Mary's "at Home"

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 65, Issue 6, 15 December 1942, Page 375

Mary's "at Home"

T FEEL like starting this letter with a “Hip hooray,” the same as my winning competition entry. Needless to say I was very pleased when I heard - I had won, and when I told the good news to himself he said “Good-o! We’ll be able to pay off the mortgage now!” I must leave the ideas of a dream cowshed to others — attempt in that direction might make our own deficiencies too glaring.— Brymawr, Aramoho. WHAT a wonderful week this past ’’ week has been with the news of our victories on three fronts. The good tidings began for us with word that a very dear friend who had been reported missing for three months was a prisoner of war. It was a glad relief to know he was alive, and I am sure that God’s protection that brought him back from Greece after being left behind, and from Crete by the Royal Navy after the blitz there, will remain

with ;• him in the ordeal of being a prisoner. I think that to always keep one’s faith in God’s goodness, and love for His individual children turns . the darkest of days into days of hope. And I truly believe too that we help our friends and loved ones to benefit by His help by firmly believing He will have them in His keeping. This thought I would like to pass on to anxious ones, some almost despair at times. This week my son celebrated his tenth birthday, and we, like you, always treat these days as special ones, and the celebrant’s own day. His father presented him with an axe, because he is now “half a man.” And the young man’s delight at his promotion was reflected in a lovely box of stove wood for Mother. As he is usually a conscientious little boy, I see good times ahead for me, so long as his enthusiasm is not too damped by this being made too much into a regular

job. Parents can so easily destroy a

child’s enthusiasm I think by forgetting that they haven’t the staying interest in things that adults have developed. . That will come by and by so long as they are taught that a job once begun should be completed. I do hope you are enjoying the excitement of winning battles as we are. Though isn’t it strange how restrained we are apt to become over good news? Tig-gety 800, Kati Kati. ■DECENTLY my cousin showed me a small piece of wool which had been given to her. This wool was homespun by a young lady amateur, and it was so evenly done that it was a credit to her. I have seen wool homespun by a woman with a lifetime’s experience in this type of work, and it was irregular, knotty in places, and wiry to feel, but not so the wool spun by this young woman. It was as soft as anyone would wish it to be, so she must be congratulated on her achievement. It did not take her very long to learn the art. Jubilee, Southland. DEFORE I came to the country I worked as a floriste, and had many an unusual experience. One day I had an order for an expensive wreath to be delivered to a given address, with the card expressing the sender’s deepest sympathy. Knowing there had been no illness in the house, I was rather anxious, and on arrival was very surprised to learn that their dog, a great family pet, had died, and the elaborate funeral was just about to commence. Rather a unique way of friends expressing sympathy for the loss of a pet.— Kahikatea, Marton. JQOESN’T it seem a shock to realise that next month is the last month in the year? I suppose Christmas will be very quietly celebrated this year, but still, Christmas is always Christmas, and the gay cards and other little odds and ends are already helping to fill up the emptiness of show cases and bins. A huge mob of cattle has just gone past, and it seems like a page out of the past to see so many cattle being driven again, and by the look of the drover’s mount, there is still some good horse flesh about. Do you like horses, Mary? I have been planting out necessitieslettuces, tomatoes, etc., and hope for good results. And I have two batches of perky little chicks out too! Well, well, I hear you say, what . a farmyard! We have had wind here lately that would do Wellington justice, and anything that dares to grow more than two inches high has been made to bend — M., Feilding. J HAVE just finished reading a book called “It Happened in Palestine.” There was one chapter that appealed to me very much, and that was where the writer was pointing out that the people who carry the weeds of resent-

ment in them should pluck them out,

and turn their minds into a garden of flowers. Don’t you think that is a good way of expressing it? If you have not already read this book, Mary, I think it would appeal to you. C.E.T., Hawera. TF you want to know a little about me, here you are. I am just a plain Jane, fair hair turning grey, since the half century mark has been passed, mother of three children, five feet tall or short, very thin and wiry. I was born in England, but have lived in New Zealand since 1919, and I am interested in all doings of women, good books, gardening, farming, children, and animals. I believe in soil management and compost, also in food values. Yes, I even dabble in politics, but war is my major concern just now. Memory takes me back to the England I knew years ago. I saw the old age pension benefits which did away with a 2s 6d and one loaf weekly allowance, and allowed our dear old folk to exist on a better footing; factory laws which forbade child labour, health laws which really - aimed at better living conditions, the Great War, and women’s entry into a life hitherto unknown to them. Peace brought changes to many, as almost everyone desired to get away. And many like myself crossed the oceans to settle amongst strangers. This was a big step, to start a new life amongst new surroundings and conditions, to have to adapt oneself to anything—but it certainly made for variety if nothing more.— Susannah, Waikato. VVITH so many of our friends away,- ’ ’ most of them overseas, - our thoughts naturally turn to them often and often. I would like to share with you a Prayer for Friends which is a favourite of mine, and which I feel

sure many of your readers-will enjoy as I have done. “Gracious Lord, of whose gift comes the love of friends, we praise Thee for - all the riches of friendship; for the differences in our friends which meet and satisfy different parts of our nature; for their understanding of us, their cheer and ready sympathy. O Thou, who hast given us to each other, we praise Thee that our love comes of Thee, and that together we are Thine. Strengthen and deepen all our friendships as we walk ever more closely with Thee, the perfect Friend, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”— Wellington.