Kicks and flicks

Sean, Finn and Angus are professional dancers. Rowan is not. Whether he is a celebrity is debatable. Yes, it's Strictly Come Dancing season once more and the boys, led by Sean, are avid followers on a Saturday night. For the results programme on the Sunday night, Sean often can't bear the tension of the "moment of truth" and has to crouch down by the wall, looking away from the telly.

On a daily basis, especially as they are snowbound in the house, there is a dance session on the top landing. Sean selects songs from his playlist on the laptop which is wired up to speakers on top of the bookcases on the stairs. He then announces the dance, be it a jive or a Charleston or a samba, and the boys, with Angus loving the mayhem despite being regularly barged to the floor, cut loose. Rowan is a favoured partner for Sean because he can be lifted and swing about and is quite happy to take that role. Some of their moves are quite impressive. Some, like when Sean drops Rowan on his head, aren't.

At least the boys work up a sweat with their dancing. There's little else to keep them active in snowy Swanston as they have been reluctant to go out. The school has remained shut, although Sharon did get the wee two off to Fairmile nursery on Thursday and Friday. Sean and Finn have discovered Cluedo and have been really enjoying playing it. As it was my game as a child (and probably inherited at that) I was impressing upon them how they were able to play it with its full complement of pieces. So many of their toys are scattered to all corners of the house, admittedly due to the magpie-like tendencies of Angus and Rowan, resulting in Lego sets that can't be rebuilt or games that are missing vital pieces. And Christmas is looming, meaning even more bits and pieces to add to the mix.

I finally made it into work on Wednesday by virtue of slow bus journeys. There is only one lane in and out of town so all traffic can only go at the pace of the slowest bus, stopping at each stop and blocking the road. The upside is there are plenty of buses, with several routes re-directed to Fairmilehead. So, it looks like plenty of travelling time until a thaw arrives.