Tea at Trianon: Roses in the Winter

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Roses in the Winter

From InsideChic:

Roses in an alternative color, like this brilliant mango, are particularly pretty. They look great in this white-washed tray and rustic bark containers that remind me of chocolate. I filled the tray with the most delicious chocolate-covered almonds and then peppered it with chocolate red hearts. It doesn’t have to stay as a unit. You can take out the mini bouquets and put them around the house, in different corners of the room, or even display them in a row on a mantle.

Instead of a big blob of a rose arrangement, you can do a petite bouquet, like this breathtaking lavender rose in a silver mercury glass. Very feminine and girly, it’s the perfect arrangement to treat yourself or a girlfriend to!

Delicate tea roses in celadon pots embedded in a basket of moss creates a springy, garden look. The scale has a sweetness to it. Again, the bouquets can live together in the tray or beautifully alone. Tea roses add a lovely fragrance to the house too. (Read more.)