MEETING OLD FRIENDS

It was great today to meet up with lots of old friends.  We went first of all to visit Abbie and Malcolm at their farm at Pewsham and although they were very busy, they made time to have coffee with us - well Abbie did - Malcolm was busy selling Christmas trees.  We have known this lovely couple for over 20 years, in fact, we only spoke today about the fact that they had given us a slow cooker as a gift when I wrote out their wedding invitations, and it is still going strong.  

We heard about their visit in the summer to the Dominican Republic where they and their four children helped to build homes for families living in terrible slum conditions and also visiting children at Nazareth House, a loving home to fifteen disabled children.  When they asked their children where they would like to go for a family holiday next year, they all said they wanted to go back and help some more!  A lovely family who are truly making a difference to the lives of those less fortunate.  If you want to see more about what they are doing and their special fundraising project entitled "Enough Stuff" have a look here.

We then drove to Gastard to visit Dorothy, Malcolm’s mother, whose cakes are out of this world!  After a cuppa, a piece of cake and a couple of hours chatting, we sat down to a lovely meal and more chat and it was good to see another son, Derek, and his son, Robert after they had finished their work on the farm.  Derek says I can go back in the Spring and take some photographs of their prize Herefords.

Interestingly, when I went out to buy our eggs and potatoes from the farm shop, I noticed they still had one of my Post-it Notes up from about 9 months ago, so put another one up with a promise not to wait so long before the next one!

Several years ago, I worked with Cynthia, Dorothy’s daughter, who is a solicitor, which is actually how we came to meet Dorothy and her husband, Andy, so we have been quite involved with this lovely Northern Irish family for about twenty five years.  Our only sadness today was that Andy passed away five years ago - but we spoke of him lovingly and are thankful for him and the whole family who have always made us so welcome in their homes.  We don’t see each other very often, but when we do, it’s as if we have never been apart.

I almost forgot to mention Samson, Dorothy’s Miniature German Schnauzer - a very photogenic dog and as friendly as the rest of the family and I've given him pride of place in my collage!

A strong friendship
     doesn’t need daily conversation,
          doesn’t always need togetherness,
as long as the relationship
     lives in the heart,
          true friends 
               will never part.