9th March - Sunday lunch and walk at Haigh Hall

After breakfast this morning, we checked out of the hotel and I drove to Haigh Hall. I was quite pleased that I managed to get there without taking any wrong turnings and surprised at how much I remembered from last night's journey. When we arrived we met Keith in the carpark and walked over to the hall together. There were about twenty people waiting outside ready for the walk. We waited a little longer for the latecoers and then set off for a walk aroun the grounds of the hall. The weather was surprisingly good. On the way I managed to find the opportunity to talk to quite a few people all of whom agreed that the ball had been a great success. We then went for a well-deserved drink in the cafe before returning to the Hall for the carvery lunch.
We discovered that this time ,much to Brian's dismay we weren't first to be served. Whilst I was waiting I took the opportunity to get to know the two 'strangers' on our table, Judy and Dawn who were from Huntingdon and Cheltenham. This was their first 25+ event and they were both pleased they had made the effort to travel up north. The meal turned out to be well worth the wait. There was chicken, turkey and beef available and a wide selection of vegetables too. For dessert I had sticky toffee pudding which was surprisingly light. After the meal I found time to talk to Peter, Chris and Keith before setting off on our way back to Manchester. The journey home up the A6 was fairly straightforward and before long we were back in Salford.
I was quite pleased with myself for getting through today's journeys with no mishaps.
It was also good that the forecast for rain was wrong.
In all it was a great weekend and a great boost to my confidence in my driving.

8th March - Spring Ball at Haigh Hall

We had a fairly good journey down the East Lancs Road to the Travelodge today. The only problem came in the last 500 yards when my directions failed me and I had to ask for help at the local pub. Eventually we found the hotel behind the petrol station. When we arrived at the hotel and spoke to the receptionist we were told that the postcode on the website is wrong which is why we had a problem!
We decided to have a snack at the Little Chef as I didn't reckon I could last until 9pm with no food. I had a toasted sandwich and Brian had steak pie (not exactly a snack, but I don't reckon it will spoil his appetite!)
After this we returned to our rooms to get ready. We ordered a taxi to take us to the hall. When we arrived we were offered glasses of champagne. We had a brief walk around before going into the main dining room which looked very impressive.When a good number had arrived, Sue - the salsa teacher and her crew began their lesson. She taught us a few simple merengue and salsa moves. It looked like everyone enjoyed the dancing - they were certainly keen to join in. After the lesson the band started to play. I had a couple of dances with Chris. Robin decided to practise the salsa moves he had just learnt with me and we did some jiving too. Chris also had a go at doing "Double trouble" (two girls dancing with one guy) with Caroline and me.
Eventually it was announced that the buffet was ready. We were pleased to see that our table was the first to be called up. There was a good selection of meat and salads followed by creme brulee or fruit salad for dessert.
After the meal the band played again. I danced with Chris and Peter. At the end of the evening I had a dance with Tim too. We took a taxi back to the hotel with Joanne and Heather who we met at November's dinner dance.
All in all it was a brilliant evening - I think everyone agreed it was a success.

19th February - First day of holiday in PIsa and Florence

It was good that Chris put the light on a timer switch last night as it made it easier to get up at 4.30am this morning! We had breakfast of white chocolate muffins ,yoghurts and strong coffee before getting a taxi to Liverpool airport. The check-in was easy as the queue was small and the plane left on time for a change. When we arrived in Pisa we checked out our cases and decided to leave them at the station left luggage because they only needed one person's details. We then walked over the river Arno towards the tower stopping on the way to photograph a beautiful church which caught my eye.
When we finally reached the tower, we went straight to the ticket office to collect our tickets. I was very surprised that they didn't ask to see our passports, but just accepted the voucher that Mel had sent me. The climb itself was a unique experience. It was weird climbing up on a spiral staircase where the steps were sloping. I could feel my legs getting shaky when I reached the bells so decided not to go right up to the top. When we were finally back on solid flat ground we realised that we only had about two hours to spare. Brian and I decided to look at the Baptistry which was very impressive, whilst Trina and Chris went to the market.
We ended up losing track of time and had to catch a bus back to the station and run to catch the train to make sure we got back to the airport in time.
We were quite relieved to meet up with the others at the airport. Unfortunately our group was not complete. Peter missed the plane ,because he got stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway so he had flown to Rome instead. We decided to catch the bus to Florence. It was quite a pleasant journey, but I was very disappointed that we had to walk to the hotel when we got there as I was very tired.
We finally checked into the hotel at about 7.30pm. My room is fairly small and doesn't have a bath ,but otherwise is adequate considering I won't be spending much time in it! We decided to go to a nearby restaurant for dinner and found an excellent one not far from the hotel. The waiter spoke very good English and was particularly helpful to Lynda who is on a dairy-free diet. I had seafood carbonara and was a little disappointed to see that it was actually prawn carbonara (but it was v. good anyway). When it came to dessert we were spoilt for choice as all three desserts(cheesecake,ice cream and creme caramel) looked good. I had the creme caramel which was lovely.
We returned to the hotel and Keith found a message on his phone from Peter to say that he was travelling to Florence tonight. Chris and Brian decided to go and meet him. The rest of us were very tired after a long day so we went straight to bed.

18th February - Getting ready for Florence

I met Brian and Trina at Oxford Road Station tonight and we travelled down to Warrington together. Chris met us at the station and we dropped our cases off at his house before going to the local Asda to buy breakfast for tomorrow morning and sandwiches for the flight. We then returned to Chris's. He showed us his finished utility room which has recently been fitted with new cupboards - it looks pretty good. We didn't stay up late tonight as we have to leave very early tomorrow.

9th February - Tiramisu and Pub Night

This morning my Uncle Dennis phoned to say my Aunt Pia had made Tiramisu for my Mum and Dad's Anniversary present. We arranged to meet them in Bury to collect it. It was packed into a box and was quite heavy so Dad took it home whilst we did the shopping. We arrived home and opened the box to find a very large glass bowl of Tiramisu. It tasted as good as it looked. There was enough there to last for 3 days desserts if we can manage to control our appetites!
We arrived at the Cheshire Line tavern tonight to find that there were quite a few members of our group there enjoying a meal. Apparently the food has improved since new management took over in January. Also tonight I had the opportunity to meet Trina who is coming to Florence with us. She joined Brian, Chris and I for a short meeting to discuss plans for our holiday. She's a cheeful friendly girl and I'm sure we will get on well together. It's not long now till we go to Italy and I'm really looking forward to it.

2nd February - Pancake party at Kay's

Kay said she wasn't surprised that we were the first to turn up tonight. Despite the fact that she had changed the start time to 7pm most people didn't turn up until after 7.30pm. Once a few people had arrived Geoff started cooking pancakes. As usual, Sandeep and I were the only ones who brought savoury filllings - he brought spicy potatoes and I brought cheese. It was good to see a few people I haven't seen for a while tonight. Rachel and Grace came all the way from Macclesfield and I saw Nigel for the first time this year.
I had another chat with Tim about Greenbelt - he is still interested. We mentioned the festival to Chris and he seems interested too. Chris has also kindly said that Brian and I can stay at his place on the Monday before we go to Florence. That means we won't need to get up quite as early as we were planning to.
Unusually we were one of the last to leave tonight. By 10.30 everyone had gone apart from Tim, Chris, John, Brian and me. Brian ordered a taxi well in advance tonight. I managed to drive home in 20 minutes which is really good. In all it was a pretty good evening even if it was quieter than usual.

26th January - Big Jive Night at Stockport

Had a fairly easy journey to Stockport tonight. I arrived just as they were opening the doors. The lesson started a little earlier than usual tonight. I managed to master the moves by the end of it. At the end of the lesson I ended up dancing with Jack who I know from Prestwich. I had quite a few dances tonight both with people I know and those I don't. Tim arrived at about 10.30pm. I had a couple of dances with him. He says he is planning to go to Greenbelt this year which is great news. I left at 11pm as I don't want to be too tired for church tomorrow.
Really enjoyed tonight. I'm glad I went.

23rd January - Meal at Tampopo and an Ideal Husband at Royal Exchange

I met Claire and Phil outside the restaurant tonight. We went inside and were shown to a table. Not long after we were joined by Janet, Ed , Sarah and Graham. We decided to order from the special menu which entitled us to a free starter as we were eating before 7pm. I had veggie spring rolls and the others had little dumplings. For main course I had chicken with lemongrass and coriander with rice. It was all delicious. Everyone enjoyed the meal.
We then walked to the theatre where we met Alex. Our seats were in the front row in the top tier.We had a good view from up there. We enjoyed the play. The costumes and scenery were impressive as usual. In the interval, we met Paula who had come to the play with a friend. In all it was an enjoyable evening. We must make sure we go to other plays there this year.

20th January - Coffee afternoon at Cafe Rouge

Brian and I turned up at the cafe to find John waiting for us. We ordered coffee and were presently joined by Alan. We decided to move to a different table in the centre of the cafe and pulled two tables together. Presently Jenny, Kay and Vanessa arrived and we chatted about what we had done since we last saw each other. Then Paula turned up closely followed by John. Paula showed us the proposed route for the walk she is doing at Easter in Marsden. It looks quite good. I may go on it though at the moment I'm not making any firm plans for what I'm doing after my trip to Florence.
After about an hour people started leaving. We decided to stay until 5pm and were glad we did as Camille turned up late as usual and we had the opportunity to chat with her before going home.
I was disappointed at the low turnout today but was glad I went as I did at least get to see a few people.

12th January - Highs and lows

Today was a day of highs and lows.

Highs -
1)having a fairly successful journey to Rotherham - we only made one wrong turning.
2)Seeing Keith, Sandra Chris and Adele again and having a successful Northern Lights committee meeting where much progress was made.
3)Seeing the brochure for the hotel we are staying in in Florence - looks very impressive.
4)Hearing that Man Utd won 6-0.
5)Meeting Vincent and Flavia of Strictly Come dancing fame

Lows
1)Vincent was ill so him and Flavia were only able to do one dance. Naturally a lot of people were annoyed and left early.
2) The feeble apology we got from the event organisers. I don't think I will be going to any more of their events.

On reflection this was quite a good day,but it could have been better.

11th January - Alan's birthday meal at St Petersburg Restaurant

I was first to arrive at the Old Monkey tonight, but Neil was not far behind. Brian and Alan arrived next closely followed by Jane, Mike and Debbie. When we arrived at the restaurant we met four more friends of Alan's. The restaurant was fairly quiet so we expected to get served promptly. Unfortunately that wasn't the case as it took over half an hour for the food to be served. However when it came it looked good. Debbie and I seemed to do the best. She had cod in wine sauce and rice and I had chicken in a tomato sauce with rice. The ones who had goulash seemed to get the worst deal as their portions were smaller than the rest.
Most of us left straight after the meal, but a few stayed behind to try out the flavoured vodka. I don't think that I'll be going back there in a hurry as the food was somewhat overpriced.

7th January - First Jive Class of 2008

It was good to be back at Prestwich tonight after 2 weeks with no jive classes. As is usual with the first class of the year there were quite a few new people. One brave new woman volunteered to lead and did fairly well.
The moves in the beginners class were Shoulder slide, Lady Spin, Comb and basket - a nice simple sequence for the beginning of the year. I ended up dancing with Jack at the end of the lesson which made up for not getting the chance to dance with him at Christmas.
The intermediate moves tonight got progressively easier for a change - they started with a basic backhander and ended with a double comb. I was pleased to see that Stuart mentioned the fact that he is hoping to do a drops and dips workshop in the near future - hope it is before the ball in March.

1st January - Final day of New year weekend away

I somehow managed to get up before 10am this morning and went down to the dining room to find a few people having breakfast. It was announced that the walk along the Chirk Aqueduct was starting at about 10.30am. I decided not to go as I was still very tired. Instead we sat around in the lounge and chatted to each other. Some of the guys went outside to play football and we watched them from the window. At lunchtime we went into the dining room for an enjoyable lunch of roast lamb with all the trimmings. This was followed by Angel delight and chocolate flake. We then returned to the lounge. People started leaving. Most of the Manchester crowd decided to leave at about 3pm. Phil gave me a lift home. I'm afraid I was to tired to be very talkative, but we had a good journey anyway.
In all, it was an excellent weekend away - the best we have had in my opinion. I'm glad I've taken tomorrow off to recover.