Rosedale Manor B&B

10/05/2026

THE ZEN OF BLUEBERRY PICKING

I once remember reading about Sir Edmund Hillary, the first white person to climb Mount Everest, who, when asked about the experience, responded by saying, “To those who climb, no explanation is necessary. To those who don’t, no explanation is possible!”

Those who pick berries also understand this, that strength can be drawn from a simple task where, while not a mountain to conquer, but a gathering of few litres of berries in a small container, picked for an hour or so, can balance weeks of stress in this “brave new world.”

Berry picking acts as a natural form of therapy by combining repetitive hand movements, outdoor exercise, and quiet mindfulness, reducing stress and calming the mind. This simple deliberate task slows down life as one practices care and attention, noticing the smell of warm soil, the sun on one’s back, the hum of insects, the blue or red hue of the berry’s ripe skin, and gentle pull to release them from the stem.

The rhythmic motion of plucking berries can also have one living in three dimensions in the same moment - the present, the past and the future. Holding a small handful of fruit, like a cluster of coral beads, is a reminder of the sun, rain, and quiet universal labour that goes into growing these tiny balls of life. Waiting for fruit to ripen also teaches acceptance of things one cannot change and in doing so, connects the soul directly to the cycles of nature.

And here in Newfoundland and Labrador, this therapy is offered for free – one just needs to find the right place, time and energy before the first frost or high wind drop the berries off the branch and the wild animals move in to feast.

Later, in the dark days of winter, we will be rewarded with a bag of late summer, caught, sealed, frozen away to be opened on a mid-January day. We will begin the process of bottling jam for next season's guests at Rosedale while snow falls fast and the sun unseen for weeks.

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it
and dependent on it,
can still ripen a bunch of grapes
as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.
- Galileo Galilei

08/01/2026

WE ARE ANTHROPHILES

An anthophile is a person who loves or has a deep appreciation for flowers. The word comes from the Greek "anthos" (flower) and "philos" (loving or fond of...).

Psychologically, flowers stimulate the release of "happiness chemicals” like dopamine (pleasure), serotonin (well-being), and oxytocin (social bonding). At the same time, flowers engage in multiple senses, instantly brightening a room with vibrant colours and natural fragrances. This exceptional abundance of the senses creates a powerful force for emotional and psychological well-being.

But flowers are far more than just natural medicine—they are also a visual delight. Many artists, like me, find tending to little gardens, like here at Rosedale, sensually therapeutic. Taking a quiet pause on our sitting bench, listening to the sound of the trickling waterfall, watching swallows and warblers swoop to drink and bathe, or tracking bees as they bounce around our little oasis, are such grounding moments. These pauses in my morning also allow me to study the complex flower lifecycle from bud to full bloom to the eventual fading petal. It also provides perspective and a connection to the rotating of earth.

Lori also loves creating and has a passion for taking time to build little bouquets, tenderly snipping beauty from our front garden. She brings them inside, planning her arrangements on what it offers seasonally. She then places her crystal vases of love throughout Rosedale —little acts of prayer and devotion, meaningful and intangible gifts that, without a doubt, inspire visitors who enter our doors.

07/05/2026

FRAMED IN GOLD

Gilded picture frames have evolved over 8,000 years from ancient Turkey, Egypt, and Phoenicia with one of the earliest surviving wooden frames found in an Egyptian tomb (circa AD 50-70). It began as an ancient ornamentation and developed into the highly specialized carved wood, serving as symbols of wealth, status, and divine reverence throughout art history.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the demand for lavish, highly decorated frames soared across Europe. French court styles dictated the trends, establishing framing as an elite branch of the furniture-making and carpentry trade.

By the time of the Industrial Revolution, materials like plaster and compo (a putty-like mixture) were introduced alongside carved wood or cast gesso (a mixture of chalk and hide glue). These new building materials allow frames to be cast, molded, and mass-produced rather than laboriously hand carved.

Victorian-styles typically feature rich gold finishes, deeply molded profiles, and elaborate naturalistic embellishments like scrollwork, acanthus leaves, and other floral motifs. This design graced the corner spandrels and stretched along the linear molding of the frame. Some were made with Celtic knots as well as flowers with weaved stems. The popular thistle design motif evolved from the era's obsession with elaborate craftsmanship, botanical symbolism, and a specific romanticization of Scottish heritage. Queen Victoria had a deep personal affection for the Scottish Highlands and due to her retreat at Balmoral Castle—Scottish aesthetics became immensely popular.

Put simply, these Art Nouveau frames are as essential to the Rosedale presentation as the painting held within, with the frame itself hanging as a beautiful object, historically designed to be just so. Rosedale Manor is proud to have a detailed collection and now showcases some of the varying designs of the period throughout all our walls. Come take a tour for yourself.

06/16/2026

SCROLLED CORBELLS
This is another example of authentic “Victorian architecture” – a design period from 1837-1901. This period title comes from both the British and French custom of naming architectural styles for the reigning monarch of the time.

A strong detail in the Rosedale Manor façade features exposed structural-looking roof braces with finials tucked under the eave, adding visual weight and emphasizing height. They serve as key ornamental elements and also stand out as one of the focal points of the house.

The rise of the Victorian home coincided with the Industrial Revolution, which meant that for the first time intricate wooden details and other mass-produced products could be shipped around the British Empire. While our modern design leans toward minimalism, the quintessential Victorian aesthetic embraced the "more is more" philosophy.

05/22/2026

WAR BRINGS DÉCOR

Glass and crystal door k***s are a common sight in many of the older homes like Rosedale Manor. They add a touch of elegance and charm to the B&B's overall décor. But how did this design come to be so popular? Some of the earliest examples came out of Boston in the 1820s. However they only began to spike in popularity, and later became a luxury architectural accent, during the 1920s through to the 1950s.

Why the delay? Why glass? Short answer - metal shortages. During WWI, brass, bronze, and iron were heavily rationed and diverted to manufacture weapons and am******on. Prior to WWI, cast bronze and iron were the standard for home hardware. When metals became scarce, sand was used to create pressed glass k***s, resulting in the iconic 6-, 8- and 12-facet diamond-cut k***s.

Ironically Lori and I had been collecting these crystal gems for decades. And when we bought Rosedale we realized they finally had a permanent home.

05/06/2026

BEAUTY BY DESIGN

Are ornamental decorations in your life unnecessary? Maybe. In today’s world we look at things like these and think how quaint. We say it’s trivial. Why? Because we don’t associate high end decoration with modernization anymore. We say it’s old fashioned.

That’s the fundamental difference between then and now. The Gilded Age saw no contradiction between 19th century modernity and their startling use of ornamentation. And yet for decades now we’ve been told that we can no longer afford beauty in design. In things like the 1890 Art Nouveau bas-relief on internal structural beams, the 1905 glass handle on a coloured stained glass door, a relief carving on an 1925 armoire and even a gilded Rococo design on a 1930s oil lamp.

Even cursive handwriting has disappeared!

Luxury is a thing of the past. But that’s a lie. They had a secret. We forget that their ornamentation was not always handmade. It too was often industrial, molded and repetitive on objects made in factories like ours, sold through big mail out catalogues instead of online. It too was mass produced.

Let’s take Rosedale Manor as an example. It has been standing for over 130 years. Will the average 21 century home last this long? Will it showcase as well? Probably not.

The real shift here is not economics. We stopped measuring beauty’s value and started prioritizing convenience, speed, cost-cutting and simple function ahead of aesthetics, with less options out there from which to choose. This is the new pattern. Efficiency becomes the main measure in design. And when you measure the bottom line only, everything else disappears.

Here’s what we don’t talk about enough - visual quality signals and social investment. When a home looks beautiful with a groomed garden to showcase it, we feel welcomed. When it has detail, texture and visual interest, it radiates “someone cares about this place”. That perception changes behaviour. It’s measurable civic quality. We don’t just lose beauty when we choose convenience, we also lose the belief that we deserve that beauty. We didn’t eliminate care to save money, we eliminated it because our society stopped measuring its value, because we chose cost-savings over love.

The one big difference from their work is that our modern designs are often disposable. Yet all that pride of design and ornamental production is surprisingly cheaper in the long run as we have less of a will to dispose of things that please the eye.

Beauty is everywhere inside Rosedale Manor and throughout our English sitting garden. And in the next few entries we’re going to show you some simple examples, from the swinging gate inwards. Stay tuned!

When I'm working on a problem,
I never think about beauty.
But when I've finished,
if the solution is not beautiful...
I know it's wrong.
— Buckminster Fuller

https://www.rosedalemanor.ca

02/02/2026

February 2 - Today is the 40th day after Christmas. Happy Candlemas Day to all you catholics. Other regions, especially in France and Belgium, know it historically as the “day of crêpes”. The Celts called it Imbolc and it was a pagan holiday that signalled the halfway point between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Ostara).

One of the central traditions of Candlemas is the ritual of digging a hole in the ground and lighting and blessing a candle. The day is a moment for reflection on the “light” of faith and is a bridge between the Christmas season and the anticipation of Lent. In many Eastern European countries, the feast of the Presentation officially closes the celebration of Christmas and serves as a final marker to take down Christmas decorations.

In Scotland, folklore suggests that the weather on Candlemas Day predicts the length of winter. A bright and sunny day means winter will linger, while a stormy and cloudy day signals its end. So if the bright sun “overshadows” the brightness of Candlemas Day, there will be more winter. However, if the light of the day radiates through the gloom and darkness, the end of winter is near.

Candlemas Day also was important in the lives of farmers. An old English song went as follows: “If Candlemas be fair and bright, / Come, Winter, have another flight. / If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, / Go, Winter, and come not again.”

A final point, the 18th century Protestants Dutch in Pennsylvania originated a folk belief that the powers of the late-winter emergence of hibernating creatures would predict the upcoming next six weeks of weather leading into spring. They in turn replaced Candlemas Day with Groundhog Day.

12/22/2025

12/16/2025

Thank you to the Placentia Chamber of Commerce for bestowing Rosedale Manor B&B with the 2025 Business Excellence Customer Appreciation Award. Presenting the award is Placentia Mayor Jamie Neville.

12/07/2025

STAINED GLASS

The earliest forms of coloured glass date back to ancient Egyptians who made simple beads and jewelry. The techniques for glazing windows and creating more complex items didn’t appear until the Romans and never really gained widespread prominence until the Middle Ages. With the Crusades it started to pop up in church and cathedral architecture throughout Europe as a visual tool to tell biblical stories for a largely illiterate population (a magnificent example is Chartres Cathedral in France).

Later, the Renaissance and the Reformation led to a period of growth, decline and destruction of stained glass, which were often replaced with plain glass. Then the Gothic Revival movement in the 19th century sparked a major resurgence in stained glass, especially in public buildings and homes like Rosedale.

Today, stained glass continues to be a popular art form. The craft is practiced by professionals and hobbyists, creating everything from large architectural installations to smaller decorative items like lamps and home accents.
We at Rosedale value the intrinsic and decorative aspect of coloured glass and have adapted its use throughout our Bed and Breakfast where possible. To date we have added two coloured windows and, since this fall, a fourth stained glass door to the building.

Hats off to friends Finton and Bernard with special thanks my two brothers Ron and Calvin for their help with this delicate and beautiful installation.