Another experiment

Well, this is just another quick try to post something with photos

Yes....it worked.......using the blogger app rather than accessing the site directly through the Internet.

Success, I hope.

Experimenting with John Denver memories.

Bags are packed, ready to go......leaving on a jet plane......don't know when I'll be back again ( not true........we will be back on 20 th Feb)

I decided to try out a quick post from my I Pad, to see if I could master the required technological skills....and to try out my new camera/IPad connector kit. So far, I have failed to be able to import photos saved on the I pad, unless they have first been saved to Picasa.....but I'm working on it.

As an aside,  many years ago, ( 43 years ago to be precise) I saw John Denver on stage at Wembley. He was the support act for "The Moody Blues". He sang "Leaving on a Jet Plane" then, he also juggled .....very strange. The tickets for the concert were 50p......... And I remember that they had 10/- in brackets, after the 50p as the UK had just " gone decimal".

Family Reunions

In less than a week, Mark and I will be a few hours into our long flight to Australia. It will be our third trip there, despite being sure that our first, was the trip of a lifetime, and one never to be repeated. ( Apparently everyone says that...and most people go back ).

I love this print , by Jessie Trail, of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Jessie Trail was an artist who sponsored immigrants to Australia, and she sponsored my uncle and his mother to go to Australia in 1927

When we went the first time, I had no idea that I had an Australian family. By the time I returned, I had discovered two first cousins and their families, as I had found out that my paternal grandfather had been “married” 3 times, simultaneously, and had 2 other families, apart from the one that included my own father. His first family, deserted by him just after WW1, emigrated to Australia in 1927.

My two Australian cousins....well, one now lives in New Zealand, are the grandchildren of my grandfather and his first and only legal wife. I am one of two grandchildren of his third and not so legal wife.

Mark and I meeting my Aussie cousins in 2010....they might not recognise the somewhat slimmer, post chemo  dark curly haired Pom cousin who meets them this time !

I met one of the Aussie cousins and his lovely wife on my last trip.....it was very emotional, particularly as he looks so much like my father. He, ( John ) has since been to England and we met up again then, and we correspond regularly.

I will meet, his brother ( Bill)...the NZ cousin, this time. We are travelling to New Zealand for the first time on this trip. I can’t wait to meet him...although again, we have corresponded regularly, since I “discovered” this branch of our family.

Looking forward to meeting you Bill !

A further treat for this trip to the other side of the world will be meeting another cousin...slightly more distant than John and Bill.

Apparently, my bigamist grandfather kept more than his wives secret from us. He never told my grandmother, or his son, my dad, that he was one of 6 children. His youngest brother, Francis was in the navy  and found himself in Australia during WW1, where he met an Australian woman, who he returned to marry in 1920. I will be meeting his great granddaughter on this trip too.

Francis Whelen....born in Birkenhead in 1890......my grandfather's youngest brother.....another of his secrets.

I find it quite haunting, that this year, 100 years after the start of WW1, I will be meeting the descendant of my great uncle, who made that journey all those years ago.

Francis, ( or Frank as he was known in Australia), with his wife, Vera-May and their son....probably about 1927......round about the time Franks' brother's deserted wife arrived in Australia, completely unaware that she had a brother in law living there already.

I hope to have the opportunity to blog a little from Australia and New Zealand in the next 6 weeks......but all will depend on internet connections and my ability to write on my I-pad.....never written blogs on it before, and as my I-pad is the earliest model, and doesn't come with an inbuilt camera, photos will have to be taken with my phone, so I cant be sure what I will be able to do !....We will see.

So, if you see nothing from me in the next few weeks, be assured that I am having a wonderful time, with members of my somewhat complicated family, in Perth, then Hobart, then Melbourne, then Wellington, Christchurch and other fascinating bits of the south island. ( I’m desperately trying to finish Eleanor Catton’s “The Luminaries” before I go......what an amazing book....but heavens above, it is long ! ).

When I return, I hope to know a bit more about my family, and plenty more about the gold rush in New Zealand.

Streeton's painting, from 1890, "Whelan on a Log"
Those colours couldn't come from anywhere but Australia !
I have a print of this on my study wall.

Properly involved this year

I’m still reading blogs....I’m just not “interacting” as much as I like to. I am sure it is a reaction to feeling well, and  being able to be involved in lots of Christmas activities. Last year I was an observer from the sidelines. This year it has been so wonderful to make a Christmas cake, shop and wrap presents, bake, make mincemeat, go to nativity performances ( even if one of the schools I visited  allowed their KS2 performance of every single song from Mary Poppins to go on a bit ! ) etc etc.

 

Liam was a sheep in his nativity play

So, I intend to get back to blogging properly soon....reading, commenting and being involved in the lives of all the people, whose blogs I love to read. However, until then, just a very brief picture blog of a few important moments during the last few weeks.

 

Izzie in one of her Christmas outfits

This chutney didn't last long

 

My grandmother's rolling pin, mum's lemon squeezer which came free with a packet of Omo in 1958, and 2 of my cousin Margaret's basic cook books, which contain everything anyone ever needs to know about baking.

Baby Flynn with his new hat and giraffe, presents from Jess, crocheted by one of her friends on her teaching course.

One very happy nana with Liam and Izzie

Dexter and Clark, allowed to dismantle the gingerbread house, as they don't like Christmas pudding...or trifle.

A really happy little boy....Clark, who did nothing but smile and laugh, all over the holiday.

 

Santa left a footprint. His reindeers also left some poo ( peppermint creams covered in chocolate) but Izzie refused to open any presents until the poo had been cleared up).


 

I hope you all have had as good a Christmas as we did... and that 2014 is excellent for all of us.

PARKRUN

I can’t believe it’s been over 3 weeks since I last blogged. Life has been hectic in our house here in Hebden Bridge as we get closer to Christmas. We’ve tried to see as much of the grandchildren as possible. So, a theatre trip with the 3 eldest, some drop in visits to their homes and what has become a regular Saturday morning get together have all been lovely.

It is the Saturday morning meetings that I want to blog about today. It all revolves around “ parkrun”.

“parkrun” is an organisation that holds free weekly 5km timed runs, all around the world. The runs are open to everyone, from complete beginners to Olympic standard runners. They cost nothing to enter, they are safe, well marshalled, and very easy to take part in. In the UK, they operate in 236 locations, and to date, have organised 23,172 runs !

Sometimes the runs have themes.... a couple of weeks ago, it was superheroes....Matt is on the far right.

 Once you have registered on their web site and  printed off your bar code, you can turn up at any run, run, and then within an hour, receive a text telling you your official time, and position.

I have competed in the Huddersfield parkrun 3 times. The first time I only ran 3 kms, and was exhausted so gave up.  ( I was very proud of myself though.....3kms seemed like a long way to me, and after the year of illness and recovery that I have had, 3kms was pretty amazing ).

 

My next attempt actually had me completing the whole 5kms. I came 442 out of 448 runners. It took me 44 minutes 48 seconds, and stepson Matthew, and step daughter Jodie, who had both already completed their runs, came back and joined me, to help me “sprint” across the finish line. It was very emotional, and I knew I was hooked.

Jodie pushing 2 year old Izzie, Sarah Jane pushing 3 month old Flynn, Dexter, 5, enjoying himself despite the damp conditions.

 

My run last week, was actually slower. I took 46 minutes to complete the two and a half circuits of Huddersfield’s Greenhead park. I was 452 out of 454 runners. My strategy is to run a bit, walk a bit, run a bit, walk a bit.....and my plan is to try to run a bit more each time. Who knows how long it will take me to catch up with daughter in law Sarah Jane, who somehow manages to do it in under 40 minutes, pushing a buggy with 3 month old Flynn. Or Jodie, who did a fantastic 32 minutes last week, or Jess, who did a 28 minute run in Liverpool last weekend.....or of course, Matthew, the family champion, who was overweight and couldn’t run at all 2 years ago.....and who now looks amazing, regularly runs 10k for various charities and completes 5km in far less than half the time I do.

some of the marshalls.....all volunteers, encouraging and cheering.

 It is not actually competitive at all. Everyone competes against themselves, trying to improve their time. The volunteer stewards cheer on the elite runners, those running with their children, and the slow coaches like me , who struggle to keep going. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the marshalls encouraging me last week, I think I would have given up at about 4kms.

The atmosphere is brilliant. Families run together, or support each other, cheering everyone on whether they are friends or complete strangers. Between 400 and 600 people, and their supporters are all brought together, for an hour every Saturday morning, in Huddersfield’s lovely Greenhead Park

Matthew and Sarah’s eldest son, Dexter, will be 6 in March. He has now completed 12 parkruns. Sometimes he does brilliantly, running much faster than I can, and sometimes he takes it a bit easier...stopping for a quick wee behind a tree.

The photo being held up on the right shows Dexter, with his dad, Matt. 15 seconds of fame....and he's only 5.

 

Last week, the BBC’s One show announced the candidates for Sports Personality of the Year, and asked people to send in their photos of any sporting heroes they had. Sarah sent in a photo of Dexter on one of his runs.....and they showed it on the programme. Dexter was incredibly excited. His teacher saw it, his great grandmother nearly fell of her chair when she saw it, many of his friends saw it. Then last week at the park run, as he crossed the line, many supporters and regulars cheered the TV star across the line.

It has become an important part of our week. We arrive at Carole’s house ( Mark’s ex wife) at just after 8.30am......decisions are made about who is looking after the children who are not running ( usually Mark ). Carole and Peter get on with preparing a huge breakfast for after the run, and us runners head off to the park. The klaxon goes at 9am, and by 10am, we are sitting round the breakfast table, ready to replenish the calories we have used up on the run.

 

Well....I never thought I’d be blogging about running. Watch this space for reports of new personal bests over the next few months !

What shall we do tonight ?

Hebden Bridge continues to impress me.

This week we went to a Folk Roots festival at the Trades Club, we saw the amazing David Tennant performance in the live beamed Richard II from Stratford upon Avon and have just returned from a showing of a great little film called “ Sunshine on Leith”, based around the music of the Scottish band, The Proclaimers. ( It is one of those charming little films that has you smiling all the way through, apart from the bits when you are in tears).

 

Hebden Bridge Picture House

The live RSC showing at the local cinema was brilliant. Apart from the actual production of Richard II, and the glorious David Tennant, the cinema was packed to the gills. It is a community owned cinema, and the money raised by the showing will be a great help.

The showing of Sunshine on Leith was one of the cinema’s Thursday morning sessions. Again, the cinema was packed. Tea and biscuits  are also included in the Thursday morning price. Tea and cake are always available.....so much better than coke and pop corn ! ( I do have to admit that wine was available to accompany Richard II......and that was an excellent idea )

On Saturday we are going out for a meal in Hebden Bridge, with friends, and struggled to decide which restaurant to book...especially as a new Italian place opened today. We decided on the local Turkish restaurant....we’ll wait to try the new Italian till next week.

On Friday, the Hospice shop, where I now volunteer, is holding a “Glam and “Glitz” night, unveiling the Christmas stock. I’ve just been baking chocolate chip cookies to contribute to the available nibbles. I suspect there will be lots of gorgeous home made nibbles created by the very loyal and dedicated bunch of volunteers. I don’t expect the Glam and Glitz night to be quite as thrilling as Richard  II, but I’m sure it will be good.

 

Mark tells me he has just booked tickets to see Dick Gaughan at the Trades Club in a couple of weeks, and we’re going to see the RSC’s Frankenstein in December too ( another cinema trip)

There is just so much to do in this tiny little town.

 

Having a purpose.

Recognising that just “being alive” is no longer enough, I have started to put some structure back into my life. This means that after a year of no commitments, apart from Drs appointments, I have decided that I want some structure back.....some things that mean I have to get up, get dressed, go out, see people etc.

Being ill can be a very selfish....no, self centred, activity......and the time has come for me to stop having the world revolve around me.

So...... yesterday, after a gym session ( I can still be a bit self centred....I want to be as fit as I can be ! ) I went to spend an hour in our local hospice charity shop. I met the manager and 2 of the volunteers, and “worked” for an hour, learning about sorting bags of donations, stock coding, and pricing. I’m not allowed on the till until my references have been checked out, but I can get on with anything else that needs doing.

I am very excited about it. I sorted the book display out......getting all the cookery books on one shelf, tidying the biography section, the travel section, the sports section and putting the fiction back into some semblance of alphabetical order.

A customer asked me if the poetry books were in and amongst the fiction..... and then as an after thought, she asked me if I worked there.... I told her as I’d only worked there for 20 minutes, I didn’t know the answer, but I would happily help her look through the muddle to see what we could find. (Note to self: establish a poetry section).

I also suggested that a lady who wanted a book about Gran Canaria, change her holiday plans as we had a good selection on Australia.....she did laugh, honestly.

I chatted with a woman who bought some curling tongs, which we decided, upon examination, were brand new, as a protecting piece of card was still attached to the plug.

I priced a couple of blouses, a belt and a pack of teaching resources aimed at 5 year olds. ( I then bought the pack to give to Jess to use on her teaching practice ! ) You will be pleased to know that I sought advice as to how much to charge for the pack, and then added a further 50p, so I could not be seen as pricing something I wanted to buy, too cheaply !

I loved it. I loved the customers I spoke to, I loved the idea of previously owned and loved items being given a new lease of life, and I loved the idea that the hospice benefits with every sale.

I want to work on display, on marketing special events, on supporting some of the older, more frail volunteers, and on getting to know the regulars, the occasional shoppers, and on promoting the work of this brilliant little shop.

I cant wait for next week, when I will be working my first proper shift, 11-4 on Sunday, and then 10 -1 on Monday. My aim is to work at least a couple of shifts a week, and I have no idea where this will take me, but I know it’s going to be fun.

Jess, at the race for Life in Liverpool earlier this year.....purposeful, full of passion and having fun.......Life is good. Lets have more of it !