Skipping through the nines

David Garry

"Yes at fifty!" I punched the air like a champion. What a feeling of being able to skip through the nine times table. The same experience which hit me when I mastered doing the alphabet two years ago. I have used the BBC skillwise site to get very good tips on using my fingers; to do the nine times table. I hope that this has been passed on to the teachers of today. It makes the learning of the dreaded nine time table so simple and fun. No one ever taught me to do the nine time table using my fingers. I have learned that the firs column rises by one and the second drops by one.

In a way I think this is another feather in my cap. After all it's a bit late but better than not at all. I have found the experience very rewarding. In the dark old days I got as far as three nines making twenty seven. My family address was number fifty four. I knew it was in the tables but I did remember it was nine sixes and six nines or even eighteen times three.

Afterwards at a family party, I was able to pass on my new knowledge to the adolescent members. I can't put this sensation down on paper for it was so great. It was something that I would have swerved away from yesteryear.

This has made a big difference in my outlook in life. The icing on the cake has been made possible with the support that I have received over the last few years from a dedicated team of friends. Too many to name without missing someone out. I will never forget the support and work that Andrew gave in the short time that we were honoured to have him join in and touch us all. He touched all who came into contact with him.

I pencilled this sitting in the car with the rain bouncing off the windscreen outside Soutar House, the former home of William Soutar, the famous Perth poet. I was going in to the annial general meeting of the Friends of William Soutar. I have been attending for over fifteen months now. I have enjoyed the experience greatly. story.