Back again from my little break............

My aunt passed away last Monday (4th).  Now as  we all know when people pass it's a very sad occasion for all involved.  My aunt had been ill for a while, and was hospitalized 10 days prior before we went to visit her in hospital last Monday afternoon.

We stayed for a couple of hours, and had a "good" time catching up and putting the world to rights.  After we left she told my uncle she wanted to have a sleep as she was tired and less than an hour after us leaving she had a heart attack and died.

We hadn't been home long, it took us over 90 minutes to get home, my dad called and said she had died.  We were in shock.  Absolute, total shock.  I was lost for words, as less than two hours before we were having a good talk and laugh.  So that's why it hit me hard.  I am a very practical person in dealing with things and in cases of emergency I am a take charge person; but this threw me for six.  

We also had a pig of a week with a couple other things last week, that included having a shouting match with one of the neighbours.........which I did not start and really upset me, as I wondered what hit me!!!  As a side note this particular neighbour has fallen out with all the neighbours, everyone hates him.

And ended up with our daughter having to put her cat of 17 years put to sleep.

So a deep breath now will be taken and we will start this week fresh and with positive vibes.........

A little break..........

I won't be posting for a few days, as I am taking a short break.  We have had a death in the family, I need time to process this..............

Welcome 2023....

Happy New Year to you all.

(image credit)

I have to admit I am glad to see the back of 2022.  It's been a year of a lot of health issues for various members of the family.

Is it me or was there a lot of celebrity deaths this past week or two?  It seemed to be one person after another who died.  I will admit I am one of those people who does read the obituaries.  I also enjoy reading the article in the newspaper about which famous person died in which month every year.

The day we flew out to the UK was the died the Queen passed away.  That was interesting watching the funeral.  Although we didn't watch it all as we had booked afternoon tea at a hotel in the Lake District.

Not sure how this post turned out to be a post about death?  

I am hopeful 2023 will be a positive year.  I will be copying birthdays and anniversaries from my 2022 calendar to my 2023 one today.  I also generally make a list of things to do around the house for the year.  I try and preplan as much as possible.  We did get ahead of the game with our jobs/things to do in 2022, as we ended up replacing my car and redoing the roof in 2022.  Both of those things were supposed to happen in 2023.

However dh found a hole in the roof, so that HAD to be fixed.  I had a funny noise happening with my car that no one could fix, so we decided to cut our losses and replace the car. 

Here's hoping you all have a productive, healthy and loving 2023! 

Death..........

I was reading a blog post over at John's and thought I would add my two cents with my own blog post.

What happens after you die has changed so much over the years.  Once upon a time you would have a church service for the deceased, the  clergy would say many heart felt words about the deceased; whom he would probably have known.  There would be special funeral hymns; Abide With Me being a favourite.  Everyone would be wearing somber colours and there would be a wake/tea after wards to remember the deceased.  The deceased would be buried, occasionally someone would be cremated and be buried in a church yard/cemetery where loved ones would visit regularly and put fresh flowers on your grave on special occasions.  At least that was how it was when I was growing up.

Cremations are more popular, nowadays.  Anything goes when it comes to clothing worn at a funeral.  Here in Canada we can view the body in the days up to the funeral; like a lying in State situation.  Music can be anything from the funeral hymns to country music and popular music.  The last funeral we went to the great grandchildren and grandchildren drew and wrote messages on the casket/coffin.

Prior to coming to Canada 28 years ago I had only seen one dead body, my grandad and that was only a quick glimpse.  Since coming to Canada I have seem numerous dead people, even watched someone take their last breath.  It seems to be more open and welcoming, and more involved here in Canada.  When I think of funerals in Britain they are a more staid somber affair.

I swore I would never get cremated, but over time I have changed my tune.  I know that our children love us to bits, but I also know they would never visit us if we were buried somewhere.  Realistically they are busy people and it would just be another job for them to do by making the trip to the cemetery once or twice a year.  I would rather they remember us as we were and when they think of something that reminds them of us.

Things have changed when it comes to remembering the dead.  What are your thoughts and have you changed your ideas on what will happen to yourself after you die?

On a lighter note.  The kids gave me an envelope for Christmas, I opened it and the first thing I saw were the words URN INSERT.  My first thought was, "do I look that sick?"  However upon further reading it was a membership for this from here:

I get four seasonal inserts for a pot/urn for the garden.  It has nothing to do with death!!!

I am around.........

it's just been a quiet week due to the hot and humid weather.  I have been hibernating so nothing much has been happening.  We had some nasty weather go through yesterday and last night.  No damage on our property, but a lot of damage was done close to where we used to live.  At least now with all the rain yesterday the grass has had a good water.  We are not happy with the way they are watering the grass.  We do have a sprinkler system, but it is controlled by the "sprinkler people."  We are also not allowed to water our grass............less said about this the better...LOL

Sad news from Britain, a beloved entertainer, Cilla Black passed away; she was only 72:



I love this song which I heard on an advertisement.  It is also a pretty neat video with a great message it is well worth watching:


And finally Our Little Munchkin may be a soccer player much to her Granddad's delight as he is a big football/soccer fan.

What are your thoughts on this:

A relative went to a funeral for a man he knew.  On the "programme" (can't remember the right name for it) there was a request that sort of went like this:

"Joe's cell phone number is still connected, please call it and leave a message for him.  We will be burying it with him."

Personally I think that's creepy.  I was telling dh about it and he said under no circumstances to do that with him.  As I pointed out he never answers the phone at home anyway so it would be a total waste of time.

Meanwhile me and the lady who told me this story were killing ourselves laughing at the fact that if someone was walking through the cemetery and the cell phone started ringing from the grave they would be past themselves.

So do you want your cell phone buried with you?  If I had to pick an item it would be my lap top!!!

Do you want to live until you are 90?

When we first started meeting with a financial planner back in 2010 we talked about a number of things.  When she presented us with our "Investment and Wealth Strategies," folder one of the things she had said was that we will live until we are 90 and that is the age they use to prepare our forecast.

I was aghast to think I would live until I was 90.  Everyone I know that is in their 80's or 90's don't seem to be happy.  They are at best "surviving," waiting until it's their time to go.  Now don't get me wrong I would assume there are plenty of people out there that have happy and full filled lives at that age, but I don't know any of them.

The one woman I do know in her 90's is in a nursing home, nearly blind, nearly deaf, other wise as healthy as a horse.  She has no family, and sits there day and night.  She was saying to my mother the other day that she hasn't been out of the home in over a year. Now will say that is mostly her doing as my mam has asked her to go out on a number of occasions only to be met with excuses on why she can't.

Yes I agree people do live longer nowadays and as recently as last week we were sorting out our life insurances to make sure they DO NOT stop when we are 70, as we feel we will live to be older than 70, or at least hope we last longer than that.  However, I always figured, that as my grandmother's passed away in their 70's I would last about that long too.

Bit of a morbid subject for a Monday morning, sorry.

The loss of a great woman and home shows

Margaret Thatcher died on Monday at the age of 87.  For most of you on this side of the pond it's nothing; however for those of us whom either live or lived in Great Britain her passing will evoke some sort of feeling.  For some it will be a case of good riddance, for others it will be great sadness at hearing of her passing.

She was a politician who you either loved or hated, I don't think there was an in between with her?  Regardless she changed the way things were done in Great Britain whether for the good or the bad.  I am guessing an awful lot of British blogs will be talking about this, all voicing difference of opinions.

I normally don't dip my toes into the political or religious arena, but couldn't let this pass by without saying something.  She is likely to have a full ceremonial funeral like the Queen Mother had, and if you want to read more about her life and times, please click on this link.  From the news report her last few years of life were probably lonely.  She had a good inning's as they say and I am quite sure she is looking down on us smiling and saying I did a good job.

God Bless Margaret Thatcher; rest in peace.

I never win anything but I did win a pair of tickets for the Green Living Show this coming weekend.  Really looking forward to it.  We went to the Orangeville Home and Garden Show this past weekend.  That was actually not a bad show got lots of info.  It is also Alliston Home and Garden show this coming weekend.  We had hoped to pop into that as well if we have time.  I enjoy these local shows as they are familiar with your areas needs and nuances.  

Then on the weekend of the 20th of April is Creemore's Home and Garden Show want to go to that as well.  If you haven't guessed I love going to Home Shows!!!

They come in threes and more purchases.......

You know how we say things come in threes, we got news on Wednesday of another death, this time a friend's dad.  So now we are waiting for number three.........

I went into Brampton on Wednesday and while I was there, I checked out some charity/thrift stores.  I was surprised at how expensive things were, but I did manage to get a couple of things.  Everything I got in the photo below cost under $9.50.  So now I have 30 sets of tea cups, saucers and side plates.  I have nearly 40 teaspoons now, and the glass double handled container is to put the spoons in.  The little milk jugs are cute as well aren't they, and at 50 cents each a deal.

When I was visiting a very dear friend on Tuesday, she gave me this tea cup, saucer and side plate, which was ever so kind of her.

Looks like a rabbit, but sounds like a duck?

First let me apologise about the quality of the photos, they are blurry.

Anyhow, Santa brought Molly a rabbit for Christmas, and it has a squeaky thing in it, that actually sounds like a duck quacking, all very unusual.

Do rabbits actually make any noise?  I am not overly familiar with rabbits, but I am quite sure they don't sound like ducks!!

We had a little bit of excitement on Tuesday morning.  I was working away on my computer around 7am when Molly started barking like a crazy dog.  There were two coyotes in the field behind us looking for mice.

How I knew this was they were using the same actions as Molly does when looking for mice.  Mind you these guys were also hopping around like Pepe Le Pew, remember him from the cartoons?  Very funny.

On Monday night a dear friend's Mother-In-Law passed away from cancer, she fought a hard battle with it and out lived her original prognosis as she was a fighter.  At least now she will be out of pain and at peace.  Please say a prayer for her family.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me..." ~ Psalm 23