Good Friday

I'll start with an apology to Gary - I mis-typed his time in the D33 Ultra when I said he just beat 6 hours - it should have been 5 hours. I've now corrected the blog.

Luca was originally due to be with us today as Gary and Carole would be working and the school would be closed, but it turns out that Carole's work is closed as well, so there was no need for him to stay with us. Carole's got a bit of the lurgy - she's hacking (not horsey-hacking) her way through the day - hopefully she'll be better by Sunday.

I've had 3 cycles this week - I was shattered when I got back from yesterday's ride - so I don't want to do too much today, but it's a beautiful morning and we're now planning to go down to Ballater to drop off some CAMRA posters and perhaps we'll take a short walk as well.

We have our first Headbang of the year tonight and the golf season officially starts tomorrow - it's the Captain v Vice Captain match, and, as usual, the forecast is wet. I've got a 2 pm tee time - hope it's dried up by then - alternatively, if it rains, please make it heavy enough to close the course. The worst case scenario is the course being open and us getting a soaking.

There's a hill walk planned for Sunday - probably Morven - but I won't be going as I'm not sure when they'll get back - they're not starting until 9:30 am because the clocks will have gone forward. I think I'll golf instead - weather permitting, of course.

I'll close with a photo from Down Under - Chris was on "my" bike and did the Lynton Trails in Adelaide:

Not long to go for Kelly now - we're waiting for news.

Back again

It's been over a week since my last blog diary. I haven't been taking many photos recently - I think they prompt me to update my blog and when I don't have any, I don't like to just post dry prose.

Now, what have I done recently? That's another problem - remembering - and that's where digital photos are great, providing times, dates and even locations occasionally. I do remember going cycling on Thursday and, on Saturday, I jumped on the bus in to Aberdeen to catch a train down to Laurencekirk, joining a bunch of the local CAMRA guys for a tour of Burnside Brewery. I had a few pints and a nice chat with the brewers and managed to get home before 6 pm - not bad going.

Gary and Luca came over to stay on Saturday night. Carole was away at one of her horsey do's and some of Gary's pals were going out for a few birthday drinks in Banchory - he went along for a short while to catch up with them, but he was on call so couldn't drink. He and Luca were gone early Sunday morning as Luca was taking part in the big Run Garioch event - he finished his 1 km run in 90-something place - a bit lower than his 60-something place last year, but there were twice as many taking part in his age group this year - well over 300. Well done, Luca! Here he is with his medal:

Talking of races, Gary did really well in the D33 Ultra the previous weekend - he finished 121st overall (out of 335) and 47th in his age category (out of 107), but, most importantly, he beat the 5 hour mark and improved on last year's time.

Sunday was Jo's birthday, of course, and this is where I was a bit remiss in not taking any photos. I didn't buy a cake either - I've got out of the habit as Gary usually bakes one, but, of course, he wasn't around on Sunday (other than for a quick breakfast). I played golf in the morning when Jo was at church and we ended up agreeing to go for a curry in the evening with Keith and Annette Gray.

Monday was cycling again - a tough one - and on Tuesday it was back to Inverurie again for our first meeting with Lucky - Carole's new "rescue" dog:

I'm planning another cycle ride this afternoon, combining it with deliveries of CAMRA posters to some of the local pubs. It's definitely feeling spring-like - the golf season starts on Saturday and the clocks go forward that evening - and, of course, everything is starting to grow: