Sunday 23 January 2011

Cubba arrives in Singapore



Our son has arrived safe and sound in Singapore!!! to start his new life with his long term girlfriend. I have been informed it is absolutely NOT minus 3! but positively hot. Hmmmm..... we may have to go and see for ourselves....
(you never know...)



He travelled reasonably lightly, it was mostly clothes and cricket kit. His new cricket bat from Father Christmas 2009 fitted into his suitcase too.



Nixen the Pixen came home for the weekend and we had a delicious traditional family fish and chips in a local pub the night before he flew....

and the following morning we all went to the airport with him.




Later that day we went for afternoon tea at the Red House.



It was delicious, smoked salmon, ham, cheese and cucumber sandwiches, various cakes, and warm scones with a bit of "clotted", and it was all the more delicious with Cub's Tastecard discount. Cheers Chris and GOOD LUCK!

Saturday 8 January 2011

The 7 UPs of New Year Resolutions (DAD)



I recently attended a church service following the sudden death of my wonderful father and as I listened to the sermon, I felt incredibly moved as everything the preacher was saying seemed to apply to Dad.

"New Year Resolutions", called the ‘7-UPS for the New Year’,

was taken from an idea by Reverend Walter Schoedel. No, this has nothing to do with the soft drink. These 7-UPS fall under the heading of attitudes and actions. They totally reflect the way Dad lived his life. He was a practising Christian, a Good, no, EXCELLENT Samaritan and quite simply a TOP BLOKE.

The first UP is WAKE UP–Begin the day with the Lord. It is His day. Every day was a new day for Dad and until recently he had a commitment every day except Thursday.

The second UP is DRESS-UP–Put on a smile. It improves your looks. It says
something about your attitude. One of Dad's life mottos was GO THROUGH LIFE WITH A SMILE ON YOUR FACE. He certainly put a smile on ours, he was always making us laugh. And we will continue to smile as we remember all those wonderful memories he left us with.

The third UP is SHUT-UP–Watch your tongue. Don’t gossip. Say nice things.
Learn to listen. Dad never moaned and he was also very forgiving. What a great example to set us.

The fourth UP is STAND-UP–Take a stand for what you believe. Resist evil. Do
good. Dad's other life motto was ALWAYS GO THROUGH LIFE TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING. He was a good man.

The fifth UP is LOOK-UP–Open your eyes to the Lord. Dad did, he also always looked on the bright side of life. His glass was always half full, never half empty.

The sixth UP is REACH-UP–Dad was prepared to go to great lengths to help us children in our chosen careers (he had high hopes for us(!), taxiing my bro around the country to play football and cricket,and interests, like picking sis and I up from nightclubs at silly oclock, just being a totally devoted Dad.

Finally, the seventh UP is LIFT-UP–Be available to help those in need–serving,
supporting, and sharing. Here I could go on forever, he spent his life helping others, what a Good Samaritan. He tirelessly cared for both Mum and Nanna, he was chief sick visitor at work, he spent 19 years volunteering at the local hospital, pushing the tea trolly round Ward C4.

Do you know what? He was alright, my Dad.

Saturday 1 January 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Dad would have wanted me to enjoy my birthday and the New Year celebrations so we made an effort and did our usual Pizza for tea followed by the threshold tradition, each selecting an item to bring into the house. We made sure we had food and warmth and health by carrying biscuits, coal, plasters and paracetamol...then added the globe for Cub and Mr Happy for happiness and laughter.








Sammie wondered what was going on...

We went back outside to light some good luck lanterns, the first was for Cub's travels to Singapore and it went in the right direction.







Then we sent a lantern off for Dad







Despite the sad circumstances we had a good day and to anyone reading this I'd like to wish you health and happiness in 2011