Dear Blog, Mama’s roses continue to reach for the sky. Not as many like it was when they were under her guidance. I keep pruning branches shorter to revive the bushes, hoping they’ll become full again. This year two blooming hollyhocks grace the front yard. It only took seven years of sowing seeds for them to finally take. The first hollyhock to bloom is gorgeous pink and gigantic! Even without its tippy-top pointed straight up, it hovers a bit over the roof line. This hollyhock is growing where I didn’t toss seeds, surprise, surprise. When it first popped up, I thought it was a volunteer squash plant, then as it grew and grew and grew, a sunflower it must be. I like to think of this hollyhock as the mother plant of future generations of hollyhocks to come. One can hope. Sincerely yours, Septuagenarian Barefoot Susie