And here are the pictures:

We cross posted - lovely pictures, and your lower level looks great!

Jackie

What beautiful shots, Ingrid. I am happy your lovely home is restored. Clearly, I do not understand insurance. Your roses are incredible!

Jackie, I (and I'm sure everyone else here) can't wait for you to get your new camera. With the incredible amounts of rain you've had the garden has to be a showstopper. Well, it obviously is since you're already giving docent tours. It must be stupendous. Lots of pictures please!

Thank you Sheila. What I understand about insurance after this experience is that it benefits the insurer and not the insured. It is a business after all, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

Ingrid, your yard and interior are stunning. Beautiful blooms and beautiful room. You have such exquisite taste and it shows. I love your old roses. If I tear down my blood orange tree, I may have to get one of the varieties that are in your photos. So glad you shared this with us. Sorry that the insurance didn't cover your room.

Wow Ingrid, everything looks so lush and healthy! Your bouquets are lovely too, and your room with the new rug and paint is beautiful. I’m happy that your roses are doing good this year! I always love your pictures, but they’re really special right now! I’m sure it was frustrating that your insurance didn’t cover the damage.

I would only reiterate a lot of what has been already written, but, your yard and roses are stunning! Your home reflects your great taste. I am off to de-clutter!

Really pretty garden and room. I tried Marie Pavie but could never make her happy. Used to grow SDLM but she was too tender I guess, but I loved that rose! Yours look so beautiful, especially Mme Antoine Mari, stunning!

Beautiful garden. I love your garden and I LOVE your art and all your home decor. Thank you for sharing with us =)

Ingrid, the bouquet is breathtaking, the colors are fabulous together in the vase. One would never know your home was flooded. It looks as beautiful now as it did before. The mauve pillows will look great with the furnishings.

It must be a relief for you and Cecil to have the restoration complete after the flood, a stressful situation.

What a lush beautiful garden outside, and beautful furnishings inside. I’m glad you’ve got the room restored, the new rug is beautiful too, please post another pic once the matching pillows come in. Too bad about the insurance, it seems all we do is pay for coverage, as opposed to being covered.

Ingrid, your garden looks so dreamy right now! I'm sorry to hear about the insurance not covering the damage, but, in any case, that new rug is really beautiful. Today I was working in my tiny urban garden and was thinking about you and your rabbits because I also have some wildlife that prefers my garden -- unfortunately not quite as pleasant as yours. I've been trying to take non-lethal measures to deter the large brown rat, but so far it remains. I'm trying to be zen about this... I'm wishing I had bunnies instead!

Ingrid your garden is just beautiful. I know you said some problems were popping up but wow, I sure can’t see them!

You are the reason I got a Souvenir de la malmaison and I hope mine has as beautiful blooms as yours.

Oh, Ingrid! That rug!! It is to-die-for gorgeous! Looks like silk.

We flooded due to torrential rains when we lived in Northridge, on a hill, like you, and were informed our insurance didn't cover seepage.

Everything is lovely, Ingrid! Your roses, and the entryway both look fantastic. The mildew certainly doesn’t show up in your pictures, and I’m beginning to see some too. These warm days and cool nights are doing a number on a few of my roses. How are those little Evelyn buds coming along? Lisa

Beautiful, Ingrid! And, I love the paint color in your newly repaired room!

I'm glad you have the pleasure of the garden you've worked so hard to create, Ingrid. Also, if I were an envious person (mostly I'm not) I'd be envying you your home. Ours is a total mess and I'm afraid it's incurable, though I have the garden to flee to. Your room in the photo is very satisfactory to look at.

Your garden looks lush and beautiful Ingrid! I really like the alyssum planted with the roses and am trying that combination myself this year.

You entryway room looks beautiful and I really like your new rug...very luxurious. It goes well with your artwork and Chinese porcelains. So pretty!

Many thanks for your wonderful comments about the garden and the room. I'm overwhelmed by your kindness. flowers, I see you had a similar situation with the flooding insurance. As far as I'm concerned if the water came from the sky and found its way into the house that is flood damage, but it's obviously not that simple. Lisa, I've pinched most of the buds on Evelyn but left one big one at the top, which is now swelling and showing a yellow color. As warm as it is now I imagine it won't be too much longer. How is your Mel's Heritage coming along? Methinks it should be just about ready to explode. I look forward to lots of pictures from you, and from everyone else here.

Ingrid -- I know sometimes you have been discouraged. I can see that you are having a wonderful spring -- this wet winter has been good for our souls, has it not?

Stephanie, you've been through quite an ordeal, although fortunately there was no mention of a divorce. That sort of thing can be very stressful, not to mention expensive, and I'm so glad that you've now reached the enjoyment phase. Time to sit back and chill.

Jeri, it has been so life-affirming and absolutely thrilling. Whatever the rest of the year brings us, we have this to look back on and remember. I'm loving the fact that it's also been a cooler-than-normal spring, and there's even some possibility of rain tonight and tomorrow. So much to be grateful for.

I'm afraid I've been in the garden with my camera again.

I can never get enough of your pictures, Ingrid. Each is prettier than the last, if that’s even possible. Please show as many as you like, because WE like! Lisa

This evening, I meant to take a picture of my ’Wild Edric’ from you. Unfortunately, I ran out of daylight. Lisa

What a wonderful garden! The roses are so tender. When I saw the firs pic I thought the cat was real. Looking forward to seeing more pics of you garden. Caroline

I'm almost shocked after the despair of recent times... great to see such wonderful colour in your garden back once again, and Tea Rose Row looking like something of its former self... my favourite part of your garden... let us hope it stays this way for you, as it will be to our benefit too. !...

Absolutely beautiful and always looks so washed in peace Ingrid ! I don’t Know how you do that ! I cannot wait to see it in person if you’ll have me . What a dreamy garden !

Lily, of course I'll have you! I hope that by the time you're settled and have your baby the garden will still be presentable. I'm having the drip system upgraded so that should help. Marlorena, I'm touched at your mention of Tea Rose Row. I'd almost given up on it but it's looking hopeful now. It's amazing how gardens can regenerate themselves here given the rain they need. I'm waiting (in)patiently for your lovely garden to come to life. I just plop stuff down and it grows, but you are a true gardener. Lisa, I hope your Wild Edric is prospering; cannot wait to see a picture. Sadly the one in my back yard is not doing well. I'm thinking of moving it before it thinks seriously about dying. It's such a rare rose in the US now.

What gorgeous photos,Ingrid. Please do keep them coming. It looks like paradise on earth.