Just last week, the day before the temperature went down to freezing, I was out near the hen house looking at the new laying hens and noticed that there was a rose in full bloom on Jo Jo’s rose.

This rose was planted in memory of the late Jo Jo, our loyal rat terrier who died in 1999. It’s planted next to the tomato shed, and water draining from the utility sink keeps the earth around it moist. In addition to the blooming rose were two buds. One was just about to unfurl its petals, and the other was a bud I knew would be killed before blooming.

The proper real name of the rose is the Queen Elizabeth. It has bloomed every year since Jo Jo’s death, and it has the sweetest fragrance. A good bloomer, it is always a source of flowers for the house.

So I snipped all three and brought them into the kitchen, where they ended

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