Mother's Day

Miss you Mom.

You knew that, right?

Someone reminded me yesterday that

it isn't the breaths you take in life that counts,

its the times that take your breath away.

Learning to Fix the things that can be fixed and to leave the rest alone....

I'm learning about the things that can be improved a bit as well as learning the things that no amount of work will ever fix.

The good news is that the cafeteria where I go for rehab is wonderful! So I go to rehab at 11 and then lunch at 12! They have little healthy snacky things. Last week I bought a few of them for my lunch and brought home what I couldn't eat and I snacked on them for supper.

I was really happy to get out and about for a change and the people I encountered there were so very patient with me. Manoevering a walker around people is not so easy as it looks. hee heh

I had my tray on the seat of the walker and had picked up my hot dish and then had to wing it over to get a drink out of the cooler. Next I had to wing back to get a butterscotch pudding (took half home) and also my snacky (cheese, grapes and crackers). Got into line without wiping out any staff or patients. Whew- ee! Major mojo!!!

Uh-oh. I decided I wanted veggies and dip so winged back out of line and cut into where they were stored; whipped that old 4 wheeler around to get back into line. Kool!

Then I had to dig in my purse and get my money out. Cold sweat breaks out on my brow as I try to hold myself upright, not go whump! (an illness has left me with almost no balance), open zipper on purse, zip open the change thingy and dig out the money. Couldn't see the money. Dropped open purse. Sorry, sorry, sorry, oops. Grabbed a bill, only had 2, hoped it was the right one, didn't trust me to grab loonies (besides I needed a looney and a tooney to get home free from the parking lot). Whew. was the right bill. Accept change and hope it goes in the opening of the purse and not the holes in the basket of the walker. Whew again.

The angels are smiling on me today.

Appologize for being so slow and awkward. Everyone I've held up, nearly mowed down in th eprime of their lives, smiles kindly at me and tells me not to worry. I'm ok. Thankfully so are the people around me, all of them within at least 100 yards or so in all directions.

On Mother's Day (Etsy Bloggers Carnival May 5, 2008)

My mother loved to make angels. She crocheted big ones, small ones and all sizes in between. She didn't have a pattern for them. She didn't write her pattern down. Each angel was unique and hand made.

I remember one of Mom's birthday parties at which Mom distributed a tiny angel to each and every one of her guests. She had worked for weeks making them. I think one of my cousins even took two or three.  We all enjoyed these heavenly treats.

Mom was generous at giving out her angels. For years her eye doctor and his staff each received an angel at Christmas time. Mom always seemed to have at least one angel in her purse ready to give to someone who she felt might be in need of one. Cab drivers, shopkeepers, bus drivers, even strangers she met throughout her day all were blessed with her special gift.

To celebrate the millennium, Mom made tall pillow dolls using a millennium fabric. They were beautiful creations in gold and white.

Her children and grandchildren received little six inch angels. These had underskirts in our favourite colours.

It was always an adventure to find objects for wings and porcelain faces and hands, or to find enough balls of white and ecru crochet cotton around the holidays. I still have a stash of little dolls that Mom had planned on incorporating into her latest angelic design.

It will be 3 years this Mother's Day that we've celebrated without her. Like my mother before me I have to learn to 'suck it in' and get on with the business of living. At one time there were 3 mothers living under one roof. Mom had to learn to live without her mother for companionship when my own daughter was only 5 years old. Now a grown woman she tries to make Mother's day special for me.

We met with the minister when Mom died and discussed her prolific disbursement of angelic creations. At the funeral he mentioned these angels and asked the congregation for a show of hands of those who had received at least one of these angels. This request was met with laughter and I heard a rustling from the congregation that filled the little chapel. I didn't even have to turn my head to know that every single person in that room had raised their hand.

When the organist began to play Mom's 2 favourite hymns I swear I could hear her voice belting out the melody. And every Angel in the celestial kingdom joined right in.

I'd like to close this entry with the following prose created by one of the funeral director's for a memorial evening for bereaved families at Christmastime. I think it is just as pertinent for Mother's Day. It brings me peace.

• In the rising of the sun and in its going down, we will remember them.
• In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter, we will remember them.
• In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer, we will remember them.
• In the rustling of leaves and in the beauty of autumn, we will remember them.
• In the beginning of the year and in its end, we will remember them.
• When we are weary and in need of strength, we will remember them.
• When we are lost and sick at heart, we will remember them.
• So long as we live, they shall live, for they are now a part of us, as we remember them.

I saw a birdy up a tree... Etsy Bloggers Team Blog Carnival for April 28, 2008

There's something about spring that brings out the poet in me. I don't know what it is but if we could bottle it what an interesting planet this would be?

Long, long ago in a place not very far away I wrote poetry, reams and reams of it, on a daily basis. It sprang from my pen like a live thing. In fact at one time I thught of publishing my poems. I did do a little chap book to give to friends and family. Some friends! Some Family! Not one copy remains of that book today!!! For my excuse, we had a few sewer back ups that flooded our family room. There's something about wading around knee deep in fecal sludgewaters that kind of makes you toss everything floating in it into a trash bag (no literary critique inteneded).

I also had one poem published in a professional magazine. What a thrill! No money. I thrilled easily in those days.

I took a poetry class one summer while still at university. The professor was amazing. He made medieval poetry come alive and have meaning for us. He showed us how to find the passion, the flavor in the poetry. The class was filled with teachers and student teachers.

I especially remember one personal story he shared with us that summer. He was blind and listened to the sound of shoes worn by his students as they entered and left the classes. He talked about the thickness and sturdiness of shoes always being worn by those who were well grounded in life and the flimsy, fragile soles of the shoes worn by those with a more fragile soul (pun intended). He recalled for us a time when he sadly, had to help out in a case where a student had committed suicide. He said it struck him then, as he picked up the shoe worn by that student. The sole of her shoe was paper thin with only the thinnest of straps supporting the foot. As he told us this story he held his hand and looked down as if he were seeing the shoe there.

Now, thirty-um some years later, I haven't forgotten. I wear flip flops now because my feet are so painful I can't bear anything touching them. But I wear flip flops with a thin strap supporting my feet. At least, the sole of the floppies are thick.

I think of all the poems I've read or written, this line from Robert Frost's poem, Stopping by a woods on a snowy evening plays continually through my life ...

...and miles to go before I sleep

...and miles to go before I sleep.

Make this week a good one. Remember to tell someone you love, that you do. Before it is too late.

Other blogs You might enjoy

http://ImpawsibleToResist.blogspot.com

http://ImpawsibleToResistKnitMe.blogspot.com

Treasury West is up and I got one!

Go here to check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=5932

Etsians on Review - Invoke Photography

This is the second in my series Etsians on Review. I would like to introduce you to Invoke Photography. Invoke Photography is the shop belonging to one of Southhampton Creations' two daughters.

Born and raised in Cambridge, Ontario, Invoke graduated from the University of Guelph. Travelling to Japan she learned to express her thoughts and feelings through the lens.

Her first exhibition, Japanese Soul, premiered in Tokyo in 2001 to rave reviews. It embodied the traditions of spiritualism and the aesthetic that is Japanese. The exhibit has shown in Toronto, Windsor, Cambridge, Ontario and Vancouver, B.C.

She has won a number of awards including, first prize in the Leamington Art Center's Anything's Possible photo contest and the Editor's Choice Award from The International Society of Photographers. Two of her photographs were chosen to be published in a book called "Endless Journeys".

Of her work, this is what she has to say,

Life stands still when I look through my lens; it is a form of meditation for me. Photography is my way of celebrating the beauty I see in the world and allows me to capture it moment by moment. I feel that my images speak where words fail me. I take pictures that move and inspire me… I hope they invoke as deep a response in my viewers as they did in me when I captured them.

Her work does indeed invoke a deep response in the viewer. I find many of her photos stir within me a sense of peace, of stillness of the calm beauty that surrounds us. As a Reiki master, I meditate daily. Any of these images could serve as a place to go when I go within to seek the healing pool of calm that is the centre of this universe.

Do please visit Invoke Photography on Etsy. You will not be disappointed.

Visit Invoke Photography  on Etsy

Etsy Buy Handmade InvokePhotography

Etsyblogger's Featured Blogger of the Month - Stormy Designs

Stormy Designs is a polymer clay artist who creates stunning jewelry, art, and home decor items.

Check out her shop on Etsy - http://stormydesigns.etsy.com .

The following link goes to a rather whimsical "I love dogs" charm in her Etsy shop. Too cute!

 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10649582

Stormy Designs comes from a family of artists. She lives in Virginia with her dog and two ferrets. She has three grown daughters and eight wonderful grandchildren. WoW!

A friend from Australia 'pushed' her into trying polymer clay and she hasn't looked back since. Starting in April 2007 Stormy creates unique one of a kind items for you to enjoy.

Her art shows her love of life and are imbued with a delightful touch of whimsy.

Do check out her Etsy shop, website and blog. You'll be very glad you did.

Stormy Designs on Etsy

Stormy Designs web

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Stormy Designs Blog

Etsy Buy Handmade StormyDesigns

Diamonds and Daisies For the Month of April 2008

Diamonds are a girl's best friend ... you bet! Diamonds in April, May moons to spoon followed by weddings in June. Well I don't have any diamonds and I don't have any weddings about which to croon but here are a few interesting shops on Etsy that I found.

Diamonds are forever by OriginalsbyLynnette.etsy.com

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10658911

Pin and Green Diamonds - Original Painting on Canvas by Kipi
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9613838

Sassybellaboutique - lacy, diamond crochet trim

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10657228

Now when it comes to Daisies you can count me in. I have this gorgeous single strand necklace with a daisy in a flowerpot charm as the focal point. How many of you remember pulling the petals off of a daisy while reciting this little ditty, "He loves me, He loves me not...". I checked. If you could pull the metal petals off this daisy, you would finish with, "He LOVES me!" Right on. Follow the link below to check it out.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10447071

As we close the door on March and open the window to April, it is so nice to think of the cold weather, the ice and snow leaving too. We've had enough this year! So let's welcome April and her fields of daisies with arms open wide. And tonight, dream of fields of diamonds headed your way!