January update, and my 4th Granddaughter, Ruth

I 'm surprised to find there are but two days left in January.   I have not been well and I have written nothing since I told you about the great party we had when all seventeen of us assembled in York to celebrate the 93rd birthday of my Jane.    I have not managed to acknowledge the Christmas cards we received although they were only a fraction of the numbers we used to get while I was in practice and meeting people.   Sadly the great majority of our  friends have passed away and we now know very few who are older than we are.   We are delighted that our closest --Sean P. Kennan  -- is enjoying good health in Dublin.   He is our Nuala's dear Dad.    We are also pleased that my brother Owen has adapted to life in the Clontarf nursing home and having excellent care from the Little Sisters of the Poor.
I feel better today because the 3 inches of snow that covered our streets for four days has vanished.
I must tell you about the card I had  from a very special client called Les Fowler.   There was a £20 note  with it.  Although this was a rare finding it caused me no great surprise.    I could never forget Les or his equally kind wife Gwen.   They really did love their greyhounds.   They never kept more than two but provided them with luxurious accomodation.   They f irst consulted me in 1961 and remained loyal clients for 31 years.  Even when I could offer them no cure they always appreciated my advice.  They were never in my debt but they knew of many who were.   Their sympathy probably explains the score.

 At 93 Les and his wonderul wife Gwen still live in the same tidy house in Luton.   They had gardens around it and usually brought us fruit and flowers on visits with an injured greyhound.     Les was a brave and true Brit who was prepared to die for his country.     He was proud of the medals he was awarded for his distinguished service under Field Marshall Montgomery in the Desert War.    He told me he got to like sleeping on a blanket on the sand.    The hardship he disliked most was the shortage of water.   Troops often had to wait six months for a bath.

We enjoyed a visit today from Ruth one of our seven lovely granddaughters.   She was saying good bye to us for 3 months while she is gaining experience working in the Art Gallery in Berlin.   At 23 she is the younger of Simon and Lyn's two girls.   Judith is at Newcastle University studying Spanish and Politics.






Ruth with Grandma

 Their younger brother Neil who has been teaching kids and kayaking in Costa Rica last Summer now has a job in York controlling the lighting in the Theatre Royal.    Good Bye for now  Keep well.   Paddy

Grandma's 93rd - The Party

This is Saturday the 5th of January 2013 - a very special day for our family.     Jill our adopted daughter and retired teacher has arrived from Leicester.    We helped to rear her with our own three boys.  Warwick and Fiona have come from London with their girls Eleanor and Rebecca and their terrier Binker - Charley's sister.   This afternoon we will all be going to York with Walter and Nuala and their three younger but equally lovely Shevaun, Lucy and Hannah.  There we are looking forward to meeting Simon and Lyn from Sheriff Hutton with their two other lovelies Judith and Ruth and Neil our only grandson from Costa Rica.   We are looking forward to a jolly feast at the Mama Mia followed by the Pantomine at the Theatre Royal.   I feel very happy and lucky that we have all lived to celebrate this milestone in the life of Jane my wonderful wife – her ninety third birthday.

Jane

I have had my One & Only Jane since May '48 when we were married in a registry office in London.   My dear Mama was a very devout catholic.  She did not consider me properly married so we attended another service by a priest in a catholic church in Gloucester where I was working.  I worked in other practices until the Spring.  Then I thought I had enough experience to start on my own.  We moved to Dublin and rented a house with out- buildings and ten acres of land outside Clondalkin.  We converted one shed into kennels and another into stables.  We then bought two bull terrier pups, four greyhound pups and two shetland ponies.   The name of the house "Wheatfield " was on the gate.  I put another plate beside it with "Vet Surgeon".   I gradually collected a fair share of clients but times were hard and most of those who used me had no spare money.   In fact some of them came to me because they owed fees to other vets. However for almost two years we earned enough to survive on we met some nice friendly people all over Ireland and we enjoyed every every day of it. 

Jane's 93rd Birthday

It is Saturday the 5th of January 2013 - a very special day for our family.  

Jill our adopted girl and retired teacher has arived from Leicester.     We helped to rear her with our own three boys. Warwick and Fiona have come from London with their lovely girls Eleanor and Rebecca and their terrier Binker - Charley's sister.   This afternoon we will all be going with Walter and Nuala and their three younger but equally lovely girls to York.  There we are looking forward to meeting Simon and Lyn, our only grandson Neil and their two other lovelies Judith and Ruth from Sheriff Hutton.   We are looking forward to a jolly feast at the Mama Mia followed by the Pantomine at the Theatre Royal.   I feel very happy and lucky that we have all lived to celebrate this ninety third birthday of Jane my wonderful wife.

A picture of Jane at about 30