More Grandeur

Nothing about my daily existence inspires me to blog....Now that our temperatures are well into the 60's I'm spending at least 4 hours a day in the gardens. (Headed back in a short while.) In the main front garden the crocuses are in bloom. My late daffodils are going to bloom soon--in advance of my early daffodils. I've already transplanted a rose bush, divided and re-planted shasta daisies, catmint, false sunflower, monarda (bee balm) and lambs' ears. I have 5 bare root roses on their way to me--2 Bourbon roses, 2 gallicas, and 1 damask. Yesterday I planted 2 sorts of daylilies and 2 sorts of Siberian iris and some violas, plenty of purples and blues to contrast with the 3 dozen mostly pink and mauve roses in the main bed. I also applied some top-dressing fertiliser to several of the older roses.

Today I'm going to start tidying and prepping one of the back gardens and maybe do some heavy pruning of rugosas along the dogs' fence. (The garden that most needs work, below the big deck, still has a bit of snow cover.)

None of these areas is quite interesting enough for photos yet, so I shall return to the Washington, DC mansion where we stayed last month.

Our upstairs bedroom suite is located on this corridor. In fact, The open door beside the giant blue vase opens onto our foyer.



On a lower floor is the magnificent tapestry hall.



From the tapestry hall you enter the dining room. The last time I dined here was at an anniversary luncheon. I sat in this general area, beneath the chandelier.



One of the parlours.



Also from the tapestry hall is access to the balcony of the ballroom.



The ballroom from below. It's much livelier and more colourful during an actual ball!



On one side the ballroom doors open onto the Winter Garden. We used to have our breakfast here.



The wall murals feature a summer view of the Boston-area gardens created by the owners/builders of the mansion.



This is Anna, their parrot. She appears in several family portraits and was a beloved member of the household.



Today the Chap will contact the contractor about the refurbishment of our guest bath. On Saturday we picked out the granite-topped vanity and taps and the floor tile. Now we need to arrange the work. I'm looking forward to this project...it will result in a vast improvement, but not grandeur. The decor appropriate to a Connecticut Ave. mansion in DC wouldn't work well in a New England country house!