Heading North – 30 August 2023

Both of us heading north, just not together

Scamp was going to Pitlochry with the rest of the witches on the bus and I was driving to Perth to get coffee, tea, lunch and Coltsfoot Rock. The only place I know I can get the rock is in a wee herbalist shop in Perth.

It was a fairly pleasant run up until I reached the roadworks. The works have been advertised for sometime, but were describes as being at Broxden. I assumed they were at Broxden roundabout. Not so, they were for a long stretch of the road before the roundabout and in actual fact, the roundabout was clear of any an all works. It was a 30mph speed limit on the single carriage way through the roadworks and the person in front, whoever they were was holding exactly to the speed limit. I’m guessing they were running on cruise control. It didn’t bother me because I wasn’t in a rush.

Parked at the multi-storey where we park when we’re going to the dance weekends and took too heavy bags of books to the Oxfam shop. Next stop was the coffee shop for beans and tea, then over to Nero for lunch which was a roll ’n’ sausage and a cup of decent coffee. Final task was to get the Coltsfoot rock and thankfully the shop had plenty. With that done, I managed to sneak in to the 1 hour parking category and happily paid my £1.49! At the coffee shop I’d made enquiries of the best way to drive to Kinnoull Hill which I thought I might just conquer in the afternoon.

I found the road up the hill using the directions one of the girls in the shop had given me and parked in a convenient parking place. It was a steep climb and I then realised that my troubled cycling the other day hadn’t been an isolated incident. This hill just got steeper and steeper and soon I had to stop to take a breath. That gave me a chance to check how far I’d walked and how much further I had to go. The answer was depressing. Surely I must be further on than that? But no. The OS map on my phone confirmed what Mr Google said and I’d a long way to climb yet. I thought I could remember driving along what turned out to be a private road with Scamp and both of us walking through some woods to the viewpoint. This was nothing like that path. Eventually I gave up and walked back in the direction of the car. I did find some brambles though. Nice big black fruit that’s now taking up 100g worth of space in the freezer. Back at the car I followed my nose and found my way back through Perth town onto the notorious A9 and after driving through two torrential showers, arrived back home. Conquer Kinnoull Hill in an afternoon? Who was I kidding!

I stopped in Condorrat for 500g of mince and 500g of stew. I vacuum packed the stew and half of the mince to put in the freezer. The remaining mince I turned into a bolognese sauce an ate half of it with spaghetti for dinner.

Not long after that I got the call to say that Scamp and Co were leaving Stirling and I drove up through the rain to pick them up.

It seemed that there wasn’t much to see in Pitlochry, however they had a posh lunch and enjoyed the walk around the town, window shopping. My lunch was basic, but was what I was looking for and I’d ticked off all my boxes apart from climbing Kinnoull Hill. Ill leave that for another day when I’m fitter, or more likely when I find that road we drove up the last time!

No real plans for tomorrow. The wee car is feeling a bit thirsty, so I might put some petrol in its tank.

Fifty years – 17 February 2023

Fifty years ago we got married in a wee church in Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow. After the service we went back to Scamp’s mum and dad’s with a few friends and relatives for a Co-op purvey.

I hope you’re sitting comfortably because this is a long blog post!

Today we were blessed with sunshine. After we opened the cards we’d brought with us and had breakfast, we went for a walk. We walked down the slope to the coastal path and turned right. This would take us away from the commercial areas and out to pastures new, an area we hadn’t walked to before.

Scamp was feeling the after effects of yesterday’s longer than required stroll in the other direction and her knee was beginning to give her gyp, so we took it easy on today’s walk. Thankfully I was better dressed today with my baseball cap to protect my head and I’d remembered to put sun cream on before we left the hotel.

We walked for a fair distance out past the viewpoint for the blowhole where, if the tide is right, the incoming waves fill a hole in the rocks and blow up out of a fissure above. Quite impressive if you’re there at the right time. The tide wasn’t far enough in today, unfortunately. Further on we crossed a dried up river bed that’s now home to a host of balancing stone monuments, thousands of them. Then we found a viewpoint near the beach where the paraglider come in to land. That’s where today’s PoD came from. It’s a five frame panorama built in Lightroom to give a really wide view of the mountains and the hotels around here.

We decided to walk back and found a cafe that had some shade and a young bloke took about half an hour to make us a jug of sangria. He was working alone and was having a hard time keeping everybody refilled. The sangria was really good. Freshly made and full of fruit.

Then we met The Man from Salzburg. Scamp wanted to have lunch at a wee restaurant we’d eaten at the last time we were here, and was partly the reason for our walk today. There was queue and we waited patiently (impatiently for me) for a table to become free. Eventually one of the waiters pointed to a table and told us to go there. But there weren’t any empty tables where he pointed. Then the bloke who was smiling at us from a table waved us over. It seems that he was happy to have someone else to talk to while he finished his Barraquito (like a Cortado, but with added condensed milk and Liquor 43). He seemed a happy bloke and when we told him we were from Scotland he explained that he’d travelled all over Scotland on holiday. The only thing he didn’t seem to like was haggis after someone had told him what was in it! He said that he was from Saltzburg in Austria and was on holiday in Tenerife for four weeks. He scoffed at our one week and said “That’s not enough!” After a while he said he had to go and left us to our lunch which was a Chicken Milanese for Scamp and Thai Chicken Curry for me. Service was slow at this restaurant too, but we weren’t in a hurry. When we left we passed the table over to another man, German this time. It’s a strange way to run a cafe.

We were walking back towards the hotel when we noticed the paraglider were all coming off the mountain and we turned round and found a place to watch them land. Some of the landings were a bit clumsy and some were downright scary. Then there were the tandems where the poor person in front had to bicycle his or her legs to keep from falling when they landed on the rough sand of the beach. £100 for a flight!

Back at the hotel, it was ’School Dinners Food’. Not one of their best days. But we did have our photos taken by the one of the hotel resident photographers who would have taken more photos today if we’d let her, than we had taken at our wedding, fifty years ago! We chose a small selection from the ones she took.

We listened to the worst singer ever in the Piano Bar. He was playing guitar and ‘singing’. However, it was when he attempted to ‘sing’ What A Wonderful World while mimicking Louis Armstrong. That was creepily awful and, that’s when we left. I think he went to the Billy Connolly school of music where he lampooned country and western singers. The difference was this bloke was serious. We played Rummikub in a different area of the piano bar.

We’re sitting on the balcony of the room now drinking G&Ts and reviewing the day.

My Fitbit says 17,900 steps, 8.05 miles, 153 floors.

 

5.05am wake up call – 16 February 2023

Today it was a quick cup of tea and then off.

The bags were packed yesterday which only left a morning drive to Glasgow Airport and the usual nail biting passage through security, although this time an organised approach and copious amounts of Tesco’s finest clear resealable plastic bags made light work of getting through unscathed.

The usual overpriced breakfast in Frankie and Benny’s and it was almost time to fly through the air in an armchair in an aluminium tube for four hours, listening to three tubes in front of us on their way to a 60th party bash. Thankfully they weren’t going to our hotel.

After we landed we had the mile long walk through the labyrinth to be inspected by the polis and have our passport stamped then the interminable wait for bags before we walked out into the sunshine and the heat. Clever Scamp had organised a personal transfer to the hotel rather than sitting in a bus that took another hour or so to drop off passengers at their hotels. Been there, did that, didn’t enjoy it one little bit. Paying the extra was worth every penny. Our driver came from Cuba and was happy to recommend the best Salsa club to go to in Tenerife. He seemed a genuinely nice bloke and reminded me of the constable in Death in Paradise. Must have been the accent.
Booked in at the hotel, but our room wouldn’t be ready for another half and hour, so we had lunch and our first Holiday Beer.

Once we got rid of the cases and got changed into tee shirt and shorts we went for a walk in the sunshine. We walked down to the front and turned left past all the cafes and restaurants. It looked fairly familiar, although bits of it had changed and there was a lot of new accommodation everywhere. We walked for miles and I foolishly hadn’t brought a hat. A lesson learned.

After dinner we went to see what entertainment was available. We danced an embarrassingly bad salsa. Don’t drink and dance – it’s not a good image. We quickly decided to stick to soft drinks for a while and sobered up enough to dance much better, later. The girl singer was good and there were quite a few people dancing.

What they call ‘local spirits’ in the hotel are free to all inclusive guests , but are just not worth drinking. We agreed we’d buy a bottle for the room tomorrow.

PoD was a shot of Adeje, looking back from Puerto Colon.

Fairly early bed, after a long day.

Go East Young Man – 19 January 2023

Today my brother and I were heading over to Fife for some photo opportunities.

Picked up my brother at Greenfaulds Station and off we went to Kincardine. We wandered through the town down to the path along the Forth Estuary. The blue skies that we’d expected to greet us had gone somewhere else while we were driving and a cold wind was blowing from the east. West winds usually bring rain, but East winds are generally cold. This one was living up to that legend. We started walking towards the bridge and into that east wind. The light wasn’t great and I was beginning to think this was a bad move today, but we took some photos and made the best of things. We turned and walked back the way we’d come. It wasn’t so cold with the wind at our backs and the skies were clearing.

We walked on until we reached the remains of the old power station, now just a concrete wasteland. We had been watching a high hill, white with snow, away to the west. I reckoned if we walked on until we reached the Clacks Bridge we might get a clear shot of it, but that was a long walk on a cold day, so we agreed to turn back and drive to Culross for a cup of coffee and something to eat. As we were walking we found a bottle of lime and lemon cordial sitting on steps, down beside the water. Around it were the remains of a lunch and some chopsticks! Someone had beat a hasty retreat because the bottle was still intact and the liquid inside was frozen, so probably not today. A mystery. We took some photos and walked to the car.

We parked at Culross and took some photos of the old buildings in the centre of the town, then I found the cafe and we had a well deserved Big Bacon Butty each and a cup of real coffee to wash it down. Alex decided it was his turn to pay and I didn’t argue. We were watching some birds that might or might not be Waxwings happily stripping some red berries from a tree in the garden of the cafe. However, before we could get a better look, they all flew off.

When we were back on the footpath the light had improved greatly and we both set to to photograph every house in the street, or so it seemed at the time. With Culross duly recorded we walked down to the pier and while Alex photographed the town lit by beautiful golden light, I worked at 180º to him and photographed the setting sun and its refections in the Forth. The sun went behind a cloud and the golden light was gone for another day.

We drove home and I dropped Alex at the station just in time for his train home. We both agreed it was a great day. Alex summed it up by calling it a “Wee Adventure”.

Scamp had made Lentil soup for dinner and it was just what was needed on such a cold day.

PoD went to the picture of the bottle on the step beside the Forth.

Tomorrow’s weather looks much like today’s. Hopefully Scamp and I will get out for a walk.

A full day – 5 November 2022

It started about 9am. I’d slept fitfully because I’d galloping heartburn. Must have been that chilli!

I took a Nexium tablet to help with the heartburn and we went down to breakfast. Then I did one of those stupid things. I had a full breakfast. Egg, bacon, sausage and tomato, on top of a Nexium tablet that was fighting with my heartburn. Duh!

After that it was dance shoes on, new dance shoes. A short hour long class to break them in. Stewart and Jane demo’d the routine we were going to learn. It was a Quickstep sequence dance called Cameron Quickstep! Then we were all called on to the floorRoughly 80 people converged on the dance floor and attempted the first few steps. Surprisingly it was a Car Crash. Not the brightest idea Stewart. Sense prevailed though and he split the class into two sections and called one half on to the floor at a time, then the second half. I think it was then it dawned on him that it was going to take twice as long as normal to get through this, for us at least, complicated set of steps. Soooo instead of taking twice the time, he just taught it quicker! Well, what else would you do with a quickstep? The car crash became a shambles and after the hour that had been allocated, we knew the first section and very little else. We weren’t alone. There were a few mumbled voices about ‘not knowing what we were doing’, and ‘just not getting this.’ I was glad when the hour came to an end and we were released into the wide, wet world for the afternoon.

We went for a walk into the town. I was looking for two things.

  1. Coltsfoot Rock from a wee health shop.
  2. Coffee from The Bean Shop.

We set off to find what was available. Unfortunately the jar of Coltsfoot Rock in the shop was empty. It looks like the Coltsfoot Rock lorry had had a puncture or some other mishap. On the plus side, The Bean Shop was open and it had amongst its coffees, Cuba Turquino beans! Yes, two bags please and some tea and a bag of Christmas blend coffee beans.

I went off to put the coffee and tea into the boot of the car while Scamp went shopping. Back from storing the coffee I went shopping too and then we had lunch in the cafe of the recently refurbished Perth Theatre. It was quite noisy inside with teenager ‘lovies’ shouting and carrying on upstairs. The coffee in the cafe was a bit tasteless, worse than Costa and if that’s not damning enough, it also took ages to come. It’s an interesting place. Much more modern than it was, but it did take more than two years to complete the makeover. My final thought about it was “Style over Substance”.

Our lunch had given time for the rain to stop and now the clouds were clearing and it looked like we might actually get a walk, either in the gardens across the river or through the park. We chose the gardens after Scamp bought four sherry glasses in a charity shop for three quid. A real bargain. They went into the bag with the coffee in the boot of the car for safe keeping while we went for our walk. I took a few photos from the road bridge over the Tay, then we crossed the road and took the long slope down into the gardens. Too many junkies and ‘wideos’ hanging around under the bridge, so we went the other way and bumped into another bunch of dancers out for a walk who were also complaining about the lesson this morning. We walked on and they went the other way. We crossed back over the Smeaton’s Bridge where today’s PoD came from. From there it was a short walk to the Salutation Hotel.

Tonight was a ‘Black Tie’ event and we’d come prepared. We were cutting it fine for the drinks reception, but the food tonight was much better than yesterday. Scamp didn’t have a starter, but her main was Salmon and dessert was Cheesecake. I had Mackerel Pate to start then Chicken followed by ice cream, trying to put my stomach under less stress than last night. Dancing was good, but constant and exhausting with a break in the middle for two semi-professionals to strut their stuff to the amazement of all. That’s when you realise you’re only playing at this dancing thing. The ones who devote themselves to it are on a different plane.

We finally gave up about fifteen minutes from the end. I don’t think our feet could take much more. Tomorrow we have another ‘free’ hour’s dancing in the morning before we all head home.

 

Cooler still – 21 July 2022

It looks like the temperature is returning to the ‘seasonal norm’.

Distinctly cooler today. Not cold by any means, but much cooler than it was in the heights of the ‘heatwave’. Neither of us was in a rush to go out today. Wordles were done and results compared.

Hazy phoned in the morning and gave us the lowdown on living through a ‘heatwave’. She had us laughing at the antics of the cats, lying across the doorway, not willing to move, because it was cool there. It reminded me of a poem “Cats sleep anywhere” by Eleanor Farjeon. Glad Canute has had his op and it was successful. Also glad that Neil is almost finished his marking and his ‘true’ holidays can begin. Enjoy them, Neil. Hazy and I discussed my latest book, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. Then she and Scamp discussed Virgin River, the next series. Once we’d said our ‘cheerios’, it was time for lunch.

We didn’t do much in the afternoon apart from have lunch and fritter away some time on games. Eventually I took the Sony A7iii out for a walk in St Mo’s and got a fairly good landscape shot of the park. Lovely cloudscape that appeared after a bit of post processing. Another few grasshopper shots and some close ups of wild orchids, but just not close enough to be PoD. That went to the landscape with clouds.

Back home we discussed dinner. It seems that most of our day is concerned with food; making it, cooking it or eating it. This time we were discussing it and finally settled on Chicken and Pea Traybake. A nice easy meal, as long as you have chicken and peas. We had the peas, but the chicken was still in Tesco, waiting to be bought. It didn’t have to wait too long. I volunteered to buy some. I also volunteered to cook it. It was lovely.

We watered the garden tonight. I tossed a coin. Heads I did the front (the easy bit) Tails I did the back (much more stuff to water). It was tails. I hadn’t realised just how much the temperature had dropped. Shorts and a tee shirt on a warm evening is fine, but not so on a rapidly cooling one. However I think I did a fair job of it, although it looks as if we might not need to water it for the next week at least. Weather fronts after weather fronts are approaching from the Atlantic.

I got an email from Alex to say that all of the house with the exception of 8 year old Sophie have tested positive for Covid. Glad now that we didn’t agree to do a photo walk. According to Alex the symptoms are fairly mild.

Tomorrow Scamp may be going to an exercise class in the morning. I won’t be doing any energetic exercises, thank you very much!

Boots – 23 May 2022

Today we climbed Quiraing. Not mountain climbed it, in the car, of course! Are you mad!

We drove up to see then fantastic new car park and it really was a totally different place from the one we used to know. No big boulders poking out of the hard packed earth. No mad foreigners (that includes english) parking anywhere they felt like it, which sometimes meant actually on the road. No, there is now a purpose built car park with plenty of room for everyone from normal folk to those who drive camper vans. There is a down side, of course. It’s no longer free. That didn’t seem to bother the folk who were filling up all those spaces. We didn’t stop. I’ve photographed the view from the top of Quiraing more times than I care to remember and it in all sorts of weather. No, today we were just being nosey!

We drove on to Uig and stopped at a viewpoint at the top. Just hard packed earth, but free. The whole of Uig bay was laid out below us. I took a few shots that I’d later merge into a panorama or two, then we faced the drop down into Uig proper and the tortuous hairpin in the middle of the drive. Came through unscathed and continued on to Portree. There’s nothing much to see in Uig apart from the ferry terminal to Lewis, or is it Harris? I can never remember.

We were heading to Elgol and its strange eroded rock face at the north end of what is laughingly called a beach. It’s really just a jumble of boulders from ones the size of your fist to massive ones the size of a small car. On a good day there are great views of the Cuillins. But not today. The weather was fine, in fact it was nearly perfect with white clouds in a blue sky, but unfortunately, just before we reached Sligachan, I discovered I’d not brought my walking boots. The thought of climbing over those boulders in my shoes didn’t inspire me, so we stopped and I took a few shots of the Cuillins from the almost diametrically opposite direction. Mountins continuously being covered and uncovered with cloud and with rain showers washing across them. It wasn’t Elgol, but it would do. We turned and drove back to Portree, bought some expensive petrol (£1.71 per litre) and went to Jans Vans for lunch, a hard brush for Scamp and a chilli plant for me.

From there we drove up to Staffin and went down to the beach with its grey/black sand. That’s where today’s PoD came from. It’s a time exposure looking towards Flodigarry, using a 10 stop ND filter. I just knew you wanted to know that Jamie. Scamp hung around for a while, but then went back to sit in the car.

With a few shots in the bag and one I was sure would be PoD, I drove back to the house and we got ready for tonight’s family meal in Columba. There were eight of us being fed on Chicken or Pork or Veggie Haggis with potatoes and broccoli as side dishes. Lots of talk at the table and Scamp was interrogating Allan about the correct way to cook Jackfruit. I was impressed how much information he passed on, explaining the good and bad points of this strange vegetable that we’ve only recently discovered. A good night, even if Mairi wasn’t feeling like joining us.

We drove back to the house because June and Ian had some more preparations before they leave for home tomorrow.

It was a well filled day. Tomorrow we’re hoping to get to Elgol with boots!

I have good news – 6 April 2022

… and I have bad news.

We drove to Stirling today. We had a baby present to buy, for a baby, strangely enough. Just to make it more interesting, I took us up the Tak Ma Doon road past Carron Bridge and on to a wee draw-in near Loch Coulter. Well, the ‘draw-in’ was actually the entrance to the Loch Coulter fishery and there were signs that may have read NO PARKING but I didn’t see them. It is so quiet up there on the high moorland, I could hear a lark then we saw two curlews and a very low rainbow, scraping over the hills. Just so good, especially at this time of year. As I was taking the first photo, a bunch of rooks lifted off from the tree near the farm. I thought I’d caught them, but I missed. While I was in the middle of photographing the landscape, I got the phone call from the garage to say that the car was ready to pick up. We drove on to Stirling.

When we parked at Waitrose in Stirling, I checked my mpg as I usually do and found I had a new best mileage of 82.2mpg! My previous best was 66.6mpg. The secret, I think, was that we had a strong tailwind from Loch Coulter all the way to Stirling and the road surface was quite poor, so my speed wasn’t very fast. Still, it’s now saved into the display and I doubt I’ll ever beat it.

M&S in Stirling provided the baby present then the shop also provided a new dress for Scamp. When we were done, Cafe Nero provided lunch for us. We walked back to Waitrose and bought a few quids worth of messages to pay for our free parking at Waitrose and we drove home. All good.

Parked at the shops in Cumbersheugh and walked down to the garage. Before we paid for the repair, the boss of the garage told us the bad news. The wee Red car is on its last legs. To pass its MOT in November it will need two new shock absorbers and a serious amount of welding on the chassis. He suggested that we need to start looking for a replacement by the end of the summer. Strangely enough we had been talking about exactly that scenario, just the other day. It was bad news, but in our heart of hearts we knew this day would come. So, it was a day of mixed fortunes.

PoD was that photo of the farm up on the moor above Stirling. After I came home and looked at the photos, I found that in two of the later shots I HAD managed to capture the wheeling rooks. It was a fairly simple procedure to cut them out in Potatoshop and paste them into the landscape. You might not be able to see them here, but they will be more visible on Flickr.

Tomorrow we may be going to a tea dance in Paisley.

Sun and Snow – 31 March 2022

Another day to sit inside in the sun and look out on the cold outside.

Just before lunch I got a WhatsApp from Alex to say that Ollie is improving. His infection is reducing and his temperature is being raised. It’s beginning to look more positive. Also, Carol, Alex’s wife is through her knee op and is feeling great, although that may be because of “some good stuff she got, post-op” as Alex put it!

The above brightened up lunch which was omelette for two. Scamp had a mushroom omelette and I had a “What’s in the fridge” omelette. Both very enjoyable. I gave Alex a quick call after lunch and he seems on top of the home situation, and sounded quite up beat.

After lunch we went shopping. Instead of the usual trail round Tesco, today we went to Lidl at Robroyston. Bought a fair amount of stuff, probably more than we need, but it was good to wander round a different set of aisles for a change.

We drove home by the back road for me to try to grab a few landscape shots. We parked by the side of the road and watched as the clouds broke and swept across the Campsie. Scamp once again demonstrated her new-found long vision by telling me there were trees on the top of one of the hills. I must admit that I could see them, but not really clearly. Definitely not as clearly as she could. I did take a few photos, but decided to call it a day when the snow started falling. It didn’t last, but it was a warning that winter isn’t finished with us yet. PoD turned out to be a nine frame panorama of the clouds breaking over Muirhead and Moodiesburn. Sometime the sky is the subject.

Dinner was a veg chilli I’d been smart enough to document in the blog on 31st October 2021. It wasn’t exactly the same and it wasn’t very spicy, but it worked and there’s more in the pot. It might go into a Lock ’n’ Lock tub and fit into the freezer for a surprise dinner, or it might get eaten tomorrow.

I suppose it all depends on what we do tomorrow. We may go in to Glasgow for a wander, but that depends on the weather. Temperature is supposed to go down to -3ºc tonight. Just think, a few days ago I was sitting reading in the garden wearing shorts and tee shirt. That’s Scotland for you!

Coffee with a crowd – 9 February 2022

Four of us meeting for coffee. When was the last time that happened?

Up and out fairly early to meet Val, Colin and John for coffee and a blether this morning, and there was a lot of blethering! I’d forgotten to tell John which of the town’s three Costas we were meeting in, but after that we got down to the business of comparing ailments, discussing our latest tech and telling tall stories. Two hours flew past before we knew it and it was time to say cheerio until the next meeting. Hopefully we’ll be able to coax Fred to join us next time.

After the coffee we all made our separate ways home. I dropped in at Tesco on the way to get some baby wipes to allow Scamp to swab her eyelids, apparently it has to be done twice a day for a week before the op. After lunch I watched the hail battering down and decided to wait a while before going out again. Later, I took a calculated risk thinking that I might manage to get a few photos at St Mo’s then get down to the shops and back before the next shower. I almost made it too. I just lingered too long getting photos of the pond looking very placid. Five minutes later I was being battered by hail. I did get to the shops, though and brought back the necessities for making tonight’s stir-fry dinner.

The photos weren’t too bad. I was using an old 10-20mm wide angle Nikon lens bolted onto an adapter which in turn was connected to the A6000. After reading about it last night I managed to get the combination to focus manually and was really pleased with the finished result. A worthwhile PoD.

Today’s prompt was Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White. I sort of knew it as a piece of music my dad used to have, played on trumpet by Eddie Calvert. I never even knew there were lyrics for it. I listened to both today, the Eddie Calvert version and the sung version and wondered why they added lyrics.
But today’s sketch didn’t come from either, it came from a suggestion from Scamp that I draw a couple of paint pots. That sounded like a good idea and that’s what you see here!
Doesn’t it irritate you when the colour that goes on the wall is nothing like the one on the paint chart or the paint tin? I think that’s what happened to this poor decorator.

A short dance practise tonight with Mambo Marina, Tina Tango and two variations on the Rumba. Meanwhile our two dance teachers are sunning themselves in the Caribbean! It’s just not fair.

No plans for tomorrow. High winds and snow predicted.