Double Booked

This was a conflicted day. 

At Christmas 2013, as part of my present, Cathleen gave me a voucher to use for a course at the Nick Nairn Cookery School at a date of my choosing.  Given that cookery and food have  been  life long interests  and given my strong backing when in office for the Government's food policy (which has been well supported by Scotland's celebrity chefs)  this was an inspired present but of course, political life being what it is, and particularly in Referendum year,  I never found the date on which I could actually go to one of the events at Port of Monteith.

In January I got an email telling me that unless I booked and attended by the end of March, the voucher would expire.   I quickly went on line and discover that the only date that was available was today - the 28th of March - so  I signed up for a three hour session at which the main focus was to be duck (something I have rarely cooked).

A few weeks later I got notification of the dates that SNP HQ had set for the Spring Campaign Conference  - the 28th / 29th March.   

I was faced with a dilemma as I have not missed an SNP conference in more than thirty years but a booking is a booking and if I failed to honour it then I would be throwing away the present my wife had given me.

The compromise was to do the course today and attend the conference tomorrow, and that is what I am doing.   In fact tomorrow I am also chairing the event that Alex Salmond is undertaking at the conference  to promote his new book on the Referendum so today was a good opportunity to chill out and think of something different.

The course was fantastic - interesting, informative and fun.  I would recommend it to anyone and the dish that we were all  taught to make  (Duck Breast on a potato rosti in a soup of ceps and artichoke hearts ) tasted delicious, particularly with the glass of wine provided.