A musical premonition

A few weeks ago I had a very vivid dream. I dreamt that I was standing chatting to Neil Finn. 

{Background: For those of you not familiar with him, he is lead singer and guitarist in Crowded House (‘Weather with you’, ‘Don’t dream its over’ etc etc). Finn has recently been out on tour playing with Fleetwood Mac since Lindsey Buckingham decided to part company with them. }

Anyway, so Neil and I are chatting and I ask him why he joined Fleetwood Mac instead of sticking with Crowded House. He told me that he’d discussed it with the rest of the band and everyone agreed...... he’d join Fleetwood Mac for two years to raise his profile, therefore also raising the profile of Crowded House. Whilst many know them, the band by their own admission, can be one of those that you don’t realise you know. I remember a greatest hits album many, many years ago being advertised with a slogan something along the lines of “All your favourite songs from the band you didn’t know you liked!”   So in my dream Finn acknowledged they weren’t well known globally and that after he’d done two years with Fleetwood Mac then Crowded House would go back out on tour and would get much larger audiences.

The dream was so vivid that I told people...... this turned out to be a good thing because I’m not sure anyone would’ve believed me if I’d said it yesterday...... when Crowded House released UK tour dates! 

A little weird..... though it’s yet another example of how complex the brain is. I can only assume that somewhere in my head was a ponder about why he’d changed bands.... and a possible (fairly sensible and possibly quite predictable) answer came to mind whilst I was sleeping..... Either that or all the jokes I make about brain surgeries leaving me slightly psychic are actually truth!! Hubby says it’s proof I’m a witch.... but I hope he means a white one like Stevie Nicks rather than a nasty one! I was going to say ‘like the wicked witch of the west’, but if you’ve seen the Wicked musical then you’ll know the truth about that and how you can judge people without all the facts..... 

Either way, this morning I booked four tickets to see Crowded House at a venue conveniently located, in another twist of fate, right next door to my sister and brother in law’s home! Again a bit weird, but also fun. 

My sister and I generally don’t share musical tastes. When I was rocking out to Metallica, she was spinning around to Kylie. When I was throwing horns to AC/DC, she was throwing shapes to Wham..... So it’s nice to find a bit of common ground! The tickets and flights are booked so hopefully I’ll get some decent weather to take with us ;) xx

Little princess

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend a charity night at a local spa, Perfections. I was given a free foot massage which was wonderful. While there I met two girls who were representing a local charity, The Gillian Adams Angel Foundation. Gillian was their sister-in-law and sadly passed away in 2015 from bowel cancer. She was two years younger than me. Far too young to die. Her wonderful family run the charity in her name and have a simple and clear aim ‘to help families who’s lives are being affected by cancer’. They offered me a range of help options. I explained that I worked and would feel bad taking anything but the insisted they wanted to help everyone, regardless of their circumstances. 

Today in the post I received a £100 voucher for a lovely local butchers. I still feel a bit bad taking it but cancer is an expensive business and this will go a long way. Thank you The Gillian Adams Angel Foundation! Xx

#livingwith

Triciafest Outcomes Update

As you will be aware, our inaugural Triciafest and my sister’s wedding donations raised over £8,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. I fought very hard to get this money back to Northern Ireland and, more specifically, to my local hospital, Causeway. 

I promised those of you generous enough to give your time, energy, support and hard earned money that I would give you tangible outcomes. It’s been a long and often stressful journey, but I wanted to update everyone on our achievements to date....... Here’s a summary;

• The money has been given to the Northern Trust to be used to refurbish a Relatives Room in Causeway Hospital, Coleraine.
• We have chosen a theme for the room. The Riverbank Room will be based on The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and will be a place of peace and tranquility amidst an often stressful acute hospital environment.
• The room will provide a space where patients and their loved ones can go; whether it be to have some quiet time or have privacy to talk to each other or medical experts. 
• There will be relevant leaflets and tea and coffee making facilities in the room.
• We have found a wonderful, well known, local  artist who is going to paint Wind in the Willows murals on the walls of the room; further enhancing the sense of peace and tranquility. I’ve seen some of his work and he’s done up sketches that make me very excited to see the finished result. It’s going to be wonderful!
• After much pressure being applied by both myself and an excellent member of hospital staff, we now have some movement by the Trust’s Estate Services. we hope work will begin at the start of next year.

It’s frustrating that things have moved so slowly, but the public sector never moves too fast in my experience! More importantly, we’re getting there. Today I had a meeting with the hospital lead and the estates contractor and things are moving forward. I will look forward to showing off the room when it’s finished and I hope everyone who has contributed will feel proud of what we have achieved together.

In order to make things a bit easier this year, and also because I’m conscious not all contributors live within the Causeway Hospital area, this year the money raised through triciafest2 has been given to Macmillan to be used to help provide support to cancer patients and their families throughout Northern Ireland. The intention is to do the same with next year’s money. 

Triciafest2020 is provisionally scheduled for Saturday 19th September. We are currently securing bands to play at it, and will soon start gathering up raffle prizes in earnest. If you can help, please get in touch. 

Let’s make Year 3 the best one yet! Thank you xxx