Fathers Day: a tribute to my Dad

Dr.Hugo Coghlan 1925 - 2002
My Dad died in 2002 and I still miss him dreadfully, especially on Fathers Day. He was one of the kindest, gentlest, funniest men I have ever known and I was very fortunate to have him as my father.

He was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1925, although his family came from Skibbereen in Cork and he was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom became Doctors. This is a picture of him (right of picture), with his brothers, Georges and Diarmuid together in 1976.


He met my mother, Dorothy, while studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin and they fell in love, but unfortunately my mother was a Protestant and my Dad a Catholic, and this was Ireland in the forties!


Fortunately for me, my two sisters and our own children, they overcame all the obstacles, as theirs truly was a love match, and married in 1952. Sadly he died a few months after they celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary after 50 years together and Mum died of a massive heart attack not long after. I think she died of a broken heart without him. I like to think they have been reunited and are together again.

Dad and Mum on their Wedding Day

Dad with all his girls around him in happy times!

Friday-Follow: Building Friendship One Blog at a Time – June 18th

Welcome to the 4th Friday Follow hosted by our awesome hostesses, Stephanie at Goober Grape Monkey Man, Meg at Just Another Manic Mommy, and Traci at Traci66. Thank you ladies for being willing to host! Please stop by and see these awesome ladies.

We invite you to join us every Friday to get more blog followers and to find many interesting blogs that you like. This is all about sharing and having fun.

We expect you to be on your honor and to have fun. These are only guidelines to make it more enjoyable for you. Here’s how YOU can join the Friday Follow celebration:

* Link up your blog below...One Link per blog
* Grab our Friday Follow button include on your side bar, or post.. grab the linky information if you want it
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Congratulations to our first Three Friday Follow Winners!!!

Pull Up Your Potty Seat, This could take a while
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Each week we will randomly draw from three (3) blogs from the links for the next week’s Friday Follow, and each blog chosen will be placed in the highly coveted number #7, #8, and #9 position on the blog hop. The first blog chosen will also be given the option of doing an interview which will post on Friday-Follow.com on Thursday the next week. We love your participation and want to give back to you! You could be next!

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Kool Kaleidoscopes Video now on YouTube!

New! Flowers from my Garden Greeting Cards

I took a stroll around my garden the other day, which is looking lovely at this time of the year, with lilac, clematis, cherry tree, crab apple trees, aqueligia etc all in flower. There was even the first rose of the season, a pretty pink Queen Elizabeth starting to bloom. Naturally I had my camera with me and took some nice shots as I love to be able to look back at the photos when the flowers are all gone.

Some of them were good enough to use on cards for my ZAZZLE STORE, so I decided to create some personalised Birthday Cards. I hope you like them.

Crab Apple Blossom Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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Azalea Flower Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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Cherry Blossom Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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Purple Aquielgia Flower Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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Rose Birthday Card by CharmaineZoe
Design a photo note card at zazzle

Rose Birthday Card by CharmaineZoe
Create a photo note card online at zazzle

New Birthday Cards: The Natural Landscapes of Devon

I was in the beautiful county of Devon in England for a weeks holiday at Easter, staying at a great Caravan Park called Dornafield, near Newton Abbot. While there I took some great photos of some of the lovely landscapes there and in the near vicinity. I have now turned them into attractive birthday cards which are all personalisable and available from my ZAZZLE STORE.

Devon River Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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Devon Sunrise Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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Beech Wood Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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English Oak Greeting Card by CharmaineZoe
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New range of Vintage American Military designs

Specially for Memorial Day in the USA I have created this lovely range based on old postcard designs. They are available as greetings cards, postcards, fridge magnets, mugs and caps and many feature the American flag. All are available from my ZAZZLE STORE.

New Designs at Kaleidoscope Kreations

I've been really busy creating lovely designs for my Zazzle Store, Kaleidscope Kreations and among a great new series of design collections is one I've called Glacier, a set of 12 very elegant designs in silvery grey and gold on a very dark blue background. (I've included 6 on this post)These are available as Fridge Magnets, Stickers and Keychains at the moment, all of which make lovely gifts and party or wedding favors, and will gradually be added to more and more products. And don't forget they can all be customised to add your own text and create bookplates, save the date, etc., All designs are always available on any product available from Zazzle by request. The contact page is available on the Zazzle sidebar.

I've also got several brand new ranges apart from Glacier. These are called Jewelled Rainbows and Gilded Azure and can be viewed at http://www.zazzle.com/charmainezoe.

Glacier 1 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
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Glacier 2 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
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Glacier 3 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
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Glacier 4 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
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Glacier 5 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
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Glacier 6 Sticker by CharmaineZoe
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