I know it’s only a Hallmark Holiday, but it is such a nice one.  Happy Mother’s Day.

When  was a little girl, it was the custom to wear a rose to church on Mother’s Day.  Some things were just givens — everyone went to church on Sundays and the roses were always blooming in May.  Sometimes mothers received fancy corsages to wear, but most often both men and women just pinned on a garden rose to honor their mothers.  A white rose was worn to honor a deceased mother, and a red rose for a mother you could still sit next to in church.  I have a  special memory of my paternal grandmother who had been raised by a second mother after her birth mother had died in a miscarriage when Grandmother was just a little girl.  No one spoke of such things in those days and I was an adult before I asked why she had died.  Grandmother wore two roses, one of each color. Of all my great-grandmothers and grandmothers, her birth mother is the only one I never got to know.  What a lucky little girl I was.

My beautiful white tea rose Honor is blooming today for them all.

I really don’t like red roses, so the only one I have in my garden is a striking floribunda called Cinco De Mayo.   As you can see —  here on Once de Mayo —  it is still not in bloom!

My neighbor’s Mr. Lincoln is showing off though.  How lucky am I still, at seventy-years of-age,  to be looking around my street for a red rose to wear?

Don’t think so!  Today Roxie and I took to the water for the first time this season.  75 degrees in the sun.  65 in the shade.  Great spot just 25 miles away, through beautiful rolling farmland and forests.

Best paddling buddy.  She never thinks it’s too hot, too cold, too far,  too near. And she never, ever thinks it’s too wet!

After a hard swim fetching sticks, it was time for a nap.

Time to paddle back.

Home in time to clean up a bit before heading over to St. P’s to help feed the homeless.

Blessings on all who keep little ones safely under their wings.

Finished the April To-Do list Tuesday night. Next year, I just might sell these items on Craigslist. I did briefly give some thought to making something gelatinous in the heart-shaped one last Valentine’s Day. And remember that crab mold/spread thingy we made in fish-shapes back in the 70’s and served up with crackers?  Canned crab, gelatin, mayo, and a can of cream of celery soup with a dash of Tabasco?  What were we thinking?