The storm before the lull

Tuesday 17th.

I'm actually taking four days off from Thursday – the first time I have taken this much time off in maybe four years. Jane and I are flying back to sunny Bedfordshire for my youngest brother's wedding.

Meanwhile, there is no gently easing into a holiday mode for me; quite the opposite in fact. Today began with two lessons in Elgin, popping in at home to let the dogs out, dropping a birthday card round to my step-daughter's boyfriend in Auldearn, followed by a lesson in Nairn, driving to Inverness to collect some bits and pieces for the wedding, a lesson in Inverness followed by the pupil driving to Ullapool, then five lessons in Ullapool, finally finishing over twelve hours after I started.

Tomorrow is equally busy: Five tests and six other lessons, starting at eight in the morning and finally getting home just before ten at night. Don't misunderstand me – I'm certainly not complaining, I thrive on days like these. I remember a day, a few years ago, where I had five 2-hour lessons. I have to confess that, by the last lesson, I was struggling and probably didn't give the best tuition I was capable of. But, by the ninth lesson today, I still felt that the pupil was getting their money's worth.

And tomorrow isn't so daunting as might first appear: Once the examiner comes out and meets my pupil, there is nothing I can do for the next forty-five minutes. I might wander off for a coffee and maybe update this blog, or I sit in the back of the test and try to enjoy the ride. So it's not as if I will will be working eleven continuous hours.

Anyway, blah, blah, blah, boring, boring, boring..... You've heard all this stuff before.... Virtually every month in Ullapool. So I'll jump ahead to my hols...

Chris, my brother, marries the lovely Sondra in Little Horwood on Friday and, from mine and Jane's point of view, it will be the first time we have returned south of the border in over four years. Looking forward to seeing friends and family that we haven't seen in that time and looking forward to letting my hair down (all 5 millimetres of it). I do have a duty to perform: I am MC at the wedding breakfast. When I used to work at the Newton Hotel and the Bunchrew House Hotel this used to be part of my job. Initially I found this quite daunting as I was responsible for hosting the most important day (hopefully) of a couple's life. I would spend a great deal of time memorising every single detail of the day's itinerary so that there be no hiccups. I cringe when I remember one particular wedding when, just as the bride and groom were about to be piped in to the dining hall, I banged the gavel and announced “Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding and give a warm welcome to.........” I froze... I could not remember their names........ “..............the happy couple.” It was best I could come up with. Hopefully, I shouldn't have that problem with Chris and Sondra.

There's more I want to write about, but, for the time being, it is a secret from some people, so I shall have to wait until I get back on Monday.