Day to Day Scene: Historical Moments

Hi folks, well last weekend was a historical one. In a couple of ways! We went down to Birmingham because Penny had a cousin (Nigel) who was having a 50th birthday party, and we got to visit the town most closely linked to William Shakespeare. The catch is that Penny had never met her cousin Nigel before, in fact she'd never met any of her family here in Britain, and only had email contact with them for the first time a year ago! So Pen was excited, nervous, and a little worried about meeting her cousin, and learning more about her family.
These cousins are all related to Penny through Eric, her biological father. He left England when he was a young man on the £10 boat runs, and has lived in Australia ever since. However his mother Peggy and her brothers and sisters all remained here in England and as a result, they all had kids over here so Eric has a whole host of cousins here, and it was these cousins that Penny met.

To add a little intrigue, Penny also knew that Eric had a half sister named Katherine, (or Kathy as she's known) that Penny had never met. Penny didn't know much about Kathy, however she did get an email from her once about a year ago and had hoped to meet her. Penny finally met her aunt Kathy this weekend.

However before we get to that, Nigel picked us up from Birmingham airport Friday morning and we went back to his place where we looked at a few photo's and Penny got a glimpse into the family's past. Nigel then took us to Stratford upon Avon, which was absolutely brilliant. What a historic town. William shakespeare was born and died here. So we got a bit of a tour and saw the house he was born in, what's left of the house he died in, and a pub or two he was reputed to have drank in. Stratford upon Avon is pretty amazing. The buildings are well preserved, and really give you a feeling of what life was like in the 1500's. They have a unique style, and the churches really are fantastic. There are gargoyles and grotesques everywhere, the difference being gargoyles spout water, where as grotesques can stand on their own (I think). They were on houses, churches, outbuildings, everywhere really! I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, and would love to go back and take in a Shakespearean play!

For Nigel's 50th he had a wee do at his local, and he and his band put some music on. Penny and I arrived a bit early, and sat watching Nigel and his band practice a few songs, and before long people started to walk in. As a result Penny's stomach started to churn as she watched people file past and wondered, is that a cousin? Could that be my aunt?
Finally Nigel came over and got Penny and introduced her to her other cousins and behold...instant family! Penny met her Dad's cousins Stuart (and his son Andrew), Steven (and his wife Fabiella and their son Harry), Jean, and Christine. Penny spent a good part of the evening asking questions about her family, soaking up everything that was said, as well as bringing everyone up to date with her and Eric's stories. The funny thing is that Penny's description of Eric to me when we were travelling implied he was a little on the wild side, so I think Penny and I were both a little amused to hear stories about Eric as a child being a little bit of a wild child. I suppose some things never change!

Nigels band played most of the night, and did a good job of mixing up the music, and they also had one of their friends Helen come out and do a bit of Belly Dancing which went down very well, and was impressive to watch.

So between Nigel's band, a belly dancer, a host of cousins (one of whom lives here in Scotland!) and a long lost aunt....Penny had a pretty full on night. It's safe to say it's a weekend she'll never forget.