Mum

I would like to pay a tribute to my little mother before I go on with my blogging journey.

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Mum was named Dawn because she was born as the sun rose one summers morning. She was a frail baby and was sustained by my Grandmother  massaging her with olive oil several times a day until she was strong enough to tolerate some condensed milk. And this she lived on for quite some time. In spite of all this she was a happy child and her father always called her smiler. She was always a battler, she had to be. She married young but by the age of 22 was separated with four children under the age of 5 - one set of twins there :) Later she remarried and 2 more boys were born and we were a happy family.

Mum supported all her kids in their sports, clubs, dreams and hopes and enabled us all to pursue the careers of our choice, even though at times it meant some hardship for her. She  had no favourites but woe betide any daughter who dared to criticize one of her sons! Mum dearly loved all her grandkids and her great grandkids and was proud of them all - she always said the only thing wrong with the kids was the adults with short memories.

Mum enjoyed knitting, sewing, baking, jam and pickle making and was good at it all, kept us all well clothed and fed :) A real homemaker. She put down her knitting needles for the last time in her late 70's after knitting an intricate shawl for one of the new babies.

Later in life she began going to church and developed a simple but deep faith which carried her through until the end. She was involved in children's ministry as well as other facets of church life and made some close friends there.

We will miss you Mum, your smile, your advice, your passion for the things you believed in, your chats, your stories. But most of all we will miss you.  

'Til we meet again.

Mum in her mid 20's, a day out at the races with Grandad.

She made the coat and the hat herself :)

A year or so before she became ill, dressed to attend the Cathedral service with the Duke and Duchess of  Cambridge attending.

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I would also like to thank you all for your kind remarks on the previous post, I have appreciated them all.

Marcia, yes unfortunately Mum picked up the blood infection while she was in hospital for a short visit.

A little run of sadness.

I'm just checking in to let you know that although I have not been around it is for a good reason.

My little mother passed away on June 11 at the good old age of 88.

Three weeks later to the day my sister's niece also passed away aged in her early 50's.

Last week a lovely friend of ours died aged just 68.

All three deaths were totally unexpected, even Mum's as it wasn't her heart that failed but she contracted septicaemia and couldn't fight it off.

So we're all just a bit sad at the moment and life is going to be different in the future. I have to admit to being a bit      confused as well for some reason.

But I hope to be back on the page and visiting before too long.

Blessings,

Diana

Queens Gardens

Last Wednesday was Anzac Day, celebrated in Australia and New Zealand to commemorate our fallen soldiers not only from  WW1 and WW11 but also other conflicts we have taken part in. On Thursday I thought I'd like to go into the city and see the wreaths on the cenotaph there.

The Dunedin cenotaph is situated at Queens Gardens, a nice little park not quite in the city centre. Toitu Early Settlers Museum and the Chinese Garden are just across the road and in the summer it is quite a nice spot to have a picnic lunch.

When we arrived there a small preschool group having morning tea and the teachers were talking to them about the flowers and wreaths there. I think they may even have put a little wreath on the step as there was one made from little hand prints but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it.

A wee way north of the cenotaph, still in the park, is this memorial to the men who have been awarded the Victoria Cross in various conflicts - the Maori War (1864), The African War (1899-1902), The Great War (1914-1918), The World War (1939-1945), and Afghanistan. The Victoria Cross is the highest military award for 'valour in the face of the enemy' in the British Commonwealth.

Of course there are one or two other monuments in the park, one being the Celtic Cross. In 2001 it was presented to the city on behalf of the Christian Churches of Dunedin and is also known locally as the millennium cross.

And of naturally there is a statue of the lady the garden was named for - Queen Victoria. I always think she is a rather stern and unapproachable looking figure. Very much the monarch.

Well that's it this week,

see you next time,

Diana

ANZAC Day 2018

Lest we forget

Fluffybum aka Mischief

Back in 2014 I did a post about the wee kittens that a wild mama had been bringing to a neighbours house to be fed. All of them were finally rehoused except the mama and this wee one at the back. I called him Fluffybum. He was a cutie. This year we finally managed to trap the mama, and both of her litters, and she has been desexed, inoculated and is back in the neighbours yard. The kittens are in the process of being rehoused.

Fluffybum, now known as Mischief, is still about. He has been adopted by the neighbours and now only has three legs after being hit by a car while playing on the road. He is quite timid still, but you wouldn't think so he way he is staring me down in this next photo.

A nice late afternoon snap, I thought.

Bellview Wetlands

Back in December eldest daughter held her 50th birthday party at Bellview Wetlands in Lawrence. The wetlands are still being developed and there are walking tracks, picnic areas and a barbecue area for people to enjoy. There are also some old buildings being restored but we never got photos of them although you can see some of them in the background of some of the photos. A lovely relaxing place to visit.

 I'll let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy :)

And to finish off, some of the party goers feeding

the eels in one of the ponds :)

joining Debbie for

friday foto friends

A lazy day

Hello again, I am trying to get back to blogging but it has been a bit of a struggle to tell the truth. But today I find I have an evening to myself so thought I'd sit and do a bit of a post.

My GKB and I have had a lazy day in that neither of us had to be  anywhere apart from morning tea with youngest daughter. She rang last night to see if we wanted to go over to her new workplace for a coffee. It is a new café on a sports field and hasn't officially opened yet but the workers were invited to come and bring family and friends so the staff could have a practice on us while they learnt their new skills. Most of the café staff are students and for a lot of them this is their first job. So of course we went over and let them practice. A nice morning out :) Took my camera, forgot to take photos :(

On the way home we called in to see our number one son and he gave us a bag of silver beet fresh from the garden and we gave him some ciabatta and sourdough. Then eldest daughter arrived home at lunchtime with a big box of fresh vegetables, a couple of bunches of grapes and a pottle of blackberries all harvested in the last day or so. Feeling blessed and spoilt.

April has been quite mild so far and so after lunch we decided to do some work in the garden, tidying up a bit before the winter comes. I got into the garden around the back and my GKB got the lawn mower going. It was nice and relaxing and the yard is starting to look much tidier - it has been a hot summer and not very  pleasant for working outside.

I've had a birthday as well, while my little sister was here. We had a family gathering at lunch time at a restaurant in town. Lunch time is better for my little mother, she still gets a bit tired so we need to watch out for her. We took photos but unfortunately we posed in front of the big front window which let in too much light. Then when we looked at it later we realised the teenage boys had disappeared to different part of the restaurant and we didn't have any pics of them. Boys :)

And that's it for tonight. I'm off to make a cup of tea and settle down to watch the Commonwealth Games on TV.

Have a good week,

Diana