Miracles CAN happen after all! ...

[joyce]

Greetings everyone!!   My apologies for not being super efficient with regard to the three outstanding paintings .. but 
I can confirm today that this morning, with the help of my bilingual friend Jane and the compassion of the very patient
young lady in the post office, I DID manage to successfully send three paintings off via the French postal system.  I
confess it was not super easy as I'd never sent a package before and France has so many ridiculous rules.  They just
love their paperwork!   Not only are the three paintings on their way, but I have enclosed a USB inside each one with
information as to some of the work I have been doing regarding John's motorsport items.   By no means finished I'm 
afraid as my jobs here are horrendous and take up all my time.  Progress has been made though albeit very slowly.
To ensure Chris, Rob and Andy don't feel left out, I have also posted a USB to each of their addresses too so hopefully,
should René have reason to refer to something special .. then at least you will all be in receipt of the same information.
When I can deal with the most interesting aspect of the collection, the slides, I will send them only to René who can
identify them where necessary, fine tune them and then present them to the forum as and when appropriate.  To the best 
of my knowledge, René and Mikael should receive their parcel on 20th August and Carl should receive his on the 27th I
believe.   I have some paperwork here which I will try and decipher so that I can track the progress of the items as the
delivery date nears.   I know John would have loved the thought of still existing in some way with his forum friends who 
he thought so highly of.   No doubt he is up there somewhere smiling down at all of us now.  Kind Regards from Joyce  

[mikael]

Dear Joyce

Very happy to read this - thank you kindly.

I am looking much forward :-)

With best regards,

Mikael

[René]

That's fantastic, Joyce.

Thanks for taking the time to tackle French bureaucracy! 

I'm really looking forward to the painting!

Warm regards,
René

[Carl]

Dear Joyce,
                   Many thanks for your kindness!  You and John retain a place of honor at the round table and it will be wonderful to have one of John's paintings in my home, one more way we will always be close.

Kind regards, Carl

[robmarsh]

Many thanks Joyce for all the trouble you have been to and for keeping us in the loop.  I can imagine that John's collection must be a treasure trove for people like us and now I will be able to see it.  It must be very difficult emotionally for you even before taking into account the French bureaucracy so I really admire the way you have stuck to the task. 

Thank you

Rob

[joyce]

Delighted to hear you are all looking forward to the update on John's collection.  I am so sorry that it took me so long to deal with the last three paintings but the language barrier over here (my fault) and the ridiculous hoops one has to jump through to get anything done just put the fear of God in me for so long!   Handing Andy & Lydia the UK paintings was far easier!  I hope everyone is able to access the info on the USB's.   There should be no reason why any of them should fail but do say if any problems are experienced for life is easier if you all know what each of you may well be referring to on the USB.  Why John
kept one or two of the minor items I'll never know .. but my job I feel is just to store all of his things away safely for onward travel to England ... and then I will then think as to what to do next.  For the moment, the horrendous task of preparing this place for a sale, more than likely Spring of 2025 (for time just flies!) is top of the list.   I will however also be making a start on investigating the slide collection which I am sure I once guessed to be around 16,000 items? .. could well be more!  for there are 40 slides in each container and there are two very large Bankers Boxes full of them (found everywhere within the house!).
Pity everyone lives so far away for it would of been a fun task for you all to be part of!  Happy times ahead for all of us therefore.   Lovely to be part of the forum, even if I take a back seat in everything.   John would approve I'm sure.

[René]

You don't have to apologize Joyce. You obviously have a lot on your mind.

It's just very special that we got to know John, even if it was from a distance. He contributed so much to our small community and it's very nice that we will all have a tangible and visible memory of him.

Thank you and thank you for staying on the forum. Sure John would approve! 

[Carl]

Aug 16, 2024 8:58:11 GMT joyce said:

Delighted to hear you are all looking forward to the update on John's collection.  Happy times ahead for all of us therefore.  Lovely to be part of the forum, even if I take a back seat in everything.   John would approve I'm sure.

Joyce,
            You are more than welcome at our round table, in a place of honor established by your devotion to John and his many fond mentions of you.  The more we hear from you the better and John would most definitely approve!

Cheers, Carl