Daffodils

The daffodils are starting to flower, so I thought I would brighten your day with some photos.

They are around the gazebo by the tennis court and I see them every time I walk out the back door.

Do you like the pink flamingos?

We had them at the beach house and we moved them into garden here.

They are not every ones idea of good taste, but I like them, and it is my garden, so they are here to stay!

How can something this beautiful have been the result of random evolving circumstances?

And what purpose is there in a daffodil other than to give pleasure?

Nature constantly reinforces my belief in intelligent design by a God who wants to delight us.

Through the difficult times that continue to be part of our lives, I am glad I can see a sea of daffodils to remind myself of that.

Great-Grandma is knitting

My Mum is an amazing woman. She is a woman of her generation, never having held a paying job, but working in her community for the benefit of others.

She has been an industrious person all her life and she can't sit still without some kind of needlework in her hands.

Here is an example of her hardanger.

This is a runner that is on my dining room side board.

This is what it looks like up close

Mum is 87 and has difficulty hearing and phone calls are a trial to her.

So recently she bought a computer, so she can email us all.

She is on facebook to keep up with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

When she heard that Cassie is expecting twins, she accepted the job of knitting for great-grandchildren numbers 26 and 27.

These little people are going to be born in the northern winter so they will need woollens and great-grannie is working to ensure that they won't be cold.

I have been knitting as well.

I am not proficient.

My offerings will be their "around home" clothes......do children still have around-home-clothes?????

Delete? Done!

If you have ever tried to ring me on my home phone you will know that they aren't of the highest quality.

They crackle and I know it is very hard for you to hear me. They are rather old, and lately the batteries have been dying in the middle of conversations.

I find myself darting around the house changing phones during calls before the hand piece goes dead.

Yesterday I decided enough is enough! I found the phones that we had taken out of the beach house when we rented it last year and plugged them in to charge the batteries.

I think they will be an improvement.

I then sat down to update the phone numbers on the beach house phone.

It is a bit laborious sitting with two phones checking which numbers must be added and taking off ones that are no longer relevant.

Adding to the time factor was the need to return the home phone to its cradle to recharge frequently!

There were a few to add, the lawyer we are using for probate, my financial advisor, and new friends in the hills.

Then there were some to come off the beach house phone, service people who only related to that house, the house we sold in Sydney, and some friends numbers that had changed.

I think you know where I am going with this.

Adding the numbers takes a while, typing in the name and number, and checking that you have them right.

Taking numbers off is easy.

You press select, the screen says

Delete?

you select yes

the screen says

Done!

The last number I had to deal with was

Wayman

0417806072

I had cancelled his mobile phone weeks ago, so this number has been irrelevant for some time now. One of the last things Wayman said to me was "You are a strong woman Ruth"

I looked at the screen

Delete?

yes

Done!

You know, if I live to be 100 I think I will remember that number.

And to me that name will always be the most beautiful name ever given to a human being.

Grannie sees cars 2 twice!

This is my second attempt at posting a blog about Grannie seeing Cars 2 twice!

Sorry if you viewed the first one and wondered what I was doing.

If you didn't see it please ignore this prelude.......and let's get to the second blog on Grannie seeing Cars 2 twice!

One of the best things about being a Grannie is having one on one time with the children.

I decided that the boys needed to see Cars 2 but I wasn't confident about taking them together, so instead I opted to see it twice, and to have time with them separately.

Jont has been to the movies once before, but C is an old hand.

Jonts Mum got him all dressed up to go to the shopping centre that they visit every other day to pick up the mail, buy food, go to the gym, you get the idea.

But THIS time we would take the lift to the SECOND level to go to the theatres.

He was a little anxious about going up the entrance into the darkened theatre, but once we were inside he settled and sat transfixed during what was a rather long and complicated movie for a three and half year old.

Six days later, it was Cs turn to go.

His Mum got him all dressed up, and he had to wait until after lunch for Grannie to arrive to take him to an afternoon session! I think it was a very long morning for him and his Mum!

This was a medium size tub of popcorn, despite what the label says.

I don't think I could have carried the large one!

He didn't want his dinner that night.....

That's why it is so great to be a Grannie, I would never have allowed my children to eat so much junk food in an afternoon.

C wants to come and stay for a night next week. I can't wait, I love my little boys.

But I might need to get some rules around the treats in the pantry soon!

We are confident....

Over the past few weeks the girls and I have written to many of you to thank you for your support and care during the time of Wayman's illness and when he died.

I am so humbled by the goodness of people who cared enough to contact us. Many of you had stories to tell us, and memories that you shared, giving us an insight into your relationships with Wayman.

I will apologise now for my atrocious handwriting. It seems that the harder I try to write with fluency, the worse it gets! It slopes off the page, has funny little loops and is very uneven.

Being left handed, and growing up in the country when penmanship was not valued, has left me with a cruel legacy.

If you are interested, here is a sample!

The slope is so bad you feel you are going to be sea-sick reading it!

I wanted so desperately to write something meaningful and personal to each person.

I found myself coming back to this sentence time and time again.

We are confident that Wayman is now at home

We are confident.....

We are confident.....

Many of you would have said YES we know, and would have praised God with us for the confidence we have.

But others of you I know would have said something like, "Well isn't that nice for Ruth and the girls to have that comfort at this difficult time."

Friends, I want to tell you that this confidence is not just some hopeless wishing that we are clinging to in our grief.

You see, if we believe in a life after death, the best person to trust to know about it, is one who has died and has come back to tell us about it!

And that is Jesus. The real, historical Jesus. And there is clear evidence to support his ressurrection. He took the time to tell us about what life after death is like, where Wayman is now.

I have put some of his words in the Bible verse today.

So we join christians through the ages in saying.........

I am convinced [confident] that neither death nor life........nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hats for all occasions

Recently the grandchildren brought their parents to visit and while we were enjoying a glass of wine around the dining table, they discovered that the hats in my hallway were within reach.

This was the result

I think Jont won the battle to wear the 10 gallon hat- I convinced C that his hat was the one cowboys wear on special occasions. I think he is pretending to ride off into the sunset! Miss P had a unique creation, a giveaway with hair products I had bought.

The 10 gallon hat was a gift to Wayman from the Taskers, sent from Tennessee.

I don't think Aussie heads are the right shape, it never seemed to sit right.

Wayman's preferred hat was this one, worn ALL the time with great pride.

My favourite hat in the garden is an Akubra, very patriotic.

I don't think this will ever catch on Nathan!

The children have their own style, red pixie hats at Christmas, of course.

On school days C wears his school hat, strap firmly in place.....

Miss P likes the beanie option to go with her gloves in the garden........

Jont on the other hand likes the layered look for a day at the football

I wonder what the next two will like?

At this stage I am providing matching beanies.

Rather fetching, don't you think?