Category: Building

A walk around the town – 23 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Just a gentle stroll along the promenade.

We walked down through the town and made sure that Braithwaite’s was open, it was. Then we walked down to the V&A again and I concentrated on taking photos of folk going through underneath the strange concrete structure while Scamp waited patiently. She was watching toddlers in wet gear walking through the shallow fountains in the play park. I also took some photos of the giant metal sculpture of a whale that stands above the play park and has a sort of maze of stainless steel bars with speakers playing what I assume to be ‘Whale Music’. Although some of it sounded like a toilet being flushed continuously. What do I know, I’m just a photog! Got some photos of the ship Discovery and couldn’t imagine people actually sailing it into pack ice in the Antarctic. Further on, we watched the airies doing circuits and bumps, (ie. Practising Takeoffs and Landings). We didn’t actually get as far as the airport, but the planes were flying low overhead with their landing gear down and we assumed they were practising. Onward past a gigantic Tesco store, we reached a boring straight stretch that seemed to go on for miles, so we made the decision to cross the road and walk up the hill beside Magdelen Green. That would take us up to the Perth Road where there were supposed to be lots of restaurants.

Lots of wee shops and lots of students buying lunch from one shop in particular. Didn’t get the name, but obviously a very popular take-away. Not so much the Vegan restaurant which we passed twice and both times it was empty. Scamp was looking for a place for a drink as she was thirsty, preferably somewhere with a beer garden. There was one which fitted the specification, but she thought there were too many students there, right across the road from the Uni. However, eventually I convinced her it would be ok and we had a Margarita pizza to share with a G ’n’ T for Scamp and a pint of house Pilsner for me, part of a deal. It was a bad decision and I should have known better. The pizza was underbaked and doughy and the beer was all gas and no taste. Should have listened to Scamp. Paid and left. We didn’t see very many restaurants, but lots of pubs (without beer gardens).

Then I remembered that there was a Lemmings statue I wanted to photograph. ‘Lemmings’ as in the old computer game so we followed Mr Google’s directions and there they were at a little park we’d been to yesterday. Scamp wasn’t amused by the trio of Lemmings’ antics. We went down a set of steps that took us down the hill from the Lemmings to the railway and from there we found where we’d get the bus home to Glasgow. We needed that assurance that we would get home!

We walked on into town and bought some coffee and tea in Braithwaite’s. We wandered round the town centre looking for a suitable place for dinner tonight. We’d thought of going to the place the bloke in the hotel had recommended, but it was quite a distance from where we were staying, so settled on a Brewdog pub we’d chanced upon as we’d had a really good lunch in a Brewdog in St Andrews a few years ago. From there it was an easy 10min walk to the hotel.

The Brewdog was a bit of a let down. Very limited menu and Scamp was hoping for a Chicken Burger, but it appeared they no longer did chicken burgers. Oh well, just across the road was the only Wetherspoons in Dundee. We went there instead and after some arguing, discovered they did Chicken Burgers, so Scamp was sorted. I had Chicken Tikka Masala and it was very good, as was Scamp’s burger. A glass of Shiraz for Scamp and a pint of Brewdog IPA just to confuse the issue.

Walked back to our hotel and had a couple of G ’n’ Ts to toast the three day/two night’s of a belated birthday present. Lots to remember, lots to forget. Dundee’s not the city it was. Not the one we remembered going to all those years ago, but places change and Dundee is changing. Not sure yet if it’s for the better. The city break, though, that’s a winner. We’d do it again, all being well.

PoD turned out to be another view through that triangular tunnel in the V&A, but from the other side. I now realise I like the look of the building more from the outside than from the inside. Too much empty, wasted space in it, or maybe we just didn’t explore enough, maybe there’s more to it.

Tomorrow we pack our bags and look for a black Ember bus to take us home.

 

Downpours and Landscapes – 28 March 2024

Posted on by Zogman

The downpours came first and the Landscapes survived them.

It was a dull start to the day, but about an hour after we woke the rain started lightly at first but soon it became heavier and heavier until it was thumping down so heavily, it was creating a mist when it hit the pavement. It didn’t last all that long, but it was longer than a usual downpour, but it did stop eventually. As we watched the weather forecast on TV where they claimed that the clouds would roll away we were a bit disbelieving. However, an hour later the clouds broke and the sun shone and I went out with a camera.

I’d bought a plant last week from Amazon and it was delivered yesterday, unfortunately in two pieces. I think the roots were meant to be connected to the stem and the leaves, but that was not the case. I found out the company who were selling the plant through Amazon were five miles or so down the M73. I phoned them and then emailed a photo of the decapitated plant as requested by the lady I spoke to. She replied asking if I wanted a replacement or my money back. I opted for the replacement and that was where I was heading with the intention of collecting the plant and then driving to Fannyside to grab some landscape photos.

After collecting a healthy looking plant and some apologies from the garden centre I headed over to Fannyside, only to find that some electricity blokes had parked their 4×4 in MY parking space while they repaired some overhead cables. Disgruntled, I drove past through some deep puddles and found an alternative view of a fairly new house that stands at the top of a steep hill, accessed by a rutted gravel path with grass tufts down the middle, where the tyres don’t go. The house is pure white against a dark sky. Stopped on the single track road, grabbed five photos at various settings and drove on before an irate farmer in a tractor saw me blocking the road. Prepared myself for the rattling climb up the hill and past the house, but the road had been repaired with a layer of tarmac! In retrospect, it has lost a lot of its character, but it is so much easier to drive up.

After cresting the hill, it was an easy downhill drive through the wee village of Arns and I only had one car in far distance in front of me. Then I noticed the plumes of what looked like smoke coming from both sides of the car in front. Then it happened again. It wasn’t smoke, it was a deep, long puddle, caused by that downpour in the morning. I took a more cautious approach, dropped down a gear, but still managed to make a decent bow wave through the puddle. It wasn’t as dramatic as the one Jamie saw last month, but it was deep enough. Got home without further incident and one the White House photos made PoD.

Dinner tonight was a Charlie Bigham’s Thai Green Curry. Delicious! Scamp was not so complimentary about it, so I don’t think we’ll have that again. Pity.

Some shopping to do tomorrow.

The 29th day of February – 29 February 2024

Posted on by Zogman

It only happens once in every four years and today was it.

Scamp was out to lunch (again) with Isobel and I was out taking photos with Alex. She drove to the Village and I took the bus in to Glasgow. Maybe we were celebrating ‘family’ because of this special day. Or may be we were just out having lunch.

Alex and I met at the bus station and went for a coffee while we discussed our outline plan for the day. I suggested taking the subway to Kelvinbridge, taking some photos, having a Paesano pizza for lunch and taking in some architecture and graffiti. I was fairly sure this would suit Alex as well as me, and I was right.

There were a few places around Kelvinbridge that met both our requirements. I always find the way the Kelvin rushes over the rapids and down under the bridge a bit strange and unnerving. I can’t explain that, I just find it a bit nightmarish and it always draws me in to watch it again. It’s something to do with a bridge above me with the water of the River Kelvin running under me.

We left the Kelvin to do it’s stuff and walk up the hill to Paesano (West End). Fed and watered we walked down the steps that took us to the walkway above the Kelvin and over it to photograph both Mrs McChicken and also the Caledonian Mansions a restored sandstone building above us on the corner of Gt Western Road. Alex loves architecture and so do I to a certain extent. From there we returned to Gt Western Road and walked west to Byres Road.

While I was buying two books with a book token I got from Scamp at Christmas, Alex was off photographing a wee lane near the Spanish restaurant Scamp and I had visited on Monday. We met up again outside the book shop and headed towards the subway to go back to the city centre. It was there we found some lovely light on Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church and spent another twenty minutes or more photographing it from all angles. Alex demonstrating his ability to photograph the reflections of it on car bonnets and roofs. He is one of the most inventive photogs I know.

Finally we walked into the subway and as the train came in, Alex was asked by a lady who seemed three sheets to the wind whether that train went to Glasgow. It’s a strange question, because the trains follow two concentric routes round the city. All trains go to Glasgow! He tried to explain that to them and they got on anyway. It was all part of a big adventure to them. Unfortunately we were in the same carriage as them and were caught up in their conversations which revolved around Fascinators and Hats. I sense a wedding was in the offing. When they got off at Buchanan Street I distinctly heard one ask if the train went any further. To which the answer was probably YES and NO. It’s all to do with the concentricity.

We went on to St Enoch and found some more subjects to photograph. Centered around the Metropolitan Church of St Andrew and the reflection of it on the mirror glass of its next door neighbour.

Another coffee to prepare us for the bus home and we went our separate ways. I had 105 photos with three of them rejected. Alex had a lot more. It was a really good day. Good conversation and interesting photos. I look forward to sharing them soon.

Today’s PoD was the Caledonian Mansions building.
Today’s prompt was for Gold. I’m not a seeker of wealth, so generally don’t have much gold about my person. Neither do I have any fish, although I did used to have a few Goldfish and a lovely Shubunkan until the cat found it, but I digress. I chose a goldfish as my final sketch for EDiF 2024. Such a placid fish it only needed some air bubbled through the water in its tank and the occasional flake food. This was an official 15 minute sketch with about half an hour of paint splashing later.

Scamp seemed to have a good day with Isobel who is considering whether to have another knee op. Strangely, so is Alex’s wife thinking the same thing. She has an appointment with the doc tomorrow to discuss the likelihood of it getting done. Who knows, they may end up in the same ward!

No plans for tomorrow, but I’m hoping I won’t be doing any sketching for a wee while.

 

A bit of history – 17 July 2023

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Off to see a castle.

Mondays seem to be becoming our day to go out for a spin. Today we were off to Blackness near the Forth Bridges. We were going to visit Blackness Castle what a fellow teacher once called “The Ship Shaped Castle”. That’s a really accurate description of this building. From the air it looks just like a ship. In fact the tower at the front of the castle is called the Stem tower, like the stem of a ship.

It’s a narrow road that takes you out through the village of Blackness to the castle and we were lucky that when we got through the gate there was one space left in the carpark. It wasn’t really a cold day, but the wind was taking all the sun’s good heat away. Not for us the roasting 40+ degree temperatures Italy and Spain are enduring. We don’t mind a bit of a cool breeze, although it was more than a fresh breeze blowing along the Firth of Forth today.

We were allowed an hour and a half’s parking time and we thought that was fair. If everyone took their 90mins then more folk would get to see the castle. It really is an impressive building, but we’d been before, a couple of times, and just wanted to refresh our memory of it, as well as give me a chance for some photos.

I suggested we drive the 12 miles to Cramond once we’d left. Cramond wasn’t as busy as I thought it might be. We’d brought a flask with us so we had a cup of coffee after we got parked in the gigantic carpark. After coffee we walked along the esplanade for about a mile and a half. I was wearing my Famous Blue Raincoat, but Scamp was risking the weather in her hoodie. The clouds seemed to be gathering and the sunshine we’d had at Blackness had all but disappeared. That wind was still there and it was getting cool now, but that didn’t stop us finding an ice cream van and getting a cone each. We sat near the ‘Toblerones’, the WW2 submarine defences, and ate our cones while being given a running commentary from a rather loud spoken woman who was telling all and sundry about a wonderful garden party she’d been to where they had a ‘three piece band’ who played wonderful music from her era.

Drove home along the M8. Always a dreary road just like being in a conveyor belt running at two speeds and with trains of articulated lorries in the nearside lanes exchanging places in the outside lane just for something to do, it seemed. It must be a boring job being a long distance lorry driver. I expect you need something to keep yourself interested.

That was about it for the day. An interesting day. A bit of history and a bracing walk. PoD was the view of the Central Tower from the North Tower.

No plans as yet for tomorrow.

Dunfermline Toon – 6 July 2023

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Off to meet my brother and drive to Dunfermline today.

The weather wasn’t as good as was predicted earlier in the week, but we’ve never let that stop us before and it wouldn’t today. After our traditional coffee we discussed our plans for the day. We were in the Peacock cafe which was chock full of screaming toddlers but a peacock, a real one, was parading around outside the cafe seemingly unaffected by the mayhem inside. I suggested we might start by going to visit the rest of the peacocks that roam free around the park. We saw a white peacock among the other ‘normal’ ones. Apparently only one in 30,000 peacocks is white. There you are, I bet you didn’t know that.

We walked back to find the path that would take us over the burn and up to the Abbey Church. On the way we stopped to watch a boy and his father (?) flying a small electric powered radio controlled Messerschmitt Bf109. The tiny little plane had a wingspan not much more than 400mm, but flew well. I think we both though “I want one!”, but we walked on and found the path.

The Abbey Church is a beautiful building and much better lit than Glasgow Cathedral, Alex commented, and I had to agree. We took a lot of photos and my favourite was the shot of the main part of the church, the ‘modern’ church. It’s a combination of two shots that allowed me to ‘paint out’ visitors who spoiled the view of the alter. That became PoD. As we were walking through the Nave on our way out of the church the rain that had been threatening all day came down in torrents and we waited until it had moved on before we left.

Lunch was in Wetherspoons in Dunfermline and again, just as we were leaving the rain became heavier, so we waited until the rainclouds had passed before we went for a walk up the Main Street, than back down to the park for the drive home.

I dropped Alex at the station and about ten minutes later got a text to say he was on the train. Dinner was Fish Fingers, Egg and Spaghetti. A family favourite.

Watched Andy Murray battering a ball about for a while and managing to start making inroads on his younger opponent’s initial lead. Poor Andy looked as if he’d done himself a mischief just before clinching the set. The umpire actually called “New Balls Please” just after it happened! Let’s hope they weren’t needed.

No plans for tomorrow, but the rain is lashing down again tonight as I write.

Off to Embra – 29 April 2023

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It was not a very nice day today, so we got the train to Edinburgh to see if it was any better there.

It wasn’t. It was just the same smirr falling from the same sky on different buildings. So we put our hoods up and walked Morrison Street then through the canyon at the Conference Centre and on to Lothian Road where we stopped for coffee at Nero. Thankfully the coffee was better than the watered stuff we seem to get in Glasgow nowadays. I must try the Black Sheep coffee shop in Glasgow to see if it’s an improvement. After coffee and a pastry each, we walked through the Farmers Market (which does seem to have its fair share of farmers and fishers) and I got myself a shoulder slice of hoggit which is a beast that’s older than a lamb and younger than a sheep. Murdo rears hoggits. I always try to get meat from Annanwater Farm in the farmers markets, because it is consistently good quality.

We walked on to the Grassmarket with its collection of stalls selling what is really just tourist tat. While we were there we had a look at the menu for Petit Paris, but decided it would be too busy on a weekend. Better to go on a weekday. The crowds were thickening now. Some of the individual in the crowds were very thick, standing in the middle of the road taking a photo of the castle on their phones, oblivious to the horns of cars blaring right at their backsides. They thought this was Scotland. Land of tartan and kilts and castles, but no cars!

As we climbed up the curving hill of Victoria Street the crowds and the queues got thicker. Thick enough to stand in a queue, in the rain, to walk round a Harry Potter shop. Needless to say, there weren’t many Scottish voices in that queue. We walked on. Eventually we got to JL Edinburgh. This was what JL looked like in Glasgow before it became a clearing house for all the second hand stuff that folk found they could live without. Scamp found stuff there that were on her shopping list for today. I walked round the “Toyshop” on the 5th floor and just looked at stuff that I couldn’t, or wouldn’t afford.

When we left JL we went looking for somewhere to eat, eventually settling on Wagamama. We had to wait for a table, but in out of the rain, thankfully as the rain was getting heavier as the day wore on. We were served by a Japanese lady who was careful to point out that my Grilled Chicken Ramen would be a bit ‘bland’ and when I asked for her suggestion she chose Shirodashi Pork Belly Ramen and she was right! Scamp had Chicken Raisukaree curry which looked very pretty and apparently tasted great apart from the ‘squeaky’ sugar snap peas!

Suitably fed we walked to the station just as the train was pulling in. We were entertained by two Edinburgh intelligentsia. The lady was the ‘numbers’ person and the gentleman was the investor, preparing to make his first million just as soon as he was old enough to buy a scratch card. It was an education, especially because they were both deadly serious.

Well, the rain hadn’t stopped all day, but by the time we got home it had dried up and at about 6pm a watery sun shone for a while.

PoD turned out to be two workers on the top of a multi storey block. I’m guessing they’d a current Working At Height certificate.

No plans for tomorrow.

A day in the Toon – 30 March 2023

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Meeting my brother for a walk, some photos, a spot of lunch and a blether.

His choice was Glasgow and my choice was Glasgow too today. However, his idea was a walk round what we could call the City Centre, while I wanted to head out to the west in search of interesting architecture. We combined the two with a walk round the city centre photographing interesting architecture. First though we had the traditional coffee in Nero and caught up on what was happening in both families.

With the updates done we headed off down Buchanan Street to get some photos of the subway entrance on Buchanan Street itself. It has a lovely green glass cover over the entrance, although you don’t really see the green tinge unless the sun is shining like it was today. From there we ignored all the retail opportunities on either side and Alex took some shots of the other, completely different, entrance to St Enoch’s subway station. It’s a futuristic domed glass cover, not at all like Buchanan Street’s green glass box.

Two in the bag for Alex. Next we walked east along Argyle Street which used to be a fashionable street for clothes, but is now a bit down at heel with more and more shops with closed signs on the windows and doors. A sign of the times perhaps. We were looking for cranes. Big, gigantic tower cranes. They were right at the end of Argyle Street. I could see what I wanted to photograph, but if I stood on one side, signs and traffic lights were obstructing my view and if I stood on the other side it was the old sandstone buildings that were in my way. The only way to solve it was to wait until the green man appeared and stand halfway across the road. Bingo, three shots taken before the lights changed! Of course, we both took a lot more than that, but they were only fillers. The ones from the middle of the road were the money shots.

We walked round and had a cursory glance at Merchant City Cameras which will forever be Quiggs. It’s not been the same since Mr Quigg’s son sold the shop. I think the present owners are struggling to keep it afloat. Not surprising as it’s only enthusiasts who are buying cameras when mobile phones do such a good job of capturing the moment.

We walked back to Miller Street to Paesano. The real reason Alex wanted to come to Glasgow. Best pizzas in town. Only bettered occasionally by the West End shop of the same name. We must try that one the next time we’re out west.

Next target was the GOMA in Queen Street. That’s where today’s PoD came from. I just liked the relaxed way that bloke was sitting there.

Our final jaunt was down the Clyde Walkway to admire the graffiti. I also grabbed some shots of the mirror glass frontage of the Archdiocese of Glasgow building which stands next to the much older St Andrew’s Cathedral.

From there it was the long plod up to Buchanan Street bus station, a quick hug and then off home on our respective buses.

Back home Scamp had retained the last of the Just Soup and that became dinner. We had a first run through of the new Quickstep routine and, as Scamp had told me, it wasn’t nearly as fearsome as I’d imagined. Another practise tomorrow if all goes well and we should be fit for Saturday.

No great plans for tomorrow, although Scamp fancies going to her FitSteps class. Having just completed over 16,500 steps today, I’ll pass on that class.

Nae Dancin’ – 4 February 2023

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It wasn’t us who called off today it was the teachers.

We were up, showered, dressed and ready to go when a WhatsApp message alerted us that the already depleted class had suffered another call off and that the teachers had decided the class wouldn’t go ahead today. A bit of a disappointment for me but a much greater one for Scamp. So we changed back into ordinary clothes from our spandex and lycra ’Strictly Suits’ and discussed what to do with the day.

Eventually we made the decision to go to Stirling for lunch. That meant Indian Cottage. For us it’s the only place to go for food in Stirling. We’d intended parking in the ‘council’ car park, but it’s now run from an app and I didn’t have the app. Also I’d heard bad things about ‘RingGo’ so we parked at Waitrose because we’d be shopping there later.

Indian Cottage was busy but there wasn’t a queue. We recognised most of the staff from the last time we’d been there. Later Scamp reminded me that we’d been less than complimentary about the food the last time we’d visited. This time it was all good. Good food, good servers and the naan bread we had was ‘well done’ as requested. Hopefully we’ll be back again soon.

We took a walk around the Thistle Centre. I was looking for a book, any book that interested me as I’m still eking out my last few pages of Project Hail Mary. Scamp was looking for tops and skirts in M&S. Both of us met again later empty-handed. However Scamp did manage to find something that suited her as we walked back to the car. I’m not saying what, but all will be revealed later in the month DV.

We did go to Waitrose to pay for our parking by buying some lamb for me and a couple of bottles of wine for Scamp, well, for both of us really. It’s just that she’s a much better chooser of wine than me. With that done we donated our parking space to a worthy driver who was tired of waiting and waiting for a space, and drove home.

I’d taken a couple of shots of a building in Stirling that I’ve meant to photograph for ages. When I go it home and added a better sky than nature provided today, it looked good and became PoD.

Today’s prompt was ‘A Good Year’. Just for fun, I found it on Prime Videos and we watched it tonight. I’d already planned to use a picture of a wine bottle for the prompt because the story is based in a vineyard, but then I saw the car Russell Crowe drives and knew it was a better subject for today. So a yellow Smart Car made the sketch of the day.

Tomorrow I must decide whether I’m having a lamb shoulder shank or a lamb rolled shoulder, or maybe neither and they’ll go in the freezer and Scamp will come up with something different. I’ll let you know!

 

Out on the town – 8 December 2022

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We were both out to lunch today, but in different place and with different people.

Scamp has a lunch date with her pal Mags and I had a photo walk booked with Alex. We caught the same bus, but I hopped off early at Greenfaulds, crossed the road at the underpass and caught the fast bus in to Glasgow.

I got there half an hour before we’d agreed to meet and as there was no sign I decided that either Alex was still travelling or else, more likely, he too had come in early and had gone to get some photos. Either way, I probably had time to get my hair cut. Just walked in and got a chair right away. Fifteen minutes later I was back out with a number four all over, plus ears and eye brows done for less than a tenner. Walked back to the bus station and met Alex. He had been off on his own taking photos.

He wanted to take some photos of the old Pavilion theatre and once we walked over to it, I could see why. Even although it was midday, the sun had a distinct warmth to its colour. We took a few photos and it wasn’t until I was processing one tonight I noticed just how steep the hill it was built on was. We walk past these buildings all the time and don’t notice these things. With a few photos in the bag we went for coffee in Nero because photogs run on coffee.

During the coffee break we set out a plan for the day. This was Alex’s choice of venue and he had an outline plan of what he wanted to take. I added in a few ideas of my own and we started out down the hill to Buchanan Street Subway entrance which always draws us when the light is strong and it was very strong today. A few photos there and then on to George Square where we took some photos of the carnival rides.

A stop in Paesano for a pizza lunch and a glass of red wine for me because I wasn’t driving today and then on toe Princes Square for more photos. From there we walked on through St Enoch’s Square to the Clyde and walked down the walkway to the Squiggly Bridge whose proper name is the Tradeston Bridge, but nobody calls it that, taking photos all the way. Then it was back to Nero in St Enoch’s for more coffee before our final photo destination for the day which was George Square for some early evening ‘blue hour’ shots of the attractions. When SD cards were full we walked back and got our buses home. This time I chose to take the X3, the slow bus because I’d already completed 13,000 odd steps and the X3, while slow, stops nearly at our door.

264 photos taken and after the first cull 114 of them were on the cutting room floor, leaving an acceptable 150 deemed worthy of a place in today’s shoot. PoD went to a monochrome shot of Buchanan Street Subway entrance/exit, but another two shots are in Flickr.

Tomorrow Scamp is probably going to FitSteps, but I’m hoping to have a relaxing morning.

Checking out the Humans – 25 November 2022

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Not an early start today, but I got a fair bit of work done once I was up.

Scamp was out at 11am for her FitSteps class and I began my cleanup of the back bedroom, my painting room. I managed to clear most of the chest of drawers. Some of the things I wanted to keep went into a drawer, most of it went into the bin. I even dusted the two bookcases in the room. It’s not nearly finished, but it’s started and that’s the main thing.

After lunch we drove over to The Fort and while Scamp went shopping, I went looking for photos of Provan Hall which I remember sketching about fifty years ago. I’ve still got that wee sketch somewhere. Drawn with a dipper pen in blue shellac based ink. Unfortunately once I’d battled through a rainstorm, I found that the 15th century building was getting a facelift and seemed to be in the middle of a building site. I did get a few photos, but they were more record shots than anything creative.

I walked back to the car in the gathering gloom looking for a last minute photo, then I remembered the three deer who are always ready for a photo opportunity. Instead of the usual face on view or the profile shot, I chose to shoot over their bronze heads as they checked out the Humans, and wondered what the glitz and jingle bells nonsense was all about. I used a wide aperture, meaning that the background of the shops in their festive splendour would be just a warm blur.

We drove home and Scamp wisely used the Hive app to turn the heating on for a half hour ‘boost’ when we were halfway home, ensuring we had a warm welcome when we arrived. It had been a cold, wet day and the house was indeed toasty when we got back.

Dinner tonight was Scamp’s veggie chilli and a baked potato. Like soup, the chilli tastes better the second day, or as was the case here, the third day.

Tonight we had a practise run through of the Cameron Quickstep and ironed out a few problems, then we did the same with the Gershwin Foxtrot, a lot of which had slipped my memory.

Both of these dances will be contenders for further changes and additions tomorrow at Brookfield.