Tuesday 5th
September 2017
Back in Norfolk,
at the Old Coach House, Feltwell Village
Last time I saw my cousin Liesbeth, we looked like
this.
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| Liesbeth (her older brother Aad) Marguerite |
Now we look like this!
Fifty years have passed…
The reason we have undertaken this trip to the northern
hemisphere is to celebrate my twin cousins’ 70th birthday. Carel, the other half of the twinnage, is
arriving in the UK on the 13th (from the USA – my Dutch cousins are
very far-flung!)
But Liesbeth and I couldn’t wait till then to meet
up. We have been close over the past two
months, but not close enough to have a cup of tea, a glass of wine, and a very
good long chat!
So on Saturday we left Norfolk and drove through
Lincolnshire and into Nottinghamshire. Siri
didn’t let us down; she led us lovingly through beautiful agricultural land –
we had never seen sugar beet growing and were totally enthralled by the variety
and extent of agriculture here in England.
There are 60 million mouths to feed!
We didn’t go on major highways and the last part of the
trip completely avoided any sort of town or highway. Just lots of beautiful little villages and
fields of potatoes etc.
Our favourite village was Harmston, gently curving down
a hillside.
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| Thank you Google |
But Harby, when we arrived, was just as delightful.
Liesbeth and Philip’s house – Holly House – is right
next door to beautiful All Saints Church.
There is a beautiful, delicate carving of Eleanor of
Castile,
who died there (about 1100ish. Actually I was wrong – Wikipedia put me
right, see below!).
Eleanor of Castile was an English queen, the first wife of
Edward I, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English
sovereignty over Gascony.
Born: 1241, Burgos, Spain
Died: 28 November
1290, Harby, United
Kingdom
And a gorgeous carving or two in the churchyard.
We were greeted in the driveway by Liesbeth and Phillip.
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| Philip with his prized gingko tree |
They had hoisted the Australian flag to greet us!
And in the foyer, cosily roosting in the laundry
basket, was a splendid chook called Black Widow. There are six beautiful chooks, all of whom
want to nest in the basket. It is
hotly contested and a great place to find an egg or two to boil for breakfast.
Our visit was wonderful but a bit overwhelming for me emotionally. I won’t go into it but…I have only met my
cousins briefly, in 1966-67… I have always been very envious of my Tasmanian
friends who have aunts, uncles, cousins galore.
As do my own offspring! Being
with Liesbeth was a bit like finding a long-lost sister, familiar, but not
really!
And Philip was quiet, gentle, and exuding goodness.
He is the verger at the church, I was delighted to
discover. I have only ever erad about vergers
in novels!
We attended the church service on Sunday and once
again, it was so like a novel. Very
Barbara Pym, with kindly (but possibly competitive) ladies doing the flowers and
newsletters…
Church has never been a part of my life. I have attended services of many denominations
over the years but usually find myself going lalala in my head or finding how
many word I can make out of the letters HYMNAL.
But this service I enjoyed very much.
Philip did the reading, a beautiful and simple one. And the vicar’s sermon spoke straight to my
heart – all about love and forgiveness and Doing The Right Thing. (My 7 year old Zoe would have loved it!) Afterwards there was a thermos of tea and some
shortbread to share – how very English was this??
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| Relaxing after church |
Philip took us for a drive to look at some locks (Cromwell
and Torksey.) Very interesting but the photos
I took were not very good…
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| Philip Liesbeth Pippa |
In the afternoon we went to their daughter Pippa’s
house, not far from Harby. Pippa and Adam
have a beautiful house in a beautiful green field. But…it was raining and I didn’t get photos… They were kind and hospitable and once again
I was overwhelmed at meeting my cousin’s daughter…is this like a niece or what??
I have to readjust my family focus!
We left Harby yesterday and are back in the bosom of
Pete’s family.
Tomorrow we have to take the hire car back to Stansted
(about 80 miles away!!) And then…plans
are just a bit fluid at the moment…
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| Holly House |
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