Tuesday 24 July 2012

The church at Migvie

The first time I saw the church at Migvie was just over three years ago (on my first visit to Tillypronie), and when I stepped inside, my eyes filled with tears. I was far from home, yet felt that home might one day be near; and I could not help but think of my sister -- as if I had found myself, and Ruth, in one of those rare places wherein those we have loved, and believed lost, seem suddenly closer again. Of course, I did not know at the time that I would return to the church, several summers later, to marry the man who had first taken me there (and who was responsible for its beautiful restoration, after it had fallen into disrepair); nor that my sister's daughter would be my bridesmaid. But if time is sometimes circular, rather than linear -- and at the church in Migvie, circles are everywhere -- then here was (here is) -- a moment when the past, the present, and the future, seemed to slip into a whole. How glad I am that our wedding took place in the round....



These lines are on one of the four walls at Migvie, but they also face the stone seats in the shape of a cross in the middle of the church (although some might see these as another circle). Elsewhere, inside and outside the church, are reminders of the site's ancient origins; hence the incorporation of Celtic and Pictish symbols, in stone fragments and carvings, alongside the Christian imagery. I hope you enjoy the pictures; and even if your journeys do not take you to Migvie, be sure to return to the sacred places that you know to be your own...


The door into the church...
and inside, an unexpected light...
a place where a small bird...
 might find sanctuary from a storm...


Saturday 14 July 2012

Some more wedding pictures...

Back in Tillypronie, where all is quiet and green, after the colourful gathering of a fortnight ago. I can't quite believe that only two weeks have passed -- it seems far longer than that, though the bright flashes of the wedding weekend are still vivid in my memory, amidst the joyous blur of so much activity. Anyway, here are a couple more photographs... I do love a man in a kilt (and what a splendid yellow waistcoat it is).



Monday 9 July 2012

Before the wedding, the fitting in Paris...

So, as some of you will have guessed, my wedding dress was by Chanel -- and it was perfect. I have never loved a dress as much as this one: for its simplicity, as well as its complexity. The cut is beautiful -- it literally slips on, which makes it comfortable, and as fluid as a classic 1930s Chanel evening gown. But of course, it takes extraordinary expertise to make something look and feel so easy; which is one of the defining hallmarks of Chanel. It had to be cream silk, rather than white -- I'm not a virgin bride -- and sufficiently sophisticated for a grownup occasion, while also appropriate to a country wedding. Above all, it represented so much of the circuitous journey that has taken me from sadness to joy; navigated by Mademoiselle Chanel herself, a woman who understood how clothes can bestow dignity to those who have felt broken, while also giving a lightness of touch to the most emotional of episodes.





Friday 6 July 2012

Oh happy day...

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well...



So much more to write about -- the pipes and the drums and the blessings and the songs -- but will gather my thoughts, and return tomorrow...