Tuesday 25 January 2011

I am going away to my Mum's for a week!


My Mum is 87 and a very active and lively lady.She lost my Dad a few years ago and found it very hard to live without him.They had been married for just over 60 years.She is quite a nervous and anxious lady even though she always appears the life and soul of the party, so losing her rock was not easy.

As a little girl she was often lonely,an only child who lived in her imagination and it is to her I owe my interest in books,poetry and fantasy.She also taught me to sew  and her artistic way of homemaking was inpirational Of course I was a headstrong little hippy and often we clashed as daughters and Mums do!Now we are older a greater understanding is possible.



This is Mum, Margaret Leonora Moreland,she was such a dear lttle thing!


Here she is 19 and getting married during w.war 2, her dress was made from parachute silk and some bits of brocade.Mum and Dad met on the train to Waterloo when they were both working in London.When Dad was called up she sat and cried and the people on the train comforted her ,they were known to the other regular passengers as "The Young Lovers"

 This is a school photo,she loved poetry and wrote it from an early age and she still writes today when she isn't rushing around at home in the garden or dressing the window in the charity shop she works in two days a week!

A Chidhood Memory of the Early Thirtys

By Margaret Day

I remember a classroom,green painted
A wooden desk with a lift up lid
On the right at the back
A hole with a china inkwell.

Thirtyfive or more children sat in chairs
Hands clasped tight together
Showing white on the knuckles
Praying for something unknown.

A shaft of November's yellow sunshine
Slanted across the blackboard
Dust motes sailed in the gold
As the distant gun sounded.

Everything stopped for the silence
Buses trains ,all traffic
"Bow your heads now" the teacher said
"And think of those who fought and died"

Eyes squeezed tightly shut in reverence
I tried to picture mud filled trenches
Whistles blown and over the top
But then I was an earnest little girl.


She also wrote this next one which I find enchanting ,hope you do too.

Bonfire.

The apple wood is burning
and memories rise
with spiralling smoke
into a violet sky.

Golden grass in the sun
Bare brown legs
Apples like fallen treasure
And children's laughter.

The round whicker basket
The leaning ladder
The strut holder and the climber
Both sadly gone.

Still the sweet scent rises
From the embers
Whisps of curling dreams
 Drift into evening.


Mum loves flowers,her garden, flower arranging and has spent her life making things beautiful .She is a Grandma and Great Grandma and continues to flirt with any lovely young man she comes across !


 Her she is at Christmas having a paddle in the cold Atlantic ocean.


Well I am of for a week to stay with Mum and so this will be my last post for a while, Ihope you enjoyed this one I feel all emotional now!

17 comments:

  1. what an absolutely wonderful post. Your Mum is a beautiful woman, inside and out........... you got me all emotional too! have a terrific visit!

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  2. Beautifully put together as usual, Ang. Your blog is so well crafted; visually a treat.

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  3. A delightful post. Your Mum sounds like a very special lady and she is lucky to have such a loving daughter.

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  4. A lovely post which stirred memories of my dear Mum. I sit at a desk exactly like the one in your second picture; it came from England. My Mum made me pyjamas, petticoats and panties out of parachute silk.

    Have a lovely week with your dear Mum...she looks wonderful for her age!!

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  5. What a lovely story about your mother! You now, my eyes are in tears by know. I also had a great mother but I lost her far to early. I'll always miss her, so take the opportunity to be with your mother as much as you can. ...and I'll think you do...
    An absolutely beautiful story with so many pretty photoes.
    I wish you a great time together and enjoy all the time!

    All for now
    Birgitta

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  6. Awww...this is so sweet! Have a wonderful visit!

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  7. angela, what a wonderful post to come to here! i wish you and your Mum the very best time. my Mom is 95 and like yours her eyes still glow.

    now i'm off to see those dresses :)

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  8. I really enjoyed this candid post. I love all the images of your mom and what a lovely poetry as well - as a matter of fact I recall the same school desks when I was a child, even though I am about 40+ years younger the your mom.;) In the communist era we used andre-used.;)
    Happy birthday to your mom and enjoy the time together.;)
    xoxoxo

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  9. How wonderful your post,
    moved me, tempting
    old photos of your mom.
    Glad to meet you
    Susy

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  10. Thankyou all for those lovely comments and thankyou all for dropping by.We had a good visit !

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  11. Angela, a lovely tribute to your mum, she Mum sounds a wonderful lady, so interesting. I love her poetry, it paints wonderful imags in my mind. Have a wonderful time x ps: Day, that was my maternal grandparents name too.

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  12. Reading this post put a smile on my face - really lovely

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  13. Hello Angela,

    Just found your blog... it's lovely. Enjoyed reading your post about your Mum - she sounds like a delightful, elegant lady.

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  14. Thanks for visiting my blog!
    Your blog is very nice, congratulations! (sorry if my english is not perfect). Greetings from Italy!

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  15. Thanks Sylvia Your English is great my Italian is zilch!

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  16. Hello, Angela! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog during the weekend--happy to meet you and find your lovely place here in blogland! Cornwall... that is corner of England my husband & I long to see--we are both huge Anglophiles! :o) Such a sweet post about your Mother... Have a wonderful visit with you. Stop by my place when you get back, get a chance. Love the name of your blog too, by the way--Inspired by Keats, perhaps? Happy Days ((HUGS))

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  17. Thanks Tracy,yes it is inspired by Keats,I shall certainly keep popping in to your blog.Had a lovely visit with Mum thanks!The real beauty of Cornwal is the coast but the Moors and the ancient history are also wonderful.We also have some fine gardens and stately homes.Hope you visit someday. lol Angela x

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