Mosaic Monday # 74 - it's all about family......

When your nephew and his girl come to visit you know things are going to go well when they bring you macarons, not just any old macarons but Angelina's macarons from Paris!

It was a great visit, on Wednesday we walked Fleur on the beach together then visited the American Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer. The Visitor Centre there is a wonderful tribute to those who gave their lives so that we could be free. The films and exhibitions, the personal stories they tell always bring a tear to my eye.

If you're ever in Normandy you should certainly make time to visit, then come around to my house for a cup of tea and maybe a macaron.

On Thursday we drove them to Bayeux for a little retail therapy followed by an afternoon enjoying self guided tours of the Cathedral and the Bayeux Tapestry.

On Friday they got busy in the garden clearing away masses of leaves and a fallen tree, a storm victim from a couple of months ago. They also cleared out one of our wood sheds of logs and restacked them in a more accessible area. What a team!

The days really flew by........before they left on Saturday Alex and I had fun recreating a photograph of the two of us taken on his first visit to Normandy in 1999.

Happy Days!

Normandy Life

An InLinkz Link-up

What's in a name?

My grandparents Eliza and John William Smith had seven children, three boys and four girls, my dad was the first born and was also christened John William.
As a child they called him Billy, when he grew up he was known always as Bill.
Eliza and JW. Snr named their other two sons Gordon and Harry, then they reverted back to names beginning with the letter J for the girls who were; Joan, June, Jean and Jessie.

Bridesmaids at older brother Gordon's wedding.
L-R June, Jean, Jessie & Joan.
 (the other little bridesmaid was from Mary the bride's) side of the family 

When the first grand child was born (me) Eliza dictated expressed a wish that the J tradition be continued and so I was duly christened Julie Margaret.
However, my mother Eva was also a woman with a strong will and she insisted that everyone call me Margaret.
(4 years later my sister Rhonda was born, no J for her!)
Over the years I've been asked many times "are you Julie or Margaret", it can cause confusion sometimes.

My parents on their wedding day.
Gordon was the best man.

What handsome young men they were.

Gordon, Harry, Joan and Jean all chose not to continue with the J tradition, however June has a daughter, also Julie, and Jessie named her daughter Jane.
After my parents divorced in the early '60's, Dad married Joyce. Another J!
When their daughter was born in 1968 my second sister dodged a bullet too.

This is the first page of the Memory Scrapbook which I created for
Kathryn's 40th birthday.

In my early twenties I decided Margaret was too "old fashioned" and asked everyone to call me Maggie, now only my close family call me by my given name.

Like father, like daughter.
Bill & Maggie or should that be John & Julie?

My dad passed away almost four years ago and we all still miss him very much. 

Joining another J, Miz Jenny, @ off on my tangent 

for this week's

Alphabe-Thursday 

with this very personal tribute to

the letter J.

A special family weekend in Normandy

This past weekend my sister, BIL, two nephews and step - mum came to vist us here at the Presbytere, it was the first time we had been together in twelve months, and so we had a lot to catch up on.
The weather was awful! Their ferry on Friday afternoon was delayed because of it and the crossing itself was quite an adventure, luckily no one was seasick although many other passengers around them were unwell.
Saturday it poured with rain but we entertained ourselves playing golf with Tiger Woods on the Wii, Nicholas (aged 10) scored a hole in one! Not bad for a beginner.
When the rain eased off the boys and their Dad went with Uncle Roger & the dogs for a long walk whilst my sister, step mom and I chatted by the fire.
Yes, that's right, a log fire in June, incroyable!
Sunday dawned bright and clear which was a relief as the main reason for the family visit was so that BIL, Andrew, could take part in the 24th Marathon de la Liberté.
From the official website:
"Rooted in the French Top 10 marathons since its inception in 1988, the Marathon de la Liberté, sometimes called Marathon D-Day beaches, often chosen as the Marathon of Caen, has one of the most beautiful courses in France.
Coasting on the mythical places 42.195 km Landing (D Day Beaches, Casino de Ouistreham, Pegasus Bridge ...), the maritime and rural means something different and makes the marathon more than usual, full of symbols and emotions. "

Some facts and figures..........................
3000 runners began the marathon at 9.00 am from the port at Courselles sur Mer -  only 842 crossed the finishing line.

The first person across the line, Desta Morkana from Ethiopia, ran the race in 2 hours 15 minutes and 54 seconds.
There were 21 U.K. runners taking part.
Andrew's time of 4 hours 19 minutes and 49 seconds made him the 14th Brit to finish!
This was his first marathon and we are all very proud of his acheivement.
Whilst we were standing at the finish line we noticed that children were running up the road, towards the marathon runners.
We soon realised that the race organisers were allowing them to run and meet their mother or father as they came in, so that's what our boys Alex & Nicholas did too.

It came as a surprise to Andrew when they finished the race together but he was pleased to have them with him as he cooled down.
All to soon it was Monday morning and time for them to head back to the U.K. but not before I took one last shot of our Marathon Man and his medal!