The Weekend in Black and White

This coming Sunday is Mother's Day. I am a mother of two, both now adults and on thier own. I am also a daughter and a granddaughter.

My Aunt and Uncle recently posted a photo of my Grandmother so I thought I would share it here!

Its an old picture but it matches my memories of her. She has been gone now for just about 40 years but when I close my eyes, this is the vision I have of her. She lived a couple of miles from us when I grew up. I loved going to her house, helping water her plants, dust with the feather duster, go through her costume jewelry, turn the crank on the wringer of the washer. She made us homemade root beer popsicles, made Red Flannels and taught us how to make them, and always had a huge puzzle spread out on the kitchen table. She cut out the branches of the inside of the Willow tree where we had tea parties. She got her driver's license in her early sixties and she was a horrible driver. I admired though that she went and tryed something new. She taught me how to crochet and tryed to teach me how to knit. She never missed Lawrence Welk. A hug from her was soft as a pillow.

Her only daughter was my Mom. She has been gone now just about 20 years. Both my mom and Grandma died when they were each 66 years old. Here is a photo of my mother, her Graduation from Nursing photo.

I remember Mom getting ready for work, lining up the dress, the apron and the starched bib, the Nurses cap. The white stockings and shoes. Everything clean, crisp and white. Mom went every week to the hairdresser to get her hair done for the week. She did that for years before deciding to just let her hair style itself. I got my work ethic from Mom, in the day when most moms were stay at home moms, she worked. I think it made her a better mom. She loved good coffee, and loved butter. She was not afraid of spicy food. She was an awesome cook, in the last ten years of her life learning how to make all kinds of different dishes. I used to go over to her place for a bit of a getaway now and then and she made sure I had what I needed to rest, relax and rejuvanate. She never told anyone I was there, she kept my presence quiet and my stays at her place a quiet respite. She introduced me to Ovaltine, which I still love to drink. She gave up her recliner for me to sit in when I was at her place, her favorite chair. She used real cream, enjoyed good scotch, never cut the fat off a juicy steak, like to read books before bed, and taught me that we were worth the good things in life.

My mother and my grandmother in thier own ways showed me how to be the mother I am today to my kids.Thier memory lives on in me and we all will live on in the memory of the parents my own kids become.  

"Irene, Goodnight Irene, Irene Goodnight,Goodnight Irene, Goodnight Irene, I'll see you in my dreams!"

Happy Mother's Day to all moms here. Enjoy your special day!!

To see other photos of The Weekend in Black and White. please go and visit http://blackandwhiteweekend.blogspot.com/

Macro Monday

I have been taking a course in Photoshopping for the past few weeks and our last assignment was to fix a really old photo in Photoshop. My Uncle Bob sent me some black and white photos of family members so I picked a couple of really bad ones and set about trying to fix them up. The first picture is of my brother Brian when he was just a little boy. The photo was just about completely dark. I am sure I could do more to fix the photo, but this is it so far.

I am amazed I got so much detail out of the original picture!

This next picture is of my mother when she was three years old. In other words it is about 75 years old!

I love having these old family photos to look at. The photos of my mom are all I have left of her now. Our photos keep our memories alive.

To see more photos of Macro Monday, please go and visit http://lisaschaos.com/

I have been feeling a bit orphaned today for some reason, so thought I would share with you in Macro form a recipe I cooked for supper today, that really reminds me of my parents and growing up. My brothers and sister will recognize this one right away!!

Even the recipe card is old, and gooped up from previous cooking. It has some history!! And it comes out of the old recipe box that stood on my parents counter for years.

The ingredients along with a few pounds of Spareribs. I substituted Orange Juice for the water. And a few more cloves of garlic.

Everytime I cook, I am reminded of my parents, the old measuring spoons and measuring cups came from my parents home after my Dad passed away. I could get newer ones, but these ones have memories for me.

(Measure out the dry ingredients and grate the garlic as above.)

Isn't it the truth, that some things so pretty can just make you cry???

The finished product!! Every year on our birthdays we got to choose what we would have for our birthday dinners. I always chose these Spareribs. These are pure and simple Comfort food for me now. I don't cook them often, more times than not when we do have spareribs it is with bottled sauce on them. But every once in a while I pull out this old recipe of Mom and Dad's and all the ingredients and make a bunch of Ribs. And I am transported back to a simpler time when Mom called, Supper's ready and this is what was for supper.

It's about the little things in life that bring you comfort and peace. Macro photos also challenge you to look a little closer and see those things you might pass by otherwise.

For more photos of Macro Monday, please go and visit http://lisaschaos.com/

More Pictures of my Mom and family!

My Uncle Bob who is my last surviving Uncle has been going through old pictures of his and has found some more pictures that he has sent out to the rest of the family. I love seeing these old pictures and wonder about each of the stories that each one has to tell. I'll never get to ask my Mom about each of them but seeing them brings her memory a little bit closer to me. Here is Mom, and I am not sure who the baby is but maybe its me!! Uncle Bob was not sure if it was.

This picture is of my Grandfather, he is in the middle of the picture sitting down. Grandpa worked for the railroad and took care of the tracks. Here is a couple of his crew members.

Here is my Grandparents, uncles and my Mom with one of their dogs sitting on one of the railcars.

My Mom standing in a field of alpine flowers. Mom and the family lived in the Rocky Mountains at the base of Mount Robson.

My mother was a nurse. Here she is in her nursing Graduation Picture.

I often wonder at times when I look at these pictures if Mom managed to live the life she dreamed of when she was the little girl growing up in these pictures. Did she get to do all the things she wanted to do? What were those dreams she fulfilled or what dreams did she have that fell by the wayside. I wish to have known the person she was in these pictures as well as the person I did know her to be in the years I did know her.

I'd ask her these things now if I had the chance. I wish for my kids to have that opportunity now to ask me the questions while they still have the chance to ask me. I regret not having that chance.

I miss my Mom at times. Certain things remind me of that. Like these pictures.

A Special Gift

Meet my Mom!!
My mom has been gone now for the past 16 years and even though it has been a long time the memories are there and every now and then something or someone can bring them to the surface.
Usually its something like a certain day or a holiday which she is not here for. Her birthday, my birthday or a holiday like Christmas. Mom was a great cook. Cooking was something she got into more after she retired and had the time to peruse those Bon apetit books that scattered all around her house. When we went to visit all we had to do was say what it was we felt like eating and a memorable meal was on the table. This is one of her baby pictures. I can see a bit of me in this picture, I can see my daughter.

Its funny how history kind of repeats itself. We all probably have pictures of ourselves in same poses as those photos we find of our parents!!

I don't have far to wonder where my love of certain things came from. Mom loved taking pictures and I inherited one of her cameras when she passed away. I loved looking through her photo albums of all the places she travelled to and seeing other worlds I have not been to through her eyes. She had a beautiful garden on the side of a hillside overlooking the ocean and I learned my love of flowers there.

This picture is my Uncle's Norman and Robert with Mom. I would of laughed too to see my Uncle Bob with that nose!!

This picture has to be my favorite. I would love to know what she laughed at, what she was seeing in this picture that brought the smile to her face. I cannot help smiling just looking at it.

It reminds me that even though I knew a lot of my Mom, really there were probably more things I did not get to know. I wish I had asked the questions, listened for the answers more, been less eager to leave all the nest behind and instead pulled up a chair and had a good laugh or two more with her. If I knew then what I would one day miss I might of done just that.

I miss my Mom tonight and I am ever grateful to my Uncle Bob who sent me these gifts, these pictures tonight.

This gift means the world to me.