Mo and Shaun's photos from Ireland

Mo and Shaun's photos from Ireland

Photos from our Holiday in Ireland

Photos of Hazel, Chris, Mo, Shaun, Gail and me visiting Mum in Ireland this summer 2013.

John Scanlon - Ordination 30th July 2011

John Scanlon - Ordination 30th July 2011

Link to more Photos

Gail & Hazel go to Chelsea

 

Mum and I had a fab day at the Chelsea flower show. We ended up with very sore feet, but it was well worth it.

Our New Figaro

 

After waiting 8 months for the nice people to ship this little car all the way from Japan we are really enjoying driving her. The British summer means that the roof stays up a little more often than we like. We haven't quite decided on her name yet it changes between Figgy and Sarah Jane.

Holy Isle

Our week away on Holy Island was well needed. It was wonderful to live life by the tides. For those that don't know the road to Lyndisfarne isle flood twice a day when the tide come in.

Lollipop

Dance anyone?

Does Ruari love John?

When Lisa, Terry & Ruari left us earlier this year we found this little goodbye left on the camera.

René Boyeldieu 1916 - 2008

We said goodbye to René today. René was a wonderful friend and will be greatly missed. It was at Dora’s funeral that I started this journey and therefore it was fitting that it was at René’s funeral where I first served in St Augustine’s.

I want to write more, but describing the day feels wrong, and I can’t do René justice if I tried to write about him. However, Lyn did a wonderful job on René's eulogy.

To quote Shakespeare, “we come to bury Caesar, not to praise him”. In the case of Rene Boyeldieu we most certainly come to praise him and celebrate a long and marvellous life.

When someone dies at the age of 91, those present at the funeral are usually few and mainly relatives. It is a measure of the impact Rene had on people that so many are here today. You will all have your own particular memories of someone who lived life to the full and constantly told you about it.

Rene was a great storyteller with phenomenal memory for names, dates and places. The stories reflected his life in Downend, at school, during his time in the army, back in Bristol at Winterbourne and Stoke Bishop , in Leeds working for Burtons, and finally in Pucklechurch, where he revelled in the village community.

He was from an age past, with high morals and a keen sense of duty and responsibility. He was evacuated from France after Dunkirk; spent time in India, Syria, Germany and in Singapore and retired from the army as a Lieutenant Colonel. His experiences shaped his life and he continued to be highly organized, regimented and fiercely independent but always with a sense of humour.

He was immensely proud of his background and took great pleasure in telling people his name for the first time - waiting for them to ask him to repeat it and then asking him to spell it. He usually followed “Rene” by saying “as in “Allo, Allo”. His spoken and written French was excellent and his services as a translator were much in demand. He always enjoyed his visits to France particularly Menton, which he visited for the last time with Roland and Connie in 2006. According to Rene, during the visit he bought a fake designer watch from a market trader and then asked whether there was a guarantee, the trader asked him his age and when Rene told him he was 89 years old, the trader replied “in that case, Sir, there is a lifetime guarantee”.

He liked travelling and visited Tim and Jenny, his relatives in Canada in 2005 and his last visit abroad was to Spain with Peter and Jayne as recently as last March. He purchased his first computer a few years ago, and learning how to use the Internet and email enabled him to keep in contact with friends and relatives worldwide and gave him many hours of pleasure, even if it gave the rest of us a headache trying to keep him on the right path.

He was a Life-Member of the Twinning Association and had visited Pringy on many occasions with twinning and also on private visits with several of the friends he had made there. Pierre, a very good friend of mine, recounts the story of his first visit to Pucklechurch when, after having just arrived, he found himself next to Rene in the village hall. Rene engaged him in conversation, in French naturally, and Pierre was embarrassed that he could not place where Rene had been sitting on the coach and why he had not noticed him on the ferry. When Pierre mentioned this, Rene took great delight in explaining, in French again, that he was English and lived in Pucklechurch. The French held Rene in high regard and in 1993 he was presented with a medal from the French government for his services during the war.

He loved his rugby and in his youth, along with his brother Marcel, he played for Cleve and he remained a member of the club and only last year was made a Vice-President. When in Leeds he was Membership Secretary of Headingly Rugby Club when they were one of the premier clubs in England. Lately he revelled in being a member of “NITs” - a group who met in Peter’s pub, the Foresters, to watch international rugby on television and whose name was derived from the fact that they had “No International tickets”. Rene thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and the camaraderie on those occasions and once again made new friends.

In Pucklechurch, Rene was active in village life and could always be seen out and about until quite recently. He was well-known in The Rosy, The Star and The Fleur which he used to visit each lunchtime. When the Prison Officers’ Club operated he would visit because he could enjoy a pink gin - he once told me that his friendship with Graham Winbolt had developed because he also liked pink gin and anyone who appreciated that drink was alright!

Rene was a networker - he knew many people from all walks of life; he introduced them to each other and then watched friendships develop; he organised many of their activities; he built up support groups and knew that he would never be left alone for long and would always have friends to turn to for help when necessary.
However you knew Rene, I am sure you will have many fond memories – he could be serious, he could be funny, he could be amusing, he could be considerate and he could be cantankerous but, …….the time is moving towards 12.30 and yes, we will go to the Fleur and be persuaded to have “the other half”.

Rene, old friend, raconteur, bon viveur and always a gentleman; au revoir et dorme bien.

If you want to add something yourself about René that would be wonderful, just click on the word comments below, type what you want to say in the box provided and click the ‘submit your comments’ button.

Six Nations

It was a good six nations this year. Unfortunately both England and Ireland explored the full scope of quality play from great to appalling. I was lucky enough to go to two games, the opening England Vs. Wales at Twickenham, and France Vs. England in Paris. The England Wales games was a demonstration of England playing OK in the first half then not actually turning up in the second. Still a great day out, but the result could have been better.

The Paris game however was wonderful to watch surrounded by dozens of French men. I have never tried to sing swing low by myself, and those next to me wish I hadn’t tried then. This was my favourite game of the tournament, good rugby, great atmosphere and wonderful French hospitality.

Finally, you have to congratulate Wales. The only team to play good rugby through out.

A day driving fast cars

And John Scanlon takes the chequered flag in first position at the end of the British Grad Prix. Well not quite!

You can see little old me, crammed into the formula Palmer car below. It looks like a formula one car and goes very, very fast. The speed and brakes are incredible and my driving skill is not match for it. It was terrifying to drive as you can only fit one person in the car so I had no one telling me when to break.




If you zoom in close enough you can really tell it me.

Snow Drops

Gail and John Scanlon spend a daywalking in Snowdrops.

Death of the Bunny

Easter, a time of joy and celebration unless you are Magnus the Bunny. The tail of Magnus started a couple of weeks ago when I rescued him from M&S. He seamed like a happy chap, living on the kitchen table. Little did he know then what fate had in store for him. He may have got a little scared when Gail started talking to him and telling him of how many days there were till Easter.

As Easter arrived so did Hazel, and now Magnus got really scared. I freed him from his plastic home, hoping that the poor bunny might evade the chocoholics but it was to late. Poor Magnus was captured weighed and executed. His remains were divided among his executioners.

New Drive Video Clip

I have just got the video clip of the drive working at last. Scroll down a bit and play the video, you can see the whole drive as I walk up and down it.

Easter Bunny

Lots of fun at work handing a out Easter eggs.

Ruari and Bubbles

Sunday was one of those wonderful spring days. We drove up to St Albans listening to a very badly read version of The Borne Supremacy. We grabbed a quick cup of coffee (or tea in Gail’s case), said hello to Rob, gave Tanner a quick kick and headed off with Hazel for Eil & Bob’s.


Ruari of course got all shy when we got there but that didn’t last long, particularly when a chocolate Easter egg appeared. Then after a quick change of clothes we all got shown the music box.

Jim soon appeared with a crate of beer (what a wonderful man he is) and Gail took my car key (what a wonderful wife she is). Eil produced a great lunch and then we went and sat in the Garden and enjoyed the sunshine. Ruari as you can see from the video was having a wonderful time.



We made our excuses around five (we were meaning to leave at four but were having to much fun, and made our way home via St Albans. We finished the day with an M&S curry for two and the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who.

Sorry Lisa, couldn't resist putting this one up. Three generations of camera supporters.

Sister Gertrude

We have a potential Saint in the family, Sister Gertrude; the family tree is readable if you enlarge the photo. Sister Gertrude can be found on the top right hand side.

Prayer to obtain graces through the intercession of Sister Gertrude, Poor Clare (Josephine Scanlon)

Lord Jesus, You lovingly called Sister Gertrude to a life of prayer, solitude and penance in the Order of ST. Clare and endowed her with the virtues of humility, simplicity and unconditional obedience thus making her an inspiring example of fidelity, sisterly love and charity, deign we beseech You to glorify her, and hear the requests of all those who ask her intercession especially the petition I now implore, [mention here the favour you wish to pray for]. Grant above all, that we may learn from her how to be always ready to do Your Will and grow steadfastly in love of You. Amen.

Dancing with R&O

We went dancing on Saturday night and had a great time. Luckily R&O didn’t find the camera so the only embarrassing pictures are of them. This was New England dancing, in my mind somewhere between Irish set dancing and English barn dancing. We disappeared a little early due to being hungry and having a long day to look forward to on Sunday.

Gail turns bedroom Pugin Red

A very proud Gail decorating the bedroom. Dad would be proud as the colour is Pugin red. Did you know that Pugin design Killarney Cathedral.

Jim Lovell, Fred Haise & Al Worden

The day after the lunar eclipse we continue the lunar theme with a trip to London and the chance to meet Jim Lovell and Fred Haise from Apollo XIII. Jim Lovell was in great demand so I had very limited time with him; I mentioned the Christmas flight of Apollo VIII and the Genesis reading on the way home. He said that had meant a lot to meant people and the idea had come from a newspaper reporter.

Fred Haise had a lot more time for people and was very happy to pose for photos.

I also had time to attend a talk given by Al Worden from Apollo XV. I had met him first a couple of years ago and he had stood out from many of the astronauts I met because he was very happy to chat. I remember him talking about pubs he had visited in Filton while he was a test pilot working with Rolls Royce. The talk he gave was excellent and really gave you a flavour of flying to the moon.

The video is poor quality but the sound is fine, if you have 10mins to watch it he wonderfully describes the run up to and lunch of Apollo XV.