Dear Granny

Please spare a kind thought for my granny (or a prayer if that's something you do) She's had a bad fall.
Luckily she wears a carer alert and when she fell she was able to activate it so was able to get help quite quickly.

Granny is 88 and still lives by herself. She is pictured here with her great granddaughter (my daughter)
on Christmas 1993. This October my granny will turn 89 my daughter 19 they're both October birds.
 Not long now and Granny will be a Great Great Granny, maybe even by this time next week, when Soldier Boy & Dil deliver there first child :-)

Love you Gran
Caroline xo

A Neglectful Blogger, Sydney & a Grandbaby

Haven't I been a neglectful blogger of late. Thank you to the people that still follow, check in & send me an email to see I haven't dropped off the earth -I haven't lol!

but wow! where do I start...

First & foremost next year my first Grand-baby will be born. (I posted about my son's wedding back in July)

As you know my son is a soldier & therefore will not be here for most of the pregnancy nor the birth. Which is so sad & very hard on both of them, fortunately though DIL has been through it all before (DIL has a child to a previous relationship) & hopefully this will make it a little less stressful & scary for her. You can only wish, hope & pray for the very best as unfortunately we have been told that nobody will be holding the baby after it's born, and our friends have now said they will just wait till my son gets back to see the baby & Dil.

However my Granny-who will be the babes GREAT GREAT GRANNY is pretty upset cause as she says herself at 88 "I'm on borrowed time" Anyways I am sure it will all work out & they will both be the best of parents.

How big the contrast is to my friend that is due around the same time & has asked several of us to help her so she can at least have some time with her other kids and an undisturbed toilet or shower(I think we all remember what that's like)

We have had these little control issues come up in the past and we are hoping with maturity & a feeling of security for her & her daughter they will disperse. They really put a dampener on things. We have also been told we are to come & leave at a certain time on Christmas Day. To us this is not what Christmas Day is all about so we will probably stay at home where friends/family can come & go as & when they please -it's really not the day to rush! While we are all sympathetic to these issues our family has decided it is still best to stick to our principles & the interests of all family & not to the wishes of one.

A few weeks ago I went to Sydney to Equitana. (a national horse event) I took a friend that had never visited Sydney before so after Equitana we had a lovely few days doing the tourist thing.

Lane has now finished school for the year. (only two more years to go) & is getting some work with a Baker, we all have our fingers crossed that in time it may lead to an

apprenticeship as he would love to be a pastry chef. The school has given me a contact to an organisation that negotiates with employers about employing kids with disabilities so hopefully that will work in our favour as well.

Yesterday I spent the whole day 5am to 6.30pm at The Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane. My neighbours baby had an operation and she had no one to go with her to support her. How terrible it would be to have to sit there by yourself for hours while your little baby was in theatre, anyway the operation went well & I hope I was of a little assistance in taking her mind off things. Yesterday I felt so thankful for my children & was reminded of how impossibly hard it was after their father died doing it all myself. I am forever thankful for good friends & hope I am somehow returning the favour done for me.

Emerald started a new job and now within 3 wks she has been made a supervisor. This has given her a lovely self esteem boost as she wasn't being treated very well in her last job & ended up being hurt as they didn't provide the necessary protective equipment for her to use. The new boss seems to be so much more understanding of her Uni hours & that it must always be her first priority. Emerald has now finished the first year of her nursing degree and is very excited about becoming a second year student.

Anyway I must be off only 25dys till Christmas and this is the most disorganised I have been in as long as I can remember.

Take Care

Caroline xoxo

Been to busy...

to blog, but hope to return soon.

What with School starting,

Emerald having her op... (more on that to come)

Granny's house having gone under in the floods (she say's it's aged her 3yrs-don't know how she came to that figure, but that would make her 90-going awesome I reckon)

Hope to be back here soon.....

Caroline xoxo

This & That?

I've dropped out of blog land for a few days, I have been busy busy busy. My Granny's house went under in the floods & at 87 she is finding it very hard to cope. Family First right!!

I have also been having a massive clean at my own home, with a leak in the roof last week & a small amount of water getting in under the house. Everything has grown massive amounts of mould. Did you know that mould even comes in different colours, we have had the white looking dusty mould, the black/grey mould and even to be a little bit artistic(yuk!) a blue & a pinky colour.

Everything & I mean everything has had to be wiped clean. I have found Vinegar & a good dash of Oil of Cloves to be the best. I have also been running the air-con on the "DRY" air setting and if you go outside where the outlet pipe is the amount of water that is running out of the pipe is amazing. Didn't think to use that setting when it was teaming with rain all last week but I'll be sure to remember from now on it may help to eliminate the mould problem. Although living in a hot humid climate like ours I may just be "DREAMING"

Luckily, although we have had storms the last two afternoons there has been plenty of sunshine in the mornings to put things out in the sun for a good air. Nothing like a good old air in the sun!!

I find the kids old trampoline is great for putting items out in the sun that are difficult to hang on the clothes line. I pull the trampoline over close to the house & because the mat is a mesh material it has good air flow from all sides.

I realize I am much luckier than most- my grandmother included, all her worldly possessions have been put out on the footpath as rubbish for removal.

Hope to get back here soon & to get around and answer the growing amount of mail in my inbox. I have had a few new followers of late -Thank you. I hope to be able to get over to discover your blogs soon.

Emerald has her operation scheduled for this Friday for her Sleep Aponea so wish us luck. we are hoping for the best outcome, meaning hopefully she will not have to sleep on a machine for the rest of her life.

Caroline xoxo

MISSING HIM!!

I am missing Soldier Boy

On another note.....my darling 86y.o Granny sent me a little money treat in the mail today.....and the note that accompanied it .....to buy some new underwear for yourself - such a sweetie. Guess she's worried I might be hit by a bus. Aren't families just the most, most precious of things.

CAROLINE xoxo

GRANNY'S EGG CUP

This cute little egg cup was my Granny's she got it for her Birthday in 1928

So I thought being Easter it would be a good time to share it with you all

So now the 80 or so year old egg cup has come to live at our place.

As I am the only Granddaughter, Granny has now entrusted this to me.

It came with strict directions (of course) to use it.

Don't just put it in a cupboard!!

Well now each of Granny's Great grandchildren have eaten a boiled egg & soldiers out of it,

but never the less after that it was banished to the cupboard.

You see the last time soldier boy used it I dropped it when washing it up.

Not a chip nor crack but I tell you everything moved in slow motion as it fell.

I have the fondest memories going back to about when I was four of going to Granny's and having a boiled egg for breakfast in this egg cup.

Of course it became a little ritual of that is what I would have for breakfast at her house and her telling me the little story of how she got it.

In the 1920's with War & the Great Depression it was not common for children to receive presents for their Birthdays other than a little clutch of lollies.

She must of thought she was the luckiest girl in the world at that time to receive it

Just like I feel now she has passed it on to me.

Love you Gran

CAROLINE xoxo

VISITING GRAN

If my Mother had of been in this photo it would have been 4 generations.

On the weekend we visited Granny. (My Granny, My Children's Great Granny)

I tell the kids how lucky they are to have a Great Granny so many people never get to meet their Great Grandparents. I never did!!

Casey got in trouble for not wearing his Army uniform for her, we tried to explain that it's like any other uniform, you only wear it while working.(She didn't buy it, we're still in trouble)

The Army is so important to her because of the era she grew up in.



I remember Granny swimming laps of her pool, mowing the lawn like a whirlwind or working on the property that they owned, up the top of fruit trees picking fruit from some precarious placed ladder.
Granny brought me up I have the softest spot for my Gran.

When she heard we were coming to visit she wanted us to take her to McDonalds she said she hadn't been there for a few years!!LOL

Gran still lives in her own home but does not cook or clean for herself anymore, she tells me she is not getting put away where the old people go!!

More often now she tells me things that I know are incorrect she just told me that she bought a particular house for 250 pounds. I know that she bought this house in 1981, we had been using $$ for nearly 20yrs by then.

This never seems to upset me when I hear other "oldies" slip up however I am really upset when I hear Gran do it although I try not to be. I have to try very hard not to correct her as then she either gets upset or thinks I am telling stories!!

Sometimes though she still remembers occasions I have since forgotten.

Isn't the mind a mysterious thing.

CAROLINE XOXO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAN

Geraniums just for you Gran because I can never see them without thinking of you!!

My Darling Granny has just turned 85 so I dug out the photos. The photo above is of her and my Grandfather who passed away in 1993.

The first thing my daughter (Gran's Great Granddaughter) said to me when she saw this photo was look at her legs there fantastic I had never taken any notice but now I look yeah they were pretty good for a 62y.o . I'm just wondering if it could possibly be hereditary.LOL!!

For one year I lived at my Grandparents farm during that year they used to drive me to school in the Rolls Royce & yes I used to find it very embarrassing. Try fitting in at a new school with a heap of pubescent girls when all the other girls are dropped off in farm utes & your in the Rolls.

Yes Gran I know you went through The Great Depression and rightly so you should have both been proud for what you achieved but the bloody rolls nearly gave me a great depression!!LOL

Anyway here you are again picture perfect at 65 with your darling dalamation "Shadow" but hey what's with the cat gran, your not a cat lover and anyway it looks like it wants to get down and scram.

Here you are at 70 with your 2nd Great Grandchild & 1st Great Granddaughter my darling Emerald aged 3mths. Funny I still remember after 15yrs how bad her wind was that day thanks for burping her and I don't think I ever did apologize for the mess on your good Sunday dress.

Oh dear 80 came around quick but remember how proud you were this day pictured with your 1st Great Grandchild & 1st Great Grandson my darling Casey. He was 13 & had just become an Australian Army Cadet. Time gets away doesn't it Gran, now he's a real soldier in the Australian Army and so embrassed to say he was ever a cadet, but yet you are so proud of the path he has chosen I relize how important the defence forces are to you & I try to understand what you went through when so many of your friends went to war yet never returned & having to go to work at the age of 12 in a munitions factory.

What more do/ can I say to you Granny you are so much wiser than me -Oh the only other thing is I LOVE YOU XXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOO

HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY

CAROLINE