A Mother's Journal » Holidays

Valentine Vignette and a Modestly Bejeweled Dress

Lynn — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:02:13 +0000

My Dear Readers,

Happy Monday morn! It will be an extremely busy Monday here. There is much work for me today, with my transcription job. Lots and lots of work! It’s hard to even explain just how much work there is.

But I am happy; I am truly saying happy Monday morn. Life at best is brief. It’s so easy to focus on a little thing that’s not just right. A worry. A problem. Health. Money. The list goes on, but the gift of life itself is so precious! I want to just keep trying to be the best I can be in the moment. Really, what else do I have?

Today I was in the mood to wear something prairie-ish. That side of me has gone nowhere, folks. She is here and alive and looking forward to being all smocked and apron-ed up and in a garden again someday.

I recently found an off white cotton dress with the prettiest little glitter-like sprinkle of beads at each shoulder and across the upper back. Other than that, it is simply cut, simply plain, and very country-like.

Dress: JCrew thrifted $4.00
Silky flowers: Added by yours truly.

I wanted all off-white today. Something pure bright to match our cloudy-gray-white but bright skies this morning. I want to feel when I walk Annie like I am not going to stop. Like I am walking on over the hills, to a planted field where the men are working and the women are taking out a lunch. A girl can dream…

Sheer long-sleeve shirt: Only Hearts thrifted $3.00
Laugh lines and wrinkles: Free, but hard won.

White cotton “petticoat” skirt: Thrifted ginger $4.00
Boots: Riding boots that were a gift from my sweet sister from when she lived in Germany and rode for awhile; the best sister anyone could ever want in this world. Sort of like my mom. I have the best sister ever and I just won’t argue about it.

chopsticks: Clearance item from Pier I Imports, shortened to make hair sticks.

Hair is a messy bun again today, held up with combs and chopsticks.

Dear friends, I am still enjoying the Alice Tree as is. Yes, and I think I just cannot bear to tear it apart and make a Valentine tree. In fact, I am thinking of selling the whole tree on Etsy. Perhaps a shop owner would want it for their display window? Anyway, it was a friend’s idea and I sort of like it. Yes I do. I think THE ALICE TREE should stay in one piece. Well, it would have to be taken apart for shipping, but then could go right back up and be a most magical display in a city tea shop or something.

The little Japanese-American doll sits in a Valentine box with some red and white candy. There are touches of pink and red all around Lynn’s Rose Cottage.

So, it is off to work right now. Yeah. I see lots of hot tea in my future. Today, that is. I try not to look too far beyond today.

Enjoy this day!

In Anticipation of a Happy New Year

Lynn — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:54:34 +0000

Dear Friends,

Thank you for visiting on this bright Saturday morn. At least it is bright here. And chilly! I hope you have sunny skies. And if not, I hope you have a bright and cheerful spirit about you as you face your day!

Have you ever heard the saying about new ideas? Being like children? That they are much easier to conceive than they are to deliver! And it is in that vein of thought that I enter the new year. No resolutions for me this year. My goal is to continue to heal. To cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving and humility and joy. I pray for joy, for it is one of the fruits of the spirit. It is easy to discount that one should be joyful, but joyful we should be.

Thank you to all my dear friends who have walked with me into a new life. Perhaps I have spoken of my New Life too much, but it has been huge. Tremendous. It has been like being pulled from a dark place. It has been like waking up. It has been like realizing that a bad dream was only a bad dream and you are free to go about your day. But here’s to a year of WONDER and a thankful spirit. And moving on. And JOY.

Did I say I was not making a resolution? Well, I am not. Not really. But there has been something on my heart. I want to do more for others. Even if it is just a little thing. When we do for others, we do for ourselves.

Enjoy this day!

Let’s enter the New Year with a song, shall we? I invite you to close your eyes and think of everything beautiful! The man you love. The children you rock to sleep. The friend who is always there. The perfect winter dress. Roses in springtime.

PS — I have to thank Laurie of the most perfect Rose Cottage ever for the music. The music on her blog led me to this song. The perfect music for entering 2012!

You Never Know What You Might Find!

Lynn — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:29:46 +0000

Hello, Friends! I just wanted to pop in this evening and share some pictures from Christmastime ’round here. It was nothing fancy, I assure you, but it is nice to eat a meal with family and friends and do some old-fashioned things like roast chestnuts over an open fire.

My moms goats, looking at the crowd around them.

And, yes, friends, we did roast chestnuts over an open fire for Christmas. My mother, bless her dear sweet industrious heart, built a fire (even though ‘twernt that cold outside) and she roasted chestnuts, just so we could say we did. They were quite interesting! Good flavor! Fun stuff!

The retro pink Christmas tree I lugged home from G.W. Boutique, not because I love Christmas trees (or even want one), no, but because I have one particular child who loves them. But come to think of it, I might just leave this up and decorate it with Valentines. Don’t you think it would become Rose Cottage?

All gifts were bejeweled this year with my handmade tags.

As well as pretty old-fashioned ribbons. I do say, wrapping is half the fun!

Princess of the Universe informed me that she no longer plays with dolls, but this little porcelain cutie needed a home, and I needed to know that I can still put a doll in my girl’s stocking for Christmas. Right?

And finally, last but not least, I found the prettiest corset while out shopping for Christmas. You know G.W. called my name! And you know I answered! Anytime. Anywhere. G.W. and I have the most fun together.

This corset is not so comfortable, unfortunately, but do I love the effect! Romantic! Old fashioned! It has gotten me quite in the mood to look for more corsets and to maybe invest in one or two that are made to be worn day in and day out. Unlike this one, which wears okay for an hour or so, but then you might feel like you have to get out of it, or else. Oh well.

And now to the reason I called this post what I called it. In searching on line for…ahem…corset information, I found a very cute blog that tied up my mind for about half an hour or so. Very retro. Lots of ideas. Lots of cool pictures (though a little word of caution to those of you with children who read here, you may find vintage undergarments modeled). Lots of retro info!

Alice Jean’s

Enjoy this day!

Color Me Pink Paisley and Sparkles

Lynn — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:16:18 +0000

Sometimes I suprise myself when I find a new ray of sunshine in my life. Where were you, sunshine, all those years? I looked hard for you but always found you only indirectly. You were shining on The Little Wild Garden, you were, and that, in turn, kept me alive. Maybe I should be glad you were not shining on me all the time. For something had to make me move. Something. Anything. And find again the girl inside me who was dying.

Yeah, I am amazed every time I see a little bright spot in my life. A new, fun dress. A big flower pinned on for good measure. Something that makes me laugh. Doing something that reveals a part of me that was hidden from me and I had forgotten about.

I don’t want to make this blog a ME, ME, ME blog, but I am full of things I could share about women who give too much. Isn’t there a book about that somewhere? Ah, well. We must balance taking care of ourselves with laying down our lives for a friend. It is a delicate balance, friends, and one to examine in our own lives every day. I find that praying for widsom helps the most.

Do you love being a girlie-girl? (Well, of course not if you are one of my male readers.) But if you are a girl, are you a girlie girl? In a vintage shop the other day, I found these very dainty little hairpins with what looked like ivory roses on them. Even something so tiny makes me happy!

Yesterday, on a French country looking scrap of fabric, I dried dozens of handcut tags for the holiday season. Every little break yesterday, I tended these tags.

I tended these tags. I hummed Christmas carols. I thought of what to make next. The artsy side of my brain was happy.

And I ended up with 62 tags, ready for selling and/or using.

All covered in sparkly dust.

Pink sparkly dust, no less. And also sprinkled with some invisible fairy dust, left over in my thoughts from The Little Wild Garden.

This morning they are packaged into bundles of 5 and are ready for distributing. Don’t you LOVE making things this time of year? Oh my!!

I guess you are wondering about my latest GW find? Reference dress at top. Right at 3 dollars, give or take a few cents. Also, the desk I am leaning against was a find on the same day. I had been looking for EXACTLY that, to put the doll house up on, because a certain fatso spoiled rotten beagle of the universe (who shall remain nameless) had been chewing on doll house furniture. $9.99. And below, see the new, lovely, Victorian looking lamp for my mail/bill desk. $4.99.

Let’s enjoy this day! Let’s sing! Let’s twirl! (Put on something pretty!) Take care of yourself.

Pins, Pins, and More Pins

Lynn — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:43:19 +0000

Ahhh, my little brooch pins. I do enjoy making them. I get so lost in the process, but feel there is so little time to truly work on them!

I did, however, finally get some pins made and into the shop on Saturday evening late. I do have to work all day today, but I am hopeful that I can get a few more finished up and into the shop today.

While looking through photos on Saturday, I came across some old photographs of my grandmother. She was born a Comer, but her mother had been a McNeill (Betsy Rosanna McNeill), and that branch of McNeills can be traced back across North Carolina’s history to the 1700s when the first McNeill we know of came over, he having been born in the late 1600s. It is quite the interesting story.

Anyway, my grandmother ended up on a couple of pins.

And this one…

I miss my grandmother so much. I think sometimes I’d like to put my arms around her again and make 100% totally without-a-doubt sure that she knew how much I loved her.

I hope you all have an excellent 4th of July!! I will be working, but I am enjoying my surroundings: a quiet, clean and bright apartment, with lots of vintage and Victorian effects. I have food. I have water. I have much to be thankful for.

Enjoy this day!

In The Shop

Lynn — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:17:58 +0000

In the shop…

Happy Memorial Day. Remember those who gave all they had.

Enjoy this day.

PS — Annie’s Favorite Vacation Destination…

You know it.

Beagle love.

Mother Is Another Name for Love

Lynn — Tue, 10 May 2011 03:28:53 +0000

I remember when I was about 10 years old, finding a book called just that: Mother is Another Name for Love. It was one of those little gift books full of pictures and sayings. As I looked through the pages, I thought my heart would burst with love for my own mother. I spent what money I had and bought that book for her.

Was I proud?

Does Annie-fatso-newborn-baby-beagle-of-the-universe like to eat?

Anyway, this is a belated Happy Mother’s Day! (This is okay, isn’t it?) And mothers are not just people who have children. No. I have had many mothers in my life. Some of them were people close to my own age but who had more wisdom than I had. Some of them were sweet little ladies I knew for 5 minutes in a grocery store parking lot when they offered to hold my newborn babe while I put my groceries in the car! Some of them were great aunts who took me under their wings.

Real mother, or mother figure? (Can you see the little chick she’s holding?)

What got me to thinking about this whole business of mothers, and then mothers who are mothers by heart and not necessarily by having children of their own (other than Mother’s Day, of course), was the Bronte children. I have been reading this past week or so about the young Bronte children; of how Papa came and retrieved Charlotte and Emily from school and took them home to the moor — to Haworth. In the beginning, Charlotte was quite put out over having to leave school, but when she was reunited with Branwell and little Anne (all of them orphans!), her heart began to soften. Thinking of their mother who had died and left them, in the end Charlotte decided that she may not need an education so much as Branwell and little Anne needed looking after. Young though she was, Charlotte had the heart of a good mother!

Then there’s the matter of being a mother; the matter of having given birth or adopted a baby into your own arms. Oh, how sweet! I remember when I had Michaela, I got a card from my late dad. He said, “Are you a mother yet again?” Each time is immensely special!

I love my babies. All four of them. All of their little stubborn ways, all of their kind gestures towards me. I love the memories I have of each one of them nestling into my arms and looking at me as if I was the only being on the planet besides them. It’s an everlasting joy.

The child I speak of shall remain nameless, but at some point in time, one of my children gave me this Haiku poem that they composed all on their own:

When I was younger
not knowing where to go to
I found peace in you

There’s the next poet laureate right there! Found right at your very own Rose Cottage! And there goes my heart again, bursting at the seams with pride!

Well, we must talk about it. There’s the matter of the mother-in-law. Oh, hush your mouth before you say anything bad. Actually, most of us probably inherited very good mothers-in-law. Now, I myself had a lovely mother-in-law, but during her last years, well, let’s just say that she kept me busy, even as the old postcard says!

During her last years she had lots of time on her hands and sort of a short memory. I was at home with four children ages 11 and under and trying to type full time and homeschool, and my mother-in-law called me about ~~1000~~ 15 times a day. Really. She would call and ask me if I knew what to do when a commode was running and would not stop. Then she’d call me back 10 minutes later and say she would sure be in trouble over the water bill and how again did you get the water to stop running. Then she’d call me about an hour later and tell me about that time a black snake was in her bedroom and she thought it was a belt on the floor and picked it up. Then she called me a few minutes later and said it had flicked it’s tongue at her. Then she called me a few minutes after that and said the snake was about two feet long. About an hour later she called to tell me the snake was four feet long. Then there was the time she called and I (very guiltily) decided just this once that I had to keep typing and not pick up the phone but let the answering machine get it instead.

“Lynn Wilson? I am looking for Lynn Wilson. Is this the home of Lynn Wilson? A strange person was talking on your phone and then stopped. Are you okay? If Lynn Wilson is there could she come to the phone? Could you tell her that I called.” Looooooooooong silence.

I learned it was easier just to answer.

After about a year of this — this last year or so of her life, she was gone. I had lost a mother. Not a mother-in-law. She was sweet and kind (and eccentric) and she always said she loved me like a daughter, which is one more reason it was easier to just pick up the phone. I loved her.

So here’s to every person who has a mother’s heart! Here’s to kindness. Here’s to having candy in your purse to give away to children with big, bright eyes. Here’s to slowing down in later years and giving out advice. (But, please, not too much of it.) Here’s to giving young people lots and lots to do.

Our White Christmas

Lynn — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:36:36 +0000

How was your Christmas?

I wanted to tell you about our White Christmas, a day that started out clear and cold and ended with blustery wind and snow.

Head of the house at the wheel = perfect timing, serious driving, classical music (in this case The Celtic Women Christmas CD). Hubby and I sang in our best opera voices all the way there. I was hoarse when we arrived and our children thought we’d finally snapped.

They put their glasses on so they didn’t get recognized at stop lights.

Presents. Food. Food. Laughter. More food. More laughter. More food. Nap. More food. Then it’s time to go home. Pooh.

I took a walk outside with the camera. Once upon a time, my mom and step-dad raised labs. They had the prettiest labs you’ve ever seen. The last lab left is Honey. She is very old. She has a hard time walking. She tries to keep up with everyone. There she is poking along, trying to reach the family who’ve gathered around what they’ve come out to see. By the time family is heading back to the house, Honey has just arrived to see what’s going on. Then, with the true spirit of a lab, Honey turns around slowly and follows everyone back. Slowly. We all stop to visit with Honey, though. Don’t worry. She does not lack attention.

I spot a bench. Let’s sit down. But only for a few minutes. It’s cold!

I love it at my mom’s. She has a gift for putting things in just the right spot. Her roses cooperate. (Wish mine would.)

I wanted to show you what my mother did this year for the birds! This is taken through a window, so the results are not as clear as they might have been had I been patient outside and waited for pictures out there.

She took some cedar boughs and covered them in treats for the birds: little oranges cut in half and filled with seed. Pine cones filled with a suet mixture. A pot of birdseed hangs nearby.

Though not nearly clear enough, you can see how the birds love this little feeding area!

And…

and…

I love this one of the bird literally hanging upsidedown from the pinecone!

We said our good-byes and arrived back home just before the snow did. It snowed and snowed and snowed. This has been the coldest December EVER for us. We ended up with about 5 inches I think. North and east of us they kept getting more and more.

It was a beautiful snow!

We stayed inside and put away our presents, cleaned up all the papers and ribbons from earlier that day, and then we settled down to just enjoy being warm and close and quiet while the snow fell quietly in the dark outside.

I hope you had a good Christmas!

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

Lynn — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:31:32 +0000

a craft show coming up soon.

and homemade ornaments

decorated with Victorian images

and red, green, silver and gold charms.

Old Man Winter

Lynn — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:18:51 +0000

He’s not here yet, but he’s getting close.

There was evidence this morning of his icy cold breath, and his attempts to turn the red in the leaves to brown, so that his drab, heavy winter coat might blend in when he comes.

And then, as if by magic, his beard will whiten one clear, cold night, he’ll change coats, and we’ll wake up underneath a blanket of quiet white.

Old Man Winter is quiet, if nothing else.

There are jingle bells on the front door. Michaela has set up a little tree to hold our Five In A Row ornaments. (More about that later.) Hot oatmeal with cinnamon makes for a good breakfast these days. The magnets on the refrigerator hold wish lists in place for mom and dad to read. The evenings bring hot chocolate with whipped cream and a good book.

So, what’s up at your house?

Lynn