No violence, no looting

What a week! Left Nottingham last Saturday to go to Edinburgh to take in the Fringe Festival where Niobe has been performing. I was horrified through Facebook to hear of what was unfurling in Nottingham and elsewhere) as it happened. Fortunately the problems didn't go north of the border so I was able to make the most of it. But it rained and rained. And rained. Big fat rain that wet you through, rose up trouser legs and plastered hair to face. Lovely.



The opportunities for photos were limited but I tried! I managed to pull in several shows and the beauty of this festival is that many of the shows are free. Just 3 famous names - Hardeep Singh Kohli, Simon Callow and Dave Gorman and the others were just pot luck depending on whose flyer was the most persuasive! Niobe and crew put on great performances and are still up there - their last performance was last night but they have a few days free before returning on Wednesday night to pick up their A level results on Thursday. (So nice that their minds are being taken off all that tension.)



She'll kill me for including this very unflattering photo of her as an old woman whose just handbagged the guy on the floor but it was the best one I could get. And guess whose wardrobe she got the clothes from! (NOT the shoes!)It's not easy when you're asked "Have you got any clothes for an old lady in the WI in the eighties Mum?" - And that was the best I could come up with. Plus added rain hat!



More of her group flyering...



This is one of the best parts of the time in Edinburgh when the performers vie for your presence at their shows by enticing you with bits of their performances out on the streets. I was very pleased to find, as I supped a coffee on the Royal Mile that "Out of the Blue," an a capella group, (whom some of you may have seen on Britains got Talent earlier this year)were performing on the street stage right in front of me. A great group of Oxford students causing riots of laughter and applause!



On the way home I stopped at Eyemouth on the Scottish coast for a look at the sea and a bite to eat. I found a small town united in trying to trace a young man who had gone missing last Saturday night. Police divers had been in the harbour and there were posters everywhere. The shopkeepers had pulled together offering food and drinks to searchers, the hardware store providing torches and batteries and the local printer donating the posters. The locals had set up a base in the seamen's mission from where the searches are being coordinated. Despite it being very sad, it was heartwarming that this community was pulling together to support the family of this young man in a week of so many horrors south of the border. What a contrast - just warmth, sympathy, giving, sharing and hope. Inspiring.