Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Nov 13 - 04:14 PM

Tam, every little bit is a win as you say

love form sandra

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 07 Nov 13 - 05:50 AM

I am inspired VTam. Ihope the meds arrive soon and bring some relief.

Nice tune, A.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: GUEST,pete from seven stars link
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 04:11 PM

that's a lovely positive spirit, tam.
lovely helping of bluesy folk, amos.
blessings   pete.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 02:00 PM

Hello all.

Some lovely warm expressions here by and/or for Spaw, Wendy, Nigel & Ann, Janie, Frogprince, and others. I am uplifted.

Thank you all.

Funding approved for my biologic meds. Going with Golimumab. Waiting for the home health care company to arrange delivery and nurse visit to show me how to do my first injection. Please be soon.

Pain and stiffness everywhere is pretty bad but I am still able to go to work. It is the overwhelming fatigue and brain fog which are the most difficult to get past. I am in work by 8am but not fully mentally functioning until 10.30. And wiped by 8pm.

Still, most weekends I have been chipping bit by laborious bit at organising, cleaning and ironing. Even a little accomplishment boosts my spirits.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Amos
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 01:31 PM

Woes and strange situations, hard passages and triumphs of the heart...where would we, any of us, be If It Hadn't Been fer Love?

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 06:11 AM

GUEST at 6.07 was me, sans cookie.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 06:07 AM

Different art, Nigel, but I used to have a darkroom where I spent many a lonely hour developing films and producing prints. That all changed when they made a digital camera worth using (some of the early ones were awful) and it was game over for "analogue" photography IMO.

Digital vs. analogue photography argument is still raging in some quarters but with my Canon EOS1000D and Epson Stylus Pro printer I can produce great prints in minutes rather than hours in a non-chemical-laden atmosphere. Mind you, I still fill sketchbooks with notes and doodles!

Score away: the tools you use are secondary to the finished product, which I'm sure will be well worth listening to.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 04:25 AM

Pete, Gnu, Janie, Sandra....hugs all round & a kiss on both cheeks (old Family tradition!)
         The sanctuary of Music calls....it's times like this when I remember the 'good old days' of manuscript paper, a piano, some HB pencils, an eraser & a flask of tea. Truth to tell, I had to be dragged, kicking & screaming into the digital age (Thank you, Mr.Gates). My 'digital sanctuary' has, however, a 'reality' about it (if that's not a contradiction in terms) that sheets of quarto scoring paper never had, so, back to the Mac.
         Voyage well, my Dear Friends.
                                                      With love & a warmed Heart,
                                                                                                 Nigel
                                                                                                 xxxx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Nov 13 - 02:24 AM

well said, Janie

sandra

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Janie
Date: 05 Nov 13 - 09:42 PM

Jane was your beloved daughter, Nigel, and her grandchildren are your beloved grandchildren.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 05 Nov 13 - 11:34 AM

Thanks for sharing.

Well said, Pete.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: GUEST,pete from seven stars links
Date: 05 Nov 13 - 07:54 AM

I would be surprised if your music were forgotten when you are gone, nigel.
my dad often comments that my mum never found out who her "real" dad was ,only finding out late in life that the man she knew as dad was not so, biologically.
I usually comment that the man who done the job was the "real" dad.
in similar way ,whether the biological father is still around or not, I am sure you are to all practical purposes ,dad and granddad by being the loving supportive person you are. blessings pete.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 05 Nov 13 - 05:06 AM

Some exceptional posts here. Janie's & Amergin's to name but two. Deeply personal, deeply moving, creating a plethora of images & emotions.
         Janie, you wrote: "....as you birth more fine music....". Those six words go right to the heart of why I compose. For me, it is almost literally like giving birth to new life, in the hope that one or two pieces might just outlive me & be remembered & performed after I'm gone.
       Some of you know already that Jane was my Step Daughter. When Ann & I decided to marry, Jane & her Sister agreed that 'step' was not a word they liked. To them I was 'Nigel' (Introduced to friends as: 'our Mum's husband') & 'Grandad' as the Grandchildren gradually appeared on the scene. For that reason, I've always referred to Jane & her Sister as my daughters & for all practical purposes, that's just what they are.
       My first Wife, (who I lost to breast cancer) & I were unable to have children, so, as you can imagine, Ann's two daughters were a golden gift, swiftly followed by six, Golden Grandchildren.
         At the risk of sounding maudlin & sentimental, the pieces I write could be construed as my 'Children', which perhaps explains why I wrote: "...one or two pieces might just outlive me & be remembered & performed after I'm gone..."
         I've been wanting to write about this for ages, but my courage failed me. It was an emotional step too far, but, for a multitude of reasons, now feels the right time to reveal a part of my life that has remained unspoken of for too long.
                                    With Love & comforting sense of relief & release,
                                                                      Nigel
                                                                      xxxx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 09:10 PM

I'll second that, rum

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: rumanci
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 08:28 PM

Sorry not to have posted for a while but I've been lurking - good at that many may say. Thanks all for some beautiful words, thoughts, images and smiles and hope.   UP Spaw and y'all. Love and hugs
rum xx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 08:16 PM

Janie, I wish I could have held your hand and your sister's hand. Maybe someday we'll meet and I'll give you a hug. Amergin, good work.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: frogprince
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 03:36 PM

Ah..yuh...now somebody hand me a hanky or tissue or somethin'; that snuck up on me.

A lazy, chilly but pleasant day for us here on the Michigan sector of the deck. May the wind be fair for everyone's sails.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Amergin
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 02:44 PM

it is interesting....the other day, I was on a friend's fb page....local Irish musician Colleen Raney. A friend of hers was talking about how her best friend's son was killed...a week after his 32nd birthday. he was a popular man. He was the bass player, a vocalist, and songwriter of a popular Irish band called the Calvinist Band. He was killed in a car wreck in Bantry, Cork. His organs helped 9 people...including his heart which was flown to Dublin. Her story inspired me....and so I asked for more information, explaining what I do....and I ended up writing a poem....

I showed it to her...and she loved it...showed it to his mum...and showed it to his bandmates...who all posted it on various fb pages...and so it's been going around Ireland. I made a video of me reading it...the poem references the Memphis Belle which was the focus of one of their songs...the video has also making it's rounds...

I've had many people thank me...including the mum...and it just blows me away, that my words can make a difference in their time of grief....I had not heard of Taidhg Burke Neff before his story was mentioned on fb. so my words have filled the sails for a family (and friends and fans) I never met...I am astounded....

Taidhg Burke Neff-The Lost Calvinist

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 02:13 PM

Ya know them there seagulls that stand around in fast food parkin lots waiting for french fries when it's minus git yer Long Johns on? How come their feet don't freeze?

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: billybob
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 05:24 AM

Janie,

How beautiful your words, thank you

Wendy
xxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Janie
Date: 03 Nov 13 - 09:18 PM

A much lovelier autumn than had been predicted. I've been traveling a lot at different elevations, plus have the pleasure of driving through considerable mileage of two lane country roads throughout the week. Mid September through mid October the fields and roadsides from the Piedmont of NC up through the tidewater and coastal plains of Virginia and Maryland, and the lower elevations of the Alleghenies were lovely with bidens, perennial sunflowers of assorted species, white and lavender wild asters, purple New York Ironweed, more late goldenrod species than any one person could key out, perennial ageratum, assorted large seed pods with their interesting shapes adorned by seeds with white parachutes, and the distinctive and early scarlet of sumac leaves. The trees blanketing the southern mountains of West Virginia in mid October were breath-taking on my way back south from Mom's, even on a cloudy day. The last two weeks here on the NC Piedmont, on my daily drive have been equally lovely. My yard is cleared of leaves at the moment, but until late afternoon, I had a carpet of many colors out there from fallen leaves of maple, oak, dogwood, hickory and wild cherry on a windy weekend. The squirrels have already eaten most of the red berries on the dogwoods, but they were pretty while they lasted. The berries on the nandinas and holly are only preferred as survival fare by squirrels and birds and will last until at least mid January. On both species, the berries are ruddier by the day, and will be bright red soon enough to bring delight to the eye just when it is most appreciated in an otherwise subtle winter landscape.

Each fall now, I am reminded of the brilliant and terrifying beauty of the structure of my sister's emaciated face and body during her long dying time, of the vibrancy and depths of her deep and stark brown eyes. I remember the suffering, but also just as readily now recall, after all these years, the beauty and affirmations of love and connectedness, of exquisitely joyful times during her last two months where there was the joy of being fully present and fully together, immediately with no holds barred. Like the dogwoods, she up and went brilliant in the premature autumn of her life, and brought the rest of us along with her.

I'm in tears just now - but they are not tears of anguish. Feeling sorrow, yes, but the tears bring heart's ease, as does writing this and sharing these memories of sorrow and joy. I feel the gentle rocking of the water under the hull of the boat as we set out from harbor, and love the sound of the wind in the sails.

A little local (to me) landlocked chanty.... Beauty Lives

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: GUEST,laptopgnu
Date: 03 Nov 13 - 05:30 PM

The canvass. Our sail. That that fills with wind to propel ourselves forward. Our canvass is the empty page on which we paint the words that fill out hearts and propel our spirits forward. Raise the canvass UP! Fill it with words of comradery and love.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 03 Nov 13 - 01:58 PM

Hi, Crew Members! It's sunny but brisk here. As I look toward the shore, I see the brightly colored leaves have started to drop from the branches. Let's raise some canvas and get underway!

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Janie
Date: 01 Nov 13 - 03:06 PM

but time well spent, Nigel, as you birth more fine music into the spheres. Congrats Wendy and Billy!

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 01 Nov 13 - 08:09 AM

A very good morning to you all from a rather overcast, East London.
Congratulations, Wendy & Billy. May you have many more happy years together.
New pieces are taking shape (slowly!). Composing is one of the greediest devourers of time I've yet to encounter.
                               Much Love to You All,
                                                                Nigel.
                                                                xxxx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: GUEST,pete from seven stars link
Date: 31 Oct 13 - 06:28 PM

ditto. hope you had a lovely evening.
we may be getting old, wendy, but I like to think that we can think critically on music, but its nice to hear ga ga is a nice person.
a stage persona is I guess deceptive. I was watching some of the Hendrix documentary last night. now he was definitely a brilliant muso and he did not need all those stage excesses. and off stage he is said to have been shy and sensitive.
blessings   pete.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 31 Oct 13 - 02:56 PM

Enjoy, Wendy. Congrats.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: billybob
Date: 31 Oct 13 - 11:54 AM

How funny Pete, if we had known they could have met up, my daughter is best friends with the exec Producer Beth. They used to work together at a production company years ago, and Dermot is a Colchester boy so they all know each other from years ago!

My daughter said Ga ga is a lovely person, but I really didn't get the Bridget Jones knickers?? Am I getting old? No already there! Hoot.

Our wedding anniversary today, 26 years, so going out to dinner and my daughter and grandchildren are " nanny" sitting. Seems life has gone full circle since she used to baby sit my daughter.

Will toast the crew with a glass when the sun goes down.

with love

Wendy xxxxxxxx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: GUEST,pete from seven stars link
Date: 30 Oct 13 - 06:41 PM

my daughter was also at x factor on account of her and her daughter being friends of the probably, front runner, tamera and her mum.
don't like to be critical but wasn't lady ga ga pretty awful.
becky and I have 3 daughters and 14 grankids, plus another girl we fostered insists her baby is a grandchild too!
being grands can certainly be hard sometimes, often holding it all together.
UP SPAW and all the crew. blessings pete.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 30 Oct 13 - 12:59 PM

Will be checking in as often as I can, but not posting much (unless circumstances demand to the contrary). I'm very late with some new compositions & unusually, the dead-lines are not of my own making. It's nice to be busy, but it's going to interrupt my visits to 'The Rainbow' for a while.
       Come & join me in the 'studio' (My front room!)
                                                                               With Love to You All,
                                                                                                               Nigel
                                                                                                               xxxx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 09:23 PM

I will gladly accept any tea and cookies being offered, and thank you!

If I get too picky, someone might toss me overboard!

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 07:04 PM

Sandra... of course! ALL cookies and cakes must be frozen to be sloooowly enjoyed. Besides, I ain't et me a cookie since Xmas.

Minds me a tha story a the Xmas cookies. Heck of a story, that. This year's Xmas cookie story is already shaping up ta be even better. Mum let me in on the ruse just two days ago. BTW... it involves Macadamia nut cookies.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 06:23 PM

shortbread in the freezer?

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: frogprince
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 03:24 PM

ChanteyLass is obviously quite right as to blood sugar readings being done differently. Much differently. Here, 22 would mean so low that you might not live long, and 9 would be so low that you probably wouldn't live long.

If you put enough cream and sugar in tea, I can enjoy it. Otherwise my British genetic background is too far behind me for that stuff. Coffee I drink either black or with a little cream.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 02:14 PM

9! Wonderful news.

If I am gonna eat cookies, which I RAREly do, I gotta go all the way and pig out on shortbread. Morse's "King Cole" Orange Pekoe tea blended in Sussex, nb.ca only, as required by law. Well, in my Clan it is. Them there little elves what make the Tetly tea and dance around with bells on their feet? We are required to crush them like bugs. And that there Red Rose "Only available in Canada you say?" crap? Well, a story is called for...

Many moons ago, Mum, Dad and I travelled to Ontario, visiting friends and relatives along the way. We landed at Aunt Rose (yeah, I know) and Uncle Al's house. No, this is the stry about the tea, not about the Rattle Snakes, tho that's a good one. Aunt Rose made tea after supper. Red Rose tea (BTW, she had red hair). My old man took a sip and, in his usual demure, shy manner, asked Aunt Rose, "What the hell is that?" She told him. "How many bags did you use?" She told him. Up and out to the trunk of the car for a box of 60 gauze bags of KC. He handed it to her and said, "I can't drink dishwater." You shoulda seen the look on Uncle Al's face when she promptly made tea for my old man. She wore the pants in the family so he was absolutely gobsmacked that she complied! You shoulda seen the look on her face when he asked if he could try a cup of real tea. Tension? Knife? Nay. At least a chainsaw. I could go on but youse all get the pic, I'm sure.

Hmmm... I have shortbreads in the freezer. And real tea too.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 12:46 PM

My vote for the ship's biscuit is chocolate covered coconut macaroons (Mrs Crimbles). And a cup of TyPhoo tea.

Yum yum.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: billybob
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 11:44 AM

Afternoon crew,

my daughter was in London over the weekend ( had tickets for X factor, don't ask !! But she saw someone called Ga Ga??)

Anyhow she popped into Fortnum and Mason for tea and brought me a lovely box of macaroons, num num. I am happy to share......

with love

Wendy xxxxxxxxx
Oh and Billy has got his blood sugar down to 9 Hoorah!!

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 08:00 AM

The posts on page 55 are some of the most playful I've read for a while. Somehow, we manage to get the balance just about right...serious when we need to be, but never averse to the callings of our inner child. It's one of the many aspects that makes our thread the sanctuary it has become,
                  Much Love to You All,
                                                 Nigel.
                                                 xxxx

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 29 Oct 13 - 07:26 AM

laptopgnu "Is it King Cole Orange Pekoe from Sussex, nb.ca? I am rather particular about my tea." My bad.

A song... can't sing. Just woke up. Need tea. You start and I'll mumble along a bit later.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Janie
Date: 28 Oct 13 - 09:52 PM

Welcome, guest. Unfortunately, the tea you request is not to be found in the galley. But this is a crew supporting one another in efforts to accept life on life's terms. Sometimes, it is absolutely not too much to ask for at least the perfect cup of tea. We are not so far from shore at present that a dory can not be dispatched to refurbish the larder. Anyone else want to add to the grocery list?

In the meantime, how about leading us in a song with a rousing chorus, or one conducive to sweet harmony? 'twill perhaps make the cup in front of you taste less bitter than it might otherwise taste, and take one's mind off of seasickness.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Oct 13 - 05:44 PM

Is it King Cole Orange Pekoe from Sussex, nb.ca? I am rather particular about my tea.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: ranger1
Date: 28 Oct 13 - 08:07 AM

I brought coffee. I think there's some decent tea here somewhere, too.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Janie
Date: 28 Oct 13 - 06:11 AM

Here, Wendy made these lovely warm scones and I found a jar of jam in the galley to go with them - no sugar added, btw.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 28 Oct 13 - 12:03 AM

I don't do hugs. High fives, hand shakes, nods and winks, thumbs up, pats on the back, tears, sniffs, attaboy!s, n such. Hugs? Not for me. But, if anyone really needs one... (u)

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 27 Oct 13 - 09:51 PM

Hugs from me, too!

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Oct 13 - 06:14 PM

adding a few more hugs for those who need them

sandra

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: ranger1
Date: 27 Oct 13 - 11:20 AM

Hugs for Nigel and Ann. And anyone else who needs one. I've been sending most of my mojo to Bat Goddess and Curmudgeon in New Hampshire lately, but plenty of hugs to go around. And UP, Spaw!

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: gnu
Date: 27 Oct 13 - 11:00 AM

froggy... great news. Nigel... glad to hear yer gettin by.

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Oct 13 - 10:12 AM

want another hug?

Subject: RE: Jane's Rainbow: for all needing support & comfort
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 27 Oct 13 - 08:46 AM

Thank you all for your friendly, comforting, wise words. Yes, I love my 'Grandness'; I love our six Grandchildren (The UK 4 & The USA 2) to bits & back again...same goes for Ann too, of course. Doing "what we gotta do & can do" is closely tied up with the phrase: "In a state of flux". There is so much I want & need to say, but couldn't possibly in any public forum. I have to visualise the Crew, together in one place; let's say, the Mess Deck on board The Rainbow. We could talk freely whilst retaining our privacy (Time for that hug, Pat).
       It is not my intention to tease or tantalise, but I've said just about as much as I can without aggravating the situation further. Over time, it may be possible/appropriate to be more open, but for the moment, gather round, stay close. Ann & I need your Love & Friendship in abundance,
                                     With Love to You All,
                                                                     Nigel & Ann
                                                                     xxxxxxxxxx