diamonds are forever

Hi again folks. As promised, here's another update on what's been happening in my life of late.

As you know, me and my husband are florists which means that from 10 - 14 February we have been working flat out preparing for Valentine's day, since it's one of the big days in our year. What this means in real terms is that we have a few days to create lots of bouquets and the like for our customers. This increased workload, while certainly lucrative, is very tiring and usually leads to reaching the end of the day and flaking out. However, at the end of December we saw fit to book tickets to see David McAlmont live in Sheffield on the evening of V day, taking the risk that we would be up for an evening of being entertained.

When the day arrived we were totally up for it, having managed to pull off the most organised of V days in our florist careers. The evening did not disappoint us.

Though the O2 Academy in Sheffield is large, the gig itself was in one of the smaller rooms and saw an audience of about 45 people, a fact which lent a very cosy and personal feel to the whole affair. This cosiness was furthered when David took to the stage and vowed to make eye contact with each member of the audience at some point in the evening. He did just that and more, moving among the audience to perform one song to the accompaniment of a double bass. Though I have been a fan of David's for a few years I was still unprepared for his astounding vocal gymnastics which, while complex, were delivered with a charm and effortlessness that left me breathless and at times near to tears.

Now, I'm fairly sure you're aware of Twitter and the fact that I post regularly there under the name @BigGayShaun. What you may not know is that David's keen social media user too (@DavidMcAlmont on Twitter, fyi) and we have been occasionally tweeting one another over the past year or so. In fact, this twitter based relationship is in part what helped in our decision to go to the Valentine's gig. Both the hubby (@GypsumFantastic) and I were obviously delighted when David said "hi" from the stage, shook our hands & had a quick exchange with us both. However, when he dedicated a song to us we were thrilled in excelsis and stood spellbound throughout. Such a thing to happen, eh?

The rest of the gig proved equally entrancing, with David and the band giving their all throughout and then giving a bit more by means of an encore. After the gig David came and said hello again and we had a quick chat before posing for pics (for us and for him) before we had to head home. Getting up at 5am does that to one.

So, the purpose of this post is twofold.

Firstly I want to thank David for what for me was the best live gig I've been to. Not just because of the song dedication and photos, though that obviously made the night extra special, but because of the way the evening felt bigger than the small audience while also feeling as if David were performing in one's front room for a select group of aficionados. Blissful.

Secondly I want to thank my husband Julian for being supportive through the heavy work required for V day and keeping my spirits up. Oh, and for facilitating a grand night out by offering to drive while I had a little drink or two. What a guy.

I think I'm going to leave it there for now as there's a glass of cava with my name on it and not drinking it would be plain rude. Cheers all.

Life is good right now. Remember that you're loved.

S
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