Hurrah

As I walked along the Fortess Road on my way home this evening I noticed that someone had spelt the word "happy" with candles and left it on the pavement for the word to see/ destroy. It very much sums up my state of mind. 

The quiz was bordering on triumphant. I reckon close to 80 people attended and we easily made our target. 

We fed people cake and cups of tea. Many of my friends had baked amazing things to add to the food table. There were piles and piles of amazing things for people to sample. The Victoria sponge which Abbie and I made yesterday vanished in seconds. 

The highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly Philip Sallon singing songs from the shows. We'd prearranged with him that for a spot round he'd be played a series of songs through headphones which he had to "la" for the rest of the room. He camped it up beautifully and got a standing ovation from the quizzers! 

We also prepared a round with 15 versions of Send In the Clowns sung by different iconic vocalists from Frank Sinatra to Frida, and that also received a spontaneous round of applause. 

I can't describe how wonderful and touching it feels to address a room filled with so many wonderful friends. It seemed like everyone was there; representatives from every stage of my life, many going back 20 years. Ellie and Izzy, Ted, Mez, Philippa, Matt, Sultana, Helen, The Rebel Chorus, Julie, Raily and co, people who'd sung in Oranges and Lemons, Nathan's family, JZ, Lyn from the BBC, members of the Fleet Singers... They just kept arriving and forming new teams of strange combinations. Blissful. Little Will was the official score sheet collector. My family's team won.

Afterwards, Ted, Michelle, Abby, Ian, Mez and I went to the top of Hampstead Heath and looked down at the twinkling lights of London before having cheap grub in Tufnell Park. It was like old times. 

The lights from the Heath

 

At 7pm, I saw a rainbow!