Category: Dancing

Dancin’ – 3 October 2026

Posted on by Zogman

It was Saturday and that means we’re probably dancing … somewhere.

We were off to Brookfield for our usual Saturday dance class. The first topic was Rhumbumbumba. It’s my least favourite stagger across the floor, tangle yourself in knots waste of time. I could give it the real description I use, but Scamp doesn’t like swearing! Suffice to say it’s absolute rubbish.

Next was the October Waltz. I’m not entirely sure we’ve done this one before, but Scamp likes it and I’m coming round to it now. After a few practices I think it and me could become friends. A fairly gentle waltz that glides along quite easily.

After the October Waltz was a Melody Foxtrot, just to loosen us up, or to be more precise, to loosen me up. Waltzes, especially fairly new ones make me tense and I end up leading with the wrong foot or even worse, standing on Scamp’s toes, but the Melody Foxtrot (which doesn’t have a Foxtrot in it) is an old friend. One that me and it get on well with.

The last part of today’s repertoire was a Butterfly Jive. I’ve never actually seen a butterfly jiving, but if I know the session is coming to an end, I’m quite happy to stagger round the dance floor copying those around me.

That should have been the end of today’s routines, but of course, Stewart was determined to squeeze in a final Rhumbumbumba. I noticed one of the men in the class was sitting it out. That was all the excuse I needed and I sat down facing him. Two old guys smiling at the antics of the dancers and not caring what they thought.

Drove home through a very quiet Glasgow on a Saturday afternoon. I think we only took about 40 minutes to get home. That must have been a new world record.

Scamp was tidying up the back garden when we got home, then Hazy phoned to ask me for some details that she needed for checking some come computer stuff. After a while I phoned her back with the numbers she wanted and she phoned back to confirm that the computer stuff checked out. A big thanks to you and Neil for clarifying that, Hazy. I was pretty sure I’d already checked it, but a second confirmation is never a bad thing. Next check is in April if all goes well!
If all that sounds a bit disjointed, don’t worry. It’s just computer talk 😉.

I went for a walk later and found the seed heads of the Yellow Flag Iris plants in St Mo’s were ripening and some of the seed pods had split open allowing the seeds to turn a rich brown. They appear every year around October in a variety of distorted shapes. That became PoD.

No real plans for tomorrow, at least not yet.

 

Dancin’ – 1 October 2026

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Off to Glenburn to do some dancing!

The roads were busy heading out to Glenburn. A lot of roadworks on the way there didn’t help, but we managed to get there almost on time. It wasn’t only the roads that were busy, the community hall was quite well attended too. A lot of faces we hadn’t seen for a long time. Scamp reckons it’s because the children are back at school now and the grandparents are free to enjoy themselves without having to look after the little darlings

The format was just the usual. Starting with a couple of waltzes and then a few tangos and some cha-cha dancers took to the floor too. All this was interspersed with some sequence dances before the tea trolley appeared.

It’s a tried and tested routine that everyone knows and most folk seem to enjoy it. I for one really enjoyed today.

We drove home through Glasgow at a steady, if slightly slow pace that brought us back home again.

I went for a walk down to the shops when we got back and that’s where today’s PoD came from. A selection of colours shining through today’s leaves. Truly, Autumn is here.

Tomorrow I think I’m taking a collection of broken up chipboard pieces to the Council Tip. I thought I’d manage to take them this morning, but time was too tight.

I think Scamp is going out for lunch with Shona.

Seed Heads – 19 September 2026

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Cow Parsley seed heads I found on today’s walk around one of the Cumbersheugh ponds.

It was a dull day. Dull and windy too. We drove over to Brookfield for the Saturday dance class, only to find that the bowling club had the run of the place without mentioning to the time allocated to the dance class had been reduced by a third. It would have been helpful if the bowling club had the decency to tell us the class time had been reduced. Maybe we should have complained to the mayor or lord provost or some such personage. We dancers seem to lose our place against the might of Brookfield’s bowling club. They should be reminded that we, too have a right to use the facilities. We pay for them too!

Actually I quite enjoyed the early finish to the afternoon. I quite enjoy most of the dancing, but Bumbarumba or whatever it’s called isn’t my idea of a dance. It’s a bit of a shambles if you ask me. Most of the folk were struggling to keep in touch with this attempt at a dance. Too fast for some and not exciting enough for others. I’m with the ‘Too Fast’ group.

A quick reprise of the quickstep was very useful and we both managed it. I struggled, as usual, but Scamp just ran through it as if it wasn’t there. That’s the difference between her and me. I struggle to remember these dances, Scamp has them on-tap, so to speak.

We drove home choosing to take the Clyde Tunnel to avoid the delays that usually appear if we try the dreaded Kingston Bridge route. Today it was an easy rung home for a change. I don’t know if that was due to a lighter load of vehicles on the motorway or just a ‘Lucky’ with the extra half hour. Whatever, it worked!

Good to hear from Alex that Carol has arrived home again after her operation on her knee. Hope it sorts itself out quickly Carol.

Today’s PoD went to a Cow Parsley head I saw in St Mo’s. Just because it looked interesting.

Tomorrow we may be packing bags,

Dancin’ – 17 September 2026

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Tea dancin’ and not a spot spilled!

We drove to Glenburn for the tea-dance. For once there were quite a few already there already waiting for it to begin. We had a blether with the usual suspects at their usual table before the dancin’ began.

The usual two waltzes to begin with. First circuit of the day was a ‘getting to know your feet again’ sort of thing. When the second waltz was called, my feet were becoming used to this ‘complicated walking’ as Jamie Gal used to call it.
Next was a Cha-Cha which I managed to body swerve. Then, the first of the sequence dances. To close the first half, was the ‘Rhumbumbumba’. A line dance that the teachers demonstrated before encouraging the class to join in. It had to happen. Stewart and Jane were desperate to show it off and I believe most of the dancers on the floor had already tasted this ‘dance’. The other thing that I noticed was the distinct lack of men taking part! A House of Bamboo finished off the first half, and it was tea time.

The second half of the afternoon was mainly handed over to sequence dances. They are good because most people know them or are learning them and by the second dance of the set they are comfortable dancing them. I think we were on the floor for most of the time.

We left soon after that in an attempt to avoid the homeward bound drivers. Actually it wasn’t bad, especially because we were avoiding the Kingston Bridge with its snarled up traffic by driving along the M8 the M74 and the M73. It’s not the fastest, but at least the traffic moves at a decent pace.

I think it rained all the way home, in fact I think it rained all day today. Scamp cooked a lovely piece of cod with roasted potatoes and long stem broccoli. I really enjoyed it.

PoD was an apple, a James Grieve apple from our small apple tree. I’ve found them to be more ’tart’ that last year’s, but still perfectly edible.

Tomorrow I think we may be going to meet Isabel for a blether.

Dancin’ – 12 September 2026

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Back in the old routine.

Today started with a drive through the rain to Brookfield. One of those strange days when the weather couldn’t quite agree whether it wanted rain or sun and in the ended opted for both … at the same time. Heavy rain showers and rainbows at the same time. But we weren’t there to gaze at the weather variations. Oh no, the teachers had a new ‘dance’ for us Rhumbumbumba! A silly name for an equally silly piece of nonsense. We danced it twice an by the end of the second repeat, I was lost. I’ve a feeling the teachers are going to push this piece of nonsense for all it’s worth. Not impressed!

The next dance was the Butterfly Jive. No butterflies were injured in the making of the dance, but it was much more sedate than the Rhumb…. We did kind of remember it, Scamp says it’s been around since 2024 when we last attempted it. I vaguely remember it and had a go at it with Scamp leading.

Next up were variations on the Quickstep. I don’t claim to be able to do it, but at least I can place my feet in roughly the correct places for the music without tripping over myself … well, almost. By the end of the session I was beginning to understand how the figures went together.

Stewart and Jane were determined to get us up on our feet again for yet another session of Rhumb… etc, but I sat that one out. If you want to involve yourself in a line dance, search YouTube for Rhumbumbumba. It appears to be all the rage! Good Luck.

Drove home in the rain but made good time for a change, taking almost the same time getting home compared to the time we took to get to Brookfield. Forty five minutes each way.

Back home I made a watered down espresso coffee for Scamp. She wasn’t impressed, but said it was much better with Drinking Chocolate added to it. I’ll take her word for it. I think I’m coming to terms with the new machine and getting good results from it.

Today’s PoD is a wee flower from the garden a blue flowered Polenium.

No plans for tomorrow.

Glasgow and England – 29 August 2026

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Today was a day to wander through Glasgow, looking for a bargain.

In fact it was just a day to go for a wander. Although Scamp did find a bargain in John Lewis. But it being under-garments, we are not allowed to discuss them in this blog!

I was sort-of looking for a new coffee maker. The one I have is over six years old now and does need a bit of care and attention, and as I have a few bob to spare, I’m thinking of upgrading it to a newer model. So far, it is merely a pipe dream, but if the price is right, I may make the change. It’s still not a firm commitment, but it’s bouncing around the ether somewhere.

I think we both enjoyed our short holiday down in the south of Engerland. It was good to wander round Kingston upon Thames and to sample the expensive alcoholic beverages for sale. Some were very nice and others were pulled straight from the River Thames, I think. Neil took us for a walk in Pinshill Park where we had a walk round this interesting landscape. We even had a scone, complete with frozen cream in an old castle. It was meant to be a clotted cream tea, but someone put the cream in the freezer, not the fridge! Anyway, we survived and on another day we walked around the city of London, got lost and then re-found ourselves.

All in all, we had a good time. Good food, good company and lots of folk to meet again. We enjoyed it all. At least until …

It was time to go home. Neil dropped us at a good staging point to get back on the overground train, again without many problems. Then we found our way from Vauxhall to the underground and onward to Kings Cross only to discover that our train was, like many others that day, potentially cancelled.

However, an hour late, we got the all clear and were off on our travels again on foot and managed to find the exact seats we were meant to be sitting on in 1st Class! From there it was plain sailing and although we were an hour late arriving in Edinburgh, we had enough points to claim a couple of hundred pounds of penalties from LNER. That softened the blow. Train from Edinburgh to Croy and a taxi from there took us back to the house. An interesting day.

The last two or three days have been deemed to be recovery days and not a lot of photos have been taken, but many more were taken on our trip Dahn Sarf as my old friend Ray would have described it.

We managed to ‘miss’ today’s dance class in Brookfield because Jane wasn’t fully fit. Next week’s class seems to be cancelled too, because Stewart and Jane are both booked for Tenerife for rest and recuperation. I’m sure they deserve it.

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but I expect Scamp will want to improve on my attempts to cut the back grass! She will also be waiting impatiently to discover what happens next in our visit to Dundee.

In the garden – 15 August 2026

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After yesterday’s stramash, today was a little calmer.

We had intended to take the train to Glasgow, but I wasn’t feeling well with a bit of an upset stomach (too much good food) and we stayed at home. It was a good bit cooler today with a cold breeze. It’s difficult to decide what to wear in these days of fluctuating temperatures.

I couldn’t decide what to photograph too, but eventually settled on an old shot I’d taken a few weeks ago of a Rowan berry sitting on a group of Rhododendron leaves. For once I can honestly sat that this was not a set-up. The rowan berry was sitting comfortably in the centre of the rhododendron. I couldn’t pass it up, that would have been a sin, so there it is. The orange and green made a good colour contrast too.

Later in the day we got ready to go to Brookfield for what used to be a monthly dance, but which is now just a fairly regular event, especially in the summer when folk are off on holiday. For once I really enjoyed the night, although by the end of the evening I was getting tired. It was good to drive home through a much quieter Glasgow than is usual.

A wee glass of something when we got home put the seal on the day, and I climbed the wooden mountain to bed, wearily for the second day in a row.

Relaxation will probably the name of the game tomorrow.

Dancin’ in Blackpool – 25 July 2026

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Not your usual dancin’. This was dancin’ in Blackpool, not Brookside.

Taxi in the morning to Holiday Inn at Strathclyde Park. We met another dancer there. Natasha was the teacher for the first dance class we went to about twenty years ago! I wouldn’t have recognised her, but Scamp did. Twenty years? Who would have thought it!!

Picked up the minibus there that would take us from Strathclyde Park to Blackpool. A three hour drive with one stop for a ‘comfort break’ would bring us to Blackpool, right to the door of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. The show was already in full swing, so we got our dance shoes on and watched the expert

Dancers of varying abilities were showing off their steps and we watched entranced for a while before we took the plunge and hit the floor. We had had no real chance to practice, but that wasn’t a problem, as two ladies took Scamp and me around the floor for the first time. Such a civilised way to start the day. After that, and when they were sure we could cope by ourselves, they left us to pick up another couple showing signs of having dancing problems.

After that, we danced our little feet off for over two hours. The building really is an amazing place, truly vast. It has a ground floor and two layers tiers above that. It also has a fully sprung floor that you don’t notice to begin with, then you feel the movement as you dance.

Eventually time was running out and we hadn’t really had anything to eat all day, so we left the dance hall and fought our way in a gale blowing in from the sea and found a Pizza restaurant with a space for us. By the time we left there we had just enough time for a quick walk along the prom before finding our minibus and the drive home.

A quick drink back at the Holiday Inn and then got the taxi back home.

It was an interesting experience. Would we do it again? I don’t think so. Blackpool is a poor looking place now. Very run down and a shadow of its former self. Also, six hours overall in a minibus isn’t good for the back. Not the most comfortable day we’ve had.

PoD was a shot of the the dance floor once most of the participants had left. An image of its former glory.

Tomorrow will be all about recovering.

 

Dancin’ – 18 July 2026

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It’s Saturday and that means we were dancing in Brookfield. It was another warm day, but with a lot of clouds hiding the sun.

Quite a full dance floor. We started with the Electric Slide. Just a repetitive piece of nonsense. Next was the American Smooth Waltz. It’s beginning to fit into place, but not as fast as Scamp would like. That took up about a third of today’s lesson.
For a break we danced the Sally Ann Cha-Cha. Also a bit of fun, but much more interesting that the electric slide.
Jane’s favourite, Rona’s Rumba was next. It was to commemorate a dancer called Rona who passed away a couple of years ago. It’s probably a lovely dance, but I’ve now heard a few of the old hands saying it has too many turns and it doesn’t flow well. They could be right. I just find it hard to dance. That was another third or more of the lessons gone.
Two more sequence dances, The Mayfair Quickstep and the Melody Foxtrot finished the class.

We drove home through very light traffic and were home in no time at all. Unfortunately I didn’t time it this time.

I didn’t want to go walking in St Mo’s again after yesterday’s disappointing walk. Instead I helped Danny, the bloke next door, to rip out the old wire fence that separates our two gardens. He’s determined to get a fence up to allow his grandkids to play in the garden. It was a tough job, but I got the remains of the old Blackcurrant bush removed and a lot of weeds and invasive flowers removed. It’s half past nine just now and he’s still working away at it. Not me. I’ve had enough for one day.

We’re hoping to go to Isobel’s 90th birthday party tomorrow. I’m intending taking my camera to record the event, although I’m sure Isobel will complain bitterly!

PoD went to a Calendula flower from the garden.

Dancin’ – 11 July 2026

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The first ‘real’ dancing day this morning.

Lots of folk out today hoping to improve their dancing technique. I wasn’t one of them. I was just happy to not make a mess when I was treading water!

The dance class started with the Electric Smooth. I’d never danced it before and a few folk were in the same boat. It was similar to The House of Bamboo which I started off hating, but ended up accepting it as just another set of dance steps. The E.S. is similar and will have the same effect on me I think.

The first ‘actual dance’ was the American Smooth Waltz which we’d done before in one of the Perth classes. Bits of it fitted together like a badly made jigsaw puzzle, but by the end of the class it was filtering in to my head.

Rumba was next and we started off just copying an old rumba we kind of knew, but then decided we’d better stick to the teachers’ plan and dance it properly. There were similarities between ‘our’ version and the teacher’s version.

Tango Serida was and it took me a while to work out what was happening and when it was happening, but we managed to struggle round the floor. With a bit of help from Jane, I managed to sort out the routine.

Balmoral Blues was the last real sequence dance. I didn’t like it and struggled to make sense of it, but Scamp had it sorted right away. She has this innate ability to walk through a dance once or twice and immediately afterwards, know how to dance it. Me? I struggle and let’s leave it at that.

Just for a bit of fun and to get back to simple stuff, we finished with the Midnight Jive. A sequence dance designed to get your heart pounding.

We drove home through a very quiet Glasgow and made it home only slightly longer that the drive to Brookfield in the morning.

Scamp was busy in the afternoon digging out plants, sieving out the lumps of soil and splitting larger plants to make at least two smaller ones. I went for a walk over to St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which was a Saw Fly. Scary looking beast, but apparently harmless.

No plans for tomorrow so far, but that may change.