My mother's birthday

Today would have been my mother's seventy-seventh birthday. Needless to say I am missing her today.

I used to wonder who set up the time frame of one year's mourning? It always seemed like a stupid idea to put a time on sorrow. I still get sad thinking of my brother or dad and they've been gone now for 23 and 22 years. Who says on year is appropriate for being sad? But since my mom died in January, I have come to a better understanding of the "one year's mourning" period.

Since she died, I have had to celebrate my first birthday without her, my first trip to the Buttermilk cafe without her, my first Valentine's day, St. Patrick's day, Easter, the first day of spring, etc. And today, her first missed birthday.

Everytime I pass a florist shop or card aisle I am reminded that this will be the my first Mother's Day without her. I still have to get through my first day of summer without her, my first blooming onion without her, my first Christmas, Halloween, Labour Day, Canada Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, New Years Eve and worse yet to come, the first anniversary of her passing. She will not be here to share my excitement of my first guests at and Bed and Breakfast I have named for her. She will not see the Shasta Daisies I am planting for her. She won't see my first exhibit at the art gallery. She would have been so proud.

It is just four months since she died and I have missed sharing so much with her. I suppose one year is an appropriate time frame in which to mourn. I'm sure that even after that year there will still be many first's without my mom.

Oh how I miss for her. I miss her praise, her unconditional love, the sound of her voice, her unsolicited advice, her friendship, her encouragement and the smell of her hugs.

take care of your photos

Our basement got flooded this spring. With all the snow we've had, the bad grading on the house and the old stone foundation, we ended up with a small lake in the basement. It's pretty much dried up now but for a while there was a steady stream of water. Excuse the pun.

One evening just before bed, I went back to the basement to check on something. I can't even remember what that something was because when I got to the basement, a box of photos has spilled over onto the wet floor. They must have just fallen because Paul and I were able to save about seventy percent of them. Some of the water damaged photos were beyond our skills

I know the basement is the worst place to keep the photos. I was planning on scanning them and putting them all to disc. Just one of those lessons I guess.

Pink for Spring

I found this sweet little bird's nest at our local florist which is located right inside the Downey Pharmacy here in Colborne . I go in every few days to talk to Cheryl and see what new piece of greenery she has in stock. I didn't plan to buy anything ornamental but this little nest just sung to me of spring and I knew it would look charming on the sideboard along with some candies and a pair of vintage gloves.

I buy candy at the Bulk Barn and it lasts for a very long time. My favourite ones are the green mint and Paul likes the pink. I must admit the green go down faster than anything else.

I did buy a neat little succulent called String of Beans. There are also String of Pearls, Buttons and Bananas. I've always wanted the pearls ( beads) but the beans are close and they were in stock.

the last of the snow

The snow seems to stay longer at the lake. Paul and I drove down to Wicklow Beach and watched ducks diving for their dinner. With ice and snow still on the shore, it's hard to imagine how these poor little creatures don't freeze their beaks! None-the-less, they seemed to be enjoying themselves and we had fun just watching them surfing the waves.




Further up the road there were two big yellow cows having their dinner. One cow was very busy with the salt lick but when I talked to her she took the time to acknowledge me.