WIN Mum a book!
With Mother’s Day approaching there’s two things I will be doing.
One is remembering my mum. (If you read the earlier post titled: Me, Maeve Binchy, Monica McInerney and my mum, you’ll know I lost her two weeks before the launch of House for all Seasons.)
That brings me to the second ‘to do’.
Because it’s our mums (or substitute mums, such as dads, aunts, older sisters, etc) who provide us with wonderful memories and who make a house a home, I reckon I have the perfect Mother’s Day giveaway…
Monica McInerney’s ~ The House of Memories
Yep! The lovely Monica McInerney has offered a copy — signed, sealed and sent directly to one lucky person, or to your mum for Mother’s Day. Imagine that! (See below for details.)
And while we’re talking about houses and memories, I thought I’d share something about the Dandelion House — the century-old property that features in my novel …
House for all Seasons
The idea of having an interesting old house in my story came from a childhood memory. Down the road from where we lived when I was about six or seven was a ramshackle old place the local kids referred to as The Haunted House (or spooky house). Although very different in appearance to the Dandelion house in my story, it was the kind of place kids would throw stones at, then later tell scary slumber party stories about the weird, old recluse who had chased them away with a broom. 
I’ve tried and tried to get a photo of the old place as I remember it — a ramshackle two-story concrete structure, overgrown with vines and shrubs and built into the side of giant rock with a cave. After a call out on Facebook I managed to get this picture of the place mid-demolition. (Thx Liz and Gemma Madden.)
Still on the subject of houses and memories…
Another treat, if you haven’t seen it already, is Monica’s real-life House of Memories which featured in her launch last year. Go to Monica’s website to view the amazing time lapse version. It’s great.
But before you go, ENTER THE DRAW by leaving a comment to go into the draw to win the book and if you’d like to, you can follow my news on Facebook or subscribe using the button on the right.
This Mothers Day is going to be tough, so if you can, leave a comment telling us what it is you used to do as a child that would drive your mother crazy, or leave her laughing and shaking her head.
Good luck. Entries close on 30 April 2013 with the winner announced here and contacted via email. And thank you to the very generous Monica Mc.
I’m late with this announcement as I could not decided. So I had my Dad and my sister help me put the comments through the laugh-o-metre.
AND THE ENTRY THAT PUT THE BIGGEST SMILE ON MY DAD’S DIAL WAS….. Gloria Bale’s alien Man from Volton! Congrats Gloria.
Lovely post, Jenn. It was a joint effort, driving my mother crazy. Between my brother, sister and myself, we broke just about every one of her precious vases/ornaments playing cricket in the house when it was pouring rain and we couldn’t play outside. Then there was the time my sister and I emptied an entire bottle of bubblebath into the tub and filled it up. We had suds to the ceiling. Luckily I discovered a great way to make all the bubbles pop: sprinkle them with talcum powder. One big container of talcum powder later, mum came in to check how we were going in the bathroom…
I laughed out loud, thx Christine. I was also a tad worried–worried about what it was you’d discivered in the bath that made bubbles pop!!!! Talcum powder! Who knew. I’m sure the mess was D-lightful.
Christine – and Jenn – thanks for that reminder – my brother put so many cricket balls through my bedroom window – the insurance company refused to pay – and Mum and Dad put chicken wire over my window! Gahhh – I hated that.
And when I think of my Mum – she died when I was 19 – her energy exasperated me – say I was cold and she’d advise star jumps – then do them. She had so much energy.
Jenn – big warm wishes for this Mum’s day – think of you – and you’re really six-foot tall! x
Aww, gosh, 19 is so young to lose a mum. On the bright side, those star jumps made me smile. My mum would tell me to put another jumper on.
I think my rivalry with my younger siblings drove her crazy. All six of us would want the cream off the top of the bottle – so we’d open all six bottles of milk at breakfast so we could all have the cream. All six of us wanted the cards out of the weetbix packets – and we’d open up three boxes of cereal and pull out the cards from the three boxes. Then again – I suppose we did our share of cute things too – I remember breaking her mixmaster bowl – she’d waited a couple of years to own a Sunbeam mixmaster – I was so upset I took it out into the backyard and buried it and gave it a gravestone. I don’t remember her laughing – but if it was my kids doing that I would these days.
I had a propensity for getting wet. Not far from our house were these huge ‘puddles’ that in winter, were easily large enough to float a half-gallon drum on… My elder sister (bless her) and her friends used to con me into being the test pilot of these crude boats… and I was dumb enough to think I was being brave, not foolhardy. The result was almost always me falling out of the ‘boat’ and having to run (cold and bedraggled) back to our house and explain, yet again: I got caught in the rain mum…
“Well it isn’t raining here, love.”
“I know. But it’s raining down the road.”
Lily M.
xx
p.s. My mum just finished House and she loved it – so it’s in my hot little hands now at last.
Ah, yes, …. We always thought we could get away with our little white lies!!!!! Enjoy House Lily.
We used to have really tall wardrobe, we had to get ladder to access the top part. I used to climb up (on hindsight, I’m surprised that I could actually climb up without any help) to the space in between the top of the wardrobe and the ceiling. The gap was big enough for a 7 year old to lie down comfortably, too small for adults to get access to.
It sure drove my mum crazy when I got into trouble. Needless to say, I dug even deeper hole by going vertically up.
Hi Lidya, you know I was never find of heights. Still not too find of them, which is not good given I am sic foot tall!!! It’s a long way to fall!
When I was unwell, and banned to my bedroom because we had visitors, I had my cousin hiding under the bed so she could talk to me. The problem came when no-one could find her! Then I was in big trouble!
Have a nice, relaxing mother’s day Jenn, with peace and beautiful memories 🙂 I lost my Mum a few years ago, and it never gets easier, but the memories are always wonderful.
Thx for sharing Brenda. All the best to you too.
I’m very close to my mum, we’re best friends and we share the most curious tics. Dad is constantly complaining about our silent exchanges – entire conversations with just our eyes. He’ll never crack the code. It’s a mother-daughter thing.
What I used to do as a kid which drove my mum crazy was stretch the landline phone cord across the hallway into the nearest room. She limbo-ed under it for years.
All my best thoughts to you this mother’s day, Jen, and my condolences.
LOL limbo mum! Love it, Elise. Thx for sharing.
There are probably tons of things I did growing up that drove my mother mad! Dying my hair blonde, getting a few too many ear piercings, and going through an “I’ll only wear black” stage. And like Elise, I’d stretch the phone cord around corners to try and get privacy, while in the meantime creating a strangulation hazard or for the more positive of mind, a limbo opportunity 😉
Blonde with ear piercings? ! Can’t imagine that at all. Thx for dropping by Juliet.
Growing up in the country surrounded by male cousins I was, of course, a big tomboy. I was always climbing trees, playing in the dirt, kicking the football basically everything the boys did I did. My mum tried for years to get me to wear dresses and be ‘a girl’ and would get so angry when I got them dirty and ripped. Now I love my dresses and skirts and being as girly as can be.
I love seeing the house that inspired The Dandelion house in your book. I do confess to seeing it in my head many times while reading the book and I always saw a big rambling homestead type house. Can’t get the country girl out of me. lol
Hi Ann-Marie, and you are right about the Dandelion House being the quintessential Aussie homestead (if not a bit run down and quirky with the odd gargoyle of too.) My inspirationj for House was not so much the actual building as shown in the picture, but the spookiness of it and the enigmatic occupant. So you are spot on. Lovely to see you here. You must have related to Poppy in the novel, I guess.
These sound like nice books.
There is only one answer for that, Jenn! It was reading under the blankets by torchlight, the parent teacher interviews complaining I always had my nose in a book under the desk instead of doing my maths, spending too long in the bathtub because I was reading a book, not doing my homework because I was reading a book, not coming for dinner when I was reading a book…and the list goes on. One of the best things my Mum ever did… was calling me Anne ..after Anne of Green Gables.
I will be thinking of you on Mother’s Day.
Thank you, Annie. Sounds like you were born with a book in your hands then!
WIll be thinking of you, Jenn on Mother’s Day. Anniversaries, birthdays and other “occasions” are always tough when you’ve lost a loved one!
We (my brother, sister and I) drove our Mum crazy by agreeing one day to only say “yes mummy” to her for the whole day. Over thirty years later and she still says that was one of the most annoying days of her life! Hee hee – we were evil!
Yes Jen!!!!! That was mean. 🙂
When I was a child I would drive my mother crazy by always wanting to do adventurous things. I wanted to fly so would climb the garage to the roof and after laying in the shade of the mulberry tree eating my fill, I would don one of her white sheets and fly off the roof. More often than not, I would cry out to Mum to come and patch up my injuries. I must add that depending on the injuries, she would end up laughing with me.
Ouch! Thx for sharing.
I was at home ill,when there was a knock at the door.Mum was out back hanging washing,so I got out of sick bed to find a strange man looking through screen door,saying over and over…Ï am the man from Volton”. Mum came running when I screamed “There’s a crazy man who thinks he’s an alien”!”. Mum never laughed so hard,as she tried to explain,the man (a new Australian with heavy accent) was collecting weekly payment from a local shop called WALTONS.
Gloria, that is hilarious. I so remember Waltons!!!!!!! My Waltons was in Dee Why (NSW) and I loved that store.
I still refer to it as Valtons.
LOL, I’m not surprised. If you read my House for all Seasons, Gloria, you may discover you have something in common with Viv, the country doctor’s very organized receptionist!!!!!!;)
Gloria! Did you see the announcement. You won Monica McInerney’s book. Email your postal address to me at ASAP so we can get the book to you.
I have no doubt I’ve always drived my Mum crazy, but I do know I’ve made her laugh as well.
The first story that I know of that displayed that motherhood wasn’t going to be easy was when my brother and I were having a great time turning on the front outside tap. Apparently Mum came out several times (attracted by the manic giggles) and turned the tap off, and even after she had bashed it off with a hunk of wood, somehow our smaller hands from underneath managed to turn the tap on again. Eventually Mum says she gave us both a smack for the first time, and then went inside and cried, only to hear my brother and I giggling and saying “let’s do it again”!
Hmm, funny how those mum smacks never hurt for long! More like love pats as I recall. Thx for joining in, Erica.
Having to leave a comment has challenged me a bit.Not a big story writer but I certainly do love to read. I have some rather fond memories of my Mum. Teaching me to sew a talent that I have past on to my Daughter and now Granddaughter. She always said if your going to do it do it right. Can you imagine the look on her face when I had finished a lovely velvet jacket and I had not over locked the inside seams.
Well I will never do that again. Such wonderful memories. Still puts a smile on my face.
Tessa, there’s nothing more precious than passing those skills down from generation to generation. My mum was not a big seamstress. The closest she came was when she worked in a button factory in the sixties where she sewed buttons on cards by hand (those cards you see in fabric shops!!) Imagine that!
Hi Jenn, I will have to purchase your book to read. I love Monica’s books they are just a wonderful read so I will add you now to my must read. I used to drive my Mum mad by sitting at the dinner table fiddling with labels and gradually bit by bit tearing the labels off. The other thing that drove her mad was me rocking back and forward on the chair – yep sometimes I would fall off. I too like a previous message used to read under the covers of a night with torch – I nearly always had a book in my hand. I too miss my Mum so know how you will be feeling on Mothers Day Jenn.
Hi Maureen, thanks so much for dropping by. So by labels do you mean on the condiment bottles. That would drive ME crazy!!! LOL.
I am one of a twin and my brother and I pulled down the curtains by swinging one on each end. Then we were playing roadwork outside the outside the back door and left the hose running and ran off and forgot about it my mum came outside with the clothes basket to go and hang out the washing and stepped down into 10 inches of water not happy.
Twins, eh? Twice the trouble for your poor mum. I laughed out loud at the 10 inches of water. Thx Helen and all the best in the draw.
Thanks Jenn
My Sis & I were both born with beautiful Auburn coloured hair. Because both mum and dad had brown hair my dad sported a fetching goatee for many years after it was hip because it had flecks of red in it. He used to say that it was proof that he was our father and it wasn’t the milk man! One day when we were both small, our grandfather took us to the shops and offered to buy us a treat. We both picked PK Chewing Gum as we were NOT allowed to have it. We kept it a secret and when we were having a bath, we were both trying to out do each other by blowing the biggest bubble. My mum couldn’t work out why we were so quiet, usually we would be bickering and pinching each other so she came to investigate. By that time, my sis, being bored with the game decided to put the whole packed of chewed up gum in my hair. I tried to retaliate, but wasn’t quick enough. Mum was furious and got my dad to cut out the gum pieces from my hair and he thought it would be a good idea to use a bowl over my head to neaten it up a bit. For months I had Spikey Bowl Hair and mum couldn’t look at me without giggling.
Oh Sarah, have you read my House for all Seasons? How wonderful. Sara’s story has a chewing gum moment too. Thx so much for sharing.
Not yet but I will thank you 😉 sorry for the loss of you’re mum, mine past over 12 years ago. Miss her advice, wanted or unwanted but have many good memories too xx
A lovely post, Jenn. Don’t put me in the draw for Monica’s wonderful story, it’s already on my mum’s bookshelf 🙂 And I loved it too.
We used to drive Mum nuts throwing grass at each other. We had an acre at Currumbin Beach that took for ever to mow. The catcher invariably didn’t work so we had to rake it up in piles then fill a huge hopper Dad had built. There was something about new cut grass that sent us all silly and I remember some seriously good grass fights and Mum going spare that we’d have to rake it all up again.
Hugs to you for Mother’s Day this year. Days like that are the hardest…
Oh Helene, you made me laugh. “Something about cut grass that sent us silly!” There are some sectors of the community who will still agree with you on that one!!!!! 😉
I remember the 5 of us children would sit and watch the looney tunes cartoons on tv, we would be laughing uncontrollably and Mum couldn’t get us to do a thing when that was on, Mum just didn’t get it and would shake her head and walk away, and Dad was no help to her either because he was rolling around the floor laughing with us kids:)
Oh Judi, I’m with your mum. Looney tunes drove me crazy. My brother and father have THE worst laughs in the entire world. My brother would laugh whenit wasn’t even funny – just to annoy me. (I am the baby.) I hear the Road Runner now and I cringe. LOL Some things never leave us!!!! Thanks so much for dropping by.
LOL….I normally buy my mom a gift for Mothers Day…I really dont have any funny things to talk about…
Well, Thx for dropping by anyway, Trudy.
Great post Jenn, I do enjoy reading your columns thanks.
What did I do to drive my mum crazy, being the youngest of a big tribe, I seemed to always be dobbed in by the rest of the clan especially at school.
Like getting my late grandfathers cigarettes from the T Chests back of our garage and selling them at school, plus teaching kids to smoke.
Amazing being Anzac Day, the cigarettes were from the wars my grandfather served in…LEST WE FORGET…
What a wonderful comment for today, Rob. And thx for liking my blog posts 🙂 I guess the half glass full of your shenenigans is that those old ciggies probably had better quality tobacco – more pure and less poison!!!!!