The general rule is that one of us chooses a book for the next meeting and Karen, our person on the inside at the library, sources multiple copies of the books and hands them out for us all to read.
This has never been an easy task and I'm sure it is why Karen eventually got a job at the library, out of the huge number of people who applied. She had spent so much of her time there trying to sort out our book group dilemmas that she knew the whole system like the back of her hand.
Of course reading the book is only a small part of book group. The chance to catch up with friends we haven't seen for at least a month and have a glass of wine or cup of tea while enjoying a few snacks, takes up a huge amount of any of these evenings. Usually it's a few hours in that someone says,
" We really should speak about the book".
This is the point that at least a few of us confess that we haven't read it at all but gracefully listen as those who have, tell us their thoughts.
At one of these meetings, last year, we got on to subject of singing. I love to sing, I have always sung in choirs, in musicals, in the shower, in the car and my particular favourite, the kitchen (mainly because there's room to dance and excruciatingly embarrass your kids). A few of the girls commented that they didn't have anywhere to go and sing communally. I was thinking how even though I know that going to church isn't part of most people's routine these days, that one of the joys of going is being able to sing with a group of people with no expectation of how tuneful you are.Something I have enjoyed since childhood and continue to do till this day.
So why shouldn't we just get together and sing?
I was appointed head honcho, mainly because we have a hall large enough to hold a group and an invitation was sent out to all of Face Book land, letting them know they could be a part of something really rather special.
Initially about 30 people turned up and all looked expectantly at me, thinking that I would transform them into the Macduff version of Soldier's wives. It was fairly obvious from the off that I didn't have the God given gift that Gareth Malone has, no matter how hard I tried, so we morphed and tweaked as the weeks went by and the numbers dropped, taking on board what everyone wanted and we settled on what is now known as 'Singing group'.
We turn up, the kettle goes on, the karaoke machine that Alexander expertly navigates, is set up. We sit around for a while sipping tea and choosing what songs we fancy singing. Requests go in to the master DJ and the music starts.
We sing ( together!), we dance, we laugh ( especially when one of us comes in at the wrong place), we belt out our all time favourites and we dance, sway and wiggle to our hearts content. There's no better therapy I can promise you than after a hard day's whatever, head banging along to 'Bohemian rhapsody' or feeling elated as you hold your arms outstretched during 'Something inside so strong'.
Music is always a huge part of any couple's big day and even though there isn't always an opportunity to sing, the music that is chosen, whether it be to walk in to or during the ceremony, always says a huge part about there journey together and what their dreams are for life ahead.
My outfit for this, my 23rd wedding attendance this year, was another e-bay find, paired with my patent black wedges and my ever faithful net slip I was very pleased with my £10 outfit.
I asked Robin to photograph me, so this is my 'Could you get a move on' face.
Mark and Michelle are from Keith so I was looking forward to joining them at the Springs as my opinion of folks from Keith couldn't be higher ( See blog no.1, Jill and Mike's).
Mark was standing outside as we walked down towards the hotel entrance. It was a beautiful day and he was looking very smart. He had spent the night on his Mum's sofa , after a bit of a late night with the lads. The intention was for him to sleep on an inflatable bed, but it deflated through the night and he ended up moving and then deciding, as he was getting no sleep, to get up at six and get on with his wedding day.
Walking in, I was pleasantly surprised to see pink everywhere, one of my favourite colours, so perfectly feminine and pretty. The room looked lovely, adorned with beautiful floral displays matching in with the chair bows and potted trees with pink roses that framed the aisle.
I popped myself down after taking a few pics and soon the guests came in under Jillian's careful direction, while the harpist played.
We knew that there were quite a few functions on that afternoon in the hotel so she had to be careful not to guide one of the girls from the two hen parties that were going on, in to the wedding by accident!
Only ten minutes late, the bridal party arrived, the two bridesmaids, Michelle's best friends, Charlotte and Laura looking quite stunning in deep purple off the shoulder long chiffon gowns. Michelle came in to ' Beautiful in white' by Westlife and as she walked up to Mark he reached over and gave her a kiss.
She did indeed look beautiful in white.Her dress was strapless in wrapped satin with a beautiful lace bodice, matching glimpses of antique lace fabric were set into panels that flowed all the way down to her train. In her hair was a diamonte tiara to add a touch of sparkle and her veil finished the whole outfit of to a tee.
I had been reading a psalm in the morning and the phrase " Be still and know that I am God" really struck me.Robin pointed out that one of the things Michelle had learned from being with Mark, over the twelve years they have been together, was that 'Stressing about things gets you nowhere' and I thought, that just about sums it up.
Mark said as he took his vows that he promised to follow Michelle's lead, apart from when Chelsea was playing on a Sunday afternoon.
Michelle spoke of how Mickey without Minnie and Piglet without Pooh was like her without him and then promised to only sing songs if she truly knew that words to them. I almost stood up and shouted,
"No,,,,sing those songs Michelle...we need more people like you"....
...... but I knew deep down in my heart that she would still keep on singing as he would keep watching the football, just learn to love that part of each other.
Connor is their little boy and having him be part of the day was a huge thing. He jumped into his Dad's arms after they were pronounced Man and wife and wanted to sit with them as they signed the schedule. This became a bit problematic when he wanted to sign it himself!
Eventually Michelle's Mum took him away and as she went to sit down he pulled her away to walk down the aisle saying, " Be right back" to everyone.
Outside he did stay still for a few photos with Mum and Dad and fellow page boy, Jake.
We were accosted in the foyer by two gorgeous ladies. Gemma, who is the face of the Banff Springs ( works on reception) is getting married to Jason in four weeks time and she and Sarah were adorned in sashes and dressed up to the nines for her henny. The rest of the gang, similarly attired, were in the Moray suite, after a lovely afternoon tea ( I use the word tea loosely!), getting ready for a bus to take them up to Inverness for Gemma's henny part two.
I look forward to seeing her next week and hearing all about it. Poor Sarah is straight back to work today, so I hope it wasn't too raucous a night. Looking forward to wedding crashing that big day too...so watch this space.
The harpist dashed past us all with her amazingly mobile harp, a bit stressed as she had booked to play at another wedding in Fyvie castle straight after Mark and Michelle's and thought she was going to be late.
We laughed with Jillian as we commented on the stress of booking two things in one day.
At this point Robin had to confess that he had indeed booked to do another wedding that evening! Jillian looked at him asking if he was joking, but he really had!
We were getting picked up at 7.15pm and taken to another destination for a totally different kind of wedding.....therein lies blog no.24.....now back to Mark and Michelle.
The new Mr and Mrs Hector went away with the photographer to Duff House for photos and we had a chance to have a glass of Pimms (that's got to be one of your five a day) and a catchup with Paul and Gemma, Robin's 141st wedding last year. Mark was Paul's best man and now Paul was here in the role of groomsman a year later for Mark. We had seen their wedding photos during the year as the Springs had a photo book on display, for folks to browse, on the coffee tables in reception.
The line up commenced and we had a chance to congratulate Mark and Michelle and meet their folks, before finding our table.
Beautifully decorated, Mark told us that his sister had done the table centres, what a great job she did.
The cake was also made by a friend and looked perfect, decorated with little pink marzipan flowers.
Michelle's Dad started the speeches saying how proud they were of Michelle for becoming a pharmacist but particularly happy that she had chosen Mark to spend the rest of her life with. Mainly because Mark works for the Chivas distillery company and pretty much guaranteed them cheap malt whiskey for the rest of their lives.
Mark thanked all the people who had made such an effort to make their day so special. He especially thanked his parents for how they had brought him and his brother and sister up, bring a tear to most people's eyes as he spoke from his heart.
There was an extra speech as Charlotte, the chief bridesmaid decided that in an effort to assert 'woman power' , she would stand and speak of her friendship for Michelle, that has been ongoing since P4.
Kyle, Mark's best man, spoke well, flowing from amusing anecdotes to tears all in the space of a few minutes.
Our meal started just after 6pm and we knew that time was of the essence as our lift was coming in just over an hour. I think Jillian was more worried than Robin about it as she made every effort to make sure that we had our full meal before we had to leave.
We really enjoyed it and even got to see Michelle and Mark cut their cake, leaving us with a great image on which to slip away, after saying our farewells.
We were sorry that we couldn't see their first dance, but I'm sure that Michelle was singing all the words, with a few incorrect lyrics, right in Mark's ear and he loved every bit of it.
Huge thanks for letting us be part of your day Mr and Mrs Hector, wishing you and of course Connor all the best for this new chapter in your story, or should I say musical!
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