Today I sent special good wishes to Mothers in America and Australia as they celebrate Mothers Day. Not to be left out may all mothers around the globe feel the touch of love today!
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My mother taught me RELIGION.
“You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL
“If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
My mother taught me LOGIC.
“Because I said so, that’s why.”
My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
“Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”
My mother taught me IRONY.
“Keep crying and I’ll give you some thing to cry about.”
My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
“Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”
My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM
“Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”
My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
“If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate!”
My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
“Just wait until we get home.”
My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
“You are going to get it when you get home!”
My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
“If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.”
My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”
My mother taught me GENETICS.
“You’re just like your father.”
My mother taught me WISDOM.
“When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”
Back in January I was checking my emails and discovered this little gem. Immediately I decided it was just the thing for Mother’s Day.
If you are fortunate to have a Mother show her you care.
If you are a Mother have a wonderful day!
And now for the story…
Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed”
She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.
She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button
She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer.
She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.
She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.
Dad called out, “I thought you were going to bed.”
“I’m on my way,” she said.
She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.
She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV’s, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.
In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.
About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. “I’m going to bed.”
And he did…without another thought.
Eamonn at Flowers Made Easy is holding a Mothers Day Blogging Competition with a prize for the best blog post about your Mum.
So if you have a happy, sad or fun story about your mum or about Mothers Day simply blog about it and add a link to http://blog.flowersmadeeasy.ie/eamonn into it the post and you will be included into the competition automatically based on your link back. You can add a “no follow” into the link if you like. We just think that it will be the easiest way to see who has entered the comp.
The winner will get a bouquet delivered to their mum on Mothers Day. The winner will be announced on Saturday, March 1st, 2008
I have written and made Podcasts about my mother several times over the lifetime of my blog and sending her flowers would be difficult since she died in 1996. Thankfully I will be away from home as the month turns to March and not quite sure when I will return. Flowers do not like living out of a suitcase any more than I do! Nevertheless I have a little story to add to the collection. The story is a true one and names have been changed.
Painted by Charlotte aged 8
As Marcia approached her 40th birthday she decided that it was time to make some changes. After all ‘Life begins at 40’ or so the saying went. Since her mother died she had lived alone in the family home. Her siblings were all married and she had plenty of young nieces and nephews to visit and play with whenever she felt like it. Offers to ‘baby-sit’ were gratefully accepted.
Having finished her chores for the day, she poured a drink and pulled the armchair a little closer to the fire. As she mused over the possible changes she might make, the phone rang. It was Lucy. Marcia and Lucy had travelled through most of their lives together since that first day at school where they were put sitting side by side. They first shared pencils then books & games, later it was sleepovers during holidays, chatting for hours about their hopes and dreams.
Marcia watched as Lucy met her sweetheart and fell in love. Mark was a fine tall handsome young man and soon he and Lucy had set the date for their wedding. Marcia never hesitated when she was asked to be bridesmaid and was helpful and efficient in everything she did. That was twelve years earlier and somehow love with that special person had eluded her.
Lucy sounded rather excited on the phone. They talked for ten minutes and then hung up. Marcia pondered over the conversation. Lucy had called to say that one of the girls in the office was leaving and that her boss was looking for someone to take over the position at short notice. Lucy had recommended Marcia and promised to call her. Now she was setting up an interview.
The interview went well and Marcia decided to make this the first step on the road to change. She was working directly with John and they made a good team, after a couple of weeks she realised that she looked forward to going to the office. John showed appreciation for all her endeavours. He invited her for dinner and she accepted. The talked easily together and she learned that John was a widower with 5 children. His wife had died with the birth of the last child. He was bringing them up with the help of family.
Time passed and the working relationship turned first to friendship and then to love. Marcia met the children and slowly they began to welcome her. John asked the all important question and Marcia said yes! The children were involved in all the preparations and looked forward to the wedding. Marcia & John were married with family and friends gathered to celebrate. The children stayed with grandparents while John took his new wife on honeymoon.
That night Marcia’s dreams were shattered. John had a heart attack at the dinner table and died. Marcia so soon a widow had to break the news to the children and all the family. The children were bewildered and blamed her for the death of their father. They gave her a very hard time over the next few years. Many times she felt like walking away, at one point she even packed her bags, but she didn’t leave. She stuck it out, slowly the grief eased and one by one the children grew closer to her. As they grew older they realised the sacrifice she had made for them, a sacrifice borne from true love.
The quick answer is Yes, I have been known to commit stitches to needles at times over the years. My bones do as well! 
They had the chance to prove it a couple of years ago when I broke my wrist!
First off there was the strip of garter stitch on the short plastic needles in wool that started out as my ‘most’ favourite colour and then some months later became the one colour I hated for life! My problem with the strip of school knitting was that I never managed to have the same number of stitches on any one row. I think the ideal was twenty, while I had 18 or 19 with a lacy pattern (dropped stitches or holes), then later magically the stitch count was 21. Mammy spent hours sitting in front of the fire showing me what to do. I remember the rhyme: ‘In around, out and off’. It sounded easy but never seemed to work for me.
Brother No.2 was quietly watching these lessons one day and then disappeared. Ten minutes later he was back! “Is this the right way mammy?” he asked. He was back with two wooden skewers that had started life in joints of meat from the butchers and a ball of string! Are you allowed to hate your brother? He was standing there with a strip of garter stitch as long as his arm and there were no dropped stitches!
Then there was the year we were learning to make socks! We learned to turn the heel and fashion the toe. They took me the whole school year to complete and then a brother would only wear them inside his Wellington Boots. I did improve and made several cardigans and jumpers for myself.
Recently I have felt the urge to try again and while surfing the net I discovered this lovely looking yarn
Recycled Sari Silk is popping up on the web. Generally sold by the ounce, every skein varies greatly in its colour way, gauge, twist and texture. This yarn is 100% silk in a myriad of vibrant colours.
It is imported from Nepal, where it is spun from the snipped ends of saris into this wonderful textured yarn. Each skein is unique in its colour ways and natural inconsistencies of the fibre, turns the simplest project into something very special. The women use these skills to provide additional income for their families.
It is noted that some of these yarns have a certain ‘aroma’, in other words ‘The yarn starts out dirty and musty’, It is recommended that the silks are hand washed and dried before knitting up; this loosens the fibres making it softer and nicer to knit with. Most web sites recommend if you are making a big garment that you knit a couple of rows from each hank alternately to prevent obvious colour-banding.
I have not found it in any wool shop here in Northern Ireland. I don’t know of anyone who has tried to use it. I would like to buy one skein to play about with, but on line it comes in bundles of at least ten. Did you ever hear of it? Have you used it?
When you think of your mother, how and where do you imagine her? For me it has to be in the kitchen wearing a pinafore with hands covered in flour while baking, or standing at the cooker stirring or checking a saucepan or casserole dish before moving on to the next stage of preparation of a meal.
