BLOOD, PAPER and MONEY Blood relatives, the blood shed in slavery and free servants, and lives obliterated;Paper trails of birth, marriage and death certificates, letters, and decrees, and the lack of a paper trails that keep some family members nameless and homeless;Money: the root of all evil woven through kingdoms, beliefs, and commerce. Pieter van der … Continue reading Chapter one, The Confessions of a Mother
family
Sharing A Slice of My Life
Sometimes a slice of life is all I have to give. I start with a snippet taken from my journal a few months ago... A Quiet Dream as I Wake Up I lie in bed and think about the fact that it was a peaceful, lovely dream. I can't remember it but I wish I … Continue reading Sharing A Slice of My Life
Writing About The Process of My Ancestors-story (ancestry).
I want to say a little bit about the process of researching and writing about my ancestry on my mother's side. I'm sure we all have destructive components to our personalities: sometimes the components are both helpful and harmful. My harmful components create problems in my writing (and other projects). Problems I faced: I tend … Continue reading Writing About The Process of My Ancestors-story (ancestry).
What Happened in September?
My September wasn't particularly interesting apart from an enjoyable couple of days when my brother-in-law and his partner visited. So I decided to discuss the shifting of light which I have observed and considered over the last month. I have been living in Scotland since October 2022: four years this month and in this last … Continue reading What Happened in September?
Edit Your Behaviour For Everyone’s Sake.
What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you? There are so many bits of advice one can give, only if we know the circumstances can we hope to give the pertinent advice. So the advice I give is for a recurring situation I have experienced when I was young. .... I would … Continue reading Edit Your Behaviour For Everyone’s Sake.
Friday Art Studio: with Ellie
What better way to spend time in the studio than with family who also enjoy making art. One of my recent post-surgery plans is to build up a library of colour palettes to refer back to when I need colour inspiration. I have not really done this before. This is quite new to me as … Continue reading Friday Art Studio: with Ellie
A Friend Indeed…
In times of trialsA friend's visitIs comforting. We need each other In sickness And health, Not just in marriage But with friendships too.When solitude Brings only Crazy thoughts A friend's visit Is supportive too.Friends are moreThan a welcome distractionThey are my clan. Thank you for all the different ways you have been supportive and encouraging, … Continue reading A Friend Indeed…
Matriarchy Mandala
Continuing my search and formulation of my heritage follows on from Discovering my Ancestry I discovered that I have ancestry from the beginning of the colonization of the Cape, South Africa, by the Dutch East India Company in the seventeenth Century. Obviously it starts centuries before but I hadn't realized my roots in South Africa … Continue reading Matriarchy Mandala
Discovering My Ancestry
Discovering my ancestry: a journey of synthesizing and assimilating. ‘We don’t talk about that!’ My mother rasped at me in response to me showing her an antique lace cloth I had found in her belongings. She sounded like she was choking as she spoke; she sat on the other side of the room and … Continue reading Discovering My Ancestry
To My Astonishment…
‘Have you started my story,’ I heard my mother ask. She was phoning from heaven. I was astonished because I didn’t think she could phone me from heaven. I paused. I didn’t know what to say. I had been planning to start her story. ‘I haven’t …but I am planning to…’ my voice trailed off. … Continue reading To My Astonishment…
