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Chosing a chandelier for our dining room

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I’ve been keeping an eye out for sites that specialize in lighting so that once we are finished our dining room and living room renovation I can replace the current light fixture in our dining room.

The current lighting fixture is too modern for the style of the house, and will more than likely clash with the renovations that we’ve made to the room once they are completed.

I’ve just been introduced to the company of Barnes & Wagner and I’m currently browsing their dining room chandeliers section.

Barnes & Wagner specializes in lighting for every room of your home and office with items ranging from table lamps to wall scones to chandeliers. They also sell home decor items such as lovely wall mirrors, clocks and stained glass windows.

I’m still not sure exactly what kind of chandelier style I’ll want to use in the dining room. I think I’ll have to wait until the room is almost complete before I finalize my decision, but it’s nice to know that Barnes & Wagner has a selection of 13 different chandelier styles from which to make my choice.

We’ll probably choose a traditional or transitional style, but I might find a contemporary design that works with our new tin ceilings, ornate molding and venetian plastered walls.

With luck our reno will be finished by the end of summer and I’ll be able to make all my lighting and decor choices and purchases.






My five new roses – your experiences?

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Does anyone grow any of these roses? I’ve listed the roses that I purchased a week ago to replace the ones I lost last winter.

When I bought the roses … five in all, I knew exactly where I was going to put them, but now – a week later, I’m looking at them going what was I thinking?

These are the roses that I purchased:

Joseph’s Coat –

A large flowered climbing rose that grows from 8 to 10 feet tall by 4 feet wide. hardy in zones four through 10. Bred by Armstrong and Swim in 1969; mild fragrance, 23 to 28 petals – repeats occasionally later in season. Blooms are a red blend – but I’ve noted that they range from a combination of orange, pink, red, yellow and white mixed in each flower. It’s apparently a very thorny rose with average disease resistance.

Climbing Iceberg –

Bred in the UK by Cant in 1968, White semi-double blooms with 9 to 16 petals, blooms in flushes throughout the season; Grows to a height of 8 to 15 feet and is hardy in zones 4 to 9. May or may not have a mild fragrance.

Chicago Peace

A hybrid Tea originally bred in the USA by Graeme Johnston in 1962. Blooms are large- up to 6 inches, and are a pink blend with 45 to 60 petals. The blooms have a very double form. This rose blooms in flushes throughout the season and grows to a height of 4.5 feet to 6.5 feet. Mild fragrance. Susceptible to blackspot, requires winter protection. Helpmefind -Roses says it’s only hardy to zone 7 but they often state high zones for hybrid teas.

Climbing Westerland –

Kordes bred rose, 1969, scented – strong rose, spicy fragrance; Apricot & apricot blend, Semi-double (9-16 petals) bloom form. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Grows to a height of 4 to 12 feet by 4 feet wide and is disease resistant. No hardiness info but I think it’s hardy to at least zone 5a.

Double Delight –

This is a hybrid tea that was first bred in 1977 in the US by Herbert C. Swim. The blooms are a red blend with red and white within, and red edges. It has a spicy fragrance. The average diameter of the flowers are 5 inches and each bloom is double with 17 to 25 petals. Blooms in flushes throughout the season. Grows to a height of 3 feet to 5 feet and a width of 2 feet to 5 feet. This rose is apparently susceptible to mildew and requires winter protection.

Wow, would you look at that? Every rose that I purchased was first bred in the 60’s. Isn’t that odd? All of them, with the exception of the Climbing Iceberg are multicolored roses. However, I’ve noticed that my standard iceberg often gets a pink blend in the petals as they age.

I really wanted to replace my Love and Peace but I couldn’t find one. That’s why I got the Chicago Peace. I’m hoping that it really does turn out to be as hardy as Love and Peace was because I didn’t have any problems with that rose. I think it’s demise was due to a fungal infection. It actually got a fungus like woody growth near the base of the rose. I think I’ll have to remove all the soil in that portion of the garden where Love and Peace was before I plant it’s replacement as I fear that the fungus or virus might still be in the soil. Anyone familiar with the problem that I’m discussing?

As you can see I’ve chosen some roses that get quite large and I have a small jam packed garden. This should be fun!

Obviously I’m not a rose novice but if anyone has experience with any of the roses that I’ve listed above I’d love it if you’d tell me how the rose faired in your care.

I’m particularly interested in how these roses do in cold zones.

I’m in Toronto and it’s classed as a Canadian Zone 6b or a US zone 5b. I know I’ll have to winter protect the hybrid teas I purchased but I’ve been very successful with roses that are not supposed to be all that hardy – like Just Joey, and Valencia for example, so I’m not too worried.

I do prefer to buy roses that are hardy to a plain Jane zone 5 or lower though as it gives them more of a chance of survival if we have a really harsh winter.

Get outside and get active!

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When I was growing up I remember being outdoors all the time. Playing with other kids from the neighborhood – hide and seek, jumpsie, skateboarding and rollerblading. There was non of this staying inside to play video games! Heck if I’d wanted to stay indoors to watch TV my parents would have though something was wrong with me, and if there’s wasn’t there’s no way I’d be allowed to just sit around and watch TV anyway.

Now as an adult I’d love to get back into that active outdoors lifestyle again. Living in a city such as Toronto sure does make it easy to get outside and do things!

I’ve been looking around for something to motivate me to get outside more and when I saw the heelys at Fritz’s Skate and Surf I thought “Well now this looks interesting!”. As I could certainly use a pair of heelys to whip around the neighborhood.

I’d go further than if I were just walking and I’d certainly get a bit of a workout as a result.

I actually like the wide selection of Healys and rollerblades at Fritz’s Skate and Surf. It’s a popular action sports shop in Miami. They have a wide selection of sporting goods from surfing gear to inline skates and all the accessories you can think of. They ship to both US, US military addresses, and Canada.

I think I’ll take a look through their selection of heelys and rollerblades to see if I can find any styles that I really like.

Did you rollerblade or skateboard as a child?

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