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
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