Gumtree treasures.

This advertisement on Gumtree just caught my eye. If you live in Brisbane and like interesting vintage pieces for your home this could be worth checking out.

The ad was listed on the 19th of December 2014, so some or many of the items listed may have gone but if you’ve got nothing planned for the weekend, it could be worth a trip to Beenleigh.

 

June Mary

A few weeks ago we lost a very special member of our family . June Mary, our lovely, sweet Nanny.

One of the main reasons I began this blog was so that my grandparents could be kept up to date with the renovations.  Despite the fact that they only lived thirty minutes from us, it wasn’t as easy for them to jump in the car and pop over as much as they would have  liked.

For as long as I can remember, my grandparents have always  been keen DIY’ers,  Nanny always keen to pull up her shirt sleeves and give things ago but in her element out in the garden.

Accessing the internet was a new thing for them and a challenge at the best of times but they were always keen to know what was going on here at the house, I would encourage them to jump online and  ‘check out Old Pearly Jenkins’.  With a few hiccups here and there, they’d do it, ringing me to give us praise and bucket loads of encouragement.

My Nan was a twin, born in Derby, United Kingdom on the 29th of May 1937.  June and Valerie , the only children for Bernard and Florence (Flo).

June met my grandfather Stan  the mid 1950s. They married and started a family.  My mother Beverley, the oldest of their three daughters.

Stan joined the British Army, The Royal Leicestershire Regiment and together as a family had the opportunity to live in Malta and Germany as well as other parts of the United Kingdom.

After my grandfather retired from the Army in the early 1970s the family emigrated to New Zealand and eventually to Brisbane, Australia.

In the last few months of Nanny’s life I would go to their house after work on Wednesdays for dinner.  After the dishes were done, the television would be turned off and the three of us would pull our chairs together.

Between the two of them they would talk about their lives together and I would quietly listen and record these conversations on my phone.  Both Nanny and Stan wanted their stories recorded before it was too late.  I’m so glad that we spent the time doing this.  We have captured these precious memories forever.

Never one to dwell on the negative, Nanny June soldiered on despite being so ill,  always with a big cheeky grin and a funny joke to share.  Only in the later part of the illness did the cracks being to show.

She was taking a lot of medication to try to ease the pain but the side effects were rough on her. But again, never would you hear her moan or complain!  She was just so grateful for the little extensions of time it gave her.

Stan and June celebrating their wedding anniversary this year.

Always full of positivity, laughter and happiness our lives seem a little empty without Nanny June.  My grandfather Stan has lost his best mate, my heart goes out to him.

I miss you Nan,  we all miss you xox