Memories on Mother's Day

Yesterday my memories were circling back in time.  Motherhood has been such a wonderful gift to me.  Our children are grown but so much a part of our lives.  We are lucky to live close by.

I opened up two photo albums and have captured just a few memories to share with you here. I was remembering my mother. She pursued her dream of becoming a registered nurse and then stayed home to raise four children.  I think of the days when she became a homemaker, perhaps wishing that it was possible to return to nursing.  She did this once my sister got to junior high school.  Twenty five years after graduating she went to her 25th nursing reunion.

I was also thinking back to 50 years ago when I graduated from high school.  

It hardly seems possible that so many years have passed by. 

I graduated from a girl's school and tradition was that we rented a dance club and hired a live band for our graduation dance.  Our parents were invited.  Did my mother take the picture of Dad and I dancing?  I think she wore a blue lace dress but wish that I had that picture.

  Many of us made our own dresses, if shoes didn't match they could be dyed to match. 

Some of us attended the Royal Military College Balls so our dresses, long gloves and necklaces borrowed from our mothers could be worn again.  

On Sunday our graduation took place in The Royal Theatre. My little sister was chosen to be one of the flower girls and she held a pillow which held the grad pins that were presented to us. Our teachers presented us each with a bouquet of yellow roses.  

I'm looking forward to seeing many of my high school friends when we "girls" gather on the grounds of St Ann's this summer to remember the time when we were young and carefree, 50 years ago. 

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day ! I'm linking to Judith's Lavender Cottage here.

Looking Back to Green

Just a couple of months ago we were on holidays in Arizona and we witnessed a springtime beauty like we've never experienced before.  The desert was all dressed up for spring in gorgeous shades of green.  I'd like to share some of my photos from our trip.

We visited the Grand Canyon and the two days we spent there were wonderfully warm, a sharp contrast to our last year's experience of an afternoon spent in awe of the majesty of such natural splendour.  The winds were strong and we experienced snow and sleet, freezing as we walked to the view points.  This year the weather was wonderfully warm and we spent hours looking at natures paintings.   We enjoyed the experience of being able to drive our rental vehicle along the canyon and being able to stop and explore at the viewpoints. 

We have wonderful memories of exploring Nevada and Arizona in February. 

I will share some of the other highlights of our winter getaway next time.  

Have a wonderful week wherever you are ! 

I'm linking this to Judith's Lavender Cottage Mosaic Monday 

An Early Spring !

We can't believe our luck here in northern Alberta.  It seems amazing to have been working for the past few days in the yard raking, cleaning the flower beds and pruning the shrubs.  We are weeks ahead of the game and in just a few hours the temperature is predicted to be 17 Celsius! Tiny green leaves are poking out of the perennial beds but the grass is for the most part brown.  We need a good soaking rain to green things up.  In the meantime I am thankful to see the pictures of flowers my sister has sent from Vancouver Island.  She has been to the nursery and her deck is covered in colourful blooms.

Although we took a two hour drive to the city, last week I was disappointed not to find flats of pansies at Costco.  I've really had luck planting them early in the past.  Our local nurseries generally have bedding plants for sale in about mid May so we will have to wait awhile.  But anticipation is in the air and Spring is definitely coming.  The frogs are croaking in the pond, our favourite pair of Canada Geese has been stopping by for the past few days just to honk hello and eat some spilled grain.

At sunrise I looked out to see a moose laying down behind our house and soaking up the sun.  He rested for about an hour before standing up and giving himself a shake as he loped with giant steps into the forest. The farmer reported there were two big moose in our canal as he drove by yesterday.

  

  

Here are some views of the way things will be in our corner of the world before too long.  

I am linking this post to Mosaic Monday at Judith's Lavender Cottage.
If you have time  do stop by to see some interesting blogs.
Happy Spring wherever you are!

Easter Decorations

Do you find that as Easter approaches the world seems brighter? 

I love to do a few things to bring some spring colours into the house.  I was thinking of my mother and grandmother as I decorated the hutch for Easter.  The glass Bonsai tree is the last gift my mother gave me and the picture is of my grandmother with her cocker spaniel, Bonnie.  

She had been given the dog by her three sons before they left for the army.  Whenever I visited Granny, she made a pot of tea and this was my special cup and saucer.  I bought the teapot some years ago thinking it would match Granny's cream and sugar set.  

Even though our children are grown and there are no little ones to decorate for, 

it seems that tradition wins out every time.  So on Saturday, the farmer insisted 

that we drive downtown to get some dyes for the eggs he'd already hard boiled.  

We were surprised by the results...one of the eggs had a white design on it 

and there were eggs with speckles. All we did was mix the dye and dip them in it.

I hunted for and found the Ukrainian style eggs our children had made more than 20 years ago.  

The elaborate traditional egg was a prize in a school contest.  Our closest neighbour had dropped by on Good Friday to bring us some delicious hot cross buns and I baked some raisin scones 

so we had a delicious breakfast on Easter Sunday.

Hope you had a lovely Easter weekend !

I f you'd like to see some lovely Spring flowers consider stopping by to visit 

Judith at her Lavender Cottage  for Mosaic Monday.