FUNERAL DAY

TUESDAY 15th FEBRUARY

  Robert and I set off for Carlingford shortly after 8.00am.  Nick was flat out on the settee, and Robert checked his temperature and it was 37.8.  We had a bit of a palava after Jane left, when Robert tried to get Nick to take his medicine, with Nick refusing to do so.  Thankfully Rob took no notice of his tantrums and forced him by continued persistence to take it sip by sip, each sip washed down by a glass of water.  He complained that "it was spicy" but eventually consumed it all and fell asleep again on the settee.  After Robert left I got to work on the computer, but after sorting out my e-mails and answering some queries from Peter, the damn thing crashed on me, so that was that.  I had my book, which I read as well as dozing a bit and watching some TV.  I saw part of the Fulham v Chelsea game and Fulham's penalty miss.

  The first to return was Robert and he got Nick to say a few words although he was still pretty sleepy.  Jane returned with a box of sandwiches from the wake (held at the crematorium).  Apparently my flowers with a card from "Adam & Bridie & the Komorowski Family" arrived all right.  The service contained a Neil Diamond song, John Lennon's Imagine and concluded with the Bee Gees More Than A Woman.  Jane and her brother Simon spoke about their mother, and apparently the whole service went off well.  I was sorry not to be able to be there, but glad that I could be of some practical use on the occasion.

  Rob and Jane took Nick to the doctor just after three, whilst I had a nap in the car outside the surgery.  Afterwards Rob drove to a McDonalds where he got some chicken nuggets which were the first thing Nick had eaten all day.  After taking the young lad home, and telling him to get better I told him I'd see him on Thursday. We then drove back to Oakhurst.  I managed to revive my computer and got it up and running again.

  It was decided that we would go out for a meal to

where I had an excellent beef and onion pie on mash and Robert had barramundi and chips whilst Jeannette had chicken with mushrooms and pumpkin, and Jayden had a schnitzel.  Not a crumb of food was left on any of the four plates!

  I felt so bloated upon my return I lay down for a nap until about 9.00pm and then received a Skype call from Peter.  He was trying to identify people in a photograph of my mother's funeral.  He tried to send me a better copy via Skype which seemingly caused his computer to crash.  We re-established communications but then lost them again.  In the end the matter was concluded via e-mail.  To complicate matters the second picture he sent me was slightly different to the original, so that different people appeared in the second row.  Anyway hopefully he now has all the correct info.  Everybody has gone to bed and I'm operating here on my own.  I have just found the name of General Ander's adjutant in the picture, it is Lieutenant Jan Konopka, so I must e-mail that to Peter and then I'll be done.