No.37

 Life started to slow down for Robin when the kids and I went away and the usual flurry of visits and services slowed down to a more manageable pace, he even had time to sort out his chaotic paperwork and catch up on a few seasons of 'The waking dead' which he knew I would never watch with him.
    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.

        

     

No.36

"I think you've had pneumonia," were not the words I was expecting to hear from my doctor as I sat waiting for the next installment of 'Lynda and the chest infection', an ongoing saga that started back at the beginning of August.
           I got a special commendation from Ballymagroarty Primary school for finishing without having had a day off sick during my seven years with them. Somehow I didn't manage to get chicken pox, mumps or measles and any colds were too mild to credit an absence. I never broke anything when I fell out of trees ( a regular occurance) and I have no memories of vomiting and diarrhoea bugs.
    Having been brought up on a farm, I was made of sturdy stuff and even during my years at secondary there were no days at home recovering from illness. When I started nursing I thought they wouldn't take me as I might catch everything going, but I was assured that if I hadn't caught it by the ripe old age of eighteen I was unlikely to get it now!
       They were right and now at 49 I can honestly say that my worst sickness has been when pregnant, all four times, though the twin's one was particularly gruesome to the point where Jake's first word was synonymous with the sound of me being sick...something like 'Byeuk'.
     So even though it made complete sense and was a huge relief as I thought I was going a bit mad, I sat staring at the Doctor as he phoned the Xray dept and made an appointment for me to go and get zapped straight away. He said that it's very unusual for someone like me who has the health of an ox normally to get something that is generally reserved for the frail and elderly, so the only explanation was to put it down as an occupational hazard in my role as a Wedding Crasher. In other words stop hugging and kissing so many people!
        Thankfully the next day after getting the Xray result I was downgraded from pneumonia to a 'very nasty chest infection' and despite having to take a third, extra strong course of antibiotics and a week off sick, much to the disgust of my children, I managed to be fit enough to set off on our long awaited holiday to Cypus,
    So now I'm back, after a bit of a break, having enjoyed the feeling of sun on my skin for a few weeks and most of all the best of company....ready for the final few weddings of 2015 and the completion of my year of blogging.
      After nine years of being together, having had two beautiful little boys, Danny and Sam had decided to get married and had asked Robin to do the needful. I had known Danny's Mum and Dad, Angela and Michael for quite a while and knew that this was going to be a special family occasion as family is the number one priority in all their lives and it shows in everything they do.
         Robin had told me that they were using an out building on the property for the service and not being sure of the weather, I decided to forego displaying my fast fading tan to the world and go for a series of layers. My black dress with my plum wrapover mohair cardigan ( worn to the first wedding that Robin ever did!), my black boots and then my tartan wrap, so I could layer on or layer off as the temperature flucuated.

When we arrived at the house the sun was shining and everyone was looking very relaxed. Danny took us up to the shed where the ceremony was to take place and allowed us a sneak peek at the amazing transformation. 

It looked fantastic such a huge amount of work to get the whole room looking so beautiful and all done by family and friends. 

   We took our seats, as Sam was due to arrive any minute and waited. 

In she came on Michael's arm looking quite beautiful in a pure white satin sleeveless gown with a lace bodice and a wide pleated satin cummerbund. Her skirt flared out with a layer of tulle and she carried a bouquet of white and royal blue roses to match in with her bridesmaids who followed behind.

     Sam has been part of the family for such a long time that it seemed only right that Michael should be the one to give her away and as he sat down with Angela to look after their grandchildren we watched and listened as Sam and Danny took their vows.

When Lee, Danny's brother and bestman was called on to produce the rings, he brought out a couple of sweetie ones declaring that Danny was 'too tight' to buy the real things. Enough of the joking, the genuine objects appeared and were finally slipped on the right fingers as Robin declared Danny and Sam husband and wife. 

        Not to be forgotten, Robert and Michael, their sons took part in a handfasting with Mum and Dad as all their hands were bound together and a blessing said over the new Sorby family.

    Soon the quaiches were passed around and the new Mr and Mrs Sorby walked up the aisle to 'How long will I love you' by Ellie Goulding as tears were shed and hands clapped.

             

 Outside in the Autumn sun there wasn't a cloud in the sky and there was plenty of time for photos to be taken as the kids ran about.

Next door to the 'function suite' was another building that had been purpose built as a party room with pool table, bar, darts board and for today's wedding, specially decorated for Halloween! The pool table had been covered over and was totally covered in food while the ceilings and walls were adorned with Halloween decorations just an amazing amount of work!

We gathered round and listened as Danny, Michael and  Lee all spoke and said their thankyou's to everyone for all their hard work that had made this day so special.

        I had a chance to take a photo of the cake with it's beautiful tractor cake topper before Sam and Danny chopped it up.

We sat with Margaret and Davie and Joe and Tasha who Robin married last year and enjoyed hearing all their stories as we went back and forth for refills at the buffet table. 

   Angela is never happier than when she has a baby in her arms and she let me take a photo of her with Abby, the newest addition to the Sorby clan, born only three weeks ago to Lee and Gemma. I was even allowed a shottie.....bliss..

Sam decided to slice the cake up and offer everyone a piece, so we enjoyed a slice and then decided it was time to head for home. We chatted with Sam and Danny thanking them for a wonderful day and as we promised to pop the wedding schedule through the door of the registrars, Danny caught Sams hand and pulled her to him calling her 'Mrs Sorby' and giving her a gentle kiss as both their eyes welled up. Such a perfect match.

       Well, I still have a little way to go before I'm back to full fitness, but as Robin said to Danny and Sam in their ceremony it's the hard times that make you stronger. Danny told us that they had been through some hard times and have  had some really good times and I could see by looking at then together that there is a strength in their relationship that is bouyed up by the love of  wonderful family and fantastic friends, something they have in abundance.

         

         

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