Confused April greetings

Saturday 21 April’12 Good day to all Family and friends, It is with sincere sympathy to the Scholtz family with the death of Werner. It is an indescribable great loss to Hester and his children, brothers and to me even though we did not know each other very well, we had the opportunity to become good friends via the net in these last years and during his illness! The weather in Cranleymore has done a head over heels tumble and during the week we experienced temperatures of -2°. It never really warmed up during the day as it rained at least 20 minutes out of every 2 hours. With the sun gone and a nippy wind we are truly experiencing an unpleasant April. There have not been any strong winds and the cherry blossoms are still all there which does make a big difference in colour all around the countryside! I am a thousand x thousand jubilant as our prayers -Barry and mine, and all those who knew about the agony ‘DAY DUTY’ brought to Barry and me, were heard, during the week. I started to suffer from sleep deprivation and could not cope during the day and Barry found the days far too long to be lonely- he knew he was never ‘alone’ but the very long hours without a word to speak to a living soul caught up with him- I would leave here some mornings at 6am and not be back before 10pm. So very tired and discouraged when I come home, go to bed, sleep may be for an hour and that is the end. BUT GOD IS GOOD! Monday night there was no sleep as I had a bleeding patient sent back to theatre, after a disagreement between the theatre nurse and myself about the severity of the patient condition- I knew what I was talking about when I phoned and asked for a Dr or Anaesthetist to come quickly to the ward. They sent the nurse, she disagreed with me and in front of the patient made remarks regarding his condition, I prayed that the Lord would open her eyes and then she saw what I saw- ran back to theatre, back in a minute with the news he is going back immediately! She afterwards admitted she was wrong and apologised- bringing my judgement into doubt. This sick young man who was healthy bright tall and very pleasant now a deadly colour, in shock, and losing consciousness stayed with me for many hours-and the last straw. I prayed through most of the night and asked the Lord for an answer and the opportunity for me to speak to the manager- a man I do not trust and have little respect for. The Lord knew all this and gave me a different scenario the next morning early. I am always 1st on duty but this morning the ward manager was also early as it was a very busy day ahead and there she was with me in the change-rooms –just the two of us –I have been crying a lot during the night and I heard the voice inside say! TALK NOW! I did – 2 hours even less than that, both the ward managers told me that I am going back on night duty as from Monday! They must have thought me a funny one because instead of thanking them I hugged them and kept on saying “Thank you Lord”. I did not have to speak to the man I do not trust- the Lord provided some-one that was understanding and sympathetic to my problem! They did the talking for me- How wonderful is the love of the Lord! Barry and myself are now hopeful that the last year and few months will continue according to ‘normal’ and God willing without any more disruptions in our usually quiet and thankful lives! The garden is beautiful- I am boasting about it as we have never had anything so lovely since we moved in. The change in the gardening way has been a great success and we are so thankful that we were still able to make these changes which proved to be for the best! The fruit trees, apple and pear are in full flowers- may it bring forth good fruit for us this year- apparently it takes a good 5 years for a crop of fruit! The potatoes are up and the onion are growing, we are very glad we did not put any flowers in the baskets yet as the frost of the other morning would have damaged them severely! The roses are growing and the foliage is unbelievable, green and healthy and there are buds everywhere! The jasmine smells lovely and all the other plants are growing with great enthusiasm! On the political front looms disaster. The 2 parties in co-allision are not singing from the same hymns sheet and instead of not making any statements over house charges, water charges or anything, that to us, are all ‘hair-breath-harry schemes’- not thought through properly- no feasibility study done at all- just jumping into stormy waters without a lifejacket on are these politicians - causing severe dismay with the voters who put them in power and great disillusionment hovers over the future. It they go on like this a break-up is eminent. We also have to vote in a referendum because of a change in some clause of the Lisbon treaty and austerity measures. Zuma taking his ?6th wife and the lot running the affairs in SA can come and compete with this lot here who are covering up for each other to their own detriment! Birthdays! 22nd Adolf Bosman, 23rd Lukas Liam Dunne, (our grandson-2yrs old) 24th Trish Starnes and 26th Danie Bosman. Happy Birthday to all of you! If I have missed any-one, best wishes to you as well! We will see Lukas and his parents on Sunday, tomorrow, as there will be tea and cake for us in Dublin in the afternoon! The wild animal family are still all present; we have noticed a new face between the foxies. The cats, Blackie is recovering from an injury and the Professor comes late at night but looks good! The swallows arrived earlier in the week and were stalking out their nests of last year! The robin that deserted her nest with 3 eggs and was not seen for several weeks seems to be back but flies in from across the road! The starlings are sitting on the nest and the blue tits pulled their nest to pieces and are rebuilding somewhere else! The blackbirds are gathering building material and so it goes on! Never a dull moment in the Dunne’s garden. During lunch we also saw 4 white butterflies! Tomorrow is the best day of the week and I will have the privilege to play the organ! I am anxious for food for my soul!. Exams are at the order of the day. Mock exams are taking place and to all of you who are studying Enjoy and do well! Those who have plans for the future which will bring total change – God’s blessing on your plans! To all those who have had health problems, to those who have had operations and for those who are hoping for improvement- you are all in our thoughts and prayers. Bernard Kuyper, Ron Starnes, Dorothy Dennis, you are all in our prayers. Thank you to all who wrote letters- the photos were very special, especially the one of Werner. Also Leopold’s lovely testimony of his best friend and brother, holiday photos and family photos! I greet ye all from a windy, cold, intermittently wet and sunny Cranlymore! Keep safety always in mind, travel safely! Barry and Christina