Being a bit a Scottish I had decided we should celebrate Burns Night in style this year and Sarah’s enthusiasm for a themed event and in particular my promise to trumpet in the haggis spurred me on. The initial floating of the idea happened one evening in January at Sarahs’ kitchen table and from there grew into ‘a bit of a do’.... We were authentic in all things and I insisted those who came would wear tartan (Sarah hated tartan!!!!) but in the name of Rabbie Burns and in the spirit of the event she agreed to find some. We had Orkney Clapshot (a regional variation on the Celtic favourite – cabbage and potatoes), tatties & neaps, vegetarian haggis (much nicer than the meat version I say!) and For pudding I made cranachan and Sarah made her now famous marmalade ice-cream (“I’ll just stir the marmalade in” – I was sceptical but it was tasty). The story really starts with me saying I’d trumpet the haggis in....I’d bought a trumpet a few years back with the intention of learning but never got round to it....and this was to be a hot topic of conversation with Sarah – had I been practicing and learned to play anything yet? In the end it got to the night before the event and I could only make rude noises (no actual tune) and so ever the cheat I downloaded the Queen’s Dragoon Guards playing Flower of Scotland. Alison rang Sarah to play her the music – holding the phone to my laptop while 100 bagpipes blasted out – “that’s fucking brilliant!!! She’s really good, I’m impressed” was Sarah’s response, thinking she was listening to me practice!!!! Al and I fell about laughing; but her faith in me being such that she thought I could have been me playing impressed me. It was the next day when there was no trumpeting in the haggis that we had to confess to Sarah it hadn’t been me playing after all. We piped in the haggis from outside on the road (my neighbours must have been wondering what was going on), addressed it (properly) and devoured it. Much whiskey, haggis and marmalade ice-cream was had by all, with promises of the same next year. We had a fantastic evening, and much to her protestations that she would do really badly in the quiz Sarah came second – her knowledge of Scotland and Scottish history being actually very good. It really was a night to remember and the first of hopefully many to come. A new tradition with be the Toast to Sarah and her crazy ice-creams.