The tone of this silly little blog might be a bit different for a few installments because I’ve got behind, and am now writing when events are not so fresh in my mind.

For example, I’m sitting alone in the Refactory of Nether Springs Monestary early Sunday morning, having just cleared away a few empty wine bottles from the party last night which was brilliant, until the fire alarm went off at 3:45 this morning . . . .but I can’t tell you about that NOW.

Last Wednesday, however, was just as much fun. We were invited to lunch at the home of Ian and Joy Corsie of the Northumbria Community. But before we left St.Cuthbert’s House B&B, Jill Sutheran treated us to a song on the Northumbrian Pipes . . . A beautiful instrument, played with excellence by a talented woman  . . . moved me to tears. Our time with Jeff and Jill was special, and we feel we have made very good friends as well as musical colleagues. We were sad to say goodbye to them. But sadness was soon blended with renewed happiness when we pulled into the Corsie’s driveway.

What a lovely couple. What a spectacular setting,what a beautiful day.We shared stories and laughed, and were fed great food and made to feel so welcome. 

Ian laughs with his whole body, a full spectrum laugh that shakes the chair he sits in, and at the same time shimmers through the rafters. Joy is . . . Well her name-sake. In her sixties now, she still carries the grace and mischievous spark I saw in the picture of her playing tennis in 1967 while she was in the Royal Navy.

We had lose plans to meet with another friend from ten NC later that day (Brenda Grace) but we were so happily tangled in the Corsie’s web of love and affection that we couldn’t pull away . . . So Brenda left her job on Holy Island, and came out of her way to meet with us. What a welcome we have been treated to from our brothers and sisters in the NC!

But it wasn’t over yet. 

We had to leave the Corsie’s and Brenda Grace in a bit of a rush, not because we wanted to, but because in order to make it to our next destination, we had to cross a 3 mile causeway before the North Sea covered it and cut off Holy Island from the mainland for 6 hours.

More on that later . . . 

As we pulled out of the Corsie’s driveway,  honking and waving like the Beverley HillBillies, Brenda said to the rest of us in the car, “Ahhhhh. more people to love…”

So true.