Sins of the Mother

Books

Author: Irene Kelly

I brought this book home from Kathryn’s one trip but I think I may have given it to her as a gift at one time.

It is a powerful testimony, written by a ghost writer, about how the lives of an entire generation were changed forever from the abuse the mother suffered both in her home and in an Irish orphanage. The story is told from the point of view of three members of the family – the mother, her second husband, and their daughter. But the entire family was affected.

I couldn’t help but think of the stories that came out of the Residential Schools in Canada. It wasn’t an easy book to read solely because of the topic.

Goodreads Rating * * * (I liked it)

 

 

 

Final Five

Journal

Monday, August 13, 2018

We had another good weekend on Texada. I caught the last ferry over on Thursday night; I enjoyed travelling as it got dark, but it wasn’t so dark that I couldn’t see the two humpbacks beside us. The last two trips over I’ve seen whales but today it is so smoky I don’t think I’d even be able to see from one end of the boat to the other.

It was Sandcastle weekend on Texada but the weather wasn’t great on Saturday so we stayed indoors. We had a few rain showers in Van Anda but apparently there was nothing in Gilles Bay at the site. We spent most of the day Sunday at the event, starting with a Pancake Breakfast put on by the fire department. Pat did his beer slinging for a couple of hours and that gave me time to head to the beach to see some of the works-in-progress. As soon as Pat finished his shift with the Legion he was on stage for his set. We stayed until all the music was over, but didn’t wait to see who won the sand castle events. I haven’t been able to see online who won but I enjoyed seeing the creations in the youth events; the adults were doing major building and you really couldn’t tell what they final sculpture would look like.

We were aiming to take the 9:20 ferry home this morning, which would put us back home by ten. We packed everything up at the studio and were on our way in plenty of time to get some coffee and breakfast while we waited for the ferry. As I was heading to the coffee shop I noticed that the earlier ferry hadn’t left yet so I ran back to the truck so we could move forward in the line-up. As it turned out Pat had misread the ferry times and we were able to take the early ferry. It was delayed leaving as they waited for an ambulance to arrive; we had seen the ambulance just a few doors down from the studio when we left. We had breakfast when we got to Powell River, got some groceries and were home before the ferry we planned to catch left Texada.

So what did I do with my day? For the most part I worked on Cranberry Hall stuff. I had minutes to get out, some reports I needed to get done and I sent out a few e-mails to take care of some planning.

Before supper I had time to package up the final five Farmer’s Wife Sampler blocks. I will probably only manage to get a couple done at the bee tomorrow but it is a good feeling to be this close to done. I wanted to have the blocks finished by October so Stacia and Deloise could help me place them in the quilt. I have another project that I’d also like to have the blocks finished for but that one is a long way from done. Both projects are for the quilt show in March.

The Betsy Bag

Quilting

Thursday, August 9, 2018

I couldn’t remember how much I had left to do on my bag; it’s been a long time since I was with my Thursday group. As it turned out, even after an hour spent catching up, I was able to finish it this afternoon.

The selling factor on this bag, although I swore I would never make another bag, was that it was three bags in one. I’m not sure how often I’ll switch between the three models, but I think I will use of the bag quite often.

The bag is fully lined and Gail altered the pattern to add four very generous pockets on the inside. The turquoise zipper closes one of the pockets.

This version uses a drawstring closure on the top

This version is most like a purse, with the pocket on the inside

This version is the full height of the bag

 

 

 

I’m never making another bag – and this time I mean it!

I was on a mission

Journal

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

There were a few things I wanted to get done today and as I sit on the deck watching the sun go down I can say I did most of them.

Although the grass in the lawn didn’t need a trimming, the weeds growing there certainly did; the same was true for the boulevard. I knew the day was going to be hot so I started early – I was out at 7:30 and had it done in an hour. I can’t say it was particularly cool while I did it but it would have been worse later in the day.

I still had laundry to do from when the kids were here – beach towels and blankets. I got them out on the line and even though there was no breeze they dried quickly in the sun. I cleared out the laundry room, organized the recycling and swept the floors. I thought I might scrub the floors as well but I spent over an hour on the phone with Vicki and when I hung up I had lost my momentum. Oh well, the dirt will still be there tomorrow.

I started the week three blocks behind on my Splendid Sampler and I was determined to catch up. Thankfully the first block I worked on today was English paper-pieced so I was able to do it in the cool of the basement. It was hot upstairs tonight but catching up on the blocks kept my mind occupied until I could open the windows and doors in search of an evening breeze.

And you see the oddest things while sitting on the deck. Along with a cruise ship passing through, the two ferries, and the small boats coming into the harbour there was a guy, on a bicycle, riding down the hill pulling a suitcase on wheels. It didn’t go as well as you might think and there were many stops along the way to get things Iined up. I hope he wasn’t hoping to catch the ferry because it left without him.

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