December Roses

Kay Castaneda,

Red, orange, white, yellow, pink, fuscia, peach. My mother-in-law loved flowers and roses were her favorite. Since she loved all colors, she planted whatever seedlings she found. My husband and I visited her for years so I watched those rose bushes from the beginning. I helped her water a little but she really didn’t like to be bothered with another person while she tended the flowers in her garden. I might carry a bucket from the well to her so she could refill her metal watering can. It wasn’t one of those things with a long spout to gently water plants that you would buy in a garden store. No, her watering can was an old aluminum can that once held green peas. The label had long since peeled off and the rim was a tiny bit rusty, but she didn’t care. Her technique was to dip her fingers in the can and then sprinkle the roses. Some got two sprinklings, others three or four. White roses were special so they received five sprinkings. A final act was to talk to the roses. Maybe it was a blessing. Maybe it was to say thank you for being beautiful. I didn’t understand much Spanish then.

Santos’s special white roses

After the watering, Santos picked any dead roses from the bushes. She made little piles of withered petals and sticks on the ground in front of each rose bush and would come back later to gather them up. Her other flowers were tended only after the roses. Bright pink geraniums, purple-blue chrysanthemums, and orange birds of paradise received her water sprinkling. Since they weren’t as delicate as roses, she dropped water on them from that rusty can. Even that water was carefully measured.

Mini red roses

The plants! I called them plants, but really they were herbs and green leaves with medicinal properties. She grew mint to help settle a stomach ache. It works. I know because once I had the worst stomach pain of my life. I must have eaten something too greasy or I forgot to boil the water for my tea long enough to kill the bacteria. That was before water delivery service was introduced. My husband was ready to take me to the hospital, but Santos told him that she would brew a tea for me. The back yard was where she had her little pots with plants that each had different healing powers. The pots weren’t smooth red clay ones from the garden center. No, she used cans that once held hominy, or lard or even motor oil. Why waste tin cans? Beautiful things could grow in something most people would throw away. I suppose that was her own recycling system. A very important herb was grown in an empty plastic ice cream bucket left over from one of her grandkid’s birthday party. Paint cans did not go to waste either. No need to peel the labels off. I read the descriptions and that helped me learn Spanish. Azul cielo or was it cielo azul? Sky blue. Amarillo de maize. Corn yellow. Verde de mar. Ocean green. No white walls for Santos!

Bright Pink Rose
Aloe Vera has bioactive compounds, antioxidant and antibacterial effects. Digestive problems, Wound healing. Dental plaque. Canker sores. Skin health. Blood sugar. I’ve used it on my psoriasis. We have several plants.

I believe that tea was made from mint and oregano and rosemary. I wasn’t allowed to be in the kitchen while she boiled her concotions. She wasn’t mean. I thought it was funny how she waved her hands to shoo me away. I knew to wait in the bedroom until she brought me a cup of that steaming tea. Aren’t bedrooms where sick people must lie down until their pains went away? Drink it all she advised. Bebelo ahora! Then she waited to make sure I emptied my cup. The second cup was what made me throw up and get dizzy. Santos smiled after I got back in bed. Her remedy worked. The tea was supposed to kill the germs by forcing the person to throw up.

Lantana can be used for a tea that’s good for respiratory diseases. Best brewed by a Mexican mother who knows the secret!
Physalis lagascae makes a tea good for fever, stomach ache, joint pains. The tea is an old remedy for women after child birth! It’s a pretty pink color.

We live in the house where she used to live. The first year we moved here, the man my husband hired to help in the yard cut all my mother-in-law’s rose bushes down to about three inches from the ground. When I went out to check on his work, I had a fit. The yard looked like a tornado passed through and left complete destruction. I’m from Indiana so I have experience with tornados. The man had pulled up all the mint vines and lopped off the geraniums and birds of paradise. I was crying while I tried to explain what was wrong. Feo, feo, feo. I was saying how ugly everything turned out. No, no, no is the same in Spanish. He glared at me. I guess I looked like a crazy woman. My husband Tony came home and translated.

Yellow rose and pink & white roses
Beautiful pink rose

I am working on a collection of memoir stories about my husband’s family and my experiences in Mexico. I hope to publish them in a book. Since retiring here, I have even more inspiration. I’m adding a link to an article about Mexican culture and uses of herbs and plants.

Tea For Nervous People. Para Los Nervios. Great for anxiety, depression or insomnia. This is so good sweetened with honey! 🙂
Window Collection and Cacti
Our Lady of Guadalupe and Bougainvilleas
My sweet mother-in-law Santos

Maria de los Santos Salinas was the best doctor in the world. 🥰

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_tea_culture

 

 

 

 

 



							

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    Kay, what an interesting article. You have had a life with lots of interesting variety! Y tu hablas español, tambien, verdad? Mi español es feo, pero, yo puedo entendir poquito.
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    I can read news articles and understand a lot but not completely. I am able to read medical articles in Spanish since most science terms are in Greek or Latin anyway. I can also order from Amazon Mexico although I have to consult a size chart. Amazon Mex. has free delivery most of the time. If I get things from Amazon.com, they get here quicker but shipping is more. I understand advertising and labels at the grocery. But the metric system gives me a hard time. I use an app for kilos to pounds or ounces. I converse with family and neighbors here but I’m not fluent. My brother-in-law understands me when I try to speak Spanish to him. I took Spanish in college and that helped me to read. My husband and I spoke English together always. That’s why he is fluent in English. I’ve written several stories about my family and my husband’s. I hope to make them into a memoir book. Oh the television irritates me. Spanish is faster than English. The news reporters, especially women, talk so fast I turn them off. Thanks for reading my blog. Where did you learn Spanish?
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    I needed and got a job teaching a bilingual fourth grade class. The only problem was that I couldn’t speak Spanish, so I had to take crash courses and have lots of aides. Best thing that ever happened in my career. 
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    I took three Spanish classes in college. I had to take a foreign language so Spanish it was! What is your other language Marsha?
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Thanks for sharing Robbie. I need to write more. I have about 15 pieces and of course a book would need to be longer. I’ll let you know how it’s going. 😃
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    French, which I took in high school and college. I pretended to take a year of Latin in HS, too. That’s another story.
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Thank you for visiting my blog, Kay! I love to read about your mother-in-law Santos and her lovely roses. I like gardening. I moved from Southern California to Portland, Oregon a year ago to be close to my daughter’s family. I have two granddaughters. Anyway, in my CA home, I had two dozen rose bushes, Lantana, Aloe Vera, Lily of the Nile, and many more flowers. I also grew herbs.  When I trimmed roses in the winter, it’s suggested to trim back to 12 inches, not 3 inches. 
    

    It’s interesting you’ll be writing your memoir. I published a memoir at the end of July 2022. Keep me informed of your progress.
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Hi Miriam,
    
I’m glad you liked my post about my mother-in-law and her roses. I’ve written several longer stories about her and my husband’s family. I consider them my family also.
    
From what I’ve read, Portland must be different than southern California. Do you do any gardening in Portland? We moved here to Mexico after we retired four years ago. We live in the town where my husband grew up. He lived in the United States for forty years. I’ve gotten accustomed to living here. I’m from Indianapolis, Indiana and that’s where we lived until both retiring. I planted tomatoes, green beans and serrano peppers last summer. The beans did great but not the tomatoes. It’s very dry here so that’s likely the reason they didn’t do well. The peppers of course, just stopped producing in December!
    
Thanks for visiting my blog. Kay
    
How wonderful that you get to be near your daughter and granddaughters. My husband has two sisters and a brother in San Jose and several cousins in Fresno.
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Hi Kay, I went to Indianapolis 40 years ago for a church conference. I was invited to sing and I rode with some missionaries. I don’t remember too much about the trip. 
    

    We’re having construction to turn the backyard into a bigger patio and garden so I haven’t done any gardening yet. Some plants here are different from the ones in California. We have an orange tree in California but no citrus can grow in cold weather. I study what grows well here. I’m sure you also found out what grows well in the dry area. You didn’t mention whether you have children. Good chatting with you, Kay. 
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    My father had a beautiful rose garden I don’t have roses in my garden but do love other peoples roses it was lovely to read about your mother in law and her roses. Thank you for following CarolCooks2 :)
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Hi Kay. I hopped over after you visited my blog. I love this post and the fact that you picked up your life and moved to Mexico. That was the plan a few years ago with my husband – until God had other plans for him. Thanks for sharing some of your beautiful life with us. I wish you lots of success with your upcoming memoir. :)
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Hi Debby, thanks for stopping by my blog. It’s taken a few years to get used to living here but things are going well now. I’ve read about your trips to Mexico. I think Puerto Vallarta is where you go if I remember right. My husband and I go often at least twice a year. Now that we’re retired and live full time in Mexico, it’s easier to take trips within the country. We go on tours with a friend in our town who owns a travel agency. Many times the Castaneda family go with us so that’s fun. A bus load of relatives!!!!! We visited a Christmas market in Puebla in a small town in the mountains. It’s where they make all the decorations for the holidays in Mexico.  We are going to Mexico City in April. I am sorry to hear about your husband. I think that’s a good way to think about death. God had other plans! My memoir may not be done until next year. I need to make it longer. I’m working on a sequel to my young adult novel where my main character becomes a teen sleuth. I look forward to reading more of your book reviews. Kay
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Thank you for visiting my blog Carol! Roses are beautiful. I just picked a yellow one and it’s in a vase on my table. My father used to garden also. I write a lot about family both my husband’s and mine. I enjoyed your recent blog post about Caribbean food. I’ll look for the next one in your series. Kay
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Hi Kay. Lovely to connect. So nice to hear you’re enjoying life in Mexico. Which part do you live in? Looks like a busy book year for you, and hopefully I will get back to my next book after my blog break in a few weeks. :)
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Hi Debby,
    
We live in central Mexico in Zacatecas state. It’s semi-desert in the mountains about 8,000 ft. elevation. Zacatecas City is very old where the Revolution was mostly fought and ended.
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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    Thank you, Kay, the yellow rose sounds lovely…I am enjoying discovering and writing this series if you wish to start at the beginning Sally @Smorgasbord Magazine is rerunning this series from the beginning she tells me it will take until 2025 as I have picked it up from where I finished at the end of last year …an epic task-smile but most enjoyable …Carol :)
    

    


    

    
				
    

							
    
		
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