I haven't written a post for so long I had trouble even logging in !! I have had lots of thoughts running around in my head for last few months but never really got round to putting them together . At present I am sitting in the bedroom of a wee flat in Edinburgh that Chris and I have bought for our future retirement.....I know ! ! I know !!....surely we aren't old enough to even think or plan a retirement but in a little over two years my amazing man will get to the grand old age of 65.....I turned 60 last month and actually we aren't 100% sure we will retire in 2017 as we are happy enough in Bracknell and enjoy our work and love being with the family but we felt after selling our home in Bracknell we needed to secure and invest the money so we have the options.
We moved here 30 years ago and so I have been 30 years in Scotland and 30 years in England and there is a lovely song we used to sing at primary school and one of the lines says this
* My hearts in the highlands my heart is not here *
Although Bracknell has been home for us and our children and grandchildren I knew I couldn't envisage ever growing old here...my heart has always been in Scotland.
There is also an amazing song called Caledonia....( old celtic name for Scotland ) sung by Dougie McLean and its worth listening to....some of the lines in there speaks of my heart and my longing too
* So I have been telling old stories and singing old songs that make me think of where I come from *
* Let me tell you that I love you and I think of you all the time...Caledonia....you are calling me and now I am going home *
When I flew up this time the plane circled for a few minutes and I could see North Berwick and the sea and Berwick Law and The Bass Rock and then we came over the Forth Bridges ....thankfully I was in a window seat as my eyes began to leak and my heart was full....
Both Chris and I have extended family all over Scotland not just Edinburgh but Glasgow...Perth....Boness....Banff and Macduff it going to be an adventure for us when we do make the move...Free bus pass means we can travel ALL over Scotland for nothing ..whooohoooo
People ask me ...what about our friends and our children and grandchildren and how can we move away ...and believe me its not been an easy decision to make as we love our family and friends here but this last year or two have brought us to a place where we have been praying and thinking through all the options and once we decided to make the move back everything else fell into place.
The wee flat is looking good....and its great to have this base to stay in....long gone now are the expensive bed and breakfasts or the hotels etc....we can just roll up here and stay as long as we want., Its a gorgeous and cosy flat...small and perfectly formed....its in an area that is on the edge of regeneration and I am not kidding myself that's its in the best area.... its not New Town...or even Old Town and its not the grandeur of Randolph Crescent or Dean Village and the cobbled side roads leading down to Stockbridge......decades ago it was one of many housing estates that you wouldn't want to walk at night time...but slowly and surely its being upgraded and more owner occupiers are taking pride and the local authority are doing as much as they can to improve the area...and I have walked securely and happily many a time over last few months. .We can walk along the harbour paths and end up at Ocean Terminal...which sees the Royal Yacht Brittania moored and has a huge retail area...across from that is the new Scottish Office....keep driving and you come to Leith Docks area which has a great vibe and café and pub culture....keep driving and you get to the sands of Portobello and Musselburgh and Joppa and ongoing to our favourite North Berwick....oh the memories of childhood and our first few years of marriage and Michaels first few years as a child....ach I cant get enough of the memories.
In the other direction you can reach Silverknowes and Cramond ...both great areas and the Firth of Forth is cold but blue as far as the eye can see on a sunny day. Bus services are frequent and cheap and the town centre and Royal Mile with the castle at one end and Holyrood Palace at the other is a 20 min bus trip. .Chris and I are going to enjoy doing all the tourist stuff that we didn't actually do when we lived here .
Spiritually we have already investigated churches in the area....its amazing that within a 20 min walk we have the choice of 6 churches. We want one that we can walk to...be in the community and involved in the community and one where we feel at home and that we sense God is there. So far we have been spoiled for choice with three churches all of which we would feel happy to locate to . There is time to make that decision and we are in no rush but this morning I visited the local Baptist Church and within ten minutes I knew God was there....When Chris comes up later in the week we also are having tea with another church leader so its not yet a done deal...we are open to where God wants us to be planted.. At church this morning the leader who preached had what we call a Morningside accent...so imagine a broad Scots accent but posh it up a bit...he rolled his Rs with great gusto and when he spoke about the woman caught in adultery...it came out as * adulterrrrrrrry *....I had a wee smile to myself as I listened.
We are on a journey and a sense of excitement that maybe....just maybe The Best is Yet to Come....
