Arriving

Back to Banchory...
Arrived late Friday -- recovered friend Liz Loveness no problem at the airport but "big green" (one of my absurdly heavy bags) was lounging in Heathrow -- it decided to make an appearance Sunday afternoon. Carried on regardless to the Marshall home for a great dinner with Mary and Claire, Gavin and Laura (home from Uni.) (husband David is working in Oman) and then a long night's sleep -- 9 hours straight! Not to be repeated on subsequent nights...

Saturday dawned beautiful -- first one up, I'm sitting with my tea, overlooking the countryside across from Banchory toward Auchattie -- mist rearranging itself first on Scolty, then down hovering nearer the Dee. It's good to be back. As I sit there listening to praise songs on Mary's ipod, one minute I'm crying for the delight of being back, and the next for the sadness of leaving people I love behind. So it is with a heart residing in two different places.

Castles and Cafe's
Took Liz round to Dunnator castle -- this wonderful ruined castle on an outcropping near Stonehaven, which is just to the Southwest of Banchory.(http://www.touruk.co.uk/castlesscot/castle_Dunnator.htm)

and then on to a late lunch at the Black Faced Sheep,
http://www.maggiebrucesguide.com/review.php?csid=2 a coffee shop in Aboyne that serves the smoked salmon rolls exactly as I remember them (well, almost. Jera, it's a Kaiser roll now with little black poppy seeds all over it -- and they've expanded out with an additional small dining area that has tables which are actually tall enough for your knees to fit underneath them!) We stopped through in Auchattie to check on the cottage and that my boxes had arrived -- they had.


Thank Heavens for the Marshalls!
Losing "big green" actually shook me up quite a bit, since it contained all my personal things, including letters from friends and Claire's Chex mix! The Marshalls were the perfect landing place -- providing in practical and personal ways -- even phoning BA as we were out to keep following up. Top it all, Mary puts me on her insurance so that I can drive one of their cars until I find one -- beat that.

Dinner that evening Bryonie and Robin come across to Marshalls -- Mary Marshall manages to sneek haggis into the meal, disguised in the sausages!

Sunday worship
at the West Kirk is wonderful -- youth band playing, Tony Stephens (the Youth Minister) preaches a sermon that garners applause, of all things -- enthusiastic welcomes all around. There's an amazing Spirit in the West Kirk these days -- the congregation has stepped forward during Donald's ministry, participating and shaping the community in lovely ways.

Sunday lunch is hosted by Paula Scott at her parent's home (Mike and Margaret down in England for a family birthday). Paula is heading back to Malawi for 9 months to work on establishing nursery schools (preschools) there. Her boyfriend Stuart is also taking a year away from Univeristy to accompany her. http://www.nansato.org


Big Green arrives in the late afternoon -- so I can begin opening notes from my Women's Bible study on time after all! The day ended with worship at "Sunday Night Live", an informal evening worship gathering that both the East and West Churches participate in, and then a bar supper at "Scott Skinner's Pub" with Liz -- Roast, gravy and yorkshire pudding before putting her on the plane to Seattle Monday morning (sounds grand -- the reality was slightly less than, well, I'd say worth writing home about, but here I am doing just that...). Still -- perfect 'comfort food' for the end of a weekend where comfort was the theme. In big ways and small, God surrounded me these first few days with His comforting love -- through friends and family sending, accompanying and receiving me back to Banchory.