Sunday 8th May
We woke up to a call from Glenn which was great. Had forgotten that it was Mother' Day in Oz, and also found a message from Wayne - thank you both for the wishes.
We had a morning walk with Liz and the dog through fields and woods - really lovely and no rain!
We left for Harbonnne which is a suburb of Birmingham to meet the other members of Liz's family, of the McLeod descendants. We were so priviledged as John and Shelia had travelled for 3 hours from Wales, just to meet us. Unfortunately Graham and his wife Penelope were away in France, but we met all the others. David & Sue Macfarlane whoswe house we were in, Francis & Angela Macfarlane where4 not there, but Douglas Macfarlane was there. Also there were was Jane Macfarlane and husband Adam Overland. Liz has found a photo of her grandmother, who is the sister of Rich's grandmother - what an incredible likeness. We had a lovely day and beautiful BBQ (yep in England) where Sue and & David did us proud. Also met one of Liz's sons
Andrew Tew and wife Alice and their two little fellows. When we left Harbonne to come home Liz took us into the heart of Birmingham to change our preconceived ideas of Birmingham being a 'dirty immigrant trouble spot'. We saw the Brindley Place, cancal network, the symphony hall, Hall of memory, Victoria Square, science museum and they are all very impressive - and has changed our perspective of this city. Of course 'those areas' are here, but also in many other cities. There is a huge and I mean huge new hospital The Queen Elizabeth, which takes the trauma cases from the armed forces. Saw several choppers coming in to bring cases. When we got home Liz and Rich spent sometime going through old photos and found some gems of Grandmum Stewart and her visits back to Scotland, and also her sister Isabella (liz's grandmother) amongst many others. We have been so warmly welcomed and are so appreciative of the warm hospitality and extreme kindness by Liz. Tomorrow we head out for the Seeds in Staffordshire.