It's almost as good having a friend to stay as going on holiday oneself, you get to see places you haven't seen before and revisit some that you wish you saw more often. Jillian flew up from Cambridgeshire to be here for a few days. It was the first time we had met for 25 years and as we compared notes we discovered we had both been through difficult times after the Brussels era, both gravitating to 'spiritual' centres though of very different natures. She spent time with the Little Gidding community and T.S. Eliot's work formed a backdrop to her search for wholeness after a bruising marriage break-up.We had a lot of catching up to get through Happily for me she stayed in touch with many of the people we both knew so I also got to hear about their lives since I left. Between visiting the local beauty spots we looked for J's ancestors who, most amazingly, emigrated to New Zealand from this area in the late 19th century. We found the very farmhouse, not much bigger than a croft with sturdy stone outbuildings . They owned considerable acres but it must still have been hard making a living. We also found the tombstone of an earlier ancestor in the churchyard, the inscription still perfectly clear . After that the Family History facility was really helpful in providing even more details.
It seems so strange that Jillian now lives in the county where, since at least the 1500's, most of my ancestors lived out their lives as farmers, whilst I live where HER ancestors tilled the soil until they bravely set out to a newly opening continent with more exciting prospects.
We went to Johnson's woollen mill where J bought a skirt and we ate huge fluffy scones; we called in at the nearest distillery - two miles up the road from my house but I have never visited it before. We checked out the monks at Pluscarden who were at their mid-day worship, then when we picked up Sandy for his leave-out weekend he took us up to the Michael Kirk, built as a mausoleum for the Wizard of Gordonstoun.
We also ate and drank well. A time of abstinence is called for!
2 comments:
I wondered who that was, as I clicked on between words and pics. What a lovely time you both had, it makes me spit that I haven't got a friend on tap like that within....spitting distance. I see my friend Pat weekly, but always for coffee and an mutual ear bashing, maybe I should encourage us to get more adventurous.
I wake up full of confidence in my ability to eat and drink sensibly. It lasts till after breakfast.I try to counter the weight gain with exercise but the flesh is weak in that area too and the gym has become part of my history.
Shame about the video. That happens to me sometimes. All I get is a little red x in a box in the top left corner.
Cheers Gillian
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