To Lisburn...and Back!

Our most recent bike day out was a delightful meander down the tow path, on a bright crisp morning, from Central Station to Lisburn. This does, admittedly, sound like a fair hike, but its nice and flat, with a handy tea room half way along the route.. (personally, I'd accidentally bought decaff tea bags a few days earlier, so the coffee went straight to the point!!)

We were joined by some more choir members and their other halves, so our numbers are gently swelling.

Just a short pedal after we'd finished our coffee and scones and we'd reached Hilden Mill for lunch! Previous visitors to the blog will have noted our emphasis on food, and we wonder if in fact we are doing a slow-motion gourmet tour of the Province - but then, someone's got to do it..

Derek, being Indespensable, on his first bike-trip. I'm delighted to report that his Saddle-Awareness is now almost cured..

Before....and after...

... and in between!


And while the general 'look' is on the side of Casual, Brian decided to take no chances after sampling the local refreshments..

Blessed are the Tea Makers..

Our recent Come and Sing Carmina Burana was a roaring success, a great fun day. Stephen led us with infectious enthusiasm and the singing went incredibly smooothly!

Stuart, having a last minute lesson.

Some visiting singers, including a lovley lady tenor.

Stephen practicing being a plane, just in case there are problems with his flights in future..

I had a little chat with Denis, who told me that he'd been in the Phil for 42 years, VERY impressive! While we talked, I noticed he was wearing a very fetching tie, and as I inspected it, he told me that it was the Book Of Kells. Well, that's the best bit of recycling I've ever heard of..

Talking of recycling, it was a very cold day, and I admired one Phil-Soprano's fabulous full length fur coat - very cozy, looked like something from Dr Zhivago.. She covered her mouth conspiratorily and confided that she'd been so cold in the morning that she'd nipped out at lunchtime to the charity shops on Lisburn Road, and voila! Result! (see pic below)

And of course, the most valuable folks, as always, are the tea makers. The photo above shows just a few of the volunteers, Thank you.
Thanks to Julie Wilson for providing the really lovely album of photos on the last blog-post.

This photo album created with Smilebox

come... and SING!!

This Saturday, 4th February, is our annual funathon singalong not-to-be-missed extravaganza! Please invite everyone you know who likes singing in the shower, for this is the opportunity to join in with this familiar and exciting music. Its a whirlwind of fun, don't miss out!
Malone Presbyterian Church, Lisburn Road. No experience necessary, just a bag of enthusiasm!!
See you there!

The best day...EVER!

Yes, the Choir Bike Days are reaching legendary levels. Our first trip of the year got off to an early and very frosty start, but it didn't deter a few new faces joining in. There were a dozen of us, and as neither Maureen nor John (the Proper Bosses) were able to attend at the last minute, Katherine and I were asked to be In Charge... Uh-oh! Fortunately, we didn't lose anyone on the way.

We took the Comber Greenway and reached the Grey Goose in a flash - Brian was most impressed at how close Comber had got to Belfast, even going at Chat-Pace, and we were warming up on tea and coffee in under an hour. 

                             

We were so warmed after it that most decided to head on to Castle Espie, which is just another couple of miles, and we liked it so much it seemed rude not to have lunch while we were there...

 Great views across the lough, even on a cloudy day. 

However, the views reached unprecedented levels when we got back to Belfast, for Good News!! The sloes that Robin and Fiona collected on Octobers bike day had done their job, the sloe gin was ripe n ready, and it had our names on it, hoorah!

 So we stopped off at his house in time to catch Fiona mopping the kitchen (and she was polite enough to take him to one side to privately scold him for bring so many of his friends home to play...). 

By now, the day was so magical, for we were warm and gin-glowing from our ears out,  and we wondered if we were in a fairy story, as surely, it doesn't get better than this...? But then, it DID! For Robin treated us to a go in his car, and a few had a VERY NOISY, hair raising white-knuckle  drive around the block..!

Robin with Helen, just before they set off. She returned, shaken AND stirred!!

And he took off with Nuala so fast it was all a blur... woohoo!! 

And folks, if you haven't been on a bike for years, please don't let that trouble you. Do join in. These bike trips contribute more to your sense of well-being than most things I can think of. A Saturday with the Choir Bikes, and all is well with the world. 

on telly!

A few days before Christmas we were asked if we would sing some carols on BBC's The One Show, and in spite of us having to be available from 3pm on a Friday, about 60 or so members were able to drop everything, for a good sing.

It was lovely inside the City Hall, and we were well supplied with tea and sandwiches. We had a good run through singing beneath the Christmas tree in the foyer, while one happy couple posed on the stairs for their wedding photos! (perhaps they just thought that we were provided by the coucil as seasonal serenading..)

Weather was..damp,

(look how everyone is smiling, even though they're shivering..)

     Bright lights..

 The attire was, as ever, Exceedingly Formal...

There wasn't TOO much jostling for position (the most common concern I heard was... if you're in front of me, I won't be SEEN..!) 

I love this pic, because it has our lovely Secretary and our wonderful Chair, together in the middle.

And the atmosphere was warm. (though not as warm as this photo below implies -

- I walked in to the City Hall with this soprano and bass, and when I asked if they'd pose for a photo for the blog, THIS is what they did!! Pure badness!)

Warm, apart from Dick. At first I thought that he must be the real Father Christmas, for here  he was, surrounded by his little helpers, head in hand reading the letters from all the children, and the magnitude of his Christmas Eve journey was clearly just hitting home...

But he assured me afterwards that he was just learning his lines! 

Carols for fun

In December we were invited by the local shop keepers to sing carols outside Bedford House, on a couple of afternoons before Christmas. A good few die-hards braved the freezing conditions to bring some smiles to the shoppers. I discovered that it's best to be early to these things, for the early bird gets the back row, which was marginally less windy than the front row! Those who had done the first day were wise enough to don hats for the second. Even though it was perishing, it did make us all feel very Christmassy. 

Fortunately we were well looked after with coffee and muffins inside at half-time.. 

By the end we were only singing carols that didn't require us to turn the page, which was pretty impossible wearing big gloves. 

But the real hero has to be Audrey, who has written to Santa telling him she's been very good, and can she please have a heated keyboard for next year!