I continue to be amazed how the curling world has become smaller in recent years. I mean this in the best of ways. It is so common now to see teams fly abroad to various countries to compete, and think little of doing so. And it's not just the top competitive sides. There is a raft of semi-competitive (read 'fun') events throughout Europe, and further afield, which attract Scottish players. This weekend, Norway's Bompi Cup in Oslo will be the venue for young (or young at heart) teams, and the event will see Eve Muirhead on the ice with Anna Sloan who will be her third player when they get together later in the season for a tilt at the Scottish Junior Championship. Fun though, is the essence of the Bompi.Edith Loudon, above, was another far-travelled Scottish curler earlier this month. Edith of course is one of the Royal Club's representatives on the World Curling Federation, so she was probably just spreading international understanding and friendship in the USA! She competed in the Wine Country Curling Club's Crush Bonspiel in Vacaville, California, and with Eric Hazard, Alan Barber and Jerome Larson, finished runners-up in the Pinot Noir event, see here!
I am grateful to a fellow curling blogger at Curl Power (here) for finding this photo of Edith in action, with credit to the Wine Country Curling Club. Check out this new blog here.
Judith McFarlane had some winnings to spend from success in last season's Mini Tour. In prospect last weekend was a trip to France to compete in the Massilia Curling Cup for the Premier Tournoi International de Curling à Marseille. Gillian Howard substituted for Fiona Steele who could not make the trip, and skipped the team with Judith as third, and Jill Macdonald and Karen Strang as the front end.
The event website is here, showing that the team finished second overall. By all accounts the competition was a great success. There's a huge gallery of photos to view if you follow the links on the event website. The photo below, of Karen, Jill, Judith and Gillian is one of these.
And Gillian sends me this one of her teammates Jill and Karen, as this month's Caption Competition:
"Right, I'll just practise my new French glowering look on Jill!" or"What big eyes you've got, Karen!"
