Busy, Busy

   I had a really good sleep last night after a couple of nights when I either had trouble dropping off, or woke up ridiculously early. Yesterday I woke at 5:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. As a result I was nodding off in front of the TV by 9:00 p.m. So I headed up to bed and slept until 4:30 a.m., got up for a couple of minutes then went right back to sleep until 7:00 a.m. for a total of 10 hours!

   Just as well as I had a really busy day today, leaving for my first fitness class just before 9:00 a.m., then another half hour workout at 11:15 followed by my stint in the kitchen at the senior's centre. After I finished there I stopped off at my book club to mostly just listen to the others' comments even though I had read the book. It was "Punishment" by Lindon McIntyre. A good discussion.

   This evening I had one more demo and it went well although, again, I had trouble finding the location and then finding somewhere to park! I am really thinking about bowing out of the demo team - there're a few younger dancers joining so I won't feel I am letting the team down by leaving. We need 8-10 dancers for each demo.

    Now my feet are aching - I think I'll need to soak in the tub before I go to bed.

Disaster!

   I am such a doofus! I completely misunderstood the instructions from Muriel about cooking the haggis and it went spectacularly wrong. Suffice to say, it was like a rock instead of moist and juicy but people ate it any way so it can`t have been so bad. In the process of digging it out of its skin ( a tough job) the ladle snapped and the plate skidded onto the floor and broke. Luckily the haggis landed skin side down so I was able to retrieve it and refill the bowl. I am reheating the remains - the proper way - for my dinner tonight and hope it will taste better.

   Another doofus thing today - I was due at a demo this afternoon and left in lots of time but got completely lost. I saw a part of downtown that I had never been to before. I managed to arrive on time (barely, thank goodness I left early) but was quite shaken up with the stress of negotiating my way there. Luckily I didn`t have to do too many dances so pulled it off. Only two more demos this week and then I am done!

   Leftover haggis, mashed potatoes and cabbage for dinner and then a quiet time in front of the TV

Another Haggis Meal

    More haggis tonight - it's my Scottish dance group's Rabbie Burns night. After dancing for an hour,  the haggis will be piped in and addressed. Then it is eviscerated with a dagger and we all dive in for a taste. All very exciting!

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin' race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place.

Painch, tripe or thairm:

Weel are ye worthy of a grace

as lang's my airm.

    Another mild day - up to 4C and we had sun this afternoon. It was almost Spring like! I had to stop off at the library (a lost book to pay for) on the way to Bridge this afternoon, otherwise I would have walked there. Maybe next week.

    I have mashed potatoes to make to go along with the haggis and 'neeps (turnip) so better get going. 

First Haggis Meal

    We had a lovely meal at St. Paul's Church this morning before doing our demo. It was heavy on the Ceilidh dances which made it easy on us. Lots of youngsters in the audience and they were all keen to dance which is quite different from our usual audience in the retirement homes!

    On the way to the demo I picked up the haggis for Monday night - it was $50! I hope everyone enjoys it at that price. It is rather bigger than we usually get but we have some pretty enthusiastic haggis eaters in our group. We usually have about twenty attending Burn's night.

   Today's lunch was pretty substantial so I haven't eaten much for dinner tonight. In fact I heated up a bowl of soup but couldn't finish it, a first for me. Maybe some fruit or a cup of tea later.