Oct
21
2017
0

A year in pictures – Day 294

Bye bye Manora

The weather has been pretty awful today as Storm Brian has rolled into the island.

We took a short walk out this afternoon and walked up the back path which is behind where my Gran’s house once stood. This ginormous hole is where it was and they are building a swanky new modern property to replace it. Goodness knows how many tonnes of granite they have dug out from the cliff.

It made me slightly tearful to think about the fact that the house in which we spent so many happy times is now gone. I am sure the new house will be stunning but I am so sad that they couldn’t be bothered to maintain the property and use what they had. It was so iconic on the landscape.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: ,
Sep
15
2017
0

A year in pictures – Day 258

Manora

This pic is a really special one to me although I cannot take credit for taking it. It was taken by my very talented friend Paul Mariess and I nicked borrowed it.

This house belonged to my grandparents and was called Manora. We spent so much time up there and it has the most wonderful sea views. It looks out across the west coast with views over Cobo Beach. Beautiful in the lovely weather and absolutely wild when the weather is rough. Such a wonderful view.

They are now ripping down the house to replace it with a glass fronted modern building. I am sure it will be spectacular but I wish they had attempted to restore Manora to its glory. It could have been so beautiful although it would have required an awful lot of money to sort it out.

Time moves on, but this house holds so, so many special memories and in my minds eye I can still picture my little, hunched Gran Nora sitting in her winged chair in the window with her fat tabby cat on her lap and watching the sea out of the window.

Memories… so many of them…

– Christmasses spent sat in the hallway opening masses of presents.
– My cousins wrestling with each other in the hallway.
– Going to bed in Gran’s bed at Christmas with my cousin Beccy reading stories to us.
– Climbing up into the funny little loft space at the front of the garage to find the bullet holes.
– Sitting next to Gran on her bed when she was really quite poorly and talking to her about day-to-day stuff.
– Sitting on the granite wall at the front watching my bigger boy cousins jumping off the rocks into the sea in the gully below.
– The house had a particular smell all of it’s own and that long room which looked out onto the sea contained the most exciting thing in the house… Grandma’s button box.
– After Gran died going to the house with all the family to claim a few bits and pieces which ended up with the family emptying Gran Nora’s hat box and having pics taken wearing her creations.
– Spitting prune stones across the formica topped table in the kitchen.
– Sitting next to Gran on her bed when she was really quite poorly and talking to her about day-to-day stuff.

So many meals, so many hours spend with the family, so many tears and shrieks of laughter. So much noise! Most of all, so much love.

Manora will always hold a very, very special place in my heart.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: ,
Jan
16
2014
0

2014 Project365 (Day 16)

Memory locketApart from my engagement and wedding rings this is my most treasured piece of jewellry.

The beautiful locket belonged to my lovely Gran Nora and then my Mum inherited it. The back of it has numerous dents caused by The Little Mister chewing it and I adore the fact that this has been worn by Mum and Gran.

I wore it to work today and found myself holding it between the palms of my hands, thinking about Mum and how much I miss her at the moment.

When I wear it I feel like my Mum is so close to my heart. A place that she will always and forever remain.

Written by Anna Williams in: Family,Mum | Tags: , ,
Dec
30
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 364)

Mantle clock
The Little Mister went to the childminder today and I spent a large proportion of my day cleaning the house and ironing. It’s not a job I love but it is very satisfying to see the end result.

My Dad gave us a handcrafted mantlepiece for our Christmas present and I am very happy that I can now feature Gran Nora’s 1050’s (probably?!) mantle clock on it. Also my cousin Beccy gave me these lovely tea light holders for my birthday. They match beautifully.

Written by Anna Williams in: House | Tags: ,
Feb
10
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 41)

Gran's vaseWhen Gran Nora died all the grandchildren were able to take something from her house as a momento. I had a few things including a couple of books, a necklace and this gorgeous vase. Of course, I now also have her dining room table and chairs which have taken pride of place in our kitchen.

I love the vibrant turquoise of this vase and it is such thick glass and weighs quite a bit. I decide it might come in useful in case of an intruder!

Written by Anna Williams in: Family,House,Project365 | Tags: , , ,
Nov
14
2012
0

2012 Project365 (Day 318)

14 November 2012I love this clock and it came from Gran Nora. It was one of the few things that I wanted to take from her house as I love it. I think it is probably a 1950’s clock and it used to sit on her mantlepiece in her dining room.

The clock is one of the reasons that I want to have a mantlepiece in my lounge. In needs somewhere to sit in pride of place!!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Family,Project365 | Tags: , ,
Jul
01
2012
0

2012 Project365 (Day 179)

28 June 2012Today we travelled to Sark, one of the smallest and definitely one of the most beautiful of the Channel Islands. Just three miles long and a mile and a half wide it seems to tower out of the sea as you arrive by boat and The Mister commented that it reminded him of Jurassic Park. Not to mention that when we got the boat there it was quite foggy and I seriously expected the Black Pearl from The Pirates of The Caribbean to come sailing out.

We were in Sark for Sark Folk Festival. We have never been before so it is a new experience!

We arrived a day early though and did some exploring. The house in this picture is called Beau Sejour and I believe that Gran Nora lived there with Grandpa during the Occupation when she worked as a nurse on the island. There was a small exhibition about the Occupation in Sark so we went to see if there was any information. There was only a little bit, mainly a comment that she gave birth to twins whilst living there!

So, Sark is beautiful, windy and very, very dark at night. It is essential to take a torch!

Written by Anna Williams in: Camping,Festival | Tags: , , , , ,
Feb
10
2009
1

One year on

Gran NoraI can’t believe that it is a year ago today since Gran Nora died.

Time seems to have zoomed passed over the last year and suddenly I am looking back and wondering where it has all gone. Time certainly is a healer and I no longer feel quite so keenly the loss of my lovely Gran. Of course, being on the mainland means that I can almost pretend she is still in Guernsey living in her hill-top house and sitting in her chair looking out at the sea. In reality I know that she is gone and the house has been sold.

I still have moments when I wish I could talk to her one last time, especially as the last time I saw her I was really drunk and I was trying to survive my sister’s wedding. On that day though I saw Gran at the church (before I was too drunk!) and I knelt on the floor next to her seat and rested my head in her lap and cried. She just stroked my hair and told me that she loved me. These days it is one of the most powerful images of my Gran that I can draw to mind and it still makes me cry.

Gran wasn’t a rolling around the floor, playing with her grandchildren sort of Gran, but, she was always interested, always wanted to know what was going on and would have done anything to make her children and grandchildren happy.

She loved playing Scrabble, even if she was really rather rubbish at the end and would fall asleep in the middle of her go whilst holding her letters in her hand. She would then make a jerky movement and spill all her letters into her skirt, before picking them up to do it all again.

2771328632_78476f1abdI loved her for the fact that she would tell the same old war stories time and time again, but she seemed to have different grandchildren to tell certain stories too… like we all had our own bit of the jigsaw.

I can still see her in my head standing in her front porch and watering her geraniums, or sitting in her big comfy chair, looking out to sea and attempting to do The Times crossword.

I have a huge admiration for Gran Nora, for surviving the German occupation of Guernsey with her faith intact and an unshakable belief in a good and loving God. For the fact that she would have missionaries to stay in her house on a regular basis which meant we got to meet some interesting people, for the fact that she prayed for her family every day.

I wish she was still around, and I wish she’d had the chance to meet The Mister. She would have loved him. I know she would.

I still miss her so much.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: , , ,
Dec
18
2008
8

Manora – the end of an era


Today has been very much the end of an era. Gran Nora’s house has gone through and for the first time in well over half a century it no longer belongs to the family. What I hadn’t realised was that in Guernsey is it quite a formal procedure and my Mum, aunts, uncle and my cousins (the children of my Uncle Steve who died) all had to go to the Royal Court in order for the paperwork to be completed.

It’s quite a strange feeling because I have so many happy memories tied into this house. When we were kids it was the most amazing place to play hide and seek because there were so many hiding places. Many hours were spent sitting on the wall around the front of the property, watching the world go by or all the cousins swimming down at the gully by the Lion Rock below. So many photos have been taken with people sitting on this wall! I have fond memories of sitting in front of the TV with my lovely grandpa, watching Playschool and podding peas. In later years, when Gran was much more frail she could often be found sitting in her favourite seat in the window from where she could see all arrivals to the front door, as well as look at the wonderful sea view. So many memories tied up in one place.

The thought of the house belonging to another family is hard, and yet no-one in the family could take it on because it needed so much work doing to it. Also, I am not sure that it would have been the right thing to do. Manora was, and is, part of our history; where we have come from and the experiences there have helped to shape us into the vibrant and strong family that we are today. Today we have to move on, however painful and difficult that is, and we have to shape a different future, without Gran Nora, but still with the rest of us to carry on what she started. That has to be something to look forward to.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: , , ,
Aug
17
2008
4

Missing Gran

Gran & Anna 2Yesterday I had a very boring day and felt unbelievably unsettled and lonely. Just one of those days I guess.

I had nothing essential that I had to do so I went to the gym and spent the afternoon baking cakes for Greenbelt. But my discontent and restlessness did not pass. I drank wine and that just made things worse and no matter what I did I could not settle.

Yesterday would also have been Gran Nora’s 93rd birthday. I am missing her very much at the moment. Maybe that contributed to me feeling a little bit at sea. I don’t know. All I know is that I wish I could spend some time with her again.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags:

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