Sunday 23 March 2014

Life is Pretty Peachy

I live in a village that has seen many changes over the recent years. Modern buildings are popping up alongside very traditional, quaint stone-built homes. There are many ruins, their stone walls crumbling away and their wooden shutters held together with rusty nails. On the morning dog walk yesterday, I thought I would take some photos. There was one particularly wonky door, ajar, revealing climbing weeds - a tempting invite to a secret garden. As I went to take a closer look, however, I realized it was still a home to someone.


It got me thinking about how times change and the stories my mum tells me about her growing up, my grandma not having a lot of money. But they're not stories of sadness, they're stories of one lady raising her children in the best way she can, not with material things but with love and care.


Then, coincidentally, I read this write up on The Crochet Crowd's website::

"I dedicate this new afghan to my mom. I'm not ashamed to admit that my early years of my childhood, we needed thrift stores and a helping hand. To save money, my mom would cut up our old clothing and make them into quilts. None of the quilts had any rhyme or reason to the colour. They were warm and that's what mattered. We went to bed with extra hot water bottles in the hope they would retain the heat over night as our home was heated with a central fire stove. I firmly believe that growing up in this manner makes me a better person for understanding and being empathetic to others.

When I see afghans where the material is unusual or appears to be old clothing... when the colour doesn't make sense. It lifts my spirit because I know that this was love as a child. Growing up in the way I did makes me extremely grateful for the luxuries and opportunities that have come my way."



It makes me appreciate all that I have (including the iPad used to take pictures and write this blog), but also how trivial our 'problems' are too.

Life is pretty peachy.




2 comments:

  1. Beautifully written - it made me cry! I LOVE the photos. I'll have to go and take a look at this place. X

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  2. Ahhhh it's good to have a little cry now and then :-) and I'm definitely going to make an un matching afghan... It's going to be warm and I'm going to love it!x

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