THE GOLD FISH BOWL

The gold fish bowl, or at least that's what I called it, for that's what I remember it as.  I wonder what happened to that bowl?  I wonder where it went? I only have memories of that bowl now.  It sat atop the crystal cabinet that my grandmother got as an engagement present.  It was large and round and made of glass.  But there never were any gold fish in it, which was a curious thing really, for why do I remember it as the gold fish bowl.  I guess I will never know.

I remember that bowl because it reminds me of my great grandmother Eva.  I remember that bowl because inside of it was knitting .... needles and wool, among other things.

That bowl was magic to me, the magic of knitting, the magic of my grandmother.  That was where I first learned to knit.

In that same room stood a piano, a beautiful upright piano, a piano that my grandmother played.  My sisters and I would fight to have 5 minutes on that piano.  Eva had a cake timer, which she would set for 5 mins in which the piano became yours.  You could sit on that piano stool and play to your hearts content for a whole 5 mins, until the bell on the timer rang.  It was at that point that you were usually unceremoniously pushed off the piano stool by one of your sisters whose 5 minutes would start as soon as the timer was set.  Patience is not a virtue of children.

Eva was a wonderful pianist .... she could sit at that piano and play away without a piece of music in front of her and oh the sounds that came out of that piano.  I could listen to her for ages playing.  She'd play a tarantella and I'd dance away, as if in another world.  I loved to sway to her beautiful music.  I loved it so much.

I was the ballerina, dancing on stage for all the world to see.

I was the girl with the tambourine, banging loudly and skipping round in circles.

I was a flower swaying in the breeze.

I was anything I wanted to be when I danced to Eva's magical music.

Granny Cooper we called her ..... she baked the best cakes, she made the best jam, she baked the best pies.  She wore 4711 Eau De Cologne ... not the greatest smell you might say, but if ever I were the smell that today, I know I would think of her.

Eva remains but a memory for me now, but a wonderful memory, and one which I will never forget.

Eva and Thomas Cooper

She really did give the most wonderful hugs.

POM POMS and AGAPANTHAS ...........

Hydrangeas

 The secret to changing their colour is in the soil.

I went to a friend's house today and saw this beautiful sight.
These 3 Hydrangea plants were in the same garden bed, which I found quite fascinating as they were almost next to one another and still they were different colours.  They look so pretty in the garden.  I can still remember my great-grandparents having heaps and heaps of these plants everywhere in their garden and I can always remember how beautiful they looked.  I used to call them pom poms, because that's what they looked like to me, large pom poms.  When I saw these today, they so reminded me of my great-grandmother's home.

If you want your Hydrangeas to be bluer then they need to be in more acid soils and in more Ph soil they go more pink.  If you want more information about Hydrangeas then go here.   I found this site very informative and easy to read.

Agapanthas

 Can't resist taking a picture or two of these.  Another reminder of my great-grandparents house and the wonderful grandmother that she was to me.  These lined the driveway all the way down to the house, alternating in white and blue.  I become all sentimental when I see them, as they evoke such wonderful memories.

What wonderful memories do you have of your grandparents?

What things evoke wonderful memories for you?

To the Animal Companions in our lives

I had a friend come online a little while ago to chat to me on messenger to tell me that she had had to have her cat put to sleep tonight. Her cat was 19 years old. She was crying and talked about how she had been with the cat when the vet euthanaised her. As she talked to me I could feel her pain at the sadness of losing a animal companion that she had shared so much time with.

I totally understood how she feels because when we were growing up we had a little dog that my dad brought home one day and held her in the palm of his hand.....she was a fox terrier cross and we called her Midge. She was particularly special to us because my father was killed when I was almost seven years old and so she was a memory of my father in a way. Oh how we loved that little dog. Everyone in the neighbourhood knew her. If she wasn't sitting in our yard, she went next door. She was happiest when she was around people. She slept in the house and most often slept on or in our beds.

I don't honestly know how she survived to be an adult dog. We all loved to dress her up and push her around in the dolls pram, or we'd put her in the wheelbarrow and wheel her around the back yard or down the street. The worst thing that ever happened to her was that my brothers decided one day that they were going to teach her tricks and so they tried to teach her to climb a ladder. Well it never did quite work and when she finally fell off the ladder she broke her leg. I'm not sure how much it cost my mother to go to the vet that day, but I can tell you she was none too happy.

If you were sad or happy there she would be right beside you. If you were sad it was almost as though she understood that you were sad. You could tell her your deepest fear, or saddest moment and she seemed to listen and just be there for you.

Well the day finally came that she got ill and we were told by the vet that she was dying. He said that we could take her home, but that when certain things happened it would be the end of her time and then she would probably be in pain. He said that the kindest thing to do would be to put her to sleep then so that she didn't have to suffer any longer.

Sure we cried a lot, and wished that we didn't have to do it, but in the end we knew that it was the kindest thing to do. So off we went to the vet with her. The vet said that it would be quick and that she would just go off to sleep. While we all stood around the vet took care of everything else and very quickly she slipped into a peaceful sleep at which time her heart ceased to beat. Midge was 13 years old......much older in dog years.

We were all sad, but knew in the end that we had done the kindest thing for her. I imagine at that moment when she slipped from this world to the next she was running around in fields of green grass and she was once again the happy little dog that I knew from my childhood.

So to my friend D, I have written this little story in memory of your precious animal companion Jacqui and all the joy and happiness that she brought to you in her lifetime. May she be in the next life, young again, running, sleeping and playing as she did in her younger days. I know that you will miss her and it will take time to get over her passing. You will never forget her and she will always be in your heart. She had a good life.

On being a mother.

Lately my thoughts have been with my children and how quickly they have all grown up. I feel more aware than ever just how very short life is. It seems like only yesterday my children were young and had their whole lives in front of them....well they still have their whole lives in front of them, but they are no longer little and in my constant care. Yesterday they were 12 and 10 years old and today they are almost 25 and 27 years old. I did have one more child after this.......I feel I was so blessed to have 5 children....so very lucky.

I have been going through my photos and found this one amongst them all. I know they were that young once, but I just can't believe that two of these children are now parents with children of their own.

Children are such a blessing in our lives. They can bring heartache yes...that is just part of being a parent, but they are also the most wonderful and important part of our lives. For me having a family is probably the most important thing that I have ever done in my life.

I realise how precious it was to have this time with my children when they were little. As life has progressed and certain events have taken place in my life I have come to realise just how important loving, holding, hugging, sharing and enjoying your children is. I have come to realise how important families are.

Here's miss A (Sooooo cute - but then what mother wouldn't say that), the one not in the other photo who came along later. She will be 17 in a few weeks.........yeek!! 17 years old.....now that is scary, very scary!! She keeps reminding me of that fact often lately.

Someone asked me once in a job interview of all things what was the most rewarding experience I had ever had in my life and I only had to think for a second and said BEING A MOTHER...and I truly meant it.

When I found out that I was expecting my second child I wondered how I was going to love that child as much as the first. I didn't understand how I would be able to find enough love for both children. Silly me!!! I came to realise that as a mother our love just expands and expands to include all the children that we have......I know God made it that way.

FIVE LIVING GENERATIONS

Yesterday I posted on here about my love of the Piano and my great-grandmother who influenced that love.

In the photo in my previous post were 4 generations of women in my family. We are a very female/women oriented family, with my brother R being the first boy in my immediate family for something like 47 yrs. Of course he is almost that old himself now.

On the left is my mother, as I said in my previous post carrying the next generation of women in our family - namely my twin sister and I. Next to her is my grandmother, known to me as Granny R, then next to her on the right is my great-grandmother, Granny C and then next at the far right on the photo is my great-great-grandmother, known as Gigi (pronounced Gig-ee). Apparently my great uncle G (my grandmother's brother) couldn't say grandma so he said Gigi instead and the name stuck.

Except for my mum, my sister and I all the other women in this photo are no longer alive. Gigi was the grand old age of 99 years when she passed away. My great grandmother, Granny C, was a bit younger, around 78 yrs......her husband Grandpa C was around 89 years when he died and Granny R was 86 yrs when she died. So you can see that we all have pretty long lives.

This was the first time that we had 5 living generations in my family. After this lot of 5 generations we had 2 more at other times. Once when my neice Miss S was born and then when Miss S had a son Mstr. D.

Not many people have the privilege of saying that they have had 5 generations living at 3 different times during their life time - but I have been blessed to be a part of one of those 5 generations. We only have 4 generations alive at the moment, but if my mum lives to be as old as her forebears and our grandchildren have children then it is always a possibility again....and that would be so exciting.