Hula-hooping in the hall

We had a houseful for dinner* this evening with five guests: Jackie and Richard, who are staying with us for the weekend; my cousin Ellie, who is breaking her journey en route for a week of salmon fishing on the River Carron with other cousins near Ardgay; and Liz and Tony, who live in North Berwick. The post-meal entertainment was hula-hooping, as demonstrated by Ellie in my blip, here under the observation of Richard. Jackie also showed us that she can stand on her head.

Earlier in the day, Jackie and I did a little cooking for the evening's meal. Then the four of us cycled to Cramond following the route that includes the Shetland ponies and the last section of the River Almond from Cramond Bridge. On the way home again we stopped at the Boardwalk Beach Club at Silverknowes for a lunch of cheese and tomato toasties. Jackie enjoyed her first experience of tandem-riding.

After a rapid turnaround at the house, we headed back out again. This time we visited the Peter Howson exhibition at the City Art Gallery, with a quick whiz around some gentler landscapes in the gallery's lower ground floor. The latter served as an antidote to the violence/horror of Howson's work.

Ellie's arrival from Somerset just about coincided with our return from town. While our guests entertained one another chatting in the sitting room, Mr hazelh and I made the final preparations for dinner. Then followed fun over food at the dinner table and athletics in the hall.

*Chicken liver pâté and wheaten biscuits; cheese and prawn ramekins; lamb curry, escalivada, and rice; rhubarb fool and sponge biscuits; Green and Black chocolates with Valerian tea.

Exercise today: 14 mile bike ride; walking 10,726 steps; hula hooping.