A Tribute to my Creative Mother

My mom was one of the most creative women I have ever known.  She spent much of her life making do but she managed to do it with beautiful style.

Airi Sirkka Annele Huhtala Kuntzemann

June 5, 1926 - November 30, 2007

Mom loved flowers and wherever she lived she created incredible gardens.  Her most spectacular creation was a rock garden that she built rock by rock by herself on a hillside.  Always mindful of her limited budget she collected seeds each fall to plant in the spring and she collected perennials wherever she could.  Old homesteads, ghost towns, roadsides and even from the gardens of the recently departed.  Mom especially loved pansies, her own mother's favourite flower.

Sadly, last fall my sister and I returned to our old home, 46 years later, and only a few remnants of the rock gardens remain.  The Highways Department had purchased the place years ago to house road crews and had brought in loads of fill to extend the yard, burying the rock gardens.

The current  owners kindly allowed us to take a few of the remaining stones and this year we will honour our mom's memory with a special little rock garden and lots of pansies.