Category: Dancing

An early shout – 20 January 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Out just after 9am (early for me!) to go see the bloodsuckers. Those darling ladies who take away some of my high quality blood for their own nefarious purposes. I think they use it to make black pudding!

After the blood letting, I was free to enjoy the rest of the day. It was a gloomy prospect. Poor light in an overcast sky and nothing to look forward to. Even lost my 36 day run on Wordle. First one I’d tried on the new phone. I hope that’s not an indication of what’s coming next.

After a reviving cup of coffee, Scamp set out her plans for the remainder of the day which involve driving to Falkirk to look for a bedside lamp, a coffee table, maybe a new fridge and just the chance of a new rug for the lighting room.

  • None of the many bedside lamps ticked her boxes.
  • Of coffee tables there were no signs.
  • Fridges were also thin on the ground. There were cheap ones and there were expensive ones, but virtually nothing in between.
  • We did find a rug which was almost the same size as our present one and we took a chance on it.

At least we did get the rug and then we went shopping in Morrisons for … well, shopping mainly; – also known as ‘Messages’. We were almost as unlucky there too. It being Monday, a lot of the shelves were empty. I’m beginning to wonder about Morrisons. Over Christmas they were in dire straits when they couldn’t produce the Christmas goodies folk had been saving up for. It wasn’t a good sign. No doubt we’ll hear about it sooner rather than later if the shops begin to close.

Drove home and I took a chance on being able to get some decent landscape shots. Luckily for me I did find a likely sky scape that reflected on the water of the pond at St Mo’s. I took that as a basis for a PoD.

Drove up to Kirsty’s new dance class. The class had started last week, but neither Scamp nor I was really ready for it, but today we were. The hall she had found was a decent size an brightly lit. Much, much better than the dingy pocket handkerchief we’d been working I for the past year. This was a whole new possibility. Tonight’s dance was the first two parts of a waltz routine and it worked well. We had a new couple just joined us last week too. I hope Kirsty’s enthusiasm starts to bring in more ballroom and latin dancers.

Tomorrow, I think we may be practising some food ideas for two friends on Wednesday, all being well.

Dance Class – 18 January 2025

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First one this year and first one for about a month too.

Drove to Brookfield to find that the room was almost full. Neither of us had seen such a busy dance class in a long time, if not ever!

Just as we were driving over to Brookfield, my phone buzzed. By the time I got there the message was long gone and anyway it was just a message to say that NHS Hairmyres Hospital had called and it wasn’t possible to reply to this message. What sort of way is that to run a railroad, or a hospital, for that matter. I phoned the hospital and spoke to a human who told the message was about an appointment I had. By the sound of her, I wasn’t the first to have one of these calls. In fact I’d had one last week and knew what was coming.

Back at dance class, we recognised a few faces from years ago, in for a refresher course. Stewart asked us how many of us could remember the October Waltz. Most of us couldn’t remember how to tie our shoe laces, far less how to dance! That didn’t sway Stewart and Jane and we were soon remembering ‘Back Cortés’ and ‘Spin Turns’. It also gave me a chance to do take some video footage on my new phone. The October Waltz took up most of our time and we may still be perfecting next October if we’re spared.

A wee bit of sequence dancing gave our knotted leg muscles a chance to recover after the waltz, and we were in to the Tango. A new version of the X-Line Tango that we started with a few years ago, but which has been altered an improved in the last year or so. Actually, it feels like a completely new dance now. With Scamp and Jane’s help I did put the steps in the correct place and my feet followed suit. In the end, the tango wasn’t as daunting as I’d feared.

A Midnight Jive or two brought proceedings to a suitable finale and we were still able to walk back to the car. One of the dancers had brought eggs, laid by a neighbour’s hens and was giving them away. Scamp collected half a dozen in a box filled with straw and they survived the journey home. I took a risk and went the Kingston Bridge way home, it being quicker, especially if you claim a space in the outside lane quickly enough. I did.

Back home despondency hung over me because of the complications of the iPhone 15 again. However, a severe talking to by Scamp and the promise of a Golden Bowl supper made me forget.

A walk over to Condorrat to collect the supper gave me my first serious shot with the phone of cars on the motorway. I was quite impressed. Not camera quality, but not bad. That was the PoD in the bag.

Remember the phone call that you cannot reply to? We got another one tonight when we were watching last year’s prom on iPlayer. The same message I got last week, so I knew what to expect. Automatic recorded voice which, thankfully wasn’t american, talked me through the procedure an I was booked in.

Scamp was enthralled by Barber’s Adagio and I was similarly fascinated by Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Absolutely fascinating. How can these folk remember all those piano pieces.

In a much better frame of mind tonight. I’m more settled with the phone and with the next appointment at the hospital. It looks like it’s going to be a busy week. Only one free day for a walk with Alex.

Hoping for a bit better day tomorrow, even just a bit of light, even if it’s raining will do.

Dancin’ – 12 December 2024

Posted on by Zogman

The last tea dance of the year.

Drove through the freezing fog to Tesco for a bottle of fizz for the dance teachers, plus a loaf and some pomegranate seeds and … well, lots of things, actually.

Then it was back home for a coffee and a Wordle. Didn’t quite get the Spelling Bee, but the coffee was good. Found I’d got an Explore for the photo of Hair Ice back on Tuesday. I suppose it is a strange looking thing and not seen very often.

Lunch was coming up fast and I wasn’t dressed for it yet, so it was a frantic rummage in the wardrobe to get suitable clothes for today’s tea dance. ‘Christmas’ was the unspoken theme for today and for once I did embrace it. Christmas jersey and a very old bright red tee shirt with a reindeer. Scamp was in her Christmas dress and looked very festive.

The fog was almost gone by the time we reached Glenburn but there were only a few or the regulars there. We danced a whole, or almost a whole, Quickstep. I was quite chuffed to find that I could remember almost all of the Hoabie Quickstep. We rather messed up the Waltz Nioli which we used to know and that was it for the formal ballroom dances. The rest were sequence dances and I think we danced them all, even the Christmas Pudding Dance which is a complicated four person dance with lots of ducking under and dancing round each other. Best seen, not described.

Made a mistake on the way home and took the Kingston Bridge road which felt like a moving car park. Once we were on the bridge and after a quick lane change we were moving a lot faster. Actually we took about the same time as we would have done if we’d taken our usual M74/M73 route. That freezing fog from the morning was descending by the time we got home. I dropped all the bags in the kitchen and went over to Condorrat to get a large fish supper for us to share, and that was dinner sorted.

There had been no time today for an outside photo, so it was a still life. The Christmas cactus has just come into flower, so that was today’s subject. Actually it an amalgam of two photos. One of the flower petals and one of the stamens. If you look closely you can see a dusting of pollen from the flower.

Watched the final of Masterchef The Professionals and the right person won as far as we were concerned.

Tomorrow we’ve been invited by Shona to coffee and a cake in Costa. I look forward to that.

A cold windy day – 7 December 2024

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We hadn’t planned anything for the day and it didn’t look like there was going to be any reason to go out.

Basically, that was the story of the day.

It was such a dull day too. I had no reason to go out to take a photo. Instead I decided it would be a tabletop shot today. I chose the Hebe cuttings she’d taken, with permission, from Jackie’s bush in her front garden in Skye. She had watered them today and a little bead of water was nestled in the bottom of some leaves. An ideal subject from a less than ideal day. After about a dozen shots I had one I was happy with. It was a 30second exposure which will give you an idea how low the light level was in the toilet today. The toilet has been a great place to photograph plants. Awkward to get the Manfrotto tripod into, but a great setup to shoot in. PoD done and dusted.

With a few hours left were taken up with building this year’s calendar. I’m only really about half way through the first attempt and there’s still a lot to do, but a start has been made.

A pizza for dinner, because we were going over to Brookfield in the evening for the final evening dance of the year. Quick change of clothes and a shower, then we were off into Storm Darragh. Again, we were just on the edge of the worst of the wind, and thankful for it.

Arrived in plenty of time and had a great night of dancing and what can only be called a “Carry On”. Spoke to folk at our table who I may, in the past, have described as slightly standoffish, but once I took the time to talk to them, they are just ‘folk’.

Drove home along a motorway that was busier than I’d anticipated, probably due to shows and pantomimes emptying into the motorways. After we left Glasgow everything calmed down and we got parked quite easily at home.

We watched the qualifying for the F1 GP of the year, and had a wee snifter each to keep our eyes open.

Wind is still quite strong and noisy, but it’s calming down, I think.

No plans yet for tomorrow.

We start the battle again tomorrow – 4 December 2024

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My parting words yesterday were “… I will let the whole thing cool down until we start the battle again tomorrow …” and that’s basically what I did.

I have two SSDs which can run the iMac. One seems to be damaged, or mismanaged in some way, but the other, the older one, does work, although the operating system isn’t as up to date as the dodgy one. Before I went to bed last night I swapped the dodgy one for the less up to date one and it just worked.

It was a foggy morning and we drove up to Calders to get some compost and plastic pots to plant out some cuttings Scamp had ‘acquired’ from Jackie. She, Scamp, was booked to have her hair cut later in the morning , so on the way home we drove past Condorrat, where the hair dressers is, to ensure the four way traffic lights wouldn’t block the entrance to the hair dressers. They didn’t, thankfully. On the way past St Mo’s park the fog was turning to mist and rising very photogenically from the surface of the pond.

We parked at the house and I grabbed a camera and went for a walk in St Mo’s. Beautiful light and excellent shadows from the trees in the park. Plenty of subjects and when I’d done one circuit of the pond, I came upon a group of about a dozen Canada geese paddling in one of the channels that had been dug to increase the cover for the waterfowl. They took one look at me then turned a blind eye to me. I think they were pretending that if they didn’t look at me, I wasn’t there. I decided to do the same after I’d taken half a dozen photos, and walked on without looking in their direction.

Back home I uploaded the photos to the laptop, so at least I would have them saved somewhere on a computer and could retrieve them sometime.

Of course I couldn’t leave well alone and, started looking in detail at what was happening with the dodgy drive. None of it made sense and the more I looked the worse it became, and the more fankled I became.

The bright spot of the day was dinner which was Mince ’n’ Tatties. It gave me heartburn later, but that was a small price to pay for such a lovely meal. Thanks Scamp.

At night we went dancing in Kirsty’s class. Tonight was the last class of the year and hopefully the last time we’ll be on that tiny wee dance floor. Every dance tonight was a sequence dance, starting with the Sambarina which I hate. Then it was on to other dances. Some just silly wee dances, but some real sequence dances we knew. A lot of folk gave up on them but about six of us, three couples managed to finish them. Actually, if you ignore Sambarina, it was a good night.

Drove home and watched the penultimate episode of Shetland then we both went to bed to read for a while after another disappointing day.

Still no photos to show, but hopefully I’ll process some on the old drive tomorrow..

Tomorrow we may also go in to Glasgow.

An early rise – 30 November 2024

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We had to drive to Brookfield half an hour earlier than usual, so we had to be up earlier than usual.

Brookfield were having an early Xmas fair and needed to use the hall from midday, so the proles had to be out by then.

At least the heating was on when we arrived. A quick sequence dance to start the day, then we were into the Hoabie Quickstep, named for the inventor’s dog, apparently. I think I danced like that dog today. My mind was a total blank. Even with Scamp talking me through the parts that made up the quickstep, I couldn’t remember them. Finally after about half an hour of shuffling round the floor like a complete beginner, things began to click into place and the Hoabie Quickstep was in my head. Now all I need is for my feet to learn it!!

Next was the Blue Angel Rumba, which I ‘sort of knew’, ie not very well. One of the tracks Stewart played was Silent Night sung(?) by Stevie Nicks. It was the worst rendition of that song I’ve ever heard. I often slag off street singers by saying: “One of the most important things a singer must learn is how to **sing***”* Even the worst street singers are better than this. Really, it put my teeth on edge. Listen to it if you dare and see if you agree with me.

The next dance was Jane’s version of a Rumba we’ve been learning forever. Every time we get it clear in our head, she changes bits of it. Today it was a move / unit called “Round the World” which was ok, but nothing special. I wasn’t impressed, but it was probably Ms Nicks’ earworm that was gnawing away at my ear canals.

Drove home across the Kingston Bridge and for once it wasn’t horrible. We made good time and I think we were both happy to be home for different reasons.

After a quick lunch of half a Ginsters Cornish Pasty for me and a Ginsters Chicken Pasty for Scamp, I went for a walk in St Mo’s where I got today’s PoD of a collection of Canada Geese getting ready to fly south after stopping off at St Mo’s for a break. I walked down to the shops to get some peas and chicken thighs to make tonight’s dinner Chicken and Pea Traybake. One of the easiest meals to make because it’s all done in a tray in the oven.

Later we watched Strictly and weren’t impressed with many of the dances tonight. We could do better. We can always do better, just as long as it isn’t the Hoabie Quickstep with music by Stevie Nicks

So today was the last day in November with its snow, frost, unseasonal temperatures and floods. It was also the end of meteorological Autumn. Winter will begin tomorrow. There’s a thought!

No plans for tomorrow.

A busy day – 28 November 2024

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Some days are filled with To Do lists and some are just made for lounging about. Unfortunately today’s was one of the former.

What with writing yesterday’s blog and posting it, then driving to the tea dance at Glenburn and back again, it felt like it was non-stop.

It started with a lazy look at Wordle and Spelling Bee. Wordle was easy, but I’ve still not completed SB. Then it was time to fill in the spaces of my memory of yesterday, typing it up and posting it. By then it was almost lunch time and a welcome wee piece ’n’ bacon and another slice on blackcurrant jam. Both delicious. Thanks for organising that, Scamp. That left me just enough time to wash my face, shave and get dressed for the Tea Dance. Then we were off with the thermometer in the car reading 0ºc. Brrrr!

By the time we reached Glasgow the temperature had risen to 2ºc and the heater was pushing out warm air as fast as its wee fans could heat it. Fairly easy drive to Glenburn although there was a lot of ‘tutting’ from Scamp when the boy racers were slaloming through the traffic on the M8, managing to shave off a decent 20 seconds from their journey time. You have to ask yourself; Is is worth the effort for 20 seconds max with the possibility of a bump and the polis being able to read your speed using the melted rubber on the tarmac as a guide and fifteen folk able to identify you with their dash cams. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
But we all do it, don’t we? Or is that just me?

Apparently the there was a prize for the worst example of bad parking in the car park at Glenburn. Cars dumped everywhere. It must be something in the water today. Anyway, we didn’t miss anything, because Stewart was waiting to see how many latecomers like us would appear, blaming traffic, roadworks and diversions. Nobody believes any of those tales, but everyone tells them.

Waltz to start as usual, then the lethargic Rumba One followed by Rumba Two, which is almost exactly the same as R1 but slightly faster. We danced the usual list. A Foxtrot, a Quickstep, a (Real) Rumba, a Salsa and a Bachata. Interspersed with the ‘real’ dances were quite a few sequence dances. A good crowd at the table we were sitting at. David and Carol with occasional visitors Linda and Billy. Good patter flowing around the table as always.

We left just after 3pm to avoid the school rush and for once I decided to take the Kingston Bridge road rather than the M74/M73, and for once it was the right decision. Stopped at Asda for a bunch of flowers for Scamp, she deserved it for keeping me fairly close to the right steps at the right time.

By the time we got home it was dark. That’s what happens in Scotland in November. Dinner was a reheated paella from yesterday. Scamp sorted it as usual heated enough to kill off any nasties in the rice, but not enough to turn the whole dish into mush. Something else learned today.

It had to be a tabletop photo today due to lack of light. It’s a little orchid we picked up in a garden centre earlier in the year. All the flowers died away after a while and we thought it was dead. Then one day I was sure I could see a tiny green shoot appearing from the stem, so we took a bit more care of it after that and fed it some liquid orchid food. Then this week the flower opened. We were delighted.

I’m still struggling with the new watch, but things are coming together now. Much more complicated than the FitBit, but it works.

Scamp is intending going to the last FitSteps of the year, but nothing else planned. Rain forecast.

No Time like the Present – 27 November 2024

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The clues are there, but only one will be revealed!

We drove in to Glasgow to buy some stuff. Most will be redacted, but one will not. While Scamp was off buying the redacted things, I was browsing the watches in JL. I fancied a new smart watch. My old one is ok, but since FItBit has been taken over by the Google monster, all the best bits have been gradually removed and updates have become few and far between. Besides, it’s nearly Xmas and there are bargains to be had, they say.

I was willing to afford a Vivoactive 5 which does almost all the things the FitBit did and a few more. The screen in particular was much clearer than the FitBit and the lack of a stair counter was offset by the Vivoactive not having Google’s sticky fingers all over it.

Coffee and a scone in JL’s cafe with a window seat looking out over the hordes of Xmas shoppers wandering aimlessly in and out of shops looking for something, anything to buy. Yes, and I am one of them.

Walking over the JL bridge to the car park I saw my favourite view of Glasgow laid out before me, but the windows were streaked with dirt and I couldn’t get a clean shot of the panorama of buildings. Then I saw the lone figure of a bloke waiting on the platform of Queen Street Station and I had my PoD.

Drove home and that’s when reality bit. The watch was fine. It looked like the one I’d been testing (playing with) in JL. It was the instructions that were lacking. I spent more time than I’d anticipated going between computer, phone and watch without getting anything done it seemed. The folk who make these devices really do need to explain things much more clearly to bears of little brain. Half of Wednesday afternoon and night was spent trying to make sense of the instructions. It almost went back into the box and back to Mr John Lewis, but that would be giving in and this was a challenge!

After a quickly made, but quite delicious Paella, we got ready and went out to Kirsty’s dance class where we attempted a Quickstep and a Waltz in the same night. It was a bit of a shambles in places, but we did do well at the quickstep. Not so good at the waltz.

Watched the last two episodes of the Moonflower Murders and thoroughly enjoyed them. Hopefully there will be season 3.

PoD was that man waiting for his train.

This has been a catch-up due to the problems the bear of little brain had with instructions.

Hoping to go dancing on Thursday.

Dancin’ – 9 November 2024

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Almost forgot about the dance class today, but we did make it to Brookfield in time.

The torture started with Mayfair Quickstep, just to get us warmed up because it the Committee must be cutting back on the heating. Then it was in to the Hobie Quickstep and someone had formatted my brain, just after I formatted yesterday’s SSD. I couldn’t remember a thing. I used to say that I had a logical side to my brain and a creative side. I think I’ve spent so much time working with the upgrade to the iMac on my Logical brain, I’ve forgotten to keep up the dance practise on my Creative brain. That’s my excuse anyway.

After some gentle prodding from both Scamp and Jane, things began to slot into place and by the end of almost an hour, I was feeling more comfortable with it. It is a Quickstep, though and there’s a lot of fast footwork to get through.

Next was a Rumba. Much gentler than the quickstep, but more places to stylise your movements, hand, body and feet. None of these dances are as easy as they make them look on Strictly. Halfway through the class Stewart dropped the bombshell that there will be no class next week as he and Jane are going to Murryfield for the rugby. Oh Dear! What a shame! I was devastated, as you can imagine!! Not only that, there is a chance that we may be changing the venue for the Gala Ball from Perth to somewhere slightly newer. I don’t want to say too much yet for fear of jinxing it!
The Quickstep was a sequence dance, but the Rumba was a mix and match. Add, subtract and mix the figures to make your own routine. That makes it much easier, but you need a more structured approach to start with or else I would pick the easiest figures and ignore the more difficult ones. But it’s an interesting dance. Never as easy as it looks and always with the problem of remembering the terrifying “Sliding Doors” that used to haunt my dreams on a Saturday night after class. They were mentioned and demonstrated today, but I just covered my eyes and they weren’t there!

PoD today was a Calendula flower bravely bobbing its head in the cold breeze in the back garden. I wasn’t planning on going out for a walk today. Cold and gloomy with a layer of mist shielding us from the sun.

Watched with indifference the gyrations of the Strictly dancers. Criticising their attempts and giving them a lowly “5” for their poor footwork or blocky hands. I’ve no idea who will leave this week.

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but I might get myself a light, warm jacket to go to cold places!

Dropping in on the Kelpies – 6 November 2024

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Not a lot to do today, so a visit to the big horses was a good idea.

It all started when Scamp broke two clasps on two separate necklaces, one ancient one over fifty years old. The other one had been repaired at least once before, but not very well. She trusts a jeweller in Falkirk and that’s why we were going there today.

Once we’d dropped off the jewellery we drove down to Helix park to see the Kelpies. There was a thin mist forming in the valley and I was hoping I would get some atmospheric photos of the great beast rising above the mist, but it wasn’t to be. The nearer we came to them, the clearer the mist was, but we went for a walk anyway, but first we had lunch in the cafe. We had a window seat which was just luck, because the cafe was really busy. Nobody wanted to sit outside today on such a chilly afternoon. The food was cheap and mainly warming, although Scamp’s Mac ’n’ Cheese was a bit cooler than she’d have liked. My lentil soup was hot! But the slice of pizza I had was tepid. Foodies expect the best all the time.

We walked around the Kelpies. You can’t really call them structures or statues, they are so much more than that. I took a lot of photos, but my favourite and PoD was taken from inside the cafe looking out and it was of a tray with two cups and a jug of milk with everything else being just slightly out of focus … intentionally this time and in monochrome.

We drove home and I spent nearly an hour on the phone talking to Val. He seemed in much better spirits today. The last time we spoke he sounded a bit down. It was good to hear him almost back to his usual self. We’ve arranged to have coffee some time soon. Either at his house or at Costa.

It appears, from what Scamp can glean from Kirsty, that we may be moving the Wednesday dance class from the British Legion to a council run centre on a Tuesday. Most folk seem to be perfectly happy with the arrangement. It would make a great difference to be able to dance on a real floor, much bigger than the postage stamp we have at present.
Tonight’s class was a bit of a disaster. I still haven’t got the hang of the Paso La Paz. Too many changes of direction and too fast. I’ll be glad when we leave it behind.

I’m intending to meet Alex tomorrow. I’d suggested we revisit Paisley, but he wants to try for some photos of the trees and cloisters of Glasgow Uni. That might work quite well, because we will lose those leaves soon, and we can do Paisley another time.