An assortment of Bishop's Castle, Flamenco Rosita, Quietness, Thomas à Becket, The Squire, Reine des Violettes, and Sweet Madame Blue.

Gallica roses can take on interesting colours in their foliage.

Steven

Rosa setigera and Gabrielle Noyelle hips

Chianti and end of season Heritage raspberries...

Steven, congratulations on your new home!!

You must have many projects in mind.

Were you able to take roses with you?

Love the poetry and the pictures, thank you for sharing Steven! And congratulations on your new home!

@Kristine sadly, I wake not currently able to move any of my roses, though I did have a few still containerised that I brought along. Some will need replaced directly, but the hard-to-find ones I'll probably try to lift in spring.

Thank you! I do! The list of needs, to-do's, and wants is innumerable it seems! I've replaced my pressure tank (oh my goodness, the water here is the best water I've ever had across four counties I've lived in in southern Michigan. My house doesn't even have a filter or softener. It is hard (calcium) but virtually no rust/iron. It suds up surprisingly well with soaps.), had the furnace checked (all good), installed a new CO detector, had a south foundation wall tie-back repair and reinforcements done due to slope of hill and earth pressure beginning to bow the wall, needs new water heater (it's the original... From 1963), about half the interior I've repainted so far, carpet laid 11/10/22, some plumbing and associated infrastructure, on and on!

Steven

I love the coziness and brightness of your house. That blue color paint is awesome, makes it so cheery. Michigan fall trees are so nice surrounding your house. Trees here lose leaves fast to due to drastic change in temp. and heavy rain.

Your new home is wonderful and will shine with your special touches. You are blessed to have your own home to do whatever your little heart desires

Oh, Steven!!!! I am SO happy for you!!! You deserve your own place and it's obvious that you are treating it dearly like the pearl it is. :) :) I love how your house is nestled into the trees...gorgeous! And thank you for the poem and the great rose pictures! My favorite is the 4th picture...what rose is that?

Steven: my fav. of your top post is the purplish buttonhole rose, what rose is that. How do you like Sweet madame Blue? I consider ordering that from Roses Unlimited. Thank you.

Also love your poem, read it many times and enjoy it very much. You are gifted in writing.

The red hips are lovely, I don't get red hips here in my zone 5a with drastic change in temp., going from 76 F on Wed. 11/10/22 to 23 F this Sat, and 11 F next Sat.

Thank you all for the wonderful words and the support. I feel like I have "the vision" (as I call it) for this home as I'm putting my own aesthetic touch upon it.

I have decided that based upon the house and its setting, I'm going to go for a "Northern Cottage" kind of theme! A lot of browns, green, yellow, and other more earthen tones. I made my bathroom blue as a tribute to my Grandma Phyllis whom I lost three years ago. I really wish she could be here to see my first home. The Redbirds visiting help make me feel better for those of us who hold close spiritual lore: "When Redbirds Appear, Angels are Near".

Carol, the fourth image down from the top in my first post with the poem is Reine des Violettes. This is the first year she has ever given me an end of season bloom!

Straw; I believe the rose you refer to is also Reine des Violettes if I follow properly. I've been enjoying Sweet Madame Blue. She is deliciously fragrant and seems reasonably vigorous.  BS resistance is okay to me. Nearly everyone gets it here at the end of the season. We'll see how she performs over winter! Sometimes, when cut early and brought indoors to open, she is much more purple!

Let's throw in an Autumn Damask hip for good measure, too.

Today, it is in the mid-thirties and snowing!

Steven

Steven - Northern cottage theme sounds very restful. :) So nice to have a tribute to your grandma. :) :) I'm sure she's proud of you. I never heard that Redbird/angels lore before. Ah...RdV!! Oooh...I can see why you love your Sweet Madame Blue...that color!!

Steven, your poem is lovely. How wonderful to have a home nestled among the trees and with that much land to call your own. Sweet Madame Blue is new to me and what a nice color. Your Reine de Violettes makes me look forward to its first spring in my garden.

Your house is beautiful, Steven, and the setting so charming! I have lived in the west for nearly 24 years and love it, but I can’t deny the sheer beauty and charm of a house nestled in the trees surrounded by such lushness. You are going to have so much fun adding your own touches to every thing inside and out. Congratulations!

I love your poem and new property. You have some gorgeous fall colors there! You will love having so much property space. I know the pains of movong to a new property.

Ours was a fixer upper that was in foreclosure. We initially thought we were just going to build a house on it but the skyrocketing wood and other building supplies and backlogged supplies and contractors etc. during the Pandemic & beyond, had us just fixing up what was there lol. We had to fix our well and rerplace all kinds of water pipes, fix electrical wiring and outlets, rip out carpeting, fix roofing on outbuildings, etc etc.

We have a long list on our refrigerator and we still have a lot to do lol!

Steven wrote: "The Redbirds visiting help make me feel better for those of us who hold close spiritual lore: When Redbirds Appear, Angels are Near."

I agree 100%. When I grew up in Michigan, the next door neighbor was a wonderful Dutch Christian couple. He passed away first, and I visited his wife. She told me about the fire that destroyed their 1st home when they were young, but they were happy re-building the burnt house. I asked her was that rough to live in a burnt house, she broke down crying and said, "NO, we had each other, and I was happy."

It's ironic to see this widow sitting in a perfectly built house, crying and wishing that she could go back to the old days of a burnt & poor house with her husband. She told me about the red cardinal visiting her often after her husband passed away. I saw that cardinal peeking behind the window when I was there.

A month later, the widow told my brother (an emergency doc.) that she saw her husband appearing to her that night. A day later, she died of pneumonia in her home, my brother tried to save her, but he could not.

Straw - wow! It's hard to say it's a sad story when they had such love and they were finally reunited. Very poignant.

Sultry - bad timing, right? The pandemic was such a difficult time causing so many problems. You'll get things done though. A list of things to do is a sign of hope. :)

About my widowed neighbor in MI: The best stuff or best house or best roses don't make us happy, but loving and kind spirits give happiness.

I would give up all my roses just to have 1 day with my daughter when she was a happy & loving toddler. She's now 20 year old and no longer gives out hugs & kisses. My 150+ fragrant roses can't compare to the wonderful, sweet spirit of a baby.

Love and happy company are all I need. I take one day with my daughter when she's a baby over any roses. It's giving & sharing happiness that gives meaning to life, rather than stuff.

Congratulations and good luck with all your house projects!