The Rural Voice, 2005-03, Page 34Smelling the flowers
Long-time Rural Voice columnist Gisele Ireland
now runs a flower shop and cafe
in her home town of Teeswater
Story and photo by Jim Brown
Gisele Ireland of Teeswater wrote a column for The Rural Voice for 25 years.
Today, she operates First Class Flowers, a combination flower/gift shop and
cafe, on the main street of Teeswater.
After being a columnist for The
Rural Voice for 25 years, you
might say Gisele Ireland took
time off to smell the flowers.
After all those years in which she
made her husband Brian, a.k.a Super
Wrench, infamous, she's now
running a flower shop and cafe in her
home town of Teeswater.
Gisele's wry sense of humour and
appreciation of the sublime and the
ridiculous in every day farm life,
made her columns a favourite in
several counties.
As well as writing a column, she
30 THE RURAL VOICE
published five books, the first of
which, The Farmer Takes a Wife,
was a psychological study of stress
on farm families during financial
crisis. This venture was in
conjunction with the Concerned
Farm Women, a group that emerged
during the 1980s high -interest -rate
farming crisis. Now, some 20 years
later, things seem to have come full
circle once again. Farmers are again
on the front page of the media,
suffering financial hardships on
several fronts.
The other four titles were hilarious
romps through the Irelands' own
farming experiences, along with
some borrowed from family and
friends. Neighbours slipped in every
now and then just to keep things
stirred up.
Gisele chooses to exaggerate the
controversial, the odd and the
downright hilarious aspects of farm
life. Due to her outlook, she became
a popular speaker in Ontario as well
as making several trips to Prince
Edward Island, Quebec and New
Brunswick.
"Farmers are a unique brotherhood,
countrywide," she says. At the
present time she still does as much
speaking has her busy schedule
allows.
Today, Gisele is helping Super
Wrench and son Douglas manage
Teeswater Agro Parts, which is
located on their original farm, near
the village of Teeswater.
Last summer they purchased a
heritage building in the village and
operate it as a combination
flower/gift shop and cafe.
It's called First Class Flowers and
although Super Wrench bends over
backwards to avoid the flowers and
the kitchen, he's hating fun
renovating the old building. When
he's not doing that, he is playing with
his big toys at Agro Parts, she says.
All four of Brian and Gisele's
children are married and have gifted
them with 11 grandchildren.
As their 40th wedding anniversary
looms on the horizon, both feel
grateful for the gifts they have been
given and for the richness of their
life.
Gisele says she hopes she imparted
some of that richness to the lives of
those who read her work or listened
to her presentations.0