Look Out the Window

On our visit to France in June, we decided to only schedule two tours and leave the rest of our days to explore at will.

A bicycle tour of Versailles was an unanimous choice and I was pleased when we all settled on Giverny as our second tour.

This was my second visit to Giverny, but my first taking a van tour.

Our guide began shared interesting facts and details from the minute our tour began - I did not know that Claude Monet's first name was actually Oscar.

My favorite tidbit was that Monet designed his garden so that if he looked out any of the windows he would see something to paint.

Because we were with a tour, we entered through a side gate and were then set free to explore on our own for several hours.

We arrived at 1 p.m under gray skies and slight rain, which turned to mist and by 2 p.m. the sky was blue.

The variety of flowers amazed me

and made me a bit envious.

I have many of the same blooms in my garden, but mine do not grow so tall

and look at the size of those leaves.

We spent most of our time in the garden

and finally made our way to the house.

I could easily live in the beautiful house,

 relaxing after a morning of gardening in this beautiful room and enjoying the views that inspired Monet.

I'd happily sit in the kitchen while Steve cooked,

but I would need help keeping the copper shining.

I mentioned envy earlier in my post,

but truly I only felt motivated to come home and cultivate my garden.

Giverny is definitely worth a visit.

Soft Whites For Fall

Looking at this picture, I imagine you are questioning the title of Soft Whites for Fall,

but why don't you come in and see for yourself.

With so much color happening outside, simplicity reigns throughout the house.

The step back cupboard provides a nice background for the little bit of color in the entry.

You might question all the white, but fall in my neck of the woods is less about oranges and reds or falling leaves

 than it is about wide expanses of blues and greens.

An old bench on the porch,

and old stool in the entry provide a pop of blue.

In the dining room, yellow paired with the blue and white spruce up the plate racks, but the yellow flowers are just too much.

So, I swapped them for baby boos.

I did have to resort to faux greenery otherwise I would be changing the greenery daily.

Keeping with the neutral theme, I made a few pumpkins out of drop cloth that ended up in the hallway.

Now, I need to hit publish on this post, finish the mantel

and head to the pumpkin patch so I can fill the shopping cart with pumpkins.

Because like the front porch, the back yard is all about color.

Less Stuff . . . More Adventures

My daughter was celebrated at a baby shower last Saturday and has another coming up in 2 weeks 

In the midst of talking about what she should give the hostesses as thank you gifts, I came across this photo on Instagram posted by a local friend about Rose Story Farm.

 After reading Lori's response back to me on IG, I checked out the website and immediately emailed KC to tell her that a tour of Rose Story Farm would be the perfect thank you for my friend Wendy who hosted the first baby shower.

Of course that meant that I would be enjoying the tour also.

Yesterday Wendy and I headed up the coast to Carpinteria with the ocean obscured by the marine layer,

but in the hills just 24 miles north, the sun was shining and the sky was blue.

The bench sat against an extensive hedge of Sally Holmes roses.

The tour group was extra large that day, but we lucked out and had the owner of the farm, Danielle Hahn, as our guide.

The farm began in 1998 yet I had no knowledge of its existence until a few weeks ago.

 The beautiful farmland was enhanced by a riot of color.

everywhere we looked.

Cute little cottages from another era

dotted the landscape.

Look at the gorgeous bouquet of roses on that table.

This little rose covered cottage is a private residence on the property 

I love the attention to detail on the farm - even the cushions on the wicker chairs are covered in a rose pattern.

We were encouraged to stop and smell the roses - Danielle snipped off flowers for us to really breathe in the scent and I was touched by how much she loves her flowers. 

I am now following Rose Story Farm on Instagram - each post shows gives you a sense of how much Danielle savors her life on the farm.

Arches and arbors can be spotted all over the grounds.

Walking beneath this arbor, the path became a soft aisle of pink petals.

This curly willow arch was created for a wedding and no one remembered to remove it - by they time they got around to taking it down, it had filled in so beautifully that they decided to keep it.

This arch is very special - it was the site of the memorial for Julia Child and that bench sat in her garden.

Julia Child was a close friend of the family and this beautiful rose bears the name "Julia Child".

A difference fragrance greeted us with each new rose we encountered.

After nearly 25 years of not having a sense of smell, it has miraculously returned and I was in heaven enjoying so many different aromas.

The bees love Rose Story Farm too.

We ended the day on the lawn, eating a tasty lunch and chatting with people from near and far.

Two ladies were from Connecticut, another was from Miami and we all shared a love of gardens.

When KC gave Wendy the card with the invitation to Rose Story Farm, I loved her response, "This is so much better than another bowl."

And I must agree with Wendy,

I need less stuff and more adventures in my life.

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I am sharing with Jann of Have a Daily Cup for SYC