Something New Is Taking Shape At Roseville

When you have several different projects on the go, it seems there is always something new taking shape at Roseville.

And the last few weeks have been no different.

Do I wish that one day it would just rain all day so we could stay inside, watch a movie and do absolutely nothing?

Yes.

Is that likely to happen?

No.

Instead, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind, particularly with everything we have been doing to prepare for the New England Garden Festival and Garden Trail.

And then, as if we didn’t have enough going on, a few rather exciting things happened.

A little visit from Gardening Australia

A few months ago, there had been some word that Gardening Australia might be interested in doing a piece on Roseville. They were potentially going to be filming around the Garden Festival period as part of a story about the New England region.

I tried very hard not to get too excited.

It wasn’t locked in.

And I’ve learnt that there is a big difference between “this might happen” and “this is actually happening.”

Having said that, it did mildly — okay, more than mildly — excite me that Linda Ross had been following me on Instagram for a little while.

I may have looked at the fact that she was watching my stories more than once.

Then I saw that Linda was actually in town.

She was visiting the Uralla General Store, which, as it turns out, was once owned by her great-great-grandfather.

I thought perhaps this was our chance.

Then she hadn’t contacted me.

I was slightly disappointed, but also completely understood. She is busy, there was a lot happening around the Garden Festival and there was no reason to assume that Roseville was going to be part of the story.

So I did what any perfectly calm and rational person would do.

I sent her a message.

Just casually.

Something along the lines of, if you happen to have a chance to stop by, we’d love you to come and have a look around.

No pressure.

No expectation.

And much to my surprise, two days later I received a message saying she was on her way back from Tenterfield and had a window to drop in — in about an hour and a half.

Well.

All plans for the afternoon went out the window.

I rang Dad and casually mentioned that Linda Ross and the producer of Gardening Australia were dropping by.

There was quite a lot of huffing and puffing.

Apparently this was not particularly convenient for his afternoon.

With a further huff and puff, he agreed to come up.

Because apparently when Linda Ross is coming to Roseville, even Dad’s afternoon plans are negotiable.

And then she arrived

Linda was even more lovely than I had imagined.

She walked around the garden, took photos, asked questions and commented on the layout and the thought that had gone into the garden.

She genuinely seemed to enjoy it.

And at the end she told us it was one of the loveliest gardens she had seen.

I’m sure she says that to a lot of people.

But still.

We were pretty chuffed.

Very, very chuffed.

Two weeks later, we received a phone call from Linda.

I love that I am now in her contacts.

And this time it wasn’t a casual visit.

As part of the Gardening Australia filming around the New England Garden Festival, they would love Roseville to be part of the story.

Were we available for filming at Roseville in November on a particular date?

I am sure I didn’t say, “I’ll just check my schedule,” or “I’ll check with Jaime.”

It was a very quick:

Absolutely. We would be thrilled.

So that’s happening.

And I still can’t quite believe I just wrote that.

And then there is Roseville Gatherings

As exciting as that is, it isn’t the only thing that has been taking shape behind the scenes.

There has been a lot of work going on over the past few months around another idea we have had for Roseville.

Planning.

Thinking.

Researching.

Navigating the various things you have to navigate when you want to do something a little different with an old property.

I won’t bore you with the council, compliance and paperwork details.

Although there have been quite a few.

But along the way, we have had some incredibly helpful people who understood what we were trying to create and could see the vision for Roseville.

And we have now been given the go-ahead, with the appropriate restrictions and rules, to start moving forward with gatherings and events here.

Which means that Roseville Gatherings is becoming a reality.

And that feels pretty enormous.

For months it has been an idea.

Then it became a plan.

Then a lot of paperwork.

Then more conversations.

And now we are actually starting to build it.

It hasn’t happened by accident

There is a lot of excitement around all of this, but there has also been an enormous amount of work behind the scenes.

And I really want to acknowledge that it hasn’t just been me.

Jaime has tirelessly worked on the garden, the fences, the kitchen and all the little bits and pieces that seem to constantly need doing around Roseville.

Dad has been here weeding almost daily and telling us what is, in fact, not a weed.

I have discovered that I know considerably less about plants than I thought I did.

Apparently some things that look exactly like weeds are not weeds.

Who knew?

And I have been working away on compliance, planning, building relationships and starting to put together what Roseville Gatherings might actually look like.

That is only a fraction of what has been happening.

There have been plenty of other people helping, encouraging, advising and believing in what we are trying to create.

And that is probably the part that makes me happiest.

Because Roseville Gatherings isn’t about becoming the next big function centre or filling a calendar with bookings every weekend.

It is about sharing this place. Here is the history if you want another read with your coffee.

The gardens.

The history.

The farmhouse.

The atmosphere.

And hopefully creating beautiful, meaningful gatherings in a place that already has so many stories of its own.

The next chapter

The website will be updated soon as everything starts to take shape, but I think Under Guyra Skies will still have an important part to play.

Because Roseville Gatherings might be about opening the doors and sharing the property, but Under Guyra Skies is where the story of how we got here lives.

The mistakes.

The gardens.

The renovations.

The cows.

Toast.

The coffee.

The country life.

The things that haven’t gone to plan.

And all the things that have.

Because Roseville Gatherings really did begin with a story.

And perhaps that’s the thing I am most excited about.

We came here with ideas about what Roseville could become.

We didn’t know exactly how it would look.

We certainly didn’t expect Gardening Australia to come knocking.

We didn’t know Linda Ross would walk through the garden and love it.

And we didn’t know quite how much work would be involved in getting to the point where we could actually open the doors.

But here we are.

Something new is taking shape at Roseville.

And I think we are ready for the next chapter.

To the next chapter. 🌿