In a Vase on Monday - M and XCII

When I see an Iceberg Rose it reminds me of my mother, who grew this in difficult conditions in the tropics.  The long pointed rose buds were the brides' favourite.  The button holes and brides bouquets would be kept in the fridge until the last moment, and often taken straight to the Church.

In two of my previous gardens I had a very floriferous climbing Rose Iceberg, and it amazed my mother when she counted the number of blooms on her visits.  Its not surprising therefore that one of the first rose trees I bought for the new garden this year was a climbing Iceberg rose tree.  I hope it does as well as the wonderful specimen I saw in full flower the week before Christmas when I first moved to Somerset.  The french name for this rose is Fee de Neiges, which mean Fairy of the Snows.

During the Summer, when I was first setting out the back garden, I bought a couple of Grace Roses, and they are already establishing themselves very well, and both currently have around fifteen rosebuds each.  In my last garden I used Grace for a Vase on Monday in mid December.

According to the BBC, Friday was the coldest October day for 10 years.  We did wake up on Saturday to find the top of the car covered with a wonderful ferny pattern of crystals, but the back garden protected by the stone wall, still has the nasturtiums in full flower, and nothing else hit down or blackened by frost.

As a result of this, I am able to pick a stem of Fuchsia and bronze fennel leaf for my vase today.  The cyclamen leaf, itself a frosty silver colour, finishes off this end of autumn arrangement.

The reason why I have called this vase M, is that M is the Roman Numeral 1000.  As I enjoyed counting the Iceberg Roses, I find other numbers, figures, counting, and statistics interesting.....I love probability too....On Saturday I bumped into a friend coming out of the Cathedral and one the topics in just five minutes that we touched on was that I wanted to brush up my Roman Numerals so that I could quickly read the dates on monuments.  So it was highly probable that I would choose M as the title of my post this week.

This is my 1000th post on my blog. With over 141 thousand visits, and one post alone getting nearly 25 thousand hits, all I can say is that I can't admit to the time I have spent writing since this blog started in 2007.  I wouldn't even want to calculate that.  All in all it has been a lovely experience, to keep records, share and explore interests, and along the way make friends, and reconnect with ones made years ago. Here is to the next M posts!!!!

This is my ninety second In a Vase on Monday....XCII

In her post Cathy explains the festival of All Hallows.  In Mauritius for "La Fete des Morts" people remember their loved ones who had died, visit their burial plots and place flowers on them.  I remember it to be a rather sad quiet day as a child, a day of mourning or of quiet reflection.  Maybe with changed times, there is more of a festive air, and like many places, commerce has made this into an occasion where consumption is encouraged.

In some countries there are festivals full of joy and merriment:  On a more joyful and coloured theme,  and for a glorious seasonal pumpkin coloured display do go and see what Cathy has posted, and other links to this week's IAVOM contributors.