Category: Sketching

Summer is gone – 29 October 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It’s been replaced with rain, I think.

It was raining when we woke today. It’s still raining now at 11pm. I believe there have been dry periods during the day, but they didn’t last long.

I spent most of the morning writing to my brother, commenting on his photos which are always worth looking at and adding some of mine which are sometimes worth a nod in the right direction.

After that we watched the qualifying round of the Mexican GP and for the second, or maybe the third race in a row, despaired about the new ’Track Limits’ rules which just seem to be a way of giving the stewards some air time. Why not remove them entirely, the Limits and the Stewards and just let the drivers race. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Or is it more about money changing hands? Hmm answers on a postcard please.

Later in the morning I volunteered to make “What’s in the Fridge” soup. It was based on carrots, onions, half a sweet pepper, lentils and three kale leaves, plus a litre of water and two stock cubes. Actually it turned out quite well, once it had been left to simmer away for an hour or so.

We hadn’t crossed the threshold until well after lunch, but I thought the rain was lessening and Scamp confirmed that it wasn’t raining, that was around 3.pm. I booted up and put on the Bergy jacket and walked over to St Mo’s. The two trees at the far end of the car park looked interesting and bright with the dull green of the pines behind them. I took four shots then the rain came down in torrents (and everywhere else too) and I decided I’d be absolutely soaked if I walked round the pons, so instead I headed home. In total I had 7 shots. The two trees made PoD after I’d injected a gloomy looking sky into the mix. A low down shot of the watercourse that used to be a path was the other photo to join the trees on Flickr.

Dinner tonight was soup and a slice of doughy bread from Tesco. Probably the worst loaf Warburton’s has made. The soup made it worthwhile though. With a yoghurt and the promise of a Crunchy ice lolly later that was Sunday dinner. It was that sort of day.

We watched a dull Strictly and weren’t surprised by the couple who left. Like Scamp said, she was the only non-dancer in the whole group. What she meant was that all the rest were either dancers or actors who’d been to dance school. No room for amateurs on Strictly.

Spoke to Jamie and heard that the roof is still holding and there is no further ingress of water in the bedrooms. Scaffolding should be finished soon and all is well. Apart from poor Vixen having an upset stomach after her visit week in the kennels.

PoD was sorted and the prompt for today was “Massive”. Every time I said that word I thought of Massif Central which is a highland area in France. Why it stuck in my memory I do not know other than it originates from Mr Anderson’s O Grade Geography class in Larky Academy back in the dim mists of time. My answer to ‘Massive’ was a gigantic fly being attacked by ‘neohumans’. Just a bit of fun.

Hoping for some dry weather tomorrow to get out somewhere nice for a walk, perhaps?

Dancin’ – 28 October 2023

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Actually a very interesting and useful dance class for a change!

It was a pleasant drive to Brookfield today. Light traffic on the motorway and a blue sky with fluffy white clouds overhead. A marked difference to the dark grey clouds hanging over the Campsie Fells when we left the house.

There is a children’s dance class in the hall before us now. Normally they aren’t a problem, but lately they have been taking longer and longer to pack up which eats into our class time. They were even later this morning and we only had a one hour time slot due to The Committee needing to set up the hall for their Halloween party tonight. I don’t think our teachers were very pleased and we got the impression that words would be said to the organising Committee.

The teachers made good use of the limited time we had for the class but the Sally Ann Cha-Cha that was the warm-up was a shambles. Nobody seemed to know where they were going and no two couples were in time with each other. Thankfully, things got better after that. We started with the Tango which got tangled with Kirsty’s tango in our heads and it took a few tracks before we were entirely happy with it. But we did manage to master the Prom Turn to Rock Turn with a bit of help from Jane. It had baffled us a fortnight ago.

Next up was Joy’s Waltz which we sort of know, but are not fully cognisant with. We sorted out a few problem steps in it too with help from Stewart.

Last dance of the morning was the Quickstep and Scamp devised a neat shortened version of the routine that would allow us to dance it without stopping. Clever teacher, Scamp! And with that our hour was up and the class was over.

We drove home through equally light traffic. I don’t know what happened today to give us a record time of just over 30mins for the run home.

We both had a fairly lazy hour after lunch, reading and basking in the sunshine while I chased an errant bluebottle round the house but didn’t catch and release it until much later in the afternoon. I think it found its way in while Scamp was in the garden, potting up a Yew tree she’d asked Jamie to bring up. She was also increasing her numbers of pelargoniums and geraniums by taking cuttings of both.

Dinner was to be Fish Risotto and we didn’t have any smoked fish in the freezer, so I booted up and went for a walk over St Mo’s, then down the path behind the school that would take me to the shops. That’s where I found todays PoD. It’s a bit weird looking, which is ok for Halloween, I suppose, but it’s actually the seed pods of a clump of Flag Irises that grow in a boggy area beside the path I liked the colours and the shapes of the seed pods and the seeds themselves. I may go back tomorrow and collect some seeds to sow. Don’t know if they will grow or not. We’ll find out some day, hopefully.

Prompt for today was “Sparkle”. I don’t have a very sparkling personality, but I did think up today’s sketch which was a pink ice cream sundae with sparklers sticking out of it. A splash of paint and a cherry on the top made it look quite festive, I thought!

The dinner worked very well and the bluebottle was released into a cold Saturday evening.

Tomorrow we’ve to have heavy rain all day, but an hour extra in our bed. Don’t know if I will take that walk over to St Mo’s to collect some seed. We’ll see.

 

Out to Lunch – 27 October 2023

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It was a dull day and it really needed a decent pub lunch to brighten it up.

The house still feels a bit empty after the mountaineers have gone back down south to the flat lands. I hope they are pining for the heathery hills now.

Scamp was out at FitSteps in the morning and I was trying to get my new white mouse to do what I want it to do, but that requires an app to be installed first. Heavens it’s just a three button bluetooth mouse, not a washing machine. Why do they, the invisible ‘THEY’ need to make things so complicated. I eventually gave up and decided I’d just have to get used to it.

When Scamp returned, we couldn’t be bothered going far, so instead we went to Broadwood Farm. By that time I was hungry, so a Large Carvery portion would hit the spot. Scamp, on the other hand wanted a Fried Chicken Burger. What came for her wasn’t what she wanted. I’m not to blame. She called the girl back and told her what she had expected to find between the two halves of the bun. The girl apologised and brought something that looked almost the same, minus a gallon of spicy sauce. Happy customer, if slightly embarrassed for giving the chef more work she didn’t need. It’s not my fault this time. I asked for exactly what she said and my Large Carvery was lovely. I think the Broadwood is feeling the pinch now from McD’s next door. Fewer staff on the floor and fewer punters sitting at tables.

On the way home I went for a walk round St Mo’s and brought home a photo of two dandelions.That made PoD.

Prompt for today was “Beast”. The beast in question is a Weevil. Scamp spotted one at the top of the stairs the other day and came running with the message “There’s a beast at the top of the stairs.” I guessed it was an earwig or something similar and I was right it was a weevil. I scooped it up on a bit of paper and deposited it in the garden, apologising to it that I was sorry it was raining. It didn’t seem to mind and walked away. Any creature, large or small is a “Beast” in this house and I am called to fight it. Thankfully most of them are insects and I can handle them. Don’t know how I’d fare with a charging hippo, though!

I finally got confirmation today, after phoning Nissan, that we are now owners of our car, not leasers. It only took them a month to finally email us a document confirming our ownership.

Tomorrow we are hoping to get to Brookfield for a short, hour long dance class. Hopefully something interesting and short.

Time to go home – 26 October 2023

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It always come to this day.

Up at 6:15 to say ‘Cheerio’ to Jamie and Simonne and help them cram their rucksacks, bags, jackets and still sodden wellies into the car. Jamie just as efficient as ever had intended the drive south to start at 7:00 and it was 7:10 when they left. We sat for a while, then went back to bed for an hour or so to snooze before I made breakfast and we made plans for the day.

I’d already decided we were going out somewhere, anywhere, well not really ‘just anywhere’, but somewhere interesting or somewhere for lunch. We had to keep ourselves occupied, otherwise the house was going to feel empty. In the end, I chose the destination and I was sure Scamp would be happy with it.

We drove over to Cafe Bothy which has rebranded itself as Coffee Bothy unfortunately. I much preferred the original! Cafe or Coffee, the name is irrelevant, it was the food we were going for. It’s a busy place where you can never get a table right away, but the buzzer in Scamp’s hand buzzed after a much shorter time than normal and we had a corner table. Usually Scamp has Mac ’n’ Cheese and I have Sri Lankan Lamb Curry, but today I was making the big bold change to Mince ’n’ Tatties with Peas and Carrots but Scamp stayed resolute with her macaroni. As with all big changes, I wasn’t sure how it would work out, but the mince was just like my mum made and like Scamp showed me how to make and which I now make myself. In a word, delicious. Steamed carrots with a bit of bite to them and peas, well, just peas really, but fine for an addition of colour to the mince. This is also one of the few places you can get a two cup cafetière of coffee – decent coffee, Columbian or Java. Always Java for me.

After we paid and avoided the cream filled doughnuts, we went for a walk round the overpriced deli shop that is always an addition to cafe’s now and Scamp bought some fresh farm eggs. The farm is next door to the cafe, so the eggs are probably fresh. It was getting a bit dull and we felt that at 3pm it was beginning to get dark, but thankfully there was just enough light to grab some photos. PoD came from there and it was a shot of the Wallace Monument after a pylon and power cables were removed in ON1 and Lightroom. The colours in the trees really encouraged me to take the shot.

I bought myself a new computer mouse in Currys. It’s a Logitech silent mouse, not a squeak from it! My old Logitech Bluetooth mouse really need a new pair of microswitches, but they are difficult to lay your hands on these days. Anyway, it was probably as cheap to just buy a new one. It’s white, but that will never last, so I’m told!

Back home, the house did feel a bit empty, but after we’d turned the bed back into a sofa again the back bedroom looked like my room again. It’s just waiting now to get some stuff spread around it and it will feel like home from home!

We got a message from Jamie and Simonne saying they had a fairly uneventful drive south and they even sent us a photo of the house as it is now with its scaffolding in place. It even had a blue sky above it. The automatic headlights switched on in our car as we were driving home. By 4pm it was already evening!

The prompt today asked for ‘Remove’. My answer is a removal van owned and driven by The Man With A Van. Available for house clearances and disposal of unwanted goods in addition to removals, sometimes known as a Midnight Flit!

Cash only! No questions asked.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to her FitSteps class, leaving me with the possible opportunity to start messing up the back room!

 

 

 

Climbing Higher – 26 October 2023

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Today the climbers were off to Ben Lomond hoping to bag a Munro.

While the mountaineers were driving to Rowandennan to start the climb, we were happy to have and extra hour or two’s snooze.

The first thing we chose to do was have a quick practise of the Tango which I thought I had down pat. That’s all I’ll say at this time.

Afterwards we dragged ourselves out into the real world, and drove over to Tesco for the inevitable shopping. We did add a couple of extra things just for the visitors and just for fun.

In the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s hoping the sun might shine through the clouds. It did, but only on the distant Campsie Fells, but not on Cumbersheugh. A mist had come down just after midday, but then a breeze made it disappear, leaving water droplets on some of the weeds. One weed in particular had a spiderweb with wee beads of water. That became PoD on a dull Scottish day.

The climbers returned after their trip to the peak of Ben Lomond. Munro bagged! Simonne had some beautiful photos taken from just below the peak but the photos from the actual Trig point were covered by mist and rain. It’s Scotland. It’s like that. They just had time for a quick shower before heading off to dinner with Andrew, Cat and the kids.

Dinner was Monday served on Wednesday, ie Pasta. Actually Penne pasta and a very nice sauce with three types of tomatoes: baby tomatoes, blitzed plum tomatoes and passata. Don’t know what I did right but we both enjoyed it and I doubt if I’ll be able to make it like that again.

While they were off eating again, we drove to midweek dance class with Kirsty and a chance for me to prove that I didn’t have it down pat after all. Despite all Scamp’s encouragement, I just couldn’t confidently get it right every time. Finally I asked the teacher to lead me through it and it worked. That doesn’t mean she is better than Scamp, just she explained it differently and probably hauled me round with more confidence. After that we got the entire Tango to work almost every time.

Today’s prompt was “Dangerous”. I could have drawn almost anything to fulfil today’s prompt of ‘Dangerous’. In the end I settled for a lion. A pretty dangerous beast by all accounts.
With that said, according to the BBC, it is only the 10th most dangerous creature in the world. The Mosquito is the biggest killer with Humans in second place. Makes you think!

We drove home through driving rain again and when Jamie and Simonne returned we sat and talked for an hour with a wee drink to mark what was really the end of a great week. Unfortunately Jamie was driving tomorrow, so he had to abstain from the drinking.

Tomorrow will probably be another early rise, but a sad one.

Off to the capital – 24 October 2023

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Today we were going all posh!

We were all booked for lunch at The Kitchin in Edinburgh today and as we would be having a glass or two, we weren’t driving. None of us were.

We took a taxi from the house to the railway station and caught the train to Edinburgh (posh day, posh name for Embra!). Got off at Haymarket and walked up to our usual Nero. Suitably refreshed we walked up the Grassmarket because Simonne hadn’t been there before. Then on to the West Bow with its crowds of tourists and quirky shops and houses. Marvelling at the queues of Harry Potter fans waiting to get in to the HP shop. From there we walked down the newly reopened Playfair Steps to Princes Street.

Round the corner from Princes Street we found the tram stop that would take us to Leith. This was the first time any of us had been on the trams in Edinburgh. It’s a very comfortable, if slow way to get around the city and we enjoyed the ride. Scamp had done all the research and told us we’d be getting off at The Shore. From there it was only a short walk to The Kitchin. I could list all our choices from the menu, but instead I’ll just post a menu and let you guess! Not long after we were enjoying our ‘amuse bouche’ someone asked us if we were enjoying our meal. I thought it was one of the many waiters and turned to reply and there was Tom Kitchin himself!! I think Scamp was dumbstruck. This was the first time I’ve seen him mingling with the guests in the restaurant. In fact this is the first time I’ve seen him in the restaurant.

The food was just as lovely as you’d expect it to be in a Michelin star restaurant and with the ‘paired wines’ we were taken on a journey through the vineyards of the world by the sommelier. The same one we’d had the last time we had been there. Eventually we’d eaten our fill and sampled the wines and it was time to go.

The weather had been dull when we arrived, but when we headed for the tram stop the sun was shining and it being late afternoon by then, that lovely golden light appeared. That’s when I got today’s PoD which is The Water of Leith and the floating hotel, Ocean Mist.

We took the tram back to St Andrews Square and walked over to the station and the train back to Croy, then a taxi with a wisecracking driver took us home.

While Scamp, Simonne and Jamie watched Masterchef I sat and drew my reading of today’s prompt – ‘Shallow’. The story that goes with it is: “Those who are interested in scuba driving are generally recommended to spend some time paddling in shallow water. At least, that what I was told by a friend one day. A friend who doesn’t even swim! I think he may be joking with me.” Total fantasy, but it filled the comments box!

    

Tomorrow I think we will take it easy after todays excesses. Jamie and Simonne, however, are hoping to be out climbing again.

Right on time – 21 October 2023

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We got a message from Jamie this morning just after 9am to say they were just leaving the hotel and they should be with us before 12noon.

Right on time the white Volvo appeared outside at 11.50. That’s Jamie. Always on time. After we’d decanted all the bags, rucksacks, jackets and boots, Scamp took the wee Yew tree they’d brought out into the back garden. Then we heard the stories about the floods they’d encountered on the way up and I was even more pleased that they’d decided to break their journey north.

After lunch which was a bowl of tomato soup, we drove to Colzium and walked the same route Scamp and I had walked last week. The burn was even higher today, of course because of the week’s rain we’d had and the big red acer at the top of the avenue in front of the big house was even brighter red, if that was possible. A photo of it made PoD.

Back home, Jamie and Simonne were getting ready to go into Glasgow to meet Chris and Yvonne for dinner, but found out that Uber don’t seem to like Cumbersheugh. Or more likely, the taxi drivers in Cumbersheugh discourage Uber drivers from picking up in the town. So it was the local taxi that took them into Glasgow!

Dinner for us was delivered from Bombay Dreams later in the evening after an irate phone call from the driver asking me to open the house door and turn the light on so he could see where the house was. I did as he asked and then he appeared very apologetic saying he’d been in the wrong street! Easily done in Cumbersheugh because when it was build it was numbered by writing all the numbers down on pieces of paper and sticking them at random on house doors. At least that’s how it seems. Who would be a delivery driver in Cumbersheugh?!

We watched Strictly on catch-up. Well, Scamp watched Strictly and I glanced up occasionally from my Inktober sketch. I don’t think I missed much.

The sketch prompt today was “Chains”. I tried steel chains and paper chains and neither of them interested me much. I eventually chose a key chain. The prompt asked for “Chains”, plural, but being a poor pensioner, I could only afford one on my key, and an imaginary one at that! That was my excuse.

Tomorrow we might all go out for a walk somewhere, or maybe we’ll point the hillwalkers at a local hill and let them get on with it!

 

Still Wet, Still Windy – 20 October 2023

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I could write, “For details of the day see yesterday”, but I won’t.

It started like yesterday, with wind and rain, but things needed to be done. Scamp was off to FitSteps until the phone rang and it was Kirsty hoping she’d catch Scamp, which she just managed to do. The message was that today’s class was cancelled because too many folk had called off. I must say it sounded like the most sensible answer, but I think Scamp was disappointed. Can’t blame her.

So where to start? First thing and easiest to set up was the tomato soup. Just a case of tipping the roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic and peppers into a pot adding a tin of tomatoes a cup of water and a litre of stock. Bring it to the boil and simmer for 30mins. Next was to thaw out the stew and dust it with flour, salt and pepper and leave it to dry out a bit and once the soup had had its 30mins, we drove to M&S for fripperies like fruit and bread, then Tesco for breakfast stuff and essentials like tonic and ice lollies. Got to get your priorities right.

Back home it was time to fry off the stew in the big wok and, once it was nicely browned, pitch it into the Instant Pot with carrots and onions and some stock, set it to slow cook for about 4 hours. Sit back and enjoy a Ginsters lunch. I know they’re not good for me and that they give me heartburn, but they do taste great. Scamp had a fried egg sandwich. Much healthier I’m sure. Simonne phoned to say they were on their way, so we were all running to schedule.

I kept thinking (hoping) it was getting lighter outside and that the rain was getting lighter, the way you do when you know you’re just lying to yourself. I eventually decided that an inside photo was the way to go today and took today’s PoD which is a bunch of carnations sitting at the kitchen window with the rain splattering on the glass.

The bed for the visitors was still to be made, so we got that done and the remaining obstacles were removed to the front room, leaving the room quite neat and tidy.

Next task was to blitz the soup and decant it to another pot. It was looking good, then Simonne phoned to say they were almost at Scotch Corner and were going to break the journey because the traffic was really bad and there had been a number of accidents. I think we both felt relieved to hear that. It’s a long journey in normal weather, but much more challenging with so many weather warnings across the whole country. We got a message later to say they’d arrive at Kendal and were going for dinner and a pint! Well deserved I’d say.

So we had some of the soup for starter with some Giovani Rana pasta to follow. Not the best we’d had from that range, but still better than Tesco.

Today’s prompt was ‘Frost’. I could not decide what to draw for Frost. Then, lateral thinking again, I found a picture of Robert Frost and tried another fifteen minute sketch. It worked.

We’re now expecting the visitors tomorrow, just as I predicted in Thursday’s blog! Some of us had these skills and some haven’t! Oh yes, and I did have heartburn thanks to the Ginsters, and I’ve taken my Gaviscon!

Windy & Wet – 19 October 2023

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Windy and Wet sort of sums up the day.

Today we woke to rain on the back window and a blustery, gusty wind at the front. It wasn’t going to be a nice day, that was for sure.

I think we lay too long this morning because everything seemed to happen in a rush after that and before we knew it, it was time to get dressed to go out to the tea dance at Glenburn. I wasn’t looking forward to the drive over the Kingston Bridge and then onto the M77 before navigating the labyrinth of streets that take us around the north of Paisley to the community centre where the dance is held. I needn’t have worried, because the roads were fairly clear for once, a combination of warnings on the TV and radio about high winds and torrential rain, and the fact that the schools were on October holiday. So we arrived in plenty of time to a nearly empty dance hall.

People did trickle in during the first quarter of an hour, but the floor did look a bit empty, compared to what it usually looks like. We danced Waltz Nioli to two waltz tracks and made a reasonable fist of it. Then a sequence dance, any one, they’re all mostly the same. Next up was a Cha-Cha which we finished, but that’s about all we could say about it. We tried to do the Tango we’d learned last night at Kirsty’s class, but I’d forgotten the steps right at the end. I don’t know if that would have improved it at all, but later, when we got home we did have a look at the video of the steps Kirsty had demonstrated and we’d danced through a couple of times. Suddenly it all fell into place. More practise needed for next Wednesday. It would have been rather a dull tea dance if it wasn’t for David and Carol injecting a bit of humour into the proceedings. I enjoy their company and sense of humour.

Drove back home by the usual M77, M73, M80 after we’d navigated the labyrinth again. Even the motorways were a lot less congested than usual.

Back home I decided I needed a walk in the park to clear my head and to get a couple of photos. Actually I got seven, but very few of them were worthwhile, which strengthens my argument for taking a break from “one photo a day” for a while. PoD went to a low viewpoint photo of some of the leaves that had been shaken from the trees by a combination of wind and rain.

Today’s sketch was finished just after midnight last night. A ten minute sketch that took about fifteen minutes if the truth be told. The prompt was ‘Plump’. This one was a bit of a struggle. I couldn’t think of anything that would fit the prompt, but then I remembered Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Alice in Wonderland and the brilliant Matt Lucas characters. Fifteen minute sketch and done!

Lots of things to do tomorrow, mainly preparing for the visitors to arrive. Hope the weather is kind to them.

Windy – 18 October 2023

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It was a breezy old day today.

We have been bombarded with warnings of extreme weather from Storm Babet from now until the weekend. We seem to be on the edge of it with a yellow warning in place for heavy rain in the next few days. The wind did get up later in the day, but earlier it seemed quite normal.

We spoke to Hazy in the morning and heard about Neil’s chest infection which has kept him off work today and given Hazy the opportunity to get her nurse’s uniform on. We discussed the progress of Nelly the split rock’s new split that seems to be progressing really well.

After we said “Cheerio”, Scamp and I drove to Tesco and bought a few odds and ends to feed our visitors who are hoping to arrive on Saturday after a long drive..

After lunch, we turned the sofa in the back room into a bed, stripped it and put on fresh sheets. We also completed the transformation of the back bedroom from a dumping ground into something that people would want to sleep in. Still some hoovering (Dysoning) and a bit of dusting to do, but the transformation is nearly complete. I even washed the window so the chilli plants could look out!

With that done, I felt it was time to go out for a walk in the wild outdoors and took the A7 out for a walk in St Mo’s. While I was out, Scamp started the prep for tonight’s Smoked Fish Curry. It’s a really old recipe from a book bought in Woolworth’s! That will give you and idea just how old it is, and it was originally for Egg Curry, but it works really well with smoked fish too.

There wasn’t much to see in St Mo’s but I did get a little cameo of an aspen leaf pierced by a reed spike and that was PoD sorted. Inktober prompt for today was Saddle. Instead of the obvious horses saddle, I drew my bike saddle. I’d completed a fairly rough pencil sketch last night, but wasn’t sure how to finish it. I tried using black ink from a brush pen, but that just didn’t look right, so I redrew it in pencil and then drew over it with a couple of ink pens. That left it as a line drawing to which I added some texture and shading … badly. Still, it fitted the brief and it’s up on Flickr now.

Dancing tonight was busy, busy, busy with six couples vying for a space on the dance floor to show off their Tango skills. It was a short dance, but with enough interesting moves to make our feet do a bit of thinking. I really like Kirsty’s style. She dances the man’s part, then the woman’s part, then to finish she enlists one of the good lady dancers to be her partner for the couple dance. What was a complicated set of moves, suddenly becomes a lot easier.

I think we may be going out into the wild weather tomorrow to go to a tea dance at Glenburn. Let’s hope we don’t get blown or washed away!