Monday August 30th

Life continues to rush along at a fair old pace.

Claire & Chris got back home from the hospital with wee Jesse on Saturday night. It will take a little while to convert his sleep patterns over to sleep at night, wake during the day. Just one of those things with newborns.

We're all flat out with the Shows coming up in just under a month, and 6 weeks respectively. They're looking good and have a very pleasing range of exhibitors on board which will certainly be attractive to our Baby Boomer generation. We still have the odd stand here and there yet to fill, but all is looking positive.

I'd better get back to it now in case I get told off!

Cheers
Bruce


Subject: Vale: sad passing

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs.

Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Queensland back country. As I was not familiar with the bush, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived over an hour late and saw that the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.

I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place and earth covered most of it. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.

I played like I've never played before for this poor, homeless man. And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I ain't never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently I was still lost...

Welcome - Jesse Elijah Bremner Ferguson

This morning at 6:20, Claire and Chris's new baby arrived into the fresh air. He is well and healthy and seems more laid back than Hannah or Tyler were at that stage. Claire is rather sore as they had to do some late repositioning manoeuvrings to get his head pointing in the right direction.

I spent some time in there this afternoon and have brought Hannah home here for overnight and some of tomorrow. Jeanette is in at the hospital with Claire and Chris as I type, and Hannah has just gone to bed.

More news soon.

Cheers
Bruce & Jeanette

Tuesday 24th August

Ooops, I let it go too long again. (Thanks for the memory-jog Mindy).

Everything going along well in the health department. Feeling absolutely fine. Working normal hours etc. All good.

We're both very busy with the Shows getting much closer now and plenty of ducks to keep in straight rows.

The new office conversion at the back of the garage is looking pretty exciting (well, for us it is exciting!). Still a bit of finishing to be completed. I need to terminate all the network connections and make sure that all works properly before carting desks etc out there. With the skylight and french doors and new window all installed, it is certainly a nice light and airy workspace which is exactly as hoped for.

It is nice to feel the daylight hours stretching ever longer - roll on summer I say!

All the best,
Bruce

A closed mouth gathers no foot.
A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
A day without sunshine is like, night.
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
All generalizations are false, including this one.

Monday 16th

Wow, where did that week go! Plenty of stuff happening work-wise for us as our dates move ever closer to Showtime x 2.

Last Wednesday we went down to Tauranga and saw some folk during the day and then had an evening for some of the Tauranga exhibitors at the very cool and funky premises of the Sun Newspaper at 1 The Strand.

It was good meeting some folk who we'd only had phone and email contact with, and nice to re-acquaint with others we'd met earlier. They all seem in good heart and are looking forward to the Show.

I've still got a bit of a cough left over from my symptoms experienced earlier, but I think I'm out the other side of it now.

Our french doors and small window arrived from the joinery factory on Friday, so I got those painted over the weekend. Terry (our builder) is back this morning getting ready to install them in the new office portion of the garage.

More meetings and phone calls and emails etc today (and the rest of the week). Hopefully a productive one!

Cheers

Bruce

Life goes on...

All progressing well both health-wise and generally. My antibiotics are starting to gain some traction so hopefully that inertia continues.

I dug a trench the other day (in between the frequent showers) to redirect one of the rainwater run-offs from the garage. The piping presently runs under the windows which are being replaced shortly with the new french doors (for the new office). For several reasons, it is better to re-route the water en route to the soak hole.

Sounds like Terry, the builder, is back from London so the final stages of the new office will probably happen soon.

This week we're off to Tauranga for a meeting with some of the Exhibitors on Wednesday evening. The Sun newspaper has a cool cafe/bar facility at their premises in The Stand which makes an ideal venue for this. We'll be back Thursday afternoon.

More news as it happens...

Cheers
Bruce

A passenger in a taxi leaned over to ask the driver a question and gently tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

The driver screamed, lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, drove up over the curb and stopped just inches from a large plate glass window.

For a few moments everything was silent in the cab. Then, the still shaking driver said, 'Are you OK? I'm so sorry, but you scared the daylights out of me.'

The badly shaken passenger apologized to the driver and said he didn't realize that a mere tap on the shoulder would startle the driver so badly.

The driver replied, 'No, no, I'm the one who is sorry, it's entirely my fault. Today is my very first day driving a cab ---
--- for the past 25 years I've been driving a hearse!

Oops, nearly another whole week!

Funny how when there's no significant news to report the days speed past.

The best I can offer on the health front is a slightly sore throat and small cough. The Dr said it is bacterial and has given me antibiotics today to knock it back. I've even taken the 1st one with my lunch!

We're flat out working hard on the Shows trying to get spaces finalised and all that is entailed in that process.

Claire's baby boy (Jesse) is pretty close now, and could arrive any day. She sounds like she is more than ready and has had enough of being pregnant.

Thanks again for your love, prayers and support - as always...

Cheers
Bruce



My grandpa started walking
five miles a day when he was 60.
Now he's 97 years old
and we don't know where he is.

I like long walks,
especially when they are taken
by people who annoy me.

The only reason I would take up walking
is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

I have to walk early in the morning,
before my brain figures out what I'm doing...

I joined a health club last year,
spent about 400 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound.
Apparently you have to go there.

Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise',
I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

The advantage of exercising every day
is so when you die, they'll say,
'Well, she looks good doesn't she.'

If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise
the last few years,......
just getting over the hill.