One of my loveliest chums in our village was gently sent off yesterday.
I'd known her for many years as she always cut a swath though the village with her handsome living and presence, her gorgeous affection for fast cars, love and friendship, and a wave at everyone!
I'd usually see her on the way back from the allotment on a Sunday, me being all sweaty and dirty, she in her rorty car and we'd chat for ages. We remembered days when I sold her concrete for her husband's building company, and my own business partner used their firm to build developments all over the Tunbridge Wells area.
Sheila was a fabulous woman. I want to replay the music that we heard yesterday during her send-off, because it was played here by someone about her age, and made Scrobs try and find a handkerchief without much success...
Oh... goodbye Sheila, we all loved you so much...
ReplyDeleteTempus is fugitting mate..... tick tock tick tock ....
Lovely music for a perfect send off.
For last funeral I attended, the music was a beautiful version of 'Stardust' by the Glenn Miller band. It was a fitting farewell for my best friend of over 68 years. It is also one my favourite songs too which I used to play very regularly, but since that day I cannot bring myself to even touch the keyboard. Try as I might, my fingers just simply refuse to work properly.
RIP Sheila, whoever you were.
Bye-bye Sheila. Lovely lady.
ReplyDeleteLiving life to the full in the fast lane.
We should all do that, now and again
Let's raise a toast to those we miss the most.
And stop a little while to smile or shed a tear.
Let's hold our dear ones in our arms
And, with that calming voice they know so well,
Just simply say "I love you".
No more needs to be said.
Go to your bed.
Sleep tight.
Night-night.
Reevers, that's a lovely comment - thank uou.
ReplyDeleteHere's your song if you want to click on it - I've just listened to it all, and can understand most of what you mean. The other bits go with you personally and they're your good memories.
https://youtu.be/LlxnWG24ohE
Goosey.
ReplyDeleteYou cracked me up I'm afraid. Sobs-R-Us all over the place, because you have such a lovely hand on poetry, and you said just what I feel.
How you do it, without knowing such a gorgeous lady, I don't know, but with your insight and love for beauty, I can imagine you thought this through for quite a while!
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Scrobs. That was a good version which I don't recall ever hearing before. Not surprising as there must be hundreds of different versions of thaet great song. I did think about posting another version under my comment, but decided against it as I did not want to intrude.
En passant, I notice our resident cryptologist has ... er ... probably not yet had time to solve our little puzzle. You may recall that my original response to it was something about brilliant Dutch transporters... :-)
rvi - I would appreciate a little prompt on that little puzzle you mentioned about a Dutch person. Scrobs - I just started out with her name and how she must have been regarded by so many people. The end just came out from somewhere when I'd just about to finish it when something came out of nowhere and I have no explanation why it sometimes happens. As long as it's ok than I'm ok.
ReplyDeleteThanks both of you.
ReplyDeleteI haven't ever been as emotional about a chum as this before.
Sheila just shone! She was a wealthy lady - very wealthy as it's turned out, but never ever showed her friends up.
I just miss her now. We laughed and bantered for so many times, and she had that lovely attitude to companionship, where when you were talking to her, she'd just reach out and touch you gently. She touched my heart.
I pass by her house most days with little dog, and feel like there's something missing, and all isn't as it used to be any more.
I know what you mean when you talk about being gently touched during a conversation. It's a very intimate gesture of both love and appreciation. I can tell you're very sad at the moment and wish I could give you a big hug but just think of how much she felt for you! If you believe in these sort of things she'll be sending out lots of loving thoughts to all those who truly were her dear friends, so you go and sit in your garden with a full glass, have a quiet chat to her, and don't be surprised if you feel a comforting hand on your arm. When my dad-in-law died in hospital in the early hours we were all there with him just as he always was for us. He was a Yorkshire man so didn't express his feelings in words but in deeds and it took me quite a long time to get to know him, but we had a special relationship that didn't need words. I always gave him a hug when he left here and he always accompanied us downstairs to the main door when we left his flat. That night, we said our final goodbyes to him, left the room, and walked down a very long straight corridor to the main exit. I thought I was last in line but there was someone behind me so I turned to see who it was as you do, but the corridor was completely empty. It shook me for a moment until later on when I realised that's what he always did when we left him. Am thinking of you as per.
ReplyDeleteGG x
GG. Without giving the game away completely, it is hard to give you a pointer, but perhaps I might just observe that you might ponder on things that all ladies adore - money and shoes. Our host may have other ways of pointing you in the right direction. When he first presented it, he described it as the most brilliant clue he had ever some across.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't solve them before the end of the month I will relent and put you out of your misery :-))
Did you hear/read about that very big demo in Whitehall yesterday? I didn't see any reporting in the BBBC, so perhaps it was just a figment of my imagination!
A fine and fitting tribute.
ReplyDeleteThank you Thud - coming to terms with chums popping off is becoming a bit of a habit these days, but we'll manage!
ReplyDeleteGoosey, that's a lovely post - thank you!
ReplyDeleteBelieving the presence is so important, it's a gift and a need, which you can take if offered, and the preciousness is preserved for long enough - at least to get over some of the grief.
You spotted that.
I hope you're feeling better now too! I can't wait for the hug..;0)
Reevers - er - what is this conundrum you speak of...?
ReplyDeleteDear Sir,
ReplyDeleteI have been instructed to reply to your enquiry. Your comments are very important to us.
With the greatest respect may I suggest you go check out (as our American friends say) the final two comments of your previous post when all will be revealed. Maybe you forgot to check before moving on to this one...?
I have the honour to remain (er.. leave!)
Your humble servant
Brigadier Fubcork Q Cheese-Burger III (Ret'd)
cc: Madame G Goose, Stixville, UK
Ta rvi. Just had a look and am wondering if the answer is Income Tax? If not, er, Bailed Out, something Pox, Box, Apples, Middle leg? If all these fail, I'm stumped!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, here's one for you all which was in last week's Graudian Prize crossword. Took me ages to get it. "Photographic chemical opening magic" (5,5).
Well done, Goosey. That indeed is the answer to the firt clue. I await your observations on the second one..
ReplyDeleteClearly (like me!) you have a devious mind... I will have think about your puzzle. Not now though as it approaching midnight here and I am orf to me pit. Night night.
By George, you're right, Reevers!
ReplyDeleteThe clue was 'Cox at me' (6,3,6), and indeed the answer was 'Income tax return'!
Goosey an' me meet on another blog, and for some time, we used to post clues and several others used to do the same!
That was a belter!
My favourite is still 'Geg' - (9,3)
GG
ReplyDeleteThat challenge got me thinking, but I suspect to no avail. It has been many years since I even looked at the Grauniad so I have no idea of the composer's thought patterns.
My first thought was magic = trick and thus 'party trick, dirty trick etc. Chemical = drugs, but I could not link them to photographic. That left me with pictures in the sky. That led to a very unlikely chemo trail. Photographic led me to scene, and thus one possible answer might be "drugs scene". Otherwise I fear I have nothing more to offer. Rusty brain cells after too long an absence :-(
Scrobs: I do not have even the faintest idea of where to even start with that!
Reevers - I somehow missed the second clue you mentioned on 8th May. Would you mind re-posting it for a one-eyed cyclops? Scrub-butts-well, I remember that one but am in no way going to spoil it for all the T in China! BTW - that is not a clue because I wouldn't do that to give the answer away to one of the best ones I've ever seen!! It's a real corker, believe me, and that's not a clue either. Devious? Me? As if!! No, no, I won't sleep at night unless I give you a subtle hint. Ok, here it is: it's not an anagram, but part of that word might help you to solve it.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteScrambled egg.
Nuff said.
Goosey - tq. Will ponder on later when I get a bit of time. The missing clue is/was
Brilliant Dutch transporters.
Piece of cake really...
G,
ReplyDeleteSorry - should have added (6,5)
Sorry folks, but I give up. I have been kicking it around on and off all day playing with things like
ReplyDeletefairy, witch, trick, image, frame, print, plate...etc but none of them really seem to connect with anything relevant. Clearly my brain is rather rusty and out of practice.
For 'scrub butts well', I immediately chose 'scraping the barrel(s)'.
Oh Reevers, you don't half make me laugh on a chilly day! It wasn't supposed to be a cryptic thingy, it was just me calling Sir Michelin yet another silly name!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOk. I'll put you out of your inconsolable misery and I only knew it due to my chemistry background and other odd facts that are filed somewhere between my hypothalamus and corpus collosum. N.B. This has nothing to do with the corpus callapso which only begins to function when I've over-imbibed and can't find my way upstairs and suddenly find myself hanging upside-down on the bannisters whilst trying to have a last-minute fun-time by sliding down them. Please don't try this at home especially if you are of a nervous disposition or suffer from acrophobia as it is very disorientating to say the least when your bum lands on a reposing cat who does not appreciate your ... er... not going any further with this as it could get a bit rude! Back to where I was before I had a glass of cider, if you "open" the word "magic" by taking off the first and last letters, you're left with agi which in turn are the chemical symbols for silver (Ag) and iodine (I). I'll get my coat!
Goosey,
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you were never a member of le cirque du soleil? They are the sort of folks who like to hang upside down on things! Please convey my respects to your (flat?) cat and any bats you may have in your belfry.
Fortunately we live in a single story bungalow and so my only experience with heights here is when I have to stand on a chair or the settee to change a bulb.
I actually decyphered the Ag and I symbols (dragging my chemistry 'O' level back from the dim and distant past), but I still could not fathom any answer to the clues marked as 5,5. I spent most of the day idly playing with 5-letter words ... drama queen, hairy fairy, thumb print, black witch etc etc , all obviously to no avail. So I would really appreciate it if you would be good enough to divulge those two mysterious words which link all the clue together. TQVM.
If you have not deciphered my Clue Hollandaise by Sunday, I will relent and reveal the answer, but I suspect you will have figured it out by then.
Have a good weekend.
Michael and Reevers - mea sextuple culpa. I should have typed 6,6!! Please forgive me and send me the bill for your headache tablets. You've now got your own back well and truly as I am absolutely flummoxed by yours except - is it "Clever Boots"?
ReplyDeleteHah! Close BUT NO CIGAR. I'll give you a tick for the first word, but now you need to think in double Dutch!!
ReplyDeletePlus I hereby claim success in having solved your puzzle as I had Silver Iodide (developing pics myself took me way back to my teen years!)- but it was galling to discover I was a victim of the Dianne Abbott school of arithmentic!!
Well, it's 'clever clogs' then...
ReplyDelete'Test out of morning' (4).
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteOh Scrobs - you naughty cheat! You knew that months ago when we first had this conversation, but the other contestant had still to reply - and now she will be very upset with you. Watch your back!!
Is it 'game'??
No! I retract that and substitute
ReplyDeleteEXAM
rvi - I thought it might be right because the Dutch might have spelt the word "boat" as "boot" but I am well and truly beaten! I am now going to nurse my bruises with a large G@T.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten that, Reevers, but then my memory span is a gnat's 'something' these days...
ReplyDeleteGoosey, we went through all these a year or so back on the other place, and someone called Gardener and Rabbit swept the board...
Reevers, 'Exam' is correct! Have a chocolate mouse!
… or you could have a chocolate mousse made by the fair hands of "T.A.R.T.S. Inc". I'm sure a certain Mr Scrubalot will give you all the gen you need at a price that is quite reasonable for all the gold leaf etc that makes it something else!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAh! Tarts - more memories...
Many years ago I took my mum to Sydney to meet up with her long lost cousin who had emigrated there some years earlier. Cuz and her sis took us on a grand tour of Sydney - harbour, bridge, concert hall etc etc. Then we went to the naughty Kings Cross area (just to be nosey, like) and in the main road we came across a bakery with the sign "Kings Cross Tarts" over the window. Naturally I took the photo with the three of them standing directly under the sign. I wonder if it still there?
T.A.R.T.S. (a.k.a. Thurnham Area Reliable Technical Services) was once a thriving business. Sadly it's no more than a distant memory from what was a lovely gardening forum full of banter until some plank stuck her nose in, thereby dissing a lot of great people who were either made to leave or just took off in a huff. Michael - good times what!
ReplyDeleteNot wrong there Goosey.
ReplyDeleteMuch of the fun went out, and all because they're pretty dull at the end of the day!
I still join in when I feel like it - as you do, but it's got so tame now, with idiots joining, I really can't be arsed!
Thank God for you and your comments!
ReplyDeleteGG
That is very sad. Happily on here we are totally free of planks and other forms of wood lice. This happy band of scribblers forum is always my first stop of the day before I wander off to see what else is happening in the world.
Then I come back again later for my last stop just to see if any additions have been installed while I was away.
We can still meet up there, GG.
ReplyDeleteIt did go tame but as I'm a semi-retired allotmenteer these days, it's just a few of us to chat with!
Reevers, Goosey is an expert gardener if you didn't know! She knows which bits to pull out better than anyone..00)