Grandma, Geraniums and Rose

Grandma. I've spent a lot of time this past week and a half thinking about my Grandma. Remembering her and noticing how much I associate with her. It has been sad and sweet, humbling and inspiring. I like inspiration and recognize it when it strikes. I know how important it is to not take inspiration for granted. Sometimes I'm not quite sure how to use it. This time I do.

Images that pop into my mind when I think of Grandma are her flowers, her garden, her cats, her love of God and country. There is much more but these inspire me, too. As a result I have decided to create a series based on my memories of Grandma and how she inspires me.

Geraniums. At the cemetery the other day, my cousin, Rose, talked about Grandma's love of African violets and geraniums. Grandma had quite a green thumb and anything she grew grew beautifully. Rose mentioned how little luck she herself had with both of those plants but that, once in a while, she'd buy some and give them another try. I, too, remember those flowers, especially geraniums. My mother always had window boxes full of them on our front porch. I don't have much luck with geraniums either, but every year, I buy some and hope for the best!

Rose. My cousin Rose is one of my most favorite people in the universe. I do not exaggerate. I have always felt a near-devotion to her. An almost-hero worship. She is about 15 years older than I, which adds to the larger-than-life quality about her, I'm sure. I always thought she was so beautiful. I can remember showing my young friends her senior picture. She looked like a movie star! I just thought she was so cool, too (still do). Rose is also one of my go-to people. Like, if my world fell apart in some way, I know I could go to her and she'd be there for me- in whatever way I would need.

While thinking about Grandma's flowers and how I could share this with others, I thought about Rose and the geraniums she talked about. And everything fell into place! At first I was going to do red geraniums and keep everything pretty muted, color-wise. But then I found this wonderful, colorful plaid and a bright, beautiful magenta wool. I wanted to use those but they didn't quite 'gel' with Grandma. But you know what? Rose! Wonderful, colorful, bright and beautiful Rose!

Here is a sneak peak....