Hey there,
If you’re on my email list, which I hope you are, then you know I have been sharing some of my favourite things with you each week.
This week’s podcast guest, Norma Fordyce, inspired me to get really personal with my Top 3 picks for the week.
This week, I am sharing my Top 3 favourite things that remind me of MY grandmother-in-law here on the farm.
Anne, or Baba as we all call her, is in her mid-90s and is truly one of my inspirations. The life she lived here on our farm reminds me every day of the love and sacrifices that go into farming.
Here are just a few of my favourite things that I have incorporated into our home to remind me of this wonderful woman:
- Baba’s hydrangea
Though Baba’s Hygrengea is not the technical plant name for this beautiful plant, that’s what it’s referred to around here. My home is a generational farmhouse that has been added onto through the generations. Though this generation hasn’t added on to the physical house yet, I have been working hard on adding to our yard.
To be honest, I wasn’t planning on being a gardener. Plants and Veggies were not my thing – until about 5 years ago. Growing up, my Mom always had, and still does, a beautiful yard full of annuals and perennials plants that belong in Better Homes and Gardens. My green thumb slowly made its appearance and then took over during 2020.
I have expanded the perennial beds that were here plus added new ones and started my garden. Though it may never end up in BHG, it’s a pretty special place for me.
I take great care in watering my Baba Hygrengia and often take a few moments to stop and admire her during my watering route.
2. Birch Trellis
With my expansion of my yard, I wanted to add in a clematis or two. I love their beautiful flowers and the foliage that grows up it. But, if you were alive in the year 2020 and had any renovation project on the books, then you know that lumber was pricey!
So I got a little creative. I wandered around the farm looking for something that I could make into a trellis for my newly purchased clematis when I stumbled upon a trailer that had a variety of branches on it. These branches were from the birch tree in the backyard of Baba’s home in the city. My husband and his family had gone in to do a big clean-up of her yard, which features a massive garden, and he brought the branches home.
So late one afternoon and into the evening, I put my carpentry skills to the test and put together some trellises to house my new plants. This is the first year they have fully bloomed and it makes me so so happy to see them in my yard on this trellis.
3. Milk Can
I remember the day I found it. I came rushing out of the old garage like I had just won a million dollars. Under the old tool bench, behind years of dust and cobwebs – there it was. Baba’s milk can. This yellow and silver can had the letters ANNE scripted on the side made me think about how much change she has gone through in her lifetime. The amount of effort that went into not only providing food to feed your family but also growing to feed others… Okay, I am real misty.
Thanks for taking this walk down memory lanes with me. I’d love to know – what are some of the things you have in your home that remind you of people you love?
Be sure if you haven’t listened to episodes 151 & 152 of the rural woman podcast to head to your podcast player of choice to download them. And add your name to my email list so you can get next week’s top 3 too!