Becoming Titled

How about this for a pretty good Christmas present? Two of our sons, Mark and Stephen along with two grandchildren, Autumn and Beau came for the day on Christmas Day for the big Turkey meal.
We always have table presents in a Secret Santa style which we open between the main meal and the Christmas pudding.After the big meal, we got ours and put them on the table in the recipients places. Stephen & Mark did the same. So that meant Autumn, Beau, Mark and Stephen all had a gift.
There was nothing by mine or Dons place!

Mmmmm I thought, somethings going on here! They all said we had to wait till after desert and everything was cleared away as they needed lots of room for our gift. Well we got curiouser and couriouser!

It all got cleared and then we were banished from the room for 10 minutes whilst they 'setup'.

We sat in the bedroom and then there was a knock on the door. We opened it and there stood Mark in a Knights outfit, complete with sword! We were ordered to follow him. He then knocked on the lounge door and a voice told usto enter!

In there was Autumn dressed in resplendant ermine and scarlet cloak, Stephen with the video camera running who welcomed us to the ceremony. Beau was there holding a cushion.????? We were told to kneel on the two satin cushions placed in front of Autumn. Mark joined her as we knelt.
Autumn began to read...........Mark carried on reading and Beau placed a crown on each of our heads. Stephen carried on filming. It was a full on ceremony!

The gift was Title Deeds to a small plot of land in the highlands of Scotland which under Scottish Law gives us automatic right to be known as Lord and Lady!!! We have a Scottish family Crest and are entitled to wear the Lochaber Tartan.

We have title deeds, a fmily crest (above) and can by law actually change our names officially if we want to so our passports and drivers licences show Lord and Lady Bentley Simpson.

We were absolutely stunned and I couldnt stop laughing!,(In fact on the film which we watched over later, I laughed so much it sounds like a witches cackle!!)

What a fantastic unusual and thoughtful gift. The whole play acting that they put with it was terrific and took half an hour for the whole ceremony.
Apparently they had been planning it for 2 months! What a surprise and so very well done.

The selling of plots of land like this is because a lot of these estates in Scotland are in danger of being lost with deforestation and to the developers and by selling off small plots, the money goes to the upkeep and maintenance of the estateas a whole and it can then be preserved.

It is a one foot square plot each so not enough room to build a castle! For the conservation its fantastic and we have an exact map of where it is so we can go there to visit.

The actual estate is called Lochaber Highland Estates which is in Lairds Wood and its just a little south of Fort William. The area is maintained by Scottish Woodland Alliance which was formed to help reverse centuries of deforestation and breathe new life into the Scottish countryside, its wildlife and communites.

This Christmas present that will go on into perpetuity.

Looking Forward

This is the time of year most people look forward to. We see the Christmas lights appearing everyhwere, firstly in the shops, then in the streets in the towns around the country, up and down the roads, outside houses. We see the people rushing around trying to complete their Christmas shopping lists.

All the gossip is about what to buy.As you rest your weary feet at the coffee shop in town, you might pause outside Santa's Grotto and see the wonderment in the childrens eyes as they come out! Such twinkly eyes so full of anticipation.Thats what its all about!

A lot of us make lists. Lists of things to buy, lists of food to prepare in readiness for the great day.Lists of things to do around the house. Extra beds to make up.

Whatever our way of preparing for Christmas, one thing is pretty much uniting us all right now in the world. 'Looking Forward'.

If you have children, its looking forward to the early morning start when Santa's presents are opened! Looking forward to a day with family or friends. Looking forward to lovely food. Looking forward to a glass of wine or a cup of tea. Whatever you are planning to do at Christmas, just look forward to it, enjoy it for what it is, a celebration. Maybe for you a celebration with Religious meaning, maybe a celebration of time together with those you love. Whatever it is, just look forward to it!

Relish the moment for all too soon it will be gone, the day will be over, the moments to remember will be in our minds, on the photographs.A part of your history.

so just Look Forward and Enjoy.To each of you reading this have a wonderful Christmas.

Precious time

Sometimes we just go on in life, doing the same old thing, day in and day out! Work, shop, cook, chat, tv, and so it goes round and round. Then one day something is said, or something happens, or you read a passage which makes you think, you might see something on tv and you stop! Something brings you to that moment!

This is the very moment you stop, take stock of everything and realise! Yes realise, time is so very precious.

You hear a piece of sad news, you read about another soldier needlessly dying in Afghanistan, you really feel for his family and their torment. You may chat to someone and hear their bad news, you hear of a death of someone you know. Just one thing thats all it takes.

Thats when you stop, realising that life is so short, every moment has to count. Count your blessings, good health, wonderful family, fabulous friends, comfortable home.

Yes we may always wish we could have a bit more money to take the pressure off when the bills arrive, but does it make life better?

The answer in short is NO!

What makes life better, is YOU realising life is wonderful, learning to appreciate all things.

The saying 'Stop and Smell the Roses, its so true. We all need to stop sometimes and just think. Life is quite good really. We are not starving, we are not dying of aids. Our country is not a deprived nation, we do have a democracy, (no matter how it sometimes irks us). We can say our thoughts out loud and not fear being shot.

And so it goes on, we become determined not to moan as much, to appreciate everything in life, to be thankful for the health we have whilst others suffer so much. Make a vow to ourselves to remember to tell relatives and friends we love them.

It lasts for a day or two, sometimes even a week or two, then eventually the same old routine comes into play and we slip into the old habits.

So before that happens, to all my relatives, both home and abroad, no matter how far apart we are, I love you all. To all my dear friends, some we dont see as often as we should, I love you all.

I aim to make more time for those precious moments.