lovely time with family

After our angelic dogsit with Elsie, the black Labrador, in the beautiful town of Harrogate, Jordan and I headed down to Shrewsbury. Depending on where in England you’re from, the name is pronounced *Shrowsbury* (if you’re southern) or you say it exactly as it looks (if you’re from the north). Shrewsbury was a long awaited visit with my Great Aunt Lucy and Uncle David—family I hadn’t seen in about five years. What I remember of the last time I saw them consists mainly of me stressfully driving through winding which most of what I remember is being quite stressed out driving around mountain roads with David as my co-pilot and Lucy giggling in the backseat with my mom.

As we stepped off the train, Lucy met us in the station flanked by two black Labradors. One of which belonged to her and David, Temba, and the other belonging to her daughter, Poppy. The five of us walked out of the station and met David, who kindly volunteer to take both the bags and the dogs back home in the van, while Lucy gave us a walking tour of Shrewsbury on the way back to the house. Although brief, what Lucy gave us a fantastic tour hitting all of the high points, that Jordan and I on our next time in town made sure to explore deeper!

Upon arriving at Lucy’s house, we were told we had to hide our Lidl bread that we brought from Harrogate from Dave because he is a sour dough maker and overall bread connoisseur. It seemed almost every day he was cranking out a new loaf of bread in his kitchen/factory. The day we arrived, he made a tomato and rosemary focaccia bread that was so good that we had it for dinner almost every night. I called my dad and told him all about Dave’s sourdough-ing and I think I have finally convinced my dad to start making sourdough. Sourdough has always been his favorite type of bread and making it is something that he has been interested in since my cousin Lucy started baking sourdough loaves a few years back.

Later that evening, Lucy and David took us to our first UK football match, something Jordan and I have been dying to do ever since we got to the UK! As members of the Shrewsbury Football Club, Lucy and David were the perfect guides for our first game. Even though the stadium was small, the energy was anything but that. Chants echoed through the stands, playfully teasing the opposing team, the refs, and even each team’s own players. Shrewsbury lost, but it didn’t matter, Jordan and I cherished the entire experience and the energy of the game.  After the game, we even got the signature of one of the players, Leo Castledine. Jordan and I were quite embarrassed to find out while writing this that Leo is only 19 years old, meaning that at four years his senior, Jordan and I acted like little kids getting his autograph.

On Wednesday, Lucy enlisted our help moving a heavy carpet and some other furniture out from their garage to their old farm, because they were having work done on the house. I enjoyed seeing the house that Lucy and David lived for over 20 years and raised their kids. I can imagine there is a lot of history and fond memories there. After dropping off the furniture, we took nice long walk around the farm with the two dogs, who thoroughly enjoyed sprinting around and jumping through any patch of water and mud they could find.

Thursday brought another family reunion. We drove south to meet more relatives I’d never met, including Great Uncle Alan, who owns a sprawling farm about 30 minutes away from Lucy (his sister). Two of his sons rent the land from him where they live with their families. One of the sons, Edu, and his wife, Emma, welcomed us for lunch, and after stuffing ourselves with delicious food, Edu proudly showed us his impressive kitchen garden and the holiday lets he was building. It was so nice to finally put names to faces on my family tree and spend such quality time with them!

Lucy with her spoils from the kitchen garden

That evening, back at Lucy and David’s, we indulged in a homemade pizza night. David had made the dough balls months ago, and we all decided that now was the time to enjoy it. Lucy’s friend Debbie joined us, and we all took turns creating mini pizzas, one by one, chatting and laughing around the kitchen island as we waited for each fresh pie to emerge from the oven. It was one of those evenings that felt perfect in its own way—food, friends, and family all content with enjoying each other’s company.

On Friday, we did a bit more work with Lucy and David, helping them prepare their holiday let, the byre, for guests. This area was very special to visit not only because Tom, Lucy and David’s son, lives there, but because next door to the byer was one of the first places Lucy and David ever lived when they moved to Shropshire!

After doing some other chores with them, Lucy and David dropped us off in Shrewsbury town where we had a nice little meander through the streets and window-shopping at a few markets and shops. I quite like this town, it's full of history and character, with its classic English black-and-white timber-framed buildings lining the streets. The narrow cobblestone alleys and overhanging upper stories of the old buildings give the place a unique and ancient feel.

We returned just in time for “Fish Friday,” a Pulford family tradition. In my opinion, there is no better tradition. Fish and chips were ordered in, and we all gathered around the table—seven of us, including Lucy’s daughter, her husband, and their baby. The meal was perfect. A crispy fish for each of us and a shared mountain of fries between us. The conversation flowed and was just as filling as the meal, I can understand why Fish Friday is a cherished tradition.

On Saturday, we had a laid back day, mostly relaxing and getting ready for our train ride to Glasgow the following morning. However, I did get moving and go on a lovely walk with Lucy, Grace (who, I think, is my first cousin-in-law once removed — family relations are so confusing!), along with her kids, Lucy’s two black labs, and Grace’s black lab as well. I felt like we had our own army of crazy black labs that we were wrangling whilst on the walk haha! After our walk, we all had a nice breakfast together, and then Grace and her kids went on their way. I spent most of the rest of the day doing work on the couch downstairs, hoping to absorb every last bit of family time that I could before heading off yet again to unchartered territories.

That evening we had a delicious amalgamation of leftovers for dinner and then we watched Strictly Come Dancing, the UK’s version of Dancing With The Stars. We picked a great week to find out about this show, movie week, where they all dressed up very extravagantly as characters from different movies and danced to a song from the soundtrack. I’ll admit, it was slightly addictive, I see how people get hooked on these shows!

The next day we said our goodbyes as all of us were prepping to leave. Lucy and David were heading out with two other couples in the family on a ferry to France to celebrate all three couples’ 50 year wedding anniversary! So the house was quite hectic that morning. Jordan and I made it on our train headed to Glasgow where we would stay the night before heading up to the highlands to volunteer at a Scottish castle for a month!

Wish us luck!!

xx abby