I’ve had it really rough the last few weeks. Being off work in the height of summer is really hard work! Truthfully though, I have a good reason for my slacking off! At the end of July I under went a surgery to remove my parotid (salivary) gland on the right side of my face. A tumor had formed there which I had discovered over a year ago myself, as a bump, and which has thankfully turned out to be benign. But I’ve been off work for nearly a month now to recover. Last week I headed to the home farm for about five days and it was glorious. I can’t think of a stretch when I’ve been “home” when the weather has been so fabulous, which is saying a lot because Ontario has experienced the wettest summer on record this year.

While I was home my Mom and I took a trip to St. Jacobs Ontario, which is Mennonite country here. I was fondling the beautiful handmade quilts in a few shops and remarking how much I love them and how someday I’d like to take up this (yet another) creative pursuit. When we got back to the farm, my Mom pulled out three quilts made by her grandmother, my great grandmother, and gave them to me to take home.

These are such gorgeous treasures. They make me think of home (I always think of the farm as my home despite having been in Toronto for over a decade), my roots, of a simpler time, and of the way objects can embody the legacy of individuals you may never have known. I think I need to find myself a cedar chest just to keep these lovely pieces safe inside.