What is THIS all about?

Thanks for coming to my Blog! I am a Daughter of a King, Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of five, MomInLaw of four, and Gram of four. Designing and creating feeds something inside of me! This blog will be sharing about my faith, my family, my life, my creations and collections. I am on a journey to learn balance and will be sharing about that as well. Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Happy Birthday. . .

Monday, July 15, 2013
 I love lavender.
I love it's sweet scent and how it calms a distressed soul.
 It grows strong and sways in the summer breeze, and I love how it survives
difficult growing conditions. aka, not enough water...
I have transplanted it several times, and it handles it well each time.
Lavender grows well in Washington State, and I am glad.
I have two lavender plants on a mound in our yard we refer to as "The Hill".
It's not really a hill by any description, but it is a great place to sled on in winter,
ride a bike down in the spring and an ice block down in the summer.
The lavender grows on the northwest side of the hill and is seen as you drive into our lane
and just at where our yard begins. It is on the opposite end of the hill where the
FUN happens. . .aka, sledding, biking, and ice blocking.
It grows back every year and gets bigger every year, it's so constant! Even if I haven't cut it back.
It's fragrance is perfect for use in sachets or Pot Pourri as well as bouquets to be enjoyed in winter.
It has a subtle beautiful fragrance that lingers... It isn't flashy, but even just looking at it relaxes me,
makes me smile, and inspires me to make something lovely with it!
I cut the lavendar with long stems and take them to the potting bench to wrap
them in bundles for hanging to dry underneath  our deck
July 15, 2003 was my Mother's 80th birthday and we planned a big party for her.
I brought in some fabric that I had chosen to make an album cover out of.
We were surprising her with letters filled with memories from family and friends
and I wanted to make a pretty album for her to keep them
in and enjoy when she re~read the letters in the future.
She loved the fabric and said to me, "Lavender is my favorite color!"
I was surprised, and asked "How come I didn't know that... Why did I not KNOW this until now?"
I just happened to choose her favorite color, without knowing it...
Here they hang for a few days and nights drying so I can enjoy them long after they
began to grow and give beauty to my world. I can share them with others who also love lavender!
I was a bit sad that I never knew my Mother's favorite color. I don't think I ever 
asked her about it. I know we gave her gifts, year after year, of what we thought was 
pretty for her, or what Dad thought she would like.... (now THAT topic is a funny one!!!!)
Since then, Lavender, the color and the flower, remind me of my mother.
She was and is still a sweet calming influence in my life. She grew up during the depression
and life was not easy or glamorous for her, but she was strong through all the changes
and challenges that came her way. She generally was not an active participant in our family
wild times, water skiing, snow skiing, tobogganing, hiking, sledding, canoeing, fishing, building snowmen, 
and playing family games of Capture the flag, Scalps, Annie Annie Over, and Kick the Can.
But she was always there, waiting for us when we got home, 
 with hot chocolate and breakfast, or dinner and cookies, a ready hug, prepared to help 
us remove stickers from our feet, help us clean up and apply a band aide,
 or help us warm our hands or feet!  When we needed anything, she was there.
She wasn't flashy or dressed to the nines.  She spent her youth and energy 
and life raising her 10 children, feeding her family, sewing for her nine daughters,
baking bread for her family, making cakes for her family, cleaned for her family,
And Cookies and Cookies and Cookies! were made for anyone who came over!
 All who would come to our home felt welcomed and felt
at home in our home, which was also neither flashy nor expensive.
But we were cared for and loved. 
Just seeing her smiling face or hearing the sound of her voice brought peace and 
comfort to my heart. Her hugs and laugh were wonderful. . . and I miss them every day. 
Lavender heads fallen to the ground, still give a beautiful scent when stepped on or when the wind blows...
This last spring I did a blog post about her on the anniversary of her death, it would
be her 90th birthday... She lived a full life, and loved a full life, and filled my life with
 so many things including love. She wasn't perfect, but she was a wonderful Mother!
 I have learned so much from my Mother's choices, her talents and abilities, positives and negatives.

Bundled and dried to make sweet scented lovelies for my home and heart.

I hope my influence will be remembered as fondly by my children...
My lovely Mother and my Grandniece about seven years ago, at a wedding.
Look, She is wearing lavender!
"God gave us Memories 
so we could have 
Flowers in Winter
and Mothers Forever"

I love you, Mama, 
Happy Anniversary of the Day of Your Birth!

Heart hugs to you all,
Betsy

Linking to
Our Beautiful World


Prompt ~ Details
Check out other beautiful worlds!

13 comments:

  1. I think I need to cut my lavender more frequently so I can have lovely bouquets like yours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a beautiful post and tribute to your mother, it brought a lump to my throat. Your lavender photographs are lovely, and what a wonderful way to remember your mother every day of your life, when you have dried lavender everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sweet! What an adorable picture of your g-niece and mom. Isn't lavender just divine? I can't believe how much you have - from 2 plants! It's beautiful. I need to take care of mine. Also, have an edible variety & cookie recipe to go with:) Have you tried those? I can just taste them as I am typing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Betsy, Lavender what a beautiful smell. Your family sounds similar to mine. I had 6 brothers and 3 sisters. My mom was like yours always there for us kids and who ever came to our house. The sewing and etc. Both living through the depression and I can remember mom and dad talking about the rationing. Beautiful tribute to you mother. Have a wonderful day and stay cool. Hugs and Prayers from Your Missouri Friend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Betsy, what a lovely post about lavender,and at the end, about yourdear Mum!
    I love Lavender too and I was smiling, when I saw your post ... I made a Lvender Post too today ;O)
    Have a wonderful time,
    Love and hugs and blessings,
    Claudia

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello dear Betsy,

    What a beautiful and touching post !!
    What a dear photo of your mother.

    Hope to email you soon.

    Hearthugs and Blessings to you !!

    Wilma.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a beautiful post Betsy, I don't even know where to start. First of all, love your tribute to you wonderful mom, i just brought tears to my eyes as I read from lines to lines, your words of love for your mom, your sweet memories of her, so love love that quote, I might have to copy it if you don't mind.
    (taking a deep breath)......
    Ok, now to your beautiful photos, my.... I love lavender and how I wish I could grow them here in Las Vegas, the scent, the colors, lavender is just my favorite! I am so glad that I get to see some from your beautiful photos, someday, I am going to go to one of those beautiful lavender farm over there!
    Last but not least, thanks for sharing the beauties around you with us this week at Our Beautiful World, and thank you so much for using our little button and help spread the word around, thank you dearly!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a beautiful post this is ... I too have tears as I read ... It is written from your heart and the words flowed with love ... your photos are a fitting compliment to your words ... truly beautiful ... Thank you for linking up to Our beautiful World and sharing this post ...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love lavender, too, I make little sachets of it as well! Your pictures are beautiful - and the post as a whole is so precious.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love your beautiful lavender photos and the stories! Thanks for sharing both with us.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful post and tribute to your mom Betsy. Very heart warming and loving. Thank you for sharing this beautiful memory with us. And oh how I do love lavender... We have it in our garden too. Wonderful photos! And I'm sorry to be so late in replying... We are so busy here with organizing a big party for tomorrow, it's the 70th birthday of my father. Thank you for sharing your wonderful post and photos with us at Our Beautiful World. Big hug, Wendy

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well my dear Betsy I am officially crying with your post. What a heartfelt piece. I am totally in love with your lavender and wished I had some, I don't think it grows in the tropics. I visited Dubrovnik with my husband and on the open market there was this old lady who sold us the most amazing lavender satchels. They fragranced our suitcase the whole way back and are nicely settled in my drawers now. I love the smell of it and I can imagine walking on them like you showed and releasing their smell once again. Thank you ever so much for sharing this with us at our beautiful world!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful tribute for your mother. It's such a thoughtful, loving and moving post. I too, lost my mother when I was 17, twenty one years ago and I never knew what her favorite color was. On a cheer note, I LOVE all the lavender photos here, lavenders are soothing and romantic too. Do you make lavender pockets too?. Thanks for sharing with us at Our Beautiful World!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for coming by and taking the time to comment.
Your comments warm my heart!