The gusting wind swept across the seedheads by the path, tossing tiny withered clusters into the chilly air. "Oh, they've kept really well!" she exclaimed. And so they had, the little pot of hyacinth bulbs she had left at Christmas, last time she was with us. Gently easing the tulips out of their crinkly cellophane, we fumbled for the packet of needles. "Are you sure this is right, Mum? We just push one through the stem?"
"Internet", I told her. "Best way to stop tulip heads from flopping. Lets the air bubbles in the stem escape, so the water reaches the head". She grinned at me. "Ah, well, if it's the Google gospel ...". We worked quietly for a moment. "Do you think Grandma knew this tip?", she asked.
"Probably", I replied, pricked yet again by the regret that I hadn't learnt more from her. "She was a wonderful flower-arranger. And embroiderer. And cook."
"And knitter", she said, touching the front of the speckled blue jumper she has been wearing for the last fifteen years. "I don't think there was anything she couldn't do."
We arranged the stems as best we could in the wind, gathered up the bits, and stood for a moment, hand in hand, remembering ...
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Memorandum Monday is the gift of the lovely Sian, over at From High In The Sky: the chance to share something new we've done or learnt over the weekend. Do call in and enjoy all the memos :).
