No 35

"The internet is so slow", are words heard regularly in the Wiseman house and up until the last few days, my chosen response has been to raise my eyes in derision and shake my head, recounting the first time that I sent an e-mail, back in 1998.
      We had lived in Texas for 6 months when Ellie was 4 years old and James was just coming up for his 2nd birthday. Robin had a place in Bible college and I decided to tag along with the kids so we could see what life was like in USofA! One of our dear friends, Dawn, had given us a laptop to use and for the first time in our lives we had internet. I remember sending an e-mail and watching the bar travel over the screen till it had gone into cyber space and then the excitement of seeing that we had got one back! It was just amazing!
       The call that made my sympathies soften to the kids came on Tuesday, when a very pleasant young man , going by the name of Ryan, called from BT and informed me that because I hadn't changed my call plan for the last 5 years we were probably entitled to a faster service at a lower price. It turned out that instead of upgrading our home hub last year, Robin had opted for a free year of BT Sport and obviously (Not!) as ecstatic as we all were to have that particular channel in the house, I have a feeling that if a family conference had been called at the time, the new home hub would've won hands down!
        Ryan ( who has now been added to my ever increasing fictional Christmas card list) also told me that we had been paying almost £5 a month for the last 5 years for an internet phone service that I don't ever remember requesting and by the end of the call had given us Fibre optic broadband and reduced our bill by £20 a month...I think I might adopt him!
    So we will soon be up with the Joneses when it comes to our download speed and Jake can hold his head high when he tells his friends about our new service that arrives at the beginning of October. I actually lied to him for 2 days and told him that I had bought the fibre optic broadband for his 16th birthday, as he's been begging us for it for so long. It was working really well, till I decided to confess, after a few days, as the guilt was starting to get to me. I reckoned one of his friends would've dobbed on me eventually, so  now we'll have to fork out for something real when November comes....dash it!
           Speed is something James and Lainee have no shortage of in their lives as they are Stock car lovers and taking pride of place as we walked up to the Springs yesterday was one of James' gloriously decorated vehicles, gleaming in the sunshine, testimony of his love for Lainee and his little daughter, Tiffany.

         I had first met James when he was just a few weeks old, his Mum, Yvonne, had kindly invited me round to visit as I was just a new comer to Macduff, having arrived just a few months before Ellie was due. Yvonne was already an experienced Mum, having had Alexander a few years before and it was great to have a bit of support and friendship as I was starting out on the whole 'New Mum' road in a new place.

           James was looking very smart as he came up to say hello. I have to let you know that as normally he is an inch deep in engine oil and the last time I saw him, a few weeks before, he had sustained a nasty burn up his arm while sorting one of his cars. He assured me that the burn had healed and he was more than ready for the day ahead.

           There were already a lot of familiar faces floating around as we went in to the function suite, all admiring how beautifully it was set up with deep silver bows on the covered chairs and floral arrangements of yellow and grey. 

I had decided to wear my 'Lillian' dress again ( before she comes to ask for it back) and got Robin to interrupt his preparations and take a picture of me with twinkling lights in the background for a change.

         I sat at the back and watched as the guests came in to take their seats and Yvonne came over with Tiffany, who had stayed the night before with Grandma and Granda. Both were looking gorgeous and it was so lovely to see Yvonne as a Grandma, looking, really not much different to how she looked 21years ago when we first met!

         Soon it was time for James and his two best men, Alexander, his brother and best friend Scott (Flatty to all), to take their place at the front. Tiffany came in with one of Lainee's neices ahead of the bridesmaids who looked stunning in strapless silver taffeta gowns. Poor Tiffany decided that she wanted a bit more moral support for her walk down the aisle, so Yvonne came to her rescue as Lainee walked in, looking quite perfect, on her brother Ewen's arm.

    She wore a beautiful ruched strapless cream silk dress, delicately encrusted with diamonte on the torso and at the side.

       Robin welcomed everyone.I had known from a while back that a quarter of the guests were going to be sixteen and under, so was expecting it to all be a bit chaotic but there was such a lovely family feel to the ceremony and all of the kids behaved fantastically, everyone enjoying seeing James and Lainee  look each other straight in the eyes as they said their vows to each other, with such genuine love.

   After the vows they had a hand fasting, using a tie that belonged to Stevie, Lainee's Dad, who died 10 years ago, though I'm sure was looking down with real pride on their day.

 The schedule signed, the new Mr and Mrs Geddes led their guests out to 'Scotland the Brave' played by Hayley, the piper.

      At the beginning of the service Robin had sidled up to me and whispered in my ear, "There's another guest with a dress in the same fabric as yours, just a different style."

  I was waiting, watching for the poor lady to come in as I knew from past experience that it wouldn't bother me at all, but for someone who had been looking forward to a big wedding, to have a double of your dress at it can be a real dampener.

   So as we left the hall, I still hadn't spotted my twin and asked Robin where she was. He informed me that he had got it slightly wrong and Louise, who I've known for years, appeared beside me in the 'same' dress....here's the picture folks.....

Practically identical eh??

   The sad thing is that I showed this to Phoebe when I got home and she said, "Oh, look, she's wearing the same dress!". Really, I'm surrounded by a house of colour blind crazy people!! Thankfully Louise was in total agreement that our dresses were in no way similar.

     Lainee and I had only met on Facebook before yesterday, so it was lovely to give her a hug and see her surrounded by all her adoring little flower girls as she posed for photos, for family, before heading off to Duff House, with James, for their official pics.

         We had a drink and enjoyed meeting some of James' family, including some who had come up from the day from Torphin's. Andrea who was from Bangor had moved over here after marrying her Mr Geddes but had managed to keep her N.Irish accent beautifully, compared to my mishmash of Scottish/Doric/Irish.

    We decided to pop home and check on the dog, dropping the marriage schedule off to the registrars on the way and arrived back in time, for our chance to congratulate James and Lainee, as they welcomed their guests in their lineup. Tiffany and Lainee's nephew gave out favours of whiskey miniatures and glitter shot glasses with sweets inside, what a lovely job they did.

       We were top tableing again and this time Robin had an extra friend! Jillian is always a bit superstitious and hates to have 13 at the top table, so 'teddy' came and sat at the end as guest no.14.

He and Robin got on like a house on fire...

Lainee's Uncle, Abby gave a very moving speech welcoming James into the family and telling us all about Stevie who was such a character and made his mark on all their lives, very much missed as part of the day, but never forgotten.

      James told us of his first date with Lainee, where he whisked her off to McDonalds for a classy meal and then went to her family's caravan where he got the third degree and a stamp of approval from all the ladies in Lainee's life! 

    Alexander's turn was next and he pretty much left no stone unturned in telling us about James growing up, especially of his tantrums and colourful language when he proved a bad loser at board games ( at the age of 6!). Yvonne assured me later that there was no exaggeration in the stories. I always thought he was such a quiet lad!

      Scott took to the floor informing us that Alexander had only really got to be best man by a technicality, 'Family connection', while he had been 'chosen', so we all waited to hear what the 'chosen one' had to say. Needless to say, I can't really write it down here but when James came over for a chat after he did use the term 'best friend' in the past tense!

         We were incredibly popular with the kids, big and small, coming over to see us on a regular basis through out the meal. Nothing to do with our friend Teddy of course or the fact that we had the lolly pop tree at our section of the table??

We had a lovely meal, as always and I even persuaded Robert to give me a mug rather than a cup for my tea at the end, something he's promised on a regular basis from now on.

   The cake was a half white, half dark chocolate spectacle with chocolate strawberries around and two little knitted teddies on top and finally James and Lainee did the first cut under Tiffany's professional instruction..

I managed to grab Yvonne and Peter for a quick snap just to show you how gorgeous she looked in her bluebell outfit, they scrub up well for a Grandma and Granda, unfortunately they were photobombed by another wedding crasher but I just decided to to leave that in...

      Stuffed to the gunnels, everyone headed out to stretch their legs and meet with folks coming in for the evening and we were really pleased to see Dave and Lyndsay, Robin's 36th wedding couple who now have the adorable Charlie as their sidekick at almost 3 years old, how time flies!

        The kids had decided that a bit of fun was to be had now that the hall had loads of room for running about and it was lovely to see them all chasing each other and enjoying playing as Cover to Cover set up for the dance. 

     We all gathered round to watch the first dance,' I won't give up' by Jason Mraz and it was such a joy to see how happy James and Lainee looked as they hugged each other obviously having the best day ever.

Soon everyone was up and the dance floor was full of family and friends singing and swaying along.

       We caught up with Dave and Colleen, lovely to see them after their wedding earlier this year and looking like it was all suiting them really well and then decided to head back home as Robin has two services to do today and needed to rest his brain!

         We found James and Lainee, thanking them for a lovely day, so relaxed and great fun for everyone, seeing how happy they all were together and looking forward to reading about the adventures of Mr and Mrs Geddes as we stay in touch by Facebook. 

    Well, the day definitely went by at great speed and I can imagine that they would've liked for once to have it slow down a bit and linger in those wonderful moments a bit longer but that's what the photos, the videos and the memories are for and those will last a lifetime.x

            

     

      

   

        

       

   
     

No.34

     "Another Walker's Sensation dear?"
I offered the packet to Robin, while sitting with my feet up, watching the Great British Bake Off.....aah.... then, I remembered that Robin wasn't there and I would just have to eat the whole packet myself....what a shame!
       He had decided earlier in the year to go away with a group from the local Catholic Church to a small Island called Lindisfarne, off the North Coast of England, which is home to Lindisfarne castle. Having a population of around 200  and a rich history of monastacism, it is seen as an ideal place to go for some peace and contemplation. So on Monday morning we waved him off and started life without Robin for 5 days.
   I know this all sounds a bit pathetic for you folks that have lived with family separation as a way of life, through work on the Oil rigs or other careers but Robin and I have rarely been apart since we met, only taking an occasional break from each other over the years. I remember feeling real pain with us being apart on those first times that I would go over to Ireland to visit family on my own or when he went to India as James had just turned 3 weeks old. Now we've mellowed and the joy of having the car and the TV remote to myself, the pleasure of  starfishing when I go to bed and being able to to turn the heating off through the day without getting it switched back on again is definitely compensation for not having my best friend around for a few days.
       I still had to take calls for him over the week and managed through minimal texting to keep things on an even keel with funeral directors and potential wedding couples, I'm sure he's not going to have this problem when I go away in October for 17 days!
       Friday came and the texts got more frequent as he travelled up the road and I was looking forward to seeing him, hearing all about his week and filling him in on everything that had happened while he was away.
     I've learnt over the years not to throw huge amounts of information at Robin as soon as he walks through the door, so I held back and we sat with a glass of wine watching some of his Sky-planner rubbish knowing that we had the whole of the next day at Paul and Donna's wedding to talk, reconnect and catch up.
         Saturday arrived and I had discovered a 'not worn this year' dress in the wardrobe, being cleverly hidden by a winter coat, an M&Co sales find from 2 years ago. I gave it an iron and went out to the car to find my red shoes that had been under the back of the driver's seat since I changed to drive home from Stacey and John's wedding 3 weeks before. I told you my filing system is practically perfect....

       It had been four weeks since I had been in the Springs, so it was lovely to be walking up those steps and in the door to see all the familiar faces. I loved how the function suite had been set up with alternating cappuccino and thistle blue bows on the chairs complemented beautifully by the flower arrangements of dusky pink roses with thistles and gypsophila .

       I sat at the back of the 124 seats and waited to see who would be brave enough to come and sit beside me. Soon all the Huntly folks came in and I was joined by what looked like the Huntly rugby team, obviously a bit frustrated to be asked to come to a wedding on the first day of the world cup! My towering neighbour turned out to be a very pleasant chap called Hamish who had been abandoned by his wife and their two kids. She had to go to a family birthday party and he had decided to represent them at the wedding. We had the usual, 'Oh, your husband is the humanist' ,conversation which went really well until one of his towering companions declared that Robin had to be a humanist as there weren't any hymn sheets. Apparently they like a good hymn down in Huntly!

      We decided to stick to a different topic all agreeing that Stevie Wonder is amazing and that Paul and Donna's choice of music to listen to while we waited for the bride to arrive was spot on.

       After the photographer agreed to give Donna back so the wedding could commence we watched as her two sisters and two of her best friends came in wearing beautiful cappuccino chiffon dresses with a wrap over bust and deep cream lace at the shoulder and waist.

    Donna followed with her Dad, Alan, and my perfectly tuned wedding crasher eye spotted that her dress was an 'Ian Stuart'. She looked so beautiful in a matching ruched cappuccino raw silk top with a chiffon gathered skirt scattered with roses. Her veil hung in layers cascading down to the floor and she smiled as she walked down the carpeted aisle to Paul.

           After saying their vows, Robin declared them "Man and wife...in the presence of God" and all that without a hymn, who'd've thought it? They walked down the aisle to 'Signed, sealed, delivered' by Stevie Wonder and we all clapped, sung and danced along, I couldn't think of a more perfect song.

           We had a lovely afternoon, knowing that Paul and Donna were getting a fantastic day to get their photos taken down at Duff House. The new Mrs Barclay was behind the reception desk again and told me that she and Jason were expecting.....their new puppy would be with them the next day! I hope that Cooper brings them much joy and not too many messes to clean up!

        Paul and Donna welcomed us as we went in for the meal and I had a chance to see her beautiful dress close up and congratulate them. We were promptly sent back out to the foyer again as the top table guests were being piped in to their seats and we had to lead the way. 

     The top table was 'Hampden' and all the tables named after Scottish  football players from throughout time. Robin had mentioned how the first time he had met Paul he was wearing a Scotland supporter's top and that had cemented it in Robin's mind...this was a really sound couple. Both Donna and Paul are football fans and their cake had a mini Paul in his Tottenham strip and Donna in her Manchester Utd.

As the quaiche had been passed around at the ceremony we had a chance to taste a lovely 17 year old double wood, Balvennie. The favours were, a miniature 15year old Glenfiddich for the gents and a Yankee candle in a glass holder for us ladies and Robin had been given a really unusual gift of a bottle of Glenlivet Alpha. Alan was telling us later that a limited number of this mystery whiskey was released a while back and he had managed to get a hold of a few bottles. There is next to no information on the bottle, just in matte black with a simple label. But it is now a collector's item, so that might be one we will just have to keep for our retirement fund!

               Alan spoke first telling how when Donna was born, the midwife had told him that she was just like him but then she turned her the right way round! They had taken to Paul from the very start and were very happy to see him as their son-in-law. Paul gave flowers to his Mum and Donna's, giving a special thanks to his folks for putting up with him during his 'difficult years'.

             Best man, Alan, told us all of Paul's habit of falling asleep on a night out and how they hadn't sussed his relationship with Donna for a while until someone had spotted him coming out of the wrong flat door one morning, he and Donna having lived next door to each other.

         There were five courses in the meal, so I paced myself, choosing the lighter option of carrot and corainder soup, instead of broth and salmon instead of chicken and was quite proud to say that by the time pudding came, despite a delicious mango sorbet between courses, I managed to eat a small bit before admitting defeat. It was all beautifully cooked, served piping hot with lovely crisp steamed veg. I really feel that over this year that the Springs have improved  their food, having a finesse that it didn't have a while ago and all this served by the very efficient and attentive staff, even going to get me tartare sauce when I asked. thank you guys.

        We managed to roll ourselves out of our seats and in to a seat outside in the foyer while the staff  turned the room around for the evening and Wonderland set up for our entertainment. Guests were flowing in to the hotel from all directions and we were soon being told by Robert that he had sorted the function suite single handedly ( just joking Jillian and Sarah!) and would we like to go back in and see how it looked? 

     It looked great, all the tables had very modern uplit perspex candalabras on them and the photobooth man was waiting in the corner with all his array of hats, feather boas and Elton John style glasses to give guests a fun reminder of their evening.

         Cake cutting had been delayed so the evening guests could enjoy seeing the new Mr and Mrs Alexander performing one of their frist official duties as man and wife.

The cake was professionally whisked away to be sliced up and we all gathered round to watch a very happy Paula and Donna dance to Feel so close by Nellie Furtado, soon joined by their family and friends.

       

      Well, we'd used our day well. Not a subject had been left unspoken about. I learned all about Robin's time away and it sounded like it had done him the world of good. He had to listen as I filled him in on all the excitement of what he had missed in Macduff and we were back together again and ready for our next chapter.

    Jan was waiting for us outside and Donna and Paul came away from their guests to see us out and thank Robin for his wee bit in making their day special. We watched as they headed back inside obviously very much in love and ready for all that life is going to throw at them.

        What the next chapter holds for Paul and Donna I don't know, but I can only hope that their times together and their times apart will help them grow and draw them closer just as it has done for us.x