Our Mothers Worked So Hard

Doesn't this vintage photo found Google Images make you love your mother more? Mine only had two children three years apart but I still marvel at all she did with no help. She kept our homes beautifully, sewed her clothes and mine too and she even sewed for my brother and my father. She cooked delicious and sometimes complicated food and we ate healthy meals. She always looked beautiful and I don't think we gave her the credit she so deserved. I was so proud to be her daughter and she did know that. This photo just struck a cord of how hard it must have been to hold it all together back in the day. 

I wish I hadn't been so lazy all summer long because it is really hard now. I should have taken my grandmother's advice.

She really did say this, I'm not making it up. I am playing catch up and have the feeling I will never get to the point of having every room cleaned from top to bottom the way she did. I have told you before that she devoted one week to each room for spring and fall cleaning. I just seem to jump around and do the same task in each room instead. Right now it's still windows and I'm almost finished.

Have a great weekend. Thank you for giving me the will to continue blogging. I am enjoying it again and will continue. Thanks for clicking on the ads in my sidebar too. xo

Happy Mother's Day 2018

Anna 1920-2012

Photo above on my first birthday September 1943.

It's true. Nobody loves you like your mother and I had a great one. This will be my 6th year without her but she lives forever in my heart. We had a long run together and I'm happy about that. She's still my guiding light. xo

I was looking through some old Mother's Day posts and you might enjoy some really wonderful home-made cards celebrating mothers here.

Images from My Cottage

Storm clouds over my balcony on Sunday at dusk. Moments after I took this photo, the heavens opened up and it started pouring.

The grape hyacinths are blooming and I adore the deep vivid blue color of this sweet spring flowering bulb.

This clump of jonquils is bigger than ever this year. I did everything in the book to them after they bloomed last season to ensure a splashy return and it worked. They are planted in a raised bed outside my mom's bedroom on the lower level of my cottage where she had her own quarters. She had to give up her condo in Charlotte after turning in her driver's license due to her diminishing eyesight. I actually bought my cottage with this living arrangement in mind. We had such fun furnishing the whole lower floor together with treasures from consignment shops and yard sales. She still missed her independence but adjusted to having me be her eyes. I can remember when she planted these bulbs that have numerous blooms in the clump to remind me of the 10 years we had here in my cottage.

The wild violets are back in my front yard. I love them and leave them alone by not mowing my grass for as long as I can hold off.

I have posted all of these photos on Instagram so many of you have already seen them. xo

Vintage Photo of My Mother with Me

It seems like yesterday, but this photo was taken sometime between 1973 and 1975 when I lived in Mendham, NJ with a Far Hills mailing address. I still have this hat and it's my favorite. Miss you, Anna.