Tom Bombdil

I'm re-reading Lord of the Rings after a break of quite a few years.  I've always liked the way Tolkien uses different speech patterns for different characters, but until now I hadn't realised that Tom Bombadil speaks in the same metre that he sings in.

I'm not sure what metre it is, but I can sing his dialogue to the same tunes that I can sing his songs to.

Solar panels

We're having solar panels fitted by Home Sun.

The scaffolding went up yesterday and the panels are due to be installed on Monday.  Richard's busy clearing the loft today so that they'll have access.

This is one of these schemes whereby we get the panels fitted for free.  We get the electricity, but Home Sun get all the feed in tafiffs, etc.  We pay them £5 a month for maintenance of the panels (if our roof was big enough to take 16 panels, then there would be no maintenance charge).

I'm expecting us to come out ahead by at least a fiver a month, but I'll let you know how it works out over time.  I'm intending to do sensible things like only using the washing machine when the sun is shining (which is handy for drying in any case).

I'm going for the free panel option for two reasons.  1.  We couldn't afford to buy panels at present.  2.  As the company makes its profit from the subsidy on the electricity we produce, they have a clear motive to only install panels if they can make a profit.  In other words, they won't sell us panels unless our roof is suitable and it's in their interests for the panels to work well for many years.

New dancers

Last Saturday, Anonymous Morris dances at Bournemouth Folk Festival.  We were on a cold, windy, outdoor terrace, but a few hardy souls (mainly stewards) ventured out to watch.  As Henry walked past, resplendent in top hat and purple tatters, one of them was heard to remark: "I wouldn't mind dancing morris, if I could look like that."

Ten minutes later, we had them dancing in an impromptu workshop.  An hour later, they came back and joined in our next public performance.  This Thursday, all four turned up to our practice session!

Yay!  (Though you never dare count anyone as certain, until they've been to at least three practice sessions)

They're a really nice group of people.  They're keen, they're young, they're good dancers and they get on well with the existing dancers.  And one of them is learning concertina as well.

We're suddenly looking at a world where we can do dances for more than four people.  'Shropshire Morris' looks different when done with eight - the dancers suddenly have to think about the lines.

We daren't tempt fate by starting all the six and eight person dances too soon, but I'm certainly going to be checking out the notation and teaching the band the tunes.