HAPPY CHRISTMAS !!

WHEREVER YOU ARE, AND WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING FOR CHRISTMAS, I WISH YOU A HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND PEACE, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS IN 2009.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given......"

Isaiah 9:6

A quiet place

The other afternoon I was at the local hospital, visiting a friend from Church. It was incredibly busy everywhere, lots of people and lots of noise. Even the ward was, somehow, a hive of activity with lots of coming and going. My friend walked me to the ward-door at the end of visiting time and, as I waved goodbye to her, I realised that everywhere was still crowded, hot and noisy. As is my habit when visiting someone in hospital, I made my way to the Hospital Chapel and sat down to pray. I revelled in the total peace and absolute quiet. Then, slowly, it dawned on me that I would actually have preferred to find the Chapel as busy as everywhere else - rather than being the only place in the hospital that afternoon that was empty and quiet ............

Grumpy Old Woman

It's been a while since I posted anything. Truth is that I'm currently trying to keep lots of plates spinning and this has made me tired and grumpy. Some of this is justified - namely the poor service that I have received from a couple of suppliers - gas and telephone. Shall I name them? Shall I tell the reasons? Maybe not - to go over it all again will only make me even more grumpy.

However, I am horrified at the cavalier attitude of some companies toward their customers. Do they not care that they may lose custom? In today's economic climate should they not be doing absolutely everything they can to keep their customers? If it's not their attitude, then it must be sheer inefficiency, and this makes a joke of the large salaries that their 'management' command. I sometimes feel - call me old-fashioned - that so called progress is sometimes rather cold and faceless.

A photo or two...

..... one photo of my younger daughter and my grandson, patiently waiting for the bride! One of my elder daughter (centre) with two of my nieces. And two photos of my four nieces learning ceilidh dances!

And now for the good news 2 !

I recently attended my nephew's wedding, which came just six weeks after the wedding of my niece. How lovely to celebrate good things! Another lovely day, and such a pleasure to be able to spend time in the company of all my family.

Here's my nephew with his lovely wife, and my sister and brother-in-law.

And now for the good news ......

Last weekend I travelled to Lancashire to attend the wedding of my niece, Chloe, my late brother's daughter. A lovely day, and I enjoyed spending the weekend in the company of my two sisters, my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law.

TASHA

Our lovely Tasha was put to sleep by the Vet 10 days ago. Her quality of life was deteriorating fast and it became obvious that this was the kindest thing for her. We enjoyed her company for over fourteen years, so we are going to miss her a lot...............