All Things Nice . . .

 

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Mother's Scrap Bag

It hung behind the door in bulgy folds

And held a precious record of the years;

Pieces of print, cretonne, old odds and ends,

As much a part of us as smiles and tears,

Each patch and pattern seeming to belong

To all our laughter and our dreams and song.

Here is a patch of scarlet calico

With small white anchors doted here and there;

A square of lavender, a bit of blue

From an old dress that grandma used to wear.

It matched her eyes and seemed to make of her

A lovely figure from a miniature.

A favorite dress my sister made one year

That I remember had pink roses on ...

They sort of blended with her rosy cheeks ...

Sets you to wondering where the years have gone,

And where the joy that welled from hidden springs,

When life spelled love and fun and wedding rings.

So the old scrap bag hanging on the door

Is part and parcel of the passing years,

You straighten out a little roll of cloth

And suddenly a smiling face appears,

And the old bag becomes a magic key

Opening a creaking door that you might see;

Eyes brimming with laughter, hair of sunny hue,

Smiling across the shadowed years to come.

~Edna Jacques, Back Door Neighbors

 My had a scrap bag and a button box. We always loved to go through the pair of them, but most of all I loved to lay on the quilt my mother had on her bed.  Going into my parent's bedroom was very much verboten, but sometimes I would sneak in and lay on the quilt and run my fingers over the patterns of all the different fabrics in the quilt. It was a quilt my grandmother had made and was nothing fancy. A crazy quilt put together with scraps of their lives. Old shirts of my grandfathers, old dresses, etc. I used to brush my fingers across them thinking about the stories each fabric piece would tell if it could and then I would quickly scurry out of the room lest I get caught lingering in a forbidden space. 

I was thinking of my Great Grandmother Best this morning. She was my mother's maternal grandmother. I do remember here. My Uncle Harold was telling us when we saw him on his birthday that she was a sweet, sweet lady.  A farmer's wife I am sure she was no stranger to hard work. She also helped out as a midwife from time to time up on the South Mountain in Inglesville.  

Aunt Freda holding me, my mother and Great Grammy Best

Just prior to mom and I flying over to Germany

in 1956

I only remember her really as a little old woman, who was not that sound of mine anymore.  She sat in her chair most all day, every day. Uncle Harold was telling us how she could see the car lights of cars travelling on the old highway on the mountain to the south and exclaim about another team of horses passing through. He said she was a sweet, sweet woman. It is nice to hear people say things like that about people you can barely remember. It brings them to life for you.

He also solved the mystery of the Eugene we found on the 1911 Census record. It was a boy they had adopted.  My great grandmother never had any boys, but they adopted a boy named Eugene and Uncle Harold said he grew up to be a nice man.  I am so grateful I had the opportunity to ask my Uncle these questions. 

I am officially spoiling my cats. I picked up these two things for them yesterday when I went to New Minas with my sister.  Worth every penny of enjoyment they are getting from them and I have to say, they had me literally laughing out loud watching them playing with the cube thing last night.  I was having so much fun watching them. I have not laughed like that in a very long time.  They have been the best medicine for me.  

They are a wonderful distraction and have discovered the benefits of sitting in front of the front window.  They get to watch all the birds that come to the feeders and the chipmunk and the crows, bluejays also.  Yesterday they were quite surprised to see the lady from next door walk across the yard with her dog.  They had never seen a dog before.  The lady from the other side often walks past right in front of my deck to check her mail and the first time they saw here they jumped about ten feet in the air! (slight exaggeration I know) 

Seriously these two are just what the Doctor ordered. They are sweet and affectionate with two totally unique personalities and I do believe they love me just as much as I have come to love them.  Kind of scary really because I know that loving someone/thing like that comes with a heavy toll. But its too late now.  I love them.  Their cuddles, their games . . .  just love them totally. 

 

Getting this message yesterday from my son. Knowing he was home safe and sound and in recovery after his operation. He was so good, he and his wife, sending me messages all the way through everything so I would not worry so much. Well, you worry anyways, don't you.  I am so grateful for him getting this far and I am praying now for a total recovery for him. He won't be able to drive for six weeks so I guess his FIL will be his taxi driver until then.  I think he goes back to work on Wednesday next and so will  need lifts back and forth from work. They live with Kayla's parents on the Island.  They are saving up for a place of their own, but with today's economy that is hard, and they do have a pretty good life as it is.  

 

(source)

My sister and I had a great time yesterday at Michaels.  She has been making these lovely book bound large art journals and I picked up enough materials for her to make me one and enough heavy card to cover a few of them.  She does such a nice job on them. These are not the accordian type.  She doesn't really want to make them for other people, just for us, and her daughters. I don't blame her.  They are a lot of work, although I do think she could sell them.  They are impeccable.  

We were saying in the car on the way home as we looked at all the big old houses we were driving by, (The Valley is filled with them) about how much we both, when we were younger, dreamt of having such a house and decorating it etc. and now we are our ages, we could care less.  They are just work traps, with too much to keep clean and take care of.  Decorating is a younger woman's game, although admittedly I have enjoyed putting together my little place here.  I am at a stage in life however, when the simpler the better. I want to enjoy whatever time I have left doing the things I like to do, not cleaning.

I was up rather late this morning.  I didn't wake up until almost 7 am so I best be on about my day as it is also the first day of General Conference and I have a ton of things to do before it starts.  

I will leave you now with  thought for the day . . . 

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.°“Yesterday is history, 

tomorrow is a mystery, 

today is a gift of God, 

which is why we call it the present.” 

~ Bill Keane•。★★ 。* 。 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Highland Waffles . . .  deliciously flavored with cinnamon, a hint of molasses, some nutty oats and studded with dried currants.

Have a fabulous weekend!  I hope its just lovely for you. Don't forget! 

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And I do too!