Big doings are afoot at Nana’s house today, calling for some gourmet food prep. The Janks clan is leaving for Chicago tomorrow, and the Merkle gang is headed out tomorrow for Granny’s house in Boise, from which point Ben and I will be continuing on to England for a week. Neither Rachel nor I are suitably packed yet, so Nana has all the kids careening about her house for the day. Note that I am not packing during this golden moment, I am posting pictures about it. But I’ll get to the packing soon. Promise.
Also, while I’m at the computer posting pictures, I might as well go for the gold and post some more pictures. I have a fabulous friend in England who invited me one year to “come for lunch and admire my rose.” That sounded like the sort of invitation you don’t receive everyday, so of course I came prepared to admire the rose to the fullest extent of my ability. She fed me lamb and broad bean salad, and then we went out to admire the rose. I’m not sure what I was expecting – but I’ve never before seen anything like it. It had climbed up two of her trees, and completely covered the entirety of the foliage. It looked like a thirty foot rose tree, and so my admiration for her rose was entirely genuine.
What I’m getting around to is that this blog post is a sort of internet version of her invitation. “Stop on by for a PBJ and admire the roses.” Maybe lamb will be on the menu another day, but in the meantime let me take you out into Nana’s yard and show you around.
So there you go! And now I’m off to pack. And do laundry. And generally stress out that I’ve procrastinated so badly.
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Ha! I thought I should be the first to comment on this post! Seeing how half those pb’s are for my children – and I am sitting by the computer sewing nighties out of old pillowcases. Apparently this sort of procrastination runs in the family 🙂
Those roses are truly something special. They look like something from a calendar. Maybe it’s because you guys get so much sun in Idaho, we Washingtonians aren’t used to such gorgeous climbing roses (although my mom and I try for them all the time). We’re content with our non-climbers, but if you have any hints on growing roses, by all means post them! Thanks.
There is nothing like PB&J’s in bulk. . .cousin heaven over there today, I can just imagine it!
I’m supposed to be preparing for guests but I’m procrastinating myself.
Those roses are spectacular!
About those roses…..
I ordered them from Pickering Nurseries in Ontario back in 2003. They ship them dry root, and you can find them easily on line. They ship their roses in the spring,up until the end of May. These roses are very happy in June, and after this big burst they will settle down to a steady and more dignified blooming pattern for the rest of the summer. The roses in the pictures are John Cabot and William Baffin which are both Explorer Climbers, and there’s also a Climbing American Beauty. I chose them because they are winter hardy and grow 8-10 feet tall. Last May I planted 45 Hansa Rugosa along my fence; in fact, I blogged about it (look up the post called “My Lightning Hedge”). Those I also bought from Pickering. They are looking great this year, spreading nicely and the roses smell incredible. They should get about 5 feet tall. So I am a fan of the rugged rose.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful roses!
Almost like the Mexican ones 😉
Much love!
Nana’s yard really is something to admire! The plants in our heavily shaded venue are still considering whether it really is time to put on some summer color. (Not that I blame them. It was all I could do to convince the kids to put on swim trunks for their lessons when it was 48° and drizzling yesterday morning.) Meanwhile, our clematis isn’t even sure it’s even ready to wear leaves yet, let alone big purple blooms like yours. It’s nice to know that summer is in full swing somewhere in town!
Just beautiful!
Love the picture of all those sandwiches. Reminds me of my family…only that is lunch for one or two of the boys. 🙂
I have to tell you….we are in the midst of patio construction and re-landscaping of our backyard, and I’m looking for hardy roses….I was saying yesterday to my neighbor, “I’m looking for some good hardy climbing roses”…..so here are some good ideas from you.
Even more helpful is the fact that Pickering Nurseries is a reasonable drive from my house. Handy information as their spring shipping season has closed.
I have said before that you often seem to be writing just for me.
You can almost smell those flowers in NC! I love the pb & j factory (looks like my house).
But what caught my eye was sewing nighties out of old pillowcases…sounds like fun, do you have a pattern lizziejank?
oh so glorious. gives me new images to put away for my “someday when we have a house” wish list. 🙂
Hey, I think I recognize those pitchers in the pbj picture.
(Le Creuset?)
I have an orange and yellow one. It’s so nice to have some color around on the dinner table. And they are so solid too.
Fabulous!! PBJ and roses, what could be better. The roses look the way I want mine to look.