Meeting my hero

I went to the meeting with anticipation and trepidation. I knew I wanted to do whatever it entailed but I knew a lot of it would not be pleasant. and then I met Sarah. Sarah Sullivan, the founder of C.A.R.E. I liked her a lot. Here she was this pretty young woman that had taken Covington by storm and was bound and determined to save every dog she could that had been taken prisoner to the Covington City Pound. Focused and gutsy she would stop at nothing to rescue. She needed help and by golly I was going to do the best I could. I started out by fostering. My only request was that I could name the dogs I got. This has since become a rule of thumb. Whoever fosters the dog first gets to name it. I personally believe you build a better bond that way. I started out with Romeo and Jelly Bean. They had been deserted and left in a locked apartment. This was the end of March in 2008. Now less than two years later with 72 foster dogs of my own and 301 rescues under our belts C.A.R.E. is still going strong. There have been a lot of changes but for the most part we still have our original core group, Sarah is still our Director, and we still love rescue. Well, we love the dogs. Rescue is hard, heartbreaking, and brutal. But rescue is also heartwarming, gratifying, and filled with licks and wagging tails.

Going To The Dogs

I told you that I was planning on being the caretaker of John's parents, my in-laws. They were getting to the point of going to a nursing home and we wanted to prevent that, if possible. While they were still at Parkway Cove, an assisted living facility, we worked on making the shop also a living quarters. Sam and Dan, my brothers-in-law, and I planned on what we could do to make the shop livable while leaving my work room intact. What evolved is a quaint and ever so charming space that we now call White Barn Cottage. [Of course it is still referred to as The Rose Garden also! I guess it depends on what is needed at the moment--a place to sleep or an arrangement!!] Although it was never used by Mom or Dad it is frequently inhabited by family. This old family farm has become quite a popular place. I have always loved it and now it is lovely to see others loving it too. But I'm getting ahead of the story. So I've semi-retired, I've lost the purpose of it basically, and I don't have my shop that was the main focus of my life for many, many [26] years. AND I've lost my big brother so our family is heartbroken--it was a grim time. There was an ad in the paper announcing a meeting of C.A.R.E. [Covington Animal Rescue Effort] and I went. and now I've gone. To the dogs!

I am giving you background because those of you that never visited the shop will never truly know me until you know about The Rose Garden. It was and is a part of me, a Huge part of me. Through this blog I will relive many parts and aspects of it and I hope to impart a bit of it's magic along with the reveries. For years this was my daily routine--walking down to an enchanted shop located on my own property in the beloved family barn, working with a group of women that I loved and adored [still do] and getting to create vignettes and collections only limited by my imagination. [which I can assure you is Not limited!]
I semi-retired from this idyllic paradise to be a care-taker of my in-laws and to help with my brother. We had an emotionally hard time as we lost all three of them that year and it was a while before I felt I had my balance back. During that time I joined a group called C.A.R.E. started by Sarah Sullivan. It stood for Covington Animal Rescue Effort and I have always been one to rescue. So the story continues but with a totally different scenario. I am not surrounded by the scents of jasmine and gardenia from our extensive collection of candles now. Oh no. And I am not usually all dressed up wearing jewelry and Chanel. Oh no. And I am not always creating something of beauty that I have stayed up nights dreaming of---no, no, no. But I am doing something that brings me much gratification and something I believe is important and The Rose Garden is still a part of my life too. I just have to get a little more balance going on! So this is how I started "going to the dogs!"

Being established in an old barn had its advantages and disadvantages--the disadvantages were mostly logistic. It's not hard to heat and cool a building that Looks like a barn. It is very hard to heat and cool a building that IS a barn. Birds are always going to build in the walls and under the eaves and in the rafters of the stalls. Stairs are steep and rooms are odd. Little creatures will make nests and tunnels and you never know what you might run into! On the other hand it had charm. It was charming to hear baby birds in the walls and it was charming to have odd little rooms and nook and crannies to fill with the most unusual collections of whatever struck my fancy. Our florals were all custom, no pre-mades for The Rose Garden! Not then, not now. My cards said [and still do] "imagination running wild". I loved branches, vines, nests, and berries mixed with all manner of florals, fruits, even vegetables. I wanted it to look as natural as if you'd found it in the woods. That is until the Holiday Season and then I wanted natural with glitz! Acorns dusted with glitter, branches tipped with gold, nests filled with sparkly eggs! This was my work day every day--my workroom filled with all manner of wonderful supplies right at my fingertips. It was my own personal paradise. and it still is....just differently.

Life after The Rose Garden

I hope that many of you will remember me as owner and designer of The Rose Garden, an out-of-the-ordinary shop in Covington, Tennessee. My shop was partially a bit different because of it being located in the old family barn that was off the beaten path and also because of the imagination and magic that was an integral part of us. Truly magic. Ask anyone. I really believe that fairies flitted through on a daily basis and sprinkled fairy dust over any and everything and everyone for that matter. The Rose Garden was a place of serenity, a place that you could come in and breathe; a place you could just Be. It was my passion, not a moment went by that I wasn't there physically or mentally and I loved it heart and soul. I still love it. It's different yet the same. We don't have our annual Christmas Open House that drew thousands of people over the years but magic doesn't go away. And neither do fairies when they have a good home.