Girl Guiding at ADSA

The Girl Guides are off to Switzerland on some expensive trip next summer. This means loads of fund raising to bring the price down and it also means parents getting involved. So when Isabelle and her squad of Guides headed off to ADSA for a bag pack they were looking for parents to help out. Reluctantly I got roped in. However it turned out to be a top afternoon of people watching. I spent the whole afternoon not only talking to people I knew, but seeing what goes into their shopping bags. Of course I realised that some items might be a bit embarrassing if I were to pack them. I'm sure the librarian wouldn't want me to ask her if i should put her Anusol in with her kippers, or ask the milkman if he wanted all 4 bottles of Gin putting in the same bag as his Smirnoff...I wouldn't need to as he could probably carry them in one hand like they do with the milk.(These are of course fictional scenarios in case anyone thought of offering the librarian a rubber ring next time they were in). Isabelle was trying to ignore me and sent me to another till, so I had thought of anding over a basket full of embarrassing items for her to pack, like lingerie, 10 packets of condoms and a box of feminine wipes. Anyway the day was a success with £1300 being raised and one or two eyebrows. I can't wait for the next one.

Now had we done it the following Saturday we would have been treated to a sighting of Gok Wan. Yes the celebrity flab fiddling dandy was in Dunbar's ADSA on his way back from Edinburgh. I hope so anyway, as it would just be awful if someone we knew appeared on that 'How to Look Fat Naked' programme....I think that's the name of it.
Picture: (Top) Isabelle packs another bag of shopping
(Bottom...as in the location of it not the content) Gok with the ADSA girls!

Pipe Band Day

Ever wondered what a swarm of giant wasps sounds like? Then head to Dunbar's Pipe Band day next year. Bus loads of pipers descend on Dunbar's Winterfield for a day of piping. The sound is really quite amazing. Amazingly bad but certainly one to remember. It's not that they can't play the pipes, but when you get 30 bands trying to play a different tune at the same time it sounds pretty bad. think a giant with a severe case of asthmah! Pipe Band Day is one of those things that has gone on for years and yet half the locals know nothing about it which is a shame. It is a good day out, with many people just enjoying the atmosphere, the beer tent, the bottles of Buckfast, the WKD, etc. There is also a spot of highland dancing for the kids and a new one on me...baton twirling! So if you fancy swinging your baton with a Gay Gordon then head this way!

Pictures:
Some Pipers had a crash landing on their magic carpet.
The pipers head into the arena for some ear drum piercing devil's music.
Some kid wearing some silly trousers.

Church of Scotland knees up!

A couple of weeks or so ago I got myself along to the Church of Scotland's National Gathering. Because everyone is so spread out thinly in Scotland someone had the idea of bringing them all together in a tented village. The highlight for me was seeing the Archbishop of York speak as he seems to be one of the few remaining Church of England clergy who has a believable faith and who seems to understand that there is a world beyond the 4 walls of his church/minster/palace! Through a distant relative (through marriage) I managed to get my account of the event on the Archbishop's website. Check it out for yourself

The report

It was a good event. It got a bit boring after a couple of hours, and the music was a bit tree hugging in style, and the venue was far to big. As someone said, 'it was like a size 8 foot in a size 10 shoe'. All that said, it was a unique opportunity to meet some of the Christians from around Scotland and actually support each other. When you go to these kind of gathering in England they are a bit competitive and you find that they are just full of people selling their wares...their latest book or resource that promises to change your church, another CD of 'Now That's What I Call Plinky Plonky Praise on those electric Piano's', 'Graham Kendrick: The Reggae years' and a new course that is slightly similar to the last one..in fact so close it's just an anagram of it 'Halpa'. Of course few of them deliver on their promises, and you come home fleeced of your pennies and annoyed at yourself for believing that some 'quick fix' answers to the problems of the church were out there. Without wanting to get into this idea of 'our church is better than your's' I shall look forward to the next Church of Scotland event and hope that it grows from strength to strength.

Permission to drown

The waters around Dunbar are safe again. After losing one lifeboat to the elements, the RNLI have forked out £1.1 million for a new boat. It arrived last week from Poole so it safe to get those air beds out and float out as far as you want into busy shipping lanes. More importantly the boat has arrived in time for Lifeboat Day later this summer. It's one of the town biggest events and well worth a visit to Dunbar.

Picture: Courtesy of
grianghraif (Flickr) Neville (the boat) arrives.

Ginger Nuts

Andrew has taken to tinting his hair with blonde highlights. However the operation went all so wrong the other day when first it went all blonde. In an attempt to reverse the damage, another dye was applied only to make things worse...it became ginger. Ginger hair is cruel anyway, but when it is not even natural then your in trouble. Fortunately he has had a 3rd colour added to heal the wounds....and a severe trim at the barbers for good measure. Now he is a different colour...not sure which but one that has got him noticed. All week parents and teachers have been coming up to me to pass comment his golden/ginger look. Today though some cheeky little tow rag came up and commented on my streaks...they are grey! Almost as cheeky as the little snotball who pointed out to his class mates my varicaeus veins

The Big One

I recently completed the Edinburgh to North Berwick road race. It's a 22 mile run, taking you along the coast through several of East Lothian's little towns. It's the longest run I have ever done in my life, and I was not sure if I would actually cover the distance. It all starts at the Meadowbank Stadium. Built in the 60's it is now due to be pulled down, but it resembles something from the Eastern Block with these grey concrete walls, rusty girders and rows of faded plastic seats. There was 137 starters and after a lap and 3/4 of the stadium we hit the streets via the marathon gates.
Each town has it's own features...Prestonpans the waft of chip shops and bakers and annoying youths shouting less than encouraging comments, Cockenzie...a power station and then you reach the posher parts like Gullane where Ronnie Corbett has a pad and where most of the land seems to be posh golf courses. A few supporters came out to cheer us on which actually helps. I was doing fine until 20 miles when I got to the top of a gradual but long hill, when cramp kicked in. Is this the 'wall' you hear marathon runners talk about? I don't know, but i had to work hard on not doing any permanent damage. Then the only woman I had seen in the race passed me, along with 3 Hunters Bog Trotters (It's the name of the club which is basically a load of posh blokes who fail miserably to be rebels in the white middle class world of running. They believe that drinking lots of beer, wearing brown vests and shouting HBT at every opportunity qualifies you for being the 'bad boys' of the running world. The arses of the running world perhaps!). Anyway 3 of them passed at 21 miles. Gutted! However, the end was in sight and somehow I made it with a an unbelievable 2 hours 31 minutes, 44 seconds. I had at best hoped for a 2:40 so I was very pleased. I also came 23rd! So I am hooked on the long distance stuff now....well whilst my body can cope that is.

Picture: Me at the finish. Emma reckons I lost 3 stone in that run alone!

Victory at last

I've been working with the PE teacher training up the school cross country team. Yesterday was the finals and we were the hosts so the heat was on. However our strict training regime seemed to pay off as we had runners win both the girls and boys race. In fact all our girls came in the top 20, and the lads top 21. This meant that we also scooped the team prize thanks to the efforts of the kids who really did try hard. I've now been roped in to coaching the athletics team. I don't actually know anything about coaching, so I will be blagging my way through it. I thought Fred Dibnah was the world number 1 steeplechaser! All that is needed is a bag full of motivational phrases....'beleive in yourself' 'that trophy has got your name written all over it'...you know the kind of stuff that you will find on some USA education website. Then sit them down and watch some motivational films like the Karate Kid, Fame (fame costs and here's where you start paying) and Cool Runnings. Well I suppose I had better go now and brush up on my javelin technique before someone loses an eye!