So: where to begin?
We travelled down to Derby on Friday arriving to register around 7.30 in the evening giving us plenty of time to find where we were camping and set up and then head back to a pub to meet up with friends from other sides.
It was a good night – although it had consequences which I shall relate shortly. At this point I hadn’t eaten much beyond a large baguette in the mid afternoon and so I’d hoped to find a chippy for supper but there were only kebab shops which I didn’t fancy. The net result was that I didn’t have anything to eat.
After a not very wonderful night’s sleep (inflatable mattress in hall surrounded by people snoring) it was up to face the world and get ready to dance. It was a lovely day and it was a nice warm walk as we headed for the pub where we were due to practice – thankfully grabbing a sandwich and an apple on the way in an attempt to get some decent nutrition into me.
A welcome cup of tea set me up for the practice dance which went really well and did our confidence no end of good, as did the genuine words of encouragement from the sides with which we where touring – particularly Sallyport.
And then it was off to The Brewery Tap where we were due to have our first competitive dance. The dance was not the best we’ve done (and not as good, I thought, as our practice dance) but was fine none the less and you can see the evidence, if you wish, on YouTube.
See what you think:
The rest of the day went pretty well and our dancing was quite good although I was feeling oddly disengaged from the process. I was particularly pleased with our dancing of Winlaton in the Traditional Dance competition which we did on the basis of a quick run through in a pub beer garden. I had been drinking tea and orange juice all day and it was only after this dance that I had a beer and then went to eat a reasonable meal in a cafe nearby.
Earlier we had watched Phil Heaton and Aubs O’Brien being interviewed by a BBC crew who were making a documentary on traditional dance and had been filming extensively through the day. Phil and Aubs were playing everything deadpan while telling the most outrageous stories – and all around the rest of us were trying hard not to laugh so loud as to be picked up by the boom mic. The Sallyport dancers on stage were seriously corpsing (left). I’m still not sure whether the crew realised just how much was being extracted.
After an exhibition dance we were done and I permitted myself another beer but by this time I was feeling distinctly odd and once, when standing up too quickly from sitting, felt as though I were about to faint. We went along to another pub where everyone was settling in for an end of competition party but I was feeling well out of it, despite drinking more orange juice, and so I called it a night early and went back to try and sleep off whatever was wrong.
And what was wrong? Well last week my BP medication was changed from 10mg per day of Lisinopril to 20mg a day of Enalapril. Only when I checked the leaflet again did I spot the stuff about avoiding alcohol which, in sufficient quantity, increases the effects of the medication. So double the dosage and then have a few pints which increase the effect et voila! the welcoming party on the Friday night had almost certainly thrown my system completely out of balance.
A good night’s sleep and I was fine and was much bouncier on Sunday! In fact I would much rather have danced on Sunday than Saturday. Mind you “good” in the context of that sleep is relative – I slept well until the rest of the revellers returned just after 03.00 at which point I put earphones in to cut out the noise and get back to sleep!
I don’t want to downplay this – we had a great weekend and did well in the competition. I enjoyed the company a great deal and came away buzzing with ideas about directions in which we might travel as Mons Meg, but it was also all a bit weird. Lys has a much bouncier account of our travels on her blog here (part 1) and here (part 2).
Since getting home I have caught up with excellent episodes of Ashes to Ashes and Dr. Who but the return to work was less happy – not because of the work but because the increased dosage of the meds. is still affecting me. Ho-hum.
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