Why are events like buses? They never arrive singly, but in groups.
It was always going to be a busy few days; Kieran’s birthday (cake to make), my birthday (cakes for patchwork and painting clubs), the patchwork club exhibition and, to top it all, a gig for the band to play.

On Thursday we started hanging quilts for the patchwork exhibition; it was chaos, with everyone doing their own thing and no overall plan! I gather that Joce, the president, took charge on Friday and by the time I arrived, with a friend, for the vernissage (official opening) in the evening, it looked great. It was a lovely evening, but as Seignosse is a 40 minute drive and I had a lot to prepare for Saturday, we didn’t stay late.




The gig was Saturday afternoon, the finale of a big fundraising event run by the international women’s group that I’m part of.
9am Saturday, Jean Michel and Jean Marc picked me up in the van, loaded with drum kit, guitars and the sound system. I have to confess to feeling more like 19 than 69 as I waited in the car park, bass guitar slung over my shoulder, then climbed up to the middle of the three seats in the van.
We arrived at the venue before 10 o’clock and started setting up, till eventually Adrian arrived, he’d had the longest journey, at over two hours; we started doing the sound checks. The women of the club were great, providing coffee at regular intervals, but they were appalled that nobody wanted beer or wine – what sort of rock band were we? A slightly geriatric one, we explained.





Setting up done, we were brought lunch while everyone else went out to play various games, then we took ourselves off into a store room to practice quietly while the rest of the guests ate.
We started playing about 4pm, once lunch was finished; some of the older members of the audience left, but those who stayed were great, clapping along, dancing and cheering and once we’d finished all our own songs, still wanted more. Adrian suggested that we do “knockin’ on heaven’s door”, but invite the audience to join us; about eight people did, so the gig finished with a great atmosphere, full of fun as we all crowded around the two microphones.




While club members cleared up the main room and the kitchen, we dismantled our gear and stowed it in the van, before heading home. For once I was the nearest and was happy to be dropped off at home and just flop. I thought I’d sleep like the dead, but I think I was still too high as I tossed and turned all night.
Sunday morning I had to be in Seignosse by 10am for the last day of the patchwork exhibition; we had quite a lot of visitors, including several ladies from the women’s club, along with their partners. We received some lovely comments on our work, including from the local delegate of “France Patchwork”, who took photos and is going to write an article for their magazine.






Some of my work is still in my car as I’m doing a craft exhibition on the side of the lake in St Paul on Wednesday, so it didn’t seem worth taking it out.
Until then, though, I think I’m going to do the absolute minimum – I’m flattened! Maybe I’m getting a bit old for all this, but I love it, so have no intention of stopping just yet.