Goodbye to Macclesfield and a very special friend

Last week we travelled to Macclesfield in Cheshire to say goodbye to a very dear friend, Elaine McBride. Elaine and I met in 1992 when we were sat next to each other on a plane that was headed for Saudi Arabia. I was a very naive 23 years old, leaving Tasmania to work in the middle east, and Elaine was seven years older than me and had worked there before. Needless to say, she took me under her wing and I don't know what I would have done without her. A couple of years later saw us sharing a flat in Sydney for a year and I have so many wonderful memories from our time together.

Elaine was so full of life and taught me so much about myself and the world, and the person I am today is partly due to having her in my life, even if it was just briefly. She introduced me and Ken to each other, so she even had a hand in our relationship. Elaine's funeral was beautiful with her two gorgeous nieces doing readings and Paul doing a eulogy that made people both laugh and cry - El would have been very proud. Sammy and Bombo, her two boys (dogs) were there with Bombo only being a little grumpy. During the service we listened to a lovely piece of Reiki music which was very fitting for Elaine, and at the end we all left to the song 'Don't Worry, Be Happy'.

Here are a couple of photos that I have pinched from Paul's blog as I really love how they just capture Elaine's joy in living.

Photo from blog: http://nbthemanlyferry.blogspot.co.uk/  

Photo from blog: http://nbthemanlyferry.blogspot.co.uk/  

It felt very weird leaving Macclesfield as I know we don't have any reason to go back there now. Paul is headed back to Spain and the only reason we've ever been to this town has been to see Elaine - the first time I ever went was in 1992 and one of the highlights that my friend told me I must see was the 108 steps, so we walked up and down them the evening after Elaine's funeral as a sort of farewell ritual of our own.

The next day we headed for Northumberland travelling through gorgeous scenery including Yorkshire and we found a lovely place to stop for sustenance and that was the Pot House Hamlet, which has a farm shop, nursery, pet store, and the Potting Shed cafe. There has been something on this site since at least the 1600's and the cafe is fabulous so make sure you stop in if you're in the area.

Gorgeous cake and huge servings in a really lovely environment - the servings were so big that I had to break the first rule of cake club and leave cake.

There are some very friendly animals to have a chat with and there is food to give them as well, but be warned, you will get mugged if you have the food in your hand.

At one point Ken had three goats trying to fit their mouths in the pot (above), and I had goats coming at me from all angles.

This goat was very funny and I wish now that I'd videod him as he sounded very funny - not bleating, but more like a posh politician blustering away at us.

The little goats were everywhere, no fences able to keep them in a field.

We loved these two alpacas, especially the black and white one as his fringe is too cute.

We eventually made it to Seahouses on the Northumbrian coast where we were staying the night - we went for a late night walk around the town with Bramble and I really liked this church window representing the fishing industry.

That's it for today so until next time, be good, stay safe, and make sure you hug the ones you love this week.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: On October 16th Ken and I are doing the ovarian cancer walk in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh to raise money to help fight this illness. If anyone feels the urge to give some money to this very important cause, just click on donate here and it will take you to our page on the Target Ovarian Cancer website.    Donate Here