Merde

I probably dont have the right to use that word, since I dont speak any French whatsoever, but I thought it was a little better than heading this post as SHIT!

It seems I have been reading a lot of posts about people being s**ts & dishing out s**t to their supposedly loved ones!

Just goes to show... Xmas can bring out the worst in people!

On the other hand, there are people who are just plain 'good' folks no matter what.

All of my blogger friends I have met fall into the 'good' category.

I feel so lucky to have met so many wonderful people in the months since I started blogging. I have laughed & cried out loud. I have looked into my life & thought about things I may not have otherwise thought about.

I have learned that a friend has been trying unsuccsessfully to post a comment on my blog, but new Blogger just wont allow it.

This next pic, which I just LOVE is from that person, via another.
Apparently the lovely Alsation is called Herman, & he is very happy with his new little 'sisters', who are LuLu & MiMi. He doesnt enjoy them biting his toes, though!

But, what gentleman would??

Aren't they just adorable.? I am not sure what the puppies are but they look rather like Bichon Frise?


I was somewhat exhausted once SG went today. He was very good really, but is so 'busy' all the time.

Joyce, of J's Quilting blog, mentioned how lucky her grandchildren are to have their cousins close to grow up with & share their lives. (She also mentioned how she feels it is a shame for the cousins who live in OZ not to share this experience).

I feel that way about my grandchildren. They dont have cousins to share with- who live close. Our granddaughter does, but she doesnt know any of them, & in fact she has not even met her 1/2 siblings, which is very sad.

We were so lucky to grow up knowing our cousins, & regularly seeing them, as we grew. It has made us very close as a family. We have kept the family ties, & shared experiences have led to very close friendships in later life.

I feel sad not to have known my 1/2 siblings, & there is one sister I have still never met. The sad thing is, she lives in Australia too, & yet we have never had occasion to meet. She didnt go back to NZ for our father's funeral, which seemed sad. It was the first occasion I ever met the others, & there was one brother I never had the chance to meet, as he died when he was 16, long before our father died.

Families can be very complicated. They can also be very wounding.

I have never forgotten a female writer's comment about her father- she said parents say the most wounding things to their children- things they would never dare to say to strangers. They would never be so rude or personally insulting.

I bear this in mind whenever I talk to my children, & hope they will feel I have treated them with respect, both as people and as my dearly loved children.