Farewelling friends and reacquainting with others

• April 28, 2017

Picture above: A recent ‘Block of the Month’ quilt completed. Pattern courtesy of Dellbrook Quilt Company

I needed to head south last week as a very good friend passed away from bowel cancer, and it was a good time to reconnect with some old friends at her funeral, as well as spend a couple of nights with my Dad who is in his 90th year.

As usually happens when I return to my home town of 40 plus years, I try to plan what I would like to do and who I would like to catch up with. Now that I have uprooted and moved away, there are people who I have kept in touch with constantly, and then there are others that I might see every so often. Sadly, there is another group who I simply don’t see or hear anything from at all. Such is life.

I find when I ‘return’ that I need to ask the Lord WHO He wants me to see on this particular visit. He is very good at organizing that for me. I also ask Him to order my days, as I usually only get one or two full days to do 100 things, so I get pretty focused on how much time I have, and how much I can pack in to that.

God is so faithful! On this last visit I wanted to see if I could get an appointment the day I was leaving home; I pretty much drove out my driveway and drove straight to Urban Retreat for a 5:45pm session with my long time beauty therapist. Lovely to see you Melissa!
From there I went straight to my Dad’s and was delighted that he had cooked me dinner (which I have to say doesn’t happen very often), and I fell into bed, feeling like my mission was accomplished for that day.

The following morning I was hoping to squeeze in a good walk up TeMata Peak but I realized that would set me back with everything else on my list, so I changed tack. I whipped my recently finished quilt top out to Gayle Burns at Railway Road Quilts, and she blessed me by quilting it within the day so I was able to pick it up on my way out of town.

It’s always lovely to catch up with my dearest buddy Muff aka Mrs Snortle, even if it was just for a quick hug and a coffee. Fortunately on my way down I called my resident optometrist and made an appointment to have my eyes tested, and would you know it, there was one appointment left at 10am, so I nabbed it & got a renewed script which I hope I can use to buy several new pairs of specs when we travel.

The other shops on my ‘list’ were visited, and purchases made without compromising! Attempts to see the wonderful Melz, who has helped me to get my website and Facebook page up and running, and is also responsible for the design of my business cards, and The Eye Of A Needle banners and pamphlets, unfortunately just didn’t happen. Sometimes when things don’t line up, and times simply aren’t available to connect, I realize that perhaps that connection isn’t meant to be for this time and place, and so I drop it. God usually has a better plan.

And on this occasion He certainly did. My youngest son Timothy has been hobbling around on crutches since he jumped off a rather high wall and badly sprained his ankle (actually we now know he has fractured his foot, and will require plaster this week). It was a wonderful opportunity to pick him up as he is unable to drive right now, and we enjoyed great coffee and yum pizza at Shed 2 in Ahuriri, Napier, sitting in the gorgeous Hawkes Bay sun and hearing all about his latest antics.

I was also able to connect with my sister, and a long lost cousin who just happened to arrive at my Dad’s 2 minutes before we did, so we had to catch up very quickly on life since he moved to Chile 30 years ago.

Another divine appointment with my lovely hairdresser of 20 years (thanks Judith for a the best hair cut in 6 months – no one else cuts my hair quite like you do!), and a quick introduction to Gryff the huge 9 month old puppy who belongs to my love’s sister, before it was time to return to Dad’s with his favourite KFC dinner; not something I eat very often these days, but it was surprisingly tasty!

Picture: One of Fiona’s purchases – wooden stool with slipcover

The next day started the same way, packing up my car and coffee with the lovely Fiona; delivering goods which she had purchased after my post on FB about the market. Thanks Fi, it was a great coffee and a divine appointment. And thanks for shopping with us!

I attended the funeral, caught up with many old mates, and headed north to spend the weekend with my sewing girlfriends. We have had an annual sewing/ knitting/ shopping retreat for the past 5 years in Taupo, and it’s always lovely to catch up on each other’s lives and to see how much things can change in a year!

It’s always lovely to go away for a few days, but it’s even more lovely to return home with all missions accomplished and ready to start the next project. As we start thinking about packing up the house, plans are beginning to unfold and the blueprint is getting clearer. More on that next time…

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Ratnam Melz
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