Late Tulips.

I haven't said much in the last couple of months (see my previous blog Last Valentine dated Sunday 23rd June 2013), but I've certainly done lots of standing and staring - into space and out of the windows.  I can't say that the quiet contemplation resulted in any flashes of inspiration or fundamental insights, but I did have my camera to hand and photographed whatever was happening outside, so the only thing I can say with any certainty is that life goes on.....

I won't overwhelm you with endless pictures of cruise ships, warships, spectacular sunsets or dramatic stormy skies (and there were lots of them!), but I will show you the tulips.  Planted last September in pots on my balcony, they emerged in March this year and flowered magnificently during April and May; two varieties, Double Early "Foxtrot" in pink and Lily Flowering "Sapporo" in creamy white.

The picture above shows the tulips on my balcony in Hythe, Hampshire at 14:49 on Thursday 16th May 2013.

The picture below shows a close-up of the Double Early Tulip "Foxtrot" on my balcony in Hythe, Hampshire, three days earlier, on Monday 13th May 2013 at 14:31.

To see more photos of the tulips on my balcony, click on the link below:-

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/54265987676/tulips-on-my-balcony-in-hythe-hampshire-photos

Last Valentine.

It's been two months since my father died and I'm lost for words.  I want to say something, I want to say something about my Dad, and I think I can do no better than to share the card I made, of a card he made.  The inscription inside is an excerpt from my family memories, a personal obituary, read out at his funeral, and explains the history of the Last Valentine.

The picture at the top shows the front of the card I made, featuring a photo of the Last Valentine from my Dad to my Mum, the pictures below show the inside inscription and the back of the card.

NB: My father had been ill for almost a year with a skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal passages - a particularly aggressive and disfiguring cancer).  Surgery took his nose and radiotherapy took most of the sight from his right eye, damaged his left eye, his mouth, his tongue and his hearing, but did nothing to stop the cancer, and the tumours continued to grow.  It was horrible and awful, but he never complained and his first thought was always for others.  He died peacefully in a Leicestershire hospice (LOROS) on 24th April 2013.  He was a very nice man and I miss him.  Arthur Anthony Vale (Tony Vale) 22.07.22 to 24.04.13. RIP