A Mom is....

I love you Mom - I have been blessed with a Mother, who has always been there for me when life has gotten difficult or when I was celebrating the special and ordinary events in my life. I know that I can count on her to listen and, even to parent me in middle age. Our standing joke is that she will tell me that its time for bed when the clock is getting late and we are talking on the phone. I can say " Yes Mom" and grin". This photo was taken of us about 5 years ago. She recently celebrated a birthday and my family went home to visit just before her and my dad's birthday. I wish her a very special Mother's Day. I am looking forward to talking to her some time today to wish her a lovely day. I will try not to make it too close to my bed time :D
On Friday, it was our annual Mother's Day Tea. My school children made flowers for their moms/grandmas to present to them at home. All week we practised songs, made cards and wrapping paper and finished painting our flowers. We sang 5 songs for our Moms.I had the kids do a survey- my kid's moms ranged in age from 11 to 65...five year olds do not have a clear idea how old we are..VBG
We had most of our moms come to join us for the tea so the gym( our current classroom) was pretty full with our students and their families.(My teaching partner and I had about 3/4 of our families represented). As always, our educational assistants helped to make the tea a grand success- they made sure the tea pots and food trays were full. Our special assistants gave the children without any family members present, an opportunity to give tea to someone special. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful caring support for our students. One rose was given to each parent as they left the tea. We sent home a flower with each of the students whose families were not able to come celebrate with us. Friday was a very busy day because we went on a field trip to a local school to hear Sandi and Lee Paley sing with the kids in the morning. We were a group of tired ladies at Friday's end.

I promised you a before and after photo of my new hairdo. This is a photo taken a few days before- I was mighty windblown( which doesn't help) but it was getting pretty raggedy looking. The pets are not very happy looking either LOL

And here is the updated haircut- sleek and shaped and not too floofie looking. I am not sure why I didn't put my specs on- I wear them all the times these days as I can not read much of anything without them.(I do have more than green shirts in my closet) just have been wearing lots of green this spring. Perhaps I am hoping that spring has finally arrived- last week we had a snowstorm and needed to pull out the dreaded shovel. It has melted again and things are really beginning to green up- Hurrah!
Bruce and I visited the Art Gallery this week to attend a lecture about Yousef Karsh. His black and white photographs are so rich with light. He was an Armenian immigrant who moved to Canada when he was 16. He lived a long life( 1908-2002), mostly in the city of Ottawa and took photos of over 15,000 people many of them celebrities. This beautiful book called "Regarding Heroes" was written by David Travis. He was a former curator of photography of the Art Institute of Chicago and was the speaker at the lecture we attended. His book was a Mother's Day gift from my loving spouse. My favorite page in the book has Martin Luther King on the left and Nelson Mandela on the right page.

Yesterday while I was out, I visited a local quilt store to check out there clearance section. They had some lovely fabrics that included a beautiful piece of paisley that I added to the stash. Our son Kevin and his girlfriend, Roseanne, took me out to Mother's Day dinner in the evening. We stopped for dessert at a local ice cream place called Marble Slab to have waffle cones. My choice was raspberry cheesecake ice cream - total decadence.

Later today we are off to the Winspear auditorium to partake in a special event where some classic Chopin will be played and nice food served. It should be a very nice evening. All in all, I am one fortunate lady.

There are a few giveaways going on in blogland:
a honey run quilters giveaway Do you like jelly rolls and charm squares? Do you have a favorite line of fabric? Go leave a comment for her to enter.
Inch Worm Fabrics is having a great giveaway of a Lonestar book by Jan Krentz . She has a great blog and very nice store - do go and have a look around.Mother's day giveaway. Be sure to go to the Mother's day link first in order to enter for the great book. I am sure you will enjoy your visit.

Angela at Fenland Textile Studio gave me a very nice compliment and chose me as one of her beautiful bloggers. There are many wonderful blogs out there so I am very touched, she would choose me. There are so many bloggers that I could pass it on to, that I can not choose a handful. Pick any of the blogs on my blog list and you will find someone special to read. Do stop by Angela's blog -she has been sick with pleurisy and will enjoy having you leave a comment.

My original idea for today's post, was to write about my four great grandmothers. They were amazing ladies who were immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. That is a post for another time.

For some of you, Mother's Day may not be a happy day. You may have lost your mother or your child recently and feel great sadness. May you find yourself buoyed by the warmth of caring loved ones today.

I have been blessed with a loving Mother and Mother in Law. My mother in law now lives in a nursing home where she is well cared for- she has Alzheimer's. I miss her friendship, her love of the arts and her thoughtful ways. She was a nice painter, a fabulous bread maker and a kind and caring friend to me. She raised 5 wonderful children who miss her presence in their lives.

Motherhood, to me, is about the nurturing of loved ones- that may be your biological mother or someone who has provided you with the care and feeding of your physical or emotional spirit. Our family circles are richer for those who give us sustenance and support. Thank you to all who share their loving gifts with others.

Until next time,
Be well,
Warmest regards,
Anna

Snippets and Flowers for Mom

This wallhanging flimsy was my first attempt using a technique named Snippets. I have not experimented much with fused applique, or for that matter, with quilting patterns that are more artsy. This technique was a bit out of my comfort zone, but after playing a bit, I sort of got the hang of it. I have made a couple of others since this one- This one belongs to the mother of a dear friend to celebrate a special birthday. She loves soft colors and I think that this one suited her very well. She has it hanging in her room against a dark maroon wall and it is quite striking against it. The third snippet was one I made in tribute to Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers- I love his bright colors and Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers. My brother- in law and sister in law are fans also, so I sent it to them as a gift for their 25th Wedding Anniversary. Some day I will make another to hang in my sewing room- maybe it will become a series too LOL.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day across North America and in some other areas around the world. It is a special day set aside to honor and celebrate Motherhood. Many moms will receive flowers as a gift or other expressions of love and appreciation.

My school children were busy this week making cards and handprint magnets to say " I love you". We held a Mother's Day Tea at school complete with real tea cups and cookies. My students had practised some of their favorite songs to sing for their Moms. It was capped off by each one of them presenting their mom with a rose. It is one of my favorite celebrations at school because many of my student's Moms, grandma's and aunties come to celebrate Motherhood.

I hope that my own Moms' have a lovely day tomorrow-
In one of my recent posts I have shared some reflections about my mother.
One of my Mom's greatest gifts, is the way she lives her life with a loving thoughtful heart. She celebrates life and embraces life's joys and challenges equally. My mother's lessons are with me on a regular basis and act as a guide when I am struggling to find my way through the joys and pitfalls of daily life.

When I was a young woman I worked with a woman who knew my mom. Like other young people, I was busy being a social butterfly. This woman didn't think very highly of my choices and said to me" How could a nice woman like your mother have a daughter like you? To say that I was horrified by her opinion, would be an understatement. My loving mother poopoohed the woman's pronouncement. She told me to consider the source. I felt horrible that I might have acted in some way to make this woman think I was not worthy of being my mother's daughter. That life lesson has stuck with me!! To this day, I remember how I felt when I thought I had sullied my mother's name.

I know that I have had the good fortune to be blessed with great loving relationships with both my mother and my mother in law.

My mother in law,Betty has been a wonderful friend and mentor during my married life. In the past couple of years, she has lived in a nursing facility that provides her a loving safe environment. You see, Betty has Alzheimers- a disease that steals away a person by inches. She was a lovely artist and quilter. Mum loved art and was a wonderful bread maker. The disease may have stolen her memory but she remains well loved and a popular lady with the staff that provide her with a loving homey environment.

Their is no way to adequately express the gratitude and love that I have for both these special women. I can only say " Thank You" and " I love You". I guess that it doesn't matter what age you get to be -there are few words better to convey appreciation for the loving care one receives from one's Mother's and Grandmothers.

During this week, I received some emails from On Line Quilt Stores that had some special deals for Mother's Day. I did order from Keepsake Quilting and Sew Sister's from Toronto Canada. Sew Sisters had a special on all their fabric - 25 percent off including batting and clearance fabric. It is always a challenge to balance out the shipping costs and the dollar exchange with US online, with the temptation of the great sale prices. Usually I resist but there were some specialty fabrics that I wanted to add to my collection.
The people at Sew Sisters http://www.sew-sisters.com/
were wonderful and if you hurry today you might still catch the sale (it ends May 9).

I hope that everyone is enjoying a pleasant weekend,
Regards,
Anna