In Memory

Last Friday morning my friend's wife died at home, around her were those she loved and who in return, loved her deeply.

Leukemia, diagosed less than six months ago.

She was his best friend, she had a most enormous smile...really big, it literally took up half her face.

She was the mother of three children; she buried one when he was just three years old. Her little girl, now eight, didn't get to love her nearly long enough and her baby, only 10 months old, will now only know her in pictures, little videos and other people's memories.

I am so sad. Sad for him, for them... big fat tears roll down my face when my thoughts wander to how horribly crule this one life has been to my friend. He is a good man, she was a good woman; there is too much heartache and loss.

Today I am sending strength to my friend as he lets go of her body ~ may her spirit soar, may he feel the love that surrounds him and may he find her bright smile in the most unlikely of places.

On Saturday, with my family, I will dig a hole and plant a young lemon tree for her ~ summer flowers, autumn fruit and beautiful all year round.

* image from http://www.articlesweb.org/natural-environment/how-to-grow-lemon-trees-and-its-benefits

Little blood suckers and some rain on our parade

I have a feeling caught somewhere between shock and joy... Shock that after all the hard work, stress and countless hours of time and energy in volunteer crafting, FestiValley was cancelled. Yep, called off last Thursday afternoon - the BOM forecast buckets of rain for Saturday and so the decision was made to postpone the fair and fun (lucky too because it rained all day in sheets... and it was cold and horrid and well, wet!).

Joy? Yep somewhere inside me was such sweet relief at the news. I still had three dolls to finish, a moss gnome to put together, a few capes to embelish.... and some other stuff that I have conveniently forgotten...for now. The new date for Festivalley is Saturday October 15.

Today at craft group we sat around, with hot chocolates and coffee munching some dodgy looking but quite delicious jam drops, celebrating (well we were suppose to be celebrating how much money we raised for the school at FestiValley...but we just put that aside).

I told the girls at craft this morning a little story, I will now share it with you.

Last week I had a sore spot on my back; you know the spot where if you reach up and over with one hand and down and up with the other your fingers will meet in the middle? that spot. It was tender and I scratched at it and it stung, I felt something odd and I pulled at it - it really hurt. I thought to myself, I wonder if  have just scratched off a mole or something? Feeling a bit stressed I grabbed a bandaid and showed my husband the sore spot that I couldn't see. I said have I got a mole or something there? He had a look, said "yep, looks half off and bleeding" and he wacked the bandaid on top.

All week it really hurt and itched like crazy, it was driving me nuts. Eventually I rang my GP (doctor) and booked a long appointment for Friday to have the half off mole competely removed.

This morning the bandaid came off and the itching was insane I asked my beloved if he could please just carefully scratch around it and then put a new bandaid on,  very obliging he is, he said "sure". He looked for a bit, and didn't scratch and then said "it is not a mole, it is a tick" ~ OH my eekkkkkkkk I have had a tick attached to my back and sucking away happily for a week! "Get it off!"

We have a tick twister tick remover, I bought it at the vet clinic quite some time ago... there was a bit of a frantic search for it in the over crowded bottom drawer. The little hook went under and he twisted. I screamed blue murder. Wow, that really, really hurt. Both girls came pelting through the house wondering what was going on that would make their mother scream like that...I tell you what, a week full of tick poison and a gigantic parasite being screwed out of my back! (the screaming made him stop, but the tick was still there so I had to endure another twist... horrid, horrid thing!)

 

I let it pose for some photographs

Then I squashed it (with quite some effort, strong little skull). I feel no remorse, my back is still very tender.