Gifts that Keep Giving

Many Christmases ago, Len and the children gave me a statue of Mary for the side yard. My wonderful husband also built a wooden arch to hold a rose bush over her.

Weather and the plant's weight eventually destroyed that arch, so now Len's gone one better: he bolted together some metal trellises and bent them into a much stronger framework for the roses. The climbing bush has almost made it across:Len's mom gave us this plant from her garden, and it has proved amazingly hardy, surviving numerous moves before its final (I hope) settlement by the basement window.It's blooming now, and should for at least several weeks. The flowers usually come back in the fall, too.In case you can't tell, these are small flowers, maybe the diameter of a quarter.

I used blooms from this bush for my sister's wedding cake almost six years ago. I brushed the petals with lightly beaten egg white and sprinkled them with super-fine sugar. They dried beautifully and were transported to NY, where another sister and I chose the best ones to decorate the cake we baked and put together.

Enough with the extra stories--this post was meant to be a thank you to my husband for the statue and trellises. I see them every morning as I walk past with Dusty. Thanks, honey!