Mother

Chrysanthemums and the mothers in my maternal line

Chrysanthemums are the traditional flower for Mother’s Day in Australia. They are also the birth flower for November, which was coincidentally my mother’s birth month. There appear to be many different meanings for chrysanthemums. Some say they symbolize optimism and joy, although some believe the yellow chrysanthemum is meant to

Read More

Adapting to Modernity

There was good news and bad news when I discovered “Adapting to Modernity” by Heide W Whelan in the library. The good news, apart from the fact it is in English, was that it is the best resource I’ve found so far in my research about my father’s family. The

Read More

Cooking with my Mother

Most of the time my mother was a mediocre cook. This wasn’t her fault, she learnt from her mother who had to teach herself. Almost every meal consisted of some form of red meat or chicken with well steamed vegetables or a side salad and a mountain of mashed potatoes.

Read More

Tell Me a Story

“Story is the song line of a person’s life. We need to sing it and we need someone to hear the singing. Story told. Story heard. Story written. Story read creates the web of life in words.” Christina Baldwin As a child and even as a teenager, I remember asking

Read More

Being Sick

I’m fighting off whatever it is which is worse than a cold but not as bad as flu, so this post might ramble a bit. It started last Friday with a sore throat, floored me on Saturday and today I’ve been feeling a bit more like myself, albeit constantly mopping

Read More

Mother’s Day, Memories and Immortality

So far, I’ve had a lovely Mother’s Day. A phone call from my son who lives on the other side of the country, lunch with my eldest son, his fiancée and my two grandsons and I’m looking forward to going to the movies with my youngest son this evening. It

Read More