Home from home
Last morning at La Barbarie. A good night's sleep again, thank God. The full Guernsey breakfast was followed by a call to St Martin's Primary. I also called the number that was given me by Mary last night, speaking to the father of a boy who had lost his copy of Defenders on the way home. I arranged for the parents to pick one up from the hotel. Once packed Lorraine and I went to my old school and donated the remaining copies of Defenders of Guernsey to it. A strange feeling of coming full circle, returning to my first-ever school during play time, boys running at a bank of earth and somersaulting mid-air.
Then paid my respects to La Gran'mère. Lorraine then left to work on the laptop, while I sorted out a new flower holder for my grandparents grave. Added white carnations and with some left over, added carnations to other family graves. The newest grave, not yet with a headstone, had a woman tending it. The name was Marquis, which is my Guernsey family's name. I talked with the widow and we established these were a different family, but seeing a fresh grave with Marquis on it choked me up.
I met Lorraine a bit later in The Captains where we addressed ourselves to bottles of Pony Ale, and scampi and chips in the company of an ice cube-eating Labrador. We left then for a last walk to Icart. The colours today were extraordinarily vibrant. The blue and turquoise of the sea, the green of the cliffs, the yellow, white and pink of the flowers, puffy white clouds. It was a world of utter colour, windy and full of birdsong.
Back to the hotel to collect our cases and taxi to the airport. Very sad to be going of course, but this time with a sense of having done myself proud, and how lucky I am to have Lorraine who is totally supportive. The flight home rather enjoyable despite the fact I always feel gloomy about leaving Guernsey. Onto the evening train at Gatwick to Brighton. Dull faced commuters, stinking of real life. I have two homes.
Everything shipshape after Lorraine's folks had been cat sitting. Fond farewell with Lorraine, and then chatted to Mum before the enormous task of documenting the last few days.... However had a blue screen of death on my computer twice, until I pulled out the little memory stick I had inserted, and everything was fine again. Rather alarming however.
Below Lorraine and La G, a cliff, my grandparent's grave, La G and me (obviously with some species of face ache) and an unknown (to me) lepidopteron.
Last morning at La Barbarie. A good night's sleep again, thank God. The full Guernsey breakfast was followed by a call to St Martin's Primary. I also called the number that was given me by Mary last night, speaking to the father of a boy who had lost his copy of Defenders on the way home. I arranged for the parents to pick one up from the hotel. Once packed Lorraine and I went to my old school and donated the remaining copies of Defenders of Guernsey to it. A strange feeling of coming full circle, returning to my first-ever school during play time, boys running at a bank of earth and somersaulting mid-air.
Then paid my respects to La Gran'mère. Lorraine then left to work on the laptop, while I sorted out a new flower holder for my grandparents grave. Added white carnations and with some left over, added carnations to other family graves. The newest grave, not yet with a headstone, had a woman tending it. The name was Marquis, which is my Guernsey family's name. I talked with the widow and we established these were a different family, but seeing a fresh grave with Marquis on it choked me up.
I met Lorraine a bit later in The Captains where we addressed ourselves to bottles of Pony Ale, and scampi and chips in the company of an ice cube-eating Labrador. We left then for a last walk to Icart. The colours today were extraordinarily vibrant. The blue and turquoise of the sea, the green of the cliffs, the yellow, white and pink of the flowers, puffy white clouds. It was a world of utter colour, windy and full of birdsong.
Back to the hotel to collect our cases and taxi to the airport. Very sad to be going of course, but this time with a sense of having done myself proud, and how lucky I am to have Lorraine who is totally supportive. The flight home rather enjoyable despite the fact I always feel gloomy about leaving Guernsey. Onto the evening train at Gatwick to Brighton. Dull faced commuters, stinking of real life. I have two homes.
Everything shipshape after Lorraine's folks had been cat sitting. Fond farewell with Lorraine, and then chatted to Mum before the enormous task of documenting the last few days.... However had a blue screen of death on my computer twice, until I pulled out the little memory stick I had inserted, and everything was fine again. Rather alarming however.
Below Lorraine and La G, a cliff, my grandparent's grave, La G and me (obviously with some species of face ache) and an unknown (to me) lepidopteron.
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