pomona...

...and her creator R.

Delicious home made pikelets and home grown honey with R and hubby P this morning, sitting in their warm and bright sunroom on a beautiful winter's morning.
Pomona has pride of place among several of R's gorgeous ceramics and she is currently working on a similar sized bust of Vertumnus, Pomona's hubby.

 Pomona is...
"... the uniquely (she has no equivalent in Greek mythology) Roman goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards, and her festival, which she shared with her husband Vertumnus, was always on August 13th. Pomona watches over and protects fruit trees and cares for their cultivation, and Her name is from the Latin pomum, fruit. "Pomme" is the French word for "apple".
Pomona was among the Numina, guardian spirits of Roman mythology, who watched over people, places, or homes. The Numina are, in essence, the holy spirits of place, from which the word "numinous" derives. Pomona protected and inspired the abundance of the fruitful gardens and orchards. She had her own priest in Rome, called the Flamen Pomonalis. A grove sacred to her was called the Pomonal, located not far from Ostia, the ancient port of Rome."