Hello 2025

Not the best start to the New Year.

Yet, Somehow Snoopy always knows what to say...

We didn't know that Miss P's 2nd Birthday was the Last time we would talk.
The Diagnosis was brutal and They Lost Him Four Days before Christmas

Four Days after New Year we said our last Goodbyes.

Our SIL lost his Dad

Our Grandchildren lost their Abeulo

All too soon.

Rest Easy Carlos.

Family

A time for family to get together

Sunday:  Together with Our DDIL's Parents, 

We had the joy of participating in the Dedication Service of 2 of our Grand daughters.  

(Our promise to "Bring up a Child in the Way they should go" Proverbs 22:6 )

... and on the other end of Life's Journey

Monday:  We said Goodbye to DH's Brother-in Law.  It was a lovely service - planned years ago.  

And a time to catch up with Family from all over that we don't normally get to see at Christmas.

Lance would have been thrilled at the turn out - he loved a Get together!

Elizabeth R

 Of all the Tributes to the Passing of Queen Elizabeth, I loved this one the most.

"Come on  Ma'am - Your Job is Done"

Matthew 25:21

Sunday Morning

We live in a Quiet Street in a Sleepy back-water Neighbourhood at the end of a Road that basically goes no-where.

Sunday Morning we woke to news of a very bad night in Melbourne with several attacks and stabbings - some of which were Sadly Fatal. We went through the emotions of "Oh - How Terrible" and then set about our walk to a Local Cafe for Breakfast.

What we did not know, until we walked around the Corner and were confronted by the sight of Police and Forensics, was that one of the Attacks ended near our Street. 

We are saddened by the events that have scarred our Beautiful Melbourne on what was a Family Holiday Long Weekend. 

And the fact that a 16 yr old lost his life in such terrible circumstances - so far from his own home and Family.

Update: 23rd March 2022 

Victoria Police have reported that 7 Teenagers (Aged 13 to 17) have been arrested for this Death. None of whom were Local to the area.

Declan will be laid to Rest on Thursday.

Vaccine.

Last Monday my DH and I rolled up our sleeves and had our Second AZ Vaccine Shot. 

To mark the occasion we got souvenir Stress Balls.

But this story is not about Us.

* * *

He came into the Church Hall behind us.  He didn't have an appointment, we was a "Walk In" but they welcomed him anyway.

Taking the next seat he raised his head and softly spoke to anyone who would listen.

"I have just lost 4 Members of my Family to This....."

"In Indonesia - My Cousin, He could not breathe.

Just 52 - He was not Old."

He then bowed his head and waited for his turn.

* * *

I have a Sore Arm - He has a Broken Heart.

22nd April 2010

Marks Quilt "Shattered"
read the story on my "Quilt with no name" page

It has been 10 years since we lost him.

I still miss the random knock on the back door
and the inevitable Opening Line

"Hey - Aunty Wendy!
Do you know where I can get...."

Time passes - the hurt remains.  My Brother and Sister in Law cannot bring themselves to visit him.  It is left to me. 

Lets Hope and Pray that there will come a day when everyone can go to work and come home safely again, and that NO ONE will have to go through what we did 10 years ago.

Stop "Workplace Accidents".

For Christchurch ....

My heart aches for this Beautiful City and Her People 

that have endured so much.

Another Goodbye

It was a beautiful day for a drive, but my heart was heavy as it was not one I had imagined I would be taking quite so soon.

Today I said Goodbye to my Favourite Aunt.

Funerals are an odd mix of Grief and Joy - within the sadness there was laughter and song.  Catching up with Cousins I had not seen since ... the last funeral. 
As one said as he embraced me firmly "We really must stop meeting like this!"

WHY oh WHY ?

We throw a stone into a Lake and we can no longer see it

It is gone yet the consequences of our action can be felt far and wide.

Yes, even to Distant Shores.

Yesterday was one of those days.

Yesterday I held my Daughter as she sobbed in Grief and Disbelief 

Yesterday She lost a Treasured Friend and Colleague.

Yesterday She had so many Questions that may never have answers - 

He worked beside her

He danced at her Wedding

He survived his PhD

He adopted a Stray Kitten

He had Friends and Family that Loved Him

He had so much to live for.

Now He is Gone

Someone had to Find Him

Someone had to Tell his Parents

Who had to Tell his Family

And Inform his Work 

Someone then took the Task of telling each Friend and Colleague.

And Someone held those people as They Cried.....

WHY?

There is Nothing that is so Insurmountable that you had to do THIS.

* * *

This is not the First time we have been touched by the Ripples of Suicide.

Tragically we have seen it too often.

The dedication in Our Daughters Thesis is to a Beloved Uncle who encouraged her to follow her dream and then never saw it completed.

The actions of a Person so desperate that they take their life - 

It does not end there with them.  

It starts a Ripple of Grief that touches each and every one who have taken that person into their Lives and Homes and Hearts.  Hearts that are now broken.

If THAT person could be YOU - PLEASE seek help

There are people who love you

There are People Who care

Who will live on with the heartache of

"If Only ...."

* * *

The Links below are to Websites dedicated to help you.

AUSTRALIA

BEYOND BLUE  - AUSTRALIA

SUICIDE-LINE - Victoria 

LIFELINE - AUSTRALIA

USA

LIFELINE - USA

EUROPE

International Association for Suicide Prevention

And The Lord gave us a beautiful day ...

Time to say - "See you later Dad".

It was not a time for sadness, It was a time to celebrate his life

He would have been so chuffed

He loved a party 

especially when he was the centre of attention.

Matthew 25:21

Goodnight Dad - Sleep Well

Sunday night I said Good night to my Dad for the last time.

29th April 1923 - 30th July 2017

Vale Freda.

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go.

Others Stay a while - make footprints on our hearts

and we are never, ever the same again."

The phenomenon that is the Internet brings us into contact with people from all walks of life.

All races, religion, language, colour, height, weight, appearance, ability or disability are melted away as you find those who share a common interest.  You become comfortable with each other, often not knowing where they live or what they look like and yes, you begin to count them amongst your friends.

Yesterday, I lost one of these friends. I have no idea how old she was.  I have never seen a photo of her nor she of me, yet her broad Scottish accent and sense of humour came through her emails.

What I do know of her is that she was a Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Friend, Quilter, owner of a Janome 6500, and always up for a challenge. She was particularly fond of Haggis and only ever grumbled about the weather.

I also know, she has many friends that will not - due only to distance - attend her funeral. On that day I will bake a batch of my best Shortbread, pull out the good Tea Set and "Toast my Friend".

.... ' til we meet again.

Shattered...

Anyone who has ever gone beyond this page of my blog and wandered around the static pages would have read the story entitled "A Quilt with No Name".  

April 22nd, 2010 was the defining moment in this quilt's design. 

It was the day our world 'hit a brick wall' and shattered, irreparably - forever.

I felt this quilt had a powerful message to tell 

- so I entered in it Quilt Showcase.

It is dedicated in Memory of my Nephew Mark (26)

and to every family who have lost loved ones
as the result of a workplace accident.

"Sharing who I am" includes the heartache ...

Man’s life is laid in the loom of time
To a pattern he does not see,
While the weavers work and the shuttles fly
Till the dawn of eternity.

Some shuttles are filled with silver threads
And some with threads of gold,
While often but the darker hues
Are all that they may hold.

But the weaver watches with skilful eye
Each shuttle fly to and fro,
And sees the pattern so deftly wrought
As the loom moves sure and slow.

God surely planned the pattern:
Each thread, the dark and fair,
Is chosen by His master skill
And placed in the web with care.

He only knows its beauty,
And guides the shuttles which hold
The threads so unattractive,
As well as the threads of gold.

Not till each loom is silent,
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God reveal the pattern
And explain the reason why

The dark threads were as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
For the pattern which He planned.

Author Unknown -

 * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This Blog is subtitled '...sharing who I am' - (as well as what I do) -

Today I have done what I would say IS possibly one of the hardest things anyone CAN do.

Today I watched, in respectful silence, as my wonderful Nephew and his Wife said goodbye to the baby that they never got to say hello to.

I watched and listened as my Nephew picked up his guitar and sang "I want to hold your hand" and then laid his tiny son into his brother's grave.


I watched my elderly parents struggle with wondering why they have lost a Grandson and now a Great-grandson.
And my Sister in law, grief stricken, as she committed yet another part of her soul into God's care.
My brother - trying to be strong for the sake of his son
- now united with him in the cruelest bond.

Today - was not a good day.
But this dark thread is now forever woven into my life, and the lives of those around me - it is part of me ...
It is part of Who I Am.

                                                 

Getting Sidetracked - -

I am SUPPOSED to be working on my cake decorating but it is VERY difficult to stay focused.
And sometimes - just sometimes, you have to STOP what you are doing to go and smell the flowers!

Just like these Freesias I am, as the saying goes,
"Between a Rock and a Hard Place".

Knowing what I SHOULD be doing
and what I WANT to do is .......
no fun at all.

So what is it that has distracted me so much?




The sight of Prunus Trees in flower.
This makes me smile as it it the first sign we have that Spring is nearly here.  The blossom only lasts a short time before the warm September winds pick them off the trees and blow them like confetti down the street.

Prunus Trees are said to provide some of the most spectacular Spring blossom and includes - Almond, Plum and of course CHERRY.

I also noticed the climber that brightens the side fence has put on a flush of new growth. (DH pruned it drastically while I was away). And right up the very top -out of reach of the 3 men in my life who like to pick these blooms for their Lady Loves...
... is it's very first, very fragrant ROSE bud.




And finally -
the reason why I started thinking about this post -

Across the street in my neighbours garden...


... a LILY.



So, whatever it is that you are doing today.
Take a break, Go outside
Take a big deep breath of beautiful fresh air
and take some time to 'smell the flowers', for tomorrow they could be gone.



(This post is dedicated to Karolin - 05/03/1965 - 10/08/2013)

Sometimes when words fail - A poem says it for you.....

A Closer Look

Where there is tomorrow,

there is Hope.

Where there is provision,

there is Faith.

Where there is death,

there is Life.

Where there is winter,

there is Spring.

Where there is Sadness,

there is Joy.

Where there is God,

there is Love.

For my Sister in Law - who lost her brother today, 

and last night gained a Great Niece.

Rest peacefully Dave - the battle is over.