Sunday 9 May 2010

Mother's Day 2010

It's a good thing I haven't got around to changing my heading picture yet.  The hermitage looks exactly like the photo.  Snow blankets everything.  Thank goodness I was feeling too ill yesterday to shop for impatiens to plant in the strange attempt at a well that sits in a large patch of tiger lilies that also had the sense to wait till it was really spring before blossoming.  And thank heavens I am still nurturing indoors the basil plant I bought last week.

A strange year, this one.

Unseasonably warm this spring.  Far less snow and frigid temperatures than is usual this past winter.  And now this ... a real snowfall on Mother's Day.

Kenya was very sweet this morning ... and she finally broke her mother's heart.  Here is your Kenya story ... or is it the Crunch'n'Clean story?

Kenya went out to pee, and returned expecting a cookie.  I handed her a C&C which she tossed on the rug with a dismissive fling of her head.  I retrieved it.   (Yes, I know, she is the retriever, not me.)   We did the shake-a-paw trick thing.   She shook my hand and then went over to her food dish and rattled it loudly on the slate floor.  I said she had a C&C there, and pointed.  She gave the canine equivalent of a shrug and tossed the C&C around for a minute or so.  Then she ate it and went straight back to her food dish.  The message was clear to any mother.  "All right.  I've eaten my damned carrots.  NOW can I have dessert?"  I fed her, and went back to the fire and my tea.  When I came back she was sitting under the treats shelf looking up longingly.  She noticed me and gave that groany "PLEASE" thing she has perfected.

It worked. I gave her a Dentistix.  She took it with a look that can only be described as joyful and bounded off to her couch to savour it.

To all you mothers out there ... and to any dads, single or not, who play the role ... have a great day, even if it is snowing where you live.  Enjoy your children.

6 comments:

Erin Kuhns said...

Are you doing anything for Mother's Day? My brother and I are supposed to take my mom out next weekend. Aidan insists on making me breakfast in bed but he's still asleep. :)

Happy Mother's Day, Barbara! xoxo

Oma said...

Hi Erin. Happy Mother's Day. I am planning to stick close to the wood stove with a good book and maybe paint the glass for the little table today. I just got off the phone with my son. He has given me the best possible Mother's Day present ... he is quitting smoking ... seriously this time. Enjoy your lunch in bed!

Erin Kuhns said...

That's a great mom's day present!

Breakfast in bed didn't quite pan out. More like: I coached him making scrambled eggs. And I now have homemade pizzas in the oven to feed the men working on my deck today (Ed & my bro). That would be the best Mom's day gift--to get the deck finished.

Barbara Carlson said...

Your story of Kenya MADE MY DAY!
I was there with you. I am so glad you are back & writing about your days; reading them makes my life so much richer.

Have a nice cozy day inside from the cold. Yes, a strange year -- I predict the summer will be stinking hot! (I have blankets over my 4 rhubarb plants hoping they survive.)

John was hoping it would snow here in Ottawa so he could paint it. He is out almost every day, all day, making a record -- in oils -- of his gloriously common little acre of woods.

The other day as we stood by the elevator, he was miming painting, his hand out in front of him, his eyes half closed. I said, "John, use your words."

He paused, then mimed painting again.

Oma said...

Barbara ... "use your words" ... too funny ... maybe he has found his real voice ... and real words ...

I had a lovely cozy day reading Khaled Hosseini's new novel (after The Kite Runner) and watching Roberto Benigni's move, Life is Beuatiful, and painting the glass table top.

I am having fun with this creating shapes, shadings and texture with paint.

And I am beginning to feel like my old self health-wise as well.

Hope you had a lovely weekend.

Barbara Carlson said...

I wrote a well-formed (I thought) Comment on a young person's site a few months ago and in response got this.

"Thank you for your words."

Too funny I thought, too.

Good weekend -- I began a new digital graphic AND I am slowly making chicken stock right now and the whole apartment smells delicious,