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Gillian's wedding
On Saturday 16th April, my sister Gillian Lindsey married Jonathon Cook in Ulverston in the Lake District.
I travelled upto Cheshire on the Thursday to stay overnight with my parents and to say hello to David, my brother-in-law, and my nephews Alex and Toby who were also staying with my parents.
On the Friday, we all drove upto the Lake District where we were sharing a cottage for a few days. This led to an interesting collection of stuff to be packed as I had a silk suit in one case and hiking boots in another...
I'd bought the suit a few months before when I fell in love with it in Oxfam. I hit lucky just a few days ago, when I found the perfect silk scarf to match it in Help the Aged - the colours were an exact match. Of course, the hardest part was actually finding a white blouse that looked right with the suit. Nothing I had at home looked right at all, but I hit pay dirt in yet another of Broadstone's wonderful charity shops.
If you think I love charity shops, then you're totally right. A silk suit would be right out of my budget if I bought it new - but for 14 quid it's very good value. Charity shops have loads of variety which is especially handy if your tastes don't always match the latest fashion; they're closer to home than most chain stores; they're cheaper, and the money is going to a good cause.
Anyway, we arrived at the cottage in a small village in the Lake District and settled in. I was sharing a room with Alex (age 3 3/4). It was a bit disconcerting when he woke up in the night crying for his dad (who was in a room downstaris with Toby age 1 1/2), but it wasn't too hard to settle him down again. (the only drawback was that for some reason it triggered nightmares when I went to sleep again. What was really odd was that the nightmares weren't about Alex's mum - my sister Rosalie, who died last year - but about something completely different)
We stayed there for three days and did all the usual touristy things. David has the ability to sense a children's playground from several miles away which was invaluable in keeping the boys entertained, but we also went on the steam railway, visited a National Trust garden, went for a boat trip on Lake Windermere, climbed a small hill, etc. The scenary was absolutely fantastic. I don't think the sun actually shone and it was perishing cold, and I still loved it. There's a quality to the light that filters through the clouds that makes the mountains look almost etherial.
Although we didn't walk it, I feel I should mention that Ulverston has Britian's shortest, straightest and deepest canal. It's one and a half miles long and connects Ulverston to the tidal estuary. We had a clear view of the entire length from the foot of the Barrow Monument on Hoad Hill.
The wedding was a small affair in the registry office, family only. Jonathon's family had come over from America: his father and mother and his brother Steve and Steve's wife, Maria. (If the photos confuse - the parents are white and Steve is black - that's because Steve was adopted) Gillian and Jonathan originally met in Brooklyn while Gillian was working in America.
I was there (Richard was working and Henry has A-levels coming up and Dorset to the Lake District can't really be done there and back in a day). My sister, Carolyn, was there with her husband Mike and their daughters Jenny and Rachel. And David with Alex and Toby. We were all glad that David was there; he's very much a part of the family.
The service was short, but nicely done. The council chamber in Ulverston is an attractive room and the registrar was very good. There were a couple of moments when one or two people were close to tears, but when I saw Jonathon smile at Gillian and saw her answering smile, it was a truely lovely moment. He's a nice guy and I'm really glad they found each other.
After the wedding we all got fed back at Gill's flat. We had a wonderful selection of food which was mostly home-produced. It's amazing how different guacamole tastes when it's done well. I think my favourite was the creamed stilton on chicory leaves; then again, there were so many other tasty things...
I'd had fears that the wedding would trigger all my feelings about Rosalie, but to my relief, it didn't. I can think about her now without quite so much pain. The only moment when it really kicked in was when I was playing with Toby (who is incredibly cute) and he was laughing away and I thought 'He's so happy' and then I remembered Rosalie who was so happy with him and nearly cried because he'll never remember her. But maybe it's better that way. Alex does remember and he gets confused sometimes. Gillian and Rosalie were identical twins and it's hard for Gillian when Alex calls her 'Mummy'. Still, he seems to accept that she's allowed to go away and live her own life and doesn't cry when she goes, so maybe he does know the difference really. (He saw them both together a lot of times when Rosalie was ill)
We did some sight-seeing with Jonathon's family and got to know them a bit better. I particularly liked his brother and Maria.
I got in a little bit of bird-watching with my new binoculars (15 pounds from the charity shop Julia's House) and watched the swallows skimming over the surface of Lake Windermere hunting for insects.
We went back to Cheshire on the Monday and got delayed for about an hour and a half due to a jack-knifed lorry on the motorway. I caught the train back to Dorset on Tuesday and had a trouble-free journey mostly spent reading a book on lichen. I really wish I'd had a serious dictionary with me. Words like 'squamulose' aren't in my vocabulary and aren't in most dictionaries either. Still, it's an interesting book even if I have to read some pages three or four times over before I really understand them. I now know what a 'thallus' is (so, who has a dirty mind and got it totally wrong?) and an 'asci' and can even remember where cyanobacteria come into the picture. It'll probably be the next train journey before I read more. Trains are great for complicated books as there's no distractions.
All in all, it was a lovely wedding, it was great to catch up with the family and I must get upto the Lake District more often as it's an incredibly beautiful place.
Here's the photos: http://www.waveney.org/Family/GillsWedding/
I travelled upto Cheshire on the Thursday to stay overnight with my parents and to say hello to David, my brother-in-law, and my nephews Alex and Toby who were also staying with my parents.
On the Friday, we all drove upto the Lake District where we were sharing a cottage for a few days. This led to an interesting collection of stuff to be packed as I had a silk suit in one case and hiking boots in another...
I'd bought the suit a few months before when I fell in love with it in Oxfam. I hit lucky just a few days ago, when I found the perfect silk scarf to match it in Help the Aged - the colours were an exact match. Of course, the hardest part was actually finding a white blouse that looked right with the suit. Nothing I had at home looked right at all, but I hit pay dirt in yet another of Broadstone's wonderful charity shops.
If you think I love charity shops, then you're totally right. A silk suit would be right out of my budget if I bought it new - but for 14 quid it's very good value. Charity shops have loads of variety which is especially handy if your tastes don't always match the latest fashion; they're closer to home than most chain stores; they're cheaper, and the money is going to a good cause.
Anyway, we arrived at the cottage in a small village in the Lake District and settled in. I was sharing a room with Alex (age 3 3/4). It was a bit disconcerting when he woke up in the night crying for his dad (who was in a room downstaris with Toby age 1 1/2), but it wasn't too hard to settle him down again. (the only drawback was that for some reason it triggered nightmares when I went to sleep again. What was really odd was that the nightmares weren't about Alex's mum - my sister Rosalie, who died last year - but about something completely different)
We stayed there for three days and did all the usual touristy things. David has the ability to sense a children's playground from several miles away which was invaluable in keeping the boys entertained, but we also went on the steam railway, visited a National Trust garden, went for a boat trip on Lake Windermere, climbed a small hill, etc. The scenary was absolutely fantastic. I don't think the sun actually shone and it was perishing cold, and I still loved it. There's a quality to the light that filters through the clouds that makes the mountains look almost etherial.
Although we didn't walk it, I feel I should mention that Ulverston has Britian's shortest, straightest and deepest canal. It's one and a half miles long and connects Ulverston to the tidal estuary. We had a clear view of the entire length from the foot of the Barrow Monument on Hoad Hill.
The wedding was a small affair in the registry office, family only. Jonathon's family had come over from America: his father and mother and his brother Steve and Steve's wife, Maria. (If the photos confuse - the parents are white and Steve is black - that's because Steve was adopted) Gillian and Jonathan originally met in Brooklyn while Gillian was working in America.
I was there (Richard was working and Henry has A-levels coming up and Dorset to the Lake District can't really be done there and back in a day). My sister, Carolyn, was there with her husband Mike and their daughters Jenny and Rachel. And David with Alex and Toby. We were all glad that David was there; he's very much a part of the family.
The service was short, but nicely done. The council chamber in Ulverston is an attractive room and the registrar was very good. There were a couple of moments when one or two people were close to tears, but when I saw Jonathon smile at Gillian and saw her answering smile, it was a truely lovely moment. He's a nice guy and I'm really glad they found each other.
After the wedding we all got fed back at Gill's flat. We had a wonderful selection of food which was mostly home-produced. It's amazing how different guacamole tastes when it's done well. I think my favourite was the creamed stilton on chicory leaves; then again, there were so many other tasty things...
I'd had fears that the wedding would trigger all my feelings about Rosalie, but to my relief, it didn't. I can think about her now without quite so much pain. The only moment when it really kicked in was when I was playing with Toby (who is incredibly cute) and he was laughing away and I thought 'He's so happy' and then I remembered Rosalie who was so happy with him and nearly cried because he'll never remember her. But maybe it's better that way. Alex does remember and he gets confused sometimes. Gillian and Rosalie were identical twins and it's hard for Gillian when Alex calls her 'Mummy'. Still, he seems to accept that she's allowed to go away and live her own life and doesn't cry when she goes, so maybe he does know the difference really. (He saw them both together a lot of times when Rosalie was ill)
We did some sight-seeing with Jonathon's family and got to know them a bit better. I particularly liked his brother and Maria.
I got in a little bit of bird-watching with my new binoculars (15 pounds from the charity shop Julia's House) and watched the swallows skimming over the surface of Lake Windermere hunting for insects.
We went back to Cheshire on the Monday and got delayed for about an hour and a half due to a jack-knifed lorry on the motorway. I caught the train back to Dorset on Tuesday and had a trouble-free journey mostly spent reading a book on lichen. I really wish I'd had a serious dictionary with me. Words like 'squamulose' aren't in my vocabulary and aren't in most dictionaries either. Still, it's an interesting book even if I have to read some pages three or four times over before I really understand them. I now know what a 'thallus' is (so, who has a dirty mind and got it totally wrong?) and an 'asci' and can even remember where cyanobacteria come into the picture. It'll probably be the next train journey before I read more. Trains are great for complicated books as there's no distractions.
All in all, it was a lovely wedding, it was great to catch up with the family and I must get upto the Lake District more often as it's an incredibly beautiful place.
Here's the photos: http://www.waveney.org/Family/GillsWedding/
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I'm glad the wedding went well, and I hope Jonathan (or is it Jonathon?) becomes as much a part of your family as David.
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Gina
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It isn't just looks. I remember once when we were going for a walk, I suddenly noticed that we were all walking with our hands clasped behind our backs. My father does that and I've often wondered if it could be genetic in any way as I've never consciously leant to walk like that. (Maybe it relates to the shape of the shoulders or whatever)
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COngrats
Alastair.