Tag Archives: Christmas Rose

Helibores & Roses

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Remember when I said one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to learn something new every day?

Today (& tonight) I learned how to watermark my photos.

Dear God in heaven. If it had taken me any longer my watermark was going to be a”F$%^&*%#U”

You might notice that the watermarks vary in size…it’s still a work in progress

Suffice it to say that I’m now the proud owner of over 2,000 original photos with the word “SAMPLE” watermarked  in big white letters in the centre of them (I went downstairs for dinner and the program decided to watermark my entire file :(  A beautiful example of Murphy’s Law as never has my computer done anything that fast) and excuse moi for assuming that “SAMPLE” actually meant “sample“

annnywaay.  Deeeep breath….

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As you can see I spent the morning doing something a little more relaxing …

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Alas, despite our insanely gorgeous weather lately, the rose bushes had to be cut back so these are just from Von’s but the Helibores are from my garden (you know I have to do at least one Helibore post a year!)

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When I was finished I gathered all my arrangements and  put them in the light of the dining room.

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Quite honestly, you’d swear it was Spring in Santa Barbara right now.

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Helibores are also known as “The Christmas Rose” due to their blooming in late December thru January.

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They come in all sorts of different styles and colours ranging from white to a deep burgundy.

Some are quite frilly, others are Plane Janes like the one above, but I think they’re all beautiful.

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Helibores have a tendency to hang their heads and slouch so it’s a good idea to pair them with flowers with better posture.

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Naturally I thought of this Prada necklace as I was compiling

I’m so good at multi-tasking…

But now, I’m ready for bed. Excuse me if there are any mistakes in this post

My eyes are stinging like the tails of a thousand scorpions (I’m also a little dramatic)

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How was your day?!

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Oh, and P.S. If you’re signing up for email subscriptions, following Slim Paley on Facebook or Twitter, or even just leaving a comment, I’d love to know Where in The World YOU are!

WordPress used to provide this feature in their analytics but I guess that was too much fun for us bloggers so they stopped.

It’s the Discontinued Favourite Lipstick Syndrome

Global party over :(

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The Christmas Rose

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The Legend of The Christmas Rose

On the cold December night, everyone was coming to see the new Savior and bringing Him all manner of gifts and presents. The three Wise Men came with their valuable gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold.  A shepherdess  named Madelon had also come to see the Christ Child  however she was very poor and had nothing to offer the baby Jesus. Quietly weeping outside the stable door, she had searched for flowers all over the countryside but there was not a single bloom to be found in the bitter winter.
An angel was watching over her and knew of her fruitless search. He took pity and when he saw her head drooped down in sorrow, gently brushed aside the snow where her tears had fallen, and a beautiful cluster of waxen white winter roses sprang up with pink tipped petals. He softly whispered in Madelon’s ear that these Christmas roses were more valuable than myrrh, frankincense or gold for they were pure and made of love.

(adapted from The World of Christmas)

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.Slim Paley photo

These are my Christmas Roses, also known as Hellebores or Lenten Roses.  They grow extremely well in partially shaded areas and start to flower annually sometime after Christmas (so that Angel had some luck getting them to grow on December 25th)  I planted these several years ago, and they are still thriving like mad (this photo is a couple of years old and unfortunately not too clear).  I divide the clumps every so often and now have them in abundance.  They last a long time when cut, are super easy to arrange and mix with other flowers and are also very pretty just floating in a shallow vessel of water.   They only have a couple of drawbacks; the tiny, thread-like stamens drop, they don’t have the greatest scent, not offensive at all, just slightly earthy, and snails love them.  Many a little escargot have I caught trailing his way down a vase or across my table.

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Hellebores floating in water

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Here is the catalogue they came from.  (I know-I can’t believe I still have it either-prices may be higher now)

PS.  Does it bother anyone else that they put those two yellow flowers in the corner of the photo?  No? Me neither.  Just wondering.