Saturday, June 30, 2012

Grandma's Flowers

 My 93 year old mother-in-law is now in an assisted-living apartment. The yard of her previous home was beautiful with lots and lots of gorgeous flowers. She loved being in her garden and tending her plants. From the time I first met her she gardened - growing veggies and flowers. It was sad to see her have to leave her home and her flower gardens that she loved so much. We have wonderful memories of her and her gardens  ... of the tasty veggies, the pretty flowers.

We not only have those memories, but now we have some of those plants.  The photos on here are some of the flowers we picked at her former home the day we had gone to see her at her new place, the second home she has been in since she had to move from her "own" home.

 She has
done well, over the years since her husband died, on her own, with the help of her children. But it came that time when she could no longer stay alone and was beginning to have some memory problems and needed closer supervision. It was hard for her and for the family to make this change, but best for her, to no longer live by herself in the home she could no longer care for as well as before. 

Not wanting to just let her flower garden "go to pot", her family members began digging up plants to transplant at their homes.  My husband and I now have plants in our yard from his Mom's flower garden: iris, peonies, roses, etc. We replanted some last year and then, again, some more this year. 
 While digging up the ones to take with us to transplant we kept thinking it would be  a shame to just let all the beautiful blooms in the garden sit there and die.  One of the neighbors came over to talk while we were digging up plants; my husband told her to feel free to cut bouquets from the garden.  She was pleased and thanked us.  His Mom would be happy knowing someone was enjoying her flowers.

We, too, began cutting blooms to take home with us for bouquets.  As we had a couple of hours or so to get home from there, we filled a couple of buckets with water and popped in the cut flowers. I've never had so many beautiful bouquets at one time! On the way home our car smelled wonderful. :)  I took a large bouquet of iris to church the next Sunday and the church smelled wonderful, too. I was, on the one hand, sad that Grandma wasn't there to care for and to enjoy her flowers still. At the same time, I was also sure that she would be very happy to know that her family members were digging up and transplanting some of her plants at our homes, cutting the blooms for beautiful bouquets. If we move from our present home I expect to take some of those plants with us ... and maybe our children will also  want to come and "dig" in our backyard and transplant some of their Grandma's flowers, because

they, too, remember how much their Grandma Clayton loved her garden and flower beds.

If we live, we get old. We finally get to a place, often, where we can no longer be on our own; no longer "do" as we did before. I am not yet at that place but I can well imagine the distress of giving up your home ... your independence. I have "felt" for my mother-in-law as I've watched her having to make such changes; as well as for her family having to convince her that she needs to make the changes.

She has always been a strong, active person; she loved living out on their farm. It was hard for her when my father-in-law died; she missed him greatly.  She stayed out on the farm for a few years as she grieved his loss.  Then she knew she needed to move to town, and moved closer to one of her daughters, but she always preferred living on the farm.

And now, at age 93, here she has had to move again. In her "good" moments she speaks of missing her family - and of missing her flowers. We've shown her photos of some of the flowers blooming in our yard that we'd transplanted from her garden. She was pleased.

Grandma's flowers were rooted in - some started out on their farm and were transplanted to town. They survived the move; they adapted to their new place and bloomed beautifully. They
 even had "friends", as my mother-in-law added new plants over the years.  Like Grandma herself.  She was rooted-in at the farm but was transplanted to town.  She, too, survived and adapted to her new surroundings and made new friends.

Now, she has been uprooted again and, hopefully, is getting "rooted-in" once more to a new place, adapting and making new friends, just as her beloved flowers have done. She is, at 93, as beautiful as her flowers ... she would prefer, still, to be at her farm or at her previous home, digging in her flower bed. But she is trying to adapt to her new surroundings. Her next "transplant" will be her easiest to adapt to. Whenever God calls her to come plant some flowers in heaven, she will be ready. She has known and loved God for a very long time; she and her husband became Christians early on - she knows, without a doubt, where he is and where she will go and has no fear.

She will be ready to be "rooted-in" again when God calls. 



A Tiny Vacation

Our Tiny Vacation

               



After driving from our home in Wellington, Kansas to a funeral in Web City, Missouri, where my pastor-husband officiated, we decided we needed a "tiny vacation". After the emotions of the day we wanted to take a short break before going home.

We drove as far as the Joplin, Missouri area before stopping at a motel - WITH a pool.  It was such a sweltering, humid day that a motel sans pool was not an option.  After having cool showers and changing out of our sweaty clothes we went in search of supper.  I was delighted to see one of our favorite restaurants close by: "Cracker Barrel".  I love their "real" food, and their iced-tea is always perfect. ")

We returned to our room and changed into bathing suits for a plunge into the pool.  The water felt so good, as it was still very hot and humid (the pool was inside).  There was a bit of commotion as we got out of the pool, and a couple of guys told us that the electricity had gone out!  Oh, no! Not on this horribly hot and humid evening.  "There goes our tiny-vacation", I thought, "and I didn't even throw a flashlight in the bag as I usually do."

We made our way back to our room, opened the drapes to capture the last of the quickly-fading light and showered off the pool-water in the dark.  After dressing again we followed the flashlights of others back to the lobby to see if there was any info about the electricity situation when, lo and behold, the lights and the air-conditioning returned! We were all a bunch of happy campers.  No more problems after that. Seems the area our motel and a few other motels and restaurants were in had experienced a "brown-out" due to the high use of all the air-conditioners because of the high heat.  (How did we ever survive days like that before air-conditioning???)  It ended well, and we got a good night's rest.  Slept late the next morning, leaving around eleven a.m. to leisurely head towards home.

Our "fun" on the way home was our stop in the pretty little town of Baxter Springs, Kansas.  We've driven through Baxter Springs quite a few times over the years, always on the way to other places.  This time we drove "into" the town, and stayed awhile. :)   Baxter Springs is not only a pretty town, it holds much historical interest. If you ever go, visit the "Baxter Springs, Kansas Route 66 Visitor Center", on the main street, Military Ave., for lots of free information, coffee and conversation.  The Visitor's Center is located in a refurbished Phillips 66 gas station that has been there since 1930. (Be sure and sign your name on the wall before leaving!)

Part of the original Route 66 runs through Baxter Springs. The town sees a lot of Route 66 history buffs.  There is a Route 66 emphasis throughout the town.

Besides Route 66 history, you'll find Civil War history.  One of the two Civil War battles fought in Kansas was in Baxter Springs.  You will find "cow-town" history.  American-Indian history.  History connected to the criminals, Bonnie and Clyde, who robbed the same little grocery store in town twice in less than a week. And, for you baseball fans, well ... remember a player by the name of Mickey Mantle?  He was the son of a miner from Commerce, Oklahoma - and he played for the semi-pro team named "Baxter Whiz Kids" before becoming a New York Yankee-er.  A Baxter Springs brochure states that to the people in the town who knew him personally "he's still just 'Mickey' ."

There is also a first-class museum in Baxter Springs, second to none: "Baxter Springs Heritage Center and Museum".  Lots of beautiful and interesting displays in a very beautiful building. Everything is artfully arranged, with lots of space for moving through the exhibits.  Not to be missed.

We wanted, of course, to find a good place to have lunch.  We found it.  Actually, we had lunch at one place and dessert at another.  Both were great.  Lunch was at the "Cafe on the Route" cafe, run by Richard and Amy Sanell. They also operate "The Little Brick Inn" bed-and-breakfast - that we just might have to check out one day. You will find them at 1101 Military Ave., the main street (cafeontheroute.com  and  the littlebrickinn.com). It is a friendly cafe with a "real" chef who "really" knows how to cook.  Try the smoked salmon, or the pecan chicken, as we did. Yum! This little cafe made big news a few years ago: they were featured on the Food Network - on the program where the guy travels around the country to different cafes, fast-foods, etc. You won't regret eating there.


Too full for dessert after lunch, we toured the museum, which helped build up our appetites again - just enough for dessert. SOooooo ... just up the street from "Cafe on the Route" is "Angels on the Route", another pleasant little cafe.  Here you'll find sandwiches, soups, candy, coffee, frozen custard ... and ... malts and milkshakes! This cafe is at 1143 Military Ave., owned by Sue Gast and Sue Ramage (sblgast@pacbell.net).  We were there for something cold and tasty and found just what we wanted: homemade malts in tall frosty glasses.  Mine was strawberry - with REAL strawberries. It was so good.  Reminded me of the homemade strawberry ice-cream we used to get at the "creamery" when I was a kid in Newport, Rhode Island.  My husband had a maple-walnut malt, if I remember right. Of course, we had to taste each other's, agreeing they were both wonderful. :)  As we sipped away at the "good-ness" we had some interesting conversation with one of the owners, as well as a customer who had come in.

Cold, frosty malts in a sweet little cafe with friendly people on a very hot day.  Perfect.  It was a good end to our Baxter Springs visit.  If you make it to Baxter Springs don't miss the "Angels on the Route" cafe or the "Cafe on the Route" cafe.  And tell them Sandy sent you!





Signing the visitors' wall...
The old Phillips 66 Visitor's Center...
"Cafe on the Route" ...
"Cafe on the Route" ...
"Angels on the Route" ...
"Angels on the Route" ...
The museum ...
The museum ...
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(1) Made by Joel - Modern Art, Kids Crafts, and Toys

(1) Made by Joel - Modern Art, Kids Crafts, and Toys

Anyone needing arts/crafts ideas - here are some great ones .... for the kids to do themselves; and for the grown-ups to do!  :)