Sunday, May 29, 2011

Tribute to Mom by Edna

 (This was written by my sister, Edna for my mom's birthday. Sorry about the spacing not being correct but this was how it copied & pasted.)
 
Tribute to Mom on her 95th birthday by Edna Toews
Mother’s lips spoke words of wisdom


                Words
of encouragement

                Words
of enlightenment and teaching
Praise for a job completed.


Her lips whispered prayers for her
children and grandchildren

                Singing
hymns of her Saviour – songs to teach me:

“Hold fast to the right, wherever
your footsteps may lead”

And “Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love”.

Her ears heard birds singing in the
treetops,
Bees buzzing in her flowers

Cows mooing from the barn


                Children
laughing at play, and cries when they took a tumble.

She heard the putt-putt of the John
Deere and knew it was time to help gather bales

The distinct “Bak-Bak- be-GAK!” when
the hen laid an egg,

                And
Major barking.



Mother’s eyes saw many sunsets,
puddles, rainbows and lovely flowers.

Fabric blocks laid in attractive
patterns.

                Seed
packets – even one cent packets of unknown seed mixture for me to plant.
Rows and rows of jars in the pantry – pickles, corn, peas and even chicken and fish.


                Watched
us say our poems at school and church concerts

                Watched
her daughters leave with a trust-worthy date ( or was he?)

Then come down the aisle in gown of
white.

                Mom
could see the end of a project and spur me on when I was getting weary.

She could see that teaching me to
persevere would be a valuable life lesson.

Mother’s feet have walked a million
miles

                On
tile kitchen floor and rough linoleum       

                                The
path to the chicken coop, along the nests where eggs were gathered
With a hoe along miles of beet rows


                Through
the bush looking for saskatoons

                                Gathering
vegetables in the garden.

Her feet have walked to the window to
check if her child is coming home yet

                Followed
the coffin of her husband in a time of sorrow

                And
gone on her knees for countless prayers.

Mother’s hands have cradled her
precious babies, later grandchildren and great grandchildren

                Peeled
potatoes for supper, husked corn and stirred banana-rhubarb jam

                                Braided
hair and curled it

                Pushed
fabric under the sewing machine needle to make dresses as she burned the
midnight oil

                                Firmly
milked the cows and carried in buckets of milk

                                                Churned
cream into butter

Made scrumptious strawberry shortcake
and Christmas candy

                Handled
an axe, taking the chicken from coop t0 delicious meal.

Her hands were often raw from cold, sometimes
rough and bleeding from excema

                But
the tenderness on a hot brow when I was ill brought comfort beyond belief.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Celebration!




 On Sunday, we, being my 3 sisters & our families, got together to celebrate my mom's 95th birthday. Due to muddy country roads, the venue was changed to my sister's home, who so graciously hosted the event with only a few hours notice.The gift of hosting is another trait that all of us girls have inherited from our mother & that was very evident in my sister & brother in law in having a large crowd invade their home & yard, so many thanks to them for having us. It had been a long time since many of the cousins had seen each other & our group totaled 47 in all. So sorry the missing 10(?) family members couldn't make it. We honoured mom with  many tributes & thanks for her kind & wonderful example of love towards all of us.We enjoyed a supper of BBQ hamburgers, hotdogs & salads & of course, birthday cake.

My mother with my three sons. Chris, Allen, my mom & Barry.

Albert chatting with mom.

My mom will be 95 on May 30th.

Mom with 12 out of 15 grandchildren. So glad that so many could make it.

Carly enjoying the bubble maker.

My 2 oldest grandsons, Zac & Jared.

Abby & Katie doing a goodbye dance.
Mom & sisters - Edna, Helen, Mom, Carolyn & me.   

Friday, May 20, 2011

A Colourful Trip

My sister, Carolyn & I made a trip to Vanderveen's in Carman this morning.

What a feast for the senses - brilliant colour everywhere, wonderful fragrance from the various flowers & smiles from fellow gardeners as we made our choices to beautify our yards.

So many hanging baskets to choose from!

Almost bought this begonia but I haven't had too much luck with these.

Really liked this one too.

My sister picked this one.

Glad for my pick-up.
Now it's time to plant!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Gardening

Gardening season has begun. This is Albert & grandson, Adam working on the tiller.
 I love this little tiller. It isn't mine but I can borrow it any time I wish from our son. I can easily start it, maneuver it & it's great for tilling in between my perennials.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Quilt Show


Yes, I'm still around & haven't been swallowed by the floods in Manitoba - I'm high & dry here- & I  haven't melted away with the snow & I'm not snowed in !! I was having computer problems & now, thanks to some very smart computer techies, the horses that were in my computer have galloped away. And the best part - cost me less than $70.00!!  I've got alot of blog material that I have collected so check back soon.
First, have are a few pictures of the quilt show in Morden this past weekend.  I didn't have any quilts on display here this year as I don't have any in the finished stage that I wanted to show.