The saddest, shortest blog

Us with Jackies mum on our Norwegian cruise five weeks ago in February

The saddest, shortest blog.

We last posted on Monday 20th, and moved to Dartmoor on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening we rang mum, to do the Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword with her over the phone, as had become the norm on this trip. We knocked it off in about an hour, mum giving some answers before Brian had even finished reading them out. We said our goodnights and signed off.

Wednesday morning we didn’t get our usual “Morning” WhatsApp and no response to phone calls. The neighbours were kind enough to come in, only to find her peacefully curled up in her bed, having passed away.

The last 10 days have been a bit of a blur. We can’t deny it was a shock, but the post mortem has confirmed she would have known nothing, so it really was the way everyone wants to go, and that even if we had been here we could have done nothing.

We are immensely pleased that we went away on the Norwegian cruise over her birthday, and all enjoyed it so much. It was a year since she did Velocity 2, the world’s fastest zip wire, so Brian had sent her pictures which elicited the response “it’s time I had another challenge that everyone thinks I’m too old to achieve “ so she was on good form and went out on a high.

We are very grateful for the support we have had from all our friends, and have been touched by the kind words from her friends.

Here's the Daily Telegraph cyptic crossword from Tuesday 21st March 2023 and the set of clues that were the last thing Pauline concentrated on. We do the crossword online so didn't have the paper version, Helen S. got us this one and sent it to us, thank you Helen.

And here's a screenshot from my phone of the completed crossword after we'd finished it. We're trying to remember the one's Pauline got. She definitely got 1 across, Allowed. 10 across, Ornaments, she got almost before I'd finished reading the clue out. Jackie hadn't heard her and was still trying to work it out, so I said, 'no, you're mothers already answered, I've put the answer in', 'oh, yes' she said 'of course'. She also got Drone, Severe, Kangaroo, Sought and quite a few others. She was 'on the ball'

The remainder of this blog is going to be a bit of a reminisce in photos:

Here she is with Charles, her grandson, who's now 20 years old

Jackie and I ran a ballroom dancing school in Alvechurch about 15 years ago and here she is dancing with Ian B. an old member of our mountaineering club who wanted to learn how to waltz and foxtrot

Before we gave up work in 2012 we used to go on a ski trip each year with the mountaineering club (often organised by us) and Pauline used to like to come along, not necessarily to ski, but because she liked the winter sun and crisp alpine scenes. Here she is in a group photo. We're in it, just right of centre and Pauline is there too just left of centre

She would always bring a jigsaw along to do in the chalet and, whilst most 'hardy mountaineers' wouldn't stoop so low as to do a jigsaw, as the week went on we'd see them joining in to add some pieces

One year, on her 60th birthday, she decided she was going to learn to ski and here she is second from the left in her ski gear. It has to be said that she didn't much like it, mainly as the ski instructor was so condescending, so she never skied again (but she still came out with us every year)

Since we gave up work in 2012 and started travelling the world, she has joined us for part  of our trips all over the world. Here in 2013 she joined us for part of our tour travelling up the east coast of Australia, here she is in Sydney, by the opera house

And she wrote entries on this blog. Here she is somewhere in the world typing away on her entry

Sitting outside our little campervan that we hired in New Zealand and another one in Australia

Out whale and dolphin spotting in south island New Zealand in 2012

In front of Fox Glacier in New Zealand in 2012, her first sight of a real glacier up close

She was always game for a laugh too. When I told her to assume the pose of the person on the sign, she did!

Kayaking in Karamea, South Island New Zealand in 2012

It didn't all go to plan, here's Jackie rescuing her after she capsized

In Arches National Park, Utah, USA in 2014

Sitting round a campfire in the USA in 2014

We'd bought a packet of crisps at low altitude in the USA, then driven up to a high pass for lunch. Due to the much lower air pressure the crisp packet had expanded almost to bursting point

Hiking along a valley and through a cave to arrive behind a waterfall

We took her to and saw some amazing sights all over the world

Red Rocks, Utah, USA 2014

If I told her to do it, she'd do it!

She even joined us on a housesit in Colorado USA in 2014. We're enjoying Margaritas at our 'ranch sit' while Pauline strokes one of the dogs in our care 

She didn't like having her photo taken, so its surprising I've got so many photos of her over the years. Sometimes she needed to be persuaded to be in a photo!

She was delighted to meet Peter Skellern at some random place in New Zealand in 2012 - and we think he was quite pleased to be recognised. He was one of her favourite artists

Carefree and happy in South Africa in 2020. A penguin as just waddled past her

A close encounter with a penguin

She met my long lost cousin, Martin and his wife Michele in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2020

She's been to southern most tip of Africa  

Got up before dawn to see meercats wake up and pop their heads out of their burrows in the wilds of South Africa

Helped a wild tortoise get safely to the side of a road in South Africa

Fed camels

She's been on many African safaris and seen most animals

Her favourite was having morning coffee with giraffes. I promise you, this is a genuine photo

A close second was breakfast in the bush. A full breakfast cooked in front of us in the wilds, miles from anywhere surrounded by men with guns in case any lions or cheetahs decided they'd like to join in

We took her on a very long hike to a waterfall in Wilderness, South Africa in 2020, including this river crossing. Everyone in the hotel where we were staying were amazed she'd walked so far in the wilds on uneven tracks, which made her feel great!

Did we mention we'd taken her rock climbing?

A close encounter

This was back in 2007 when Pauline and I had a trip together in Australia. I'd gone over for a business meeting and Pauline had arranged a solo trip through Australia on her own (she used to go all over the world on her own). At the end of her trip and after my business meeting, we met up in Melbourne, hired a car and drove along the Great Ocean Road

And then, just last year she went on the worlds fastest zip line while we were on a weeks holiday in North Wales and, in doing so, she proved age is no barrier!

She did it without any sign of nerves

 

Here she's just been released at the end and Jackie and a member of staff help her find her feet again

Those photos came up on my photo memories recently and I sent her copies via WhatsApp, as I generally did to remind her of things we'd done together. This is a screenshot of a conversation we had on 17th March, just over a week before she died. She wanted to do something else no-one thought she could do. I'd suggested a parachute jump, which she didn't rule out. It would have been fabulous if we could have arranged it

She did love time with Charles and Caroline, her grandchildren. Here she is when they were quite young  

And here we are on a canal narrowboat we hired one day

I told her to do it, she did it!

These things have to be done!

Just five weeks ago we took on her last holiday, a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords

It was plain to see she absolutely loved it. What a fabulous last holiday!

We dressed up each night in our best bib and tucker

Watched a show in the cabaret bar each night

We danced, attended lectures, cookery displays, craft workshops

She bought a new warm hat, which is now going to take pride of place in the house

We did some shore excursions, sometimes in the snow

On a walk through Stavanger with our ship in the background

And this was the last photo of took of her just before we left on our last trip to SW England in our motorhome at the end of February. Feeding the wild birds in her garden with Geraldine, her giraffe. RIP Pauline, we'll miss you