Lesinas arrive

Half an hour early as well. I just managed to get there in time, with Ross and Jo following on. It was a lovely morning and we had tea out in the back:

Blog update

It's been a very difficult week at work - especially yesterday. We had put the workers at our canning plant on to a 3 day week last month and said we would review the situation about now. Well, we've now done that - Michael has just returned from his round the world tour of major customers and it was gloom and doom all the way. Not only is everybody cutting back, but we're also losing orders to Polish competitors and we're having difficulties in getting customers to agree to increase selling prices to compensate us for the increased price of fish that we've just bought for the year ahead! Triple whammy!

We've now told the workforce in IFC that the 3 day week will have to continue for a while and, in addition, 60 jobs will now have to go. It's been a few years since we've had to do this, and it's never easy - I just hope we can get through this year OK.

It was another lovely evening for the drive home from Fraserburgh last night and this helped to take my mind off things a bit - that and my music (last Saturday's Sounds of the Sixties). I phoned Jo to tell her I would need a large G & T when I got home!

Talking about "SotS", I've tried for 3 years in a row now to get a request in for Colin's birthday - I know he and Johanne listen to it every Saturday - but failed each time. Maybe it was my request that Brian Matthews should play the rather slow and lengthy Dylan song "Visions of Johanna" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i6NOfD48Gk) from the Blonde on Blonde album?

Anyway, Kelly and Craig are now on their way to Tenerife and the Lesinas have started their long journey over here - looking forward to seeing them all in the morning. First of all, Jo and I are going to the Milton for dinner tonight for her birthday - I bought her a new camera, but, typically, she was trying to use it upside down and then couldn't switch it on this morning! Mind you, it was early!

This was last year's flowers - did I do any better this year? Perhaps Jo will let us know?

Midweek

Jo seems OK today and I don't feel too bad. Even Ross was feeling better, although he stayed off work again because he didn't sleep at all last night.

I decided not to go to Pittodrie tonight after all, but just watch it on TV instead. I phoned Keith and we arranged to meet outside the hospital to visit Jas, who had his hip op on Monday, but we both managed to get lost - Keith actually went to the wrong hospital - Foresterhill instead of Woodend!

Jas was fine, although obviously still hirpling with the help of a zimmer frame:

Feeling sorry

Here we go - with the Lesinas due to arrive this weekend, it's par for the course that some kind of bug seems to have arrived at Arbor Court. Ross has been off work for the last couple of days and Jo's not feeling too good now - and I'm not quite sure. Let's hope it all comes to nought.

It's a factor of getting older that most conversations are about illnesses, hospitals and funerals. Right now, I have 3 friends in hospital - Robert Strang-Steel had a stroke a few weeks ago and is paralysed and still in Woodend Hospital, unable to speak; Jas Bhagrath got his new hip yesterday - he's also in Woodend; and yesterday I got a text from Dan Corbett telling me he was in hospital in Argentina having suffered a mild heart attack on his walking holiday there. What next?

Still nobody has responded to my request about how many hold bags are required for Tenerife - right now we only have 4 booked - is it going to be a bunfight to see who gets these places?

1949

As commented yesterday, one of my presents from Jo was a CD of all the hits from 1949 - the cover revealed the following events took place in the year of my birth:

and here's some of the hit recordings from that year - Syd will remember them all!:

My 60th birthday continued

I had a lovely day as the endless series of parties to celebrate my 60th reached the next stage at the golf club today (check the golf blog for details - http://bsvgolf.blogspot.com/).

After the elongated lunch, the family came back to Arbor Court for a cup of tea before heading back south - first the Hughes girls:

Then, Barry and Helen, who had travelled up to Glenshee for some hill walking before spending the night in Ballater:

I caught Jo in an apparently glum moment:

Luca had been a bit bemused by all the crowds but had stayed awake all afternoon and, by the time, he was leaving in Ross' car, his eyes were out on stalks: