Enjoyable sunshine greetings form Cranelymore

12 April 2014 Good day to all, family and friends, it is a lovely day, it started off with rain but through the morning the sun broke through and since then we have been enjoying a marvelous day! I was so enthosiastic that I walked a couple of kilometers quickly before coming to compile the news of the the week! We were also entertained with a good frost yesterday morning -1 degree earlier on and by the time I left for work it was just about 1 degree. the wind was blowing and unpleasant but it turned out to be a sunny afternoon. I have also spent some time in the garden admiring all the seeds that were coming up and the lovely colours of the tulips. The dark purple ones were affected by the torential rain of a week or what ago and had developed rust on the outer petals which is very sad as they were usually my pride and joy. We were also fortunate enough to cut the forest floor down to about 2” Barry did it all by him self as I am not here during the day and if it is dry you have to get on with things. He did it in shifts and survived the enormous task although he complained of pains in his ankles from all the walking. It looks very lovely and the bottom field will still have to be cut and outside in the road, but I forbid him to go out in the road if I am not here- the road is far too busy! The cats are too gorgeous although not white and black anymore but rather light brown- how they got this dirty only they can tell and I do not always understand the words in the choir pieces! They found a new place to sleep and hide from intruders! We have the big (and he is big) brownish ginger cat that continues to visit, although he has been peppered with pieces of turf- he finishes off the food left by them at night. Barry got worried again on Tuesday morning when both were missing! He searched every- where and called continually to no avail! He decided later to tidy up the fireplace and took the wheel barrow with turf back to the shed as we do not lit the stove anymore- if we are cold we switch the small oil heater on for a while- and suddenly from high up near the shed roof, he had a shelf hanging for long pieces of timber and things that he does not use often, the two cats appeared - they came to investigate what he was doing in their ‘house’! When he called they could not hear him as they were inside and he called far away from the turf shed! with gladness they were welcomed and he did not mind scrathing their head for hours there after. At work I gave the 1st 8 hour lecture on Health Safety & Risk with a power point presentation ,with a test afterwards which I am in the process of marking- tedious and time consuming as you have to read through every answer and compare with the information given! Do not know why I do this to myself- but I will persevere and fortunately the second session will only take place after Easter! The hospital has gone into’prepacked receivership’ apparently a legal term- which is used when the banks take over and appoint a receiver to take charge- the receiver then appoint some-one - in this case it will be the new investors, which will put a business plan together for the bank and in the mean time we can keep on functioning! We will know on Wednesday next week who the investors will be and how much they are prepared to invest- we will be able to change the name of the hospital as all strings with the previous owner will be severed. He gave the hospital such a bad name and sunk us into the deep end of the ocean with sinkers on, especially with people that he ordered stock from and never paid! Our wages are for the present not in jeopardy! On the political front- what made the news was that all the people involved in lending millions to investors and brought us to our knees in 2008 stand to walk free and blameless out of this if the jury fall for the defense teams plee! The president Lepricorn Higgins and his wife spent four days in England as the guests of the Queen- they were treated with such awsome admiration that it was sickening! The headline on his return yesterday read: Although small in stature , he is a giant intellectually! He gave 4-5 speeches in all exactly the same, with just the sentences turned around and in a different order! On the other hand it was a wonderful excersize in relation building between the two countries and essential after the troubles in Northern Ireland and the hate between the south and the north! Charity collections and institutions run by different Institutions has received a tremendous knock. the directors and chairmen of some of these place received up to ½ millon as salaries from HSE topped up with the monies collected for the charity work. They have been ordered in front of the investigating committee to please explain but ---they will get out of that as well, in the mean time there are charities that are now really suffering eg. the assistant dog foundation- dogs that are trained to assist people with epilepsy etc. they have no money to continue the training of the dogs because people stopped giving money to the charities learning that most of it went into the pockets of the directors and others! Enough of all the things that are not bringing joy into our hearts! The awakening of nature is much more spectacular in colour and lushness than anything else! Stephen the minister at church was talking about the 40 shades of green we have in Ireland - confirming my experience every day I drive to work! Tomorrow is my turn in the pew and a time to enjoy bringing praise to the Lord! How wonderful it is to start your week with uplifting of the soul. Birthdays: O dear I seemed to have things all mixed up and I have to be careful now! First of all to Gerda who had her Birthday on the 10th. Today Paul van Marle, tomorrow the 13th Mendel my brother who also had a cataract operation on the 9th, Happy Birthday to you , may it be a good and healthy year to you all! Thank you to all who so wonderfully write in answer to my letter and send lovely emails and photos- it is greatly appreciated and enjoyed! I will also forward from my ipad some photos of the tulips and daffoldils. Glad that the visit of Nine to the Cape allowed her to see Mendel and for |Mendel to see the family and grand children and daughter in law as well as Garth & Arnolda! We also think of those who are not well, that has gone through tremendous deep valleys of dispair- Those who have lost loved ones- take your courage from Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and salvation. Who shall I fear?! That brings me to end of this writing and as always be careful do not drive with your window open -thinking back to the experience of the woman in Durban! Keep the doors locked never have anything of value next to you on the seat, lock the doors when you go inside the house! You are so precious in the sight of the Lord and to us who are far away! Enjoyable sunshine greetings from Cranleymore Barry & Christina