19th November - Modern Jive Class at Prestwich

Looking back I notice I haven't blogged about my dance class for a while so I thought I'd better put that right.
The moves we did in the beginner's class tonight were Basket,Basic, Shoulder slide and comb which I thought was quite a good combination. In the interval between the classes I danced with John (who I know from tango class) and I had a rare opportunity to dance with Eddy. I noticed he has a new favourite move - the coat off catapult - which is one I quite like too. The intermediate moves were quite tricky tonight - I managed to master the salsa basket, but struggled a little with the others. I decided to join in with the advanced move tonight as Matt said it didn't involve any dips or drops. I managed to find a partner - an older guy called Joe who is a good dancer. The move we learnt was a triple step Manhattan - I'd describe it as a quick waltz with a bit of bounce! We eventually managed to master it so I felt quite pleased with myself.
On the way out tonight I saw a poster which said that Vincent and Flavia (the Argentine Tango dancers from Strictly Come Dancing) are performing at Prestwich in January. I'm determined to go as they are two of my favourites. I shall try and see if the rest of our tango class are interested when I see them later this week.

17th November - Moveable Feast

I was the first to arrive at Jonathan's tonight. Rebecca and Audrey were next to arrive, closely followed by Andrea. Andrew just about made it in time for the meal. Jonathan had made shepherd's pie with courgettes and parsnips - it was really good. We talked about last week's dinner dance and Andrea told us that plans for the Spring ball are going well. We won't be having the same band as last time but the new band have been highly recommended. When we had finished eating, we said goodbye to Andrew, Andrea and Jonathan and I followed Rebecca and Audrey to Chris C's place.
The directions I had were quite good and I only got slightly lost. Rebecca and Audrey arrived shortly after me - they said they got a bit lost too! We went up to Chris's flat to find Julie, Chris and Simon waiting for us. Chris had made two desserts for us - chocolate sponge and custard or melon slices. We all opted for the chocolate sponge which we enjoyed. When we had finished, we set off for Anya's house.
Chris offered to come with me as I wasn't very sure of the way. He was very helpful with his directions. The journey ended up being longer than I expected so by the time we reached Anya's we were forced to park a few streets away as there was no room left in her street. We arrived to find the kitchen and living room full of people. Fortunately there were still a few mugs left for drinks. I made myself a mug of Earl grey and talked to the others about the meals they had eaten. It sounded like everyone had enjoyed a good meal. It was good to meet a few new people too. Kay and Anya brought in the birthday cakes they had made for Andrea - there was a plain sponge and a chocolate cake. I decided to take my slice of chocolate cake home with me as it was getting late. When I left I was pleased to see that it had stopped raining. I had a reasonably good journey home as the roads were fairly quiet. I was quite pleased with myself tonight as I managed to do a fairly long journey without many problems.

11th November - Walk and lunch in Bradford

When I went down to breakfast this morning I talked to the others and found out that some of them were planning to go to the service at the Abundant Life Church. This didn't appeal to me, so I was pleased when Keith suggested going for a walk instead.We asked the receptionist if she could recommend any local walks and found out that there was a park nearby called Harold Park. I walked down to the park with Keith, Sandra, Christine, Brian and Phil. It turned out to be quite a big park with two lakes. We saw moorhens, ducks and Canada geese. We stopped at the war memorial to take a couple of group photos and then started to walk back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at a coffee shop. We decided to take our drinks outside as it was quite a sunny morning. When we eventually returned to the hotel, Christine said goodbye to the rest of us and set off on her way back to Newcastle. The rest of us then set off for the city centre. It was a good job we had plenty of time before lunch as we got lost in the one-way system and ended up having to ask a taxi driver for directions. We were very pleased when we finally found the Victoria Hotel. We had lunch in our usual dining room. For starters, we had spinach soup which tasted better than it looked (!) The main course was chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables and Yorkshire pudding. I have now realised that in Yorkshire they serve pudding with all meat dishes even though it doesn't really go(!) Over lunch the group who went to church told us about the service. They said it was showy and very few people made the effort to talk to them. I got the impression I didn't miss anything by not going. After the lunch we said our goodbyes and I travelled back to the hotel with Chris C, Andrew and Simon. Thanks to Chris's Sat Nav we had no problems with the one-way system and arrived quite a while before the others. When they eventually returned Kay gave Brian and I a lift back to Manchester. I think the journey was even quicker than yesterday's. In all it has been an enjoyable weekend, but I really needed to catch up on sleep tonight.

10th November - Northern Lights Dinner and Disco

We had quite a good journey to Bradford today - it only took 40 mins. Perhaps it's a good job I didn't drive as I'm sure it would have taken much longer by using the A roads. Our room this year was better than last year, but the view wasn't good - we overlooked a brick wall! I went down to the dining room early to see if any help was needed and ended up working on the reception getting people's details as they came in. It was good to see so many familiar faces. Eventually we were told that dinner was ready so we took our places at the tables. I sat with Kay and Brian. The other people on our table turned out to be quite friendly - some of them had travelled quite a long way to get to the party. The meal was very good - I had melon for starters, chicken with apricot stuffing for main course and chocolate gateau for dessert. The meal was followed by speeches. Keith thanked Paul and Paula for all the hard work they had put into running Northern Lights for the past 7 years. They were surprised and pleased to see their pastors who had come specially to present them with their leaving gifts.
After the speeches, we moved into the bar whilst the tables were moved ready for the disco. Chris and I had a go at doing some tango whlist the dance floor was empty - I think we did quite well. I then went out to the bar to encourage some more people to join us in the disco. The DJ put on some fast rock and roll music and I had a dance with Pete. I didn't realise until tonight what a good dancer he is - he certainly managed to keep up with the pace of the music. Later on in the evening I danced ceroc with Chris and Tim. The disco finished with a conga around the dance floor. We were still wide awake when the disco ended so we sat in the bar for a while chatting. We eventually went up to our rooms at about 2am. It was a great night - we certainly felt that all the effort we had put into organising the evening was worthwhile.

8th November - Thumbs down for takeaways

Tonight I decided to have a chicken dhansak from the local Indian takeaway. Looking back I wish I hadn't. On the way out of the shop I slipped on some wet leaves and fell. When I stood up I noticed I had cut my thumb - it was quite painful. I didn't realise how bad the cut was until I got back to my flat and saw it was still bleeding. My hand was covered in blood and there were bloodstains on my coat too. I washed my hand and wrapped my thumb in a flannel and eventually it stopped bleeding.
The wound is still painful, so I doubt that I'll be able to drive at weekend. I just hope that it doesn't give me too many problems when I'm dancing.
Next time I am tempted to go to the takeaway I will resist. The dhansak was good, but not worth the pain.

3rd November - Bonfire at Brabyns Park

I had great fun getting to Rick's flat tonight. We managed to get to Marple by following the directions we had been given. However, the street lighting wasn't very good in the village so we ended up pulling into the car park near Brabyn's park and asking for directions. Fortunately I managed to find a Girl Guide leader who knew the area well and was very helpful. We eventually reached the road where Rick lives and noticed Karen in the car behind us. I watched whilst she parked up. She had brought her two daughters with her - it was good to see them again. We walked to Rick's flat together - it is quite a posh place. We knew we were at his flat when we saw all the shoes outside the door (everyone wanted to make sure they kept the carpets clean!). We went inside and found that there were quite a few people already there. We decided to leave for the park at about 7pm to make sure we got to the best viewing point before the fireworks started. We made our way to the top of the hill where Brian and I bought burgers from one of the vans. I didn't reckon I could last out until we returned to the flat! The bonfire was blazing brightly and the fireworks were very impressive. I managed to get a couple of good photos with my camera phone. When the fireworks were over, we made our way back to the flat for coffee. I decided to join the others in ordering food from the local Chinese takeaway as I can never resist the opportunity to have Chinese food. I shared a portion of chicken , cashew nuts and vegetables with Brian - the portions were very generous and the food was very tasty. I chatted to Tim, Chris, Mike and Simon about next week's dinner dance. We're all looking forward to it.
When it got to 10 pm I decided to leave as I felt it would not be easy to find our way home. I turned out to be right. Because of the poor street lighting we missed our turning off the A626. I just about managed to avoid going onto the motorway. Fortunately, Brian had a rough idea of where we were and we eventually managed to find our way back onto the A6. I eventually got home just after 11pm. On reflection, it was quite an enjoyable night despite all the hassle we had finding our way in the dark.