Clivia

 

Clivia

My parents loved and nurtured all kinds of plants, both indoor and outdoor. It would be fair to say that they had green fingers. My father loved fuchsias and grew many varieties, but my mother particularly enjoyed house plants. She was also an amazing flower arranger, entirely self-taught.

About thirty years ago, long after my father died, I gave my mother a clivia, which flowered beautifully just once. No matter what she tried, or where she situated it, it never flowered again for her, though all her other plants thrived and rewarded her care with beauty.

After she died, I inherited her clivia and brought it home to our conservatory. To my surprise, it flourished and flowered. Eventually, it grew too big and had to be repotted and still it grew.

Finally, I had to divide it and from one plant gained three, all strong, strapping plants. They all produce large heads of blooms, but all flower at slightly different times, so that our conservatory has a long sequence of gorgeous, bright orange flowers. Soon, they will need to be divided again. Every time I look at my lovely clivias I think of my mother.

 Perhaps, after all, I inherited just one of her green fingers.

April A-Z blogging challenge 2012 P is for Parents

April A-Z blogging challenge 2012

P is the next of 26 short stories - 250 words or fewer - about the life and times of a fictional character called Alice.

P is forParents

It is a truism that the child is father to the man. As children become parents and their own parents turn into grandparents it is inevitable that roles begin to reverse. Alice was pleased her parents lived nearby and could see her little boy so frequently but she worried about her father.

John had retired from the police force when he was sixty, the year before she married. Until then he had received regular medical check-ups and was an active, fit man. Since his retirement he had been more sedentary and gained a lot of weight. Now, four years later, he was breathless after the slightest exertion and inclined to sit for long periods, reading the paper or listening to the radio. Ivy fussed after him, cooking his favourite meals and encouraging him to ‘take it easy.’

Alice told John he should see the doctor about his breathlessness and lack of energy. As she had predicted, the doctor advised more exercise and a stricter diet, reducing fats and sugar. He also prescribed tablets to moderate his blood pressure and regulate his heart. Ivy clucked her tongue, maintaining, ‘A little of what you fancy does you good.’ Alice agreed but suggested her father didn’t really need three cooked meals a day with puddings after two of them. Ivy nodded and carried on baking cakes and biscuits for them to enjoy with elevenses and afternoon tea.

Alice continued to worry. John continued to be breathless. Ivy continued to spoil her husband.

Wedding Day 1927

My parents were married on 16^th April 1927 when they were 23 years old. (Actually, my mother's 23^rd birthday was on 14^th January. My father wouldn't be 23 until 16^th December.)

They look happy and relaxed in these photographs but my mother told me she cried all the way through the marriage ceremony! The tears had dried by the time the camera was brought out. Her mother had wanted to have church bells ringing but it was Lent so the bells remained silent until Easter Day.

When I was about eight years old I announced at a gathering of my parents' friends, 'My parents were married on 16^th April and I was born two days later.' This caused some mirth, particularly as I was the youngest of their three children. They had been married for 61 years and had set a fine example for us by the time my father died but they were quite unusual in their philosophy. In an era when marriages were considered to be binding, no matter how difficult circumstances might become, they agreed right at the beginning of their life together that should it prove impossible to maintain their relationship they would divorce. Divorced couples were often shunned by former friends but my parents continued their friendship and support for those few who could no longer live together. I think they were very conscious of the compromises and effort required to share life and, though they must have had their differences, we were never aware of conflict or disagreement. They were quiet, determined, strong-minded and much later, after I was married, I realised how much they were to each other.Eighty-three years ago the sun shone on their wedding day. Today it shines again. I think of them often, singly and together. Impossible though it is, I wish I could have known them as young adults – I think they were a lot of fun!

ABC Wednesday Keys and key rings

It's ABC Wednesday again and our thanks go to the hard-working ABC team whose members, inspired and led by Denise Nesbitt, organise this meme. You know you want to see what others have chosen for K so why not click here?
Recently I wrote about my fascination with stationery – notepaper, pens, pencils, paper clips, drawing pins – in fact, just about anything to do with putting words on paper or putting papers together or on things (so include fridge magnets!) I know my daughters share my enthusiasm – hardly surprising, since their childhood Christmas stockings were stuffed with boxes of pencils, crayons, pens, stickers, unusual post-its. My husband and son are not devotees to the same extent though they both appreciate fine fountain pens. (Ooh, the smell of ink – how wonderful that is!)
There are other things that appeal to me, too, one of which is keys and, by association, key rings. This interest may have arisen in my childhood. When I was five years old my parents bought a shop which sold newspapers, confectionery, tobacco and stationery. We lived in the flat above the shop and the only way into it was through the shop door. There was a back door out to the garden but this was not easily accessible. Anyone wishing to get in that way would have had to climb into the garden of the public house next door and clamber over a brick wall into our garden.
My parents, my father in particular, were very conscious of security and made sure the shop door was securely locked for the night after closing time. Only on one occasion did the nightly check fail and that was the occasion on which my parents woke from a deep sleep to find a beat copper standing at the end of their bed. In those days, police had regular foot patrols around the streets through the night and checked all the locks on business premises. The constable had found the door unlocked and walked through the shop and up two flights of stairs before finding my parents. Thereafter we were all very aware that doors must be checked and double-checked before we could relax.
Eventually I reached an age when I was allowed out on my own and although I wasn't permitted to stay out late there were occasions when I would reach home after the shop had shut. My parents decided I should have a key which I would have to guard very carefully. It was a key at the end of a long shaft and one day, to my horror, it broke as I unlocked the door. Expecting to find myself in trouble I didn't say anything but took it to the local hardware store to see if it could be mended. It couldn't. I had to have a replacement made and that took a few days.
I spent most of my summer holiday at the local outdoor, unheated swimming pool where I met my friends
and would return home at the end of the day when it shut by which time, of course, the shop was also shut. While I waited for the replacement key I made sure I reached home before the door was locked. This was unusual but was not commented on. I realise now that my parents must have known all along what had happened. All the traders knew each other very well and were customers in our shop so it's more than likely that my 'secret' was relayed to my parents long before the new key was safely in my hands. It was never mentioned – very wise, my parents.
In the ensuing years I found keys most interesting. There were tiny keys to safeguard the secrets in private diaries, ornate keys for winding clock mechanisms and jewellery boxes, keys to wind musical boxes or clockwork toys, briefcase and suitcase keys, Allen keys for radiators and bikes and assorted other items and huge mediaeval door keys for churches and manor houses. I liked the idea of a châtelaine as a rather superior housekeeper but I liked the thought of wearing a châtelaine more. (In fact a châtelaine would be a very good idea for Barry but he'd be weighed down by the number of things that would have to be attached to it so we'll continue the daily games of 'find the keys/wallet/pen/remote control/glasses . . . ')
I have never owned a châtelaine but I have had many key rings. Below are photographs of the one I've been using for the last few years.

It's easy to spot!

I was going to give the little leopard key ring to Eve but she was only three then and had no need for keys - so I kept it. I'm sure it was a sign that we would shortly have Ocicats in our home.

These show the front and back of my key ring purse. Susannah gave me this for my birthday. It is just the right size to hold credit cards as well as coins and paper money. You might just be able to see the small bone attached to the end of the chain in the top right-hand corner of the second photograph.

Marie Curie Cancer Care charity shopping trolley token

SSAFA Forces HELP token

door key, Royal Veterinary College token, retractable measure.

Fold-away shopping bag with the Marie Curie logo.

I even have some keys on my key ring!

Today's Flowers #77

My flowers today are not real but representations. My mother was a skilled needlewoman and produced many lovely things in her lifetime.

The first photograph is of roses. There was quite a lot of gold thread in it; metallic threads are very difficult to work with - they twist and knot, or separate, and it is hard to create even stitches.

The second photo is a close-up of three of the roses.

The third embroidery is bright and cheerful. My parents loved gardening and their garden was always filled with colour and interest which attracted birds and insects.
Thank you to the Today's Flowers team who work so hard to organise this weekly meme.
To see more flowers please click here.