More family, more food ...

We're home again. Somehow the journey seems longer every time, my family further away, but especially after goodbyes. It was a glorious morning in Edinburgh - by the time I opened the curtains the sky was a vivid blue with not a cloud - but the approaching weather front became visible in the west as we left Glasgow and from Greenock onwards we were under ever darker cloud. As the day ends in Dunoon, it's pouring, and there have been great gusts of wind. We're back.

We had breakfast with #1 son and family, packed the insane amount of stuff that we seemed to have with us and which included a wonderful bag of goodies from my d-i-l,  made a fond farewell to Po the dog - he's quite won me over - and left just after midday to pay a quick visit to #2 son and his family. He gave us one of his tasty and elegant lunches, followed by a piece of his birthday cake, so it was a while before we were ready to climb back into the car. Before lunch, Anna, our youngest grandchild, showed me the Eminent Victorians project she's been doing at school; I've blipped it because I was so impressed by her ingenuity and creativity, to say nothing of the work she's put into it. (I have to add here that her big sister showed me her Latin unseen translation test - I'm so proud that she's showing every sign of being as good at it as I was, and no, I don't believe in being coy about my teenage passion for Latin, especially is it's so out of fashion these days). 

The drive home into the sun was considerably less trying than our outward journey, and Himself was able to slow down enough for me to take a photo of the extraordinary monument that's recently been erected near the remaining dockyard in Port Glasgow (extra photo) to celebrate the shipbuilding industry and the men who hammered the hot rivets into ships' hulls. The sculpture of two stainless steel figures hard at work has been designed and built by renowned artist John McKenna following a public vote and consultation.The figures measure 10 metres (33 feet) in height with a combined weight of 14 tonnes and are thought to be the largest sculptural figures of shipbuilders in the UK and one of the biggest of its kind in Western Europe.

So I've had a simply lovely weekend, and now I look again at the families who have also been on the move in a weekend of hell, as they flee Ukraine. If it's all I can do, my contribution at the moment will be not to let a day pass without remembering them and their plight. 

We must never become used to this.