Rose Bushes.
I cannot remember how many I have purchased over the years - either as an adult or as a younger child with the help of my Daddy.
Pink ones, red ones, old-fashioned ones.
Small ones, large ones, fully in-bloom ones.
And always in correlation with the same holiday.
Mother's Day.
I would gleefully add a a pretty bow around the pot and present it to my dear Mama.
Happy Mother's Day.
Mama would "ooooh" and "aaahh" and go on and on about how much she loved it.
And I would already start formulating in my mind,
what color rose bush I would buy for her the next year.
My Mama would plant the new rose bush with all the others, and sometimes there would be two of them to plant if my sister had also given one, too.
'Cause Mama loved rose bushes. You could see it on her face every year when we gave them to her.
Now anyone who loves roses and has rose bushes in their garden, knows without a doubt, they require a lot of work.
A LOT of work.
Pruning and de-bugging and fertilizing. They are as much work as a newborn baby in some ways. Their gentle beauty comes with a price.
Mama took care of her roses, because they had been gifts from her daughters.
Year after year, her rose garden grew.
Mother's Day after Mother's Day.
Rose bush after rose bush.
In my later adult years, as I walked up to Mama and Daddy's house - I noticed several large containers of Daylilies. Daylilies? What was Mama doing with Daylilies? I mean, roses were her thing. She loved her rose garden. She loved working in her rose garden and caring for them.
"Mama, where did the Daylilies come from?"
"I bought them at the garden center today. Aren't they pretty?"
(Well, yes, they were pretty but...)
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Dad made me a new flower bed to plant them in."
"Oh... a new flower bed?" I asked, a little perplexed.
"Yes, behind the koi pond."
"That will be pretty. I like day lilies."
I still didn't quite understand why she wanted a new bed, with more work and care and gardening time involved, especially when she loved her roses so much.
"They will be easy to take care of. They pretty much take care of themselves. I've always loved Daylilies."
And that is when it started making sense to me...
Tending the roses was hard work. Time consuming and sometimes "thorny" painful work.
We lived on a large farm, and Mama worked just as hard as my Daddy. And at the end of the day, after the work in the fields were done - she still had to cook and clean and take care of her children.
... and her roses. Lots and lots of roses. All of which she had not ever asked for, or purchased herself for that matter.
Roses which had been gifted to her by two daughter's (and sometimes a son) who were so happy to be giving their beloved Mama something she loved - that we did not stop long enough to ask her if she actually did love them.
Mama spent all that time - countless hours throughout the years - taking care of roses, not so much because she loved the act of gardening and caring for thorny bushes - but because she did not have the heart to tell her daughters and her son that Daylilies were her favorite flowers.
She could not let the rose bushes just die and fade away... we would be heart broken.
And in that moment of awareness, I looked over at the Daylilies and said..."where is a spade?"
"Why?" Mama asked.
"I want to help you start your new daylily bed."
...and she smiled.
You know what I bought my Mama that year for Mother's Day?
Nope, not roses. Not even Daylilies.
I bought her some new pink gardening gloves, a matching pink garden spade and various gardening tools... and a gift card to Lowe's. So she could buy Daylilies or Geraniums or Daisies... or whatever her heart desired.
Mama is almost 80 now, and her health doesn't allow her to do much gardening any more. The roses have been replaced with easier-to-care-for bulbs and flowers that do not require much work.
I learned a valuable lesson about gift giving in general.
Don't give a gift to someone just because
it makes you happy. Because you do not have
to deal with the gift after it has been given.
So now...I give my Mama a little something homemade - made from love and from the heart.
'Cause Mama says when you are her age, you already have everything in life you both want
and need.
When Mama said that to me recently, I hugged her tight and kissed her still-smooth cheek and said...
"Mama, this almost 50-year old woman has everything she could possibly ever want or
need, too."
If you want to give your own Mama
something which does not have thorns,
here is the oh-so-easy directions to my
Rosemary-Citrus Goats Milk Soap
1) Purchase the goats milk base from a
local craft store. I found mine at Michael's.
It's also where I bought the bottle of
Citrus Oil and the plastic soap molds.
2) Chop fresh rosemary.
I left mine medium-course because I
wanted to be able to see the rosemary.
3) Grate some orange rind.
I used two small oranges.
4) Place the goats milk base in a bowl.
*(use a bowl you don't mind throwing away.)
Melt in the microwave until all the base is
completely liquified. I did this in 30 second increments, stirring each time.
5) Add chopped rosemary.
I added a little and stirred, added more and
stirred - until I got the look I wanted.
There is no recipe, just use as little or as
much as you want.
6) Add the fresh grated orange peel.
Then, add some of the citrus oil.
I wasn't sure how much to use, so I used
two droppers full.
7) Pour melted soap base into the molds.
8) Allow to harden then carefully pop
out of the molds.
I suppose, if you really wanted to...
you could adapt this recipe and add
some rose petals. But, I would suggest
you leave out the thorns. :-D
Tomorrow, I will share a wonderful
drink you can serve for your
Mother's Day Brunch.
Orange-Ginger Sparkling Lemonade.
xxoo
I am sharing with:
Boogieboard Cottage - Masterpiece Monday Between Naps on the Porch - Met Monday
Finding Home - Monday Funday Thrifty Decor Chick - Before and After Monday
Alderberry Hill - Make the Scene Monday Dwellings - Amaze Me Monday
The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Stories from A-Z - Tutorials/Tips Tuesday Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life - Inspiration Tuesday Cedar Hill Ranch - The Scoop
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesday Treasures DIY by Design - Swing Into Spring
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesday Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursdays
Stone Gable - Tutorials and Tips Thursdays Setting for Four - Project Inspire{d}
at the picket fence - Inspiration Fridays French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday
My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday Common Ground - Be Inspired Friday
The Charm of Home - Home Sweet Home Friday Common Ground - Vintage Inspirations
Craftberry Bush - Inspiration Gallery Friday FunkyJunk - Sat Night Special
Fox Hollow Cottage - The Power of Pinning
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