Carrying Out Mum's Final Wishes

Greetings lovely friends & readers

When my Mum passed away last year she left very specific instructions on where she wanted her ashes to go after cremation.    Long time readers of my blog may recall I often used to take Mum to lay flowers where Dads ashes are when I was down in Taranaki.  You can read about some of these visits in the posts  Here,  Here,  Here,  & Here

Beautiful Mount Taranaki - photo taken from car window

 As it is coming up 6 months since Mum's passing it was high time we carried out her final wishes.  

But first I needed to prepare a few things ..........

The flowers on Mums casket                                  Flowers on my deck table

When Mum passed we found a bag with all her funeral instructions inside.  You can read about these in this Post..  She specifically wanted pink & mauve flowers on her casket which I was able to arrange.  Afterwards I bought the casket flowers home with me & hung them up in bunches to try & dry them, including all the greenery.  Truthfully, I hung them up, then completely forgot about them until well after Christmas.

They dried really well but had faded - I wasn't sure what to do with them until my dear friend Sally (who trained as a florist) kindly offered to come & help me make them into a bouquet.  Sally is a whizz & put together the most lovely bouquet from what I'd dried.  Here she is in action, at my dining table, chatting away & putting together a bouquet from all my oddments - she's amazing  💕 (I paid her in Fudge Cake)

I was just so thrilled with what Sally managed to use up & it turned out just beautiful  💗  

As Mum always took red silk roses to Dad, I bought some from the Variety Store & made up a bunch to lay for Dad.

Mum always loved Lavender so I dried a bunch of my own lavender & thought it might be nice for the Grandsons to make a card each to go with this.  

The day before we left I baked Banana Bread, Chocolate Fudge Slice, Lasagne & Bacon & Egg Pie.  It saved me having to buy so much food while we were away.

Kitchen & Living area in the middle, 2 sets of bedrooms on either side each with large bathrooms

In January I went online & booked us into a nice Airbnb in a small township just out of the city & 5 minutes walk to the beach.  Because there were 7 of us going (my sons & their families) I needed something large enough to accomodate us all.  This worked out well, not flash but certainly sufficient, nice & private & everybody had their own space.  

Tucked in behind the Crematorium is a beautiful large, horse-shoe shaped garden called The Garden Of Remembrance.  This is where my Dad's ashes are - he has been gone 23 years this June.  Mum has spent the past 22 1/2 years telling us all ... That is where I am going - there with your Dad. 

 It is a lovely peaceful place with seats dotted around the edges & planted out with native trees & flowering shrubs.  The birdlife is wonderful.

My brother & sister in law had driven up to meet us here as they had Mum's ashes.

(Yes I did text them the morning we were to meet up to remind them to not forget the ashes!!!)  😉

This whole area was covered in Wandering Dew - you can see where we cleared it

The biggest hurdle I had was finding where Dad actually was - it had been 2 years since I had last visited & the growth, the tree removal & the weather storms had completely changed the area. I always thought I could find it blindfolded but it was not so.

The Resting with the Angels plaque that Mum had placed there was what I was looking for - I just could not find it & was beginning to feel quite panicked after about 10 minutes searching.

There was no way I could just place Mums ashes anywhere.  Finally I found what looked like a red rose & when I cleared away the vast area of wandering dew, there was the plaque. I can't tell you how relieved I was ... many prayers were said!!  The family helped me clear the area well & we were able to dig Mums ashes in beside where Dads were & place our flowers. 

Eldest son took lots of photos for me.

Alec saying a few words to Great Nan as he laid the lavender - he had a very special relationship with her. 

There is a huge big old moss covered tree right in the middle of the gardens - it must be VeRy old as it was old when Dads ashes first went there.  The Grandsons loved it.

Afterwards we all drove 5 minutes up the road to The Quail's Nest for a wonderful lunch together.  Although I have forgotten to take any photos of the food Or the family members ... the meal was amazing!

And the views were rather spectacular too.

The boys ate their meals then had a run around outside for awhile.  After lunch we made our way back into the city - it was the weekend of the annual Americarna event..   We all went for a wander around looking at the American cars ...   I especially loved the Buick below because it came with its own matching luggage & travel rug (!!)  And a gorgeous pale green colour 💚

Back at the B & B youngest son went for a surf & the Grandsons found the biggest surfboard in the world!!!

The following day (Sunday) we all packed up & headed home again - it had been a wonderful time together carrying out Mum's final wishes.  I feel so pleased that we were able to do this last thing for her & I can "visit" anytime I am heading south in the future.

Thank you all if you've managed to stay through this long photo-heavy post. 

There is still time to enter my Easter Giveaway should you wish - go to * this post * to enter the draw.  Thank you to those that have already.

Wishing you all much love & friendship dear friends,

Love Julie & the furry three x0x0x0