. It was a shock. I've always had good vision, I only have only used reading glasses as I got older. Posting a blog every week takes a few hours, but visiting other blogs in order to get return visits takes many more.

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    2. Understand completely and I wish you the very best with those worrying issues. Take good care of yourself and have a great weekend :)

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  11. Hannah, Your roses are lovely, thank you for sharing them. Good luck with your new ventures and I hope it helps to preserve your vision. I am appallingly nearsighted so I understand how precious sight is. Will miss you on Mondays!

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    1. Thanks, Amelia, I appreciate your visits and comments, it is a treat to see the tropical stuff that grows in Florida.

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  12. Your roses are stunning! I'm so sorry to hear about your eye problems. I'll miss you. Take care!

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  13. Thanks, Gunilla, the OGR's that proved tough can far outproduce the newer roses in bloom and some in long season of bloom. Thanks for all your visits and comments to my blog. I will probably post at intervals.

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  14. I am listening to the music you are playing instead of reading your post.

    Take care of yourself as we have only a pair of eyes.

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    1. I hope you liked the music, I haven't heard it for many years, maybe even 50. These health challenges with age are rather unexpected for me, I generally feel strong and healthy.

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  15. Dearest Hana; What a GORGEOUS and MAGNIFICENT roses and your vases are wonderful♡♡♡ I loved to see your son's sweet picture at the time of your sister's wedding; he must be a great gentlemen and father for your grandchildren♪
    Oh, I also have eye problem; I had surgery last year. We both must take care of our eyes (^^;)

    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear Japanese friend in America, xoxo Miyako*

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    1. ps; So sorry for my long absence. We (especially my husband) have had high expectations for my late parents' house. Still doing a bit tidying job like painting p:-)

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  16. I hope that your eye issues clear up and that you are able to return to the world of blogging someday!!

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  17. Thanks, Keith, it may take a while for the eye treatment to work, it will be ongoing for quite a while. I am thinking of posting once a month, I will see how it goes.

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