Some Good, Some Frustrating, and a Whole Lotta Floss!

It was a lovely and also a frustrating weekend.  We had good weather, we got to spend some great time together, and I got some things accomplished even if they were not major activities.

And then it was frustrating - though the good outweighed the frustrating, thank goodness!

Saturday we got an early start, and took Hamlet to the Wissahickon Trail for a nice long walk.  The Wissahickon Trail is part of Fairmount Park here in Philadelphia, and if someone dropped you onto the trail from a spaceship, it would never ever occur to you that you were actually smack dab in the middle of a major city.  We had a good walk, and Hamlet loved seeing other people, pups, and ducks.  I was kind if disappointed that we didn't see any horses, but maybe next time.

The funniest thing was when we first arrived.  We parked the car on the end of a street right near the trail.  When we let Hamlet out of the car, he excitedly ran up to the door of an apartment building right there, as if to say, "I just know these people will be excited to meet me!"  It took us about 5 minutes to convince him that we weren't visiting anyone.  :-)

On our way home, we stopped in Manayunk at Hidden River Yarns, to pick up some knitting of mine that I was finally getting back.  You may or may not remember that last summer, I was knitting the Edie pattern, and when I went to do the sleeves - the very last part - one of them had all of the stitches off of the spare yarn where I had placed them.  (I suspect cats, but have no proof.)  I spent a lot of time trying to recover things, but finally had to admit defeat. I pollled my knitting friends, and someone volunteered.  Well, over the course of the last year, every time I would ask about it, she was "going to get to it," and finally I just said please return it.  So she returned it to Lisa at Hidden River, and Lisa performed "triage" so that I should be able to finish it (finally!).  So I stopped and retrieved it.  But today when I pulled it out to see what was/was not done, I was missing the pattern and some of the dpns!  So I messaged Lisa, and she is going to check when she is in the shop on Tuesday to see if they are still there.  I'm kind of annoyed - though NOT at Lisa - because the person who had it didn't seem to take very good care of it, or the project bag I was using.  But hopefully I'll be able to finish it soon, wash the project bag, and wear the top next summer.  Suffice it to say this was the frustrating part of the weekend.

Moving back to good things, I did finish one foot on one of the socks I'm knitting, and am nearly finished with the foot of the other one.  So I'm guessing that these may be finished by next weekend.

Forgive the smushed-up appearance of them - I just pulled them out of the project bag to take a photo and didn't do anything to "arrange" them.  I've been enjoying knitting this pair!

Today, I decided that I would undertake a project that could get me prepared to start my next cross-stitch project.  My mother was a major and prolific cross-stitcher, and I inherited her supplies.*  So before I bought any floss for my next project, I decided to pull out what I already had, because maybe I wouldn't need to buy any, or at least not much.

The stuff had been in the basement, so the binder-type things that the floss had been stored in were in questionable shape, and the floss, though fine, was musty.  I washed the binders and they are hanging up to dry.   And then I needed to figure out a way to hang up the floss so that it could air out, but even more importantly, out of the reach of kitties.  So currently there is a whole lot of floss hanging in various locations on our third floor!

You know, just a few things to choose from ... !!!

It may take me as long to organize and put it away again as it takes to make my next project. :-)  But I'm glad I have it and that it's in good condition, because it reminds me of my mom, and she would be happy to think that even though it's been just sitting for years and years, that I'm using it now.

I do wish that the weekend had felt longer, but it was a pretty good one overall, so I really can't complain.  This week I have a gynecology appt this afternoon, and a dental appointment on Friday, so it's a week of things not all that pleasant, but necessary and then hopefully taken care of for a while.

I hope your week will be a good one - if you are lucky, leaving out any medical stuff!

*One of these days, I'll do a post and show you some of her work.  My sisters and I all have some of it, and it's so beautiful.

Happy Birthday, Mom

My mother as a young woman

A few years before she died, I asked my mother if she thought it would be great to live to be 100 years old.  Her response was "Oh for God's sake," in a tone that immediately let me know that she thought that was the most ridiculous thing I could have said.  It very well might have been, because it was 30+ years ago, and even then, people living to that age were very few and far between.

Today would be that day - my mother's 100th birthday.  To be completely honest, I cannot imagine her at that age.  Mostly because by the time she died, she was so sick and so frail, that even the fact that I loved her so much would not have made it worth her still being  here.  

Nonetheless, if she could have been healthy, it would be nice.  I often feel a bit jealous of my sisters, who had the chance to know both of my parents longer than I did.  They were fortunate enough to know them for a longer time when they were both healthy and energetic, and needless to say, quite a bit younger.  

Having said that, I was lucky with my mother.  For the most part she was healthy during the time I had with her.  She was incredibly smart, and often wished she had the chance when she was young to have gone to college.  She loved to laugh and have a good time, and you could not play a game with her without playing for money, even if it was a penny a point.  "It makes it a lot more interesting," she would always say - and she NEVER let you win, just because you were a kid!  She even figured out a way to play Trivial Pursuit for money ...

I do remember one time when I was young, asking her why she didn't do something, because so-and-so's mother always did it.  Her response was, "Because you are not the center of my universe."  That shocks people when I tell them, but it just seemed like her answer to me.  I never felt any less loved or cared for because of that.  And to be honest, I think it is probably good advice for any parent.

She thought The Tim was just the best.  And of course, he played up to her all the time, because he loved her too.  Her given name was Geraldine, but everyone always called her "Gerry" (though she spelled it Gere, "because my mother said, that's how it was spelled").  No matter, The Tim *always* called her Geraldine, and that was fine with her.  They had many conversations about how I was a pain in the a** (all when I happened to be right there), and often found the same things hilarious to the point of tears.  The Tim often tells me that he would give anything to hear her laugh again.

My mom's life was in no way an easy one.  Money was scarce when she was child, and when she was an adult, but life was lived anyway.   She grew up in a household where her parents were separated at a time when that was incredibly unusual, with her mother and her aunt, who was a nurse.  She knew that it was just as important for women to get an education and be able to work as it was for any man.  By the time I was able to be somewhat independent (I am the youngest child), my father was sick and she had to worry about and take care of him.  After he died, she carried on and lived her life, and kept a good attitude even when she started having her own health problems.

I wish she could have seen her grandchildren to adulthood, and known her great-grandchildren - she would be telling anyone and everyone about how wonderful they are, whether or not anyone had asked.   She would get such a charge out of everyone, and be right there with all of our ridiculousness.  

In our house, Christmastime started on December 1, but *serious* Christmastime started after her birthday on December 2.  She hated it when she was a child, and someone handed her a gift and said, "This is for your birthday and Christmas," and as a result, I *never* give anyone with a December birthday only one gift.  She adored Christmas music, and would sing along whether or not she knew the words (which admittedly drove me nuts!), often just making things up.  She and my dad made everything special,  but outdid themselves for Christmas, which is I suspect why I love it so much.

She died 30 years ago this past July.  Not a single day goes by that I don't think about her at least five times, and admittedly, I still talk to her sometimes.  When December 2nd comes along, it's always bittersweet because she loved celebrating her birthday, but she's not here to do it anymore.

And so, today, when she would have turned 100 years old (for "God's sake" or not), I hope she is celebrating with my dad, and that she knows that even 100 years would never have been long enough to have her here with me.  And that she also knows every single year, she is with me during Christmastime, along with my dad and all of the memories that make it even better.  

Happy Birthday, Mom.  Love you.

*****

This post is my first one in the 2018 Virtual Advent Tour, hosted by sprite writes again this year.  Please consider joining everyone there for at least one day - reading the posts is so fun, and it's a good way to mark Christmastime.

You Don't Need to Be a Mother to Love Yours

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.  I love you and miss you.

All women become like their mothers.  That is their tragedy.

No man does.  That's his.

~ Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

Old Photo Friday

I love this picture, though it is also bittersweet.  This is my parents, and my two sisters - Mary Ellen on the left, and Nancy on the right.  I am not certain how old they are here, and the picture isn't marked.  But this is the only family picture that exists, and it was taken years before I was born.  I can remember after my father died, that my mother used to say she wished we'd had a family picture taken of all of us.

But the other thing about this picture is that it is four people who look truly happy, and who have so much to look forward to in their lives.  When the future was still full of hope and good things, and before there were any illnesses or tough times.

So, although it makes me a little bit sad that I'm not in this picture, it is still one of my favorites.  Seeing them all so happy and healthy makes me happy, and reminds me of how lucky it was that of all the families out there, I got this one.

Have a good last weekend of September.  Maybe take a family picture ...

Old Photo Friday

My mom - I have no idea the date of this picture. 

I remember when I was a kid, being surprised when people would say my mother was pretty.  Because, well, as far as I was concerned she was OLD (meaning she was older than other kids' parents), and that just didn't make sense.  

But you know what?  She was pretty!  Way to go, Mom!

I hope your weekend is filled with pretty things, see you next week.

Old Photo Friday

When I came across this picture, I laughed out loud, because I remember the exact moment when this was taken.  My mother was really proud of her new swimsuit, and had put it on to show us.  My sister said she would take a picture, and just before she snapped it, our dog Toby photobombed the picture!  That look of annoyance on my mother's face?  a) Pretty typical, and b) followed by some choice words for the dog ...

Keep cool however you can this weekend!

Old Photo Friday

My mom as a little girl.  I asked her once where this was taken, and she said that it was taken by "one of those people who used to come around with ponies to take people's pictures."  Which I have always thought was odd, but if I'd been there, you can bet I would have wanted my picture taken!

Have a good weekend, and "Happy Trails to you ..."

Old Photo Friday - Memorial Day Edition

Well, here we are - a long weekend for those of us in the U.S.   Memorial Day weekend is considered the unofficial start of summer here, with people heading to beaches, pools, and picnics with family and friends.

So it seemed only appropriate that this week's Old Photo Friday show the photo above. The woman on the far left with the scowl on her face?  My mother.  I have no idea what "U.C.C.Co." means, but the location, Oglebay Park, is in our hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia.  The park and the pool are still there, beautiful, and still looking the same as in this picture.  The year marked in 1938, which means my mother was 19 going on 20 years old (her BD was in December).  So maybe this was an outing with co-workers?  Who knows, but in any event, this is a favorite picture of mine, because whenever you got this look from my mother, you knew things weren't going well for you ... (I can actually can hear her saying "Oh for God's sake" here ...)

Have a wonderful Memorial Day - or as my mother would say, Decoration Day - weekend.  May you have no reasons to scowl.  :-)