Tag Archives: Mother’s Day

Animal Issues

This weekend! Meet the artists! Buy art for Mom this Mother’s Day!

Spring Sale & Open House this weekend!

The Sprinkler Factory
38 Harlow St., Worcester

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Find the perfect Mother’s Day Gift
right here in Worceste! Fire Works Studio will be opening their doors to the public for an Open House & Spring Sale.

Come chat with the artists and purchase unique pieces.

Find the perfect Mother’s Day gift among the mugs, bowls, potted plants … and various other artists who will be set up in the lobby!

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Pinch Pots by Wendy Popple
Available at the sale

This Weekend!

Friday, May 12

4 pm to 8p m

Saturday, May 13

10 am to 6 pm

Animal Issues

Edith parked in A.I! … Remembering my mother

By Edith Morgan

Mother’s Day comes tomorrow, May 8. I would like to dig a little more deeply into the role of “Mother.”

My own mother, who died at the age of 79 in 1981, was a remarkably strong, even-tempered, open-minded woman, devoted to family, yet able to fulfill an admirable adult role, even while giving full-time attention to her two children. I guess you could say she, like most women, was a miraculous “multitasker,” able to keep an incredible number of balls in the air without turning a hair. Most remarkably, she did all this under the most trying circumstances – bearing a premature son (my brother) while working to get her husband (my father) out of a Nazi prison, and planning our flight from Germany in March 1933, just two months after Hitler was elected.

But throughout all these achievements, she was always quietly confident, and did not expect praise or rewards: she always taught us that “virtue is its own reward” (If you do the right thing, knowing that is all the reward you need.) While she had a very healthy sense of self, she did not need constant , reinforcement or reassurance. When someone asked my brother what was the most important thing our mother taught him, he said: “She taught us right from wrong.” And both she and my father, probably the one totally honest man I have ever known, practiced what they preached – no easy task in a world of white lies and worse.

My mother was , in a sense, a real feminist – but she was more of a pacifist and a humanist. Her concerns transcended the problems of gender – her expectations were high for all: we were not allowed into some homes : our neighbors sometimes did not meet her exacting standards, but their children were always welcome at our house, where, under her close supervision, we played games, snacked, did homework, read books, etc. Despite the strictness of her expectations, other children were always eager to come to our house, where they felt safe – and valued.

We were not continuously told we were loved, but it was evident to us that we were cared for, and important members of the family with properly assigned roles. Those were the days when children were seen but not heard in adult company. Our job was to listen and understand – we were allowed to sit in on many a great adult discussion on important topics and felt privileged to be able to sit in and learn. Of course, we had much more freedom to roam the neighborhood, ride bikes, explore – as long as our parents knew where we were, and with whom. We were allowed to listen to a little radio (those were the pre-TV and other electronic media days) and read a multitude of books.

My mother was also, like many women, inventive. We had almost no money, but she was able to create gadgets or shortcuts to help at home – and she was interested in so many areas, and above all, had wonderful common sense (which is so uncommon nowadays!)

So, a paean of praise for my mother and all great and silent toilers in our families who keep our society going at little or no pay. They deserve the highest honor and the greatest pay, but ask for nothing.

Animal Issues

Very cool!

From THEGUARDIAN.COM:

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Wildlife underpasses not only reduce the number of animals being hit by cars but also preserve movement and gene flow for the animals on both sides of the road.

The movement of genes occurs when an animal born on one side crosses the road and breeds on the other.

The three young cougars being led through this culvert by their mother will be accustomed to using it and are likely to look for mates on either side.

Photograph: Tony Clevinger/Johns Hopkins University Press

Want more great national and international pics, news and feature stories? Go to our big yellow finger on this website AND CLICK ON THE GUARDIAN LINK! You will get this – CLICK HERE!

Enjoy great stories, photos, videos from a terrific news media organization – theguardian.com !  – R.T.

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Cool vegan cook book you can give Mum this Mother’s Day! Zero animals killed/tortured!

BETTY GOES VEGAN – R.T.

Fashion

Appreciating the Prince … and Cool Mother’s Day gifts for Mom at Unique Finds Antiques and Vintage …

Pics and text by Rosalie Tirella

… gift shop – 1329 Main St. – Worcester!

Open TODAY until 7 p.m.

OPEN EVERY DAY UNTIL 7 P.M.

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Jett and Lilac stop to smell the tulips!

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I spied a PURPLE RAIN album at Unique Finds a few weeks back (have mine!) … This song is not from PURPLE RAIN – but from the Beatles, written by George Harrison. Prince, in the famous video clip below, funks it up beautifully. From where did his genius flow? How do we understand a Prince? …

… Smallest guy in the room – most wonderful wunderkind! High-heeled, halter-topped, elegant, like Louis the Sun King – or Little Richard. Prancing, stomping, twirling – caressing his gal singers and piano on stage – his piano more lovingly, I do believe!

In the 1980s a gal pal invited me to a Prince concert. He plans to take a shower on stage!, she gushed. But beneath the Prince youthful silliness – and overt sexiness – was a serious student of ROCK AND FUNK AND R AND B and JAZZ AND BLUES. As the gifted one grew older his sexiness became more subdued: short hair, a body-skimming suit with few flourishes – maybe a lovely collar or brooch. Beautiful to me, now middle-aged, too, and looking for loveliness in my men that came from their confidence, experience, worldliness …

Here’s the mature Prince … Here is CREAM and more!

My first Prince lp? CONTROVERSY in audio cassette form. I liked the political, ballsy songs! Prince was pushing boundaries – sexual, political – in his music. I went around the UMass Amherst campus, a student wanting to sing her song, chanting to me, myself, my soul: “I WISH WE ALL WERE NUDE! I WISH THERE WERE NO BLACK AND WHITE! I WISH THERE WERE NO RULES!”

I took Prince’s musical exhortations to heart! And “it’s made all the difference”!

Buy your Ma some Prince this Mother’s Day!!!! She deserves him!

InCity Yum Yums

Chocolate strawberries!

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Chef Joey makes all the goodies you see here! And photographs them, as he’s baking, basting, stirring – cookin’! How talented is this guy?!!?!!

First, his Mom’s Day column:

Mother’s Day

By Chef Joey

It is that time of year! Spring is in the air, lilacs are blooming and mom gets a day off.  Albeit breakfast in bed, a destroyed kitchen, or a lunch out (never dinner, for some reason) with a wait and screaming kids everywhere.  I suggest a meal at home – perhaps with combined families and a simple, easy to make, teach your kids how to cook kind of a meal.  Let’s face it – gone are the years when Grandma lived downstairs or with the family and everyone knew how to make that special perogi, meatball, roast, etc.

Anna Jarvis is responsible for the modern “American” version of Mother’s Day, first celebrated in 1908, as a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1905 she became the pioneer to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Her personal mission was to honor her own mother by continuing work she started and to set aside a day to honor mother, “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world.” Anna’s mother, just happened to be a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.

Due to the tenacity of her efforts, mind you pre-“Social Media,” several states actually officially recognized Mother’s Day, the first in 1910 being West Virginia, incidentally Jarvis’ home state.

In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation creating Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

Great things happen and Anna soon regretted what she did – commercialize a day that companies could profit from. By the early 1920’s, Hallmark and other greeting card companies took the reins and started selling Mother’s Day cards. Jarvis became so angry by what she saw as exploitation that she eventually protested and even tried to rescind Mother’s Day! The holiday that she worked so hard for was supposed to be about sentiment, not about profit.

Jarvis’s intention for the holiday had been for people to honor mothers by writing a personal letter, since there was no email or texting… by hand, expressing sentiments like love and gratitude, rather than buying gifts and – heaven forbid –  “pre-made” cards.  She organized boycotts and threatened lawsuits to try to stop the commercialization. She even crashed a candy makers’ convention in Philadelphia in 1923!

Two years later she protested at a confab of the American War Mothers, which raised money by selling carnations, incidentally…the flower associated with Mother’s Day, and was humiliated by being arrested for disturbing the peace. Jarvis died bitter, alone and childless, hating the modern shape of the holiday.

Jarvis’s holiday was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world.  Not exactly as commercialized as us here in the good old “Founding Country.”

So based on Ms. Jarvis’ joy-to-turmoil story, there still is a wanted need to celebrate mom, grandmother and these days great grandmother more so than ever.   Maybe we should look back to the beginning efforts and go back to maybe not hand written cards of love but hand created meals of love, with snapshots, Twitter and Facebook posts for the world to see and you create for free I believe in perpetuity. No one ever has said, “Gee that was the best Mother’s Day card,” but perhaps: “This time with you today will stay will me forever, and I can’t wait until next year to make it better”!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful mothers of children, pets, families, foster children, safe homes and the list goes on – you are all very special people!

Recipe: Chocolate strawberries

Strawberries

Melting chocolate

Parchment paper

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Buy melting chocolate …

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and melt over a double boiler, stirring until smooth.

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Dip your strawberries

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and place them on parchment paper.

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Let cool. DO NOT REFRIGERATE!!, as the berries can no longer “breathe” the same. … Keep room temperature (2 days MAX) cover with parchment.

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You can decorate them with squeezable white chocolate sauce!

InCity Feature

DIY Mother’s Day boxed chocolates!

From PETA.ORG! (yes, they’re vegan chocolate candies! and, YES, they’re yummy chocolate candies!)    – R.T.


Home

DIY Mother’s Day Chocolate Box in 8 Steps

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Written by Brittany Hultstrom

Chocolates

A homemade gift is a fun way to show your mom how much you care while adding your own creative flare.

Mother’s Day Chocolate Box

1 1/2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
Candy mold (try Wilton’s silicone mold)
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch cinnamon
6 almonds
3 slices dried mandarin oranges or other dried fruit
Orange zest, for garnish (optional)
Finishing salt, for garnish (optional) (tryDas Foods’ Hawaiian Alaea Salt)
Peanuts, for garnish (optional)
Mini cupcake liners
1 tsp. cocoa powder
Candy box (you can find one at your local craft store)
Stickers, ribbons, or other decorative items (optional)

  1. Prepare each chocolate filling in a separate bowl and set aside (see below for the recipes). You can make all four types of chocolates from our box or simply pick your mother’s favorite. You can choose from orange creams, almond creams, peanut butter cups, and Mexican-flavored chocolates. Keep in mind that each filling recipe below makes enough for 2 to 3 chocolates. Double or triple the recipes depending on how many chocolates you want for your Mother’s Day box. Also note that the Mexican chocolates do not have a filling and should be made last with any remaining chocolate.
  2. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler. If you don’t use a double boiler, use a pot and be sure to stir the chocolate constantly on a low heat.
  3. To make the chocolates that will have a filling, cover the bottom and sides of 6 squares on the candy mold with approximately 1 tablespoonful each of the melted chocolate. Check to make sure that there are no holes where the filling can come out. You may want to use more or less chocolate depending on the size of the mold that you are using.
  4. Place 1/2 teaspoonful of the orange filling and a small piece of dried mandarin orange into 2 of the chocolate-covered candy mold squares. Place 1/2 teaspoonful of the almond filling into 2 of the other chocolate-covered squares, and 1 teaspoonful of the peanut butter filling into the remaining 2 chocolate-covered squares.

Filling the candy mold with chocolate

  1. Cover the tops of each filled mold with melted chocolate. Be careful not to overfill the mold.
  2. Stir the cayenne pepper and cinnamon into the leftover melted chocolate, then spoon the mixture into the remaining empty candy molds.
  3. Top the orange creams with dried mandarin orange or orange zest and the almond creams with almonds. Garnish the peanut butter cups with finishing salt or peanuts.
  4. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Once hardened, remove from the mold and place in mini cupcake liners. Dust the Mexican chocolates with cocoa powder, then place all the chocolates in a candy box. Decorate the box with stickers, ribbons, and any other items, and you will have your cruelty-free, handmade Mother’s Day chocolate box!

Makes approximately 8 to 10 chocolates

Orange Cream Filling

1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. orange oil

  • Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Almond Cream Filling

1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. water
2–3 drops almond extract

  • Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Add a few more drops of water, if needed, to achieve the desired consistency.

Peanut Butter Cup Filling

1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 Tbsp. agave nectar or maple syrup

  • Combine the peanut butter and agave nectar in a bowl.

Mother's Day Chocolate Box

 

Green Island Grrrl, Rosalie's Blog

Mother’s Day bike ride! Explore Worcester’s historic diners with WalkBike Worcester

CAM00856-1The historic Boulevard Diner will be part of the tour! Say “hi” to Jimmy and Lisa, pictured here! Step inside “the Bully” and see turn-of-the-20th-century working class beauty! Try some homemade lasagna or other Italian American comfort food! Delicious! You’re riding your bike, so you’ll burn off the cals in no time! (photo – R. Tirella)

Mother’s Day fun!

FREE!

Explore the history of diners in Worcester with WalkBike Worcester and the Worcester Historical Museum!

A casual 8-mile bike ride stopping at 3 of Worcester’s historic diners on Sunday, May 10

Start at Ralph’s Chadwick Square Diner at 12:30 PM …

… ride to the Boulevard Diner on Shrewsbury Street …

… eventually returning to Ralph’s.

Bill Wallace, executive director of the Worcester Historical Museum, will be on hand to give brief histories of the diners.

No rider left behind!

Kids should be in bike seats, trailers, trail-a-bikes or on tandems, if they are small or uncertain riders.

Folks will be riding on city streets.

(Rain date: Sunday, May 17)

 And be sure to stop and see the exhibit on Worcester diners at the Worcester Historical Museum on Elm Street after the ride!

Fashion

Just saw this great Mother’s Day gift opportunity from TOMS …

… in FAMILY CIRCLE mag.

TOMS is helping moms in developing countries this Mother’s Day!

CAM00148-1 When you buy one of their stylish totes/bags (pictured here), TOMS will give $$$ to their global partners to DISTRIBUTE BIRTH KITS AND PROVIDE PRE- AND POST-NATAL ATTENDANT DELIVERY.

According to the mag, 40 million women all over the world give birth without the assistance of a trained health worker or midwife. Places like: Haiti, Bangladesh, India.

The TOMS bags sell for $58 to $248

Go to TOMS.COM to purchase them – and help moms and babies!

– R. Tirella

InCity Voices, Uncategorized

Mother’s Day gift …

Transitioning into their own worlds …

By Parlee Jones

On Children

By Kahlil Gibran (published 1923)

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you, but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
But seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
As living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
And He bends you with His might
That His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies,
So He loves also the bow that is stable.

This poem is my gift to you for Mother’s Day, 2014.

This poem is what prepared me, or so I thought, for the time that my children would come into their own and follow their own paths. I didn’t realize how hard this would be for me.

As Mother’s Day approaches and my daughter prepares to go to Atlanta for five days (without her mama), and my sun continues to assert his manhood in different ways in our single parent household, I find myself feeling sad about one day having an empty nest. I am also humbled by the kind, intelligent human beings my children are becoming.

My children are becoming their own self. By that, I mean they are (and have been) developing their own way to do things. The only solace to be had is knowing I have done all within my power to instill in these two beings the qualities that will help them to succeed in life.

One of the momma’s here at Abby’s House said, “as mother’s we give a home to our children, but, we also give them wings.” Well, what are you supposed to do with wings, but fly, so after all this preparation, I guess we have to let them go!

Mommas are not only the physical vessel! There are mommas who did not birth children who are mommas just the same. Any woman who has nourished the soul and tummy and heart of a child and worried that they had a safe place to sleep at night and wondered where they are, you are a momma!

This is my first Mother’s Day without my mom in the physical sense. She passed away last September 13, 2013. “Who feels it, knows it.” I understand this statement also, because you can have much compassion and concern for a friend who has lost their mom, but until yours is actually no longer in this realm, you don’t know that pain. I miss my mother so much it hurts. I’ve heard the pain eases, but never goes away. I’m comforted in the understanding that she is no longer in pain. I know I carry her in my heart and thoughts. I am quite sure that my mom felt all the things that I am feeling when me and my sisters were her baby girls! Rest in Peace, Clementine ~ Happy Mother’s Day!

Peace and Blessings!