Papa just went to work and I am left here to my own devices. We have had so much rain... much more than we have needed. Anyway, all the rain makes the flowers bloom and the grass to grow like crazy.
My Seven Sister Roses are lovely. They have a fragrance like they have never had. I went out and cut long brances of them. I have hung them above the doors in my dining room. They are tiny tea roses on long branches and they are just lovely. But they will dry on the branches. I also hung them around my chandelier light on the ceiling. It's an old fashioned country light fixture made of wood. See, then the roses will just dry there.
Also, I made baskets of them; they will dry in the baskets. I added, also, my rose hips to the baskets. They will dry there, also. Just use the weaved baskets and set your flowers in there lightly, so they will dry, and then you will have a basket of potpourri. As the summer goes on, I will add other flowers to the baskets, and they will dry there, and are fun to have for the fall and winter. I will put in a few pine cones, too. But you can dry any of the flowers this way. Just stick them lightly in baskets and make sure they have the air circulation that they need.
A few yrs ago, I sent Christian Joy a postcard with red tulip petals taped on the card with the clear contact paper covering it. She loved it and, I think, still has it. But you can use about any of the petals of flowers.
I don't keep my flower arrangements for more than a year. Yesterday, I cleaned my baskets out and put the old herbs and flowers in the dog house.
My cat loves hiding in there and loves all the dried herbs. He has taken many a lazy summer afternoon nap in those old dried herbs and flowers. My other cat used to hide dead rabbits in there. Wow, did that stink!!! I had to clean it out a lot. But this cat -- we call him "Mister" -- doesn't put his dead things in this dog house.
But anyway, yesterday, I made rose water. I had bought an old 1950s crock bean pot at a sale yesterday. It has a little silver like thing that you plug in and it heats up. Then you set the bean pot on the top ... it's smaller than a crock pot. But, anyway, I thought this would be perfect to make the rose water. You could make this in a crock pot, too, but I wanted something separate that I would just use to make potpourri in.
You just fill the pot with roses and pour water over this. Then you simmer it until the water goes down to about half. This should take about all day? I turned it off last night and let it set. Then, this morning, I strained it and put the rose water in a jar.
I will use it for a hair rinse. Or you could use it to cook with. I put cinnamon sticks in mine and made it too dark. This is why I will use it for a rinse. But if you get a light clear rose water you could use it to make cakes or cookies or a rose jam, or drink it like a rose tea.
Don't use roses that have been sprayed, of course. I don't use the weed killers in my yard because I have a lot of wild herbs, and I don't like tea with arsenic in it. Sometimes, if I have the ladies for tea, I will drop a few rose buds in the tea cups ... it looks pretty ... they are just tiny roses.
After making the baskets of roses and the rose water, my hands smelled so fragrant.
Last night, it rained again. Jim was up in the night checking the ceiling in the kitchen for leaks. As I lay in my bed, I could smell the roses from my rose pot. Later, Papa stood out on the porch and watched the rain. I could smell the tobacco from his cigarette. This smell, mixed with the scent of roses, is the smell of home to me.
