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

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