dizzojay: (Default)
So, it's been a difficult, but oddly lovely day.  Jane and I haven't seen each other in the flesh since the whole Covid crap started last spring, so it was great to catch up, it was just a shame it wasn't under happier circumstances.

In the end, however, Jane - with the support of her brother and sister - was an absolute trooper, and I'm so proud of her.

After the wake, Mr D and I went back with Jane to her home, and as Mr D is executor of her Husband, Michael's estate.  He had to sign a few forms and work through a little bit of paperwork.

Jane met Michael through a mutual friend in 1998.  On the face of it, they seemed like an odd couple as Michael was 27 years ollder than Jane, which made him almost double her age when they met.  But given the sort of person Jane was, it just worked.

Let me explain!  Jane's life has not been easy.  Before she was a year old, she almost died from meningitis.  She survived, but it left her with hydrocephalus and during the course of her life, Jane has had over twenty major surgeries of which over half have been brain surgeries.  Jane lost both her parents before she was twenty one.  Her Mum died on an operating table when Jane was sixteen and her Dad died of diabetes-related problems when she was twenty.  This left her with two younger siblings to support, and she did them proud.  They have both grown up into excellent people.  She also has an older brother with severe mental disabilities, and throughout her life she has been an advocate for him in the support facility where he lives.  Jane's illness left her with very poor eyesight and mild learning difficulties which she overcame throughout her school life and through her perseverence, she eventually qualified as a hospital nursery nurse, a job that she excelled at for many years.

Given all the issues that she had to covercome, it's no surprise that Jane comes across as mature for her years, and so when she met Michael, she was thirty going on fifty, and they clicked so well.

They got married in 2004 and I was thrilled to be Jane's bridesmaid, 10 years after she had been my witness at my wedding.

So, this afternoon, Jane and I were looking back through some old photos, and I came across these two lovely pictures of her and Michael from her wedding... Mr D was the photographer!



Pics here )
dizzojay: (Default)
Here at my journal, I've mentioned my friend Dave from time to time.  Dave is he of the ill-fated zorbing experience, and despite my best efforts to convince him otherwise, I'm sure he still  blames himself for that!  I've known Dave since 1988, longer than I've known Mr D, and he's always been one of the kindest, most generous-spirited people I know.  He's the only person who calls me 'Ludders', a nickname he gave me based on my maiden name (Ludlow); I'll always be Ludders to him!

A couple of days ago I had a notification pop up on my Facebook page to say that Dave and I were celebating our 11-year Facebook friendversary.




We had a little exchange on the notification as follows:

Dave: 30+ Years of Friendship!! xx
Me: What sweet young things we were then.
Dave: You still are, my friend, I'm just older, balder and grumpier!!!
Me: I'm older, greyer and grumpier!
Dave: I've never heard you described as grumpy - ever!

Awwww!!  I feel so lucky to have a friend like Dave.  I'm looking forward to the next 30 years of friendship with him!
dizzojay: (Dean)
It occurred to me this morning that today marks 14 years since I was bridesmaid (or technically maid of honour) to my friend, Jane, when she got married to Michael in October 2014.

Jane was married in St George the Martyr church at the Borough, London.  It was the church where my Grandparents got married in 1942, and my Dad was christened in 1945 so it was very special to be part of a wedding in a place so significant to my family.  Jane is a very devout Christian, and she knows that I am a complete heathen, and still loves me despite it, so she made sure that 'Lord of the Dance' was one of the hymns on the order of ceremony because she knew it was about the only hymn I knew all the words to!

It was a lovely day, even though it hammered down with rain all day.  I love this picture of us both so happy and smiley on the day.  Mr D and Jane absolutely adore each other, and he was delighted to be the photographer for the day, so he's behind the camera here!

dizzojay: (Dean)
You may remember Mr D and I ventured up to Hull back in November for the 'living wake' of our good friend Steve.

Steve has been battling cancer for 13 years.  He received a terminal diagnosis giving him 6 - 9 months in 2006, and decided early on in his journey that 'belligerence' would be the watchword of his battle.  Well, that belligerence, together with the support of fabulous doctors and medics, gave him an extra 13 years of life.  It wasn't easy life, living without a stomach, half a liver and many other internals that you wouldn't even think about, but he lived to see his son marry and produce a grandaughter whom Steve doted on, and who, in turn, doted on him.

Steve's battle ended yesterday.  He passed away with his family around him, just as he wanted.  It was a fitting end to a battle that had been fought entirely on his terms - even to the very end.

Steve was an all round good bloke; a devoted family man, a loyal friend.  He was a passionate advocate for fairness, in the workplace and in life in general, and in that respect was as opinionated as hell.  He was a cricketer and a genius wordsmith.  He was witty, brilliant and as mad as a trumpet.

He'll leave a big Steve-shaped hole in a lot of peoples' lives.

Fare thee well Steve.
Rest in peace.



Pictures )
dizzojay: (Dean)
So, for reasons that most of you are aware of and that I won't continue to bore you with, I'm off sick/working from home for the next couple of weeks at least.  So what a lovely surprise I got when these beauties turned up on my doorstep this afternoon courtesy of my lovely work colleagues.

Today has been an achey day, so I was feeling a bit grumpy, but these definitely succeeded in lifting the mood :D


dizzojay: (Dean)




Our friend, Steve, (of living wake fame) posted the following on Facebook yesterday.  This totally illustrates why he is our friend ...


Today is the Winter Solstice.

Today I ran through the village stark bollocky buff with holly in my hair, waving a gnarled stick (titter ye not) at people, screaming random words as loud as I could.

The two events are not related.








dizzojay: (Dean)
These pictures sum up the mood of yesterday's event more than any words ever could ...



dizzojay: (Dean)

Well, yesterday was as predicted a long and tiring day, and it was bittersweet and special and I wouldn't have missed it for all the world.

A special day )





For Steve

Nov. 6th, 2017 02:58 pm
dizzojay: (Dean)
So, some of you may have noticed that I'm active on Livejournal - in the morning!  What is this sorcery?????


For Steve )

Oh Cas ...

Jun. 25th, 2017 09:58 pm
dizzojay: (Dean)
Here's a couple of Cas-centric drabbles I've wriitten recently.

You know, for an angel, that Castiel isn't a very fast learner ...

Both drabbles:

Rating: K+
Genre: Gen, humour, friendship
Characters: Sam, Dean, Castiel
Word Count: 100
Disclaimer:: Don't own them


Beach Bum )

In the Moment )
dizzojay: (Default)
I haven't been around on line much this week because of the annoying reason of having to work for a living, and also the wonderful reason of having good friends over from New Zealand to stay. Cameron and Wendy are our great buddies who returned home to Kiwi Land in 2004. Since then, we've seen them three times, so the rare occasions we do get together are very special. They've been with us a couple of days, and last night, we headed out to a lovely steak house close to home in a village called Bagshot where they used to live when they were in the UK and, as it was their last evening before heading back down under, we had a few drinks, a great meal and relived old times.

There was a lot of laughter - and one or two tears!

And here's a group mugshot of us bunch of reprobates. 


There's even a rare bonus picture of Mr D! )






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