Saturday 12 June 2010

All’s Quiet

It’s 7am (or it was when I started this posting) and all’s quiet.  Mind you at this hour it has been since the Geddi (the plural of Geddes and applicable to any gathering thereof) arrived at Eagleton last Sunday.  Everyone has been going to bed so late that the mornings have not started until rather later than usual.  But this morning all is quiet and there will be no tired faces appearing for breakfast.  We were up just after 5am and by the time this post is finished Wendy, Fraser and Catriona will be half way across The Minch on the way to their next visit. 

They were fortunate in having wonderfully sunny, if cold, weather for the first four days and the children, who had not been on the Island before, saw it in its best light. Wendy, having lived here, knows the Island in all its moods.

So now the visit is just memories.  I have enjoyed it immensely.  I have enjoyed their company.  I have enjoyed that they have seen my home as it now is (Wendy was last in this house over 15 years ago).  I have enjoyed the laughter.  I have enjoyed being congratulated on my lovely grandchildren (and have given up explanations).  I have enjoyed (on one occasion and by someone who should have known otherwise) being mistaken for Wendy’s husband (who’s 20 years my junior!).

Today there were no emotional goodbyes; just hugs and high fives.  I probably won’t see them again before they return to New Zealand but I should be back in my NZ home at the end of our UK summer.  Summer?!  In Napier they are complaining about the cold winter.  It’s summer here and our temperatures are still generally lower by one or two degrees than in Napier!

DSC09566Fraser, Wendy and Catriona at ‘The Wedding’ Dinner and Party (posting to come)

DSC09631 A beautiful smile

DSC09686 ‘What’s more interesting than a Nintendo DS?’ (But at least they kept them happy in the car!)

DSC09774Sunny Stornoway.  Even sunnier family.

DSC09797 Laughter

DSC09799 Being impish

DSC09775 Being Catriona

DSC09973 Being Fraser

DSC00202 Being contemplative (and windblown and chilly!)

DSC09992 A hole in a wall (a very high up hole in a wall!)

DSC00027 Wide open spaces

DSC00079  and windblown sandy beaches

8 comments:

  1. These are absolutely wonderful photo memories, Graham! Beautiful. Warm. Loving. Fun. Perfect ♥

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  2. Thank you, Heather. They are lovely memories. I'm quite sad that they have gone actually. But my next visitors arrive from Canada, Australia and England on Monday!! Today is washing day!

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  3. I'm glad you all had happy days together, and the photos really reflect that!

    It is special to have your friends who live elsewhere to have visited you in your home, isn't it? I always felt that... Means a lot to me that my "most important" old friends have been to visit me in mine since I moved two years ago.

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  4. Thank you ,Graham ,for entertaining them. They did have a wonderful time and well deserved. Surely the plural should be Gedi as in more akin to Jedi as in the return of... !! .. ? Of course what your blog doesn't point out, and it may not be clear to new blog readers is that it is Half Gedi as the other half of the family,due to circumstances btc, could not be there but if they had been they would have laughed and smiled and enjoyed the house and scenery and company just as much as the other half Gedi. Perhaps next time. Anyway it will be great to see you again soon. PS can the photos be printed direct from the blog ?

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  5. I suppose that Gedi would have been better. I hope that there will be a next time and that you'll be here too. That would be great.

    You can print the photos by downloading the image (right click > save image as) and printing it from the downloaded location. I can send you bigger ones if necessary. In fact there are a lot more photos to come. I might just send you a card or DVD.

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  6. Graham, These photos reflect such joy! I know you had a great time...visiting castles, the beach, and magical trees!!! ;^)
    The color of the sea is astounding.
    I am very glad that all of you enjoyed your time together.
    ;^)

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  7. Such lovely pictures Graham. It was a pleasure to meet Wendy and the children. I can now put voices to the people in the pictures that you post.

    Briagha still has not recovered from playing with Catriona and Fraser. She is staying late in her bed, with her paws over her eyes - recovering.
    They say dogs get like their owners!?!

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  8. I can see that you all had a very good time! I'm glad it ended in smiles and laughter, not tears and goodbyes.
    Awesome photos! I felt like I was there. :)

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