Monday, April 30, 2007

 

29th April. Purchases at Ford. Part 1.

Here are most of the things that I bought at Ford last Saturday.
Tomorrow I will show you what Bill bought.



Carn Pottery items. Carn Pottery was hand made in Cornwall in the 1970s and 1980s. It is popular.




I think these 2 Carn Pottery vases will catch the attention of the buyers.



I have a section of pretty things in the shop, like this cup and saucer.



This is really a bit too cute for me - but it was cheap to buy.
And having had sort of pet harvest mice at home when I was a child I do have a soft spot for them.



The ship is a vase probably for spills by the fire.
The little coal scuttle has the East Grinstead crest on it. I like to have a selection of local commemorative bits in the shop.



This is a big planter. It is Portmeirion china. The china is not made at Portmeirion in Wales, but the original designers came from there.



I am not sure if I like this vase. It is made the collected manufacturer, Sylvac.
It has a strong 1960s/70s style.



This booklet was issued by OXO.



The collecting of old tins is very popular.



This dish is made by Wade and shows Eliza Dolittle - My Fair Lady.



These bird dishes, made in Poole were going cheap..... which could lead me into a bad joke about birds going cheep!



This one is not for sale - at least not for a while. It is a commemorative coin issued for the Barcelona Olympics.



An old nursery item - a baby's bottle.



Some books with local interest. I always buy as many books as possible.



Playing cards. I hope the fact that the Wright's Coal Tar Soap cards haven't got a box will spoil their chances of an early sale.
The playing cards box is a seperate item.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

 

25th April Uncle Bill's funeral Part 2. People.

This is a collection of photos showing family members who were at Uncle Bill's funeral.
If you want to see the photos that we took of the funeral and Uncle Bill's family then scroll down to Part 1.
I apologise that not everybody appears here.



Elizabeth (Liz) nee Brand. Daughter of Ned Brand.



Julie nee Monk. Daughter of George Monk.



Valerie and Betty. Daughters of Sophie nee Monk.




Terry Monk. Son of Bert Monk




Bill Monk, son of George Monk and Terry Monk.



Doreen, Alison and Sue nee Brand. Daughters of Sam Brand.



Chris Mullins - husband of Sue, nee Brand. Chris has been Mayor of Crawley.



Joyce Brand, wife of Ned Brand. Joyce is now 82.



Sheila nee Monk, daughter of George Monk and her husband Dave.



Ted, son of Sophie nee Monk.



Antony, son of Pam nee Monk, daughter of George Monk.



A view through the French windows showing Sue, wife of Richard Brand, son of Bill Brand and Lily nee Monk talking with Celia, daughter of Bill and Lil Brand.

In the foreground is Susan with her small son - grand daughter and great grand son of Uncle Ned Brand.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

 

25th April. The funeral of Uncle Bill.

25th April. Family and friends came to the crematorium to share in the service to say farewell to Bill's Uncle Bill.





People waited in the car park, greeting cousins and other family members not seen by each other for too long a time.
For some it had been so long that they even had to be introduced to each other!




The funeral cortege arrives at the chapel.




The funeral undertakers check with Richard and Sue that all the arrangements are in place.




The mourners file into the chapel.



Uncle Bill's coffin is lifted from the hearse and carried by the funeral directors into the chapel.

The service was simple yet moving.
We sang 2 well known hymns that were Uncle Bill's favourites - The Lord is My Shepherd and I Vow to Thee My Country. His son Richard read a poem and his grandson, David also read a poem.
The pastor talked about Uncle Bill's life and related his death to the Christian message. There were readings from The Bible and some prayers.
Perhaps most moving of all was the message that Uncle Bill's daughter, Diane sent from Australia. It was straight from the heart and I think brought many close to tears.



There were many floral tributes laid out after the service.
As is very common these days many people felt that their money would be best spent on providing help for the living. Uncle Bill's chosen charity was St Catherine's Hospice which has supported several family members, including me.
Others have sent money in remembrance of Uncle Bill to their own favourite charities.
Both the flowers and the donations are special.

After the service we all drove the very short distance to The Heathy Farm - a pub and restaurant where food and drink were provided.
The time after a funeral is normally a very good occasion when family members enjoy an opportunity to share news.
The only regret of course is that Uncle Bill could not be there to see both The Brands (his family) and The Monks ( Aunty Lil's family) happy together. These 2 families have been entwined for 70 years and there maybe no other times when Brands and Monks are together ever again.



This is Richard, Uncle Bill's son - Bill's cousin.



This is Celia, Uncle Bill's daughter and her son, David.



Bill talks family history with Tracy, Uncle Bill's grand daughter. In the background are the photo boards that Bill created.



This is a group of Bill's brothers and sisters and spouses sitting talking and drinking and eating and feeling a thankfulness that despite growing older and deaths, family unity remains strong.



Bill's sister Jane happily greets cousins Ann and Ted. There were so many such conversations round the room.



The photo boards that Bill prepared.
We have more pictures and I may put some more on the blog because those who were attended the funeral I think would be glad to have a reminder of all the people who were there.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

 

8th March. Bangkok Airport and Home.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Pronounced su-wan-na-poom.

This is the new airport for Bangkok - the second largest terminal in the world (Hong Kong is bigger).

I was not impressed when I arrived, exhausted, after my flight from London. There was a long, long walk to domestic departures and the building didn't seem built to impress, though I had heard otherwise.

But the departures areas proved to be much more interesting and I enjoyed the couple of hours I had there between the flight from Phuket and the flight to London.



This picture, from the official website, was the prize winning entry in a photographic competition, showing the exterior and the tallest control tower in the world.


This photo of the exterior shows one of the long arms - there are 4 such arms altogether, forming a huge cross.
You can see a short video about the airport on
http://www.bangkokairportonline.com/node/32
The video does not tell of some of the initial problems found at the airport or that some low cost airlines and cargo companies have opted to move back to the old airport, which officially re-opened in March.
But I enjoyed the architecture and wide spaces and the feeling of openess.
This is a view into one of the arms of the airport. This area seemed particularly empty and maybe these departure lounges are not yet in use.

At the centre of the building is a structure looking like a Thai temple. There are shops and cafes along each arm of the departure area.


This shop was just across where I stopped for some prawn fried rice. It is an "everything you would ever think you might want for your dog" shop.
I was pleased to get to some points where I could see out to planes on the tarmac.
This is my plane. What a pity that it didn't move from this spot until two hours after we all boarded the plane.
The flight back to London is 12 hours long.
But altogether I was travelling for almost 24 hours.


It is no wonder that I slept for much of the next day. The cats were pleased to sleep with me.

Monday, April 23, 2007

 

22nd April. Family occasions Part 3. Frosts/Penningtons.

22nd April.
This was an exciting day. John and Maree called in on their travels. John is my second cousin and lives in Australia.





I sat, slightly bemused because John's face, particularly around the eyes reminded me of photos of my grandfather when young.
John is much taller than Grandad - and I don't think John will ever become as round as Grandad!
This is a picture of Mary (on the right) and Ruth, my great aunts who fascinated me as a child, because they lived in faraway Australia.
Mary left with her husband and young son in 1923 and they became Australian farming folk and had more children, including John's mother, Phyllis.
Great Aunt Ruth left in the late 1920s and married in Australia.


This is Great Grandad James Frost - both mine and John's. Poor Great Grandad suffered very badly with arthritis. You can see in this picture that he is unable to bend his fingers.
He died in 1913.
He has those Frost eyes.


This is great grandmother Ruth Frost. She died in 1946 and I am told that I was taken to see her as a baby.


This is my Grandad - John's great uncle Obed.


John and Maree have 6 children. This is Chris who has been working in England for a couple of years and is now looking forward to returning home.

This is another of John and Maree's sons, Jarryd. He has just come to England to join his parents for this part of their trip. He and Chris are going to back pack round Europe before returning home.
Sorry if I have spelled your name wrong Jarryd.

The whole afternoon was spent in talking and looking at photographs.
Jenny was with us, which was lovely. Jenny had met John and Maree before. Twenty years ago Dad, Jenny, Matthew and Ruth went to Australia to enjoy the sights and meet the family.

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