This album contains May's photos. Double click on it and you will go to the online album and can browse through the pictures.
I mentioned earlier that my camera broke. It landed up in the mechanism of the Reclining chair with its lens open. After that there was white light pollution and fuzzy pictures. Then the motor mechanism gave up the ghost. My Mum kindly lent me hers because I feel lost without a camera these days. I managed to access some of my savings (easier said than done) and bought a new one of my own. I read loads of reviews at alatest.co.uk and trustedreviews.com and eventually decided on a Casio Exilim EX-Z1080 You can click on the link to read one of the reviews, but I must say I am pleased with it. It took photos clearly and with good colour so I have had to do virtually no image editing, which I'm a bit sorry about because I enjoy fiddling around in editing programs.
The first photos in this album were taken at Kate and Nigel's new house. Wendy is cutting her 2yr old teeth and was stropping for very little reason. Kate and Nigel were exhausted so my Mum and I tried to keep her occupied. She has great fun with my Mum, and got a mushroom (!!!) to scare her with, pretending it was a snake. The mushroom came from the fridge and was not a wild one. This child has given my mother a whole new lease of life. She is enjoying her so much.
Wendy is lucky to have close bonds with her extended family - a child never has too many people loving her unconditionally. We are all crazy about her and it is interesting to see how she expects different things from different family members. With Michelle, it is rough play. With Josie it is reading, toe tickling and being scared of snakes. With me its comfort, getting tangles out of hair, and changing nappies. She has started clamouring to see Sean and she loves Richard too.
Talking of Wendy and the fridge, Kate was late giving Wendy her lunch. She realised that Wendy was being rather quiet so she went to find her. Where was she? In front of the open door of the fridge with a slice of bread in her hand with a slice of ham on top of it and she was trying to open the cheese to put some of that on her sandwich too! No flies on that girl! She is only 2yrs and 2 months old. That is pretty amazing problem solving.
I hope for every one's sake that these two year old teeth come through quickly. Those guys need a break. Nigel has a big Auto Electrical exam on Monday and it is not a subject he finds easy. He has a lot of studying to do, and he isn't looking well. They have just moved, he has a million things to do, he has had little sleep because of Wendy teething. I advised him to put off his "oughteries" because they will still be waiting for him once his exam is finished. Please say a quick prayer for him. He never moans about being ill, but the most unobservant person can see he is really under the weather physically. Kate too is pale and tired - she too has her studies, housework, Wendy and sleeplessness. This isn't an easy time for them but they are just getting on with things and they aren't moaning.
I had my dental bridge put in on Thursday. I hadn't even known what a bridge was, but I'm very pleased. It looks and feels natural. A back tooth had to be taken out after chronic abscesses ate away part of the jawbone. After it was removed and the socket healed, I went back for an Impression and for the dentist to grind parts of the adjacent teeth away. The teeth he ground he covered with a temporary plastic coat. When I went back on Thursday, he removed the plastic covers and then put glue onto the bridge which consisted of 3 porcelain teeth. The middle tooth is where the original tooth was extracted and the two other porcelain teeth were used to fix it all into place. So the ground-down teeth are sort of 'crowned' and serve as fixing posts for the middle tooth. As I said, it looks and feels completely natural and I am very pleased with it.
Sean is having a dental implant and he is at stage 2. He has had the metal thing put in the jaw and he has stitches in. He has to go back to have his stitches out next week. Then they will leave it to heal up before he has to go back to have the actual implant put in. Sounds scary! He is brave though, and he recovers quickly. Still, I'm glad I had a bridge instead of an implant. An implant is a much bigger deal than a bridge and I'm not as brave as he is.
Melanie in New Zealand is in bed with fever and 'flu. Spare a sympathetic thought for her - she is surrounded by blokes! They bother her so much when she is trying to sleep that she locked her bedroom door. So what did they do? They went round the outside of the house to the bedroom window and were calling "Mum. Mum. Shall I feed the cat?" and stupid stuff like that. I should say that the youngest lad is 16. They are quite capable of working out that a hungry cat needs feeding, that the dishwasher needs emptying etc but do they do it? No. They don't even take her a cup of tea. Poor Mel! Three sons and a husband! Thank God I had girls. I really couldn't be doing with that sort of nonsense. And Mel is so dainty and feminine too. I don't know how she does it. Get well soon, Mellie dear. Perhaps a week's convalescence at a Convent guest house would do you some good. The nuns are very kind and restful and the charge is minimal. They are very good news for mothers with shattered nerves and an abundance of blokes in their lives.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Congratulations Michelle
I should say that Michelle only started this course of studies earlier this month.
She had completed various courses previously and because those courses are incorporated in the NVQ, she was allowed to be credited with them as completed modules in this current course. That sounds as if this has been easy. It hasn't. She has had to work her backside off, studying, doing paper work and having the paper work marked and evaluated as well as having the Assessor shadowing her at work to see if she puts all the principles into action on a day to day basis.
Michelle has out a heck of a lot of effort into this course and she deserves a lot of credit for that. She has a personal list of things she would like to do before she is 30, and this is one step nearer reaching her goals.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Portrait
I have been editing the photos I took yesterday, and have done a couple of portraits. I will post one here in a minute.
Tomorrow morning I have to be up early for my scan in Dover. I'm glad about having it done at last, and glad they haven't sent me to Ashford. My mother is picking me up at the crack of dawn, but I'm not sure it wouldn't be better to go by train as there are no traffic problems and no parking hassles. The Beast can get me to the hospital from the station with no problem at all. Anyway, mum is picking me up and my Dr should have the results in 10 working days. This, incidentally, is an "Urgent" scan so I have had to wait only 6 weeks, plus another two for the Dr to get the results. Given that, it is lucky the problem isn't more serious.
Sean is off to visit his sister in Cambridge tomorrow and although she invited me too, I've declined her invitation because of the scan and because I feel so unwell. I hate being a drag on everyone so I plan to stay quietly at home. I've asked Sean to give my love to his sister - she is such a nice lady - and I hope he remembers. He has had a tough week and is shattered at the moment. I wish him a refreshing night's sleep.
My brother Stephen and his wife are off to Fiji on holiday and I hope they have a great time. And I owe my sister a letter, which I will do tomorrow afternoon, with apologies. I'm behind with everything because I have been too washed out to do anything or to sit upright for very long.
Anyway, here is the portrait I fiddled with in my art program.
Tomorrow morning I have to be up early for my scan in Dover. I'm glad about having it done at last, and glad they haven't sent me to Ashford. My mother is picking me up at the crack of dawn, but I'm not sure it wouldn't be better to go by train as there are no traffic problems and no parking hassles. The Beast can get me to the hospital from the station with no problem at all. Anyway, mum is picking me up and my Dr should have the results in 10 working days. This, incidentally, is an "Urgent" scan so I have had to wait only 6 weeks, plus another two for the Dr to get the results. Given that, it is lucky the problem isn't more serious.
Sean is off to visit his sister in Cambridge tomorrow and although she invited me too, I've declined her invitation because of the scan and because I feel so unwell. I hate being a drag on everyone so I plan to stay quietly at home. I've asked Sean to give my love to his sister - she is such a nice lady - and I hope he remembers. He has had a tough week and is shattered at the moment. I wish him a refreshing night's sleep.
My brother Stephen and his wife are off to Fiji on holiday and I hope they have a great time. And I owe my sister a letter, which I will do tomorrow afternoon, with apologies. I'm behind with everything because I have been too washed out to do anything or to sit upright for very long.
Anyway, here is the portrait I fiddled with in my art program.
Just a couple of Favourites
Its easy to see what a happy and mischievous child she is. She loves life and is full of fun as well as being gentle and compassionate. In the photo albums mentioned in the post below this, you will see her putting the dog in a blanket and trying to settle him down to sleep, and her cuddling him. She adores that silly animal and he loves her just as much.
When she and he are being so companionable, I wish June, his previous owner, could see him and her together. This October will be the 3rd anniversary of her death and we still miss her. I'm glad we have her dog with us. He is a good friend too.
When she and he are being so companionable, I wish June, his previous owner, could see him and her together. This October will be the 3rd anniversary of her death and we still miss her. I'm glad we have her dog with us. He is a good friend too.
May 2008
I am going to embed a Photo Album below. The quality of the first few are not great because my camera isn't well. I am getting white light pollution and the motor is struggling to open and close the camera. My mother has kindly lent me hers in the meantime, as I feel lost without a camera. Who would have thought it could become addictive?
Over the weekend, Sean and I took Woozle out to Lathe Barn and she had a fabulous time. I hadn't realised there was an indoor playing area, and it is just as well there was because the weather wasn't great. Terrie went with Kate and Nigel to their old house to repair the wallpaper and to help clear it up. Nigel had a tour of inspection with the landlord's assistant and she said that they were more than satisfied and will be returning their £500 deposit. Seeing is believing - I'm not holding my breath.
Kate is working on finalising her Portfolio, which counts towards her exam results. Her original portfolio had been lost at college, but we were able to find the relevant pages on the Internet and print them so Kate will have a Portfolio to hand in. She has to write Anatomy and Physiology and is dreading it. Nigel also has only one exam left and it is a hard one - auto electrics. He is struggling to make calculations using Ohms Law. He is studying hard, and I have every confidence in him.
My health has been "down", which is why I haven't been keeping up with the Blog. It has just been difficult to sit at the computer. And my concentration hasn't been good either. The physical action of sitting, even in a supportive chair, is not easy during a relapse. Tonight, I'm allowing myself 15 min and then I will have to go back to bed. I am having my "urgent scan" at Dover Hospital on Saturday morning.
My mother's sister Mary has been in Folkestone as part of a coach tour. I really enjoyed meeting her. I thought she was great - down to earth, brisk, blunt and no nonsense. She was fun! She lives near Bournemouth now so next time we are down that way, I'd like to pop in and see her.
Here is the photo album. Just double click on it and it will show you the photos. If you look on the top of the right side of your screen, you should see 'slide show' written in blue. Click on that and sit back and watch.
OK, Photobucket isn't working tonight. Look at my Picasa Album instead. Sorry! Photobucket signed that the upload was successful, but it wasn't. I tried again, same thing, so there must be a problem of some kind.
Here is a link to the existing Photobucket albums. On the left side of the page is a list of all my albums. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have been annoyed that technology didn't work. These days, I expect it to work and get upset when it doesn't. I think we have new expectations now. My Mum and I were watching vintage A Team earlier and the primitive technology seems rather odd. I remember watching it years ago and thinking it was cutting edge stuff. I wonder how we will feel looking at current technology 10 years from now?
Over the weekend, Sean and I took Woozle out to Lathe Barn and she had a fabulous time. I hadn't realised there was an indoor playing area, and it is just as well there was because the weather wasn't great. Terrie went with Kate and Nigel to their old house to repair the wallpaper and to help clear it up. Nigel had a tour of inspection with the landlord's assistant and she said that they were more than satisfied and will be returning their £500 deposit. Seeing is believing - I'm not holding my breath.
Kate is working on finalising her Portfolio, which counts towards her exam results. Her original portfolio had been lost at college, but we were able to find the relevant pages on the Internet and print them so Kate will have a Portfolio to hand in. She has to write Anatomy and Physiology and is dreading it. Nigel also has only one exam left and it is a hard one - auto electrics. He is struggling to make calculations using Ohms Law. He is studying hard, and I have every confidence in him.
My health has been "down", which is why I haven't been keeping up with the Blog. It has just been difficult to sit at the computer. And my concentration hasn't been good either. The physical action of sitting, even in a supportive chair, is not easy during a relapse. Tonight, I'm allowing myself 15 min and then I will have to go back to bed. I am having my "urgent scan" at Dover Hospital on Saturday morning.
My mother's sister Mary has been in Folkestone as part of a coach tour. I really enjoyed meeting her. I thought she was great - down to earth, brisk, blunt and no nonsense. She was fun! She lives near Bournemouth now so next time we are down that way, I'd like to pop in and see her.
Here is the photo album. Just double click on it and it will show you the photos. If you look on the top of the right side of your screen, you should see 'slide show' written in blue. Click on that and sit back and watch.
OK, Photobucket isn't working tonight. Look at my Picasa Album instead. Sorry! Photobucket signed that the upload was successful, but it wasn't. I tried again, same thing, so there must be a problem of some kind.
Here is a link to the existing Photobucket albums. On the left side of the page is a list of all my albums. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have been annoyed that technology didn't work. These days, I expect it to work and get upset when it doesn't. I think we have new expectations now. My Mum and I were watching vintage A Team earlier and the primitive technology seems rather odd. I remember watching it years ago and thinking it was cutting edge stuff. I wonder how we will feel looking at current technology 10 years from now?
Friday, May 16, 2008
They Moved - Mostly
Caelyn and Nigel have done most of their move today. Terrie came - thank God - to help me look after Woozle. She was sweet as pie but she kept us both on the hop. Tonight, Sean is coming because we are going to take Woozle to the Petting Zoo tomorrow while the adults clean up the old house and unpack stuff in the new house.
After they told me they were going to move, I told them that I was glad Woozle was not going to grow up in Dover. It seems to have a depressed atmosphere, probably because a lot of the work done at the Port of Dover stopped years ago, so people have been on the dole for a couple of generations. It seems as if the people accept that life is bad and that they can't change it. I told the kids that the demographics of Hawkinge were different. The houses are new and are mostly owner-occupied. The people know that if they study, work hard and pay their dues, they can achieve whatever they set their minds to. So the village has a more positive and upbeat mood.
I'm not sure that the kids believed me, but when they came to pick Woozle up, they said that their next door neighbours had been over to introduce themselves and invite them to a barbecue and another neighbour had brought over a bottle of chilled Bucks Fizz to welcome them to the neighbourhood. The neighbours said that the worst problems they had had was one summer when a group of youngsters went around barking at dogs. Well, if that is the worst so far, thank God for that!
These photos are of Woozle hoovering - it was a great way to divert her attention from wanting Mummy, washing her hands (she has a thing about having clean hands) and that she has discovered the joys of reading in the smallest room in the house. These were taken on my mobile because my main camera isn't too well.
Have a great weekend!
After they told me they were going to move, I told them that I was glad Woozle was not going to grow up in Dover. It seems to have a depressed atmosphere, probably because a lot of the work done at the Port of Dover stopped years ago, so people have been on the dole for a couple of generations. It seems as if the people accept that life is bad and that they can't change it. I told the kids that the demographics of Hawkinge were different. The houses are new and are mostly owner-occupied. The people know that if they study, work hard and pay their dues, they can achieve whatever they set their minds to. So the village has a more positive and upbeat mood.
I'm not sure that the kids believed me, but when they came to pick Woozle up, they said that their next door neighbours had been over to introduce themselves and invite them to a barbecue and another neighbour had brought over a bottle of chilled Bucks Fizz to welcome them to the neighbourhood. The neighbours said that the worst problems they had had was one summer when a group of youngsters went around barking at dogs. Well, if that is the worst so far, thank God for that!
These photos are of Woozle hoovering - it was a great way to divert her attention from wanting Mummy, washing her hands (she has a thing about having clean hands) and that she has discovered the joys of reading in the smallest room in the house. These were taken on my mobile because my main camera isn't too well.
Have a great weekend!
Pace Quickens
Kate and Nigel have packed up most of their house and today they took a couple of boxes over to their new house while Wendy visited me. She was as good as gold. She and Caelyn spent the evening with me while Nigel was doing some urgent running around.
Sean is breaking with tradition tomorrow. He is coming here instead of spending a peaceful Friday night at home unwinding from his work week. We are looking after Wendy on Saturday while her Mum and Dad get on with the job of moving. They will be taking some bits over to the new house tomorrow while she visits me during the afternoon. Sean and I, weather permitting, will take her to the Petting Zoo on Saturday. My Mum dropped the safety car seat here to put in Sean's car. She won't be with us as she is going away on a church camp in Derby.
I am worried about Michelle. She was so upset about Rosie and it was the funeral today. I hope she manages to come to terms with it and with all the emotion that goes along with it. Poor Michelle! She was a good friend to Rosie so it really hit her hard. Of course I am terribly sorry for Rosie's family, but I don't know them. I know my Michelle though, and my heart really hurts for her. She is a girl who gives herself unsparingly in her friendships.
One of the shittiest things about parenthood is that there are some hurts you just can't kiss better.
Sean is breaking with tradition tomorrow. He is coming here instead of spending a peaceful Friday night at home unwinding from his work week. We are looking after Wendy on Saturday while her Mum and Dad get on with the job of moving. They will be taking some bits over to the new house tomorrow while she visits me during the afternoon. Sean and I, weather permitting, will take her to the Petting Zoo on Saturday. My Mum dropped the safety car seat here to put in Sean's car. She won't be with us as she is going away on a church camp in Derby.
I am worried about Michelle. She was so upset about Rosie and it was the funeral today. I hope she manages to come to terms with it and with all the emotion that goes along with it. Poor Michelle! She was a good friend to Rosie so it really hit her hard. Of course I am terribly sorry for Rosie's family, but I don't know them. I know my Michelle though, and my heart really hurts for her. She is a girl who gives herself unsparingly in her friendships.
One of the shittiest things about parenthood is that there are some hurts you just can't kiss better.
Rosie Dunstall's funeral was today
Today was Michelle's friend Rosie's funeral. She died tragically on Friday 2 May. She was a friend of my daughter Michelle, who had stayed in her flat with her many times. And Michelle's crowd of friends knew her too and everyone was stunned and heartsore to hear of her passing. Michelle and Richard as well as other friends had visited her in hospital in Canterbury and later in Ashford.
Her funeral was at the Barham Crematorium today, followed a couple of hours later by a Celebration of Life at St George's church. I did not attend as I did not know her and it would have been voyeuristic, but Michelle and my mum went.
I am so sorry for her parents, sister and twin brother as well as for Rosie's friends who have been deeply affected by this sad death. I pray they may find Peace and come to make some sort of sense out of this appalling shock.
You can read a short newspaper article about it here http://tinyurl.com/6qc45j
My deepest sympathy to all affected.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Well, that was Monday.
The UK weather was wet, cold and miserable last week, but suddenly it is summer with the holiday mood that goes with it. It is quite marked in the behaviour and expressions of people on trains and around town. I wonder if this marked difference is why the English are forever talking about the weather?
Nigel got the results of the surprise exam he did last week. Only 3 in the class passed and the rest had to rewrite today. Nigel, of course, passed first time round with 71%. Well done, Nigel. He and Caelyn are preparing for their move on Saturday, but I was at their house today and I can't see how they are going to be ready on time. On moving day, Sean and I are going to be looking after Woozle. She will be better off playing and visiting the Zoo rather than getting underfoot in a house move.
My Mum and I looked after her today while her parents were in College. We will carry on looking after her on Mondays and Wednesdays until the end of the academic year. She is so happy at home that I think her parents were right to withdraw her from Nursery School. She loved the Nursery in Folkestone. On her 2nd birthday she was transferred to the Dover Nursery in the same street they live in. She was OK for the first time or two, then there was a 3 week holiday and she never settled back in after that. I think it was partly because she was picking up on her parents nervous tension concerning their move. There was a real threat of homelessness so they were understandably worried. They will try putting her back in Nursery in the new academic year which starts in September as she will have had time to adjust to her new house and she will be that bit older too.
She has potty trained herself. She used the potty 5 times while my mum and I were there and she had no "accidents". She just got on with it then showed us what she had done and beamed at the praise. She loves reading with someone, as you can see here. There she is, snuggled up with her Great Grandmother, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Michelle has gone to a special church service to pray for healing of the hurt that poor Rosie's tragic death awakened in her. I join my prayers to hers that she will be able to take a step forward this evening. I have been thinking of her and hoping for the best for her. She has gone through a really bad time, poor kid. My little Firstborn.
Nigel got the results of the surprise exam he did last week. Only 3 in the class passed and the rest had to rewrite today. Nigel, of course, passed first time round with 71%. Well done, Nigel. He and Caelyn are preparing for their move on Saturday, but I was at their house today and I can't see how they are going to be ready on time. On moving day, Sean and I are going to be looking after Woozle. She will be better off playing and visiting the Zoo rather than getting underfoot in a house move.
My Mum and I looked after her today while her parents were in College. We will carry on looking after her on Mondays and Wednesdays until the end of the academic year. She is so happy at home that I think her parents were right to withdraw her from Nursery School. She loved the Nursery in Folkestone. On her 2nd birthday she was transferred to the Dover Nursery in the same street they live in. She was OK for the first time or two, then there was a 3 week holiday and she never settled back in after that. I think it was partly because she was picking up on her parents nervous tension concerning their move. There was a real threat of homelessness so they were understandably worried. They will try putting her back in Nursery in the new academic year which starts in September as she will have had time to adjust to her new house and she will be that bit older too.
She has potty trained herself. She used the potty 5 times while my mum and I were there and she had no "accidents". She just got on with it then showed us what she had done and beamed at the praise. She loves reading with someone, as you can see here. There she is, snuggled up with her Great Grandmother, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Michelle has gone to a special church service to pray for healing of the hurt that poor Rosie's tragic death awakened in her. I join my prayers to hers that she will be able to take a step forward this evening. I have been thinking of her and hoping for the best for her. She has gone through a really bad time, poor kid. My little Firstborn.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Chris Gardner's Funeral
Yesterday it was my mother's brother Chris' funeral.
We had stayed over at Sean's the previous night so we weren't hassled by a long drive on the day itself.
As we were traveling on the Pembury Rd, a hearse was just in front of us, and we overtook it. We thought it was Chris, and sure enough, it was.
When we got to the Kent and Sussex Crematorium, we got confused. There were two chapels and two car parks and they were not adequately signposted. We eventually got to the right place. The family were asked to line up outside the chapel on the right and the Freemasons on the left. The Freemasons seemed to be having their own rites and they were mostly in an adjoining room which had speakers connected to the chapel microphone. There was an odd looking masonic sign on the coffin.
The Chapel the family went in to was hot, airless and small. People were standing and squashed in everywhere. A Church of England clergyman conducted the Chapel service but oddly, didn't mention God or spirituality. He and Chris has been friends from years previously. Daughter Nikki read a short reading; two friends gave testimonials and the clergyman gave the eulogy.
Afterwards there was a reception in the masonic hall in Tunbridge Wells. Again, that was odd. Some people were in the bar where there were carpets, chairs and tables, but the sandwiches were laid out in a bare hall with just a trestle table. There were chairs stacked up in alcoves so I got a couple down for my Mum and I to sit on.
It was nice to see the family and to meet some I didn't know. We have been invited to a family Silver Wedding and a 21st Birthday on 13 September, which was nice. After that Mum and I went back to Sean's for a rest before coming home.
I hope that Chris's family 'enjoyed' the funeral service. I didn't, but I have no connections with the masons and I have a Christian faith, and different approaches are meaningful to different people.
When I die, I want a Requiem Mass. Catholics don't do Eulogies during the Mass because the focus is on God who gave the person life and who took it away and on His comfort to the bereaved and the hope we have of rising again to live with Him in His glory. Eulogies, if there are any, get done at the Wake, which I feel is more appropriate. It is right and fitting that God should be the focus of a Church service. But as I said, people do things differently and think differently. I'm not criticising because I have a 'live and let live' philosophy. If my daughters have another sort of service planned for when I go, I may very well come back to haunt them LOL.
We had stayed over at Sean's the previous night so we weren't hassled by a long drive on the day itself.
As we were traveling on the Pembury Rd, a hearse was just in front of us, and we overtook it. We thought it was Chris, and sure enough, it was.
When we got to the Kent and Sussex Crematorium, we got confused. There were two chapels and two car parks and they were not adequately signposted. We eventually got to the right place. The family were asked to line up outside the chapel on the right and the Freemasons on the left. The Freemasons seemed to be having their own rites and they were mostly in an adjoining room which had speakers connected to the chapel microphone. There was an odd looking masonic sign on the coffin.
The Chapel the family went in to was hot, airless and small. People were standing and squashed in everywhere. A Church of England clergyman conducted the Chapel service but oddly, didn't mention God or spirituality. He and Chris has been friends from years previously. Daughter Nikki read a short reading; two friends gave testimonials and the clergyman gave the eulogy.
Afterwards there was a reception in the masonic hall in Tunbridge Wells. Again, that was odd. Some people were in the bar where there were carpets, chairs and tables, but the sandwiches were laid out in a bare hall with just a trestle table. There were chairs stacked up in alcoves so I got a couple down for my Mum and I to sit on.
It was nice to see the family and to meet some I didn't know. We have been invited to a family Silver Wedding and a 21st Birthday on 13 September, which was nice. After that Mum and I went back to Sean's for a rest before coming home.
I hope that Chris's family 'enjoyed' the funeral service. I didn't, but I have no connections with the masons and I have a Christian faith, and different approaches are meaningful to different people.
When I die, I want a Requiem Mass. Catholics don't do Eulogies during the Mass because the focus is on God who gave the person life and who took it away and on His comfort to the bereaved and the hope we have of rising again to live with Him in His glory. Eulogies, if there are any, get done at the Wake, which I feel is more appropriate. It is right and fitting that God should be the focus of a Church service. But as I said, people do things differently and think differently. I'm not criticising because I have a 'live and let live' philosophy. If my daughters have another sort of service planned for when I go, I may very well come back to haunt them LOL.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Sue's New Toy
I treated myself to a new drawing program. I got it cheap from Serif, who gave me a loyalty bonus because I have other software from them. I have been having a lot of fun with it and can't wait to get to grips with it properly. These pics were done in "idiot mode" ie basic stuff that didn't need product knowledge. The pictures are variations of the same photo.
I'm looking forward to learning the whole spectrum of things this software can do, but right now I have to get dressed and take that Brak out.
I'm looking forward to learning the whole spectrum of things this software can do, but right now I have to get dressed and take that Brak out.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Our trip to Viller sur Mer
This weekend was a long weekend and Sean and I went on Brittany Ferries ship MV Normandie from Portsmouth to Caen and from there to Viller sur Mer. Sean has an old friend Bobby who owns a farmhouse there. It is always lovely visiting them and they made us very welcome. Bad weather had been forecast, but the weatherman got it wrong; we had beautiful weather. If you double click on the album, it will show you the photos in Photobucket. They are low resolution photos so they should load in your browser quite quickly.
To see official photos of the Normandie on Brittany Ferries site, click here
We had a 4 berth cabin with an en suite shower, washbasin and lavatory. We had a fabulous meal in the Deauville Restaurant on board. It is a very comfortable way to travel. We had another cabin on the return journey and I slept very well with the gentle rocking of the ship upon the waves. The French are incredibly efficient at this sort of thing and the journey was a great thing in itself.
Of course, I wasn't able to take Brak. He stayed with Kate because I thought with his mate Wendy plus the dog and cat that he would be too distracted to be too miserable. Kate says he followed her everywhere. Every time she picked up a lead, he thought he was going home. At night she had to put him in bed with her and Nigel or he would lie miserable at the bottom of the stairs, howling. Poor Brak!! Poor Kate too!! Apparently he would only eat after Poppy Cat had had what she wanted out of the bowl. He is like that at home too. Jack and Spikky have taught him well.
The only thing I was worried about this weekend was Michelle. Its funny how people say "she is taking it badly" or "she is taking it well" because it is nonsense. There IS no way to take the news of a friend's suicide well or badly. It is such an extraordinary event that it isn't possible to take it well or badly. It is rare enough not to have any rules or expectations attached to it. Needless to say, Michelle is suffering and her emotions are all over the place. It has hit her hard. How does anyone make sense of something like that?
A lot of people are feeling very bad about Rosie's death. I wish I could make them better, but I can't. All I can pray is "May God comfort them all".
To see official photos of the Normandie on Brittany Ferries site, click here
We had a 4 berth cabin with an en suite shower, washbasin and lavatory. We had a fabulous meal in the Deauville Restaurant on board. It is a very comfortable way to travel. We had another cabin on the return journey and I slept very well with the gentle rocking of the ship upon the waves. The French are incredibly efficient at this sort of thing and the journey was a great thing in itself.
Of course, I wasn't able to take Brak. He stayed with Kate because I thought with his mate Wendy plus the dog and cat that he would be too distracted to be too miserable. Kate says he followed her everywhere. Every time she picked up a lead, he thought he was going home. At night she had to put him in bed with her and Nigel or he would lie miserable at the bottom of the stairs, howling. Poor Brak!! Poor Kate too!! Apparently he would only eat after Poppy Cat had had what she wanted out of the bowl. He is like that at home too. Jack and Spikky have taught him well.
The only thing I was worried about this weekend was Michelle. Its funny how people say "she is taking it badly" or "she is taking it well" because it is nonsense. There IS no way to take the news of a friend's suicide well or badly. It is such an extraordinary event that it isn't possible to take it well or badly. It is rare enough not to have any rules or expectations attached to it. Needless to say, Michelle is suffering and her emotions are all over the place. It has hit her hard. How does anyone make sense of something like that?
A lot of people are feeling very bad about Rosie's death. I wish I could make them better, but I can't. All I can pray is "May God comfort them all".
Rosie
Rosie was Michelle's friend. She was hospitalized for depression. She must have been discharged too early because on Friday she jumped off the Asda Car Park in Folkestone, and died. It is a sad and tragic event and Michelle is devastated and feeling all sorts of guilt and anger and terrible emotions.
Father Rolheiser writes with compassion and understanding on this bleak subject and I am going to paste one of his articles here below:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/search_detail.php?rec_id=160
Suicide - The Most Misunderstood of All Deaths
2004-07-25
Death is always painful, but its pains are compounded considerably if its cause is suicide. When a suicide occurs, we aren't just left with the loss of a person, we're also left with a legacy of anger, second-guessing, and fearful anxiety.
So each year I write a column on suicide, hoping that it might help produce more understanding around the issue and, in a small way perhaps, offer some consolation to those who have lost a loved one to this dreadful disease. Essentially, I say the same things each year because they need to be said. As Margaret Atwood once put it, some things need to be said and said and said again, until they don't need to be said any more. That's true of suicide.
What's needs to be said, and said again, about it?
First of all that it's a disease and perhaps the most misunderstood of all diseases.
We tend to think that if a death is self-inflicted it is voluntary in a way that death through physical illness or accident is not. For most suicides, this isn't true. A person who falls victim to suicide dies, as the does the victim of a terminal illness or fatal accident, not by his or her own choice. When people die from heart attacks, strokes, cancer, AIDS, and accidents, they die against their will. The same is true suicide, except that in the case of suicide the breakdown is emotional rather than physical - an emotional stroke, an emotional cancer, a breakdown of the emotional immune-system, an emotional fatality.
This is not an analogy. The two kinds of heart attacks, strokes, cancers, breakdowns of the immune-system, and fatal accidents, are identical in that, in neither case, is the person leaving this world on the basis of a voluntary decision of his or her own will. In both cases, he or she is taken out of life against his or her own will. That's why we speak of someone as a "victim" of suicide.
Given this fact, we should not worry unduly about the eternal salvation of a suicide victim, believing (as we used to) that suicide is always an act of ultimate despair. God is infinitely more understanding than we are and God's hands are infinitely safer and more gentle than our own. Imagine a loving mother having just given birth, welcoming her child onto her breast for the first time. That, I believe, is the best image we have available to understand how a suicide victim (most often an overly sensitive soul) is received into the next life.
Again, this isn't an analogy. God is infinitely more understanding, loving, and motherly than any mother on earth. We need not worry about the fate of anyone, no matter the cause of death, who exits this world honest, over-sensitive, gentle, over-wrought, and emotionally- crushed. God's understanding and compassion exceed our own.
Knowing all of this however, doesn't necessarily take away our pain (and anger) at losing someone to suicide. Faith and understanding aren't meant to take our pain away but to give us hope, vision, and support as we walk within it.
Finally, we should not unduly second-guess when we lose a loved one to suicide: "What might I have done? Where did I let this person down? If only I had been there? What if ...?" It can be too easy to be haunted with the thought: "If only I'd been there at the right time." Rarely would this have made a difference. Indeed, most of the time, we weren't there for the exact reason that the person who fell victim to this disease did not want us to be there. He or she picked the moment, the spot, and the means precisely so that we wouldn't be there. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that suicide is a disease that picks its victim precisely in such a way so as to exclude others and their attentiveness. This should not be an excuse for insensitivity, especially towards those suffering from dangerous depression, but it should be a healthy check against false guilt and fruitless second-guessing.
We're human beings, not God. People die of illness and accidents all the time and all the love and attentiveness in the world often cannot prevent a loved one from dying. Suicide is an sickness there are some sicknesses that all the care and love in the world cannot cure.
A proper human and faith response to suicide should not be horror, fear for the victim's eternal salvation, or guilty second-guessing about how we failed this person. Suicide is indeed a horrible way to die, but we must understand it (at least in most cases) as a sickness, a disease, an illness, a tragic breakdown within the emotional immune-system. And then we must trust, in God's goodness, God's understanding, God's power to descend into hell, and God's power to redeem all things, even death, even death by suicide.
Father Rolheiser writes with compassion and understanding on this bleak subject and I am going to paste one of his articles here below:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/search_detail.php?rec_id=160
Suicide - The Most Misunderstood of All Deaths
2004-07-25
Death is always painful, but its pains are compounded considerably if its cause is suicide. When a suicide occurs, we aren't just left with the loss of a person, we're also left with a legacy of anger, second-guessing, and fearful anxiety.
So each year I write a column on suicide, hoping that it might help produce more understanding around the issue and, in a small way perhaps, offer some consolation to those who have lost a loved one to this dreadful disease. Essentially, I say the same things each year because they need to be said. As Margaret Atwood once put it, some things need to be said and said and said again, until they don't need to be said any more. That's true of suicide.
What's needs to be said, and said again, about it?
First of all that it's a disease and perhaps the most misunderstood of all diseases.
We tend to think that if a death is self-inflicted it is voluntary in a way that death through physical illness or accident is not. For most suicides, this isn't true. A person who falls victim to suicide dies, as the does the victim of a terminal illness or fatal accident, not by his or her own choice. When people die from heart attacks, strokes, cancer, AIDS, and accidents, they die against their will. The same is true suicide, except that in the case of suicide the breakdown is emotional rather than physical - an emotional stroke, an emotional cancer, a breakdown of the emotional immune-system, an emotional fatality.
This is not an analogy. The two kinds of heart attacks, strokes, cancers, breakdowns of the immune-system, and fatal accidents, are identical in that, in neither case, is the person leaving this world on the basis of a voluntary decision of his or her own will. In both cases, he or she is taken out of life against his or her own will. That's why we speak of someone as a "victim" of suicide.
Given this fact, we should not worry unduly about the eternal salvation of a suicide victim, believing (as we used to) that suicide is always an act of ultimate despair. God is infinitely more understanding than we are and God's hands are infinitely safer and more gentle than our own. Imagine a loving mother having just given birth, welcoming her child onto her breast for the first time. That, I believe, is the best image we have available to understand how a suicide victim (most often an overly sensitive soul) is received into the next life.
Again, this isn't an analogy. God is infinitely more understanding, loving, and motherly than any mother on earth. We need not worry about the fate of anyone, no matter the cause of death, who exits this world honest, over-sensitive, gentle, over-wrought, and emotionally- crushed. God's understanding and compassion exceed our own.
Knowing all of this however, doesn't necessarily take away our pain (and anger) at losing someone to suicide. Faith and understanding aren't meant to take our pain away but to give us hope, vision, and support as we walk within it.
Finally, we should not unduly second-guess when we lose a loved one to suicide: "What might I have done? Where did I let this person down? If only I had been there? What if ...?" It can be too easy to be haunted with the thought: "If only I'd been there at the right time." Rarely would this have made a difference. Indeed, most of the time, we weren't there for the exact reason that the person who fell victim to this disease did not want us to be there. He or she picked the moment, the spot, and the means precisely so that we wouldn't be there. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that suicide is a disease that picks its victim precisely in such a way so as to exclude others and their attentiveness. This should not be an excuse for insensitivity, especially towards those suffering from dangerous depression, but it should be a healthy check against false guilt and fruitless second-guessing.
We're human beings, not God. People die of illness and accidents all the time and all the love and attentiveness in the world often cannot prevent a loved one from dying. Suicide is an sickness there are some sicknesses that all the care and love in the world cannot cure.
A proper human and faith response to suicide should not be horror, fear for the victim's eternal salvation, or guilty second-guessing about how we failed this person. Suicide is indeed a horrible way to die, but we must understand it (at least in most cases) as a sickness, a disease, an illness, a tragic breakdown within the emotional immune-system. And then we must trust, in God's goodness, God's understanding, God's power to descend into hell, and God's power to redeem all things, even death, even death by suicide.
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