A little bit of extraordinary red
Robert sometimes suggest that I add more colour into my life.
He sometimes teases me and says that I only will wear black. I say that’s not true, it’s only until someone comes up with a colour darker than black, then I’d be happy to wear that. 🙂
It’s true, I’m a basic black kind of girl. I do really love neutrals. Any shade of black, grey, beige…etc, that’s for me.
But I do love surrounding myself with splashes of colour, as long as I don’t have to be committed to it. Like, I don’t think I’d like to paint the walls blue or yellow or orange. I know paint it the cheapest design mistake anyone can make, but I prefer to have colour in pretty things I can always move away and change.
Except red. I do love red. I can say that I’m committed to red. I did paint the front entry hall a hue of Chinese lacquer red that I mixed myself. (Oh, don’t get me started about trying to get Benjamin Moore to live up to their lacquer red colour swatch. Bunch of wana-be players!)
Anyway, red. I love red. So, when I got five burrs tangled in my two feet of hair getting these rose hips at my cabin, it was totally worth it. I love them and I’ll love looking at them for a while.
Speaking of love, Chloe asked me for a recommendation for a book. She wants a lovely romance, somewhat sexy, but no…er…pulsating organs. (I guess that leaves Jackie Collins out of the picture…lol) I suggested Katie Fforde, but she said she’d also like a 20 something heroine. I suggested some lovely period books; she said, “in the present day”. Hmm, I’m a bit fresh out of ideas.
I think she’s looking for a romance book to make her feel like the Twilight books made her feel when she was 14.
Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone have a 20 something child who has any suggestions?
This book is my Waverley by Sir Walter Scott. I like this quote from it:
“Nothing perhaps increases by indulgence more than a desultory habit of reading, especially under such opportunities of gratifying it.”
(Except if you’re a fourth year uni student like C and have to read terribly dry essays about hegemony and how it related to post modernism. Then you need a lovely romance book to balance life a little.)
Sharing with Mary for mosaic Monday and with Kathryn at Make it pretty Monday and with Inspire me Monday
vastlycurious.com
The first photo is my favorite! Looks like a painting!
Veronica
Thank you Kathryn. It actually might be fun to paint…hmmm
Erica Collazo
These pictures are simply amazing and I dont think you can ever go wrong with too much red. I feel red is a very inviting color and its warm yet relaxing! 🙂
Veronica
Thank you Erica. I do gave a lot of red around here. 🙂
Jean Smith
Hi Veronica! Saw your post over at UBC!
My daughter will be twenty in January and yes it can be difficult to help them find something interesting to read… especially when your reading interests are as different as night and day… such is life!
BTW… I love my blue walls, and my yellow walls, and my pink walls… color expresses the heart and soul of the person living in a house or a home… I like red too- that’s what my kitchen cupboards are painted!
Have fun at UBC…
Best,
Jean
Veronica
That’s lovely Jean. Robert loves colour too and has painted the walls in the living room at West Cottage (our OXON home) a beautiful, deep yellow.
morgandrake
I walked out of college, more or less, screaming “You can’t make me read no more dead authors!”
Veronica
Lol, Morgan. I think Chloe feels like doing that daily! Glad you stuck with it to the end of two degrees! 🙂
Alannah Callie's
I remember after I read twilight and couldn’t find anything that I liked. Then I started reading Sarah Dessen. The best ones she has are: This Lullaby, The Truth About Forever, Just Listen, Along For the Ride, and Dreamland. Those are probably in my list of top ten favorite books. Or you could suggest Morgan Matson. She only has two books out right now and they are so amazingly perfect. The title are: Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour and the other one is Second Chance Summer. The first one is more of a romance book but the second is just as good. Also maybe The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. It’s my favorite Nicholas Sparks book and it’s the only one I don’t skip around. I hope this helps!
Veronica
Thank you so much Alannah. I’m going to link this to Clover and then she will be spoiled for choice. 🙂
Joanne
I absolutely LOVE those rose hips!
They are definitely worth all the tangled hair and those old Ginger Beer bottles are perfect for them!
Did you dig them up from the Thames like my Uncle?
(Thanks for your support Veronica – very much appreciated)
xx
I’ll have a mull over a book suggestion, but nothing springs to mind – perhaps there’s a hole in the market….
Veronica
Hi Joanne, How exciting! Now I want to dig up the Thames..lol. I bought them at a car boot, but they’re cheap as chips and so lovely. 🙂 I found some beautiful, small brown glass bovril bottles and ink bottles in the beech woods at Woodcote Oxon, (R’s childhood village)
dawnsrays
Red is a bold color and I love it too! I adore that first photo- it captures the luster of the color so well.
~Dawn
Veronica
Hi Dawn, thank you so much. I noticed you use reds to in your lovely designs. 🙂
Diane Landy
Love your photos. Enjoyed reading this post! How about one of Sarah Addison Allen’s Books?
Veronica
Hi Diane, That’s great, thanks for the name, passing it on to C right away. 🙂
kmcneese
Outlander Diana Gabaldon
Veronica
Thank you km. Passing it right on to Clover. 🙂
Poppy
Hi Veronica,
Red, (my passion, my pulse, and my distraction), is for me, whether in little splatters or substantial splashes, extraordinary!
Your first photo is pure indulgence, after a treasure hunt for red, having found its many specimens, in nature’s shades and patterns, void of cyber flair, and worth the messy hair, I’m sure.
Brilliant styling, thanks for my fix!
xo
Poppy
Veronica
Is it Poppy? I love it too. 🙂 I knew we were meant to be friends.
Dewena Callis
Your first photo is so satisfying, I mean like drinking beer cheese soup when it’s freezing outside, where the warmth goes all the way down to the toes.
I try to leave most of the rose hips for the wildlife but can’t resist clipping a few sprays–and digging a little jade green moss to lay them on.
I hope your daughter finds a book with a romantic young heroine she likes!
Veronica
Hi Dewena,thank you so much. I’m starting to go off the mosaic photos a little but also don’t have the patience to wade thru those websites which show one aspect of an image seventeen times. You know the ones? Anyway, I don’t want to have that kind of site. The rose hips at the cabin grow absolutely everywhere, so I don’t feel badly about clipping a nice armful. But I know what you mean; it’s very important to leave most of them there for the wild critters. 🙂
Sara v
This woman makes me laugh so hard–Kristan Higgins–she is really good at taking you right to the juicy part without having to get all juicy…here’s her website http://www.kristanhiggins.com/ There are others like Jennifer Crusie who also make me laugh but she does get into more intimate details–you can always do what I do because really after reading a few of those–yawn–just skip to the story line 😉
Martha
Hi Veronica: I am so excited that you have made something for me. I keep handmade items forever. That is part of my problem. Thank you so much. I love it already. I do not get many things made for me. I know you understand about messes. It is taking forever to get the chandeliers in. I get your posts by email and always enjoy reading them. I am sorry I have not commented back lately, but you can understand it was hard just walking in my house. I am hopefully getting back to normal. Hugs, Martha
Veronica
Oh Martha, don’t worry about it. I know your life has been a bit upside down lately. I know you’re there for me and care. 🙂
Diane
What a lovely mosaic you’ve created. Love all the deep shades of red! Thanks for visiting me !
Veronica
Hi Diane, thank you very much. It was so nice to meet you and now we can be friends. 🙂
Daryl
i am a new yorker which means i wear black and grey almost daily … i did however last season try to add some color but i found that i could only do it in very small doses .. like scarves or cardigans … i once long long ago painted a wall in my bedroom orange .. it last a week, it was toooooo cheerful, i repainted it dark brown …
Veronica
Ata girl! Robert accuses me of secretly being a New Yorker masquerading as some kind of West Coaster. Yup, colour in small doses if just fine. I go for bracelets. 🙂
Woman on Wild Mountain
Beautiful Blog Veronica, and all that RED! followed a trail here from the Noisy Plume (I think) and so happy I found your little neck of the woods. p.s. I’m a black kind of girl too.
~Kerry
Veronica
Hi Kerry, I’m so glad you found me and now I can come visit you and get to know you. 🙂
Jennifer J. Chow
Love the red color! I have a few Asian dresses in that color. I also used to have a lot of black in my closet (mainly because it was the preferred color scheme for a restaurant I worked at). I still like the simplicity of a dark shirt, but I’ve also embraced more color in my wardrobe now.
Veronica
Oh my gosh Jennifer, you’ve reminded me that I have two of the most beautiful red and black mandarin dresses. One short and one long. The short one needs the zipper replaced and I think I want to do that before the holiday season so I can wear it. You should put more photos of you on your blog. I love to see your smiling face. 🙂
Janice Sheridan
First, Congrats on your WSS photo win!
Second, i asked my 20 something daughter for book suggestions. Here’s what she said:
Good books with love stories in them:
Sci-fi
– City of Bones – The Mortal Instruments series (Cassandra Clare)
Detailed. Interesting. Exciting. Hard to put down.
– The Hunger Games Trilogy (Suzanne Collins)
I just assume you have already read these or seen the movie. Good stuff.
– Harry Potter – Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling)
Get past the first three books and this series gets really, really good.
– Divergent Series (Veronica Roth)
Really likeable characters. Interesting, keeps you reading. The story is a little lacking.
– Shiver – The Wolves of Mercy Falls series (Maggie Stiefvater)
Really likable characters. A little different for a werewolf story.
non-sci-fi
– My Life Next Door (Huntley Fitpatrick)
Really sweet teenage love story.
– Looking for Alaska (John Green)
An emotion story. The friendships in this book seem true to real life so it’s really relatable.
– Just Listen (Sarah Dessen)
Cute. Quick read.
Veronica
Hi Janice, thank you so much. I haven’t had a chance to pop over to WSS today (crazy day) but will tomorrow for sure. I’m so happy I could help. Thank you so much for the list of book titles. I know C’s read some of them but I bet she’d love Looking for Alaska (she’s loves Alaska and Into the Wild and like books) and City of Bones. I’ll tell her to come check out this list. 🙂
Angela
I have just painted one wall in my bathroom firework orange, so I’m not sure how you’d get on using the facilities at mine 🙂 But red is good!
Veronica
I’d love it! I always thing that bathrooms are the best rooms to make into little jewels because you don’t really spend that much time there and so it doesn’t get to be too much. Sounds perfect to me. 🙂