DH's relationship with my mum - help

[Birdly]

Just had v strained week with my mum visiting. She is a widow of 11 years, very lonely and lives over 100 miles away from us with no other family nearby (I am an only child). She always comes for a week at a time, as I have to drive up and collect her, and then take her back home the following weekend. I am trying to persuade her to move closer, but it's such a big step for her (she's 68) I don't think she'll ever take it.
She is fab with our 2 kids and they love her to bits, but she and DH don't seem to be able to get on well. They don't row as such, but neither seems able to read the other's 'back off' signals when conversation gets onto controversial ground. My mum gets snappy and sulky, and DH doesn't really understand where he's gone wrong, and is then baffled when mum is quiet and not really talking to him. She is also quite short with me sometimes, making out-of-the-blue comments I find difficult to understand.
I love them both, but I can see this situation causing further tensions as time goes by. Any ideas????

Can you not just have your mum for long weekends? May be easier and less of a strain for all of you.

It would be great in theory, Blossom, but I would have to take the kids with me to collect mum which would mean 5-hour round trips on, say, the Friday and the Monday. They're not great in the car and I think they'd be totally miserable after 2 long trips so close together. They're only 1 and 3, so not at school yet. Thanks for the thought tho!

it might be as cheap to get a taxi to take and bring your mum once in a while.

And maybe when she is next here go round and look at possible place she could live near you. That would certainly reduce the strain if you could visit for afternoons rather than a week at a time (I have a similar situation with my mum - hoping she will move nearer and so be able to have more frequent shorter visits).

My Mum is also widowed, but she learnt to drive just so she could visit me, I'm about 120 miles away from her. She also comes up on the train and the bus.

Next time she is up can you not somehow get her looking at houses, say for example there is a house just down the road which has just come on the market and you want to be nosey, does she fancy looking at it with you. If she sees a lovely property that may help her in deciding to move closer to you.