Daily Notes and News

The Month of January, 2002

After the Mass this morning I had coffee with the few people who came through after Mass and then started work on the Marianella CD. It is a reasonably big task, slightly bigger than I thought but it is moving along well enough and I hope to have a chance over the next few days to get the photo's into pages so that they can be ready so that people can see something of the special events of the program as a HTML based document but there will be enough photo's in the system for them to make powerpoint presentations if they want of other aspects of the course.

Lorraine arrived back just about lunch time so we chatted about some of the things that need to be done for the Parish Fair later in the month, organised a time for a meeting and ten had some Ham on toast for lunch. We needed to talk about a few things so that was good. After she left I got back to the CD and I'm really happy about the progress but there is still lot's more to do.

I tried to ring the States this afternoon to catch Jean Kielty and Jo Berry to wish them Happy New Year but couldn't get through. I checked the numbers and everything else and finally, when I thought that it was out of all possibility the phone rang and it was Jean - they'd got through when I couldn't.

We chatted for some time - they were happy after having had a few drinks and quite some time in the Jacuzzi so they were happy. It was good talking to them and Jean was able to tell me that the Calendar photo's I sent off on Christmas Eve had arrived but I'd forgotten to let her know that they were coming - I was going to email her and tell her what it was all about.

Not long after talking with them the phone rang again and it was my friend Eva from down the Huon Valley and she was telling me that she has retired from teaching and is going to be working with the Archdiocese in the area of developing Basic Ecclesial Communities so that will be good. I've arranged to meet her on Friday to talk about some of the things that we need to do up here in the Derwent Valley and further North so that will be good.

Now it is time for bed and to sleep in peace in the new big bed that now occupies almost half the room.

This afternoon I called into DSerwent Waters and collected a stand that Dad said that I could have - a stand for videos and/or CD's so I've just carried that upstairs and nearly done my back in with the weight but it is there and will be put to good use.

Also this afternoon I organised the setting up of an email account for some friends so that means that they are now on-line and hopefully will be able to surf the net whenever they want to.

I've just arrived home from another trip to the Taste of Tasmania so that has been good and I managed to meet up with some friends and catch up with other people as I wandered around. It really is a very friendly place and a great time to visit Hobart so if ever you're around at this time of the year - head for Hobart and the Taste - it is well worth it.

I just need to check my email and then I'm heading for bed and an early night.

What transpired has been a complete reformatting of the C drive which has meant that much of the latter part of today (and much of tomorrow I suspect) has been spent reloading programs and trying to get setting correct for the various programs I use including the HotDog and ftp settings so that I can upload my daily pages. So far everything has gone through smoothly but I'm sure there will be some things that aren't going to be reloaded easily.

While I was waiting for the computer to be finished I went into the Church Office to see some people and check up about tax files and cheque accounts and a few other things so most of that is up to date. When I got back to Moonah Tom said that it would take a little bit longer so I called and managed to organise some tea with friends in the Northern Suburbs before calling out to the Young's home to collect the computer on my way home.

So that has been today - I'm now heading to bed after making some changes to the Marianella data and getting this page ready, although I will worry about uploading it later.

This morning after the 9am Mass I headed over to Corumbene for the First Friday Mass before continuing on around the traps with Communion to the Sick and Housebound. On the way back to the Parish House I called in to see Peter McBain, the new Principal at St Brigid's who is having a few days of orientation, wandering around the School to see where everything is. He is moving into the town in a fortnights time so that will also be good.

I then headed to Crabtree, a short distance as the crow flies but over 70 kilometres by road, to talk to a friend who has been appointed to work in the Diocese to develop a better understanding of Basic Ecclesial Communities. It was a good discussion and it would seem a great deal of scope for us here in this Parish to be able to look for ways to develop BEC's as part of our Parish Plan.

On the way home I called to see some friends and chatted about the Ireland experience and provided some ideas for them for a trip that they are planning later this year. Hopefully, I was able to shed some light on possible adventures they might like to try and tackle.

Tonight I have been working on the newsletter and there are huge gaps in it at the moment so I hope that I can find a few things to complete it in the morning.

Now bed - hopefully to sleep and to dream.

The Baptism at 11am went well - it is a good little family so that was OK. I then tried to find some papers that I'd brought in (from the Church Office) on Thursday afternoon and I can't find them anywhere so will have to ask for them to be faxed to me on Monday - either that or I email the details back and they deal with it themselves.

Lunch was at Taroona so I headed off on a beautiful, but not that hot, summery day. There was only a smallish gathering so we chatted about dates and times for future gatherings and managed to get some but there are huge gaps latter in the period Jan-April that will need to be filled out at some stage.

Visited Mum and Dad on the way home and also caught up with Mel and the boys so that was good. Dad is still struggling a bit with his lack of mobility, and I suspect, it will be one of the most difficult things for him to accept for ever. Mum was in bed with a bad back and looked particularly uncomfortable as she lay there (normal situation) but otherwise seemed in good spirits.

I've been working on the CD and managed to get some more photos done (I think I'm up to week 6) so there are few more weeks to go but we're getting there. There are a couple of people that I will have to chase to get some info from - it seems to have disappeared out of the system and I would hate to send out the final material without them being included.

Now for bed - I'm going to tape the Bill and watch it some other time.

All the masses today were well attended so that was good although there are still some people I haven't seen since I've been back so will need to try to get around to visit some of them soon.

I managed to get some work done on the CD this afternoon between the Baptism and having to leave for Kempton. It is really satisfying when these things come together although I will need to get in contact with a couple of people to get some details re their story - there are gaps which I'm not sure how they happened but they are there and I'd hate to put the thing out with the spaces still there.

Thankfully not much else is happening at the moment so I'm heading for bed and hopefully a better night's sleep than the past few nights.

After getting most of the things I needed to do finished I headed for town to have lunch with some friends, to catch up with them after my trip away. It was a pleasant meal and good company.

I then continued on into town and tried to get a new hands free Office phone and as I was coming out of the first shop the heavens opened, and do I mean opened. I was caught in the rain with marriage papers in a folder and supposed to be heading for the Archives to check some details and so was in dire straits. The Archives were being evacuated because of flooding (all this in five minutes), the second shop I tried re the phone didn't have one so I kept going and finally found exactly what I wanted as well as some external speakers for the CD walkman.

By this time the Archive Office had reopened so it took five minutes to get the info I needed so I headed back to the car dripping wet. I had a half hour before I needed to see some people about their marriage papers and booklet so I headed for Moonah to se Tom Young to get some ink and paper and also managed to call into Graham Family Funerals for a few minutes in between getting wetter.

I finally got to Taroona and managed to get all the paperwork done and gave them a simple draft of the booklet and they will get back to me about any changes. I then headed back here to New Norfolk to get changed and dry out.

This evening I've been responding to some phone calls re Marriages and doing some more work on the CD and now I'm heading for bed - most things I planned to do today have been done and, I'm happy to say, some things that weren't planned have been done as well. One thing that didn't get finished was the putting away of the crib and the taking down of the Christmas decorations which will need to be done tomorrow first thing.

Actually it was good because I was able to get some more work done on the CD as well as taking down all the Christmas decorations in the house and packing up the crib in the Church and cleaning up both places as well.

Most of the morning was then spent working on material for the Sick and Aged Priests Fund of the Archdiocese of Hobart preparing letters for payment of subscription for 2001/2. I needed to redo the Mail Merge file because the previous version kept becoming corrupted and I'm sad to say that by the time the letters and envelopes were all printed the files were once again corrupted and when I tried to do some corrected copies the mail merge was virtually non-existent so I'll need to visit the web site to find out if there is a patch or even if the problem is known.

This afternoon I made contact with the family of the late Anton Novak to arrange to see them tomorrow afternoon to prepare the funeral liturgy that will be celebrated at Pontville on Friday morning. I also managed to speak to Michael Tate who has agreed to be the celebrant of the wedding that is scheduled for Pontville on 2nd February. I didn't get a chance to ring them tonight so will do it in the morning.

I've just come back from having supper at the home of Glad Dodds, one of the Uniting Church Parishioners. Glad was playing hostess to friends of David & Dini Jensen, the previous Uniting Church Minister here at New Norfolk before they head off to Hillston in NSW for a two year appointment. It was a pleasant enough evening but now I'm heading for bed and, hopefully, a good nights sleep.

After a quick bite to eat at lunchtime I headed off to Glenorchy to see the family of the late Anton Novak to prepare the liturgy for the funeral at Pontville on Friday. Whilst I was there I also managed to complete another couple of jobs so that was good and I have contacted the organist and arranged all the details for the music etc. - and there is still two days to the funeral - this much organisation has me worried. I've also scanned the photo and it has come up alright so will print it all off tomorrow morning and get it out of the way early.

This afternoon I also managed to catch up with a family about the Baptism of their daughter and so the little things that can sometimes take time are now being completed. I've also managed to speak to Joanne Hills regarding the mix-up with the the Sydney trip and her Marriage plans and she is OK with the changes but I will still see her next week to fix the final details so that Michael Tate has everything that is needed for the wedding.

We've just finished a Fair Meeting with the same people there offering to help it will happen but it will be interesting to see what transpires eventually about the process - there is not a great deal of enthusiasm so it makes me wonder how much effort we really need to make but ...

Now bed and hopefully another good night's sleep.

The rest of the morning I worked with Jannette and the finances - we didn't get that much done but there was enough that we have made a decent start and Jannette said that she'd come back on Saturday morning and finish the rest.

This afternoon I got a haircut so I'm looking at least a little bit decent although my desire to lose weight is not being matched by any appreciable change in shape.

I stopped off in Glenorchy to help a friend who is just starting to use the Internet and got caught up in a search for work, a new car and overseas accommodation - all because I suggested using Google to search for some simple information!!

They were having an early teas so I stayed and then came home and spent the last hour answering phone calls that had been left on the answer machine so now I'm heading for bed - reasonably tired but ready for a good night's rest.

I had the funeral of the late Anton Novak at Pontville so I headed off fairly soon after Mass which left the house empty for much of the day which meant that there were quite a number of calls to the mobile during the day as well as a long list of messages when I got home.

The funeral went well and after spending some time with the family back at their home I had an appointment with the Director of Nursing at Rosary Gardens, the facility that Mum and Dad are now living in. We were looking at ways to make their transition a little easier and to try to find ways to accommodate the needs of the Centre as well as provide them (mum and dad) with some freedoms, limited though the scope might be.

Then there were some other jobs that I needed to do in and around the city which took a little (read lots) more time than I had thought which meant that when I got home it was much later than I had anticipated and so now I am running much further behind schedule that I would have liked. It also means that the Newsletter will not be completed before tomorrow and so will probably be printed sometime later tomorrow afternoon.

Now, however, it is time for bed.

This morning I worked away at the CD before heading into town to help another friend preparing for an overseas trip - it seems that since I've been back there have been people each week asking if I can help them with info re Ireland - where they should go and what they should do.

Lunch today was at Sandy Bay and I caught up with John Roach who has just returned from studying in Boston. There was a good spirit at the meal so that was good. After lunch I stopped off at a couple of stores and wandered for awhile - luckily I had deep pockets because there were a few things I was tempted to buy but didn't so that was good.

I've just arrived home from having a BBQ tea at the Davis' with Jan and Tony and a group of parishioners. Another good night. I was just about to head out to see them when I got a call from Anne & Robert Foale who were moored down at the new jetty on the river so I wandered down to see them first so tonight has been a very pleasant night and I'm ready for bed. The newsletter is nearly finished printing so that can keep on going without me.

Mass up the country was at Maydena and there was a reasonable crowd - the first time I had seen Barbara for almost twelve months - since before her father died. She travelled back to the US to look after him and stayed to run the family shop and looks like heading back there for April -October to do the same again this year. Just before I left New Norfolk Jenny Searle called in and asked where Kay & Ted lived at Ellendale but decided to join me at Maydena and decided to catch Kay & Ted another time.

I dozed this afternoon after lunch so I didn't get too much done and have just returned from the evening Mass at Bothwell and now I'm ready for bed so I'll have that early night and see what kind of day I can have tomorrow.

This evening I managed to catch up with some couples and checked with them about details for the final stages of preparation prior to their marriages in the next two months so that was good.

Now it is time for bed and hopefully, a good night's sleep.

This morning after Mass I headed into town to drop off the car for a service and took the opportunity to call into the Headquarters of Tasmania Police to present the couple of momento's I'd collected overseas to John Talbert in A/Commissioner Jack Johnson's Office. We chatted for awhile and then I headed off to post some mail and when I got home I sent off the little momento's I said that I try and get to Stephen Chapman in Hillsborough, NI.

There were several references I had to finish and print off before I could head back to town to collect the car after it's service. I then made a couple of calls on the way home and managed to see Anna's new car - after a couple of days of uncertainty about the car it is now home and hopefully most of the problems are solved.

Tonight has been quiet so I'm heading to bed after having watched the Bill and seen Dave Quinan possibly picking his life up although I don't expect that the problems are over there yet - I didn't think that I'd ever get sucked into a series like I have with the Bill so I suppose I am normal!!

Today I found that I'd made a mistake before I left for Ireland and hadn't entered the last few Baptisms I had celebrated into the Baptismal Register. The priests who had covered for me while I was away had entered the baptisms they had done so they are now out of order in the book. I entered them all into the computer and printed a couple of Certificates off and found an error and then when I began to check I found that the error has been present for some time. Some of the data areas are intuitive so that when you enter 'Ne' it completes the phrase and presents New Norfolk - except someone had typed 'New Nofolk' at some stage so all of my recent entries, which I don't really check since I am a two finger typist, have been entered as living at 'New Nofolk'. I spent a great part of today checking entries and will go back to it tomorrow to complete the work - I've found numerous other errors and have been fixing them at the same time.

I waited for a couple tonight and they didn't arrive so I'm heading for bed and an early night.

This morning I rang the hospital to find out how Dad was - mum had rung after I'd gone to bed last night to say that Dad had been taken to hospital after a reaction to his chemo treatment. The staff I spoke to didn't seem to know a great deal about his condition but I thought that dad might not have been too well when he came in so that was ok. When I got to the hospital they said that he wasn't there, but a 'Sean' was. I went to see my brother and found that they had been in the A&E room together but that Dad had been sent home and Sean had been admitted. He seems to have got a bug of some sort whilst in the Philippines with Rowena and the girls over Christmas so he is having tests etc.

The rest of today has been working through the Baptismal Register correcting the loads of mistakes which I've found - one of the problems with intuitive input is that if you make one mistake it compounds - see yesterday's note for fuller explanation. There are still loads of entries to do - I'm just through the "h's" so it will be a job that I can come back to when I need something else to do.

I've just arrived home from doing a rehearsal for the wedding for Saturday at New Town so that was good. The couple are a lovely couple and I'm looking forward to celebrating their special day.

Another piece of good news was the phone call I got this afternoon from Anna telling me that she has a phone interview tomorrow for a position at a school in Victoria - I'll be saying a special one for her because she is a good kid and this will be a great opportunity for her.

Bed calls - I hope that I can answer for some extra time after my early morning this morning - the only good thing was that I went for a walk but at 4am that's not recommended too often.

I woke later and got quite a few things done in the morning prior to Mass and then took Communion to the Hospital and to some of the housebound before coming back to the House for a planning meeting with Sr Lorraine. It was a good meeting that worked well.

After lunch I headed out for a while to get things for the Prayer Breakfast tomorrow morning and met up with a few people on the town before coming back and getting most of the newsletter finished and the inside pages printed. I'll wait until tomorrow and the weekend paper before printing the outside with the recent deceased list up to date.

I've just finished working with a couple for marriage preparation - the couple whose wedding I am not available for because of the late flight from Sydney on 2nd February - so everything is ok with them.

The good news of today is that my friend Anna has a job at St Therese's Primary School, North Cranbourne, Vic. She got it via the telephone interview this afternoon so she is now trying to organise how to get to Victoria and find accommodation etc all within a fortnight but it is good that she has a job.

For me it is time for bed.

The day has been busy - I worked on the newsletter this morning and that was all done early and then I headed over to the Church of the first of two baptisms. I spoke to Anna and she has been able to contact Stephanie Richardson and has arranged for somewhere to stay and also managed to get her car onto the Devil Cat on Tuesday so we'll now be praying for fine weather so that it can sail and she can get to Cranbourne on Tuesday night.

Lunch was at Bellerive and we had a chance to see what Peter O'Loughlin had done to the Presbytery - made quite a difference to the set up of the place so that was interesting. There was a good crowd there and Eli Proietto was there as well - it's the first time I've seen him since I came back and he had his minor stroke.

I then called to see Mum and Dad - Dad still looks wrecked after his chemo but otherwise seemed in good spirits. From there I headed off to the wedding at Sacred Heart which was a great affair so that was excellent. The reception that followed was also good and I enjoyed the company of the people I was seated with so that also was good.

Before I got to the reception my mobile went off and it was one of the ICU staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital to say that Jay Stevens, the son of John and Anne Stevens, was seriously sick so I managed to get there even before the family had come round from the ward into which he had been admitted during the night. There has been no further news during the evening so I will call first thing tomorrow morning.

All in all it has been an interesting day - filled with the highs and lows of life - but with numerous opportunities to know the presence of God.

I also rang the Hospital to hear our Jay had got on during the night and he was waiting for an operation which he had later today and things haven't worked out as well as they might and there will be another medical consult tomorrow to see what other options they have to make him comfortable.

The news came through this morning that the body of the late Tom Powell had been found beside the train tracks in Spain by one of his brothers. He went missing two weeks ago on an overnight train trip and nothing had been heard since - a sad end but there is a sense of closure that they needed - the support that the family have been receiving has been great and I'll be in contact with them tomorrow to offer my condolences.

Masses today have been well attended. We welcomed Peter McBain, the new School Principal, to the Parish this morning before I headed off to Hamilton for the country morning Mass. After Mass I continued onto Ouse to anoint Mona Browning at the Ouse Hospital before coming back for a bite to eat.

Mass this evening was at Kempton and after Mass I went down to Glenorchy to say farewell to Anna Brereton to heads off to Melbourne on Tuesday to start life as a teacher at Cranbourne, Vic so that was sad. I'll miss her because she has been a good friend although I'll still see her when she comes home on holidays so that will be alright.

Now I'm heading for bed - there have been lots of different emotions throughout today and now I'm really tired.

After lunch I was about to leave for Lindisfarne to arrange the funeral of the late Lorna Callinan when the front door bell rang and a guy was standing there and if he hadn't rung two weeks ago to say he was in Hobart I would never have known who he was - it is 27 years since I'd seen Ted Zagorski and I can't say that I would have remembered him. He had been in New Guinea with Rosemary Buchan, a former parishioner of New Norfolk, and Rosemary had come to New Norfolk to collect a young friend of her daughter Alice so they decided to call in and say hello. Ted is going to be studying in Hobart this year so I'll probably catch up with him at some stage along the way.

I then headed off to the Callinan's to prepare the funeral liturgy and spent an enjoyable time with them as they remembered stories of their mum and the adventures that various ones of them had got up to. I've known Michael's wife Linda since we were at school and thrown together to do dancing lessons and have had some great times with various members of the family in the years since so I almost feel part of the family as I prepare the funeral liturgy.

I collected some photos of Anna Brereton's Graduation and returned them to the family and said farewell - again. She will be heading off early tomorrow morning so I wished her all the best.

I've just finished working with a young couple preparing for their marriage and so now I'm heading for bed and an early night. I'm back into waking early so I need to get to sleep early of a night if I am going to get enough rest.

The day wasn't that busy so I rearranged the things I needed to do and have spent most of the day in the car getting to Georgetown and then home again. There were four of Anna's classmates from Uni there to say their farewells and James, her friend, and his mother, arrived at the last minute having just got back from being in Melbourne, so there were eight of us to wave our goodbyes as the Devil Cat headed out of the Tamar River taking Anna to her new job at St Therese's Primary School North Cranbourne.

It is amazing what has happened to her during this last week. Last Tuesday afternoon, 15th, she was finalising and posting applications for teaching positions in Victoria and worrying about picking up a 'new' second hand car later that afternoon. Thursday she had a phone call asking if she could do a phone interview on Friday, Friday she got a phone call from another school asking if she could fly to Melbourne for today (23rd) for an interview; had her job interview via phone and got the job at North Cranbourne, rung the second school to say she had a job and then over the weekend had booked a place on the Devil Cat, organised to stay with some friends in Melbourne until she gets settled and now she's gone.

All a little bit of a shock to the system and to the family which is why I helped out yesterday since her family has been particularly good to me over the years - it was a chance for me to repay many of their kindnesses to me.

When I got home though I was tired out and not ready to face the phone calls I was asked to return. Our Professional Standards coordinator was the first phone call I needed to make so I got onto her immediately and worked through her questions about something that was found in one of the web pages back in 2000. After chatting about all of that and explaining the matter I then returned another call and immediately became uncomfortable as the questions actually dealt with the same matter but the way things were presented just made me wary so I rang back to tell our PS Coordinator the gist of the conversation.

I'm now heading for bed as today has been a tiring day and I will need to work on the things for the funeral in the morning as well as some more work on things for the Fair.

At the wake following the funeral one of Michael's sister-in-law told me the story that Michael was going to tell me on Monday. It seems that Lorna started telling her children something of the kind of funeral she wanted - she told them that she wasn't very religious but knew that there was a God so Michael suggested that it might be an idea if I came and saw her before the end - her response "but he kicks with his left foot". The family laughed with her but she was happy that I would be involved in the funeral and everyone seemed happy yesterday at the end.

I've just finished working with a young couple preparing for their marriage later in the year - it is funny that they have been together for about four years but when I asked them how long they have been considering getting married they said - 'twelve months' - they link the time they got engaged to when they thought about getting married.

Anyway, time for bed and another early night - waking up early is not good for you so going to sleep early helps.

I was also able to spend a few minutes with Peter McBain chatting about a few things down at school and, hopefully, helping solve some of the little riddles about what happens with whom.

This afternoon has been quiet so I've managed to get most of the newsletter done so now I'm going to really make the most of the night and have a very early night ands see if I can't get a great night's sleep.

During the afternoon there was a knock at the front door and a young fellow from the Seminary in Melbourne who is doing some travelling around the State called in to say hello. He was in good form and seems to be enjoying his time in Tassie and is well prepared to be heading back to the Seminary after spending time in the Parish at Moonee Ponds.

This evening I've worked with a couple of guys putting together all the stalls for the Fair but we'll need to put the tarps on tomorrow so I'll head for bed and then try to get a good start in the morning.

Cooked the scones and had everything well prepared long before people came for Mass so that was good and the morning went well with people coming and going and everything seemingly under control. It was very humid and hot so working outside was uncomfortable but going well. I'm not sure what we did right but everything was all set up well before 3pm so people were able to arrive and put their things onto the stalls and we were well and truly ready to go before 5pm.

It was successful for what it was so that was good although we don't have a final figure yet it would be about the $2,000 mark for what turned out to be a Fair that went for just 90 minutes. People were drifting off because a thunderstorm was brewing and lighting was starting to flash around us. We manage to pull down the stalls quickly and get everything undercover just as the skies burst open and we had a major hail and rain storm. The garage got flooded so some items from the White Elephant stall are going to have been water damaged because they were on the floor and some of the books from the books stall might also have been damaged.

Anyway, by 8.30pm everyone had left and most of the place had been tidied up although we will need to wait until after the garbage collection on Monday before we will be looking as if we are completely tidied up.

During the afternoon I got a phone call from one of the funeral directors asking if I might be available to celebrate ther funeral of the late Shane Scott, killed in a car accident last week. Yesterday, I'd got a phone call from another funeral director asking if I might do the funeral of the late Joanne Smith, also killed in a car accident. Both funerals are on Wednesday and both are young people in their 30's and they were the first two people killed on Tasmanian roads in 2002 so Wednesday is going to be a hard day.

Now, it's almost 9pm and I'm ready for bed - 19 hours after getting up - so I hope that I get some sleep because it is still humid.

Back to this morning. There was a great crowd at the 9am Mass and a really good feeling with some visitors commenting that there was a great atmosphere in the Parish. Some of the plants left over from the fair were sold after Mass and a few others destined to be planted out around the Parish House in the next few days so that is also good.

Just as I was ready to leave for the Country morning Mass at Ellendale there was a phone call to say that Helen Jones had just died at the District Hospital. I had seen her on Friday morning and had intended to go back after returning from Ellendale this afternoon so I went up and said the prayers for the deceased. Some members of her family are flying in from New Zealand but are not able to get here before the end of the week so the funeral will be sometime early next week.

The Mass at Ellendale was celebrated in the outdoor setting near the creek and was followed by the (now) traditional BBQ. The doctor and his wife were there as they complete their time in the district before heading off to Bicheno on the East Coast for another month's work before returning home to England. They have been great, attending Mass in nearly all the local Churches during their stay.

I came home for a short time before heading off to Brighton to see the family of the late Joanne Smith whose funeral is to be celebrated on Wednesday morning. I forgot to collect a photo for the cover of her funeral leaflet so will need to contact Steven, her husband, tomorrow to make a time to collect one so that I can do the booklet and get everything out of the way.

The drive home from Bothwell wasn't too bad but I definitely ready for bed and and good night's sleep.

The booklets for the two funerals are almost completed - the outside cover of the leaflet for the late Shane Scott has been done and I'm running off copies even as I type. I'm looking for some extra music that the family have asked for - I've found one but the other is still a bit illusive so I'll try some other people tomorrow.

This morning I got a call from Annie Graham and John saying that they were on the river just near the New Norfolk Rowing Sheds and that I should come down and they'd have the rubber ducky collect me and bring me out to the boat. I had no idea the size of the boat which was enormous - almost 30 metres long. As you can see from the photo it is no small boat. You might also be able to make out on the top of the hill St Peter's Church - just a background shot.

After seeing the family of the late Shane Scott I headed back to have a drink on board and then stayed for Dinner and didn't get home to much later than I had hoped so I am tired and ready for bed and it will only be a few minutes before I hit the bed and I doubt if it will be long before I get to sleep.

After fielding a couple of phone calls I headed off and got a call from Sean saying to hurry because Dad was now extremely sick so I rang Rosary Gardens to ask them to have Mum ready and I would collect her but before I arrived to collect Mum my sister Michele rang to say that my Dad had died.

Mum and I travelled into the hospital and joined Sean and Marti, Michele and Karen and Michele's son Sam and prayed the Prayers for the Deceased through tears and said our farewells. We also had the chance to speak to Steve and Brendan in NSW and began to make arrangements for the funeral and all the other things that need to be done over the next few days.

There is a delay in the release of Dad's remains to the funeral home because his death seems to have been caused by a massive infection and since there is a scare with menigicocal and because he had purple splotches on his body the Hospital are taking no chances. Hopefully it will be resolved tomorrow morning and we will be able to announce the time and place of the funeral so that people, especially people from outside the Hobart area have a chance to plan to come to the funeral if that is viable.

Lot's of things happened as we moved from the hospital to Sean's home at Glenorchy and gathered with Dad's brother Noel and his wife and were later joined by Ann Graham to make the funeral arrangements. We also managed to get lot's of other things done and so, all in all, we have worked through lot's of things and begun the process of grieving and telling stories.

Later in the afternoon I dropped Mum back to Rosary Gardens and met with the DON who said that someone was looking after Mum because a single room had become available in another Unit yesterday and if we were able to move her tomorrow there would be no need for her to have to struggle with the issues surrounding the empty bed in the room which, because of Commonwealth legislation, would need to be occupied within the next few days. I spoke to Mum and then contacted Michele and she has arranged for Karen and Sean to help her and Mum will move tomorrow.

I contacted the TCC Office and they have informed the CWS meeting in Sydney that I will not be attending the Commission meeting and, luckily, we have been able to organise to have the fares refunded so that is good.

The Parish Pastoral Council are meeting in the next room - I told them that I would be in for a cuppa at the end of the meeting and I am frantically trying to get as much of the booklets and leaflets for the funerals tomorrow printed so that I will not have much to do in the morning. Then I'm going to bed - if I thought that tomorrow was going to be a long day when I got up this morning it is now going to be twice as bad.

Stephen and Maree arrived from Sydney during the morning and they went out to New Town to help move Mum and she was settled into her new room later this afternoon so that was great. There are still some things that might need to be better organised but for the moment those things are under control.

I managed to get a draft booklet for the funeral done and we kids, minus Brendan who arrives tomorrow afternoon, spent time tonight at Sean's working through a few things both for the funeral and for the future.

There will be a Vigil tomorrow evening at Claremont where Mum and Dad lived for 25 odd years (in two different homes over the past 37 years or so) and I've tried to include that into the booklet but I'll check with Brian Nichols this morning before I start to print it off.

I think I'll head for bed because this is becoming incoherent and I'll try and get it all together in the morning.

I woke early and started work on the BEACON and have managed to get that finished, printed and ready for stapling - it was only later in the day when I managed to print off the Calendar so that will be added and finished over the weekend. Copies will go with me to the funeral tomorrow to be given to the other members of the team.

After Mass this morning I needed to make some phone calls before leaving for town to get the Bromide of dad's photo for the front cover of the funeral booklet. I'd managed to get most of the Big Book done for the Vigil tonight and for the funeral liturgy tomorrow although I still need to write my homily and include it but that can wait until tomorrow morning.

One major hurdle which still hadn't been overcome was for the postmortem to be completed and for me to be able to formally identify Dad to the Coroner and that took quite some time - he was released to the Graham's some 50 hours after he died and less than 24 hours before the funeral.

While I was waiting for the bromide and the phone call from the Coroner's Office I got another phone call to say that a parishioner, John Bellesini, had collapsed at home and had been rushed to hospital. Efforts to contact St Joseph's for a priest to attend had not been successful because it was right on Midday Mass time so I headed down. I met Fr Chris Mithen in the passageway but continued on into the Resuscitation Room - the same room where dad had died just 48 hours earlier and prayed with John and spent time with his partner.

Then it was back home to print off the booklet which was taken straight from the photocopier into the lounge where Ruby, Sandy, Beryl & Mary put it together - a great effort that made life a lot easier. They also assembled most of the BEACON which, as I said above, was a great help.

Then Mick Wheeler and I headed into New Town to Graham Family Funeral Home for the family viewing where we all caught up with Brendan who had just arrived in from Wollongong via Sydney. I could now talk to all the members of the family (excepting Marti who had gone to collect Shayanne from Holiday Camp) about the funeral liturgy and showed them all the booklets that we used last night at the Vigil and Rosary and which will be used today for the funeral. Most of us then went back to Michele and John's for a short time to catch up with Lisa, Grace and our new little grandson and nephew Benjamin who had been born on Christmas Day.

The Vigil and Rosary was held at St Bernard's Church, the Church where the twins were baptised some ...(!) years ago, and where Mum and Dad have been actively involved for most of the past 35 years except for a short time in New Town. There was a nice little gathering of friends from around the place and it was good to be with them and to pray for Dad. At the end of the Vigil I asked a few of those who had come to stay behind with the family for a few brief words and we started the wake with a bottle of 12 year old Bushmills Whiskey.

On my last weekend in Ireland I had travelled with Jean Kielty to Bushmills on the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland and had toured the Old Bushmills Distillery. In the gift shop I had bought a bottle of Whiskey and had it specially labeled as a Christmas present for Dad - but at the time, since he had been so sick I commented to the staff that it would either be his Christmas present or would be used at the start of his Wake - it was both!

Mick and I then came home and waited for Brendan to arrive to collect my 12 string guitar to take with him to practice, he is singing the Furey's Song 'The Old Man', after the eulogy tomorrow and he wanted to use my guitar tonight to be comfortable with it before the event. Mick went out and got some Chinese because neither of us had really eaten all day so we sat and chatted with Brendan for awhile before he left, Mick and I ate and then talked for a while before heading off to bed and hopefully, a good night's sleep.

Thus ends January - what a month!

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