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I don't know what you're planning for Mother's Day, but I do hope you're planning to do something special to honor her.

Abraham Lincoln once said, "All that I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother." John Gray said, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons." And how about this Spanish proverb — "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy."

All of those quotations have one thing in common — they all emphasize the fact that mothers have such a powerful influence, not only over their children, but over the very course of history.

I don't think that's an exaggeration. Nobody — not teachers, not preachers, not psychologists — gets the same chance to mold human minds and nurture human bodies and emotions like a mother does. The results of competent mothering can truly be seen for generations.

Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her. (Proverbs 31:28)

This Sunday we will wear our white flowers.

by Phillip Morrison (05/10/2013) | A Taste of Home
Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise (Proverbs 31:30-31 NLT).

Growing up in a family with no sisters and only one brother, I resented and even hated some of the chores my mother assigned me — dusting furniture, washing dishes, cleaning windows — "girlie work!" But there was one chore I neither hated nor resented, maybe because I only did it once a year, but mainly because I sensed that it had special meaning.

Our small town was owned — literally — by the DuPont Company. DuPont owned the houses and rented them to employees. The company named the schools, owned the utility services, provided police and fire protection, and reminded us of its paternalistic presence daily. Old Hickory was the quintessential company town. Of course the power plant belched black smoke and noxious fumes — practices common in those days. Hanging over us like a cloud was the ever-present rotten-egg smell from the chemical plant. When visitors asked how we could stand it, we smiled and said it smelled like bread and butter.

As if to hide the worst features of an industrial plant, DuPont planted thousands of rambling rose bushes along the several hundred feet of chain link fence fronting the property. The flowers bloomed continuously for about ten months of the year, their beauty masking the reality inside.

Those rose bushes have everything to do with the once-a-year chore I loved. Early on a Sunday morning each May, I would run or ride my bike to that fence. There I would search for the choicest rosebuds, a red one for me, a smaller red one for my brother because he was younger, and white ones for my mom and dad. Taking out my pocket knife (every boy carried one in those days, blades honed to razor sharpness so we could whittle the thinnest shavings), I would carefully cut the chosen buds and take them home. There we would pin them to our clothes and be ready for church on Mother's Day.

When I tell people about that annual chore, and explain that a red flower meant your mother was living and a white one meant she was dead, they often get a puzzled look as if they've never heard the story. For our family, it's a tradition I hope we never lose. After I left home and Mary Margaret and I married and our children came, the tradition continued. We still have those old color slides of our family ready for church, four little stair-step kids and mom and dad, all with red flowers on Mother's Day, boutonnieres for the boys, corsages for the girls. When we lived hundreds of miles away and I could no longer snitch rosebuds from the fence at The Plant, I would make my annual phone call to the Friendly Flower Shop and order white flowers for my mother delivered to 81 Jones Circle.

We knew the time was coming, but we were still unprepared. I remember the stunned realization as I ordered our Mother's Day flowers in 1997. "A red rose for me," I told the Kroger flower-shop lady, "and a red corsage... no, you'd better make that white, for my wife." Mary Margaret's mother had died the previous December, and for the first time ever her Mother's Day corsage would be white. And I vividly remember my own emotions four Mother's Days later when, for the first time in my life, I wore white on Mother's Day.

Anna Jarvis began the practice that became our American tradition when she honored her own deceased mother with a special day of remembrance at a Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia in 1908. By 1914, she had campaigned so successfully that President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the proclamation passed by both houses of Congress making Mother's Day a national holiday. Both Jarvis and the President insisted that the spelling be singular possessive — Mother's Day — to encourage a personal rather than generic observance.

This Sunday we will wear our white flowers, and I will know why my mother always had a tear in her eye as she pinned on the white bud I so carefully selected. If you can still wear red, thank God! If you have to wear white, thank God! Red to honor... white to remember... Encouraging Words!

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"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."
Mark Twain

Good Morning Everyfriend!  I'll be getting ready to go to church in a little while.  Cooper will arrive while I'm gone and then we'll take a walk when I get home.  It will probably be a walk in the rain because it's supposed to start later this morning and last until into the evening.

BUBBLE, than you for the new Soda Shoppe.  I did not know the story of the colors for the roses.  My mother's favorite roses were the pink ones and the yellow ones.  I think I like the pink ones best and the second favorite is red.

I wish you all a good day...better than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow!

Good Morning JaneS and all that follow. It is 49ºF and clear here this morning @ 626 AM.I had a good rest for a change, ready for the day.Hope the rest of you did also.  Last evening I seen the prettyst red bird and a bluwe bird also + severial of those little greay snow Birds. they are so much fun to watch. the dandey lyions have lost there pretty yellow blumes and shot up and most of the plumes have blowen off, to make more seed. My grand mother used to pick them earler stage + plus other grens wilt and eate them.


Lloyd

Good morning.

So far it is sunny here with rain this evening. Went to sleep with the chorus from frogs and loon calls echoing in the background.

A day of rest here.been doing that since Wed but will do it again today. I do have some ham that I want to make a ham loaf from...need to find a good recipe for that.

Shirley, wild leeks or ramps as they are called are in a class of their own. Many years ago in a one room school house the boys  on their way to school would fill up with wild leeks. They knew that the teacher would send them home as they are worse than garlic. I have used them in salads(carefully) and they give it a nice taste. Same with friend potatoes put a handful in there. I did dry some one year to throw in soups and stews.

https://www.wildedible.com/blog/foraging-ramps


Bubble ,thank you for the new start page. I did not know the story of the white rose either. Moms favourite  rose was the Talisman which was a orangey/coral colour with a dark highlight on the outer petal.


Better shake a leg here.

Enjoy your day and stay safe.

Good morning  everyone. 34° and frost on the cars this morning. May is not starting very nice here. On local news they were warning this area about lighting any kind of fire because everything is tinder dry. I know we have not had rain for a week or so and the air and winds have been very dry. Have not heard of any brush fires yet so maybe people are being careful.

PHYLLIS  like you I do not like texting either. If I have to I do not type on those small keys anymore, I say what I want and send. Glad I noticed the microphone on the text screen. I really do not like cell phones, even taking on one.  Only time I am OK with it is when power or Cox is out I can use the cell and facetime to talk with my daughter. 

SHIRLEY  watching the news last night and that tornado in or near Wichita I was wondering if it near you.

BUBBLE  growing up we wore a carnation on Mother's day and on Father's day, Red for still alive and white if they had died. A shame that tradition faded away. Even when my 3 were little we still wore carnations on our parent's special day. That was at least 65 years ago. Thank you for all today's goodies and all you do behind the scene to keep us going.

Have a good day and stay safe.

Happy May Oneth!

Recently heard this joke:

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
Answer:  Pilgrims   

Enjoy your day, Everyfriend.

 

I am almost teary eyed with the great text this morning, Bubble... I copied all to send my kids. I always thought about the red & white (rose or carnation) from WWII wearing and the Mother's Day ones, didn't know it came about before. Thanks for all you do.

Amy, I read every word & bookmarked the link about leeks.... interesting!  Next is to see if they grow in KS, I'd like to give 'em a taste test! Thanks!

Gloria, my house is west of the central part of town & tornado was southeast. News coverage is so good we don't get upset unless "it is headed OUR direction".... I really didn't think it did that much damage but been hearing about a lot after the fact. Only one gr-daughter lives in the general area & she was on the phone with her mother the whole time. The dogs were the biggest problem. 

Lloyd, feeding the birds is a full time job around here. I had some cans of peanuts left in the motorhome for nearly 2 years & some pecans & walnuts that got out of date during the Covid period.... plus some grapes that didn't get eaten fast enough & discovered some kind of bird would eat anything I put out.... and one robin built a nest on a light fixture where the robin that stayed with us for 8 years always built her first... and would come to look for food near the porch. Maybe one of her babies?  Been putting cooked "loose" hamburger out & that bird zooms down like I'm late serving her breakfast! She is almost as tame as her mother was, maybe in a few years?  Doesn't take much to make me happy!

I got a little less than 5 hours sleep last night (Fitbit doesn't lie) so will get a nap as soon as I eat lunch. Sun is shining and weather guesser is promising rain later in the week.... promises-promises!

My Tuesday shopping trip may get canceled if friends cannot make it into town.

Good morning...
Rained during the night and temp at the moment is 48°
Busy day here with men coming to install the propane heater in the garage. I am on call should my friend need help today.

Met our friend yesterday to pick up my quilt and I am pleased with the quilting. If it dries up I will try and get a photo of it.

Patricia better to err on the side of caution, than to get caught in rising water.

Shirley, I do think they are in your area..

http://wild-harvest.com/ramps-wild-leeks/

Jane, hope today is a better day for you.

Gloria, can't wait till the flowering crab blooms or the lilacs love them both!

Better get ready for the day.

Enjoy your day and stay safe.

Good Morning Everyfriend!  Cooper has arrived and is patiently waiting for his morning walk.  I like to wait for it to get full daylight and maybe for the rain to stop or at least slow down.  We've had it all night and I'm ready for some sunshine.  The report is saying that it is "cloudy".  Maybe we got lucky.

I'm trying to use up stuff that is taking space in the fridge so there's room for Frankie to keep stuff she needs.  I suspect that she will spend more time here than she does at home while I'm at Cindy's.  And since the guys working on Cindy's house are giving her a hard time, we might be adjusting that visit!  I told her that I'm flexible so she can do it whenever!

Today is cooking and baking day.... unless Cathy decides that it's shopping day.  I'm flexible there, too.  If she goes to WM this week, I go to the hair salon.  I'm desperate for a haircut!  I need a couple things but she can grab them while I get rid of some hair!

I guess I better get moving and take the Cooper-Snoop for his walk!  He's ready!  I wish you all a good day...better than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow.

Good morning  everyone. Not up to chatting this morning. Think I will have something to eat and take my morning pills and then lay on the couch and have a nap. CNA gets here at 1 this afternoon so have time to snooze. 

Maybe better stop having a nap every day. Read an article yesterday that said those napping more than 20 minutes every day may be on the verge of Alzheimer's. Gosh when I have a nap it is at least an hour. Glad I do not believe every thing I read.

Have a good day and if I get really awake later I will be back.
Be Safe from Covid and every thing else.     

   

QuoteAmy, I read every word & bookmarked the link about leeks.... interesting!  Next is to see if they grow in KS, I'd like to give 'em a taste test! Thanks!

Shirley, you don't have to go searching for wild leeks.  You can buy them in the Produce Section of the grocery store. That's where I get them when we get a hankering for Leek and Potato Soup.

Hope you are feeling better this afternoon, Gloria.

Thanks for the laugh, Callie.   

Take care, All.

Phyllis, we don't have the wild leeks in the grocery stores, just the tame one. If one goes to a farm market they may be able to find some. I was just lucky that friends dropped some off and I planted some and ate the rest!! Delicious!!!

Amy, the tame ones are what I use ln soup. I think they are bigger and milder than wild, aren't they?

Phyllis, yes much milder. The wild leeks are small but mighty!!

Sounds good to me & soup REALLY sounds good right now.  Watching radar as a new batch of storms head our way, be nice if they showed up daytime to take photos      , but we take what we get, right?

Just talked to my friend across town to see how her holly bush is doing... she lost 2 last winter but the other one is sporting little berries right now, just like mine. Mine is taller than the house & has been cut back many times, has several trunks that are bigger than my thighs & leaves are a healthy green. As far as I remember those little clusters of berries never showed up except before Christmas & I always did my trimming to use the branches for decorations with candles in the center. This AIN'T Christmas, folks! The trees have leafed out enough I can't see through them so guess winter is over.

Gloria, if we are headed into Alzheimer's because of naps, I'm in BIG trouble. I rarely get 5 hours sleep at night but enough daytime naps to make my average just over 7 hours total (daily last week). Sleep is main reason I wear a Fitbit, besides it keeps good time.

Tiger is waiting for her red meat meal. She loves chunks of it & probably will get more than she needs without having to share with Tom & Callie. Better get a move on, need to dry that load of clothes & make up the bed. Hate that job but easier to put same sheets back on than have to fold & put away. I thought a Queen bed was hard to change until the KING in the motorhome & so little room to walk around in it. Ah, well, talking won't get the job done. 

A good Monday HELLO to EVERYFRIEND 🌷

We had a nice rain during the night and it is the first measurable moisture we have had in a month.  Very thankful, but 🙏🙏 for more🤷

There was a clap of thunder through the night that scared half of our county to death.  Many did not know what it was and there has been all kind f chatting on social media all day long.

SHIRLEY, I worried so when I heard about and saw the damage from the tornado in Wichita. So glad you were not in it.  I am sorry that Callie Cat has gone missing.  😩🙏

I thank you, Bubble for our nice new SS.  The story about the rose was very enjoyable to read.  My favorite rose is the Peace Rose, but I love them all.

PATRICIA, I see the worry about where the water on your balcony is going to go has come to fruition😩😩

AMY, sorry you had your down time after the Covid Booster.  I hoped it might be different for you this time, but it seems you will continue to have this feeling with any that may follow. 

We had our electric meter changed out today.  We knew it was coming, but did not know when.  Everyone has been dreading it a# most have complained that their bills increase exponentially.  Reason being is that they now can charge you different amounts for the units depending on the time of day you use them.  Many places have gone to this new meter system it seems. 

My Boston son has been in Arizona visiting my dad and his in-laws.  He has really enjoyed the time with them as well as seeing some old high school and college friends.  He went with a couple of his college friends to the closest beach area in Porto  Paenasco Mexico where the friend was participating ina triathlon.   He has not been down there in many years and was shocked at how developed it is now.  They stayed in a beautiful resort that was over $400 a night.  By far not the old "Rocky Point" we went to for many years!

We have decided to go to dinner at our favorite pizza place tonight as some of the proceeds will go to our grandsons lacrosse team.  Always like to support places that do things like this. 

So good to catch up and see what you all are up to😍😍😍

Jenny

Hello Everyfriend!  After about a month of needing a haircut, I finally got one today!  I feel a couple pounds lighter!

It's nice to see so many of you in here, today.  I miss you all when you don't stop by!  Please don't be strangers!

I ran across a recipe called "Cowboy Stew" and it not only sounded good. I had all the ingredients.  So I made it today and now I know why cowboys are cowboys!  They eat well!  I'm going to post it over in recipes because it's not only good to eat...it's easy to make! 

I've been hooked on my library book this week and it's really getting interesting.  The mystery is working out and I still don't see where it's going.  His books don't wrap up until the last few pages!

I'm heading for the haystack in a bit!  Cooper is arriving early this week and I don't seem to be able to squeeze in a nap any more.  I guess I won't have to worry about Altzheimers!

I wish you all a peaceful night's sleep and a happy tomorrow.  And may God bless us, every one!  And may he look after the Ukrainians!

Sweet dreams & God Bless to ALL.... Who was it that sang, "may the Good Lord Bless and Keep You"..........??  That's all that I remember but my brain is already asleep tonight. I hear Tiger snoring, she is my shadow & know she would love for me to go to bed so she can settle down for the night.  I can hear that man's voice singing & it stops before I can think of who used that as a theme song..... help?  I'm off to bed... Love y'all.....Shirley
Okay, Eddy Arnold & Kate Smith for starters on that recording.

Is this the one?

Good morning...

A wet day today...we are off to the city for an appointment.

Propane is all set up and the boys did a great job. Instead of building a fire on  all Kyle has to do is flick a switch if need be.

Baked a cherry pie and a blueberry square and put some in the hidey hole.

Enjoy your day and stay safe../color]

Good Morning Everyfriend!  I think it was Kate Smith who closed her show with that song.  But I could be wrong!  I couldn't open what AMY put in.  If I could have, I'd probably prove myself wrong.  I'm not good at music.  I like it but I don't remember stuff.

I got up to greet Cooper's arrival and I just remembered that Frankie is off today!  So here I am, wondering what to do with the next couple of hours!  I think I'll go get a second cup of coffee and have a piece of AMY's cherry pie.  I wish you all a good day...better than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow. 

P.S,  It's already 45º today and heading for a high of70.  I'll take it!!!