A very unusual Twelfth Night

I went to see Twelfth Night at the Citz tonight with Jackie. It was very bizarre and included Malvolio stripping to gold underpants and doing a raunchy dance! That's not all; the cast threw balls into the audience, sang, played music, and invited the audience on stage to dance the conga! It was a light-hearted and fun take on Twelfth Night which varied between being very apt and enjoyable, and messing about just a bit too much. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, I love going to the theatre. And I love going to the theatre with like-minded friends such as Jackie and Heather. 

Hot stone dinner

It has been a really lovely weekend despite continuing rainy weather. Saturday was so relaxing; a long lie, breakfast in bed, everyone chatting and studying in the back room. In the afternoon we went bowling at Springfield Quay which was good fun. We tried and failed to win a "minion" (the annoying little characters from Despicable Me) from a machine where you tried to grab one, and a wee boy in the next lane "high-fived" us all when anyone got a strike! Jamie shopped for dinner, which was hot stone and fondue, a family favourite. Grandma came round for tea too and I think that she was rather perplexed by the concept of cooking your own meat at the table! It was all very friendly and relaxed. Ally and Cat kindly cleared up afterwards (it is always very messy meal!) then we all watched the first Austin Powers film because Cat has never seen it; we had a good laugh. And today there was more studying going on and then we had browse around and a lovely coffee at the Burrell Collection; it's quite a while since I've been there and it was nice to be back. It was cosy in the café with the raining splashing in the puddles outside, and my fruit scone was delicious.
The weather could have been better, but the best thing about the weekend was all of us being together. 

Friday and Midnight in Paris

It is Friday evening and I am in a tremendous mood. It has been a very busy time but when I left work this evening I felt satisfied with my plate-spinning week! On the way home I picked up a curry for five people because all of my boys are home. We had a pleasant chat while we ate our curry and it was really nice to have everyone round the table exchanging news.
Then we watched a film that Mick lent me called "Midnight in Paris", directed by Woody Allen. The lead, Owen Wilson, spoke and acted just like a young Woody Allen which was a bit strange! It was partly set in the Paris of the 1920s which of course I loved because it featured all my favourite writers and artists of the era. I did think that the main character's fiancée was a bit two-dimensional and clichéd - it made his choice too easy. It was a charming, whimsical film and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

An Island Burns Supper

Last night was great fun. After our showers we had one of the hill-walking club's famous communal meals and given the time of year it was a Burns Supper. A lovely vegetable soup started the meal, followed by traditional haggis, neeps and tatties. Then we had clootie dumpling with a choice of custard or locally purchased Zavaroni's ice cream. Many Scottish drinks were imbibed, especially a variety of whiskies. James and my contribution was the cheese course, which I had chosen from M&S and we served it with biscuits and grapes. The highlight of the evening was Tam O'Shanter, recited by Steven's friend Michael, whom he had specially invited because of his knowledge of Burns' work. When Michael recited the poem we were all absolutely spellbound. I have never heard it so well told; he really brought it to life. I had never realised how horrific the scene in the churchyard is! Huge and well deserved applause ensued.
Then in came "mein host" who runs the hostel. He had already made his presence felt in the kitchen earlier by loudly and drunkenly harassing some young French students and arguing with anyone who would listen about Scottish independence. It was all supposed to be jokey and the French people took it in good part but he was way over the top. He told us that he had written a poem for us and asked if he could recite it. We politely agreed and his "poem"consisted of nothing but swearing. Nothing I haven't heard before but it was really quite out of order and he was lucky that we were such a good-natured crew because we could have taken offence. The evening continued in a convivial manner until we were too tired and full to continue.
Today most people walked the north part of the island, but I had already walked that part during our previous visit so I went for a very pleasant coastal walk with Hilary and Irene north from Kettrick Bay. The weather was much drier than yesterday and the sun even broke through the clouds from time to time! We walked for a good three hours and saw lots of birds including a big heron (spotted by Hilary) which flew off slowly. Despite my doubts about going to Bute in January (I was concerned about weather and accommodation), it has been an excellent weekend. 

Raining in Rothesay

It has been wet for our walk on Bute today. We took the bus to Kilchattan in the south west, then walked to Rothesay on the West Island Way, which was about 12 km. it was raining more or less the whole way and the paths were very muddy. However I was properly attired in waterproofs from head to toe so I was dry and therefore happy. We spent a lot of time saying to each other "This would be lovely if the weather was nice!" because the low clouds and rain obscured the views. It was however very pleasant to get out for a walk and the company was excellent (Hilary, Steven, Susan and Debbie.) James and Steven scouted ahead and found us a cosy clearing in the woods which was almost completely dry, so we were able to sit down for lunch. At last Rothesay appeared in the distance and we skirted round the back of it before descending to the front and the comforts of our hostel. The hostel is much nicer than I had feared; warm and clean with good showers. I wonder why Rothesay appears so run down compared with other Scottish seaside towns like Brodick or Elie? We passed quite a few abandoned buildings on the way into town, it would look much better if they were demolished. Perhaps the rainy weather makes everything look worse, and there are some nice wee pubs and restaurants near the centre - we had a very nice dinner in a bistrot called Harry Ha's last night before joining the others for a drink at The Esplanade. But overall I think the place definitely needs some investment. 

The ferry arrives

As I write this I can see the lights of the Rothesay ferry advancing towards us out of the darkness as we wait in a queue of cars at Wemyss Bay. We are on our way for a walking weekend on Bute, although the weather forecast is dubious.

We have just had a a drink at the Wemyss Bay Station Bar; it is so lovely! It was opened in 1903 and I don't think it can have changed at all  - it is tiny, very old-fashioned and cosy with a roaring log fire. 

Curry Karaoke

The weekend has flown by and has been very pleasant. James did his husbandly duty and brought me breakfast in bed both days, and this morning we had a Big Talk about future plans which I found very reassuring. What have I got done? Well, yesterday it was mainly housework; I gave the back room a deep clean and found it strangely satisfying. Then last night I was at a night out entitled "Curry Karaoke" which was a good laugh. My rendition of "I've got you babe" was truly dreadful. I'm not understating this, it was awful, but I didn't care! After our curry we were all singing and dancing for the rest of the evening. I was sensible though and left at about 11 p.m. because I know that I'm quite tired just now.
James and I went down to Troon for a walk this morning and had a tasty lunch at the Velvet Apple before heading home. It was cold but not too windy. The beach showed marks from the recent storms; huge piles of driftwood and seaweed up on the dunes, and litter bins and grit bins which must have been swept out to sea and then tossed back into the beach. I do like a bit of sea air, and I was further cheered by a warm and fragrant bath when I got home. After tea with Grandma we all watched the last instalment of Sherlock which I thought was very good; it was more "back to business" than the wedding episode which was a bit whimsical, and it had some nice twists and turns.