A Celebration of Life

I wrote a post back in March (here) about Friends; and one friend in particular...

Chris died on Friday, 12th December, peacefully at home, with her family. She stayed positive to the end and I never heard her utter a single word of complaint or self pity.

Her funeral and a memorial service celebrating her life are to be held on Monday 22nd December.

Tonight, quite by chance, I found a birthday card she had sent me a few years ago...

I was finding it very hard to come to terms with losing her until I spoke with her husband, Paul, and I read the tributes her daughters, Caroline and Vikki, have written. Chris would have wanted us to think of the happy times; the good memories, so I'd like to share some of the things she achieved in her 59 years...

Chris was a keen runner and a member of Southport Waterloo Athletic Club, who describe her as:
"Club coach at Southport, long time helper/supporter at club races and multiple marathoner."

She raised thousands of pounds for charity over the years and her "Just Giving" page for 2013, only months before she herself became ill, reads:

"Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I am thankful still to be running marathons! The London Marathon on 21st April will be my 17th London Marathon and 31st Marathon in total. I like to run a marathon for a different charity each year. This year I have chosen Cancer Research UK, and dedicate it to family and friends who have fought or are fighting the disease - with special thoughts of the families of those friends, especially of those whom I have lost to cancer. Advances in research will continue to improve survival rates"

Unfortunately these advances did not come quickly enough for Chris.

The list of her racing achievements goes on and on but this is only one part of the story. Christine was first and foremost dedicated to her family. Wednesday, 17th December, was her eldest daughter, Caroline's 30th birthday. Caroline wrote:

"Special thanks to my awesome husband  for recreating my 3rd birthday cake, my beautiful sister for the book of photos and messages from my family and friends and to my AMAZING mum for being super organised writing my card early!"

I would have expected no less of Chris; who else would have thought to bring along my birthday present to her daughter's wedding a couple of years ago, in case she didn't see me again before we went back to France?!

The strength and closeness of her family and extended family is witness to the love she and Paul shared. It touched everyone who came into contact with them. She was a very loyal friend. Never a birthday, anniversary or special occasion missed; always there and always in just the right way.

Chris lived life to the full from her involvement with the Mothers' Union to holidays in the camper van, the happiest times being those spent with her family...

Even during her gruelling treatment this year she climbed Pendle (June 24th)

She and Paul went up to the west coast of Scotland, an area the family had visited on holiday (July 12th)

She took part in the Southport 10k run.... walking some of it but jogging when she could (September 28th)

And she celebrated an early Christmas whilst her younger daughter, Vikki, was home from Canada (November 29th).

You've always been there for me, Chris, through good times and bad. You gave far more to life than you took from it. It has been an honour to be your friend and I echo my son, David's words:

"Amazing person, gone too soon but achieved more than 99% could in 100 lifetimes".

Christine Cutner

March 12th 1955 - December 12th 2014

Happy Christmas Tim and all other Yorkshire men!!

It's True...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This year, as in the past couple of years, we have made donations to charity instead of sending Christmas cards.

The charities we have chosen this year are The Brain Tumour Charity and  Queenscourt Hospice, Southport as both are instrumental in providing information and support for a very dear friend of mine.

In an attempt to stay sane during the festivities of Christmas and New Year, we will be posting only intermittently , so please check us out every once in a while!

For now, all that remains is to wish:

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

To all our readers and fellow bloggers!

Self Indulgence in Saumur

We took advantage of the weather yesterday and drove up to Saumur.

No matter how many times we visit, we are never disappointed. The Christmas decorations were going up and this one was on the mini roundabout by the Cessart Bridge in front of the Theatre and Opera House, which is now nearing the completion of extensive renovation.

A far more unusual sight greeted us as we made our way up the Rue de Franklin Roosevelt...

These umbrellas were being put up as a christmas display and they certainly made an impact..

From the shopping area we took a stroll round the older part of Saumur, where even the fountain was decorated...

The Eglise Saint-Pierre, the focus of a massive restoration project, is due to be completed in March 2015

We look forward to seeing it without scaffolding and wrapped with tarpaulins..

Then a couple of photos which are sheer indulgence on my part. The final one isn't even fully in focus because it was taken from the moving car (NB. I was the passenger!) but I just love the colours of the buildings in the last of the sunlight..

Hope you enjoy them

The colour of money

Mistletoe... And what a colour! The sun was highlighting it perfectly...

These trees are absolutely full and this year there are plenty of berries, too. If the contents were on the shelves in the UK supermarkets they would certainly be the colour of money...

If you are interested in the history, myths and folklore surrounding mistletoe, we have blogged about it  before here.

The photos were taken on Monday afternoon on one of our local walks and this was the sky just before we reached home!

The white clouds on the horizon only served to intensify the indigo above.... Despite this, we just managed to finish the walk and get home before the heavy rain descended.... and it certainly descended!!

Richelieu Marché Noêl 2014

Over the weekend we've made three visits to Richelieu to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Marché Noël. Saturday afternoon was glorious, but when we were there the square was relatively quiet..

This view was taken through the La Porte de Chatellerault, looking into the Place du Marché...

We just caught the end of the annual "Crèche Vivante", featuring the school children accompanied by live animals, which this year were (thankfully!) housed in a separate pen!

Les Halles made the perfect backdrop for the Marché,

particularly when we went back in the evening

Despite the colder weather on Sunday attendance was very good..

 The children in particular, enjoyed the Spectâcle, with Père Noël and friends...

We spotted our little neighbour, Thiméo,watching spellbound..

and then with mum trying to coax him along..

The band struck up...

And everyone seemed to be full of the festive spirit (which one, we weren't sure; but they were certainly full of it!) by the time the fireworks drew the whole thing to a close yesterday evening..

So a Very Merry Christmas from Richelieu!!

Dartford Crossing

Yes, many of us will have been in this situation....

Image from Google Street View

But things should be improving...

After talking to Jean and Nick yesterday and discovering they were unaware of the changes to the Dartford Crossing payment system we thought it would be a good idea to include it as a blog post.

As from last Sunday you now can no longer pay by cash... It is all being done on number plate recognition, the same as the London congestion charge.

And if you don't pay by midnight the day after you use the crossing there is a £70 fixed penalty.... Ahhhh. The other Ahhhh is that they have increased the charge for a car from £2:00 to £2:50.

You can, as we have done, open an online account and place a £10 deposit for future use. The link is here.

You also have the choice to make this auto renewable, which we have done!! There is NO WAY we want a £70 fixed penalty after all it's the cost of an awful lot of crossings if you forget!!!

I am not sure if they let you know by email when you are charged but we will soon find out when we return to the UK for Christmas!

Hope you have found this useful as from what we have seen it has not been widely publicised!