Tay 'n' Tunes

On any given Friday, of an afternoon, it could be King o’ the Fairies and lemon drizzle cake or Off to California and scones. Like Mission Impossible the texts are sent around as to a time and venue. I have christened the session ‘Tay n Tunes’. All with Irish connections, we play a bit of trad and have the craic. Now, sometimes there is more tay drank than tunes, other times the tunes flow. These are a group of friends, going back years, who have invited me into their nest and taken me under their wings and I am thankful. I know I am lucky, a great bunch of women who value friendship and know how not to take themselves too seriously. Unless it's the receipe for a particular rice dish which will never be shared by the whistler. And they can bake. The kettle is filled whilst instruments, tales and troubles are uncased. Sick children, troubled teenagers, anxious toddlers, taxing husbands, rattled relationships, pain in the arse bosses, work dilemmas, sibling rivalry, ailing parents, hormones, hairdos, aches and ailments, all or any of the above of what makes us, us. On a good day we have the sounds of two guitars, a fiddle, a whistle and a mandolin. And just as the instruments gel together to make a tune, so too do the airs of the varied personalities of a group of gals havin the chat and listening to each other’s trials and tribulations. I relish it every week, the chance to play all of my six chords. We all endeavour to practice during the week but more often than not we fail, except for one. Over a few pints one night she proclaimed to never having any of her wheels-of-life fall off. ‘Never even had a puncture’ I enquired. Apparently not.  ‘So are all your ducks in a row then?’ I persist, pondering her life balance, referring to the Holy Grail of part-time work, children, and stable marriage that many women, especially mothers, quest. I reckon nobody has all their ducks in a row and anyhow everyones ducks are different. If all those ducks were lined up they’d be proper bored anyway, right? We all do what works for us and if it aint working, then nathin like a few tunes, a brew and a laugh to put things in perspective.