Santa Claus, Peter Pan and Bonnie Prince Charlie!

My life has been highjacked for the moment by Santa Claus, Peter Pan and Bonnie Prince Charlie. I apologise to the readers of my blog for the short delay there has been this week in getting this post out. Part of the trouble is I have spent so much time on the computer with these three gentlemen that when it came time to write a blog my fingers and back side were sore!
Let's take Santa first. The Dinner Theatre group are doing a Murder Mystery in Mar Lodge at the beginning of December. The pack we chose, 'Who Sleighed Santa?' gave us the scenario and character descriptions (that's where I play the drunken elf)but dialogue is supposed to be ad libbed. One or two of the players, but mainly Santa, wanted a more formally organised piece, where there were scripts and a running order. So on two afternoons this week I typed for what seemed hours...actually it did take about 4 hours to put 7 pages of script and stage instructions together. Hope it works.
Now for Peter Pan! Well the panto rehearsals are 3 nights a week for 3 hours at a time, but in addition to that I have spent a lot of time on the computer looking for Tinkerbell and Elf costumes. Particularly for Tinkerbell, I want to look cute! And by the way I have had a great idea about the weight loss campaign! I know exactly what I should do to lose weight (Scottish Slimmers programme is fantastic) but I need an incentive to keep going. I think I will do a Bridget Jones and tell my blog readers my current weight each time I write, and you can all help me keep on the straight and narrow. As of today I weigh 54.1kg. I would like to be 51kg by the time I fly on a wire!
Coming now to Bonnie Prince Charlie! He is the third man taking up my time at the moment and I know that once Christmas is over he will be the main culprit. We had the Castleton dancers AGM here last night and I 'made' them watch part of the show which we had done in Jakarta. I must say they were VERY impressed with the standard of dancing ....and so was I. I had forgotten how good we were. I have been doing quite a bit of planning and typing up memos for the proposed Jacobite Experience! This will be a kind of whole community Living History exhibition followed by a show of music, dance and drama telling the story of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. I want to involve all ages in this, from the babies to the grannies, and turn Braemar into a 1745 village for one day! (Overtones of Brigadoon). The project will be to raise the awareness and raise funds for Braemar Castle and if it is successful it will be repeated throughout the summer...maybe once a month. This morning I have been using the internet (God bless it)to research what kind of sports and games were around at that time. My French neighbour and Jacobite expert, Magali has just been at the door to tell me Michel has already started planning to make wooden Red Coats as target practice, and also an idea to make white cockades for sale. Watch this space as this project unfolds. I am about to search online for some cheap bolts of tartan to make costumes!
So a busy but fun time ahead, as a captive of SC, PP, and BPC!

Typecast or what?

Being 4ft 11ins has its disadvantages, like not seeing over other people's heads in the theatre, not being able to reach high shelves in the kitchen, and having everybody else look down on you all the time. But I guess it has advantages too and playing Tinkerbell in the local pantomime might be one of them. No lines to learn but lots of stage time and lots of dancing. Considering I am playing a drunken disgruntled elf in the Christmas Murder Mystery I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, I am being typecast. The part of Tinks is a fine one and I am pleased with it but I am determined to do it justice and have resolved to lose at least 6kg. There is nothing much I can do about being an ageing Tinks, but I am determined not to be a chubby one. If nothing else I have to consider the 'flying' scenes....not sure what John has in mind yet but for sure it will include a bit of flying!
The first read through is tonight, but since Tinks doesn't speak perhaps I will take along a bell and ring it when appropriate! More later, Ciao!

A fine weekend....but not the weather

We have come to the end of another weekend. It is relaxing to think that the schools go back tomorrow after two weeks holiday and I don't have to be there. I seem to be so busy these days that I cannot for the life of me figure out how I ever had time to work before. How did I spend the weekend?
Friday was a cooking day and very satisfying it was too. We had invited Norma and Roger for dinner. Roger used to be in the Navy and he and Richard get on really well, and Norma is one of the dancers. Sadly her son died earlier this year, in Australia, so she hasn't been at dancing for a while and I haven't seen much of her lately. I had decided to do courgette soup, but infortunately could only get two courgettes in the village! Not unusual, but not enough. Then I remembered a recipe for two soups in one bowl, preferably a green and a red. You pour them simultaneously from jugs either side of the soup plate and when the two soups meet they don't mix but stay as though the plate is in two halves. It really looks amazing and has the wow factor at a dinner party. The soups I made were fairly thick. I don't think it would work if they were thin. (I made tomato with mint and courgette with peas -recipes on request) For the main course I did salmon en croute with a spinach and water cress stuffing and the dessert was homemade - yes home made chocolate cake as mentioned in my previous blog. We ate one quarter...yummy but rich. The rest is in the freezer and will be my entry for the chocolate cake competition at the WRI next month. A very pleasant stress-free evening.
Saturday was quite a lazy day and I spent time reading the weekend papers, wrote a few emails, went on line and bought tickets for the Russian ballet doing the Nutcracker in Pitlochry, and also for an am-dram play the following week, Paras o'er the Barras, did a bit of ironing, made a curry, and watched a bit ot telly while waiting for our B&B guests to arrive. They were coming from Manchester and we were expecting them at 6pm but they phoned to say they had been in a traffic jam for three and a half hours and would not arrive until 10pm. Poor things. But the good thing was we put the clocks back last night so we all managed an extra hour in bed. Sunday, after serving breakfast, I did a stint at the castle. It was quite quiet today...well the weather was awful and it is getting quite late in the season. I had one group, consisting of 3 young American students, an Austrian couple, and a couple from Shetland. They all said they enjoyed the tour. I am really enjoying doing it too. Did a few odd dance related jobs this afternoon and then tonight was the auditions for the panto!!!! There is a really strong cast this year. A lot of the teenagers are good singers and quite confident speakers...and none of them are the 'naughty' sort. They are all quite well behaved and take the matter seriously. I would not like John's job now, deciding who is getting what part. I am really not worried if I don't get a speaking part. I would be happy to do choreography. So we shall see. We may know tomorrow but we may not find out until the read through on Tuesday. So that was the weekend that was. I am planning to do some writing tomorrow...the short story that I am half way through, and a synopsis of the Jacobite project.

It's Peter Pan!

The script is out and this year's panto is Peter Pan. Yeah, I like it. I am about to read through the character list and the script so we shall see if there is a suitable part. If there isn't I will be quite happy to do choreography as there are lots of scenes with the Indians, and the pirates and the lost boys where dance comes into it. Then I shall just concentrate on my part of Mavis, the drunken elf, in the Murder Mystery Christmas Dinner that the dinner theatre group is doing at Mar Lodge in early December. The fact that the panto is Peter Pan I take as a sign that I should revisit the children's novel that Sheila and I have half written. When it wasn't eligible for the competition a few years ago (they only wanted published authors)we gave up on it but we shouldn't have as it was a cracking good story, bringing Peter Pan right up to the 21st century. I will dig it out in the next day or two, and maybe publish some of it in this blog for comment.
Made a chocolate cake today! Haven't tried it yet as it is meant to be dessert tomorrow, but if it isn't scrumptious I am NEVER going to bake again. The ingredients cost a fortune, not to mention having to buy an £8.50 cake tin. The time to mix it was quite considerable, then 90 minutes of electricity to bake it. Tomorrow I have to make the gamache (look it up) and that also takes fresh cream, and loads of chocolate. According to the recipe you can get 14 slices and each is over 500 calories. That means 7000 calories in the whole cake! Wow.

Using my brain

Today was a different day. Richard and I went to a business seminar in Ballater and it was fascinating. The speaker was an Irish guy called Keith and he had his own consultancy firm called 'brilliantred'. He was dynamic. He must have been good because I didn't fall asleep after lunch which I nearly always do if I am in a lecture. It made me want to go and study business. Perhaps I will. He talked a lot of the same language that I have heard Claire talk...about the importance of branding etc. It has given us some new ideas to increase business, so hopefully it will pay off.
We didn't have too long at home before I had to go off to the dancing. We had beginners from 7pm - 8pm, social dancing 8pm - 9pm, then performance at the Invercauld after that. So worked the brain all day and the body all evening. I should sleep well.

Autumnal colours are everywhere and the last few days have been bright and sunny and showing them at their very best. Unfortunately the bright sunshine is also showing up the dirty windows and cobwebs! Today was rather wet though and not quite so bright so we took the opportunity to drive to Aberdeen for some shopping. Nothing exciting...B&Q for Richard's bits and pieces and a supermarket for foodstuff.
I did another stint at guiding at the castle yesterday and I am gaining confidence and enjoying it more each time. I had a couple from Bishopbrigs who at first I thought were going to be difficult. He never smiled and kept asking questions, most of which I was able to answer, and she just kept talking and talking. However at the end they said it was a great tour and they even wrote in the guestbook, 'Margaret was a great tour guide'. I did tell them a couple of times that my name was Marilyn, but well.....
Watched a really harrowing film last night, 'The Last king of Scotland'. It certainly deserved the label political thriller, and the actors certainly deserved the awards they got. Then I went to bed and read a really stressful chapter in my book (Call the Midwife) about the life of people in the workhouse in the 1950s. I am surprised that I didn't have nightmares.
So no famous people or exciting events to report but the week ahead is about to get busy with a tourism course to attend on Wednesday, the start of the pantomime rehearsals on Thursday, and maybe hosting a dinner party on Saturday. Can't wait to find out what the panto is! Watch this space.

A very busy day

Today was in sharp contrast to yesterday. Yesterday I had hours to myself to spend however I wanted to but today was occupied from start to finish. I just discovered last night that as secretary for WRI I was expected to put up posters and inform all members by note that the meeting was this week. Consequently I had to type and print the leaflets and posters and also deliver them. I took a short cut by emailing some of the members! That job took most of the morning. I made some soup and had a quick sandwich while doing some accounting of the charity money before meeting Pat at 2pm to sort out the flower tubs! There are six of them; two at the south side of the village, two in the middle, and two at the north end. The work was very physical and involved moving heavy loads of soil and bulbs etc. Two hours later we had accomplished what we had set out to do. Finally we went into the garage which was next to the last two barrels, to get water for the plants and who should be filling up his tank with petrol but Billy Connelly! He looked so well groomed and smart compared to how he used to appear on TV. I just said to him, 'Lovely day we have had today.' So Prince Charles and Billy Connelly in one week....I wonder who I shall meet tomorrow?
As soon as I got home from the planting I had to prepare for the dance class...beginners and more, make the tea, and look out my stuff for the performance at the Invercauld. But I got a little sidetracked from all that by the emails going between the characters in the Murder Mystery. Great fun and quite funny.
The dancing was very quiet tonight as so many people are away, but we managed a few dances with the beginners, and then had a cup of coffee as there were only 4 experienced dancers after the beginners left. On to the Invercauld and a reasonable collection of £60.

Writing

Today was the perfect day to start writing. The weather was mediocre, the dog has a sore paw and doesn't want to play, and Richard left early this morning to go to Dundee. I have had hours and hours of time to myself without interruption. So did I write? No! Well nothing of substance. The odd email doesn't count, nor does the thank you scrawled on the invoice for slip stop powder, nor the cheques from Castleton Dancers. I did do some research on writing for People's Friend and My Weekly. I think I can do it but I just need to get a good idea and then......
One of my problems is that when it comes to writing I am a bit like a hyperactive child and I don't know where to focus. I have so many projects started but incomplete. Which one shall I choose. There's the basic ideas list for a village panto based on Brigadoon. Might be fun. There's the half way through children's novel based loosely on Peter Pan. Worth pursung. There's the idea of the story about the boy who has an adventure inside his desk, which I started for Zach when he was 7 or 8. He is now 17. I have to do a rewrite and planning document for the Bonnie Prince Charlie Show....new working title the Jacobite experience. Perhaps I shall write a short story about a lady recently retired who wants to write but doesn't know what to write about!
Well at least I have written a blog today, so I guess that is something.

A quickstep and conversation with a Prince

Saturday night was the evening of the long awaited Ghillies' Ball at Birkhall. We arrived in good time....or some would say we were early although a few people were there before us. We might have been even earlier if hadn't been for the little Roe Deer which got in front of us in the narrow country lane and just kept on running. We were willing it to jump off to the side and into the forest but no. Its little heart must have been pumping with both the fear it felt and the speed at which it was running. It must have stayed in front for at least 5 minutes (it seemed longer) and covered a couple of miles before eventually disappearing into the night.
On arrival at the marquee attached to the summerhouse, an elegant cold buffet supper was laid out, and wine and beer were flowing freely. The band played a few of the dances....a practice session for later it seemed...and only a few of us danced at that stage. Then around 10ish we were asked to stand round the room while Charles and Camilla entered and came round and talked to everybody. There were over 100 guests so it took at least 20 minutes. Then the dancing started for real, with almost everybody up on the floor, including the Royals and their house guests. One of the guests, a young man, looked different from the rest and he was a fairly accomplished dancer. His clothing and demeanour made him stand out. Pat discovered his name was Rory Stewart and so I googled him (Isn't google wonderful?) It turns out young Mr Stewart is quite a celebrity and somewhat famous. He is an author, traveller, advisor to statesmen, former tutor of the young Princes William and Harry, member of the secret service, authority on Afghanistan and Iraq, Professor at Harvard and has an OBE. Different? Well yes.
But the highlight for me has to be my dance with Prince Charles. It was sheer chance that the music for Paul Jones stopped when we were opposite each other. Our conversation went like this.
PC, 'Oh how lucky. I have got an expert to dance with.'
Band, 'The next dance is a quickstep'.
Me, 'Oh dear, I am no expert at this'.
PC, 'Me neither, So what shall we do.'
Me, 'Just keep moving and smiling. We are not being judged.'
PC, 'Do you often get judged when you dance?'
Me,'Not really, but we do get watched. It is not like Strictly Come Dancing though.'
PC, 'Do you watch that?'
Me, 'Sometimes. Not religiously'.
PC, 'I can't believe how many people watch it. 2o million or something.'
PC, 'How often do Castleton Dancers dance?'
Me, 'At least twice a week some times more. We do two performances every week, plus we have a training night, and a night when we teach others. Oh by the way, John sent some photographs for you and I have left them with your staff.'
PC, Thank you so much. You are so kind. It is such fun when you come to dance for us.'
Me, 'It is our pleasure really. We love it.
PC, 'A 60th birthday is a good excuse to invite you. Now I shall have to wait until I am 70.
Me, 'Not at all. Every birthday is a cause for celebration. 61,62,63.
PC, laughing, 'How long have you lived in Braemar?'
Me, 'Since 2004.'
PC 'And where were you before that?'
Me,' Libya!'
PC (eyes widened) 'Oil?'
Me, 'No, teaching. I was headteacher of the British School in Benghazi' And before that I lived in Oman and Indonesia.
PC, 'Was your husband with you?'
Me, 'Not all the time. I met my present husband in Oman but I was alone in Libya.
PC, 'You won't go away again will you?'
Me, 'No we have settled here.'
PC,' Good you deserve it.
Music ends, both say, Thank you very much.
What a story to tell the grandchildren, although being American boys perhaps they won't be all that impressed.

Jacobite Experience

On Sunday 4th October I did my first stint as a volunteer guide at Braemar Castle. I was nervous and kept my notes close by me as a security blanket but never actually looked at them. I did two tours. The first was with a youngish American couple who didn't have time for a full tour so I was more than happy to give the shortened version, then if I missed anything out I would have a good excuse. The second tour was with a much older American couple who were lovely to talk to and made me feel very much at ease. What is it they say about 6 degrees of separation? From casual conversation that started about tweeds, which led to ties, which led to the Royal Navy, which led to Oman we discovered we had a mutual acquaintance in Don and Eloise Bosch...a missionary doctor and teacher who lived most of their lives in Oman and were given a grace and favour home by the Sultan!
Later that week, I plucked up the courage to email Simon Blackett (Factor of Invercauld and Chairman of Braemar Community ltd) and Doreen Wood (PR for the castle) to suggest that the show about Bonnie Prince Charlie that I wrote back in 1985 might be a good fund raiser for the castle. Simon replied within minutes, and Doreen shortly after, both to say it was a fantastic idea! So that is my free time after panto taken care of. I am excited by the thought of the project which I know I can improve on last time. Next year will be its 25th anniversary, so a good year to do it.

Rediscovering Pitlochry Theatre

When we returned from Mull we were a bit disappointed to learn that Braemar had bathed in sunshine during our week away. Ah well no good crying over spilt sunshine. Soon after our return John Macpherson joined Julie, Richard and I on a visit to Pitlochry Theatre to see the new musical Whisky Galore! What an excellent night, with a very high feelgood factor. My face muscles ached because of the smile that remained the whole evening. The music was inspiring, the acting first class, the choreography slick and cheeky, the set and scenery outstanding and the story funny and very entertaining. What a cast, what a crew, what a treat. Before Julie left on the Friday she agreed to cook her wonderful Green Thai Pork again and we invited Doug round as he was heading off to Australia at the weekend. Dinner was delicious. Unfortunately I fell foul of a 36 hour tummy virus which left me with stomach pain and exhaustion on Julie's last day. So she became my nurse, poor lady, on the day before she had to travel once again overnight to London.
I was quite well by Saturday morning and that evening we made our way to Pitlochry once more, this time to see The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. A totally different evening from 'Whisky' but no less enjoyable. Helen Logan who played Jean was as good as Maggie Smith in the film. She was on stage for a good two hours and had lines all the way through. How do they remember so much?

Julie's visit and Mull

It would be grossly unfair of me to blame the lack of a blog on the arrival of my dear friend Julie, but it might be partly the truth, along with an amazing trip to Mull. Julie arrived by overnight bus on Wednesday 16 September. She is a lady that I have the greatest admiration for. She is 77 years young, and physically, mentally and spiritually in great shape. What a life she has led and what a clever lady but it is her courage that amazes me. She climbed Lochnagar without a second thought, and the next day did not even have a stiff bone to show for it. She stayed for almost three weeks, and apart from the odd sad moment when she remembered her recently departed husband Mal, she was on the go...walking, dancing, talking, cooking, doing yoga, playing with Coolie, reading. The whole time she was with us I never once heard her say she was tired, and she hardly sat down apart from meals.
The weekend after she arrived we all went off to Mull for a week's holiday. We, i.e. Michel, Magali, Doug, Julie, Richard and I. The journey went smoothly and we boarded ferries without a wait, arriving at our holiday home in good time on the Saturday night. The house was spacious and comfortable though furnishings were a little dated. We had many good moments on the island despite the awful weather. Some climbed half way up Ben More but aborted the effort for fear of being blown off the top. We took a trip to Iona and had a wander round there...in the rain. On day two we drove to Tobermory and wandered round there...in the rain. We had a lesson from Michel and Magali on the use of a long bow....in the wind. And so the awful weather continued. Nights were fun, though, as we took it in turns to prepare the evening meals, all of which were excellent. Boeuf Bourgignone, Roast leg of lamb, Green Thai Pork, Chicken Curry, Haggis neeps and tatties....such a variety of tastes, consumed in excellent company and washed down with whatever best suited the meal. Sitting round the big farmhouse kitchen table chatting into the night will long be a memory. TV was only switched on to get weather forecasts!

Lost days

Where have I been for the last few weeks? How can I ever be a serious writer if I cannot even spend a few minutes on my own blog, the reading of which at a later date will bring me immense pleasure. So many exciting and enjoyable events have taken place since my last entry that I wish I had recorded my feelings at the time. Now everything will be summarised and rushed. Such a pity. Let's make a start.