It was at this juncture that Robin realised how much he was missing me and decided to text with those words that every woman wants to hear when she's thousands of miles away from the man she loves....
" The boiler has stopped working."
Lovely!
You see I hadn't been there to remind him to pay the last bill that the plummer had sent the month before, when our timer had died and now he was stuck in a cold house with just the dog for company, unable to ask for help...it was tragic really. Obviously he fired off the payment immediately but knowing that it would look really bad if he called the next day asking for a visit, decided to wait till I got home 10 days later to sort everything out.
Thankfully we have our wood burning stove, so between that and the emersion heater, 'One man and his dog' survived for the rest of our separation feeling a bit like Bear Grylls.
I phoned the plummer the day after I got back and he popped down to see what the problem was, kindly not mentioning our tardy payment for his previous visit. Unfortunately after a few minutes he informed us that we would need to deal with the company that made the boiler as it was outwith his remit and off he trotted, thankfully without charging us for a call out, as I picked up the phone to call the Alpha boiler people.
"Your boiler is out of warranty Mrs Wiseman, so would you like our fixed price option to have it repaired?"
"Oh, how much is that?"
"£255"
.....Silence as I practically pass out on the sofa trying to process what he had just said....
"So is there another option?" I ask weakly
"No"
"So why call it an option then?" I am shouting in my head but the words "Ok then" come out instead!
Payment had to be made before a call out could be arranged, so our credit card came to the rescue and 24 hours later a man of very little words came and repaired the burnt out circuit board allowing us to have heat again.
Nicki and Ian aren't intimidated by a bit of cold, in fact they are a couple to embrace any challenge and face it head on. The fact that Nicki's son, Aaron was passing out in the army just the day before the wedding didn't faze them at all, so after a 14 hour round trip Nicki walked in on Aaron's arm, to 'I won't let you go' by James Morrison, looking completely stunning in strapless champagne lace complete with veil.
There was no big surprise that the bridesmaids were in gorgeous blue/black silk jersey to match the chair ties and combined with wintery white fairy lit trees looked amazing. Bold and stylish, just like Nicki herself.
Robin spoke of how Ian had found Nicki a bit scary at first when they met as leaders in the ATC and yes, she is a force to be reckoned with, especially I can imagine in uniform, but soon they became drinking buddies and eventually their love grew and here we were to witness their wedding.
I must let you know now that there is another very special man in Nicki's life, well three actually. Aaron, Morgan and earlier this year Lachlan came on the scene, just as Aaron was setting off for his army training.
And today was Lachlan's special day too as after Robin introduced us to the new Mr and Mrs Payne we all sat down again to enjoy Lachlan's naming ceremony. He sat on his Mum's knee and smiled the whole way through as Robin told us how his name spoke of strength and boldness combined with being a deep thinker. A blessing was said over him and we clapped as Nicki and Ian walked down the aisle followed by Ebony, Paige, Aaron and Morgan holding little Lachlan.
Jane, Nicki's chief bridesmaid is Robin's partner in crime as I've mentioned before, taking him away in her hearse at all times of the day and texting him with funeral requests. I knew from a conversation earlierin the year that she was dreading wearing the amazing heels that Nicki had chosen for her and after the ceremony bounced in having changed her footwear to a suitable substitute...here's the before and after shots....
They really were big shoes!!
Nicki and Ian in their madness had agreed to a romp on the beach with the photographer, Francis, as you do in November! We on the other hand decided to enjoy a drink in the warmth of the Springs bar with Karen and Mario, Rose, Mason and Jane. Eventually Nicki returned looking just as gorgeous as before apart from a bit of sand on her wedding heels.
We were at table one with our afternoon posse, apart from Jane who had been chosen for toptabledom and enjoyed quite a bit of banter seeing who could get the final jelly bean out of Mason's favour bottle, quite a task I can tell you, finally conquered by Karen, who nicked a straw off a small child ( well, sacrifices must be made!) and poked it out.
Our meal was delicious and it was great to see all the staff that I've missed having not been at a Springs wedding since September. Nikita is now working in admin at the local hospital and is only doing weekend function work now. Jillian is off from next week to get her long awaited tonsil surgery and despite being told to stay off for a month will try and get back in to the mix way before that!
Morgan and Ebony posed with Lachlan before the speeches started so I could let you see what a handsome bunch they are...
And Mrs and Mrs Benedetti don't look too bad either eh?
Speeches were after the meal and we heard Ian's side of the story as to how he and Nicki met and how much love she has brought to his life. Scott, Ian's best man gave a rousing speech taking the mick out of Ian and promising to be the best godparent to Lachlan that he could be. Nicki decided that she just had to grab the microphone and give extra thanks to all the family and friends who had traveled so far to celebrate this special day with them.
The cake was cut with both Ian and Nicki being very obliging and posing for my favourite kissing shot and we sat down to eat chocolate wedding cake for desert...really delicious!
After teas and coffees we rolled ourselves out of our chairs and went to find a seat out in the foyer while the room got set up for the evening disco. We found a few free sofas and Robin decided a lie down was in order only to find ( and thank goodness I had my camera at the ready for proof!) that Jane had exactly the same idea and then Mason as well!! Cozy isn't the word....:)
We were joined by Maria and Neil Diamond ( or is is Hunter) and went through after we got Jane, Mason and Robin disentangled to enjoy our evening with slightly more decorum, well, that was the plan!
Their first dance was to 'Here' by Rascal Flatts and after watching Mr and Mrs Payne very obviously in love sing to each other as they gently swayed, the rest of the family and friends came up to join in.
Ian had mentioned that there was going to be a buffet, which we thought was a few sandwiches and a cup of tea, but no, a full hog roast was brought in and carved served with delicious salads and the rest of the wedding cake, and they expected dancing!!
Well, dance we did and eat we did. Ian and Ria joined us and we had a great laugh playing catch the tiny jewels in the most interesting place, Maria won that one hands down, though seeing Mario with a mouth full of diamante was quite amusing!
I don't know where the time went but before we knew it, it was 10.15pm and we decided to head for home before we blotted our copybook to badly. We found Ian and Nicki and said our farewells, knowing we will see them again soon, just dressed a little differently I imagine and thanking them for a very memorable and wonderful day.
I know that Nicki and Ian have a huge amount of love in their lives and I hope that yesterday's ceremony just strengthened and confirmed that even more. To see how Lachlan was never out of the arms of one of his brothers or sisters or god parents the whole day makes to see that theirs is a life full of a warmth that will never go out.
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