[ hands gedall a shovel as well as a spade... )

Errrm, Bev, err I don't suppose you would believe that I told St George to make a comment, would you?

No, I thought not .

Thanks for the shovel, Skyers, I thought you were a friend - help me out of this, can you?

Aw I would if I could Gerald, but you've dug too deep for me to reach


(and you obviously didn't think I was well-dressed )











(although to be fair, you didn't see me in my PJs )

I thought so

Do you think it might help if I sent Bev these:





It doesn't matter what I thought because there is no photograph of you for those who were not there to confirm it

Heavens knows I tried hard enough to set that up!!

You're only planning to send flowers to Bev then

If you are thinking of yourself, apart from giving me a shovel just how precisely have you helped me out of a hole then? .

Don't tell me you had your hair cut as well before Dyrham....

[sad sigh] ... ah well... if you don't think I deserve flowers for you saying I wasn't as well-dressed as DC [sob]

Oh please don't cry, don't tell anyone but I am a bit vulnerable to ladies' tears.

Here you are, these are for you Skylark





...and to avoid any further trouble, these are for Daisy and MamaDaisy





and these are for Panthera





..and these are for Aeolienne



Now I had better get some real ones for Mrs Gerald!

You are such gent, geddy, and those flowers are beautiful... consider yourself well out of the hole and now with lots of brownie points

Where are my flowers?!?

and Mine

There you go guys

I remember telling my family that you guys were "normal".

Aww..thanks very much Gerald! Although MamaDaisy and I don't live together so it would have been nice to have a bunch each but the thought was there and it was very kind of you...and yes, you did look exceptionally smart.



*Meany*!

Anyway, here's one for the fella's...Fred, Gerald, Moley and St George x

That's like one flower between four of us - and you call me meany! Yes, the thought does count, thank you very much Daisy .

Fair enough! You can have the red sparkly rose, Gerald..

This one is for Moley..


This one is for St George


And this one is for Fred..

Deliberate ploy... upset everyone to save the rainforests, don't you know!

Bev sneezes.

So many flowers.
I am amazed that we were asked back Skylark, especially after your escapades in the great hall. The sight of you swinging from the chandeliers in your pink "Hello Kitty" pjs will stay forever in my mind.

Sounds good! I've met some of the others already and know that they are thoroughy nice people

You won't get any pics - I ticked the "No Publicity" box (and actually, I dive under the nearest table whenever anyone gets a camera out...)

Are you sure that was Skylark? I can't remember now if it was before or after the pyjama swap...

[Sigh]! . I am not doing very well am I? I send people some flowers and Daisy complains that there are not enough, the guys want to know where theirs are, and now Bev just complains there are too many and sneezes. . I won't be doing that again in a hurry .

The tricky bit about swapping pyjamas was deciding who went first.....

Was this whole recital just a facade for a nightwear cross-dressing party or something?

Richard O'Brien would have been proud!

Don't ask .

Just be proud to be invited

Here's Gerald.

I was thinking earlier...I hope he notices when Mrs Gerald has her hair cut...otherwise this is Gerald..

Yes, that's about right.
Apparently when Gerald does the vaccuming, Mrs G says he wants a medal, every week!!!!
I found a lovely picture of Skyers swinging from the chandeliers, but it would have got me thrown out.

Too late! Mrs G had her hair cut a week before Dyrham Park and needless to say I didn't notice . So maybe I suffer from "Noticing Haircut Deficiency Syndrome" in which case it is not my fault, is it?

Bev, how about e-mailing me the picture of Skylark then?

Expect this to come up in a minor argument in 10 years time if you manage to get the upper hand!

As May would have said, in your dreams.

Has Gerald lost his "Gentleman's Literature" again?

I didn't complain about my flowers, and I even gave you lots of brownie points! Does that mean I can have another bunch



That definitely wasn't me It looked suspiciously like Amber to me, I thought she must have dropped in to see what we were all getting up to

Look at that Moley, blaming it on other folk who weren't even there.

Yeah! Classical "trying-to-escape-by-pointing-the-finger-at-someone-else" behaviour, if you ask me!

Yes Skylark, you know how to treat a man properly when out of the kindness of his heart he sends you some flowers . I think that means you do deserve another bunch, and in addition I am not going to make a comment about your episode with the chandelier .

Much appreciated, it'll just be our little secret then

Oh please tell.......

That's right.

And Bev's, and Daisy's, and Chopin's and Moley's and....

What's it worth? (Well somebody had to ask )

I'm not planning to start a thread for the next Dyrham event until nearer the time, but I'm just resurrecting this thread to let those who are coming next April know that there are only two rooms left now at the place where we're staying - both in the annexe, and both are ensuite family rooms (ie double plus a a single). If you haven't already booked, please book quickly to secure all the rooms for our party!

I'm all booked up Bit of a nightmare as it clashes with a concert I was supposed to go to, but I've sold the tickets on now

Good choice

I have followed the link on one of the other events threads and must say that this particular brand of what I can only call silliness is so off-putting.

Pardon? Despite the silliness, these kind of events are fantastic. People have a great time, get to meet and spend time with/forge friendships with other like-minded musicians and generally let their hair down.

... and no-one is OBLIGED to look or take part ...

I'm sorry to hear that you have been put off by what you've read on this thread.

Please don't let the style of one thread put you off participating in other events.

Don't forget that there are several people organising events, and that each event, and each organiser, has a different style, and approach to the activity.

I think the common factor in all events, though, is that we all want to share our music, and as an extension of that we get to socialise with like-minded people - whether that socialising is a cuppa and chat while waiting to rehearse, or a post-gig meal or whatever.

I think that perhaps to someone who hasn't taken part in an event yet, it can seem like the attendees at events are a bit "cliquey" - I know I felt this way when I first joined, but I can assure everyone considering attending that the only reason it seems this way is because so many people have become close friends through meeting at the playdays.

I bet that everyone who's been to an event on here has been in the same situation at first... Meeting a bunch of strangers from an internet forum doesn't seem "normal"

I've only been to two forum events but found everybody very welcoming and supportive, it's natural to feel more affinity towards people you've actually met, I'd go to more events if life wasn't so hectic

It's a pity if any pre-event banter has put anyone off attending. I'm guilty of this I know, but at the event itself, we are all a friendly supportive bunch who will welcome anyone, be they beginners, Dip level or whatever.
We take our performances seriously and wouldn't dream of swinging from chandeliers or anything else! Solari's party trick is to (accidentally) break furniture, but that's post event so doesn't really count...


Please re-consider attending an event Stradi. You'd be most welcome.

Forum events are great. I have been to three since October (and about to attend a fourth) and have enjoyed each of them very much, and was also in the fortunate position of having already met quite a few people at Chet's before attending a forum event.

My first events were the Baroque day and piano playday last October and November. I had been on the forum only since last April. I didn't really take part either in the banter on the forum or talk to anyone on PM.

I did not feel excluded when i was there - everyone was friendly to me and I felt very welcome.