The Robin Hood half Marathon - 12 September 2010

Maybe the casual reader (are there any casual readers?) will think I ran this and am reporting on it. Not so! Today was a day for pride as my daughter ran her first half marathon – and I hope not her last.
She had trained properly with a running club and achieved her target time although the last 2 miles were dreadful, so we were told, but she came through it, looking good at the end.
Yes, I am so proud!

Chris and Pete's House warming - 23 October 2010

It was splendid party – open house from 2-midnight!
I went after the Forest game, stayed until quite late and had a lovely time. Most of the time I talked but did mange to demonstrate a few tango steps! A lot of the chat was about jazz and Pete has a formidable collection of books and records and CDs. This had spurred me on to put what I want of my records onto my ipod.
It was great to see Chris and Pete in a house they can live in forever, happy and contented…..

Marc and diane's Wedding - 30 October 2010

If I say that this day almost matched my own daughter’s wedding day, then you will know it was something special.
The weather was perfect, a mild October day with a blue sky. The wedding took place at West Bridgford Registry Office and to say it was an emotional occasion was an understatement. Marc was in his full formal kilt regalia (which attracted a lot of looks and comments as we were having a drink beforehand – mostly from women!) and Di was quite beautiful in a cream and black dress. I wore a Murray tartan tie.
The Registrar was calm and assured and conducted the ceremony so well. As witnesses Jane and I sat at the front table along with the bride and groom. Marc choked a little on the promise he had chosen to make to Di and Di had to dab her eyes several times to get through her promise. But if you can’t be emotional at a wedding when can you be? I produced the rings on cue and Jane and I duly signed the register.
Off to the Key in Keyworth for the reception – an excellent venue and a lovely buffet laid out – Joan having a big input to this.
I made my speech, which went down OK, and I got several comments afterwards of a pleasing nature. I asked for and got a round of applause for the lovely bride and my description of Marc as marshmallow in a steel box went down well – soft and sweet once in the box!
Then we eat and then we danced. Music to disco to and music to jive to. I enjoyed several tangos as well as many jives.
The evening slowly drew to a close and ended with much laughter and a sense of satisfaction all round.
I drove the married couple home and witnessed Marc carrying Di over the threshold.

Jive Addiction's Jive and tango weekend in Scarborough, 5-7 November

I wonder if Jive Addiction thought they were taking a risk by holding a 50/50 weekender. As it turned out tango and jive had to exchange rooms such was the desire of Jivers to get to grips with tango. It is a long road learning tango and let’s hope most will stick it through.
Lesley journeyed down from Newcastle, and we met up on York station for the last leg to Scarborough. We met up with Janet who had driven from Nottingham. The Ambassador Hotel provides good rooms and excellent meals – I have stayed there before and will again.
The first evening had a couple of hours of tango music to get us in the mood.
Saturday morning, Lesley and I went to meet Tony who wa spending a couple of weeks at home before continuing his voluntary exile to sun drenched Malta to write the novel to make his deserved fortune! As always he was in great form and we enjoyed chatting with him.
Then to dance two 2 hour sessions with Bill Newby and Nicky Parsons. They are excellent teachers and I always gain from their lessons however much I thought I knew what they were teaching.
Another milonga in the evening.
On Sunday, Lesley and I had a private lesson and it has made a lot of difference to how we dance. That evening at the milonga I felt we danced better than ever before. We have moved up a division.
Amir Giles was in charge for 2 dance lessons and the milonga in the evening. He taught some interesting steps but does change (he would say develop) the step as we go through the lesson. He is not as precise as Bill and at this moment in time that precision and timing is what I want.
Altogether another great weekend. Particularly having Lesley as company and we have developed our dancing that I hope we will be accepted in Buenos Aires.
Jive addiction’s market is beginners who would not dare to go to a straight tango weekend. Probably those people who think they are tangueros already, would not come on an event organised by Jivers. They would be missing out as the package that Jive Addiction puts together is very attractive.

South West Coast Path - Part 1 10-15 October

Cheryl spent a holiday on the south Cornish coast with her sister and had the opportunity to walk some of the SWCP. She is hooked!
We organised 4 days of walking form Minehead in Somerset to Ilfracombe in Devon. 40 miles in length, leaving us just 590, to complete the entire path.
We were prepared to operate Plan B and to drive between the B&Bs that we had booked. However we were blessed with wonderful weather, blue skies and just needing one layer most of the time. How lucky was that at this time of year.
Everything exceeded our expectation. The scenery was breathtaking. The B&Bs were excellent and so helpful when we found that we needed some car transport to help us back to our starting point. The buses are very seasonal which is not good for walkers who will generally walk out of the summer season to be able to find accommodation. At one centre we overheard tell of a bus that was going to start running but the officer was not supposed to tell anybody – I wonder how many passengers they got!
We carried what we needed for the 4 days – maybe 8kg when we had water on board. The first day was easy. The second and third days were both of 14 miles and although we completed them without distress, that is as much as we want to walk in a day with a pack on our back.
So, now we are both hooked and aim to complete the SWCP in the next, perhaps 10 years!

Tango in Birmungham, 8,9 October.

Lisa is one of the keenest tangueras in Nottingham. She has set up a series of practicas on Fridays in Clifton Village Hall where we enjoy a relaxed atmosphere and dance to a variety of tango music by candlelight.
Lisa and I booked into workshops and milongas in Birmingham. The teacher, Xavier Rodrigues is a quite wonderful dancer and the workshops were of a high quality. The standard of dancing at the milongas was frighteningly good. I just hope all this sinks in and is making me a better dancer.
Saturday was made an even better by many friends from Nottingham joining us to dance. I hope one day Nottingham can rival Birmingham in the standard of dancing.

Tango in Edinburgh and Barcelona

I met Kay, a fellow lover of tango, in Edinburgh last May. I had danced under Gisela Navoni’s direction in Hereford and picked up information about TangoNeta. Kay wanted a break between MSc and PhD and a trip to Barcelona seemed to fit the bill.

I travelled to Edinburgh on Friday and enjoyed the company of Kay’s friends Irene and Anna as well as some lovely tango dancing. Sunday afternoon in particular was a delightful experience (with cakes!)

We flew to Barcelona late on Monday and settled into our apartment in Barceloneta just 10 minutes walk from where TangoNeta would be held and 10 minutes from the beach. A ground floor apartment with local shops and a big market close by. On Tuesday we had a private lesson from Gisela in her apartment just off Las Ramblas. She is such a good teacher and a vibrant personality, with a wonderful welcoming smile. The rest of Tuesday was sight-seeing but the general strike closed all public buildings on the Wefdnesday and so we were forced to spend the day on the beach – such hardship.

Gisela told us of milongas, for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Thursday to Sunday was TangoNeta, which is held at least once a year. It is a series of workshops with a difference, in that there is no specific teaching of steps. There is a new theme each time it is held and this one used Distance. It is not concerned with where you put your feet but where your head needs to be! Great workshops and lovely informal dancing – new friends made. Altogether a supportive atmosphere and great camaraderie.
One evening as we were returning after the milonga, there was a band still playing in the square and we danced a little – part jive, part tango. A man came across to us and eventually I made out…baillar muy bien…We then became good friends. Gracia, Senor!

Monday was for more sight-seeing before we were back on the flight to Edinburgh, and the next day the train back home.

It was a lovely break, cemented the genuine friendship between Kay and I and she won’t let me put her photo on this blog.