Mother's Day Memories and gifts

The story goes that my father met my mother while visiting her town for the wedding of his brother to my mother's cousin. After that first meeting, it was communication through letters (some of which I have seen, mostly poems). A friend of the family, wishing to arrange for her son to marry my mother instead, found out, and told my grandparents. This being a small town in the early 70s, it was pure scandal.

My grandfather called my dad and warned him not to cross the gulf of Corinth again, to visit Agrinio, unless he was coming to ask for my mother's hand in marriage. Which he did. And the rest is, as they say, history.

I believe they got married as soon as she was 18, in 1974, and a year later, my brother was born. By this time they had relocated to Athens where my father, fresh out of University with an Economics degree, had just started working for the Bank of Greece.

These potted roses by the Magic Flower Company are a great choice for a Mother's Day gift. They are 100% real, naturally grown and preserved flowers and will last at least a year. The flowers have their natural sap replaced with a glycerine based mixture and the colour of the petals is enhanced with organic dyes.

For certain flowers, the heads are treated separately to the stems and then re-joined. Each type of plant has specific preservation requirements and there is careful quality control over the temperature and humidity under which the delicate work is undertaken. The chemicals used to preserve these Magic Flowers are not toxic and do not pose any harm.

The selection of flowers and foliage will not change in shape or colour once you purchase them and, provided they are kept in good conditions, they will stay in the same condition for many months and even years!

My mother is a very creative woman. Before getting married, my grandfather had refused to send her to university, for a very peculiar reason.

My grandfather was a merchant by trade, but his business was booming in the 50s and 60s and he was considered one of the wealthiest men in the region. For him, to send his only daughter to university, meant that he did not have enough; so that she would have to study and find work. He thought of it as a personal insult, and thus Joanna - my mother - did not go into higher education.

But a smart woman - and creative one - she was, so as soon as she made it to Athens, she enrolled to an interior design college, graduated while pregnant and when the family relocated back to the hometown of Agrinio in a year's time, she sought and found work with an architectural practice.

Mother and daughter chats

A few years back when I started blogging about interiors, it became a subject we often talked about. When I called her to mention that I had won an interior blogs award, I remember her turning to my father and telling him "she (about me) should never have gone to Law School, she should have gone into Architecture and Interior Design". Which is exactly what I wanted to do, bar my love hate relationship with Maths!

Since this blog was launched, every time she visited from Greece, we have sat numerous times around the antique dining table we brought over from Greece (and which features in the dining room makeover) and talked about makeovers, extensions, plans and everything that related to interiors.

I miss these chats, because they are few and far apart. When we talk on the phone, there is always the sense of rush. "Mum, I got to go, I am cooking dinner" or "Mum, I am still in the office I can't talk"; or her favourite "Mum, I just got in and I am exhausted". She's often frustrated with me, for forgetting to call when I say I will and for forever being too tired to talk.

Next week is Mother's Day.

It is of course true that we should not celebrate the mums of the world on one specific day but let's face it, life is spinning around us so fast that even with the best intensions, it's easy to forget. So if you want to remind your mum how special she is to you, not just for one day or even a few, why not send her your best wishes with a bouquet or potted arrangement from the Magic Flower Company.

The 'cream pot' that you see in my pictures (all taken in the Seasons Home) features a striking arrangement housing a selection of Cream Magic Roses, surrounded by green and dark red foliage, and housed in a simple grey pot. An arrangement that is on one hand very minimalist, but also catches the eye when people enter the room.

It can be styled on a coffee table, over books on a side table, on a console table in the entrance of your home or even in your bathroom (although take care not to expose these flowers to too much humidity).

And about longevity... I received this pot on the 1st of March 2019 and deliberately did not want to write my review until some time had passed and I was familiar with how the flowers reacted to... well, time! I am pleased to say that they look as good today as they did 3 weeks ago, so I am looking forward to featuring them in my social media feeds for many months to come.

They also do foliage (including eucalyptus) so if you love instagramming your interiors, they are perfectly long lasting.

With my mother being away in Greece, the day will be bitter sweet as always. But I have already planned my reminders (no forgetting and no excuses!) and will celebrate cooking one of her favourite desserts for my family.

But I am curious to know, how many of you also find that our current busy lifestyles mean that we get less and less time with the really important people in our lives? I hope it's not just me?!

Disclaimer - the potted flower arrangement was gifted by the Magic Flower Company who asked me to provide a no obligation review of their product. All views my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog.

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Jenny Kakoudakis likes to blog about interiors. She launched award-winning Seasons in Colour in 2014 and the luxury interior design blog All The Pretty Homes in 2024.

When she is not chasing criminals out of the financial system (her day job), she gets creative by redecorating her own home.