A wedding, a funeral and an empty nest
How fast the time has passed since Emma and Martin announced their forthcoming marriage all those months ago. The venue was Cadbury House Hotel in North Somerset, a delightful location . The staff certainly made the event run smoothly. Excellent food, enjoyable and humerous speeches, and great company. Emma’s planning certainly paid off as the day went perfectly, apart from the fact I was flat out on my bed resting after the meal and my speech. A text came through “where are you“, “on my bed, why”, “it’s 07:00 and it’s the bride and fathers dance”, “ok, I better get some clothes on then”. We danced to Bette Midler, you are the wind beneath my wings, which I heard on the radio while driving home from the hospital on the morning Emma was born.
Emma and Martin make a lovely couple and they had a wonderful day. The family and friends partied on past midnight, with some loosing their voices along the way. No fights, but one guest had whiplash caused by over enthusiastic dancing and another ended up with a broken elbow following too much falling down water. I managed to do “the bump” with a few ladies without needing a chiropractor visit. Margaret made most of the stunning floral arrangements (and has now regained her craft room) and the florist matched the flowers perfectly.
Mums funeral went smoothly and was well attended. The weather was perfect with bright sunshine and clear skies, a lovely sendoff at Llanelli crematorium and would have met with mums approval. Our arrival was accompanied by a recording of Emma singing “You are mine”, which she recorded for my fathers funeral in 2011. Margaret read the eulogy and had a round of applause at the end, my nieces read the poem “Dash” and my three great nieces read the Sarum prayer. We made our way to the Diplomat hotel 10 mins away and spent many hours catching up with family and friends who haven’t been seen for many a year. I looked around and thought to myself, who are all these old buggers, only to realise I was one of them too.
The robins nest in the conical box shrub outside our front door has been home to a family of robins. We’ve seen it go from an assortment of leaves to four eggs, a set of yellow beaks every time the front door opened and finally an empty nest. The parents are still nearby, but the juveniles are keeping a low profile in the hedge. Other birds are still feeding their young and some are starting to show signs of fatigue. I spotted a blue tit just sitting on the nut feeder having a well deserved few minutes rest before returning to the feeding frenzy.
