Monday This and That…On Tuesday!

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Welcome to Monday This and That… where we share a bit of this and a bit of that with each other!

I don’t have much at all to report on the sewing front… this post will be about my mother-in-law and her funeral, which was yesterday…

On Sunday we started the long drive to DH’s hometown. We hadn’t been there for quite a while, not since his parents moved away. We got a late start because DH had an online conference for work, so we stayed the night in a nearby town.

Monday morning saw us driving in to town, looking at all the “changes” that we could see in the small country town he grew up in. There were some, and also lots of people he didn’t know… times change!

The service was held at the small church that my MIL used to play the organ at…

My mother in law’s name was “Joy”! It caused some confusion over the years, sharing the same name 🙂 Not to mention it being a bit disconcerting seeing (and hearing) my name throughout the funeral!

Joy was a Melbourne city girl, born and bred, who married a country boy about a five hour drive away in the east of Victoria, near the South Australian border. She met him at a country dance while visiting her older brother, who was working there in the forestry department. They fell in love, married and moved to a place that would have been quite culturally different than what she was used to!

She soon learned how to deal with tiger snakes, cook for shearers, all while raising four children. My DH was the youngest, the baby of the family 🙂

It must have been a huge change for her, but she was hardworking and determined. Her city ways came out in making sure her children all had university educations. She was heavily involved in the local community, church and ladies groups.

When we used to visit she always cooked up a storm – lots of lamb of course, all you could eat since they killed their own meat. One day would be a roast leg, the next day chops, the next a forequarter roast, with an occasional casserole thrown in between. The Tuna Casserole that I make regularly (and still need to share the recipe for here on the blog!) is her recipe.

She made the best sponge cake, and pavlova, and I was delighted to see that this recipe was included on the back of a lovely bookmark we were all given at the church:

While I never made any sponges, Joy did teach me to make a perfect pav every time!

Joy would have been very happy with the service – her pastor led the service, a few family members shared happy memories, and 6 of her 7 grandsons were coffin bearers. She would have been very proud of them.

After the service we went the cemetery, and after the coffin was lowered we also visited some other long gone family members. Then we all moved on to the local footy club where one of the ladies groups put on an afternoon tea. I met a whole bunch of DH’s relatives that I had never met before, and caught up with some we hadn’t seen for years. It was a great day and I’m glad I was still in the country to be there.

I think DH’s father was also happy to see so many family and friends there. The church was quite full, and everyone got a chance to have a good catch up with him.

We got home quite late last night and today we got a beautiful flower arrangement from DH’s boss:

Joy would have thought that was so “lovely” – that was her favorite word, especially in later years 🙂

Tomorrow night Mum and I are heading off on our trip… I am almost packed 🙂 I am taking my laptop, so I will be online from time to time to give you an update… for now, I’d better post this and go and check my list – which is getting smaller and smaller, so that’s good isn’t it?!

Have you got a bit of This and That to share? Then join in and link your blog post below!