Life in Paradise

It is hard to believe that we have been here for a week. Tomorrow ... Thursday we fly out with Lars and Roxcy to Scotland. Things are starting to heat up for us ... plans are in the making. Chris has done a treasure hunt for Lars and Roxcy of things that they must try, taste or see in Scotland. There have been many discussions around Haggis and what it is made of and who is going to try it and who is not. We even talked about blood pudding!!!! For those of you who know me I am a foodie so I am looking forward to tasting some traditional and new Scottish food. 

Pete's Grandma Gibson (Meg), who immigrated to New Zealand from Scotland in the very early 1920s when she was 20/21, is the reason we are heading to Scotland. As I mentioned Pete has had a longing to revisit Scotland and his roots for a very long time. Grandma Gibson arrived by boat in Wellington and went up to New Plymouth where she met her husband Gordon Shepherd. They used to get around on an Indian motor bike. I think Gordon was very smitten with Grandma with her brown eyes, strong face, olive coloured skin and sense of  independence. They married and had three children ... Margaret Jean, Hugh and Isabel. Isabel died when she was 9 months old from TB, in ChCh. Grandma missed her right up until the day she died, she asked for her ashes to be buried with Isabel, which is where they are now.

Grandma and Gordon were married for 10 years, he spent over half of that time in a TB Sanatorium in New Plymouth. Grandma left NP with three young children to come to ChCh for work and would travel up to NP to visit him. She was living in ChCh with her brother, Mother and Father, Margaret and Hugh when her husband died. I can't help but think how devastating that must have been for her, she got a telegram at work informing her of Gordon's death. Her parents and her brother came out to NZ when Gordon became ill to help Grandma support her children. It must have been a big sacrifice for them to leave their homeland and travel far across the world to a place that did not know at such a late stage in their lives. They were an adventurous, loving and close family. That would have to be the motivation for leaving the home of your birth and heart. Tomorrow we head off to visit all the places that Pete heard about from Grandma when he was boy. 

I find Grandma's story very moving. I remember her as being strong, witty and fun to hang out with. I really wish she was here so that we could share our adventures with her. She and Marg would be so pleased that we are taking Lars and Roxcy to her homeland. We fly out of NY @8pm and arrive in Edinburgh @8am ... a 6 hour flight. The temperature there today is 13C.

We have had a fun time here resting and enjoying the heat ... loving being with Lars & Roxcy who are so pleased to see us and hang out with us. Here are some stand out moments for us over this last week.

We never get sick of this view ... Paradise Pond. 

I am no fan of Canadian Geese. They scare me ... especially when they have babies. They keep a firm guard on their space and will attack if they feel under threat. We bumped into them on our walk, there were quite a number of them.

There are some very cool old cars in the States

Lars turns 10 while we are Scotland so we had a pre-birthday celebration. 

Lars sporting some of his fishing gear ... felt a little like 'de ja vu'. The last time we were here Lars got fishing gear from us. Dressed to kill.

Mike & Chris have bought a 'huge' TV with surround sound ... sounds better than a Dolby Stereo system at the movies. The picture is amazing. They love having family movie nights. We watched 'Where Eagles Dare' as part of Lars' pre-birthday party. Clint Eastwood, one of the cast, was sooooooo good looking!! He did not need to say much, his looks said it all. This of course is Richard Burton who apparently was drunk a lot of the time while filming and liked to spend time in the wood shed with his love interest? I love the cabinet Mike has made for their surround sound system.

This girl has quite the sweet tooth. We caught her grabbing fists full of cake and she would not be stopped.

Roxcy gave us a magic show ... when she laughs her whole face lights up and so does the room. She is a very enthusiastic magician with a great future in the industry.

Mike & Chris have joined an early morning bootcamp ... 5am. I joined in with them for a morning and ended up tweaking my back. It was fun though. There were about 7 of us there plus the trainer.

Chris has got lots of really good positive messages around their house for Lars and Roxcy. This is Lars's dream for his 'Big Life Summer '. I love this and the power of creating a positive life and belief in themselves. I can't help but think of the Mary Oliver poem The Summer Day ... the last two lines read ... 'Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?' I often wonder about my own life as I grow older ... I remember feeling like we had heaps of time ... now I realise that life is fast and furious. I want to end my life feeling like it has been wonderful, challenging and rich with loving relationships and experiences.

Roxcy's dream for her 'Big Life Summer' ... sparkling and organised. 

I count 7 bikes in this photo and they are all Mike & Chris'. There is also a tandem, Lars and Roxcys' bikes and a very cool orange bike with a Brooks seat that is not in the photo. I could be mistaken but I think Mike really likes bikes.

Meet Alexa ... you speak to her and she replies. You can ask her to play any song that you like. She is very polite, especially if she does not completely understand you. I am amazed by Her ... wasn't that the name of a movie with Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson? Yes it was and it was kind of creepy. 

Time to finish our packing, going light again. Get to bed early and and rise early for all of those last minute changes that happened in our sleep over night.