Mum

My brother Hal has sent, along with the many other great old photos, these pictures of Mum. Having been wondering what I might do to share some memories of her I decided to post some of them here with a little commentary. These aren't in any particular order and as I find time and pictures I will be placing more on this section of the blog.

The above picture was probably taken in the 30’s.

This little house was built by Dad on land owned by Mum’s father, Arthur Sherwood. Interestingly the house still stands and though it has been added to, is still recognizable. Just visible over the roof is the roof peak of phase two of the house. Mum lived in this house with Hal while Dad was overseas serving in WW I

Growing up I heard several stories about how much Mum loved to ride horses. It was however, also a very practical aspect of her life. Horses were simply a way of live during the time she was growing up… transportation, hauling loads and for fun. Apparently she was an accomplished “barrel racer”.

Seeing these old pictures of Mum gives me a perspective of her life that I never had while growing up. I guess as a child I assumed she had always been the woman I knew. It is great to see her in the vitality of younger years.

Following WW2 Dad took a course in Calgary to learn dry cleaning. When Mum, Hal and Dad came back to Cardston they lived in the basement of Grandpa and Grandma Sherwood's home (built while Dad was overseas, on the other side of town from the first house Dad built on Grandpa's land) for a while. Following his course, he and a group of businessmen in Cardston; Syd Swan, Bob Tagg, and an electrician whose name I don't have and Dad built a business block, pictured above the house directly above, across from the curch and town hall. Mum, Hal and Dad lived above the dry cleaning plant but the fumes from the dry cleaning business were hard on Dad so he built the house pictured above on the east hill. We; Hal, Iva, Ruth and I lived there immediately before moving to BC. Mum stayed there with us younger kids while Dad and Hal went to BC with Uncle Dee to find work and a place to live.


Following are pictures of Mum, some with Dad and or with some of us kids.


This Christmas 1959 picture is of Mum, Ruth, Iva, me and Hope. Hope is holding our dog Pesty. If I remember correctly Pesty started out with a different name but Mum found it to be a pest so kept calling it Pesty. The name stuck. Below, also during Christmas of 59 is Mum by the fridge that I remember so well. The hanger over her head is where she would hang clothes after ironing them and before taking them to closets.




As kids we all enjoyed out back yard and from time to time we would see Mum and Dad sitting back there studying the scriptures or reading a good book. I'm not sure if Dad is sleeping here to having a chat with Mum about what they were reading. I rember those chairs and re-netting the one Mum is sitting in after the old netting broke. In those days things were fixed not disposed of and replaced with new.



Prior to WW2 Dad and Mum depended on horses for much of their transportation but after bicyles were a major part of getting around. here is Dad and Mum with their bikes.

Above is a pictues of Mum with her brother, my Uncle Dee Sherwood. To the left is Dad and Mum.

This is a picture of Dad looking over Mum's shoulder at the 2 week old Hal jsut before he shipped off to England to begin four years of service in World War II. It must have been difficult for both of them to be apart that long. Hal was four years old before Dad saw him again. I am so very thankful that I have never had to leave my family to go to war.

Theres Mum the bathing beauty to the left. It would be my guess that this shot was taken on the beach of White Rock. Could be wrong though.

The shot to the left sure brings back memories. Mum not only did a great job as a housekeeper, she taught us kids to be also.

Now there is an old photo of Mum. I have no idea where or when. I assume it was pre-marriage to Dad. I am gussing she is carrying school books.





Here is Mum on the steps of the Cardston temple.

Old Photos

These are a few photos of my siblings and me in our younger years. My brother Hal has, over these past few years been finding these old shots and has been kind in scanning them and sending them to me. Each of the photographs he has sent is truly a treasure beyond price.

These five are some that prompt some specific memories for me. The first is indicative of my amazement of my little sister Hope. This shot reminds me of the first day I met Hope when we brought her home from the hospital as a newborn. Unlike this photo, I was in the back seat while Mom was holding Hope in the front when we drove
home. All I wanted to do was to stand up and look over the seatback at the baby. Mom, who didn’t like me standing over her shoulder, asked me to sit down. I sat and I pouted all the way home while clicking my red buckled shoes together at the toes. Many years later I told Mom this story and she was sad and sorry that she had not allowed me to stand there and watch.

The picture of us at the beach is one of those instances in early age that prompted an indelible memory. The vividness of the event and the building of the sand car combined with great joy of being with my brother and sisters is an example of the sort of activities that helped create a wonderful childhood.

The photo of us with Hal with his hands on his head doesn’t bring any specific memory but I like it because it reminds me of the love and closeness I felt for my siblings

My memory though, of the picture of us on the steps does bring back a specific memory of the event. I recall being posed for the shot and my being happy to be doing so

The car which I later learned was a 1935 Austen is the first car I remember. As you can see the little guy, I, on the tricycle am rather young but I do remember riding in the car. I also remember Dad using it, or possibly another car, at or near that early age to haul chicken manure with the back seat taken out with the sweet smelling cargo taking its place. On completion of using the car as a pick-up truck he hosed it out and placed the seat back in. Dad always was innovative.

Gophers

We love our home in Clatskanie but we sure don’t like having to deal with the gophers. This picture just shows some of the mounds we have over our back yard. So far I have tried several ways of ridding our yard of them. First I bought poison pellets that I had to place carefully in every hole. That didn’t even faze them and in fact I think they enjoyed the snack. Later I tried three different types of traps, all of which they just pushed up out of the ground. Next on the list was poison smoke bombs. The only thing they did was burn my thumb a couple of times. The gophers even pushed the burnt leftovers out of their holes. My neighbor was having luck with a shotgun and though Teri absolutely hates guns she suggested I go buy a shotgun. I went and got one and managed to get one gopher with it. I am not a fisherman, though I love to eat fish but because I don’t like to just sit in one place doing nothing that didn’t work for me so… do any of you want to buy a shotgun? Next I heard the idea of poring gasoline down the holes and lighting them on fire. It doesn’t burn the little critters to death but is supposed to kill them with the fumes or the lack of oxygen or something. That cut down on the population a bit but didn’t get rid of them. Now I have found a little device that hooks to the exhaust pipe of the car. The device is attached to a garden hose which is then fed down into the hole. I have used it over three days and of the thirty or so holes I have put it in I am only seeing one mound come back. Maybe I finally am onto something that actually works. It may even be considered humane since it just puts the cute little furry creatures to sleep… a never ending sleep to be sure.

Gallery of photographs

Below are photographs that I am happy with.


Above is a recent shot I took while in Idaho. I had for a long time wanted to get a picture of dirt. In particular the dirt of a farmers tilled field. This picture is of the rows of planted potatoes. I am told that the farmers use GPS guided tractors to get the rows so straight. Perfect Idaho farming for those famous Idaho potatoes. I scouted various fields in the days preceding this day when I got up early to catch the best light.






While in Hawaii we watched some pretty extreme sail boarding. This was one of the shots I got that I like. Next time I will hopfully do better because I now have a longer telephoto with image stabalization.





I took the photo of the dolphin statue while staying in Crescent City, California. Early in the morning I had gone out into the ocean, skipping over rocks, to get a sunrise shot of Battery Point lighthouse. When I came back into the loby of the hotel I saw the dolphins with the sunrise behind and voila. Easy shot but I like it.

I took my camera to work one day and this is was my reward.



The above bird was photographed in Florida while on a Disney World vacation. If anyone out there knows the name of the bird I would like to know.


This shot of the wolves evokes a very emotional response for me.

Teri was shopping for yarn in Mansinita one day so I went to the beach in an attempt to get a shot I had been thinking of since our last visit there. Taking my time I scouted the beach for a location that would best portray the beach grass. As I set up for this shot I saw the seagull flying in from my left. I decided that if I caught it in just the right spot it would make the shot. With a lot of luck and a little skill I caught it just right for the composition.

Teri and I were staying at the Stephanie Inn at Canon beach when I decided to try one more time to get a worth while shot of Haystack Rock. I had taken many pictures of it and have not liked any of them. Early in the day I scouted the beach for an ideal vantage point and saw a new stream cut into the sand. I determined that at sunset the light would be just right with light reflecting off the water and sand in the foreground giving perspective to the popular rock. I checked to see what time the sun was to set so I could be at my pre-selected location at just the right moment. We were visiting with new found friends when I almost let the moment pass but looked at my watch and out the window just in time. I ran outside, set up and took the shot.

The shot of the boy playing at the beach was taken in Hawaii in 2007. I love the shot though I have been told that for some it does nothing.




The Detroit Lake shot above was taken when Teri and I were driving east toward Idaho when I glimpsed this scene through the trees. I told Teri it would be a beautiful shot so she said, "Turn around and go take the picture." I'm glad she encouraged me to go back.


Below is a picture of Battery Point Light House that I took in November of 2005 while Teri and I were visiting Kandle and Chris in Crescent City, California. It's one of my favorites. I had taken several shots of the light house from the vantage point of a pier facing the front of the structure. I was pleased with the results but on this occasion we were staying in a hotel on the beach at the back of the light house. Early in the morning the tide was out and the light was right so I went rock jumping about a quarter mile out into the ocean where I was able to get the shot with a much more interesting perspective. I'm sure glad I didn't slip on a rock while jumping from one to another and break my camera.

These shots of Haleakala in Maui were taken on our third visit to the mountain. Each time we ventured to the ten thousand foot summit I took several shots looking for one that gave a sense of the spectacular wonder of the volcano. These two have so far come the closest to what I was after.

A fun photoshop manipulation above of a shot of a tree I took while on a 2004 trip to Hawaii. I was told by one person I showed it to that it was a shot of a tree in Africa and even when I told him that I took the picture on the road to Hana in Hawaii he wasn't sure if he believed me. Below is the same shot without the ink filter.

Disney World vacation and cruise

From January 2nd through the 13th we enjoyed a great vacation beginning with four days and Disney World with Rick and Iva Curry, our brother in law and my sister. We had a great time with Rick and Iva and thoroughly enjoyed Disney World despite unseasonaly cold weather that required that we all buy warm clothes.

Following those great days we joined more family and friends on a Holland American cruise ship for seven days of fun in the sun. We had a great time with Darren, Traci and daughter Allie as well as my sister Hope and her husband Larry and of course Rick and Iva.

It was a great vacation and as strange as it sounds we don't have any other trips planned for the near or distant future. Teri is now in Utah visiting the Johnson's in their new home and we will be looking at the callender for a trip up to B.C. to visit Don and family.

Our new puppy Sophie gets to know Kiwi

We have been talking about getting a new puppy for some time and after visiting our good friends Al and Char in Calgary, Alberta, Canada we fell in love with their two dogs. Teri began to search for a Cavalier King Charles Spanial and found this adorable puppy not far from our home. We both fell in love with Sophie, adopted her and brought her home to meet Kiwi, our Lahsa-poo. Kiwi has never been to interested in other dogs and just tolerated other dogs who would come to visit. At first Kiwi wanted nothing to do with Sophie but being a little puppy Sophie didn't figure that out so just kept trying to play. After about a week and a half Kiwi began to accept the intruder, began to play with her and now loves her company.