I Just Can't Win

I have an aunt who lives in Florida. She is a widow but has a live-in helper. Recently she sent me a check so that I could buy fresh flowers to put on her parents' grave site. That would make them my grandparents. They share the same headstone with my parents. We always put flowers there for Christmas and Easter. But I thought this would be a nice opportunity to put flowers on for Mother's Day too.

So flower hunting we went. First we found a beautiful arrangement in a window box setting and I thought that would work out really well for the grave. Long and low to the ground. It is filled with red geraniums, ivy and long fronds sticking up and gracefully curving back. A few days later we went to find something for my parents and decided on a sort of miniature petunia in creamy yellow (my mother's favorite color).

My aunt requested this a few weeks ago but it was still much too cold to put any fresh flowers out in the open. I then decided Mother's Day would be a good fit, so we made plans for the day. I figured it would be a good time to make the rounds of some of the graves where my early ancestors are so that I can try to figure out one of my puzzles. That being the name of my great grandfather's father. I've searched everywhere including several ancestry type websites and have come up empty handed. I also want to go to the little town where my grandfather was born and raised. When my father's people came over here from Germany they settled in Northampton County, one county over from the one I live in, and they pretty much stayed there. So I shouldn't have too much trouble finding at least some of them.

Now to my dilemma: after having beautiful weather for days, by Sunday they say we are in for another cold spell. The temperature is supposedly dipping below freezing. If I put those flowers out for Sunday, they may not make it. I see no point in putting something out only to have it frozen to death. The flowers are in soil but my local nursery says both those varieties (geraniums and petunias) are susceptible to being damaged by frost unless they are protected. I have no plans of camping out in a grave yard, thank you.

I guess I just have to wait and see if it's going to really get that cold. And if it is, we will be putting off our little journey for a few days. Something I am not liking at all. I guess I should have figured this would not work out to my advantage. Nothing ever does.