F ~ Flowers

   As you can imagine, growing up in an Amish family, we lived simply. Plainly if you will. There weren't many options when it came to decorations, or making things look pretty.
    We were lucky enough to live in a community that allowed us to have flowerbeds. Dad especially loved flowers. Mom liked them too, but with a huge garden to raise all our vegetable she didn't feel as if she had time to care for more growing things.
     The flowerbeds became Dad's project and he'd care for them in the evenings after supper. They flourished under his care, and we all enjoyed the beauty they added to our front yard.
     When I turned ten, my aunt gave me several begonia bulbs. I planted them in our hotbed after Mom had transplanted everything from it into the garden. They grew, and produced an abundance of blooms. When fall arrived I dug the bulbs up and stored them until the next spring.
      I loved those flowers and they did well, until the fall before LV and I got married. Somehow I didn't dig them up in time and they were permanently damaged.
      I had plenty of flowers though after we got married with the numerous huge flowerbeds that took a lot of time to care for. The lovely finishing touch they put on our farm, made all the efforts worthwhile.
     Somehow, since leaving the Amish we have not had any flowerbeds. There are some daffodils that grow every spring and a few other hardy bulb flowers, but that's nothing compared to what we used to have.
    Someday I hope we will once again have flowerbeds like we used to.