Mom coloring page

I hope you have as much fun coloring this page as I had making it. It's in the same style as this Joy coloring page. 

Click the images below for larger versions, print and color this mom coloring page. 

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Peace and Love coloring page and printable art

Click on the art above or below for larger printable versions of the peace and love printable art or coloring page.

If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal.
-John Lennon

Peace Symbol Coloring Page

I hope you enjoy this peace symbol coloring page. There are a few more peace symbols if you click the label at the bottom of this post. Click on the image for a larger version to color.

My mother's birthday would have been Saturday. As it gets chilly and we start watching for snow, I think of her often. With We are the 99 Percent as well, I think of her often. She would have been there, with cookies, water and smiles to pass out and a lot of excitement and conviction. She was an activist who got a lot out of being active. She was a hippie who made yogurt and burned incense and smoked clove cigarettes. She wore shawls and peasant skirts with blazers and silk tops. The sweet scent of cloves and Nag Champa was so deep in her clothes that it was like a signature cologne. She was in Watts when it burned, down in the basement of a church patching up people to go back out on the streets. When President Kennedy made the call for people to do for their country, she signed up with Volunteers in Service to America and wound up in a tiny village in Alaska where she found her home.

So this peace symbol is for her, in her memory. Her absolute conviction that most people just want to live happy, free and in peace, her basic faith in humanity. 

She was a dreamer who wasn't afraid to get in the thick of things to try to make those dreams reality. She was a hippie and individualist and just a little bit crazy, and I'm so very grateful that she was my mother. 

Mom's Birthday

Today is my mother's birthday. Since she died, I've made a list of things she taught me. None of those lists are complete or even close. It's just what I think of at the time, what's important or what's meaningful or just what I'm doing at the time that she taught me.

My mom, Carolyn Elizabeth Bradley always said-
"Boredom is a choice and I know you're smarter than that."
"Get your hair out of my eyes dear."
"Every dollar you spend is a political or social statement. I couldn't sleep under a quilt made by children in a country that doesn't have basic human rights, but I'll sleep sound under even the ugliest blanket if it was made with love."
"You know what kind of girls wear red." (As she donned a red wool coat)
"Women's liberation means if I choose to cook dinner for my husband and find empowerment in that, I can." (Mom fought hard for equality and was adamantly feminist, but made it clear that it opened choices. A woman should be able to choose her lifepath without the criticism of other women or men)
"Do something, whatever else you do, do something. Learn, use your hands, find out how things are made and do it yourself at least once so you'll appreciate the work that goes into it."
"You can be liked, or you can be loved. Very few people manage both."
"Living an effective life means that some people won't like your choices or you very much. If everyone you encounter thinks you're nice, you're doing something wrong. Not standing up for the things you believe in or not doing the things you can."
"I look at Mother Theresa and all she does, and try to be a better person because she exists."
"The more you understand yourself, the more you know other people and can empathize with them. If you dislike someone strongly, it's can be something you dislike about yourself."

What she taught me-
Thrift stores are full of treasures, if it's a wrap skirt from the 70s, a silver toast rack to organize mail in, or a cast iron bacon press with a picture of a pig, you'll always find something good in a thrift store.
On that note- At least glance at dumpsters and see what's in them. Mom loved dumpster diving and was very good at it. I have a lovely end table she found for me in an alley that way.
Look at things and imagine what they could be. Clouds, fabric, that table (which was covered with an ugly dark varnish that was peeling up in spots) and people.
People are people. It's both the greatest and worst thing about them.
How to do hair- because she couldn't, but she grew her hair long out of love for my dad. I taught myself a 5 strand french braid she loved, how to do updos and twists, and lots of other hair styles to get her hair off her neck and back.
Good manners- which fork to eat with, how to introduce people in proper order
She taught me by doing. She did needlepoint, made her own coffee tables, sewed my dresses for most occasions, cooked gorgeous meals, and marched in demonstrations. She cold called various businesses in town to raise donations for charities and social causes she believed in.
That taking your children to cultural events for other cultures is important. Let children grow knowing how big the world is.
To really enjoy reading, to enjoy books. That everything is in them if you find the right one.
That coffee wouldn't stunt my growth
Having should mean sharing.
Enjoy yourself. Don't stint yourself the little luxuries, you'll regret it in the long run.
Good quality costs, but if you find it at a thrift store, someone else already paid most of the cost!
Bargain, barter, shop off season. Never pay retail if you can avoid it.
Following other people's recipes and patterns helps you learn how things are made- then you can start designing your own.

If you get along with your mom, hug her please, tell her thank you for what she's taught you. When I was about 13 I started a tradition with my mother, on my birthday, I'd give her a gift for all she gave me including life.
On her birthday, I took her out for dinner every year. A place of her choosing. Usually she chose Chinese or some other kind of place that would make it a real treat. Dad doesn't like much but steak and potatoes type places.  Her last birthday, she chose a pancake house telling me "Oh! I want a Reuben!" She was like a kid plotting and thinking I didn't know. But a block away from the specific place she chose is a thrift store. She wanted to go there. I made sure I had extra money with me, and sure enough, after we were done eating, she asked "Can we go to the thrift store?". I said yes. And we went over there. I paid for her purchases as she thought I would, but most of them were for my son and her husband. That's how she was. The perfect gift for her, the chance to shop for the two people she loved most.
Every year on her birthday, we go back to that restaurant, and we go to the thrift store. It's a family tradition. The restaurant is now a very nice Mexican place, the thrift store is still there.
I miss you mom. Thank you.

Alaskan Fry Bread- printable recipe!

Alaskan Fry Bread  Serves 8

Alaskan fry bread is different than fry bread down south. Instead of being made with baking powder, water, flour and salt, it is made with yeast, flour, dry milk,water, salt, and usually some sort of sweetener. Just like a yeast bread recipe.
Traditionally, I've seen it served hot with a drizzle of honey, or with jam made from local berries.

The first recipe I learned was:

1 cup of milk lukewarm (made with 1/4 cup instant dry milk and luke warm water)
2 tsp. yeast or 1 envelope
2 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 cups flour

shortening or oil to fry it in

Sprinkle yeast in the milk, let it set for a couple minutes to make sure the yeast is alive. If the milk gets a bit foamy, it's alive.
Stir sugar and salt into the milk, then add 2 cups of flour and stir it in.
Slowly add the rest of the flour, when you can't stir, knead it in. You might need a handful more or less of flour.

Set in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for one hour.
After it rises, punch it down, and split the dough into 2, then each of those pieces in 2,then each of those pieces in 2. 8 balls total. Roll the pieces into a ball shape and pat and pull them flat. Cut 3 or 4 lines through the dough and stretch it out slightly.
Set the pieces aside and heat up the oil.
Again, traditionally, Crisco is used because it kept well. I use canola oil.
Put 3 inches of oil in a heavy big skillet. Heat it up.
When the oil is hot*, put in the dough, a couple pieces at a time. Fry until it's golden on one side, flip over and fry the other side.
When it's golden on both sides, pull out and set to drain on a couple paper towels.

*Mom always checked the oil by sprinkling a bit of water in on her finger tips. When it skittered, the oil was hot enough. I don't recommend this method because it's just barely possible it could cause a grease fire by causing oil to come out of the pan

Well, I love baking bread. I make up recipes for bread regularly. So it was only natural that at some point I'd start playing with my old fry bread recipe. My family is wild for whole wheat breads, and I like fry bread plain. Nothing on it, but just a little sweeter.

So here's my family's fry bread recipe:
Again, we do use instant dry milk.

1 cup luke warm milk
2 tsp. yeast
1/4 cup honey!
1 tsp. salt
3-4 cups of whole wheat flour

shortening or oil to fry it in

Same steps, and sometimes I'll add in a bit of cinnamon. It's one of my favorites for packing along when we go hiking or on a day trip. I'll pack it layered in an air tight box between paper towels. That helps keep it very soft.

A little history, if you want to skip it, just scroll down to the printables!
My mother came up to Alaska in the 60s as a Vista volunteer. It was one of the best times in her life. She taught school in villages, and came away from it with a deep abiding love for Alaska, and the people and way of life up here. And the occasional craving for Spam and pilot bread. The first recipe is the one I learned from her.
The beadwork on the printable is based on Athabaskan beadwork. I'm half Athabaskan so it seemed appropriate. Athabaskan beadwork before missionaries and traders was based on geometric patterns. That changed with missionaries and glass seed beads. Now most traditional Athabaskan beadwork is floral motifs done in couching method on moose hide or other rough tanned leather. The motif I chose is Alaska's prickly rose.
The printables are at 100 ppi, click on the images to get the full sized version. If you print them on US letter sized paper at 100% they will have perfectly even borders.

Blank version