The best I learned from my mother?

The best thing my Mother ever taught me was being the person I am!

She was a maker. Born in 1930, she grew up to be a teenager during the German occupation in the 1940ties, a young adult in the 50ties to a wife and mother in the swinging 60ties. She met the man of her life in the early 50ties. He was a soldier and she a nurse. After the war, things was sparse and a certain degree of entrepreneur ship was needed to get by. They found work on farms in those days when that still was a romantic occupation.

Some cows grassing in the summer sun on evergreen fields. Every evening the herd stumbled back to the stables to the milking machines, patiently chewing the hay and grass for the third or forth time while the milk was flowing from their udders.

Also the pigs were outside roaming around in the mud and the corn fields waving in the wind like a yellow sea. Life on the Danish country side in the innocent 60ties. Like a Swedish folklore painting by Carl Larsson. Except it was Danish.

They had a vegetable garden and were self sufficient with most vegetables and berries. The meat came direct from the farm and into the deep freezer. Even the meat was home made and directly from the stables. Every 3 months came a butcher and two pigs were slaughtered to feed the employees of the farm for some time. I remember being there after the pig was dead, helping to cut the meat  and later to make pate's, sausages and pies. 

In the summer, I think, all of our meals were home made and direct from the garden and farm. Bread was home baked, marmalade and compost made from the berries in the garden and the milk fresh from the cows every morning.

And here we could get to some of what could be the best my mother ever taught me. The respect for nature and life. And the value of simple fresh produce and the way to prepare it.

It can sound odd to speak about respect for life when witnessing an animal loosing its life for our sake. 

But living on the farm along with animals taught me about respect for the animals and how to provide them with a happy and decent life. 

The animals were not only a product and a mean to maximised profit. They were living beings, respected for what they were and could give when the time came. 

Both my mum and my dad were makers. Both of them were keen and skilled gardeners and they shared that interest with the result that we always had plenty of fruit, berries and vegetables all through the summer.

My mum was also the cook and she could do the sewing and a very creative person when it came to knitting.

And she could make teddy bears. She made them for all of us. 

I still have mine today. 50 years later. She taught me to sew on her sewing machine and I made clothes for my teddy's. I found the inspiration in German pop magazines and created robes like the glamor rock bands of the 70ties. The Sweet, Slade, David Bowie and T.Rex.

Maybe that was the best she taught me. Not to be afraid of creating clothes for my Teddy. I can still sew today. In fact I like to do it, though it is rather seldom I get to it as I don't have a sewing machine.

Dad was a wood maker. Not a real carpenter. He could make everything. He was a good observer and could very easily figure out how something was made. Figure out the components and then do it himself. He started small in our little shed. Then we started as well, my brother and I. 

We had an oven for heating and we sometimes got som deliveries of surplus wood pieces from a nearby sawmill to burn. Then we went on the hunt in the pile and found the best pieces to make and army of pirates or makeshift superheroes. With markers and crayons we painted them and hammered some arms on the side with small nails.

They were super toys. 

Life was very different back them. It was communities and people helped each other. One time we were parked - my brother and sister and I- at the local shoe maker for some hours. I think they -mum and Dad- needed to do the Christmas shopping, so he agreed to look after us, and we watches him making shoes and wooden shoes, which was very common on the country. 

After we got picked up again and brought home, we went straight to the wooden workshop in the shed, and before the supper was ready on the table, nearly the whole pile of wood pieces for the oven, was turned in to odd pairs of footwear. You don't need a lot to develop an imagination and creativity.

Maybe that is the best thing she ever taught me, to be creative and humble.

She was creative and humble all her life. Unfortunately her life ended much to early.

I am great full for all she taught me as that made me the person I am today.