Feet and Mouth

No not Foot and Mouth.

While I was still stirring the onion soup, the phone rang, so I removed the pan from the heat and answered it. It was Bob from the Bridge Club, asking why I was not there last night. I explained that my partner could not make it. He said I should have phoned in as there was someone looking for a partner, and they ended up with a half table too. Oh silly me. He also asked me if I was coming to the new session on a Thursday afternoon and I had to say that I was really sorry but I would be at the Day Hospital every Thursday afternoon.

I then mentioned that I was making onion soup. We'll pass over the fact that he said he loved onion soup - I don't feel I know him well enough to invite him round.

The feet and mouth bit arose from the fact that he said "Do you make soup?" In April there is a soup and sandwich event on a Sunday and I seem to have talked myself into making lentil and vegetable soups. Not for the whole 60, but these have been chosen as different peoples' should be compatible.

I have removed a "stew soup" ie gravy and veg left at the end of the casserole from the freezer and am going to make it it into a vegetable soup. This will be a start. I shall need to make another vegetable soup and also the lentil one.

Back to Bridge

My back seems to be much better. I took a taxi to the Bridge Club and played with my usual partner. I was very pleased that I saw that we had a Slam contract and we ended up in 6 Hearts. We made it (great thrill) but saw afterwards that another pair bid and made 7 No Trumps and scored far more points than we did. Never mind, at least I took it to slam rather than leaving it in game.

A technical bit: I had 19 points and opened 1 Heart. Partner responded 3 Hearts so I then bid 4 No Trump which is asking her for how many aces she held. She looked somewhat aghast at that but responded suitably.

Sometimes the girl done good.

My partner doesn't want to play tomorrow evening and I am quite pleased as I think the first exercise class will be enough for the day.

I took a taxi there but my partner brought me home and I joined the Scrabble group foor a cup of tea and a bit of chocolate orange.

Christmas Hat Night

Yesterday evening was the Christmas Hat Night at the Bridge Club, so we had to get there for promptly 6.30 before the gannets stripped the table. There were 52 people there and there was a grand selection of goodies. I tried not to be too greedy and took quite a lot of the fresh fruit on cocktail sticks, but could not resist a mini pie (not good, so I left it), a mini iced mince pie, which was delicious and some brie.

I also had a glass of red wine which I popped over to sit at the bar when we started playing!

We drew cards giving the table number and direction - I was Table 2 West and found myself playing with someone I had not met before. However, we sorted out marking up our cards with the system we follow and got on like a house on fire. She was so pleased that I recognised a transfer and also left her in a bid of 3 hearts. It was such a relaxing fun evening and such a change from playing with my usual partner who is very intense.

The upshot of the evening is that I did not get home until almost twelve, so I got into my pyjamas and a wonderful warm dressing gown that was a gift from TBSITW. After a seat in the light of my small Christmas tree's lights and those of my basket of lights I went to bed and slept like a log.

This morning I feel as though I have been run over by a truck!

What on earth does she look like ?

Yesterday was another blustery day with intermittent showers. The temperature was 9.5 Celsius which is really not too bad.

Off I headed to the Bridge Club. Last week W and I came 4th (out of 6), not bad as we were not accustomed to playing together.

This week there were two people from the beginners’ class, which is not being held this week. S., our leader took one and allocated me to the other. Fair enough and a bit of a compliment. Her play is really quite good but her bidding is hopeless. Still I enjoyed the play. I think I have bitched a bit about my usual partner, but I am desperately looking forward to her return.

Better the devil you know….

Back to the ranch in time for a cup of tea and to a recommendation of a lovely Robert Louis Stevenson book. I have ordered it as it is only 1p (plus postage of £2.75 of course).

Back to an easy meal of farmers market mince with onions and mushrooms served with potatoes, carrots and cauliflower, followed by strawberries and (the end of the ) ice cream.

This morning I wakened up to find my face feeling a bit “odd”, I looked in the mirror and it was all swollen down one side, but not painful or red at all. I made an appointment to see the doctor at 11.10 this morning and she was somewhat puzzled as it looked like an allergic reaction. Had I eaten/used anything new? No, I have washed my face with the same cream for over 2 years and the only food I have eaten is my own cooking.

She has given me some antihistamine tablets to take twice a day and given me an appointment to see one of the other partners on Friday. I am just to cancel it if it is all better by then. That is much easier for me than being asked to ring on Friday if no improvement as, by the time you get through to the switchboard all the appointments have gone, particularly on a Friday.

It is, once again a lovely sunny day, although a bit blustery.

My vegetable delivery was potatoes, lovely carrots with their green frond tops, 2 swede turnips, a bunch of beetroot, onions, leeks and a Savoy cabbage. The fruit was 2 apples, 2 oranges, 2 bananas, a pear and 2 bananas.

I really have to do some work with this lot.

Later:

The lightbulb moment.

Could I possibly have developed an allergy to strawberries? If so, a pity, but not a problem.

Mind you, these were supermarket strawberries, not organic ones.............

Autumn Hat Night

No, this did not involve the wearing of fancy hats, but was so-called because it was in the autumn and you did not play with your usual partner but had partners drawn from a hat.

After all the exercise I was feeling somewhat tired and not sure how I would cope. However a shower was definitely called for and then a change into the glad rags. Now I am usually clad in trousers but last night the skirt was hauled out from where it was lurking at the back of the wardrobe. I also hauled out a selection of tops, one of which was too small (no, it must have shrunk in the wash! and one of which had become squashed in and needed an iron - back that went for another day. In the end I settled on a sparkly silver sleeveless round neck top covered with a shiny silver short sleeved button up (but left unbuttoned) shirt.

So off to an enlivening shower, dry and dress.

Now at this time I am going to tell you something which is definitely not for the attention of Dickiebo; please ask B to cover your eyes.

All right now, B?

Okay, these exercise classes are definitely doing good as, for the first time in years , I was able to put my tights on in the normal way instead of having a terrible struggle.

Right B you can now let Dickiebo go.

Off to the Bridge Club, chauffeured by my usual partner. Some members were starting to lay out a large table with food. Oh how hungry I was.

But no, at seven o'clock on the dot we all went and drew our table and direction of sitting. At this point I met my partner and we had a good chat about bidding and signals and discards. Just when we were ready for the off, some latecomers arrived so two extra tables had to be set up and cards drawn again. This time I knew my partner and it didn't take long to work out our systems. So the play.

All this time eyeing the food table (and smelling the cheeses)...

After 3 tables we stopped for a food break and a glass of juice and, in my case, wine before off we went again. We finished not too late, about 11 pm, so I came home, hung away the glad rags and put on a lovely warm dressing gown given to me by TBSITW. I sat down and read for a short while then off to bed. I don't think I moved, not even a twitch, before morning.

Bridge once more

This afternoon we were at the club again and at the second table, S. our leader laid in to my partner for fingering the bid cards before deciding to pass. She was told (correctly) that she should keep her hands in her lap until she decided her bid, as even touching the bidding cards before deciding on a 'no bid' could give away quite a lot of information. This was the second time this afternoon that S. had a go at my partner, and so I gave her (S.) it with both barrels when she did something the same. I laughed and laughed and I could see my partner relaxing.

After bridge, I came back "to the ranch" and had a cup of tea with a treat.

btw, last week we came second bottom.....

I have away from my partner a super book of which I am going to photocopy several pages as it is very good on signals and discards.

Bridge again

Yesterday evening was back to the bridge again. We heard that Monday we came second! Wow, now that's a turn up for the books.

I still wasn't feeling at my best even though I had a sleep and a shower before going. I say this to excuse my bad behaviour. On the third board I made an elementary mistake and my partner did go on about it, so when she failed to return my lead (which I would have trumped, gaining us another trick) I said "well if you are going to criticise me, why didn't you return my lead?). We then moved on to the next table and I could see that she was almost in tears.

Oh dear.

This morning I am off to the hairdresser.

Bridge Club

Yesterday I went to the Bridge Club with my partner (G.) She came and collected me to take me there and on the way I had a bit of a chat with her, suggesting that she laugh rather than get upset when S. got at her. I think she took this on board to some extent.

At least we got through the first three boards fine, and when we moved to the next table S. started to say something and I said that she should get at me rather than G. as I had made something of a horlicks with my bidding of one hand at the previous table.

Another thing that helped G. was that it became increasingly apparent that she was giving her partner a very difficult time of it. I kept catching her partner's eye and gave her sympathetic smiles - I could see that she was getting rather fed up. At least that helped G to realise that it was nothing personal.

We had good points through the evening and I ended up playing most of the time (at least it seemed like that. I made a couple of boo boos but otherwise it went well. I now realise that my play is better than my bidding, so I need to put more work in there.

More Falls Response - and Bridge

I came back from bridge to a very welcome cup of tea.

I found this afternoon quite difficult; my partner is very easily upset, and, although she started off fine, she soon became obviously upset. I joked away and said to
S that she obviously had her scatter gun as she was hitting everyone.

As my partner becomes upset I try to keep her going and to lighten her mood. The result is that I find I am not playing as well as I should. The real crunch comes when she complains about my bidding or play. I might have managed better if I were not supporting her.

Aaaargh!

Bridge once more

Yesterday evening saw the end of a group of teaching sessions forming a bridge (pun intended) betwen the last Monday afternoons and the next ones which start on 22 September. My partner has calmed down enough to agree to return to next Monday's play and the man who has taken the recent Friday evenings is going to turn up too. He (B.) is totally relaxed and also a good teacher. I have a very high opinion of him.

"Our leader", S thinks she is a good teacher and is certainly enthusiastic about the game but is not, in fact a good teacher. I am sure she would be horrified to know that; she is so enthusiastic, but does not recognise that there is a limit to how much new information can be taken on board on one session.

Today has been a very lazy day, which I think was rather badly needed.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

I mentioned earlier that the lady who looks after the Monday afternoon group and takes a pride in being a good teacher got my partner totally stressed on Monday afternoon. She is a rather nervous person and we are trying to come together as a partnership so that we understand where we are coming from, so too much criticism of her play is not only unhelpful but actually counter-productive.

What happened yesterday? Well all the people who go to a Tuesday evening are totally relaxed and there to enjoy themselves (and win when possible of course), but yesterday evening was that we sat down at one of the tables and my partner's nemesis sat down with us. I could see that even that fact was stressing my partner and this was not helped by the fact that this lady laid in to her partner before the start, getting him to agree to play her way not his (and he is a good player). The last straw came when the lady tore in to my partner for making a bidding error when in fact she had not.

At the next two tables I could see that she was upset and crying a bit. When she was dummy at the third table she excused herself and went downstairs and metaphorically blew her nose and washed her face. She looked better when she returned and we played well after that.

But really what that lady did is quite appalling.

Now my partner will not come back on a Monday afternoon because of the stress.

The good news is that not only did we not come in bottom last week but fourth out of six. Not bad for newbies.

Bridge - and Scrabble

Today there were very few of us and so our leader got us to move round in turns. She then had a great time laying into everyone for their mistakes. She got my partner totally stressed out and another lady who is a good player replied when told the whole point of the game was to enjoy herself said "Well, I'm not enjoying it!" I must admit that, while I am happy to learn new things - and have even taken home a note of a very useful tip, I am totally relaxed about the whole thing and I do enjoy it. This is very much not to say that I don't try very hard to win.

I have a very competitive streak.

We went to look at the board for last Tuesday's scores, but they were not up, so we shall have to wait till tomorrow.

In the end we finished early and I arrived back at the ranch in time for a game of Scrabble - the first for a long time.

Bridge revisited.

Yesterday evening I went out to the bridge club again, this time for a teaching session. We are all at different stages of ability, but that can still work. Sometimes if you just keep quiet when the tutor is teaching one of the less able players you can learn something new or something that you had forgotten. It is also helping my partner and me to play as a better team.

Another late night, so I slept in this morning but still managed to get my towels all washed and dried before lunch.

It is another dull day, but not windy judging by the trees opposite.

It must be terrible for the people in the Gulf States with Hurricane Ike making landfall. I understand Galveston is now flooded. It would appear that some 20,000 people did not follow instructions to evacuate and move inland.

The Bridge Club

As I said, last night my partner and I went to the bridge club. She has long been a very nervous player and she was so scared about last night.

We decided to play East/West as North has quite a bit of extra work to do. So we arrived and saw two nice ladies sitting at one table and I asked if anyone were playing East/West there. No, so we sat down and they were so nice and friendly I could see my partner starting to relax. When play commenced, everything moves quite quickly, so there is no going over of hands afterwards and no recriminations. She found this much easier than Monday afternoons, where the slightest mistake is analysed.

So basically we enjoyed ourselves. My partner was getting rather tired by the end of the evening as the adrenaline rush subsided and I hope she got home safely - she does not live in this town, but in another, fairly close by.

Of course, I found it difficult to relax once I got home, but when I got to bed I slept like a log for about 10 hours!

Several people have asked me if I know a certain Dr Smith* who plays at the bridge club. There is another Dr smith* at the surgery I go to and when I first went I found that one had just retired and the other looked reasonably young, so I assumed they were father and son. I soon found out that they were unrelated. At one of the tables I could see the players names on their score card and lo and behold one of them was John* Smith* so I said that although we had never met I thought I knew who he was - I said "you are not James'* father". Of course he immediately knew what I meant. So that's that solved.

* obviously not their real names.

Bridge, again

It was really nasty and cold this morning, so I wore my fleece to go to bridge. By the time I came home the sun was shining and the temperature was 19 degrees.

There were fourteen pairs there, so one "pair" were ghosts. As usually seems to happen, my partner and I were playing the ghost pair at the first table. So we looked at all the hands that we would have played and bid them.

There was a bit of disagreement about a couple of the bids I made (to put it mildly). However we struggled on and the rest of the hands were fine.

Funnily enough, I think the best hands we were dealt were at the first table.

Oh well....

We finished rather late, but D made me a cup of tea when I got home. She was asking me if I did the Saturday crossword in the Scotsman newspaper and I said I didn't see it now as they changed the on-line version, so I gave it up altogether.

Now she has given me the name of the newspaper shop who deliver, so I am going back to it. It is mostly the crossword I missed, because I feel the paper has gone downhill recently but there is still one regular columnist that I like.

BRIDGE!

Yesterday, I got back from my exercise class feeling somewhat the worse for wear (we had no class last week, and it showed) and sat down at my computer, as you do!

The telephone rang and it was the secretary from the bridge club saying had I not got the message on my answering machine? Well, I use BT1571 and my current phone doesn't flash a light to show that a message had been left.

Anyway, the purpose of her call was to ask if I would like to play that evening as someone was looking for a partner.

Would I?

You betcha!

I had never met the lady before, but we had a good chat about the conventions we use, and then we were off!

I can't remember much about the hands but my overriding memory was that I kept getting hands with less than 6 points (meaning I couldn't bid).

However, on one particular hand, I opened 1 No Trump and the player on my left doubled.

Now I really don't like playing in No Trump, and 1 No Trump is the worst possible contract as it means that the points are probably evenly distributed.

Anyway, after all that, I made it!

And I bet the player who doubled bitterly regretted it as it gave us over 500 points (instead of the 90 had he not doubled).

All in all it was a good night, but, boy, you keep coming up against pairs who have played together for years, often married couples, and have reached a complete understanding over their bidding.

Friends and Bridge

Yesterday afternoion I got a telephone call from the Bridge Club Secretary, asking if I wanted to play tomorrow (Tuesday) evening; of course I was delighted, particularly when I found out it was someone I knew and liked. It is being held in a Community Hall as the Bridge Club building is closed this week.

Today I went to visit a friend of long standing, CW; we met when I went to work as a "temp" - this was after I "retired" - in the company where she was working. We have kept in touch ever since. Today she fed me the most enormous 3 course lunch and I am "stappit fu". On the way home I went to find the Community Hall and was also reassured to find plenty of car parking just next door.

Home now and sorted out the organic veg - potatoes, carrots, onions, a whole celery, broad beans, 2 courgettes (which have obviously benefitted from last week's rain), curly kale, broad beans.

No cooking this evening as I could not face another mouthful!

If it's Monday it has to be Bridge

TBSITW callled round this morning for tea and biccies and to catch up with what has been going on in both our lives.

After she left, it was on to the Bridge Club.We have not beeen doing so well on the scoring front (last week we were bottom, an all too familiar place.) Part of the issue has been that, by chance we have been getting rather a lot of poor hands, and part is that we need to play together more often.

By good chance one of the good players is starting classes on Friday 4th July.

Great!

Although I was late finishing, the Scrabble players were still there and I enjoyed a cup of tea and a biscuit with them.

Had intended making smoked trout pate after the bridge club, but I think I shall leave it for tomorrow.

This evening's meal is lovely pork sausages with potatoes, white turnip and flat beans (all organic). I still have a little of the cooked organic rhubarb left, so that is pudding.

Bridge

I had a terrible feeling that my new partner didn't care for me and was somewhat ashamed that I had played badly on Monday, so it was a pleasant surprise to have her visit today saying how ashamed she was about how she had played!

After a cup of tea and coffee respectively and getting all that out of the way we started to go through the exercises in a bridge book I have. It was good to see that we were almost always in agreement, and almost always got the correct answer. We talked through one or two things that we were rather unsure of and look forward to next Monday's game.

A Busy Day

Well, today started bright and early with a phone call - from the electrician, who said my new hob had arrived. Only a short while after he came and fitted it. I am so pleased to have it. I have said that if it gets damaged again, I shall have to get just an ordinary ceramic hob, but I would seriously miss the induction one. The electrician boiled up a couple of pans of water and could not believe how quickly they heated up. I also told him that I can put a saute pan on the hob for as much as 3 hours and it hasn't boiled dry or stuck. He said he is due to be getting his kitchen done soon - and really wants one like mine!

No sooner had he left than The Best Sister In The World came round and did a lot of work in my little garden, planting out the busy lizzies and removing a large plant that was dying. She weeded the beds and pots and took away one pot that I didn't need. I am going to buy a plant at the big garden centre tomorrow for a nice blue pot which had held lobelia which needed to be planted out. In fact there were 3 plants there, so she has arranged them together but with gaps between them. I gave her her full title above because what she did was over and above the call of duty.

Then off to play bridge. It was a most enjoyable afternoon, but would have been better if I had seen a point or two in my hand! After that, back to have tea with the Scrabble group.

So now it is time to start organising my evening meal.