Bonne Fête Maman!

Today we are honoring our
darling Mothers
and my mother Grace was
a real darling.
I still miss her sage advice
and wonderful stories she told me
about her family.

The gold chain and locket belonged to my great great Grandmother
was worn by my mother on her wedding day


Sadly my mother is no longer with us
she has joined my father
and most of her family in heaven.

She was an accomplished young woman.
Let me just tell you she made her
wedding gown and her trousseau.

My darling mother at 18.
I love this photo of her,
the crimped hair
the long string of pearls
and the beautiful sequinned
velvet gown.

At this time she was studying music
in Wellington and received her letters.
I have recollections from an early age
of listening to her playing works
of all the great composers.

My mother's family, she is seated far right

 My mother had six sisters
Ethel, Kate, Ellen, Cecelia,
Joan, Josephine
and one brother Jack.

My aunt Josie is the only one still with us
and she is 92.

Grace on her mother's knee

 My Grandmother Mary Elizabeth

with Cecelia and Grace.

You can imagine how I would love

to have those exquisite little dresses now!

I wonder what happened to them.

This sweet card arrived in the post on Friday

from my daughter in France

with wishes for a

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing you all a very happy

Mother's Day

I hope someone is spoiling you today!

À bientôt

and be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥

Grace's Marmalade - Note Card Party

Early Spring is Marmalade time.

(that is if you live in the

Southern Hemisphere as I do)!!

Everyone, it seems has a

grapefruit tree in their garden.

We only have a lemon tree,

but there is never a shortage

of fruit - usually passed over the

fence by kind neighbours.

Marmalade making

is a two day process.

Day one I wash and prepare the fruit.

In years gone by I have always

painstakingly thinly sliced

each piece of fruit like this.....

not any more - no way!

Now I remove all the pips

then roughly chop

and put through my Whizz

using the slicing gadget!

The fruit is piled into

the preserving pan

and covered with water

 to soak overnight.

On day two the mixture

is simmered for 40 minutes.

Then the sugar is added -

for each cup of fruit mixture

I add 1 cup of sugar.

Simmer for another 40 minutes
after which time it 
should be set,

then pour into sterilised

glass jars. 

I save all my jars and lids.

The best lids are the ones that

have the press bit in the middle -

when you push it and

hear a click you know

it's sealed - easy peasy .

If you would like the

written recipe I'm happy to

email it to you.

It was my darling mother's

hence it's known in our family as

Grace's Marmalade.

Incidentally this batch made

24 different sized jars
I think I doubled the recipe!

The little jars make a perfect hostess gift

when invited for dinner -

for gifts I just add a label

and a calico hat tied with string!

Incidentally Marmalade making

goes back 14 centuries or maybe

even earlier in Persia,

an interesting article here.

The mention of marmalade

makes me think of my

lovely blog friend Jeanie of

The Marmalade Gypsy

who had a beautiful

marmalade cat called Gypsy.

Sadly, Gypsy left us this year

for cat heaven and I really
miss seeing his little face
and reading about his
escapades.

Please visit Jeanies 

blog here she has many

wonderful travel adventures - 

currently she is in the Netherlands!

Today for the first time I'm linking to 
Vee's Note Card Party
please click on the link above to
visit other interesting blogs
and see their beautiful
Note Cards!
Merci, Vee for so kindly hosting
this friendly party!

Thank you dear friends

for visiting.

Take care of one another

hugs and love

Shane ♥

Image from here