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The Autobiography of Jeannie Wintle Hereford

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24.01.2022 Christmases in the Nilgiris when I was young..... so far removed from the Christmas of today. The feeling of EXTENDED FAMILY BEING CLOSE FAMILY is never as great as it was in my family in the sixties. Most of us lived in the Nilgiris or the neighbourhood and my Uncle Mayberne and his family would visit every year from the hill town of Mussoorie in the north of India. The excitement started weeks before the expected visit. All of us had to help in making the huge amounts of t...he delicious goodies.... cutting fruits for the cake, rolling out the plates of kalkals, watching the milk sweet, sooji halwa, coconut sweet being prepared and enjoying the tasty tit bits in the bowls. On the day the Christmas cake was being prepared, we would need to line the cake tins with butter paper. Dad was the chief chef, we were the minions and landed up with hard jobs like whisking egg whites by hand till they formed peaks. The cakes were numerous and shared by the families. They had to be taken to the local bakery and put into the vast recesses of the huge black oven where they would bake for four hours. Making dol dol on a wood fire was another back breaking job. We would take turns stirring because it would clump if you left it for a single minute. Christmas lunch was Dads famous Nilgiris Beef Green Biriyani again made on a wooden fire, accompanied by boiled eggs, devil Chutney and raita. And bites were Aunty Margo’s fried meatballs. Masala beef chops was another staple dish. The roasts and other accompaniments were for dinner. After Church we were all marched off with a plate of goodies to give to each neighbour’s family. They returned the favour at Ramzan or Diwali. Then plans were made for the Railway Institute Christmas Dance. We children would be asked to rest in the afternoon but as if that was possible. Wearing our treasured Christmas dresses and going to the dance made us feel like a million dollars. And sleep never came into the picture. Adrenalin kicked in. Boxing Day was the standard cricket match down at the school oval where mum taught. Everyone was roped into this, underarm bowling was allowed for the girls and the boys boasted for weeks about the runs they had scored or the wickets they had taken. Gifts were simple and one or two. Family was more important... a time we remember even today. How I treasure these fond memories and I am sure that many of you relate to them too. I am sharing this post with my family. Happy Christmas to each one of you.

23.01.2022 A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE FINAL EPISODE. By Jeannie Wintle Hereford. Beryl Charity Wintle was the fourth living child in her family, but for all intents and purposes she could have been the eldest. Her early life, including meeting my father and subsequently becoming his wife could easily be a parallel to GONE WITH THE WIND or MCLEOD’S DAUGHTERS. As a young girl, she lived on the homestead in KULPILLE, KOTAGIRI, her parental estate, and because of distance, she and her sibl...Continue reading

20.01.2022 My mother’s legacy.... her students. When they came to visit recently they were full of praise for her and her influence in their lives. One of the strictest teachers ever, they recognised her love of them, and her duty of care for them. If you ask anyone in Coonoor or Wellington who Mrs B C Wintle is, they will immediately tell you what she has done for them or their children, or their family members. Numerous families have benefitted from her guidance, she would put in eve...ry effort to ensure that they improved in their work and eventually succeeded. She had an input into the education of her children, siblings children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren. Affectionately known as HITLER, she had high expectations of all of us, never letting anyone get away with not giving of their best. When the families went up to the hills to visit her in summer, the kids were only allowed to play only after they had done the schoolwork she set them. But her pride and joy was in seeing them reap the rewards of the steady gardening she gave them to make them better students. And the many batches of students who she taught Mathematics and English to, along with singing and dancing for concerts, and Bible verses galore.....well they are better today because of her input in their lives. Ask any of them and they will sing her praises. Mrs Beryl Charity Wintle. THE LEGEND OF ST JOSEPH’S BOYS HIGH SCHOOL IN COONOOR, NILGIRIS, SOUTH INDIA.

20.01.2022 Today makes 10 years since I joined Facebook. 2020 makes ten years since I entered a year of battling STAGE FOUR OVARIAN CANCER. And praise God that he has brought me to the start of 10 years of beating cancer and being cancer free. The memories of 2010 are in my mind. The numerous tests, two large surgeries, months of gruelling Chemotherapy, hair loss, wearing wigs, and a host of other things. But the standout memory for me is of being close to Jesus, and walking through ev...erything with no sense of fear, and with the faith that he held me in the palm of his hand. This year is the start of another decade, and with it comes a freshness, a rebirth, and a whole heap of experiences ahead. The recent bushfires have reminded me that after sadness comes joy, after hard experiences good ones. This one thing I know. With Jesus by my side, I can do all things. HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW, AND I KNOW HE WATCHES ME.

19.01.2022 Musing on the many benefits that self isolation and working from home has done for my family and myself. While there are many things we miss such as hugs from our grandkids there have been many things that we are thankful for. For one, we have saved on fuel, because we have hardly used the car to go anywhere except for emergencies. Secondly, we have hardly been able to go out to our favourite restaurants to have a rest from cooking, so not only has this been light on our poc...kets, but it has meant that we have had healthy home cooked meals at regular times. Good for the body, good for the mind. Thirdly we have not been to shopping malls and spent unnecessary money on retail therapy...that new dress or shirt for an occasion, to be worn once and stored away in the cupboard. The occasions have vanished anyway. Fourthly we have kept regular times of everyday simple things like going to bed, and the ability to sleep in even ten minutes more, because work is now at home. We have learned to appreciate each other more, and share the load in many little chores around the house. We have valued more family time, more time to sing together, pray and be happy together. And meanwhile the outside world is healing because we humans are allowing it to. It’s been a winning situation in the midst of a global catastrophe. ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE!

18.01.2022 The case of the elusive masks: TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION. In the month of April, long before Stage Four restrictions were looming and masks were becoming mandatory, we were looking for comfortable cloth masks with an air vent that would be easy to use for long periods of time. I came across an advertisement which depicted the features I was looking for. The Company was based in the US, and the time of delivery was estimated at 3 weeks maximum. We promptly ordered 4 ma...sks in navy blue for a total of around $50, which we paid of course by credit card. After a couple of days an invoice was sent to Marshal’s email, though funnily there was no name at the top, nor were there any tracking details. Now Marshal being Marshal was cleaning out the trash from his mail, and inadvertently got rid of this invoice as well. That didn’t seem too bad, because it was a fairly small package. The times being what it was we were prepared to wait for even a couple of weeks more. But as days....then weeks....then MONTHS went by, and no signs of any package, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we had been right, royally SCAMMED! We forgot about it, and managed to buy other comfortable masks for use. So imagine our surprise when the postman stopped by our letter box yesterday and stuffed a little parcel in it. When we opened it, there were the 4 navy blue masks in it. But here comes the twist in the tale.... The address of the sending company was from JIANGXINGDASHA, DONGBIN ROAD, FENGZEQU, QUANZHOUSHI, FUJIANSHENG, CHINA!!! Now I DARE you to read this address, and tell me how a US company mysteriously ended up in China!!

17.01.2022 A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE PART 2. FIRST EULOGY TO BERYL CHARITY WINTLE BY HER SON DR BRIAN CHARLES WINTLE. I am really sorry that I am unable to travel to Melbourne for my mum’s funeral service. I last saw my mother in December 2015 and was hoping that I would make another trip before too long. However, I’ve had various health challenges since January 2018, and am presently recovering from cataract surgery on both my eyes. Yet I am glad to present this tribute to a remarkable lad...Continue reading

17.01.2022 When we lived in Jabalpur in the early nineties, there was a young student called Hazel Subaiya. She was in Marshal’s Scripture class, and we were sorry to leave behind us her and other precious students who were entrusted to our care. Little did we realise that years later and in the most unlikely of places and in the most unusual circumstances we would meet again and form a close bond of friendship teaching together in the same school LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE. I think... it is safe for me to say that we have both been good for each other. I am as proud of her as she is of me, we have both helped each other in different healing processes, while serving both our staff and student community with happiness, caring and hospitality. Her boys have been a close part of my husband and myself, and feel happy to call us their grandparents. Both Hazel and I have nurtured each other and formed a close bond that can never be broken. The time has come for us to part physically as she and her family have opted to be part of an outreach community going to a place called WEIPA in far North Queensland to start a school for the needy community there. It is a leap of faith that she and Cameron have taken, and I personally know that faith can move mountains. We do not know what the future holds. Life is like that and takes its funny twists and turns. But whatever that is dear Hazel you have our backing. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for your friendship, love and caring. And till we meet again this is Au Revoir, not Goodbye.

16.01.2022 5 weeks into Online Teaching and the surprises do not stop coming!! So here’s my latest version of a day in the life of an online teacher and her students. 8:05 am: Just glance at my iPad and find that some eager beaver teachers have already signed into morning briefing which is scheduled to be at 8:15am. Am I missing something I’m meant to be at? I rush to my office and tune in only to find that they are having some banter with each other, which naturally being me, I have to...Continue reading

15.01.2022 In May 2010 I had my major surgery for Ovarian Cancer. It was a success and after 6 rounds of chemotherapy I was in the minority of Stage Four Cancer survivors. This year I am celebrating my TENTH year of being in remission, and of being cancer free. I thank each and every person who has been with me on this journey, with your love prayers and support, I have made it through! For if GOD is for me, then who can be against me?

13.01.2022 When I was young I was always very slim, and I took it as something for granted, as most teenagers do. But as I got older the weight began to pile on even though my food portions got less and less. And as most people do who suffer with weight issues I did not dare suggest it could be something else, because as we are always told You are what you eat! As most people do, I did try various types of food adjustment, giving up rice, sugar, trying salad diets, eating only chapat...his, you name it, I tried it. But two things I was not silly enough to do...take diet pills or diet shakes, or go on starvation diets. Even today I steer clear of things like Weight Watchers, Keto, drinks with lemon etc in it, milk and salads only, high protein diets. The inking to my problem came when a GP asked me about my metabolism rate, and I realised it was extremely slow due to habitual bad bowel movements. And when I was given tablets to prevent nausea during chemotherapy, I became worse and worse. It affected me in other ways too. Yes, the issue of self image and poor esteem came into play. I thought I was being funny when I joked about being a good goal keeper, in reality I had just resigned myself to being the way I was. Recently however, I found a small but radical solution that is helping me no end to not only increase my metabolic rate, but helping me to fit into my clothes much better and feel more energetic. I can feel and see it myself. And no, unlike the numerous ads you see asking you to contact them for a miracle weight loss, I do not charge to tell my secret. It is as simple as this: Take a tiny bottle of YAKULT (full of probiotics) after a meal once a day. Don’t worry about the sugar content or anything else. It is great for people like me. Why am I sharing this? Because I know that there are many people like myself who struggle to no avail to maintain their weight, and who are made to feel guilty about it. This post is for YOU. Don’t worry about anyone else’s opinion, you do what works for you. And happy drinking.

10.01.2022 Further confessions of an online teacher...... My first online test today. With my Year 8 students. I’ve been giving them instructions for days, to prepare them for the process. To make things really simple (or so I thought) they were asked to take photos of their handwritten solutions and send them to me within a certain time frame through direct message. The test was scheduled to start at 9am and so I uploaded the document 10 minutes earlier, for them to have some reading t...ime to start writing at 9am. They would have ample time to do a test which consisted of multiple choice questions and one step working short answer questions. Should be a breeze right? WRONG! About 5 students did not sign in at the start of the test. They then started signing in at intervals of 5 minutes or so, apologising that their house was in darkness (we are having foul weather), or their Internet was playing up for the same reason. Ok I thought, these can work through recess and then hand their work in. The really fast workers finished quickly and the solutions started trickling in randomly. But guess what? Some of them were sideways to the left, others were to the right. I imagined myself bending my neck to the left and then to the right. Might help my sore back huh? But more was to come. Some started coming in UPSIDE DOWN, so I’d need to become a contortionist to view these. Others were not focussed, still others were in shadows. Maybe I need to teach photography next semester? So there you have it. I am in for a real interesting weekend marking these tests. WISH ME LUCK!

10.01.2022 One of the last pictures we have with our little Craig. He’s the little boy standing in front of me in the yellow shirt. Precious memories, how they linger, How they ever flood my soul, In the stillness of the midnight,... Precious sacred scenes unfold. See more

08.01.2022 ONLINE TEACHING DUE TO COVID19 Day 2 went more smoothly than Day 1. Students were more sure of where they were going, and when they had to sign in so that a roll could be taken and put onto SEQTA. I’m happy to say that apart from one student in Home Room who has had a family tragedy I had 100% attendance. Students were able to ask for help with difficult questions, and I could work them out, take photographs and upload them. I think we all found it productive, and had a heal...thy discussion, and I feel better about my Year 12 students. I am really grateful to be teaching Mathematics, and to Senior students. Other subjects need to be really creative, but Mathematics is cut and dried. And younger students need to get up and move about from time to time. There are bound to be new challenges as we go along, with assessments and a mid year examination to negotiate, but we work as a team, and with God’s help we will get there. Most critical is the fact that by staying at home we are helping out with not spreading the Coronavirus. Thank you Jesus! And lots of love to my fellow teachers. Miss you all. Stay safe!

08.01.2022 She has fought the good fight. She has won the race and gone home to her reward. To that MANSION OVER THE HILLTOP, which Jesus Himself has prepared for her. My beautiful mother went home tonight at 8:50pm, in a beautiful sense of peace, with her immediate family at her side, holding her hand and kissing her hair. She went the way she lived..... on her own terms. We will definitely miss her, but know that she has gone to a better place. Thanks to each and everyone who has be...en with us on this journey, for your love and prayers. We have really appreciated this. And our prayers were answered because Jesus just leaned down, picked her up and took her home. I will be posting the details of her funeral arrangements as soon as we have them.

08.01.2022 THERE’S ALWAYS A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING. MY FIRST EPISODE OF ONLINE TEACHING. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have envisaged that I would be a VIRTUAL teacher, and definitely not at my age in life. Right up to last week I would go into school and share my day with these smiling faces. Even if we had to sit them down apart from each other and manage other distancing measures, we had the warm buzz of the classroom full of life, with banter and teaching and learnin...Continue reading

07.01.2022 Poem created by Brian and Jeannie to celebrate the life of OUR MOTHER You were ninety nine and more ... When you reached the other shore, Jesus led you through that door ---- OUR MOTHER God Himself did see your tears, But through all the passing years He had banished all your fears ---- OUR MOTHER He did find you ever true, And He took you safely thro'; How we thank Him we had you ---- OUR MOTHER All you ever did for us You did never count the cost. Heaven’s gain will be our loss, OUR MOTHER He did keep you all your life, Through the calm and through the strife, All his blessings were your right, OUR MOTHER Well done! You have won the race, Served the Lord, deserving praise, Rest In Peace in that sweet place, OUR MOTHER.

04.01.2022 A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE PART 4. By ALICIA MARY HEREFORD. She was always described as a vibrant soul, with a beautiful warmth and kindness despite her tough exterior. She held her head high and never missed a birthday always preparing a gift well in advance. She was full of energy and that endearing determination until the end - strong-minded in every decision she made. My name is Alicia, and BERYL WINTLE was my great grandmother. She was many things to many people, but to...Continue reading

03.01.2022 Today I had my first experience of teaching some Mathematics on a Virtual Whiteboard, and I found it to be a liberating experience after days of written conversations and solving problems by hand, then taking photos and uploading them. Moreover I could do it in an interactive call, and the students could also write their questions on the board. Besides that we were having a teacher student conversation too, and best of all I could ask them to clean the board for me after a question was worked through. At first my handwriting looked as if I was in Prep, but pretty soon I got the hang of it and quite enjoyed myself. I will definitely be using it a lot more in the future though not everyday. One more hurdle overcome. The wonders of TECHNOLOGY!

01.01.2022 A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE PART 3. TRIBUTE WRITTEN BY FAYE WINTLE, TO HER GRANDMA BERYL. GRANDMAS are: Giving gRaceful...Continue reading