The Purple Calabash

My kids used to ask me every year, “What do you want for mother’s day Mommy?” My answer was and always is the same. “Peace and Quiet”.  Well, maybe not the quiet part. Any mother of three children will know what I am talking about. A day of peace and no bickering and moaning among the kids!  That is a great gift. Jokes aside… an even greater gift is having them around. As long as we are all together, I don’t really mind what we do. I just want everyone to get along and enjoy the day. I have realized that as the kids grow up there will be times when we won’t always be together but I know they will be thinking of me wherever they are. I know they will be rolling their eyes and saying “I know, I know, you want peace and quiet…” Even though that is all I jokingly ask for, I always get breakfast in bed, little gifts and pampered for the day, which of course I love. In my opinion, we experience Mother’s Day everyday when we look at our children! I hope I never feel “Peace and Quiet”.

I am one of four children so I know my mother knows what I am talking about. Even though I was always the peaceful quiet one… hmm.
This post is for my mother who I seldom see any more as she is far away from here. She also celebrates her birthday this week. Lucky mommy!
I will celebrate her birthday with her favourite drink, Cape Velvet and her favourite flowers – roses -  while I think of her.
Happy Birthday ‘Mã’ and Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday. Hope you have a day full of “Peace and Quiet”.
As far back as I can remember, my mom has loved roses. I remember walking with her as a child as she pruned the rose bushes in the front yard. Not having much interest in flowers or plants at that stage, I would wander off onto the lawn and do cartwheels and hand stands while she admired her roses.

Two years ago on mother’s day  my family and I visited a place in Pretoria called Ludwig’s Roses. It’s a beautiful rose farm with just about any colour rose you can imagine. You can walk around the many rows displaying a variety of roses and pick any rose to custom make your bunch. It was quite amusing to see the names given to roses. They also have a little restaurant on the farm where they serve breakfasts, light meals and a number of rose specialities – from milkshakes, smoothies and coffees to cakes and jams.
I liked this bunch of roses which was displayed at the entrance.

The Mama Africa. An appropriate name for a Mother’s Day rose.

Because my mother’s favourite drink is Cape Velvet, I wanted to try to blend the rose aroma and colours into the infamous Cape Velvet. You may like to replace the grenadine syrup with a syrup of similar density. This allows you to play with colours and flavours. So here then is my recipe for Mother’s Day.

I wish you all a Happy Mother’s Day!