Counting

I can now count a handful of people I have cared about, who have died, in their forties, of cancer.

They were all parents. One of them wrote in a letter to everyone she had to leave behind, that although she didn't know what happened when you died, she intended to be in her childrens lives forever. It has been my pleasure to talk about some of these people with their children, and to tell them stories about their Mum or their Dad. There's a garden seat at the local school that I cannot walk past without giving it a pat, because I spent a lot of time sitting there one year, first with A, then with J, who both made supreme efforts to be there to pick up their kids at the end of the school day, for as long as they possibly could. Without exception, their children and their partners have, on the whole, thrived. Maybe suffering really does make you stronger.

None of these people were heavy drinkers, they were active, none of them smoked, including the lovely man who died of lung cancer. None of these people were careless of their health as AOF puts it so well. I have decided I must take a little more care with mine. I shall talk about that with you at the weekend.

Meanwhile there are little bloggy tributes moving me to tears all over the place, and Facebook is temporarily unbearable, because last week, the Editter died. I shall remember always her big beautiful heartfelt grin, her knack of making you feel important, and her story telling. I hope my path crosses with that of her gorgeous baby boy as he grows so I can tell him that too, but I have no doubt that he will know how loved she was, and how very much missed. Cesca has a lovely post with great pictures, and so does Martha. Cesca, I'm going to look you up next time I'm in Christchurch.

I have hung a picture of you and your boy above my desk dear Editter, to remind me, life is good and must be appreciated.

So meantime, could the rest of you kindly take care, keep well, okay?

and go tell someone this....(I can't find a good clip of Van the mans version, but this is a goody, though I like it better if I don't have to look at Rod!!)

plate

I just bought this.
Cos I love daffodils, and it's pretty.
And it's my birthday tomorrow.
Yay!

Life is good

Not so long ago, I was relaxing with youngest son in Surfers Paradise. I went to an internet cafe to check my email, and I don't mind telling you, the news there made me a little teary.

So now, two or three times a day, I think of The Editter. I take a breath, I smile a big smile (probably passing pedestrians think I'm mad, but what the heck!), and I say to myself and to her, Life is Good, Editter, life is good.

Go and cheer her on, and send some positive vibes her way. She's a damn fine writer, and she has a story to tell, and a bit of a journey to take us on.

The Editter

Life is good.

and it's daffodil day, so go buy a daffodil or two.

He wants a new microphone...

awesome Eddie.

la la la

He says tomato
and I say tomayto
so............

well......almost, maybe, probably.......
Guess I won't go to Christchurch for a while anyhow.

sigh.

Must tell you about Brisbane. Gotta sort out the photos first though.

He came back

Covered in cobwebs, and perfectly dry despite the heavy rain, Kitty turned up about 11pm. He'd obviously had a big sleep cos he wanted to play. He was hungry! Damned cat refuses to tell me where he'd been.

the good and the bad

The good - I'm going to Brisbane on Saturday, with youngest son, for a week. It's 23 degrees in Brisbane today. It's 10 degrees in Wellington. I'm sure I can cope.

The bad - Kitty hasn't been seen for 24 hours. That's 3 meals he's missed. I want my kitty.

have you seen.....

oops, I'm sorry, June seems to be missing. I'm terribly boring, all I do is work, and swim, and angst about my blood pressure (which can't be good for it, can it? actually it's the meds I angst about the most. Did you know more women die of heart disease than breast cancer? but I digress...), and work, and try not to moan about my sore back (actually it's much better thanks), and beg passing males to chop firewood for me, and well, work and work and (I love it really, don't tell anyone).

Turth is I haven't been moved to show you anything for absolutely ages (obviously), but look, look at this!!

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/julieandjulia/site/#/Home

Oh, I can't do any fancy linky thing, you'll have to take my word for it. Meryl Streep (doing that chameleon thing she does so so well) as Julia Child, with turkey, with it's legs spread. funny! go, go, see for yourself. be sure and watch the trailer.

Now, that reminds me. Have you seen this? Unmissble I expect, I suspect we should not expect it to captivate us like the book did.



But you know what? the one I'm really excited about.....well, it says embedding disabled by request so you'll have to go to the website and see. This is a book that anyone who has ever met someone aged under 5 must've read. It looks like a book made movie with extraordinary success. Everyone has a wild thing inside!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOkQ4dYVaM

Have a lovely weekend. I'll be at work. But so will the rest of the team, including the fearless leader, so you know, can't complain too much.

could someone mow the lawn for me? cheers!

I am super gardener girl

Look!

You would have to wonder why I am not thin as a rail considering all the %$&$#@ hard graft I do around here. It's probably the chocolate I have to reward myself. Good gardener girl, pat on back, have some chocolate.

My beloved camera was dropped by a boy (happy frigging mothers day) and the orrifice into which one would plug the cable to upload pictures is damaged. Totally stuffed. So new pictures may be a bit scant around here, for the next 20 years or so until I can buy a new camera.

The sewing of clothes continues. Success rate is dire. One skirt= Okay. one pair of trousers=too small. another pair of trousers=too big so far, possibly retrievable, motivation however is very very very low.

In other exciting news, the almost brand new car with expired warrant and expired registration which has sat not too far from that big bin for 8 months (after it's owner died) has disappeared today. Most strange.

Grass, Ivy, nastertiums, more grass, unidentified weeds, neglectful neighbours, gorse, rats, mice, spiders, I will not be beaten, you hear.
Clothes that fit? I've done it before I will *&*^**$# do it again. I will not be beaten (though the $4 per metre fabric may run out).

This is my 300th post. Spell check was not employed.

Want

Want these, from here.
I'd hang them above my bed


want this too.
It's from here
I'd hang it .... oh someplace. got a lot of walls around here in need of art.

I'm a bit in love with wordy art. Many. many I think I'd get sick of too soon. But not these two.
Want.

However, I don't own any wordy art, but I now own one of these. Little Juey. Kicks grass!
sigh. at least it's a kiwi gizmo. And it has the finest line replacement system on the market.
nowhere near as pretty as the wordy art though.