Farewells & Cheers

Last week we farewelled our very good friend Snow. It was a release for him, after years of ill health, & in particular after the last 3 months in hospital. But when the time comes for the formal goodbyes it is always hard to accept the loss. We have felt privileged to have been part of their family for over 30 years, & it did us all good to take part in the celebration of his life. His life was one of utter devotion to his family, Maureen, his four daughters & their families. Family was everything to him, so it wasn't difficult to remember all the crazy times we shared.
We went back to Tauranga a couple of days later to be with Maureen for her birthday. It could have been a sad occasion, but it turned out to be a lovely day for her. The girls arranged for us to
meet at The Cornerstone pub at the new Bethlehem Shopping Centre. It was a good choice. Lovely food, casual atmosphere & great company.

Proud Lucy

Proud Lucy
Originally uploaded by Ariadne2007.

Lucy made a great job of her drop-leaf table - her fourth term project. More detailed photos on both flickr & Picasa to check out.

Friendly Weka

Friendly Weka
Originally uploaded by Ariadne2007.

The range of bird life around our place has increased hugely now that there is no longer a cat in residence. It was great to get this shot of the weka from inside our house.
These latest blogs are coming via flickr. I usually use Picasa, but I'm having probs uploading from it, so I'm trying this instead. I need more time to fine tune, but it seems OK for now.

First Rose of Summer 08

First Rose of Summer 08
Originally uploaded by Ariadne2007.

I took this photo a few days ago. My best friend Maureen gave me this rose - Abraham Derby - after my mother died 12 years ago. It always blooms prolifically.

Update

I haven't been in a blogging mood lately, mainly because of computer problems. Broadband is working OK, although the speed is a bit tardy, it is the general slowness of my computer which is driving me nuts at the moment. In spite of regular clean ups, & a recent increase in RAM, it's still not right. I'm convinced that it's all Windows fault, & I'm thinking of trying out Linux.
However, we did have one highlight recently & that was seeing Thomas when he came home for a few days R&R. We had a meal at our place for a belated birthday celebration for him. Great to have a get together again, but it would have been nice if Sam could have been there as well. I'm having probs uploading a photo of the evening, but it is in my Picasa Web Album if anyone is interested.

Testing from Home Page

Discovered the latest item from Blogger Buzz re posting to blogs from my iGoogle Home page. It looks like it could be very convenient.

Broadband Blues

A week ago I was all excited about what I wasn't going to do now that we were on broadband. After my initial foray, I found that I was unable to get an internet connection the next time I tried. I've spent hours trying to figure out what went wrong, & five calls to the Telecom Help desk, haven't been that helpful actually. However, I had some help from a techie friend today, & we decided to do a system restore. That seems to have done the trick as far as being able to connect to the internet again. I'm hoping that everything will be working again when next I hook up. In the meantime the vege garden has benefited from my frustration - it's practically weed free.