Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

And Then There Were Three

by Russell Turner - 20:40 on 02 September 2018

The City Limits saga continues… Friday should have seen new singer Eileen’s debut, but a day earlier she’d backed out of the gig, and the band. Reasons were given but we reckon nerves were at the root of it. We soldiered on as a three-piece, with a more rock-heavy repertoire than the usual wedding band, and just about got away with it.

The venue was in a converted barn next to a farmhouse deep in the countryside south of Forres and Elgin, the happy couple and guests at the posher end of the social scale, which explains the frock coats favoured by some of the older gentlemen. However, we went down well despite our refusal to attempt to play You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling. (It’s a Top Gun thing – several RAF officers were in attendance.)

Twenty-four hours later we were in Ullapool, to play for a group of Triumph enthusiasts who’d ridden their bikes there from all over the UK. Unsurprisingly, the rocky repertoire went down well, although one of the biggest cheers of the night was for the young piper who made her first public appearance during the interval. Her enterprising mum opened her pipes case in front of her and the girl made almost as much money as we did.

We were booked on the spot to return next year, but whether we’ll have another singer by then, and whether I’ll still be in the band, remains to be seen. A stand-in will be sought for the five weddings we have in the rest of the year.

Two late nights, and a busy week before that, meant that today’s easy run – six weeks exactly before t’ Yorkshire Marathon – was not as easy as the previous ones. Warmth, wind and humidity also had a part to play. I completed the required 45 minutes though; on Thursday my antepenultimate long run is a minimum of 150 minutes or up to 16 miles. It’s a lot easier with a crowd willing you on.

Hopefully, by then I should be more rested, although Chatterbox stress isn’t helping: printer problems mean the next edition is already late. It will be worth the wait.

Add your comment

Your Name


Your Email (only if you are happy to have it on the site)


Your Comment - no HTML or weblinks


Enter this number in the box below and click Send - why?Unfortunately we have to do this to prevent the system being swamped by automated spam