General Chat

Ann, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Thank the lord you were given one last Christmas with him.
May he rest in peace, free of pain in the arms of the lord.
My condolences to you and T, and your daughter and the family.

Jean we were actually still here, we haven't gone home yet. We will go home tomorrow and come back the day of the funeral which we think will be next week. It is to be humanist and woodland.

Thank you all for your support,thoughts, prayers and condolences <3

Happy new year to everybody. I cant read back as my computer keeps coming up with This page can't be displayed. I am getting most frustrated. I hope to take the computer to the experts next week if they are open.

A happy new year to you Huia, I hope this year is better for us all.

I know it's bad luck, but I have taken all the xmas decorations down.
It's sooo nice to get the house back to normal. We blitzed the whole house from top to bottom yesterday, and it's shining like a new pin now.
All the last crumbs from christmas day, are now in the hoover, instead of being stuck under the furniture. LOL

Well dear friends, I hope you are all now recovering from the christmas and new year celebrations.

Sylvia should soon be on her way back on the wonderful train journey from her daughters home.

I wonder if Marie threw another shrinp on the BBQ on xmas day.

Huia, did your son come over to stay with you for a few days?

I hope Sallie and our Jean are both o.k.

Ann you and your family are in my thoughts love.

Take care everyone,new year hugs from myself. Mo

Our tree and decs came down today Mo. I am not superstitious but I had actually not heard it was unlucky to take them down early. Only that it is unlucky to leave them up after 12th night. I have noticed that a lot of people around us have taken their decorations down. Probably because they go back to work on Monday.

My son and daughterinlaw came up on the Tues before Xmas, took me to dinner. They left the next day as I had already arranged to go to my sister on North Shore on Wed. for Xmas dinner on Thurs. I came home on the Friday. I am now busy sorting out Phil's clothes, some to go to the shop if I can get the name tags off, others to go to the rag bins. I am also sorting out mine, those that are too small, for the shop, also some that I bought in our shop but decided I will never wear as I have so much. The shop reopens on the 12th, the day after my birthday.

Ann, my mum used to say it was unlucky to remove the decorations, for the twelve days of christmas, so we have always stuck by this ruling, but not this year. lol

Huia, I forgot you were going to your sisters. It's nice to know that you were not alone my love.

Oooh girls, we must not forget it's our Huia's birthday on the 11th, she will be 50 and a bit more on this day.

I shall have to ring the doctors in the morning, I have had an ear ache since yesterday, and am not sure if it's my ear, or a tooth thats playing me up. If it's not an infection, I shall have to phone the dentists and get an appointment for another check up.

Bye for now girls, take care. Mo x

Hello to you all and a Happy New Year to you all.

I do hope this year is a better year for us all
Ann I am thinking of you and your family loss.

Our fires have already started
Fires have been burning in South Aust. and Victoria, many houses have been lost already in South Aust in the Adelaide Hills, and to-morrow it will be hotter and the Winds will be stronger and thunder storms with lightening is forecast.
.
Victoria has lost properties also a lot of livestock and many miles of fencing and a lot of native animals.
Friends please say some prayers for Rain in the Southern part of Australia.


On a happier note my daughter Kerryann and I spent Xmas with my Son Michael and his future wife Susan at her home on Xmas Day.
We had a very nice time while we were in Castlemaine Victoria, it ended far to quickly
.We returned home New years day, both very tired.It has taken me days to recover.
We had 35 mils of rain overnight so the weather has cooled down I had a good nights rest. :-)

Happy birthday to you Huia for the 11th <3 I wish you health and Happiness and a Wonderful Day

Love and best wishes to you all <3 <3 <3 <3 Marie. :-)

Marie, thank you for your thoughts.
I am pleased that you had a good Christmas with your son and daughter.
The fires sound awful, I hope that the area gets some rain to help control them. I see you had rain that cooled things down there which was good for you.

Hopefully I shall remember to wish you a happy birthday Huia but in case I don't I hope you enjoy a lovely day on the 11th.

I'm back!



Ann ........... I was so sorry to hear your sad news.

I hope you have a safe trip north, that the funeral goes as well as such things can, and that he gets a good send-off (as we used to say in Lancashire). (((xxxx))))

Thank you Sylvia x

Good to see you back Sylvia. How was your christmas with the family? Little man must be at school by now I should imagine.

Marie, the fires out there are horrendous, stay safe my friend. The prayer for rain has been said, in fact I have been praying that you would get our lot from over here.
It's been another wet horrible day here in Kent, and by four p.m the lights go on, and the curtains shut, so that we can fool ourselves that it is summer time, whilst we sit here by the fire pretending it is.

Ann, have a safe journey, whenever it is you and T are travelling.

Where have our Sallie and Jean got to. Surely they are not under all the xmas wrapping paper, fighting their ways out. LOL

Reminder to myself....Huia's birthday on the 11th.

Take care all. Mo x

Hi Mo, and everyone


Christmas was very quiet, just the 5 of us ............... and even boring on occasions. OH read 3 books while we were there!!!

There were some uncomfortable moments, at least one a day :-( ........... we tucked ourselves into the corner and kept out of the way until each one was over.


But it was great to see them, and to really get a feel for how things are going there.


and, of course, we had a really relaxing time on the train, both ways, with lots of good conversation and fantastic food :-)



Today is my birthday .......... and it's a "biggie", but we're not doing much celebrating. OH and I are going out to dinner at the little local "bistro-style" place, and then we'll over to the Island in about 10 days to have dinner with our friends over there.

Oh Sylvia, I am so sorry to have missed your birthday....belated birthday wishes my love.
I hope you enjoyed your meal, and that you have a lovely time with your friends over on the island.
I did wonder how things had gone on your vacation to your daughters. It must be so hard for her, living with someone who has OCD as her OH has, and must have tried both yourself and OH patience whilst you were there.
I do hope it doesn't affect your grandsons life to much, as it's so hard to live with someone who suffers with it.
They seems to think our grandaughter has something along those lines. At the moment her parents are waiting for an appoitment for her assessment, and she is only nearly four now.
At first it was thought it was just an age thing, but no she has got worse if anything.
It's strange how well behaved she is with her grandad and myself, but then we take no nonsense from her I suppose, plus she gets all our attention.
Oh well, what will be will be.

Hello to all, I hope you are all well. Hugs Mo

Mo, it wasn't too bad trying to get out from under all the wrapping paper, the sellotape was the problem, just kept getting stuck to it.LOLOL!!!!

I hope that you, Roly and the family are all okay.


We are not too bad here, but Christie is still off work since she finished for the Christmas holidays.

She started with a cold and by Christmas Day she had developed a really nasty cough. By the time she seen the doctor she had bronchitis and then it went into a chest infection, so she is still on antibiotics She has felt really poorly, but is now starting to feel better, thank goodness.



Ann, hope that the funeral went well yesterday, and that your daughter coped alright with it. Thinking of you all.



Jean, hope that you and your family are all feeling better and that you all managed to see C over the Christmas/New Year holidays.



Sylvia, pleased that you had a nice Christmas with your family and that you had a lovely train journey there and home again.

I'm sure that your grandson was thrilled with his presents and was busy playing with them all on Christmas Day.



Marie, glad to hear that you had a lovely Christmas with your daughter, son and your son's future wife.




Huia, it must have been nice seeing your son and his wife and going out for a meal with them before Christmas and then spending Christmas with your sister and her family.


Hope you all have a good weekend. Take care everyone.



Love and best wishes.



Sallie.xxx <3 <3

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
A very happy birthday for tomorrow Huia, have a lovely day.
I know I am a day early, but I have to allow for time differences.
Love and hugs dear friend. xxx
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Hi there Sallie. I am soo pleased you have managed to escape from the selotape.
It sounds like Christie has been suffering from that awful virus that has been going around, people have been going down like flies with it.
A friend of ours ended up being hospitalised, she had double pneumonia following it.
Mind you Margaret had a big operation on her lung a year ago, so she was made weaker by it, but bless her, even though she was very poorly, she's now on the road to recovery.

Well girls, I must go and start dinner now, so I will say cheers for now me dears.

Lots of blue tits here plus a nuthatch, blackbird, robin all on the feeders. Boys gone back to Hampshire today with their families we go home tomorrow I think. One Grandson has a week's leave left so will be on hand for daughter.

Another flood in the bedroom we are in last night as the wind is obviously blowing the heavy rain in somewhere. Hopefully Jim the builder will be out to check next week. Meanwhile OH is busy with the vax we brought with us soaking up the water from the carpet. A bit like trying to stop the Severn Bore."""

And it is still blowing a gale and raining, thank goodness the day of the funeral it was sunny, dry and calm.

<3 <3 <3 happy birthday Huia <3 <3 <3

Hi Mo, and everyone



you all are certainly have bad weather ............ the weather is very quiet here. Just very foggy and rainy


We are going to the Island next Thursday for the weekend, to continue the celebrations for my birthday with our friends there, and to also give some help to our friend who moved just before Christmas.



Mo .......... our s-i-l doesn't have OCD, at least not in the form that I am familiar with!!

................ it's his brain that gets obsessed with ideas, thoughts, songs, or whatever. He can sit at his computer and listen over and over again to a song that has obsessed him

Or, he can begin to think that our daughter wanted to leave him, and cannot stop thinking about that, so she has to stop everything and convince him that he is wrong. That can take a couple of minutes, or half-an-hour, partly depending on how tired and stressed he is. The more tired and stressed, the longer it takes.

OK people. We are home again and hopefully staying here now. We were sad to leave daughter on her own but I think she will cope. today she went out with her son and DiL who live up there for lunch. when theya re not at work they will keep her occupied I think. She and I have both had the colds from hell and nasty coughs to go with it, neither of us are better yet. She has had hers since boxing day and I have had mine since 2nd Jan. (I caught hers!)

If a funeral can be said to be 'nice' Jon's was. Nothing at all morbid about the burial nobody in black, well except for a few black coats at the burial, underneath everyone in bright colours. The day before was very wet and wild, windy and rain all day, the day after, the same. Thursday was a beautiful day, blue sky, brilliant sun, lovely. There were about 60 there, lovely woodland spot right out in the country. when we all arived we waited near the gate everyone chatting quietly in various groups, people from work, Jon's family (brother, sisters, nephews, niece Mother in wheel chair, ex wife and husband) and us, our son and DiL, the boys and wives/girlfriend, Luke. Plus a few local people. When the hearse arrived it stopped and waited for us to walk behind it to the grave which was not far down the footpath.

Youngest son and Jon's best friend from Iceland (met at uni) helped the funeral directors carry the coffin to the grave (and later helped lower it in). No flowers at all by request but it didn't look wrong as the coffin was covered in a beautiful photo of Derwent water and was blue.

The celebrant was lovely and she spoke softly but clearly so we could all hear her. Before the coffin was placed in the grave she read the following verse:

How long does a man live, after all?
A thousand days or only one?
One week, or a few centuries?
How long does a man spend living or dying
and what do we mean when we say, gone forever?
A man lives for as long as we carry him inside us
for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams
for as long as we ourselves live
holding memories in common, a man lives.

After the coffin was lowered into the grave Lyn and the boys and their wives and girlfriend each put into the grave a small bunch of flowers, a rose a carnation and a sprig of Rosemary. Instead of throwing earth in on the coffin leaves were offered round to throw in. Youngest son then sprinkled Jon's favourite drink (whisky) onto the coffin.
She then read the following:
You can shed tears that he is gone, or
You can smile because he has lived.

You can close your eyes and hope that he’ll come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all he has left.

Your heart can be empty because we can’t see him,
Or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your backs on tomorrow and live for yesterday,
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember him and only that he’s gone,
Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back,
Or you can do what Jon would want;
Smile, open your eyes, love and go on.


The celebration of life
We then all made our way back to the cars to drive the short distance to the hotel where we held the celebration of Jon's life. This too was really lovely Lovely music and readings.
The first verse she read was:

Don’t think of him as gone away
His journey’s just begun,
life holds so many facets
this earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting
from the sorrows and the tears
in a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days and years.

Think how he must we wishing
that we could know today
how nothing but our sadness can really pass away.

And think of him as living
in the hearts of those he touched...
for nothing loved is ever lost
and he was loved so much.

Second son spoke on behalf of the three boys and they stood together, then Jon's best friend spoke. there were two pieces of music/songs by Andrea Begley.

Jon had planned the whole thing so he would have loved it.

After the celebration we had food and people mingled and chatted for about an hour. Looking round the room with everyone in coloured clothes it looked like a party and Jon would have loved it with everyone talking, he so liked to chat to people.

R.I.P. Jon <3 <3 <3 <3

I haven't copied it all as it would be a bit long but I thought as many do not know about humanist funerals (I didn't know what to expect) I would let you have a brief taste. As a Christian I found it very moving.

Ann, your SIL's send off sounds like he wanted it to be, a celebration of his life, wonderful....though it was a sad day for you all.
May he rest in peace, pain free.

Sorry Sylvia, I was of the understanding that your SIL had OCD, I am sorry for making the mistake.
Your daughter must have the patience of a saint.

Our birthday girl has not been on today, I do hope she has seen our birthday wishes for her.
Just in case she hasn't seen them
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
A HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUIA.xxx
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