Firebrick with History

Colonial brick.

In today’s newspaper I had a brief piece about a product offering from a specialty fireplace company.  Earthcore Industries is now selling historic bricks that they dug out of New England harbors.  The bricks were originally used as ballast on voyages from England during colonial times.  They were dumped into the harbors and replaced with goods like tobacco for the return trip.

The bricks have a distressed, handmade look to them.  Earthcore mainly uses them as firebrick, which is the lining of the inside of a fireplace.  I would insert a link to the story online, but it doesn’t appear to be up there, which I fear will become the norm now that the organization has laid off so many people.  Anyways, here is some useful info from the Earthcore literature about different ways firebrick is laid:

Some common firebrick patterns are: (1) herringbone (2) stack bond (3) basket weave (4) running bond.

 

 

Puppies and Flowers

Ruby with Pink Roses, originally uploaded by espeedy123.

Ruby likes the roses!

Earth Kind Rose: Spice

Spice Rose, originally uploaded by espeedy123.

One of the roses I planted in my front landscape this fall is called “Spice.” It’s an Earth Kind Rose, so designated by Texas A&M for it’s easy-to-grow nature that doesn’t require lots of pesticides or fertilizer.

From The Antique Rose Emporium:

Here’s another rose that some believe to be the true ‘Hume’s Tea Scented China.’ Right or wrong this rose produces the palest of pink, tea-like blooms on a 3 to 4 foot thick bush. The plant is twiggy in growth, more like our China roses and can mildew a little in the early spring. The flowers are good for cutting and have an unusual fragrance that probably earned it its name.

China roses are varieties that were brought to Europe from China in the late 18th century. Hume’s Blush Tea-scented China is said to be one of four stud roses that many modern roses are descended from.

As you see above I cut one of the blooms to brighten up my dreary desk. I may have to start collecting bud vases!

It has a strong, spicy green fragrance that would make a fine perfume. Here’s another photo from the Rose Emporium:

Visit my previous rose blogs:

• Duchesse de Brabant