My Mother, My Friend. . .

"Is this the long way?" asked the young mother as she set her foot on the path of life, the Guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard, and you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."

The young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed them, taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a bike, and reminded them to feed the dog and do their homework and brush their teeth.

The sun shone on them and the young mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path was sometimes dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her arms.
The children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there."
So the children climbed and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms. And with this, she gave them strength to face the world.

Year after year she showed them compassion, understanding, hope, but most of all unconditional love. And when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we could not have done it without you."

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years. The mother grew old and she became little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And the mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said: "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned so much and are now passing these traits on to their children."

And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her, and gave her strength, just as she had given them hers. One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.
And Mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk with dignity and pride, with their heads held high, and so can their children after them."

And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said, "We cannot see her, but she is with us still."

A mother is more than a memory. She is a living presence. Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well, she's your breath in the air on a cold winters day.

She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is your birthday morning. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop.

A mother shows through in every emotion - happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow - and all the while hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life.

She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, not space - not even death!
Written for Good Housekeeping, 1933 by ~Temple Bailey ~

Happy Mother's day to my daughters, daughters-in-law, friends and the women of the world. Thank you for all that you have been, all that you are, and all that you yet will become. You have been my anchor in the storm and I appreciate it.
May you each have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

I want to send a special Mother's Day wish to my mom and sister who left this earthly existence many many years ago. Just want you gals to know how much I love and miss you.

A Lamp For Mom...

My folks got a couple of rooms of new furniture in 1965. The style was country/early American. It was comfortable and cozy and colors to suit the era. While trying to decide what to get my mother that year for Christmas I came across this lamp. It cost $59.95 plus tax which was quite a lot of $$ for a lamp in 1965. I knew Mom would like it so I bought it for her. She enjoyed this lamp for nearly 23 years. After she passed it came back to me. I've had it for nearly 22 years and it now sits in my guest room. It's not a very efficient lamp but, of course, that isn't why it was purchased in the first place. This lamp fits in the category of those 'gotta have' pair of shoes that look oh so gooood but just kill your feet. Know what I mean? This little beauty is about 31" from base to top of chimney. PS-the bottom half of the light is a night light. Fits right in with my fetish for night lights.

Cleaning In The Dark Ages. . .

WARNING: This is a long ramble so grab a snack and your favorite beverage.

In my other blog Nanc's Good Food (see links on my sideboard) my Canadian daughter made a comment about us spring cleaning when they were young. I thought I would share some cleaning thoughts from my childhood which is way back in the dark ages.

I'll start by describing my childhood home. Front room (living room), dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, basement, attic, summer porch and water closet, high ceilings, tall woodwork and bulls eye squares topped off each door and window, workable transoms over the front and kitchen doors, a monster of a coal furnace and push button light switches. There was one electric plug in all the rooms except the kitchen which had three. The house originally had gas lighting, a hand pump in the kitchen and cistern for water, oh and last but not least an outhouse. Dad remodeled this little beauty in the late 50' through the 70's there was a rounded double archway between the front room and dining room. I wish he had left it alone. (All though I did like the 'full' bathroom and the addition.

Spring cleaning with Mom was an adventure to be reckoned with. The first thing done was to empty a room then walls and ceiling were washed. I left out a step FIRST Mom put an old pillow case over the dust mop and the walls were dusted down. (saved trips to the kitchen for fresh water and since we had to heat the water for a number of years it was steps saved) Next was the chandelier/light fixtures, windows including the transom with it's hardware and the front door was wiped down inside and out.
The walls and floor were cleaned with Spic & Span, the windows with vinegar water and newspaper or rags. I preferred the paper, because rags had to be washed. This would entail taking off the winter windows, cleaning them and storing them away. Previous to this Dad would have brought out the summer screens, hosed, washed, and rinsed them down and left them in the sun to dry. Pray tell why we had to wash the screens again was always a mystery to me because we had to wash them before they were stored(the winter windows as well). Is there a winter/summer window fairy who checks them out?

This was the procedure for each room.

When I was a girl we had a 'carpet' that was about 8-10" short of reaching the woodwork. Under the carpet was a wool pad, under that 5" tongue and groove boards. The rim of the floor was painted yellow ochre.
The carpet was black wool with beautiful vining cabbage roses with beautiful green leaves. Before Mom had a vacuum the carpet/pad were taken outside and beat to remove dust and debris. During the week she used a non-electric (I think it was a Bissell) carpet sweeter. It had a brush underneath and after using you pulled back a small lever and emptied the pan. Voila, no vacuum bags. After a few years a salesman came to the door and Dad bought Mom a brand-new-state-of-the-art Electrolux Tube vacuum with attachments. Mom was in a cleaning frenzy for days after that.

The floor edge would be dusted with the handy dandy Fuller Brush dust mop (which I still have) once the carpet was up, then scrubbed along with the woodwork. The woodwork was tall and fancy. The grate for the cool air duct had to be hosed and dried in the sun. While that was happening the inside of the duct had to be whisk broomed (pre-vacuum) and wiped out.

The curtains would have been taken down the day before, washed then taken to the attic and put on the curtain stretcher (they were lace) to dry. The curtain stretchers were kind of like quilt frames and had tiny nails to hook the curtains on to insure they didn't shrink. When dry they would be ironed to within an inch of their life and the last thing to be put back in place. They did look pretty with the shade drawn to half mast with the cord hanging down with the little ring at the bottom.

All the doilies would have been washed and starched the day before, after drying all night on the line they would be sprinkled down, wrapped in waxed paper and put in the fridge until ready to be ironed. I loved to watch my mom iron she was a perfectionist when it came to clothes and items being ironed. Remind me some time to tell you about Mom's ironing and my first bras. It's a hoot.

Next came the bedrooms! Dad always carried out the bed springs because they were heavy. These were first brushed and then hosed and set to dry. The bed frames, head and foot boards and casters were cleaned. The floors in the bedrooms had pretty linoleum on them and were easy to mop. Does anyone remember old fashion linoleum with the beautiful patterns? They looked like paintings to me. I love that stuff, I wish they would bring it back. All the furniture was wiped down and then oiled as it was all wood. (real wood)I can still smell the lemon oil.

We didn't have a full bathroom until I was almost a teenager. The toilet was in a converted closet with a window with hoople glass. Don't try to look up hoople glass because it doesn't exist, it's a Nanc word. You know the kind of glass I mean, it's hoopy looking. The water closet also had pretty linoleum flooring and a small rag rug.
This was tight quarters to have to wash walls and ceiling but it had to be done.

Okay, so this has taken a weekend and there's still the kitchen, summer porch, basement and attic but my snack is gone and I have chores to finish so will finish this later.

Just wanted to mention before we started all this work Mom gave us a good hot breakfast, lunch and a hot supper. We didn't have Hardee's or Macdonald's to run out and grab a bite. My Mom was amazing.

Just one question does anyone spring clean today?

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.