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| Knife Sharpener |
My daughter heard me complain about how blunt my knives were and bought me a much-needed knife sharpener as my Mother's Day gift and sharpened all my knives for me! The test of sharpness, according to the leaflet that came with the sharpener, was being able to make a clean cut in a piece of paper. I now have the sharpest knives in the west, I told her!
This has been my second Mother's Day I've been blessed to celebrate since the cancer diagnosis. It has been a lovely day. Daughter made me coffee in the morning. Several friends and cousins called to wish me a happy Mother's Day and I called one of my aunts to wish her. I picked some fresh flowers from the garden to place at the altar and the living room mantel, next to my mother's photograph.
Daughter and I had originally planned to go out to brunch, but we decided to go out to a late lunch, instead. I had invited one of my friends to join us, so, we picked her up on our way to the restaurant. I was afraid that the restaurant might be crowded, as Mother's Day tends to be a popular day for families to go out to eat. One year, we tried to go out for brunch, but the restaurants were so crowded, we just came home and made pancakes at home, instead! But the restaurant we went to, today, wasn't crowded at all. We were able to enjoy a nice meal and conversation. We had a choice of soup or salad with our meals and we all chose salad. Then, daughter had pasta with grilled chicken, my friend had fish and chips with cole slaw, and I had grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce, steamed vegetables, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Daughter and I had strawberry lemonade to drink, my friend preferred regular lemonade. We were too full for dessert, afterwards!
I invited my friend home to have a cup of tea, but she declined, so we dropped her off and came home. Then, daughter and I both took a long afternoon nap!
Later in the evening, I cooked the salmon steaks I had bought on Saturday. I sliced and sauted some onion and two of the tomatoes I had bought and added the salmon steaks which I seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and some tomato-basil seasoning mix a cousin had given me. Daughter ate the leftover pasta from her lunch for dinner; I had a piece of the salmon. We both had fresh cherries for dessert.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to celebrate Mother's Day with my daughter
- My friend's company
- My new knife sharpener and sharp knives!
- Fresh flowers from the garden
- Calls and emails from family and friends
Monday's To Do List:
- Put gas to the car
- Doctor's appointment
- Take the trash cans to the curb
- Buy cat litter
Going to keep the list short and sweet since daughter will be home and I want to keep the day free for us to spend time together.
How was your Sunday? What have you planned for Monday?
Sounds like a lovely relaxing day! Glad you got to spend it with your daughter
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sharon. Yes, it was a lovely day. :)
DeleteSounds like a truly splendid day and generous of you to include your friend in your plans. Although not Mothering Sunday here, I surprised my daughter by meeting her at Heathrow after her long flight from New Zealand, and taking her home to her flat. I bought groceries for her, put the washing in the machine, had a cup of tea and then drove back home. She is already planning her next trip to Sri Lanka.
ReplyDeleteWhen we have struggles with our health, things come into focus, don't they: Happy Mothers day and heres to the many more you and your daughter will share
Siobhan
Thanks, Siobhan. My friend is here by herself, her children are in Sri Lanka, so, I like to include her in our celebrations.
DeleteI'm sure your daughter appreciated you coming to pick her up and take her to her flat and buying her groceries as well as doing the washing! Oh, she's planning a trip to Sri Lanka! How exciting! Did you tell her you have a blog friend who is originally from there? :)
Sounds like a perfect day and it was very nice of you and your daughter to invite your friend along!
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely day, Nathalie. My friend is like a member of the extended family; she's here by herself and Mother's Day is not a day to spend by yourself, is it?
DeleteWhat a lovely day for you both and a nice treat for your friend. It was very kind of you to think of her. X
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jules; yes, it was a lovely day. It was a pleasure to have my friend join us. Daughter thinks of her as a second mother. :)
DeleteSounds like you had a very nice Mother's Day! So true about restaurants being crowded on that day! Glad you were able to find one that wasn't! Andrea
ReplyDeleteYes, I was very happy to find the restaurant wasn't crowded and we didn't have to wait. Probably not so good for their business, though! I hope they had more business earlier in the day and maybe later, as well. We were there a little after 3:00 p.m., which was when the dinner menu became available, and more people came in while we were there. We've had so many of these family style restaurants close in our neighborhood due to lack of business.
DeleteSounds like your timing was perfect on your late lunch. Glad you all enjoyed a lovely meal. Can't remember the last time I ate dessert in a restaurant, like you always full and often get a doggy bag to go. Portions are ridiculously big.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Monday with your daughter.
Sandy
I think the timing worked out very well, Sandy, and I certainly enjoyed my meal. They have a seniors' menu, where the portion sizes aren't that big (and a healthy fare menu, as well, that is supposed to be under 600 calories), so there is a range of options. But avoiding the dessert was probably a good move!
DeleteHope you, too, had a good Mother's Day. Take care.
What a lovely Mother's Day and it must have been especially nice that your daughter returned home to spend it with you.
ReplyDeleteWe tend not to go out on Mother's Day either for the same reason, busy restaurants which can result in poor service and often poor quality food as well. Same with flowers on special days. Over-priced and quite often very poor quality. xx
Having daughter home to celebrate with me was the biggest present of all! If the restaurant had been crowded, we would have picked up some Thai food or something and come home to eat. I think that is often the best option because one can just relax and spend more time visiting, as well. But going out to eat is special, too. :)
DeleteWhat a wonderful surprise that the restaurant wasn't crowded! Restaurants in our area are super busy and we tend to avoid them on Mother's Day. So nice that you had a relaxing day with your daughter!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a very pleasant surprise! As soon as I pulled into the parking lot and saw just 3 other cars, I knew we'd made a good choice. I think all the others had gone to trendier places with fancier menus. :)
DeleteSounds like a marvelous time! How lovely that your daughter heard what would make life a little easier and bought it for you! The true gift is the hearing and understanding!
ReplyDeleteYes, she knew that I wouldn't go out and buy myself a knife sharpener, so she bought one for me. Good to know you've been heard, isn't it? :)
DeleteHow clever of you to go in late afternoon to a restaurant. I wouldn't worry about the lack of customers as you were probably in between their two busiest times. Brunch is always a huge event on Mother's Day, and then again starting around 4 o'clock and going well into the evening. It sounds like you had a most wonderful Mother's Day with your daughter. How lovely that you were able to honour your own mother's memory with beautiful flowers from your garden.
ReplyDeleteSusan, yes, you are probably right and we went in between their busier times. It was a lovely day, with daughter home to celebrate with me. :)
DeleteLovely, thoughtful gift :o) When my uncle came to visit, he reminded my Mum that their mother used to sharpen her knives on the grinding stone. Mum had completely forgotten - but she has her mother's grinding stone so he sharpened all her knives for her and then Mum called me to bring mine round to be done too! I can stil see the scratches on the side of the blades, but it definitely worked!
ReplyDeleteIt was a thoughtful gift and a useful one, too. In fact, I used it earlier in the week to sharpen my knife to cut the orange zest. That's great that your Mum has her mother's grinding stone! Back when I was growing up (oh, no! here she goes again! :D) there used to be a man who came around the neighborhood, pushing a cart with a foot operated grinding stone; he'd call out, "Scissors sharpened". In between his visits, you'd sharpen your knives on the edge of a stone or the side of a convenient cement step! My mother would maintain that people with sharp tempers could sharpen knives the best and would have me sharpen the knives for her (yes, believe me, I do have a temper! :D )
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