BerryBunch Family @Berrybunchfamily@dingdash.com

Today is my estranged dad's cremation service. He died the day after my first hospital visit last month - 12th November. He was 78.

So mixed emotions for me. I won't be attending because I'm still not up to a journey of that kind & as I avoid any stress I can.

He left behind his 3rd wife, 4 sons, 2 step daughters

I'm sad by the pain of a very broken, fragmented family.

He was saved.

I was even contacted by a half brother I hadn't seen for 32 years, and 2 half brothers I've not seen for 14 years

I'm sad he left a legacy, sadly, of broken people and lives. But I also know enough of the 'why' of how he lived and have no bitterness. Just sadness.

He ministered originally in Wolverhampton, setting up youth work projects. And was a passionate speaker and brilliant orator. I definitely learned those skills from him.

I said my real goodbyes 14 years ago. Today I'll say it one last time.

Andy
Photo : Top left to right
Steven (my son), Mark (youngest half brother of 3 boys), me, my dad

A job I love doing, that I can't currently risk doing (as I get a bit too enthusiastic while doing it!!) And Mr getting a bad and unecessary cut would really upset my family.

So glad for my wife and Boys. They truly are awesome.

Andy B

So I feel like an old man...but an old man with some colour :-) 🤣

At least I can get a little more independence, as the silver foil blister packs my pills come in, are a reliable source of me cutting myself...on blood thinners, that would be really rather unpleasant as it often takes me a good 10 minutes to stop the bleeding when my bleed is not being chemically thinned!!! Once my family load this bad boy up, I'll be able to safely take them myself!

Meanwhile the scary photo is me not shaving at the end of week 1

Hopefully, we'll get hair cuts this evening (once Jo finishes for the day) which may help with my appearance.....

...I said maybe!!

There's always hope 😂

Andy B

my latest post (and first for a while)

all to do with Covid, fear and God's perspective

Covid and The Golden Ticket

Take your mind back, and you might remember seeing the first signs that Covid-19 could well be a real issue, heading our way, like a freight train running along the tracks towards the edge of a cliff!

Scroll on a couple of years, and it is still making the lives of tens of millions of people difficult, at best. It has taken many loved ones from their family, way ahead of time, and it has created an abundance of fear.

We’ve seen governments, the media – and especially social media – capitalising on the fear of covid, to spread more fear for their own ends: as one doctor recently asked, where are the international campaigns, outrage and outcry about the dangers of eating too much sugar, or drinking too much alcohol: covid is indeed terrible, but there are other serious health issues out there too, which seem to have been forgotten about.

https://www.berrybunch.family/covid-and-the-golden-ticket/

Longer walk today.

Went easy up the [gentle] hill. My heart wanted to know what an earth I thought I was doing. Been a while!

Still. Home, tired and resting

Thanks my family for your prayers

I've just been out for a beautiful fall walk. 30 minutes, and pretty slow. But that's my first proper exercise in nearly 3 weeks! My legs are feeling it...but I feel great for getting out under my own power.

I've missed most of the really beautiful days and foliage. But saw some beauty in the nature near our home none the less

The leaves are on our driveway

The green path is actually a steep slope...it made me feel hopeful - tomorrow I will try a proper walk into the fields, and get some more exciting photos

Exciting to me, though, cos it represents the ability to breathe and walk 🙂

some updates on our website and material creation of late!

we haven't disappeared. we are still here - but our website is having some bigger issues (with our hosting company)

so if it goes offline again, it will be quite possibly, semi-permanent - we have a solution, which we'll put in place in the next 36-48 hours and that will resolve things in the next week or two (hopefully much quicker!)

with recovery from Covid, and some other stuff, we're not working at our optimum right now

on top of prayers for Covid (we're mostly past that now, just getting our strength back), could you pray for the website stuff - it is stretching my brainpower, quite a bit, and has caused us quite a bit of stress when we could do without that

https://www.berrybunch.family/berrybunch-updates/

https://youtu.be/QaeoiQmU8pw

BerryBunch.family Crafty Christmas 2021 Advert

Crafty Christmas, with the BerryBunch, 10th December 2021

A BerryBunch Crafty Christmas, is the perfect time to get some inspiration and ideas for those Christmas Decorations and Art Projections.

Join the BerryBunch as they get us in the mood for Christmas!

The Christingle will be available for you to watch, stream, share and download, 10 days before – so you be inspired and make preparations to use it in your own situation, if you wish. You’ll be able to grab your own copy from 29th November 2021.

It's thirsty work making stuff for the Berry Bunch Ministry. Do you want to support the work of the BerryBunch, and Buy Us A Coffee? www.buymeacoffee.com/BerryBunch

The BerryBunch

For all our Social Links
www.Bio.link/berrybunch

https://youtu.be/it2ENQLBjls

BerryBunch.family Christingle 2021 Advert

Christingle, with the BerryBunch, 5th December 2021

If you’ve ever wondered what a Christingle is, then look no further. Because, with a little help from Dave the Dog, Andy and Jo take us through how to make Christingle, as they retell the Christmas Story, with a little Dave the Dog assistance.

This Christingle will be available for you to watch, stream, share and download, 10 days before – so you be inspired and make preparations to use it in your own situation, if you wish. You’ll be able to grab your own copy from 29th November 2021.

It's thirsty work making stuff for the Berry Bunch Ministry. Do you want to support the work of the BerryBunch, and Buy Us A Coffee? www.buymeacoffee.com/BerryBunch

The BerryBunch

For all our Social Links
www.Bio.link/berrybunch

Saw this iyn a friend's post on FB - too good not to share :-)

MTB ride with Jo then porridge for breakfast. Jacket spud with poached eggs for lunch. I've even, today, managed a quiet time in between breakfast and lunch (I've gotten really bad at forgetting to sometimes eat until dinner time, once I get stuck into my day - something I've never before found myself doing!)

And I've marked our older boys tests for Home Education from last week.

Today, so far, is a good day 🙂

And I'm still blown away, and super encouraged, by two private messages that came in over the weekend, that have really built my family up, and encouraged us to keep doing what we're doing with our BerryBunch.family ministry

Happy Monday peeps

The end of another mountain bike ride with my beautiful friend and wife 🙂

And we were a little faster today too, which is always encouraging

Didn't feel much like cycling this morning. But we made ourselves get out this afternoon. Twas glorious!

And the smell of slow cooked lemon chicken is a welcome thing upon our arrival home.

Even cleared away, from the trail, part of a tree that had fallen down :-) I got all manly and broke it into submission !

Jo helped by supervising 😜

We even mentioned some friendly walkers...so that was a surprising, yet, encouraging, encounter.

Andy B and JoJo

#berrybunchfamilyfive #mtb #mud #cycling #mountainbiking #manly #tree #goodsamaritan #exercise #marriage #memories #memorybuilding #countryside

Andy B 2 Minute Video, Cycles, Cycling, and Shaving, S4, E19

While out and about on a mountain bike ride, Andy B stopped to rest under a tree.
Ok, so there wasn’t much resting due to the rather unexpected low flying helicopters and Andy’s rather excited enjoyment of them.

But, Andy was struck that he hadn’t showered for a few days, nor shaved. Simply because while he’d kept meaning to, things kept stopping him.

He was waiting until his next mountain bike ride, but when that hadn’t happened for a few days, it was becoming rather obvious that he hadn’t shaved.

And in life there are often consequences to those things that we fail to do. Consequences which, just like Andy B’s beard, demonstrate that something hasn’t happened.

Andy B

READ, WATCH, OR LISTEN TO MORE ON OUR WEBSITE - https://www.berrybunch.family/andy-b-2-minute-video-cycles-cycling-and-shaving-s4-e19/

A favourite postal delivery 🙂

Andy B 2 Minute Video, Dehumidifiers, Control and Trust, S4, E17

We have a dehumidifier in our home. Because, in our last home, we had horrendous damp, which led to serious problems with mould.

And we were thankful that we were able to get some great advice about which sort of dehumidifier to buy. And so we bought the type we were advised to buy.

And ours really is superb. You set the humidity level you want in your home, which you can find in the manual, and you switch it on. That’s it – other than emptying the tank when it is full of water. [READ MORE]

Just a thought…

Andy B

For the rest of this post, and to Read, Listen or Watch it, visit our website @ https://tinyurl.com/bc9w3zue

#berrybunchfamilyfive #control #dehumidifier #designer #GoDeeper #GoDo #Godstuff #honesty #letitgo #onelifeliveit #speaktruth #thought #trust

Got fuel. Got food. Feel blessed (also, got DingDash, so I can still chat to my global family)

Starting today, we've given our 2nd rest day each week to God. So, today, we've filmed our next episodes of Little Blessings Online, Endurance, the following Story Time with Dave the Dog, and Art Video for the next episode of Little Blessings

We've also filmed our 1st episode of Marriage Matters...just Jo & I - I last night - during our weekly Date Night, having a blast, and I almost exploded my mug of tea all over the studio when Jo replied to a question she didn't know I was gonna ask.

Marriage Matters is our brand new Podcast: Real Talk, Real Life and #KeepingItReal... encouragement for Christian marriages around the world 🙂

First episode airs Saturday 23rd October from 4pm, via your favourite podcast provider, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram (if they've got em working by then!) & via our website where you'll find all of the above, AND a transcript.

Watch It - Hear It - Read It

Andy B

Little Blessings Online, Season 5, Episode 3, Daniel and a Dream
(and yes, more Dave the Dog!)

JoJo and Andy B talk about dreams, good dreams, not so good dreams and strange dreams and JoJo has to call Andy B back to earth as he daydreams about food!

Story Time with Dave the Dog

This time Daniel needs to figure out what the King dreamed and what that dream meant, or he will be in big trouble; like Dave says, poor Daniel will have a serious ‘Time out’!

What will Dave the Dog make of the King’s strange dream and are Dave’s dreams stranger then the King’s?

Art Time

For art time, JoJo encourages us to make a dreamy drawing. It’s quick and simple art time this week, so you might want to play the clip again as it was so quick and just to make sure you were not dreaming! [READ MORE]

The BerryBunch

To view the rest of this post, or watch the videos, visit our website @ https://tinyurl.com/346j44cr

a little Dave the Dog to brighten your mood!

the rest of the episode will be live from Monday morning at 1030am (UK)

Andy B

Just wrapping up from another filming session for Dave the Dog, and that we'll known story of the 3 mates who wer chucked in a fire and came out just fine.

Cool!

And Dave showed off some of his new hobby - ventriloquism... we'll post that clip real soon!

The BerryBunch

#berrybunchfamilyfive #DavetheDogBBf #daniel #fire #furnace #StoryTime