The Next Phase of Stookie Havers – Input Needed!

As many of you know, I am now back in Toronto, Canada.  My last month in Scotland was a deliciously perfect farewell. It involved:

– A girls’ weekend of hiking and biking in Cairngorms National Park,

– A cycle around East Lothian with my friend Louise,

– Daytrips to Melrose Abbey and Dunkeld,

– A trip up to the Orkney Islands (they are the islands off the north coast of Scotland which is on the same latitude as the Hudson Bay – for you Canadians out there),

–  A hike through the beautiful Glen Affric region of Scotland and a horse show in Inverness with my friend Iona,

– A road trip with my Northfield House family to Glamis Castle,

– A final East Lothian beach walk on beautiful Tyninghame Beach, with my friends Margaret and Louise,

– And a wonderful farewell party at Northfield House where I hosted a trivia game and the prizes were my belongings that couldn’t fit in my suitcase, for example the bottle remnants for my favourite  Scottish drink – The Whiskey Mac

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With the hum of Scotland still resonating through me at perfect pitch, and reintegration into my old life in Canada looming, it seems like the ideal time to embark on an active campaign of personal re-education.  Plus, I need something to keep blogging about.  So, without further ado I introduce to you my new blog – The Re-Education of Stookie Havers.

This new blog  will be an interactive blog whereby you, my readers, can suggest ways that I, Stookie, can become a better, more interesting woman and human being.  It will be a constant, interactive, work in progress. Having said that, suggestions like “you should learn to accept yourself the way you are” are unacceptable. However, suggestions like: “you should learn to operate an outboard motor”, or “you should become an expert of French film noir”,  or “you should learn how to converse effectively with the opposite sex“, or “you should bake bread regularly“, or “you should learn how to properly punctuate lists when you are writing”, or “you should stop biting your fingernails” – these are all perfectly acceptable suggestions.

Make no mistake, I am no circus monkey, and I may not take up every suggestion provided.  Without your input though, I can’t even begin….so, please, send me your suggestions (as many as you like) through my comments page at this blog.  I will compile and record all your suggestions in my new blog. I will then take some of them on as part of my campaign of re-education, and blog about it. Your feedback and input as I progress to becoming a better, more interesting woman and human being will be greatly appreciated.

Staying Fit in Prestonpans

 

Sadly my electric blue, super-fast running shoes seem to be struggling with a bout of depression just at the moment, and sit dusty and dull in a corner of my room.  What they need probably is some good old-fashioned fresh air and exercise, but they just aren’t up for it.  Such a catch-22. So, knowing I can’t force the issue with my runners (I am a social worker after all), I made my way to the Prestonpans’ leisure centre and pool, to partake in my first Aquafit class. Not surprisingly, given it was mid morning, the pool quickly filled with pensioners who like me also clearly like their scotch pies and Bridies. “God help me and my love meat-stuffed pastry!” I thought to myself.

 

Awaiting the start of the Aquafit class, the grey haired, big bosomed matrons of Prestonpans encouragingly “och,ayed” each other as they chatted and bobbed effortlessly, with only the merest, occasional wave of a hand across the surface of the pool, (how do they do that anyway?). The instructor, surprisingly sporting a shaved head and full-body tattoos, appeared on deck to the thumping noises of his favorite club songs, and looked more the part of the rehabilitated bad boy come home to start again.

 

Prestonpans, or “The Pans”, as it has come to be known, is still considered by many to be nothing more than a rough and tumble, council house dominated tow, and negative stereotypes about the town and its people continue to abound. In truth, none of the stereotypes I have heard about “The Pans” reflect my own experience here. Welcoming and friendly, with a proud history, the town is filled, for the most part, with hard-working, community-oriented families that value humour, good conversation, and looking out for each other -Values born out of the town’s history of coal mining and it’s struggle against the ensueing poverty, when the mine was shut down.

 

                                                                                                         http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/scotland/eastlothian

 

Having said that, if all you had seen of Prestonpans was this Aquafit class you might have left with your misconceptions intack!  Still, I had a great time, and the instructor, with a cheery twinkle in his eyes, and a few jokes about ensuring our bathing suits were properly secured, put us through our paces. I am not sure what those paces were, as given his accent, the blaring/jarring dance music and the splash of water around me, I could not make out a word he said. Never the less, I diligently splashed around the pool, trying to keep up with the Women of the Pans, who can really move when they want to, and wished my runners were with me. They’d have enjoyed the class I think.

 

I was supposed to blog about Christmas and New Year’s Eve – Next time!