Ivy Rose

First of all thank-you to everyone who commented on my 100th yesterday. I had great fun getting all those googly eyes in the right place. Needless to say Alexandra came along after I'd posted it, and said 'why didn't you do this and why didn't you do that'. Actually, what she said was good but too late, I'd put all the eyes away by then, in case Sophia got into them.

Today would have been my Mum's 89th birthday, unfortunately she died whilst on a holiday back in the UK, four years ago.

My mum was a very remarkable lady who emigrated to Australia at the age of 73. It would have been a hard decision for her as she was a very proud English woman who loved her country. She decided to come when my sister and her husband decided to retire here, so it meant she'd be where both her daughters were.

She not only left her beloved country, but also her friends, brothers and sisters,
grandchildren and great- grandchildren (my sister's children stayed in the UK).

A lot to give up, although she did go back on numerous occasions.

However, she embraced her new country, even becoming a citizen, made a lot of new friends, and travelled around Australia, more than I have.

On her last visit to the UK, she'd gone over to sort out her brother's estate, after he'd died, and then suffered a stroke herself. Luckily, my brother-in-law was with her.

My sister and I flew over immediately, but by the time we got there she'd had several more minor strokes, and then they found out she had pancreatic cancer.

The Doctors initially said we could bring her back to Australia, even though we thought she was too ill, and they told us there was nothing more they could do for her.

In the end she died about four weeks later.

Our only consolation was that after her cremation we scattered her ashes where
our Dad's were, which we were glad about as they had been inseparable since the age of 14.

I miss here every day, the chats, the laughs, the shopping and the coffees we shared.

Happy Birthday Ivy Rose, I Love You xoxo