Hi friends,
In June my family, only five of us, had a mini family reunion. Three of my five sisters spent two weeks in the Guest Hou
se, here in Nunraw, where my brother Donald is Guest Master. They arrived a few days after the failed terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport. All airports were on high security alert. Hence Noreen and Josephine were delayed at Dublin Airport for about three hours, one of them sitting in the plane, before they obtained the 'All clear' from Edinburgh. Before this Patricia arrived from Aberdeen also one hour late because she got the wrong coach. By then it was too late to have supper at Nunraw so we had our first meal together at a quiet resturant just outside Edinburgh. As we chatted we enjoyed the drive through the beautiful Lothian countryside, aglow with the warm evening sun.. Our absent sisters were Mary who teaches English to the young Sisters in South Korea, and Christina who does parish work with the Aboriginese in Australia.
5th July: The five of us set off for Carfin, Scotland's National Shrine to Our Lady. It is not far from Glasgow on the Edinburgh road.It has been transformed into a very wonderful shrine. Our mother often visited it with members of the family. The cost of enhancement was shared by church and private contributions, Irish, Polish, Ukrainian etc., as well as from government developement agencies.
The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is built almost entirely of glass, very beautiful and most prayerful. The Chapel is dedicated to Our Lady, Maid of the Sea. This title is the name of the passenger aircraft that crashed, near Locherbie not far from Carfin, due to a terrorist bomb. A list of the victims, (R.I.P.), hangs on the wall.
By way of exception, since it is only open on Sundays, we were allowed to view the fantastic display of relics in the Relics Museum.
In the afternoon we visited Donald's friends at Wellwood, not far from here. Beatrice (in the photo) and her sister, Claude, from Oregon, USA. Originally they came from a large family in Belgium.
Coming from Cameroon they were disappointed that I did not speak French. We enjoyed a nice afternoon tea together complete with Belgian cookies. Beatrice, now an eighty-year old widow, is still full of energy in spite of two strokes and is rather deaf. She is a member of the landed gentry and has a large estate/farm. She drives herself here to Mass every Sunday. Her husband used to accompany her though he remained an Anglican.
My very pleasant surprise was to meet up with Claude. When she said she was from Oregon I could scarcely believe my ears. I was even more surprised when she said that the 'Oregon Grape', ornamental and herbal shrub, grows in her garden. The scientific name is 'Mahonia Aquifolium'. The bark of the root is used to make ointment for skin disorders. It is most effective for psoriasis. When I looked up the Internet for the seeds it said that they were out of stock. More surprisingly still I discovered that Beatrice had it growing in her garden and estate, all ready for harvesting. So I now have a supply of the seeds. I had to be quick because the birds love the grapes. The shrub will be a useful addition to our herb garden. We run a small Herbal Clinic in Bamenda, Cameroon, where many people suffer from psoriasis. There are no specific drugs for psoriasis in West Africa. The preparations, ointment and tablets etc., are only available on the Internet. Even if you have a credit card it is not easy to import any item due to risk of theft and high customs duty.
11th: Our cousin, Brian Sweeney and his wife, Kathy. were with us for lunch and afternoon tea. He had polio as a small boy.They are always most inspiring in the way he copes with his disability with the help of
Kathy. They are a perfect, loving team. He is now a qualified Consulant for the disabled and gives lectures at the University and Medical schools. He is a living example of what he preaches. He is a great advocate for the rights of the disabled. He is a great entertainer. He arrived in his big Mercedes custom built car. I think he got it at a special rate. The fittings and gadgets were supplied free of charge. He drives up to the car in his power driven wheel-chair. Using his handset he opens a door and a platform drops to the ground. He reverses into it, the platform rises and he enters the cabin, wheels round and hops into the driver's seat. Coming out of the car the procedure is reversed. He does most of the driving himself though Kathy drives from time to time.
In June my family, only five of us, had a mini family reunion. Three of my five sisters spent two weeks in the Guest Hou
se, here in Nunraw, where my brother Donald is Guest Master. They arrived a few days after the failed terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport. All airports were on high security alert. Hence Noreen and Josephine were delayed at Dublin Airport for about three hours, one of them sitting in the plane, before they obtained the 'All clear' from Edinburgh. Before this Patricia arrived from Aberdeen also one hour late because she got the wrong coach. By then it was too late to have supper at Nunraw so we had our first meal together at a quiet resturant just outside Edinburgh. As we chatted we enjoyed the drive through the beautiful Lothian countryside, aglow with the warm evening sun.. Our absent sisters were Mary who teaches English to the young Sisters in South Korea, and Christina who does parish work with the Aboriginese in Australia.5th July: The five of us set off for Carfin, Scotland's National Shrine to Our Lady. It is not far from Glasgow on the Edinburgh road.It has been transformed into a very wonderful shrine. Our mother often visited it with members of the family. The cost of enhancement was shared by church and private contributions, Irish, Polish, Ukrainian etc., as well as from government developement agencies.
The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is built almost entirely of glass, very beautiful and most prayerful. The Chapel is dedicated to Our Lady, Maid of the Sea. This title is the name of the passenger aircraft that crashed, near Locherbie not far from Carfin, due to a terrorist bomb. A list of the victims, (R.I.P.), hangs on the wall.
By way of exception, since it is only open on Sundays, we were allowed to view the fantastic display of relics in the Relics Museum.
In the afternoon we visited Donald's friends at Wellwood, not far from here. Beatrice (in the photo) and her sister, Claude, from Oregon, USA. Originally they came from a large family in Belgium.
Coming from Cameroon they were disappointed that I did not speak French. We enjoyed a nice afternoon tea together complete with Belgian cookies. Beatrice, now an eighty-year old widow, is still full of energy in spite of two strokes and is rather deaf. She is a member of the landed gentry and has a large estate/farm. She drives herself here to Mass every Sunday. Her husband used to accompany her though he remained an Anglican.My very pleasant surprise was to meet up with Claude. When she said she was from Oregon I could scarcely believe my ears. I was even more surprised when she said that the 'Oregon Grape', ornamental and herbal shrub, grows in her garden. The scientific name is 'Mahonia Aquifolium'. The bark of the root is used to make ointment for skin disorders. It is most effective for psoriasis. When I looked up the Internet for the seeds it said that they were out of stock. More surprisingly still I discovered that Beatrice had it growing in her garden and estate, all ready for harvesting. So I now have a supply of the seeds. I had to be quick because the birds love the grapes. The shrub will be a useful addition to our herb garden. We run a small Herbal Clinic in Bamenda, Cameroon, where many people suffer from psoriasis. There are no specific drugs for psoriasis in West Africa. The preparations, ointment and tablets etc., are only available on the Internet. Even if you have a credit card it is not easy to import any item due to risk of theft and high customs duty.
11th: Our cousin, Brian Sweeney and his wife, Kathy. were with us for lunch and afternoon tea. He had polio as a small boy.They are always most inspiring in the way he copes with his disability with the help of
Kathy. They are a perfect, loving team. He is now a qualified Consulant for the disabled and gives lectures at the University and Medical schools. He is a living example of what he preaches. He is a great advocate for the rights of the disabled. He is a great entertainer. He arrived in his big Mercedes custom built car. I think he got it at a special rate. The fittings and gadgets were supplied free of charge. He drives up to the car in his power driven wheel-chair. Using his handset he opens a door and a platform drops to the ground. He reverses into it, the platform rises and he enters the cabin, wheels round and hops into the driver's seat. Coming out of the car the procedure is reversed. He does most of the driving himself though Kathy drives from time to time.
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