Facebook mystery solved

I was a little alarmed this morning when I logged on to FaceBook and noticed a few "likes" of a photo that I had, just yesterday, posted on my blog site - the latest episode of Renshaw's Chronicles (http://renshawschronicles.blogspot.co.uk/).

I thought - I didn't post that on FB - is somebody cloning me? It took me an hour or two to realise that the photo (of Jo and I at a 50th birthday party in 1998) had come from a posting I had made back in November. I guess somebody got round to liking it recently and that's why it popped up this morning, but I never understand how FB orders things - it seems to be random at times.

I enjoyed Joan Armatrading on Wednesday night - I had forgotten how much good material she had written/recorded. She was a warm, engaging personality - the complete opposite of the somewhat reticent, publicity-shy image I had of her. She appeared solo - a range of guitars and a keyboard were the only other items on the stage - but she had pre-recorded some backing sounds and visuals. She even showed us some old photos and talked about one of her first - and best attended - appearances, supporting Don MacLean in Hyde Park in 1975 in front of 85,000 at a free concert (http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/hydepark-5-31-75.html) - and we - Jo, little Lucy and I - were there! By coincidence, I had been talking to Jo about this just the day before.

The acoustics in the Music Hall are not great and Joan played a fair bit of blues/rock Hendrix-style guitar - the very thing Jo hates - she calls it the dentist's drill, so I'm not sure if she got as much out of the concert as I did. We did have a nice beer in Carriages first of all, however. Happy Chappy (Cromarty) for Jo and Young's for me.

Yesterday I went cycling in the morning and, in the evening, I caught the bus in to Aberdeen for a CAMRA committee meeting at the Prince of Wales. Poorly attended as usual, but I was back home by 11 pm - not too bad.

Today, of course, is Her Majesty's birthday - When I'm 64 - but we also had a major solar eclipse this morning and it's the Vernal Equinox - 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. Jo's been baking for the coffee morning at the West Church and that's where she is just now. I walked her along the road, taking photographs of the eclipse as we went along. The best moment came outside Taylor's when some clouds came over, just at the point of maximum eclipse, and this allowed us to view it with the naked eye:

It's the first one this century - we can only hope that we're still around for the next one.

Colin's had his hip operation and is back in the normal (not HD) ward, so that's a good sign. I'm taking Johanne in to see him this afternoon.

Jo's birthday tea will be a take-away curry in our house tonight. We tried to get in to the Tor-na-Coille, but it's fully booked. Never mind - a good second choice, I think

Inverurie news

Tuesday is the day we pick up Luca from school and go back to Gary and Carole's for Jo prepare tea for us all. In the hallway there, Carole has her rosettes from horse-riding competitions:

Not to be outdone, Gary has his running medals on display on the opposite wall:

Note the latest addition from his Ultra Marathon on Saturday - D33 - it's an old jam jar lid!

Luca's Mother's Day card was on the mantelpiece:

With the USA holiday this summer fast approaching, Gary and Luca now have their passport photos:

Carole has her pre-op for her shoulder this coming Monday - we're hoping she gets fixed soon and can be a late addition to the transatlantic holiday.

Today (Wednesday), I'm taking Colin to hospital this morning for his hip operation. Then I shuttle back to Banchory to look at a house in Bridge St with Ross, immediately after which I have to pick up Johanne and take her in to see Colin. I'll take her home and then head in to Aberdeen for the 3rd time to go to see Joan Armatrading at the Music Hall. Busy day.

Monday morning news

Since my last post, I've been for a couple of cycles - Thursday morning with The Freewheelers (http://bvetscycling.blogspot.co.uk/) and, on a glorious day yesterday, I went out on my own for a leisurely 25 kms, stopping at the old Crathes station on the Deeside Way and then at the river bank at Milton of Crathes Arts & Crafts Village, as they now style it:

I'm also planning to go out again this afternoon - perhaps to get rid of some of the alcohol calories I consumed over the weekend - I had a few beers on Friday afternoon at the CAMRA social in the Moorings, where I bumped in to Jas:

Jo was at her usual Friday afternoon swim at Westhill and then, in the evening, she was out for a meal at Banchory Lodge with her girlfriends. On Saturday, I took the early morning bus and then the train to Glasgow for my first trip to Firhill this season - a pretty full day, but it all went well - including a good Thistle win.

Whilst I was at Firhill, Gary was competing in his first ever D33 Ultra Marathon - 33 miles along the Deeside Way from Aberdeen to Banchory and back. Jo met him at the turn in Banchory and he looked amazingly fresh:

Carole says he looked a bit worse for wear at the finish - hardly surprising really - and Gary himself says that the last 10 miles were pretty tough as this was beyond the distances he had been training at. Gary's split times demonstrate this - 2 hours 15 mins at Control Point 2 (presumably the half way point) and 3h 32m at CC 2.

His finishing time of just over 5 hours put him in a very respectable 130th place out of 338 runners, many of them much more experienced than Gary. Amazing.

Gary came over on Sunday after Luca's football at Alford and he seemed to have fully recovered from his run - not how I remember feeling the day after any long runs.

Lucy was on FaceTime yesterday, as usual, and Kelly called us on Friday morning.