I’ve been a bad blogger, I know. But not without reason – we’ve been a bit overwhelmed with busyness over the past few weeks and unfortunately blogging has been last on the list of priorities.
It started with a work function the week after our anniversary. I was quite involved with the planning – it was a surprise party for the boss, so required lots of sneakiness and organisation. I was in charge of invitations and decorations, so our lounge floor was covered in company memorabilia for a good couple of weeks while I cut out invitations and worked on the guest book and photo board etc.
The weekend after my work-do was spent with Mike, doing the things he wanted to do with me on my birthday - seeing as he had to work on the actual day, we did them on the weekend instead. He made me breakfast in bed and then we went out for the day, I had my hair done, then we had a nice lunch at a local café and did some shopping and just hung out together. We went out for lunch with friends the next day too and then suddenly, I turned 22.
I was very spoiled on my birthday – Mike got me a new camera (yay!). And I also got lots of cute kitchen things – tea in vintage tins, pretty cupcake cases, baking tags and a pretty tea trolley to display it all on! My lovely friend Neva gave me a patchwork book and the promise of sewing lessons, yippee; I have been wanting to learn for the longest time!
Two days after my birthday, I woke with a horrible migraine, so I stayed home from work and slept for most of the day and then lay on the couch in the lounge in my dressing gown and sunglasses, with all the curtains closed - I’m sure it was a really attractive sight for Mike to come home to!
The next day, our much-loved Granny went to be with Jesus :( We got a call shortly before 6am on Thursday to say that she had collapsed and been rushed to hospital unresponsive. We jumped out of bed and rushed to the hospital and on arrival, we were told that she had pneumonia, but also that all her organs were failing and there was nothing more that they could do for her.
It was special to spend those final hours with her. We held her hand and talked to her and shared our favourite memories of her (my favourite was the time we went to visit and she called out, “Who is it?” Mike replied, “It’s your favourite grandson!” And she said, “Oh lovely, is that you Paul?” Hahaha, poor Mike! He is sure that she really did mean him and just got the names confused.).
Granny stayed with us until all of her kids in New Zealand were at her bedside and the ones who live in America and Australia had called and spoken to her, and then she peacefully slipped away in her sleep.
The past week and a half has mostly been spent with the family; two of Mike’s cousins came to stay with us and we have had lots of family dinners and barbeques to go to, as well as funeral preparations to take care of and then of course, the funeral. It was a lovely service; the chapel was packed and it was a real celebration of her life. There were some tears, and a lot of laughter, the way I think there should be. Favourite memories, funny stories and some of her famous sayings were quoted (“Monkey know which tree to climb.”). It was a beautiful way to farewell a lady that was so loved by so many.
Yesterday was spent at Granny’s house sorting through her things. Mike’s dad put aside a beautiful crystal jug and set of glasses that he wanted us to have – they were given to Granny on her wedding day, so it’s precious that they now belong to us.
It’s going to take a while to adjust to Granny not being around anymore - It was hard going to her house and seeing all her things without her in the midst of them - but I know that she is at peace now and is in a much better place. She loved Jesus and had told us many times that she was ready to go home to Him. I am happy that she is there with Him now.
We will miss her so much. She was a beautiful lady and I feel blessed to have known her.
So, there you have it, that’s where I’ve been the past few weeks. Things are starting to settle back to normal now, so I’ll be back soon. I promise I won’t leave it so long before the next post - I have lots of recipes and crafting to share with you.
Until then xo
