For her worth is far above rubies...
Welcome to my first (and only) July post to celebrate the gemstone of the month (for a couple more hours at least)...the ruby!
Now I was thinking about what would be the best cup and saucer to set off my ruby and white topaz ring, and immediately thought of an old favorite--Old Country Roses. But to spice it up a bit, I didn't go for a "normal" OCR...instead I pulled out my 25th anniversary OCR set...
The roses bloomed
An arbor filled
with deep ruby
fragrant yellows
and soft blushes
of pink petals.
accompanied by the OCR hat I made a couple of summers ago.
I feel as if I had opened a book and found roses of yesterday, sweet and fragrant, between its leaves.
~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island.
(This is how I feel every time a find a lovely L.M. Montgomery quote--so many great childhood memories among the pages of her books!)
O For a garden of the olden time
Where none but long-familiar flowers grow,
Where pebbled paths go winding to and fro,
And honeysuckles over arbors climb!
There would I have sweet mignonette and thyme,
With hollyhocks and dahlias all arow,
The hyacinth inscribed with words of woe,
The small blue-bell that beats a dainty chime
For elfin ears; and daffodillies, too,
The sleepy poppy, and the marigold,
The peony with petals manifold,
And ragged-robins, pink and white and blue.
All these and more I'd have, and back of all
A thousand roses on a mossy wall!
Where none but long-familiar flowers grow,
Where pebbled paths go winding to and fro,
And honeysuckles over arbors climb!
There would I have sweet mignonette and thyme,
With hollyhocks and dahlias all arow,
The hyacinth inscribed with words of woe,
The small blue-bell that beats a dainty chime
For elfin ears; and daffodillies, too,
The sleepy poppy, and the marigold,
The peony with petals manifold,
And ragged-robins, pink and white and blue.
All these and more I'd have, and back of all
A thousand roses on a mossy wall!
~John Russell Hayes, An Old-Time Garden
One Word...... STUNNING!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Debbie
I didn't know that OCR had a 25th anniversary set. So pretty! The OCR-inspired hat is too cute! Hope your summer is going well, Carrie!
ReplyDeleteOh, I had not seen that OCR anniversary china - LOVE it! And your beautiful ring is a lovely match for it, too. Happy summer!
ReplyDeleteCarrie, Perfect summertime post for month July, which is also my birthday month. Very pretty ring which goes nicely with your special OCR cup which I believe I have not seen before. It all coordinates well with your chosen prose. Jill
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful pattern on your teacup along with your pretty ring! July went too quickly.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post, Carrie! This tea cup is gorgeous, and it does go well with the ring. Love the Montgomery quote. That quote and the poem remind me of some of the beautiful literature I've read, specifically the Diary of Leila Ada, published in 1853. Before mankind could recreate scenes through movies, it seems authors had to try their best to make everything come alive through just the pages of a book.
ReplyDeleteListen to this paragraph from the aforementioned volume:
"The West of England abounds in scenes of quiet and picturesque beauty. Its shores are girded by tall gray cliffs, bold headlands, numerous islets, and large caves hollowed out and draped with sea-weeds by the musical waves of the Atlantic; while the inland scenery is rich in hills and valleys, dells and dingles, woods and meadows, combined in forms of surpassing loveliness. Crystal streamlets wind amongst quivering aspens; and glide, breaking into fall and rapid, and murmuring with a sweet complaining eloquence as though they were of life."
Thanks for a lovely reminder of the beautiful things in life!