Wednesday June 10, 2015

My cabin grandparents – Jess and Erma Crooks – were such a huge part of my life!  Growing up spending time with them – and all the cousins (yes, our Skunk Hollow Girls!) was priceless.  I have little reminders throughout my home of those days – including the clock on the mantle behind them.

But basically, I’m an outdoor kind of girl, and my grama’s gardens were a thing of beauty and the envy of everyone who loved flower gardens.  I always said I was going to get married in her gardens, but they weren’t there when the time came.  Alas…. 

My mother inherited her mother’s knack for growing flowers and gardens, and I have been blessed to at least inherit the desire!  So every year for the last several years, in the spring and summer on trips to Mom and John’s farm, I would take a small clipping from a tea rose bush – that I believe she told me her mom got from her own mother.  But every year the bush would fizzle out and not bloom – then fade away and die over the winter.

Ah!  But finally, the efforts paid off!  Last year I took a small cutting and placed it in a place of honor, choosing a different location.  To my delight, this year, SUCCESS!  Not only is the bush growing, but is full of beautiful, pink clusters of small button roses.  I am very excited to be able to keep this tradition going.  Hopefully, one day one of my grandchildren will take a little delicate cutting and the roses will continue to bloom across the centuries.  God is smiling!  And so am I!