It has been a usual Sunday open homes, walking Miss Bella and some rubber gloving around the house and now I am lying on the bed reading blogs on my tablet and listening to music from the 70s on the radio. The music being played is the flipside of hits. These songs are as good as the A side in most cases.
Among the blogs I read tonight was this one that really touched a cord – raising5kidswithdisabilitiesandremainingsane. I am amazed at how this woman deals with the challenges she faces each day and I wonder if I could do as well in the same situation. Do go and visit her blog I am sure you will be glad you did.
And now the midnight news is on with the pending crisis in N Korea leading the news. Many commentators around the world have agreed that this demi-god is threatening the peace not only in that region but possibly in the wider world. Let’s hope that common sense prevails before the situation heads into war.
“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”
― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
Checking he is in the right place and looking for his friends
The highlight of the day as always on Thursday is the visit to the Hospice. Are you all getting bored hearing about this?
This year is the 100th anniversary of the death of the Venerable Mary Potter and many celebrations of remembrance are proposed.
And looking back on last year’s blog I see that on this day Lotte and I were Looking for Andy. Do you remember the armadillo and the adventures he had (we had) when he was visiting us? I wonder where the little fellow is now and if he has arrived back home with Lenore Diane.
Well now on to today. This is my lovely daughter’s birthday. We don’t go overboard for birthdays in our family which is just as well because she had taken off today with the basketball team she coaches for a competition this weekend. So there will be no riotous celebrations, she has to keep these young men in control.
Her own boys are spending the weekend with their father. This all seems to be working out well for the family. When they are with their father, apart from driving them to the various sports fixtures (they can’t get there easily from his house) he devises all sorts of interesting things for them to do together.
And lunchtime at the hospice today was rather a hectic affair. Clients/patients choose what they want for lunch shortly after breakfast each morning, Well today something went wrong and we had the wrong food for a couple of people. No problem really; it just meant my going to the kitchen and reorganising the lunches. This of course, takes time and throws the timing out. So that by the time we got back to the first people with their desserts some had gone to sleep having become tired of waiting.
The lady from the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) usually comes on Thursday with one or two dogs in tow. These dogs are those available for adoption and most clients are pleased to see her each week. Well, today she didn’t turn up and one elderly lady asked plaintively where the dogs were. Obviously they derive a certain comfort and normalcy from the animals. One man who has been there for several weeks has his wife bring in their dogs – two very large dogs from South Africa. They could eat my Bella in one chomp but they are very quiet and placid.
Bella is settling down, barking less and accepting my friends and family when they come to visit. She is still my shadow and doesn’t like me to leave her but today she slept in the car while I was in the hospice. I do think she prefers that to being left at home, and as the weather is becoming cooler (by the day almost) it is not too hot for her to be left in the car. She joins us on the terrace for lunch on sunny days and so doesn’t spend too long in the car alone. Of course her exuberance and delight when I return has to be seen to be believed. She reminds me of the Energizer bunny jumping up with all four feet in the air.
And from my little book of dog wisdom* :-
“Life is a precious gift.
Treat it delicately and be grateful for it,
but most importantly celebrate and enjoy it”
* dog wisdom to lift your spirits and brighten your day. Published by Blue Angel Gallery, Australia.
Today being Thursday, Bella and I made our usual trip to the Hospice. I have said so many times how impressed I am with the total dedication of all the staff, Doctors, Nurses, Therapists, Assistants and cleaners. They all go out of their way to treat their clients with respect, and do all they can to make the client’s life more comfortable.
And each Thursday I am joined in lunch duty by a retired bank manager. He is one of those cheery little men who always has joke, pun or a story to share. He has apparently been volunteering at the Hospice since his retirement some 15 years ago. He not only does lunch duty on Thursday but serves on a couple of the committees as the volunteers’ representative.
Today was a Thursday much like any other. Unfortunately there had been a death this morning so the atmosphere was rather subdued. But none of the other clients would have been aware of the death. This part of the operation is handled so well – dignified and respectful in all aspects.
Once again I was approached by a couple of visitors who commented on the great service being offered. Of course, I thought they meant the staff and quickly agreed that we were so lucky to have the free services of the hospice and that the staff was fantastic. They surprised me by saying that it was not the staff but the volunteers they were commenting on. Isn’t it nice when you do something with no expectation of any reward and then receive compliments.
As you know, I always say that I get more out of the 2 hours I spend at the hospice each week than they get from me. However, it is nice to be appreciated.
There were few clients today and so the lunch service took little over an hour and we were out of there earlier than usual. So Miss Bella and I went for a walk before meeting my daughter for coffee.
“The day that the rains came down
Mother Earth smiled again
Now the lilacs could bloom
Now the fields could grow greener”
Sung by Jane Morgan, American Sognstress
It has been a very unusual summer for those of us who live in Wellington. Long, hot sunny days with no rain. In fact, it has been about 7 weeks since we had even a light drizzle. But today was different.
Easter Sunday and the rain came down. Good news for farmers and horticulturists; bad news for holiday makers. It rained very heavily for a couple of hours and then passed, but I am sure we are all delighted to have had some rain today.
Easter Sunday is a strange day here in New Zealand. The streets today were pretty much deserted. Parking was freely available in the CBD (and yes as it is a Public Holiday parking is free). Trading laws allow some shops/retailers to open but not others. Why we ask can dairies. pharmacies. Real Estate agencies. restaurants, takeaway bars and cafes and service stations trade but supermarkets, bakers and most other retailers have to close. There are of course loud cries from retailers to amend these laws but as we have been hearing this for years, we don’t expect there to be any major changes in the near future.
But between the rain and the ludicrous trading laws here in NZ we found we had three very well attended Open Homes today. So there is a bright side to this.
While I was at the Open Homes the beautiful Miss Bella stayed with a friend. He really loves her almost as much as he loved Miss Lotte. Apparently she takes some time to settle down when I leave her and when I return she is like a little wound up clockwork toy. The excitement has to be seen to be believed. I am amazed at how very quickly she has bonded with me.
And now as I type this she is fast asleep on the bed in the spare room. I think she considers this her bed and I wonder how she will react when No 1 grandson comes to stay next week.
And please do take extra care on the roads this Easter wherever you are travelling to. Last year we had a zero death road toll, but it’s not so good this year. At 7.30 am today the road toll was 3 and the holiday period lasts until 6am on Tuesday 2 April. Let’s hope the toll doesn’t increase.
Yes, it’s already Good Friday here. How do you /will you spend the day?
For many it is a highly significant religious holiday and for others it is a day to catch up with friends and family or else to catch up with those overdue chores.
I’m not religious and so I take the third choice. That choice because my family members are all involved in other activities and so with the help of a friend I tackled the long overdue weeding of my very small front garden. We are in the midst of a drought here with water restrictions in place with the restrictions being heavily policed. No watering of gardens is permitted even with watering cans. How then is it, that while our plants both in the ground and in pots suffer from the lack of water and die, the weeds flourish?
Bella has been in her element today. She is very good and stays within sight of me but she has been very excited by the comings and goings in the street. Lotte was not a highly excitable dog; she rarely barked whereas Bella is the opposite. She barks at the drop of a hat and stops just as suddenly. I guess/hope she’ll get used to living in town soon.
With the death of the plants due to lack of rain, a visit to the plant shop is called for. But for two reasons I can’t go there. The main one is that they are closed on Good Friday although most owners will flout the law on Good Friday and run the risk of hefty fines. Strangely, they are allowed to open on Easter Sunday. I haven’t figured this one out. Those plant shop owners who do ignore the law against trading on Good Friday say it is more profitable to open and pay the fine than to be closed for a whole day. Particularly at this time when people are readying their gardens for autumn and winter. And of course, it is pretty pointless to buy more plants while the water ban is in place but I suppose they will still do well. And I must admit that garden centres are my favourite places. I can browse around one for several hours and sometimes even leave without having bought anything – well I must say that it’s a very rare occurrence.
And on Thursday we got new neighbours They bought the house that my little lady friends used to occupy with their parents. I do know that I prefer weeding to packing up one house and then unpacking in a new one. Is anybody else relocating and unpacking this weekend? I wish you well if you are. So this might be a fourth choice but I suspect very few people would choose it.
A good friend, the one who introduced me first to Toy Poodles and then to Tibetan Spaniels commiserated with me on my loss of Miss Lotte and yesterday I had the unexpected pleasure of receiving a book from her. It is called The French Dog and it’s by world-famous New Zealand photographer Rachael McKenna. It is a lovely coffee table book filled with the most beautiful photographs of dogs accompanied by eloquent writing about French dogs and their owners. But strangely no pictures of French Poodles.
This quote jumped out at me when I was watching the Beautiful Miss Bella today :-
“The dog has no ambition;
no self interest; no desire for vengeance;
no fear other than that of displeasing”
George-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon
French Naturalist 1707-1788.
So I wish you and yours a very Happy Easter however you choose to celebrate or spend the additional holiday time. Tomorrow we are off to buy paint for a small area of wall that has been painted the wrong colour. I wonder how Bella will react to painting.
If today were your last, would you do what you’re doing?
Or would you love more, give more, forgive more? Then do so! Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity.
Love like there’s no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again. – Max Lucado
That’s one of my favourite Max Lucado quotations. I first discovered this guy when my life coach - Cari Vollmer in Minneapolis – sent me my often used quote about the sunrise taking away your breath. I used it yesterday. I have thanked Cari for the introduction and find a use for one of his quotes more and more.
So to answer the question posed by Max – what would you do? Some of us blogged about the end of the world as foreseen by the Mayans, which apparently was to happen on 21 December. However, one thing that worried me about that was that 21 December comes to us in New Zealand well before it comes to my sister in London or my sister in Los Angeles. So who’s 21 December was it to be?
In an earlier post I told of how tomorrow didn’t come for my DYS (Dashing Young Scotsman). In the early hours of one miserable April day, he quietly slipped away from us and tomorrow never came again for him.
But I digress. If this is to be my last day on this earth I would:
Immediately call each of my sisters and tell them how much I love them and how grateful and lucky I am to have had them in my life
I would visit my son, daughter-in-law and grandsons, and my daughter, son-in-law and grandsons and tell them too how lucky I have been to have had them in my life and to have been a part of theirs. I would tell my daughter and son how proud I am of them and how proud their father would have been of the people they have become
I would then call those special friends, some of whom I haven’t contacted for a time and make them aware of the fact that I appreciate them
I would call the one or two people with whom I have fallen out, or with whom I have had difficulties to tell them that I am sorry the problem/challenge/difficulty has not been ironed out before now
I would of course, tidy my house so that whoever had the job of dealing with it after I have gone would find it in order. Isn’t that a typical comment from a woman.
And oh, I would make sure that my wishes for a funeral are set out succinctly and clearly for my children so that they are not faced with the problems we had when their father died so suddenly.
And then I would call my family and friends who live near and have a party. It’s all very well for there to be a ‘celebration’ of my life after I am gone, but I like a party too and would hate to miss out.
So what will I do? It’s 10.15pm here and a little late to be calling my friends in NZ and as my calls to my sisters never last for less than an hour, I wont call them tonight. But tomorrow I shall make those calls, not only to friends but also to those one or two people to whom I have become estranged. My wishes for my funeral are written and filed away and my children know where to find the file; rubber gloving will happen in this house tomorrow so that it is clean and tidy once again (and the ironing will be done, my number one hate).
It is exactly one year today that I broke my ankle when out walking Lotte. For the next several weeks I endured first a back-strap (absolutely useless as it kept slipping being held in place only by crepe bandage) and then my big red Santa boot. During these weeks I had to learn and employ patience and acceptance of the help offered. Obviously as soon as the boot was removed the learned patience and acceptance both few out of the window.
Looking through my notebooks for an apt quote I came across this one from Ambrose Bierce
“Patience – A minor form of despair
disguised as a virtue”
There was no notation as to who this Ambrose Bierce was, when he lived etc etc. In later books I did make notations against quotes. So I took myself off to our friends at Wikipedia and there learned that
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (born June 24, 1842; died sometime after December 26, 1913)was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist.
I didn’t know what a fabulist was so once again to the internet where I found a fabulist is a writer of fables. So another new word to add to my rapidly expanding Lexicon.
Well we are all well aware of Aesop as a fabulist but we can also add Beatrix Potter with Peter Rabbit, Kenneth Grahame with Toad, Ratty, Mole et al
and of course, Lewis Carrol with the White Rabbit.
Copyright Disney
And I can say that when I told my very young grandchildren stories they always were about animals to which I had given human attributes. James (the eldest) had a very favourite rabbit who got into all sorts of trouble and adventures. So maybe I am a fabulist. too!
Well another rambling post comes to a close. Apart from a big rant about computers. I wrote this blog several hours ago and then lost it. I know that I should update/save the draft as I work but this morning I didn’t.
From Freeimageslive.co.uk
I am surprised you didn’t hear the expletives from where you are. But it’s all written again and now will be posted.
“Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man’s hat;
If you haven’t got a penny a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you!”
Nursery rhyme and Christmas carol (frequently sung as a round)
Well Christmas with all the excitement and busyness is almost upon us. No doubt you are looking forward to many parties and celebrations culminating in a special time with your family and friends.
I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you some of the facts and fallacies surrounding Christmas as we now celebrate it.
Did you know?
Clement Moore’s 1823 poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” was the catalyst for the reinvention of St Nicholas into the jolly, fat image of Santa we now know?
Also invented by Moore, Santa’s travels are invariably connected to reindeer. In the poem they are pictured charging through a winter sky complete with strong, elaborate horns. But in winter reindeer lose their horns so are Santa’s reindeer all female or are they castrated males?
Moore omitted to tell us that St Nicholas was Turkish. He was real and was born in Patara, Turkey. He was an early Christian and in the 4th Century he became bishop of the district of Demre where some of his bones can still be visited. Little fact is known of him, only oral legends relating to his goodness and kindness to children.
Another poem, this one by Frank Baum (who wrote The Wizard of Oz) told that Santa lived in a valley called Ho Ho Ho. American marketers quickly picked up on the poem and Ho Ho Ho became Santa brand’s catch cry.
The song Jingle Bells never mentions Christmas and has no connection to Christmas. It was originally composed for America’s Thanksgiving festival in 1857.
Nobody knows when Jesus was born or died. For many centuries people in the northern hemisphere celebrated the winter solstice, the shortest day and the turning point in the long, often hard, cold winter. Some 300 years after Jesus’ (guessed at) death date, Pope Julius I announced that 25th December would be the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus. As Christianity spread around the world, this date took over the existing festivities and became “Christmas”. The word Christmas didn’t come into being until 1032 AD.
The bible doesn’t say that three kings visited the baby Jesus but refers to “Wise men from the east”. They may well have been astronomers (they did follow a star) or Zoroastrian priests and the fact that the three gifts, Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh are mentioned is the possible basis for assuming there were three visitors.
And the gifts they brought. Gold and Frankincense would be acceptable but in ancient times Myrrh was very expensive and used in embalming dead bodies and was burned at funerals to disguise the smell of bodies that hadn’t been embalmed. Why would it be brought to a newborn child?
And everybody’s favourite – Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. There have been 14 versions of this story.
Four Calling Birds in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Originally it was four colly birds, colly being the ancient word for black (as in collier and coal) so colly birds were black birds. As time went by colly fell out of use and didn’t make sense so people started saying four calling birds. This doesn’t make sense either.
Decorated evergreen trees have been part of December celebrations in Europe for many centuries reminding everyone that spring is just around the corner. The decorated Christmas tree became accepted in the UK when Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the children were depicted in the “Illustrated London News” standing around a lavishly decorated Christmas tree.
The use of X as in Xmas is not at all invalid or disrespectful. The word Christ was never part of Jesus’ name, it is a title assigned by later worshippers in Greek meaning ‘the anointed one’. In ancient Greece the letter chi was written with a symbol very like an X and the title assigned to Jesus was Xristos and was frequently abbreviated to just X. So writing Christmas as Xmas has been considered acceptable for some 1000 years. Note early publications were charged by the number of letters so using X in Xmas was encouraged.
The wassail ritual was an ancient pre-Christian custom of drinking a toast to the sun after the northern mid-winter approximately 25 December and hopes for a bountiful harvest in the coming warmer months. Hence the song ‘Here we come a-wassailing’ was a gathering of friends drinking a toast. “Waes hael” in ancient English means “Be healthy” and the usual drink was a mixture of spices, apple juice and eggs. (Give me a G&T any time).
Christmas was cancelled in England in the 1640s when Puritan law forbade churches to open on Christmas Day and banned home decorations, celebrations, carol singing and the creating of Nativity scenes. December 25 was declared a day of everyday work and fasting. The outraged populace made Christmas observances in secret until the Monarchy was restored in 1660 and King Charles II restored Christmas.
And finally, a horse named Santa Claus won the Epsom Derby in 1964.
So there you have my list – as my son always says I have a fund of useless information. Enjoy it anyway.
Image via Wikipedia
“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
Charles Dickens.
Yesterday I put away my Florence Nightingale attire. My friend with the new hip is now able to get around on his own. No crutches in the house and only one when he is out walking. And yesterday he drove the car for the first time. So now things are back to normal and Lotte and I are in our own home again.
It has been an interesting three weeks, split between two houses, but mostly spent at his house. And it’s very strange to have to consider another person when I am making plans. After all I have been on my own for 14 years.
Yesterday was also the day that I decided to get all my Christmas shopping done. And in one store. Our local department store had a special Christmas shopping day – for every $100 spent one gained a $25 voucher to spend in the store before Christmas. So now I have the shopping completed and all these vouchers to spend on me. But wait, because they were so busy there was no gift wrapping so that is the next thing on the list.
Yesterday a US Government jet spotted at Wellington Airport was carrying a senior spook, although Prime Minister John Key, who is in charge of intelligence services, is not saying why. He confirmed the plane was carrying an US intelligence official who met a New Zealand spy. The visitor was ‘‘obviously pretty senior’’ given he or she had come in an US Government plane.
The plot thickens.
Yesterday a year ago I was thinking and writing about Dawna Markova. She it was who wrote the poem “I Will Not Die” in 1980s when she was facing a life-threatening illness. The poem appears in the book of the same name. Click here to read an excerpt.
And in case you are interested here is the link to last year’s post – I Will Not Die .
Yesterday we learned that Kate Middleton aka the Duchess of Cambridge has been hospitalised with severe morning sickness. Oh how well I remember those dreadful mornings. But the world wasn’t kept up to date and informed on my dealings with the dreaded sickness, nor on the progress of my pregnancies.
So while we rejoice for the young, happy couple we can feel for them that they will not be able to enjoy this wonderful time out of the media spotlight. Well of course, whether it is a boy or a girl the child will be numbered in line for the throne of England.
Yesterday We learned that two Guinness World Record holders had died; one the oldest person and the other the tallest woman.
116-year-old woman listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living person anywhere around the globe died on Tuesday in a nursing home in the US state of Georgia, soon after having her hair done. Besse Cooper died peacefully at the Park Place nursing home in Monroe, Georgia, according to her son Sidney Cooper. Looking good to the end Bessie. Congratulations.
And news reports from China say Yao Defen died in November in her home town in the eastern province of Anjui. She was the world’s tallest woman measuring 2.33m. Her height was the result of a tumour and by the age of 13 she was 1.85m tall. Her family put her in a circus to supplement their meagre income. What a sad life she must have had.
And just because I like the song here’s Yesterday by the Fab Four – Oh how young they (and we) were then.
“I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible;
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.”
I’m as restless as a willow in a windstorm,
I’m as jumpy as a puppet on a string,
I’d say that I had spring fever,
But I know it isn’t spring.
I’m as starry eyed and gravely discontented,
Like a nightingale without a song to sing.
Oh, why should I have spring fever,
When it isn’t even spring?
Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II (1945)
Last year around this time I wrote about the arrival of the Godwits in the South Island – click here to read it again.
They really do herald Spring in our part of the world. And they are so predictable. Each year after spending the summer in Alaska they spend the early autumn in in the mudflats there fattening up for the long flight south. This in readiness for their long flight to New Zealand , a distance of approximately 11,000 kms.
U.S. Geological Survey Biologist Bob Gill has been following these tiny birds and noting their habits for several years and he poses the question how, while weighing less than 500 grams (approx 1lb) can these tiny birds store enough fuel to fly non stop over these vast distances.
So with the profusion of tulips at the Botanic Gardens yesterday, the Godwits and clocks being moved forward for Daylight Saving on Sunday we can really say that Spring is here.
“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! “
Mark Twain
Unless otherwise stated this is all my own work. I love it when somebody likes what I have written enough to use it in another forum but please do so only after obtaining written permission.
Obviously this doesn't apply to reblogs.
Kenneth Grahame with Toad, Ratty, Mole et al
