Saying farewell in style – Afternoon Tea at the Merchant Hotel
Taking a break from the Blog Journal, to get up to date on a few things that have been happening here:
On Saturday a group of 10 friends met to say farewell to our friend Fiona, who has just qualified from Bible College to become a Methodist Minister (pastor). She is not moving too far away, but a church, husband and 3 kids (including an 11 week old adorable baby girl) she will be busy!
Fiona knew nothing of our girlie-day-out-with-no-kids plans (except her gorgeous baby), which started out will us all going out for afternoon tea at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast.
A former bank, it is an impressive building, with delicious food and very grand surroundings. The baby stole the show, but the sandwiches, scones and pastries were amazing. Each tea pot and coffee pot at the table was unique. We even got beautiful blue boxes to bring our left-overs home in!
We later returned to a suitabley decorated house with balloons, signs and embarrassing old photos of Fiona. Some of the entertainment/activities planned included making “dog collars” (the minister’s white clerical collar), sharing some gifts (and tears!) and providing some fashion advice on what NOT to wear as a woman minister!
We ordered a Chinese meal for later in the evening, and while Fiona waited for us, we changed and burst into the room, all sporting black tops and our own white collars, singing “I will follow you” from Sister Act! Each of the collars had a unique message for Fiona including :-
And just when we thought we could not possibly eat another bit, we had cupcakes, with a picture of Fiona on the top!
So although we don’t have Baby Showers or Wedding Showers here, we sort of had a “Farwell vicar” Shower!
We all wish Fiona and her family well in her new job, with our love and prayers.
Can you spot the rainbow Hama bead cross? Well, you can’t really miss it!
Where is the grandest hotel you have eaten in? Have you had any unusual farewell parties? As always – please share!
I am sharing this post with Chatting at the Sky and Unwrapped Tuesday. Please visit and find lots of bloggers celebrating the wee things in life that make it special.
Finally, a quick lesson learned on Saturday morning:
Our son discovered a permanent blue marker at around 6am, and decided to apply some “blue nail varnish” to his fingers and the carpet.
So I learned the following
You can google “how to get permanent pen of skin” on your iphone before you even get out of bed
A combination of baby wipes and facial cleanser for oily skin was the best combination to remove the aforementioned “nail polish”, along with a lot of elbow grease.
For more lessons learned visit Julie at From Inmates to Play Dates for What I Learned This Week.
Sorry if there are some issues with the photos in this post – you would not believe the HOURS it has taken to try to upload them tonight!