Home and Away...

Our 2018 Travels to Guernsey and Somerset...

The return...
after sorting, clearing and saying farewell to La Maison...

But firstly...

My humble apologies for the long absence since my last sharing here... I can hardly believe that our trip was already one year ago!

What can I say... other than LIFE! and all of the meanderings which so often find us landing not quite where ~ or when ~ we expected!
Despite the ongoing 'busy-ness' of daily demands and nursing home visits with my dear Mum, I have been happily continuing to explore and expand on my family history and gather inspiration for future creative projects to share with you all. This also includes having my DNA tested with a surprise result! 
More on these and other recent happenings later... but first, let's complete my last journey...

So after many months awaiting our much anticipated trip ~ firstly back to my partner's family home ahead of the sale and then on to visit one of my own Ancestral homes ~ we returned after a wonderful and memorable trip, to say the least!

Part one... 

Our stay in beautiful Guernsey...

Flying into Guernsey on a beautiful Spring day...

We enjoyed many fish and chip evenings watching the late sunsets over Perelle Bay.

Thankfully we were blessed with beautiful sunny days and long twilight evenings which were filled with the scents and colours of Spring flowers and sweet bird song.

Our days were kept busy doing further sorting, packing and clearing with regular inspections, but we always made time to enjoy the many beautiful green lane and coastal walks, long lunches and dinner with friends and family.

Lovely Lilacs

During the course of sorting out a neighbour's boundary wall dispute with lawyers, we had found a very old suitcase in the parents' bedroom which contained every document since the Grandfather had built the house in 1920! In fact the oldest original paperwork was written entirely in French and fortunately finding these original property documents enabled the family to resolve the issue!
Also discovered amongst an assortment of property deeds and certificates were special greeting cards, postcards and some other treasures such as a small diary which had been written during evacuation time spent in Scotland during the time of the German Occupation in Guernsey. This was such a personal and moving eye-witness account of what must have been a very difficult and challenging five years away from family through the the eyes of an 11 year old girl.

Sadly both young sisters were evacuated to Scotland during the Occupation years and during our stay after lunch one day we took the opportunity to sit with Aunty and read out some pages of the diary which she enjoyed immensely and her sister's writing brought back many special memories for her. Even at 91 years of age her eyes and face lit up and we could see that she was reliving and relishing some of those moments as if they were only yesterday and we were very happy to listen to her stories and recollections.

   

Forever
Sister
Love

An assortment of some of the many exquisite tatted doilies hand made by Grandma.

Such a treat to bring home locally grown and freshly picked flowers from the local
'Hedge Veg' stalls every day. Today's assortment of white Iris and Sweetpeas.

Iris in the garden.

My Mother-In-Law's magnificent flowering Rhododendrons which
were always her pride and joy. So happy that they were flowering during our visit.

My favourite local beverage ~ the unmistakable Rocquette Cider!

A bee enjoying the Foxgloves!

Wonderful wild Honeysuckle flowers

Our shy, favourite garden visitor... Harry Hedgehog!

Such beautiful twilight and sunset views every evening...

Pink Sea Thrift ~ one of my favourites

Crystal clear waters... always worth the climb up and down the cliffs!

Foxgloves taller than us, growing all along the cliff paths

Cliff walks with stunning views surrounded by beautiful Spring wild flowers

Signs along the way to one of our favourite valley walks...

View looking back towards St Peter Port and the marinas.

La Gran’mère ~ an ancient Neolithic statue-menhir in the Castel churchyard.

Sunset views from our friends' beautiful farmhouse cottage.

Lovely long walks in the twilight with the ragged granite rocks glowing in the last light of the day

Our favourite shingle bank beaches...

A coffee from one of the Town cafes, Dix Neuf.

The heavenly scented Bluebell Woods are such a beautiful and magical walk.

Despite our trip this time being a somewhat bitter-sweet journey in saying farewell to the family home of three generations, I am grateful that we had this opportunity to help with the preparations for sale and say our goodbyes. Our many long walks in favourite places and times spent with family and friends are always precious and even more so this time not knowing when our next visit will be...
Since then, La Maison and her beautiful gardens have become a new home for memory making for the fortunate new owners and their family.
We have returned home with many of the treasured family photos which I will soon scan and put into a photo book for preservation and am looking forward to that creative project! (Once I have completed my Mum's Life Story book!)

Meanwhile we will always hold our memories close to our hearts and look forward to spending time in magical Guernsey again one day... I can't wait!

Grandma busy working on one of her exquisite tablecloths.

Part Two:

Next stop... Sparkford Hall in Somerset and beautiful surrounds...

Coming soon!

My 2nd Great-Grandmother, Susan Francis "Fanny" Bennett
whose Father Henry, built Sparkford Hall on the Sparkford Estate.
Susan was married to Archibald Hamilton Grahame by her Reverend father
in the local St Mary Magdalene Church on January 31st, 1861.

 Archibald Hamilton Grahame from Stirling, Scotland.

The original local stone flooring and staircase in the entrance foyer of Sparkford Hall
which has been beautifully restored and renovated by the new owners.


More to come... !