Music, laughter and flowers in The View from the Terrace

We had a lovely weekend.

On Saturday we went to the spring meeting of our John Denver club. It is always lovely to meet old friends and make new ones, have a good singalong and raise some money for charity through a raffle and various craft stalls. We drove up on the Friday and stayed overnight at a nearby Premier Inn. I never know how I will be, most of my migraines coming on in the early morning, if we are already there I can take a pill, have a litttle lie in and still get there in good time. As it happened I was fine.

We spent the morning catching up with old friends and looking around, then lunch and an afternoon of John Denver music by various members. Hubby and I both sang. One of our regular performers did a duet with his 10 year old daughter and she also sang a solo song. There was a pretty sad moment towards the end of the afternoon when we all gathered to sing a final song, one of our longtime members is very ill with cancer and it became obvious he knew this was his last time. Several people were hugging and in tears. It is only just over a year since we lost 2 other members to cancer. On the positive side Hubby and I sat by 2 new members with whom we became quite friendly and we are going to keep in touch.

Then we all had a fish and chip takaway meal, or veggie burger in the case of vegetarians, followed by more music, but this time we could sing anything. I did The Seekers The Shores of Avalon which is one of my favourite songs, in fact I want it at my funeral, but not just yet, I hope!

We stayed the second night in a Travelodge in Birmingham. I had a great night’s sleep but, unfortunately, Hubby was woken by a drunk in the car park who we later learned smashed up his own car!

After a lovely pub Sunday dinner we went to visit an elderly aunt who lost her husband last year. She is actually my mother’s first cousin but I always called her Auntie when I was a child. She is 91 and still insisting on living independantly, a really great, strong lady with all of her faculties and full of fun. She put on a lovely meal for us. Her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter came to see us. It was lovely to be with family, apart from my own immediate family they are the only family I have now.

I love going on visits in the spring when all of the blossom and bulbs are out. There was Magnolia everywhere, and blackthorn in the hedges and tulips just beginning to bloom among the last of the daffodils. Now I need some good weather and a well day to finish planting my own spring plants.

Last updated January 17, 2021