Category: Dancing

Dancin’ – 9 April 2022

Posted on by Zogman

It was back to reality this morning with a bump.

Up fairly early. Washed, shaved, dressed and ready to face the day. Scamp skipped the shaving.

We were off to Brookfield to take a few more faltering steps on the way to being dancers. Today started with a fairly easy Valentino Jive which even Stewart, the teacher, got wrong to start with. We got it right most of the time, especially on the second track. Then we were straight into the Quickstep. As is usual, the teachers walked through the full routine, then danced it through at full speed, to music and we thought No Way! Heavens, there are Fishtails in it. Fishtails have been my nemesis for years now. Even when we tried the first few steps, I was just making things up until we got pulled up for it. We got pulled up quite quickly and it was Stewart who explained in simple terms what we were being asked to do. Could it really be that easy? Well, actually it could. After half an hour I was getting most of the footwork correct. After about forty five minutes I was adding in Fishtails, correctly danced for once. Of course we made mistakes, but not nearly as many as I thought we would. Needs practise, and needs practise in a big room.

Next was a short interlude of Mambo Marina sequence dance before we went back to last week’s Cha-Cha. It’s not quite as bad as it was. We have been practising it at home and I’m beginning to think I might be able to dance this some day. Maybe not some day soon, but some day. The teachers were adding some more advanced steps to fill out the dance, but we didn’t really take much notice. Best to get the basics right before we go on to advanced steps.

Driving home wasn’t as stressful as it was on Thursday, mainly because we didn’t try to cross the Kingston Bridge, but took the M74 instead. It’s a few miles longer, but at least you can travel at the legal limit all the way and not be in a start-stop line of cars with the other lanes always travelling faster than you. We may do that again.

We had picked up a lot of free food at Brookfield with a couple of loafs, half a dozen eggs and some potatoes filling our bags as we left. Such a shame that the food is being thrown away otherwise.

Scamp and I went a walk down to the shops in the afternoon and got a few things, then on the walk back, I took a detour round St Mo’s. Saw a hoverfly, first this year, sitting on some whin bushes. A bright whin flower got PoD, narrowly beating another branch of blossom.

Dinner tonight was provided by Bombay Dreams. We both ate half of our portion, leaving the other half for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner.

Got a message from Hazy to say that Neil still wasn’t getting rid of his chest infection and his dad was driving him to A&E. Message later to say that he had had tests done and he is just slowly recovering and there is nothing to worry about, thankfully.

Spent the evening catching up on yesterday’s blog post, but if I get this posted soon I will be all caught up!

With that in mind, I’m off to bed. I might read another chapter of my book James Oswald’s “All That Lives”. It’s a bit formulaic. It feels like he’s in a writing rut. Shame, because his early books were really good.

No plans for tomorrow. Hopefully it will be another beautiful day like today.

Drivin’ and Dancin’ – 7 April 2022

Posted on by Zogman

We were going to a tea dance today.

Yes, tea was served as was a tea loaf. For the philistines there was instant coffee.

First we had to work out the quickest way to get there. The community hall that’s used for the tea dances is deep in darkest Paisley. It’s a different one from the one we go to in Brookfield for dance class on a Saturday, very different, but both have good floors for dancing. The problem with getting there is that the motorway has roadworks for a few miles on the M8 and the speed limit is 40mph which is fairly slow for a motorway. It wouldn’t concern me greatly, but there are average speed cameras for the full stretch of the roadworks, and in case, just in case they are actually switched on, most folk are travelling at about 38mph. This slows everyone up. Then, once you’re free to travel at mind blowing 70mph, you have to leave the motorway to work your way through the devious traffic system in Paisley itself. It takes ages.

There is another way. I found it a long time ago when we started this tea dance caper. It’s the one that the Nissan app recommends. Anything the Nissan app recommends is usually to be avoided. When you ask it for a route between two places it firstly gives you the route and the time it will take if you’re walking. This from a company who specialise, not in walking shoes, but in selling cars. I digress. Today I thought we might just try the route from the app. Surprisingly, it was a much less stressful route than the M8, then the slow crawl through Paisley. I’m not giving Nissan all the glory for finding this route, I checked with Google first and they agreed! We were late arriving at the hall, but we much earlier and much calmer than if we’d gone the Paisley route. We also used it coming back and the only problem was the queue to cross the Kingston Bridge, but that was driver error. I should have gone with my gut feeling which was avoid the Kingston Bridge at all costs.

Lots of sequence dances today and we learned a new one. It’s got the usual sequence dance silly name and is an amalgam of various other dances. We tried the new waltz routine and it was a shambling mess to start with, or I was making a shambling mess, which is nearer the truth. However by the time we got to the Last Waltz it was coming together nicely. Tango was a work in progress. I’m sure we were cutting corners somewhere, but where exactly, I couldn’t say. We tried and failed at the Cha-Cha. I thought the music was too fast, and despite Scamp’s best efforts, we didn’t finish it.

We were sitting with a good crowd, most of whom we’ve met before and we seemed to get on well with them. The numbers were down today, but, as Scamp said, a lot of folk our age are grandparents now and have kids to look after during the school holidays.

Back home I changed into ‘normal’ clothes and went for a walk down to the shops via the well worn path behind St Mo’s school. Today’s PoD is a macro shot of a rotting fence post with a few clumps of moss growing in its hollow top which I found beside that path. I quite liked the picture and cropped it square, then gave it a white rebate. Looks a bit like a Polaroid now.

Tomorrow we may be going in to Glasgow for lunch, it being someone’s birthday.

Dancing Day – 2 April 2022

Posted on by Zogman

The dancing class was back today. We’d had a week off last week while the teachers were off on holiday to Cyprus. We had been practising at home a couple of days, but now it was time to face the music and dance … literally.

The traffic through the 40mph section of the M8 with its average speed cameras was fine really. We’d left early just in case, but it we arrived at Brookfield with lots of time to spare. Another beautiful morning, so we just sat and enjoyed the silence. Soon the others began to arrive and when Stewart & Jane arrived it was time to dance.

We started off with Mambo Marina as a warm up. It’s a fairly easy sequence dance. After that it was the waltz and we were fairly confident that we could muddle our way through it. We could, but it looked like we were muddling and that’s not what the teachers want, so there were a few corrections needed to both our routines, but not too many. If it hadn’t been for Scamp’s tuition in our practise sessions in the living room, it would have been a different story.

Next we did a Mayfair Quickstep this time to attempt to warm us up as the heating had just come on. Apparently the Hive that controls it had gone offline this morning and they were having problems getting it back online. That was the management at Brookfield’s explanation, but it left you wondering if this was simply cost cutting. Anyway, the Mayfair Quickstep certainly did the trick.

Next was the Cha-Cha, my nemesis. I really struggle with this dance. Scamp enjoys it, but my feet just don’t go where they are supposed to and it usually ends up with me walking away. Today I stuck at it and with Stewart’s help, then Jane’s help it began to fall into place. We’ve now danced the whole of the routine. What the teachers call the ‘Front End’ is now fine, but the ‘Back End’ is cloaked in mystery for me. I just can’t stop myself tripping over my own feet when I’m doing the Rondé and as far as the Split Cuban Breaks are concerned, they are just impossible to master. It must be a real laugh for the teachers watching us argue with our own arms and legs when we’re trying to master these techniques.

I was glad when the class ended, not because I hadn’t enjoyed it because I had. I’d also learned a few techniques too. I was glad, because I was exhausted. Now for the drive home.

The homeward journey took just over 45mins and that wasn’t too bad given the road conditions, but with a bit of lane changing at the right time we got home about our usual time.

After lunch Scamp went down to the shops to get some essentials and I gathered my gear together and started the usual reorganisation of files that happens every change over month. After she came back I walked two circuits of St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which is another larch flower. I called this one a Larch Rose which is its most common name. I think only I call them ‘pineapples’.

Dinner tonight was Thursday’s veg chilli reheated with a baked potato each. It was fine and saved me freezing it for another day.

Better news from Alex. Olly is now off all his supports and much more active. His mum is back home and on antibiotics for a post-natal infection, but feeling fine, especially because she got to hold wee Olly.
Carol is now walking with crutches and is hoping to get home tomorrow (Sunday).

Tomorrow looks like rain, so we may, or may not manage a walk.

Dancin’ and Drivin’ – 19 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

We were off to the Saturday morning dance class and then a mystery tour.

The road was busy today, mainly because of the weather. Not bad weather, but exceptionally good weather. Blue skies and sunshine. Everyone was heading for the coast today I’d imagine. Then I found why everyone was driving slowly. It wasn’t just the volume of traffic, it was also because of roadworks. Forty miles per hour and just to make it even more depressing, those big yellow spies in the sky, Average Speed Cameras and they will be there for at least 12 weeks. I suppose the roads do need resurfacing and spring is the best time of year to get the work done. Hopefully better weather and not fully in to summer. We can but hope that other folk will find alternative routes and the traffic will thin out.

Only six people were in the class. There was a dance tonight and a lot of people, like us, were happy to go to class, or the dance, but not both on the same day. Too much travelling to and fro, so most of the normal class had chosen the dance.

The great thing about small class sizes is that you get almost individual attention. The bad thing is that there’s nowhere to hide. Today we started with an easy Midnight Jive and then it was into the Waltz we were learning last week. Thankfully some of the others in the class were still learning the part we’d done last week, so that gave us a chance to reprise that part, then it was in to the more complicated ‘back section’. A short break for another sequence dance, I forget which one and then it was on to the Cha-Cha. The Cha-Cha, in my opinion is a totally pointless piece of fluff with arm waving an extravagance I can do without. I put up with it then put it in its box and left it until next week when I have to pull it out, try to reassemble all the parts and dance it again. But wait! The teachers are off for a week in the sun from Wednesday, so there is no class next week! Oh joy of joys! I mean, of course, “Oh what a shame. We’ll have to wait two weeks for the next class.”

We drove out of Brookside, headed in the general direction of home and then took the dual carriageway to Irvine. It was still a long drive down to the coast, but quicker than the last route the sat nav took us. When we got there it was wall to wall sunshine. Unfortunately, it was also wall to wall cars in the car park. There are loads of car parks at the harbour in Irvine, but all of them were pretty full. However, we did find a place to park and went for a walk to feel what a walk in the sun felt like. Half the world seemed to be there and they all had ice cream. It would have been a terrible shame not to join them, so it was a medium sized 99 with raspberry on top, then a walk along the beach. There were people walking, sitting on the sand, paddling and Scamp even saw two wee boys swimming! In the sea! In March! Are they mad!!?

It really is a long beach and we walked along about half of it then I wanted to look at the big sandstone dragon that sat high on the dunes above the beach. We struggled to climb up to it, wading through the dry sand then up through the dunes proper, but the beast itself was quite impressive. Loads of kids climbing on it, but I managed to get a few photos and remove the weans in Photoshop later.

We said goodbye to the dragon and walked over the hillocks down to to boating pond we hadn’t seen before. This really is an interesting foreshore. Lots of cropped grass, hills and valleys to explore. Just shows what can be done if you have a bit of imagination.

Drove home via a Tesco petrol station to get a fairly cheap, by today’s standards, tank of fuel for £1.62 a litre. Then we drove home via East Kilbride because I couldn’t be bothered driving through the traffic at the Kingston Bridge.

Fish ’n’ Chips which Scamp went over to Condorrat for because I was snoozing on the couch. PoD was a fairly crowded Irvine Beach.

No plans for tomorrow, but apparently we need some messages.

At the Battlefield – 18 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

A beautiful Friday morning.

Scamp drove over to Tesco to post Neil’s granny’s birthday card. Age 90 deserves a card on the day and by our calculations, the card should arrive on time if it was posted early.

After that, we just hung about, me doing Sudoku and Scamp reading until it was time to drive to Glasgow’s South Side to the Battlefield Rest. An independent Italian restaurant houses in a waiting room and tram stop! It’s a strange wee building that sits on its own traffic island at a complicated junction surrounded by ugly high-rise buildings. We were originally introduced to it by my cousin, Donald, an architect and fellow foodie. We had booked last night, just to make sure we’d get a table.

First problem was getting there. I missed a turning on the sat nav and the next one too. I took things a bit slower and found the third one, only to discover they were digging up the road and we had to take a diversion. After another wrong turn we arrived at Battlefield Road and every parking space I could see was either blocked or too small. Then, out of the blue, we found a nice big space just a few minutes walk from the restaurant.

Scamp had Mussels in a Tomato sauce to start and a main of Smokie Crepe. I had Crab Bruschetta, followed by Spaghetti Paesana (Spaghetti with meatballs). Just because we could, we both had a dessert. Scamp, of course had Tiramisu and I had Pecan and Pine Nut Tart with a big scoop of ice cream. A lovely meal we both enjoyed. It must be well over three years since we’ve been in The Rest. Hopefully it won’t be so long until we’re back.

Since it was such a lovely day we went for a walk over to Queen’s Park, marvelling at the changes in the area and the amount of construction work still going on. We climbed up the long unforgiving hill to the flagpole and viewpoint in Queen’s Park. Great views of Glasgow from the viewpoint, but oh, the cobbled paths are treacherous. We both nearly took a tumble there. Saw a couple of Pied Woodpeckers in the wee wood behind the flagpole. First ones I’ve seen since we were down at Jamie and Sim’s old house. You can sometimes hear them in the woods at Drumpellier, but I’ve never actually seen them there. We followed another treacherous path down to the real, tarmac path and followed it round the park to the exit and from there back to the car. It was a fairly easy drive from there to the M74 and home.
Today was rated as “Excellent” by both of us.

The weather was still fine when we arrived home and I was tempted to take the camera for a walk in St Mo’s, but I knew I had a couple of interesting shots, one of which would make PoD. I was wrong. It was a cropped shot of The Battlefield Rest suitably toned to make it look older. That won PoD.

I got an email from MPB telling me they had downgraded my estimate for the condition of the camera. I didn’t fully agree with their description, but agreed because I know it was a borderline case for “Excellent”. Their estimate of “Good” was probably more realistic. Money should be with us next week, hopefully.

It appears that despite some people withdrawing from dance class tomorrow, because the first dance of the year is on tomorrow night. We’d intend going to both, but Scamp made the decision to go to the class and possibly a tea dance during the week. We did have a quick practise of the Cha-Cha and the Waltz as preparation for tomorrow’s dance so, I shouldn’t  make too many mistakes.

If the weather holds tomorrow, we may go for a spin after the class, maybe to the seaside. I’m not sure if we’ll pack buckets and spades. However, I do still have a snow shovel in the boot!

 

One out, one in – 15 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

DPD were working overtime today.

My Sony A7ii was being collected this morning to go to MPB in Brighton. Later in the day I was expecting a box of coffee and tea from The Bean Shop in Perth. One out, one in.

The DPD man came to collect my camera right on time and off it went with a sticker on it that had the same number as the sticker that’s fixed with a magnet to the fridge door. One down. Not long after I got the message to say that my driver would deliver my parcel just after midday. Sure enough, the bloke knocked the door and photographed me lifting the parcel from the mat. I will drink tea and coffee today!

That left the rest of the day free. It’s a while since we’ve been out for a walk together. Scamp sometimes walks down to the shops herself and I often walk round St Mo’s myself. I suggested to her that maybe we should both go out together today. Just a walk round Broadwood Loch. She agreed and we walked down towards the loch, but she wasn’t interested in doing the round trip, so we chose the shorter version, over the plastic boardwalk and down round the new water management drainage ditch (first time we’ve been round that) and then round the exercise machines before stopping at the shops for oranges and milk. I did think of going for a circuit of St Mo’s pond, but decided just to go home as I’d a few shots that looked interesting.

Dinner tonight was Creamy Chicken, Mushrooms and Rice. Another Scamp favourite. She thought it needed salt and pepper. I agreed on the salt. It was actually fine without it, but the salt just gave it a bit more taste.

Heard the news from Nick the Chick that we have to wear face masks in shops and on public transport until the beginning of April. A bit disappointing, but that’s just the way her head works. Belts & Braces are her style and you have to believe she’s doing it for the good of our health, rather than to look good to the great unwashed as some other politicians do.

We had a quick practise at the new waltz and I think I can tentatively say that I can complete the first section without too many mistakes. I’m not sure I’ll be able to say that again tomorrow, but maybe the dancing gods will look down and smile at my attempts.

PoD turned out to be a shot I took with the A6000 from the boardwalk. Actually, it’s gone through a fair number of changes since it landed on Lightroom this afternoon. A lot of changes, but for the better.

It’s my turn to go for coffee tomorrow. Meeting John and Val at Costa in the morning. The rest of the day is our own.

 

Morning came too quickly – 12 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

I didn’t think I’d been to sleep when I woke at 7am.

I don’t know what woke me, but I wish it hadn’t. We didn’t need to go out until about 10:15am and I knew it would be difficult to get back to sleep, but I did.

Up, breakfasted, showered and dressed, we were ready for the drive to Bridge of Weir for the first dance class and a drive in torrential rain. It seemed to come in waves. Probably because we were heading west and that’s the direction the clouds were rolling in from, so it heavy rain then light rain then heavy again. Not the most pleasant drive, but the dance class, while taxing was interesting. Catching up with a waltz that I have no recollection of, but Scamp has. Then a Cha-Cha that was new for everyone and was also quite complicated. A few sequence dances added to the mix and leavened the lesson. There was a lot of surplus food available to be taken away free of charge and we did make good use of it.

More torrential rain on the way home, but the weather seemed to have kept folk from going out, because the roads were much quieter than they have been. That is, until we arrived at the Kingston Bridge where the usual traffic jams started. The secret seems to be to get into the outside lane before you reach the bridge and just keep plodding along. The outside lane almost always runs the quickest, although, perhaps ‘quickest’ is probably not the best description.

Back home and after lunch partly made from the goodies we’d picked up, Scamp went for a walk to the shops to get a chicken for tonight’s dinner. I stayed home and started on yesterday’s blog.

When she came home, not too heavily laden, I walked over to St Mo’s where I did take some frog photos, but where PoD turned out to be a bunch of crocuses growing wild.

A rum ’n’ coke for Scamp and a whisky for me while I finished off yesterday’s blog and started today’s after dinner is leading to an early(ish) night.

Tomorrow, after three busy days on the trot, we have no plans.

Dancing’ – 10 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were back dancing in Paisley.

I expected them to, at least, have some bunting out and maybe even some Scottish flags to celebrate the return of Sheila. What did we get? We got told off for “just waltzing in at any time”. Admittedly it was said tongue in cheek, but where were the balloons and streamers?

In the morning we spoke to Hazy for a while and found out how painful it is to to have a pain reducing patch ripped off, removing some skin in the process. Apparently Neil will be able to walk again once he’s out of traction.

After speaking to Hazy, I reckoned I had enough time to go on a frog hunt in St Mo’s. It is usually about the first or second week in March they arrive for a few all night parties with a bit of hanky panky, leaving great rafts of spawn clogging up the shallows of the ponds. Today was one of those days, and the frogs and a few toads too were congregating happily splashing through the water and playing leapfrog, at least that’s what it looked like. I got a few photos of the celebrations, some of which will be posted on Frog Porn later tonight. One particularly smug looking individual made it to PoD.

I’d just enough time after getting the photos to get home for a quick bite to eat before we were off to Paisley to the first Tea Dance in ages. It was a fairly reduced affair with a lot of the regulars having called off due to a resurgence of Covid. That left a bit more room for us to stagger around making more mistakes than we were getting right. I think a lot more practise needs to be done before the next one. Having said that, we did get up for almost every dance we knew how to do and even some of the old hands were having difficulty getting their old feet to find the proper steps in the correct order. Next time we’ll be better.

We left early, and again found that the traffic was much lighter with that 30minute difference. Of course everything snarled as we neared the Kingston Bridge, but that’s just inevitable. It would have been much worse if we had waited until the end of the dance.

No plans really for tomorrow apart from, perhaps, a visit to Larky later.

 

A Day in the Toon – 4 February 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Today we drove in to Glasgow.  Just for a wander round the shops and maybe a spot of lunch.

Halfway along the M80 I thought we’d made a terrible mistake.  We were driving into a blizzard.  It started out as sleet, then turned to snow for a while before fading away as if it had never been, and there was sunshine and a beautiful blue sky again.  Parked at Buchanan Galleries and had a quick look in JL where there wasn’t anything interesting for me, but there was a bargain for Scamp.  I’m not going to say that she went there knowing that bargain was available, but I think the visit to the shop was partly stage managed,

Walked down Bucky Street and got some photos on the way.  I’d taken the little A6000 with me today because I think walking around all day on Tuesday had caused the ache in my back.  So it was one small camera and one small lens. Actually the combination was very effective and netted me about 50 photos, most of them perfectly exposed and sharp.

Lunch was at The Cup, the place Alex and I had had lunch in.  It was much busier than Tuesday, but that’s to be expected on a Friday.  Food wasn’t quite as good and the coffee was terrible.  A bit weak and too sharp.  Maybe we were just unlucky or maybe Alex and I were lucky last Friday.  I used one of my Covid vouchers in Waterstones and got two Denise Mina books that had been on my wanted list.  I felt I got them for free, because I wasn’t using real money, just a voucher.  Tried a pair of Merrill trainers, but the fit just wasn’t right.  Girl in the shop seemed a bit put out that I didn’t just buy them without trying them on.  Sorry dear, auld guys don’t do that.

Drove home through more rain and sleet and when we got to the house another blizzard blew in.  What a day!  More snow and sleet due  for tomorrow.  However the teachers are off taking dance classes on a cruise ship for two weeks, so no early rises and no driving through that awful traffic on the way home.  We will miss the exercise though.

PoD went to a photo of Buchanan Street subway again.  If you’re reading this Alex, it was taken just after 1.15pm!  Just as you predicted.

Today’s prompt was Little Red Corvette which meant Prince, of course and again, not one of my favourite singers, however I had listened to the song a few times in the past and had a fair idea what he was singing about. Although a lot of the references meant nothing to an old Scots guy, I did work out what the Trojan horses and the jockeys references meant. Basically it was beautifully sung filth. I may listen to more of his music now with a different ear!

No plans for tomorrow apart from a lazy morning.

Driving through the wild wind – 29 January 2022

Posted on by Zogman

To go dancing!

It had been a wild night. Gale force winds and even stronger gusts. Unabashed, we got ready and drove to Bridge of Weir. Actually, apart from some buffeting on the M80, the drive was fairly incident free.

First dance today was Tina Tango which we both kinda knew. Kinda being the important word, but we blundered our way through, as did most of the class. Next was the new Rumba which now has the name Rumba Romantica. Some bits we’d been practising, some not. To be honest, we’d been practising the complicated stuff like the Alternative Sliding Doors (don’t ask) and the Circular Hip Twist which is as complicated as it sounds for the lady, but for the man is simply walking backwards. As always, these parts were adequately covered by the teachers, it was the links between them that caused most of the problems and also the fact that Jane had re-choreographed the Circular Hip Twist to make it ‘easier’, but it was almost impossible to practise on a carpet at home. We got through it all and learned more techniques than we’ll ever need to use.

We though that was us finished with the new stuff, but there was more in store. ‘Baby Waltz’ came next. It was a completely new waltz that I’ve filmed, watched and still have no clue about. Why, I ask myself, do I put myself through this every Saturday morning when I could be lying in bed reading a book? The answer is: Because it forces your brain to do something other that photography. Also because you learn stuff like how to maintain a ‘frame’ without twisting your neck or having your shoulders ache for the rest of the day. Thankfully a Midnight Jive or two brought today’s session to a close.
I can’t say I enjoy these dance classes, but I do learn things and some of it actually ‘sticks’.

We drove home along the M74 rather than crawl along the M8, although both these routes seemed to be eased by the majority of the Glasgow bound motorists choosing to go through the Clyde Tunnel, rather than go the normal route. Something to do with Batgirl which is turning Glasgow into a 1960’s Gotham City. We’ll never know. We took the road less travelled and went home via the M74/M73.

I took a walk over to the shops by way of St Mo’s looking for some decent light and finding it for once. PoD was a picture of a couple of yellow flowers on a Whin bush, or Gorse bush if you prefer, against a background of out of focus trees. Very arty and really quite good, I thought.

Watched a weird documentary about Andy Worhol who was actually born Worhola. Who knew? Hard do follow, but filled in a few explanations for bits I never knew. Watched through the lens of a glass of wine (or two), a bottle of beer and a glass of whisky, it made perfect sense. But then, most things do.

More wind and probably rain predicted for tomorrow. An anniversary of sorts, the important one, but not the official one. Celebrations necessary, none the less.