Alex and I had a lovely wee night away last Thursday using a gift voucher for a local House Hotel that we were given ages ago. Glenskirlie House used to be just a restaurant but, since our last visit many years ago, the owners have extended the main house and also built a hotel - in the style of a castle - on the grounds. It’s kind of weird; the castle looks old, but it’s new. It’s a new castle.
Our room had a big, made-to-look-old wooden door that you opened with a real key - none of that plastic slidey card nonsense - so we were fair excited as we turned the key in the lock, not knowing what to expect. We were hoping for a classy turret-style room with wooden furniture and a four-poster bed....instead, we couldn’t help laughing out loud when we walked into a room that reminded us of a hotel we’d stayed in (many moons ago) in Eurodisney! The kids had loved it, with its big cartoon-style furniture and bold, bright colours. Well, this room wasn’t quite as Disney cartoon-ish as that, but it wasn’t far away! The room was quite small but the bed was huge and it had a massive ornate headboard and loads of cushions, placed very precisely, in front of the pillows. I was kind of expecting a pair of eyes to flash open from the headboard and the bed to stand up on two legs and give us a welcoming song and dance! Four of the cushions had letters of the alphabet on them and were placed carefully to spell out ‘L’ ‘O’ ‘V’‘E’. Awww, how sweet we thought ..... until we turned them over to discover that the cushions now spelled out ‘H’’A’’T’’E’!! I’m guessing it’s a kind of novel way of getting the ‘Yes, I’m up for it/NO, not tonight Darling’ message across!
That kind of set the scene for the rest of our stay; we had a good laugh, ate lots of nice food, drank far too much wine and just really enjoyed having a night and day off work to spend a bit of time all to ourselves. Many things have changed during the past 30 years since I first started going out with Alex, but how much I absolutely love being with him has stayed reassuringly the same.
There were lots of lovely people in the audience of the wee gig we did last night that have also clearly been together for a long, long time. We rehearse in a church in Cambusbarron and the minister, Reverend Webster, is a great fan of the choir. Our set list couldn’t be further removed from the type of songs that a traditional choir would sing, but he’s been so supportive and happy for us to rehearse in the church. The closest that me and the other non-religious choir members have come to being struck by lightning was when one of the light bulbs went up in flames during a recent rehearsal; but I’m sure that was more down to dodgy electrics than God’s angry finger! Anyway, last night the choir sang at the minister’s surprise retirement do in the local community hall and it was such a great, heart-warming wee gig. Reverend Webster was surrounded by his family, friends and many of his parishioners. It was clear that they’re all very fond of him and that he’ll be sorely missed. It was also clear that many of the elderly folks in the audience had been together as couples, friends or church-goers for many years. It was just so touching to look out at them all - sitting alongside the many younger folk in the hall who were also there to say goodbye to their minister and bode him well in his retirement – smiling, clapping and showing their warm appreciation for both the choir’s set and Reverend Webster’s poignant wee speech at the end of our performance. After thanking us for coming along he told his congregation, so eloquently, what the lucky members of Heart of Scotland know already; that we’re so much more than just a singing group. He pointed out that we’re a community full of members who look out for and care for each other – just like his church community – and that Annie and Jane really have brought something special to the very heart of Central Scotland. The choir’s going to be singing in Oran Mor in Glasgow next week, at Stirling’s Christmas Light Switch-On, at Falkirk’s big bonfire night and firework display, at Stirling’s Albert Halls in our own concert and at the Stirling Hogmanay Concert in Stirling Castle – but, the buzz that I felt last night in Cambusbarron’s community hall will take some beating!
I’m sure that many things will change during the however many years that I’m lucky enough to spend being a member of the choir, but I’m pretty sure that how much I love being with my choir family will stay reassuringly the same.
