Roses Round the Door!

I should think most of us like the sound of an English cottage, with 'roses round the door' - but mine have rather overdone it this year!

The door above leads from my kitchen to the back garden. And it's an absolute joy to come down to in the mornings when the sun is shining through the roses and their leaves - but going in and out can be a bit tricky as the Albertine is a particularly thorny rose!

I took this photo a few days ago and now that some more of the buds have opened out, it's an even prettier sight!

Those of you who were reading my blog a year ago may remember that I always hope that the pink Albertine Rose, the blue Love-in-a-mist and the white Border Carnations will be blooming in time for my birthday in June. The story behind that is that on the day that I was born, the workmen who were repairing the war damage to our house, picked these flowers from the garden for my mother. Last year the Albertine just about managed to be out in time but this year, it's more of a worry that it'll be over and done with by my birthday! It began to bloom at the end of April!

 

A couple of weeks ago, we had gales that were more like March or even November but they didn't cause the roses to come adrift from their supports on the wall as they did in my Norwich house, where one day I went out to my car to go shopping and found it hiding under my Albertine! But a few days after the recent gales, we had heavy rain, which the gardens needed, but the weight of the wet roses was enough to make them sag somewhat - right where the Albertine overlaps with the Alchemist above the door!

My son is pretty tall and has a long reach, so when he comes down for my birthday, he'll be going up the step ladder to fix them back to the trellis!

 

I'm no photographer and these pictures don't really do justice to how lovely the roses looked in the early morning sunshine because the sun was full on them, draining the colour. But by chance, I've just caught the blackbird's nest in the top right hand corner of the photo, tucked between the eaves and the drainpipe of my neighbour's house. I have a good view of it from my bathroom window if I stand in the bath but it's too dark to get a good closer shot. Over the past couple of months, there's been a lot of commotion in the honeysuckle just outside my dining room where I mostly work and now I understand why! And even from indoors the birdsong is wonderful! 

Wales is sometimes called, 'The Land of Song' and when I first moved here, someone told me that even the birds sing more sweetly here; I think there's some truth in that! 

The roses seem to thrive in the heavy clay soil here too so what more could a 'not-a-morning-person' like me need for an uplifting start to each morning!

Can't you just smell them!