WE ALL have breakfast – the muffins are good – and chat for a while before Matty packs all his bags and heads off.
I spend some time playing guitar in the studio then go theorists more music submissions before auditions to make a list of potential tracks for tomorrow’s (Sunday) Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues on rock.scot.
After lunch and a break to transfer some coriander from the hydroponics to a grobag I get back to the studio warmer the rest of the day races by before I even get the chance to get out a walk!
UP EARLY – I prepped sourdough yesterday and get it in the oven then deal with some emails and stuff while it bakes….and cools.
There’s a load of music submission to listen to and see if there’s anything I should be including on Sunday’s radio show then I get busy with a sign I’m trying to arrange in Logic Pro. I generally use Universal Audio’s Luna for all my recording but I act Logic as part of Apple’s Creative Suite and keen to keen about/try out some of it’s features.
I have no experience of using Logic so it’s kinda frustrating and time-consuming but, I hope, will be worth the effort.
Before I know it the day’s gone and I head back to the house to make some Italian sausage sugo and some pasta dough for later. I also prep some dough for breakfast muffins that I’ll get made tonight so I don’t have to be up at 6am!
While the sugo is simmering on a low heat and the dough resting I go for a wee walk…then home and dinner.
FRIST job of the day is to dig back and see when I courage the Ninja Woodfire that seems to have gone on the blink.
Can’t find any login or account details on the Ninja website which isn’t great news – if the unit is registered it has a two-year warranty, and unregistered is only one year. I bought it on 1 November 2024. I’d be very surprised if I didn’t register it…I raise a support ticket in the hope they can guide me on next steps.
One of my websites – love-Balmaha.co.uk – Is throwing up an insecure recognize when the www-prefix is used….it’s OK when it’s not. Weird. I’ve checked and re-checked DNS records, given changes more tab enough turn to propogate and still the problem persists. I try deleting the SSL certificate and installing afresh one and….problem solved. Phew. Thought I was going mad.
Next job it to create a simple one-page info/contact web page for Mikey’s domain. He’s had a domain for a while but only used for his email…this, while being very basic, is at least better than a ‘page not found’ or ‘this discovery is parked’ message of anyone’s curious to check it out. I add some SEO in the chance that it might generate some enquiries/work for him.
It’s about 1pm when I spot an email from a pending online guitar student checking that I’m OK for a 2pm lesson…luckily I am and send off a Zoom link for the session. I’m caught off guard as I’d emailed with various days/times (including today at 2pm) but never heard back! Her partner had indeed made a bank transfer yesterday but I thistle that was fir his own next lesson.
Comms confusion averted, we have a good session and book her in for another session once week.
Matty arrives mid-afternoon – he’s staying a couple of days – and I get busy in the kitchen marinading some chicken thighs in lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and fish sauce to go on the grill later.
I’ve used all the garlic though – and I need more for the nuoc cham sauce to go with the grilled lemongrass chicken and rice noddles. I drive to the village and pick some up.
Back home I have some video to edit in the studio then I go back to the house, light the charcoal and get grillin’...
WHEN I get back to the house after an online session with a hottest student Margaret is on an online meeting worth the accountant for the community trust.
I need to go into Glasgow for shopping and fuel but first I need to get the pork belly on the smoker. Betty and Liz are coming for dinner tonight.
Once everything set up and going I fed into town. Wasn’t meant to be a particularly nice day but it’s sunny and roasting hot.
First stop is Chan’s for some Japanese BBQ sauce to go with tonight’s BBQ pork and lemongrass for a new recipe I wanna try. Net Tesco then Costco fuel before Costco itself.
In between the stops I see there’s something weird going on with the temperature in the smoker. ‘Cos there’s just one slab of pork belly and I was gonna be out and about all day I thought I’d use the electric smoker (Ninja Woodfire XL Pro). A couple of weeks ago I was gonna suit for forcefulness and it threw up an error code and wouldn’t so use the ‘proper’ smoker….subsequently it started to work again – or so I thought – although it acted a bit weird when I did some smoked and reverse-seared steak last week.
Anyway, from the app connected to my thermometers it looks like it only got up to about 130F – target pit temp for the pork belly is 225F – which tarted coolign down. Eek! I call Margaret and get her to restart but next time I check in on the temperature same thing’s happening. It’s clearly goosed.
Margaret has never set up the charcoal smoker and various fans etc to control the temperature…and there’s not enough time now anyway…I call and get her to preheat the kitchen oven to 225F and move the pork belly. There should have been enough smoke in the Ninja to give it some BBQ flavour….
I’m the way home I call again and ask Margaret to spritz the pork then wrap tightly in butcher paper, so when I get back all’s under control and it looks like it’ll be ready on third tome to be out the oven and rest before dinner time.
UP AND organised early – we’ve got someone coming to service our heatpump sometime between 8am and midday.
Of course no-one shows up at 8am so I take some town to get a nicely established tomatillo plant out the hydroponic station and into a grobag outside, I get some dough day we have fresh bread for lunchtime then prep a slab of pork belly to go in the smoker tomorrow.
Good to have all that stuff out the way before I hit the studio and get to play around with some guitar and production ideas. The heating engineer calls around 11.15am to ask if he can take another job just now and come to us in the afternoon. Margaret says no…and quite rightly so as she has places to be in the afternoon.
My midday guitar student arrives just as the heating engineers pulls up…and is away by the time I’ve finished our guitar session in the studio.
After lunch I parcel up a bunch of gig posters to be parceled up, print postage labels and arrange for them to be picked up tomorrow (Wednesday).
There’s still some email accounts relating to the web host changeover that need to be sorted out so I spend some time on that then marinade some pork for the grill later on. I’m just cleaned up when my early evening guitar student arrives….
BELIEVE it or not, I'm up before the kids so I'm ready for an early Zoom session with a new guitar student.
The session goes well then I have breakfast before another online lesson. Magi and Joel bring the dog, Rosie, for the kids to look after for an hour or two and they go a walk up to Manse Bay.
I have a video blog to edit so I can spin it into tonight's Wildcats' livestream and a few other bits and bobs to get done in the studio.
It's a nice day out there – Margaret's taken the kids swimming and I've managed to get on top of things by the time they get back so get the kids out on the paddle board for a wee while.
When we get back Margaret's lost the house key. Mmmmm...I manage to get a window open (don't ask how!) and Aaron climbs in and unlock the door. The kids have some dinner and Catriona comes to collect them...when she's leaving Margaret spots the lost house key outside on the ground. Phew!
After a few computer hassles I manage to get set up for the Wildcats' livestream and all goes fine...no clusterfucks - technical or otherwise!
Margaret decides to paint the end wall of the house
AFTER breakfast Betty starts packing her stuff to back home – I hit the studio to get some prep done for the radio show.
Although my radio show doesn’t go out live, it’s also not really a ‘pre-record’ – although it seemed a strange way to do things at first the station’s playout system is a good to reproduce a program and I quite like the way it all works. Bottom line, though, is that I need to have all my songs in a row. I get busy.
I have a late lunch in the garden then help Margaret out a little bit– she’s decided to paint the end wall of the house.
After some time working on guitar stuff in the studio I go out for a nice long walk then back home and back to the guitar 🙂
THERE'S some tax and national insurance stuff to be sorted out so I get logged into my account and. deal with it. Good to get it out the way as it's been popping up on the to-do list and kept getting re-scheduled.
In the studio get another song form the XS Fest edited then move to the office to pack posters and get them sent off for various upcoming shows. I realized a while back it's a lot cheaper – and better – to roll through posters up for voting rather than send them in large A3 card-backed envelopes. The posters are on good quality card stock tho', so don't roll that easily...and not tight enough to go in a poster tube. The tubes are great for one or two posters, but not a whole batch!
There's some pork and turkey thigh mince in the fridge needing made into breakfast patties – still few days to go before the 'use by' date but we need 'em for tomorrow's breakfast so a batch is duly knocked up and the extras put in the freezer.
Margaret needs some forms picked up at the post office in Balloch so I go post everything off, get the forms and some shopping and drop off some other posters for the Kilmaronock Old Kirk fundraiser on the way home.
Back home I get the final video edited form my set at XS Fest and then start pulling together all the other video clips from the trip to start editing up a video blog. Hopefully I'll gets 'em time over the weekend to finish it.
Meantime, there's some more new music to check out for possible inclusion on Sunday's radio show....amongst it I find some promo for an 80-year-old Aboriginal lady blues player who's about to tour the UK and Ireland. Fascinating stuff...and some tracks are perfect for my show 🙂
Dinner's almost ready when I go back to the house. I'd hoped to get out for a walk earlier and now I'm almost out of time...I manage to get out for a quick wander.
AFTER breakfast I finally – I think – get the email sending debacle sorted. Been a bit of a job!
There's loads of admin stuff to be done in the studio and I just get finished when Fiona roils up...the sun's broken through and we're going for a paddle. I take the drone and we get some video clips.
It's well after 2pm when we get back – Fiona goes to check in guests at the B&B and Margaret, Betty and I have a late lunch in the garden.
I have a 4pm meeting on Zoom that lasts just over an hour then I tackle the European shipping cost changes to the merch store on this site as well as my West Highland Way Gifts and Love Balmaha sites. Royal Mail is now charging an upfront customs fee of £3 per item going to Europe. Thank you again, Brexit!
Once that's out the way I get busy with editing some video from the XSFest...I need to get two remaining songs edited so I can move on and edit up a vlog of the trip and contain some clips from the tracks already edited.
A NINE o'clock session with a Zoom guitar student is followed immediately by an in-person lesson.
Once they're all done I deal with the day-to-day routine stuff in the studio then do a little prep for Sunday's radio show – I go through submitted music and start gathering other stuff for my playlist.
After lunch I prep the beef for tonight's Vietnamese beef and make some scallion oil garnish. The beef can marinade in the fridge 'til I light some charcoal later.
Back in the studio I sort some audio interface/software issues and mess with some recording ideas. I still can't get Logic's 'session players' to work in any meaningful way so I stick to guitar and work on new material.
My afternoon student cancels – and won't be back 'til after the summer holidays....maybe just as well as the the email debacle continues – for some reason we can send emails from all our accounts...but replies to incoming emails won't send. Somehow they seem to be using the old outgoing. mail server details rather than the new ones that are in the settings. Weird. I spend the next three hours trying to solve the problem.
When Margaret gets back from her community trust meeting I get the charcoal lit and we all have dinner then Margaret and Betty watch the second half of the football while I get on with some other work.
MARGARET’S off early to Edinburgh to meet Les and get her hair done. I’m not long finished breakfast when Betty arrives – she’s coming to stay for a few days while some work’s getting done in her house.
We have a coffee and she heads out and I hit the studio.
One of my regular guitar students is coming earlier during the holidays and is done by lunchtime.
Betty’s and sit in the garden with her book and after I’ve had lunch and re[potted some basil out the hydroponics and into a grobag I get back to the studio.
There’s video to edit then I need to work on recording some song ideas…keen to try Logic Pro and see if the ‘session’ drums, bass and keyboards can help me flesh out some ideas. Can;t get it to work the way I want tho’…and somehow can’t get the audio interface to work with Logic.
I get a walk up the lochside before my late afternoon guitar students arrives then once all’s done head back to the start and make some wild garlic pasta dough. I’ve just got it mixed and the first kneading done when Margaret gets back and has some shopping to be put away.
FIRST job of the day is uploading the audio file of last night’s radio show to my Mixcloud then posting the playlist around my socials and stuff.
I manage to get that all done before a session with one of my online guitar students.
The email debacle continues and I think I have most of it sorted now…albeit there’s still down odd things happening. Hopefully it’ll settle over the next few days.
There’s a bunch of stuff to sort for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream – and video to be edited form last weekend’s show at the XSFest.
I’m pretty much done in town for a walk up the lochside before the livestream…
I film a teaser for tonight's radio show and a wee bit of the new guitar idea...
AN UNEXPECTEDLY nice day (actually, I don't know what I expected!) and we have breakfast out in the garden.
The email debacle caused by changing the website DNS records to point to a new host is needing some attention and tales a good few hours that I hadn't bargained for.
Betty and her pal Liz – who's visiting from Aberdeenshire – are coming along for dinner later so I prep some mince for smash burgers then take a trip to the shop to get some other supplies.
In the studio I finish all the prep for tonight's Dave Arcari's Deep Blues show on Rock.Scot then make a wee teaser video for the show. While I'm at it I film a clip to use in a reel featuring some of the new guitar ideas.
When Betty and Liz arrive I get some charcoal going and make the burgers...all turns out pretty good 🙁
UP EARLY(-ish!) to get the dough for my weekend rolls made up and sit up in bed drinking coffee, dealing with emails and my socials while dough rests and proves. Then it goes in the oven….and out to cool on a rack.
By the time I’m out the shower and salt with some other routine stuff the rolls have cooled enough and we have breakfast even though it’s now closer to lunch time!
I spend some time in the studio going through a load of music submissions and messaging some folks to let them know I’m planning to play their track on tomorrow’s (Sunday)Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues show on Rock.Scot. Then I start gathering a bunch of other tracks that I might play. This is possibly the most time-consuming part of producing the show.
In between times I notice that some emails haven;I sent from my phone…and the annoying that these were up in sent from haven’t received any mail today. Mmmmm…I know I pointed the nameservers for all my websites to a new host but that shouldn’t affect the email service at the orginal company. Or should it? I’ll investigate later.
I stop off on Clairinch for a chill in the hammock (look carefully!)…great spot!
ANOTHER nice day so I set up office in the garden.
I pack up a merch order from West Highland Way GIfts and take it to the postbox then spend the rest of the morning migrating. The rest of my websites to a new hosting company.
I’d planned to go for a paddle after lunch but it’s so bot I decide to wait ‘til later.
Instead, I cut the grass then wait for my afternoon guitar student and his mum. We sit outdoors for the lesson and once done I gather my stuff and go for a paddle.
The windy app suggests it should be calm on the loch, but once I’m out the bay it’s a lot windier and choppier than I expect. I land on Clairinch and chill for a while in the hammock before venturing back home.
A BIT of a late start to the day but the sun’s shining and I set up office in the garden.
One of today’s jobs is to start migrating websites from one hosting company to a new one which has next home to this website for a few months. It’s not a particularly difficult job, but there’s lots of potential steps that, if not managed carefully, can cause disaster!
While the first two sites are migrating I go for a swim then we have a late lunch.
I take advantage of the nice weather to tackle a few bits and bobs in the garden then spend a little time in the studio working on new song ideas.
Late afternoon we head to the national Park HQ in Balloch for the board election count…I have no great expectations of winning the vote for our ward and, as it turns out, I don’t – but it’s an interesting evening and nice to catch up with folks.
MARGARET”S away early to look after the grandkids…and I have an online guitar lesson first thing.
It’s a lovely day outside so once ‘my got some of the routine stuff and new music for the radio show out the way I go back to the house and set up office in the garden.
I set up ticketing and a Facebook event for a fundraiser show I’m doing for Kilmaronock Old Kirk Trust on 3 October – it’s a thank your them giving us the place for a week last Spring to film videos for all the singles off the Still Friends album.
The tomatillo plants in the hydroponic unit need planted out – they’ve got too big and the best one has broken at the base of its stem. I’ve kinda fucked things up a bit this year with late planting and only having one planted out and flowering…to get fruit there needs to be at least two plants.
After lunch I make some chimichurri – Betty’s coming for dinner tonight and I’m going reverse sear some flank steak.
In the studio I spend some time trying to ‘refine’ a new song idea…I really need to get some new stuff written and recorded.
AFTER breakfast I hit the studio and create an audio file from Sunday's radio show – I usually record it when it goes out but we were away on Sunday. Luckily, rock.scot keeps the last two shows on their listen again section of each presenter’s profile so I can play it from there and make Quicktime audio recording.
The two-hour show has to record in real time, so while it’s doing it’s thing I organise all the video clips from the weekend’s trip and dump them onto the computer.
There’s some other bits and bobs to get done in the studio, some drone firmware updates to be done then I nip to the village for a swim.
When I get back I edit the audio file of my radio show and upload it to my Mixcloud along with the playhouse then spread the link round my socials.
My afternoon guitar student arrives bang one ten and we have a good session then I go back to the studio and make a quick video to tape as a reminder for folks to cast their vote – hopefully for me! – in the National Park board elections. The ballot closes on Thursday…and the vote count on Thursday evening.
I spend some time going through music submissions in case there’s anything suitable for my show that I want to play then go back to the house and get some Italian sausage pasta on the go.
BREAKFAST at the hotel finishes at 9.30am so we’re downstairs to meet Dai and Liza by 9am. We have a good breakfast and blether, say cheerio and pack the rest of our stuff.
We’re ok the road soon after 10am and Margaret does the first driving shift. In the passenger seat I do my blog, check emails and socials and post my playlist frorm last night’s radio show.
Over the border into England we stop for a coffee and I take over the driving for a couple of hours…then we swap again. I’d hoped to get home in time for a Wildcats’ livetream on Facebook but that’s not going happen so I post in the groups saying ‘normal’ service will resume next Monday.
We stop off at Costco in Glasgow for fuel, a snack and some shopping…then Tesco…then on to home where we roll up around 9pm.
I’M STILL a bit tired when we wake up….Margret has a pretty severe hangover!
We have breakfast then make for the festival site, stopping en route for a snack. Liza and Dai are staying at the same hotel as us in Pontypool so we collect them and then all go back to the festival site together.
Load-in to the back of the marquee is easy as we’re able to drive right into the backstage area then we collect passes and meal and drink tickets and hang out for a few hours before my stage time.
Most of the other acts – metal and punk bands – are playing 30-40 minute sets but yours truly has an hour-long set. I really enjoy playing but it’s really wam and I’m pretty done in by the time I finish. I pack most of my set backstage then we have something to eat and a drink before loading out and heading back to the hotel.
I WAKE early but stay in bed drinking coffee, dealing with emails and my socials before I get in the shower.
In the office I make some support ‘struts’ out of Perspex for the display cases that hold the.guitar pins and pendants. Margaret had been using the dividers from the cases but someone helping tidy up shortest last show folded them ad now they’re useless!
Turns out we’re low on leather bracelets too so I start a batch with a new design…once the leather’s engraved and cut it needs cleaned then it has to sit for a while to dry before I ‘skive’ the edges to make them smoother. Next they have to be dyed – I’m doing red, purple and grey – using an airbrush and once the dye has dried I brush on some redolent to protect the leather. Especially the engraved areas.
FInally the edges need burnished and then the snap fasteners added. Quite a process – and the selling price barely covers the materials so it’s definitely a labour of love.
By the time I’m done it’s time to go to the Waterfront to take some snaps – and American duty got in touch a while back to ask if I could take some pix as he was planning to surprise his girlfriend with a marriage proposal. I worked out an agreeable plan so as not to spoil the surprise. Luckily the rain stays of and eveything goes to plan.
Back down I sort the images and send the client a link then get all the gears sorted and packed for an early getaway in the morning.
A walk up the lochside…and ten minutes to relax and enjoy the surroundings
THERE’S some brass guitar pins to be made to replenish the merch case for Sunday’s XS Festival in South Wales. I get production started and also look out some insulated tumblers and cups that are already engraved…. and put aside a couple of trekking flasks to engravelater.
In the studio I start the pre-record of Sunday’s radio show – and don’t stop ‘til I’ve got it in the bag. Fingers crossed it all plays OK on Sunday evening!
While I’ve been recording various bits and bobs I need for Sunday’s show have been charging…now it’s time to run through some of the songs that I struggled to remember (lyrically) the other day. Ooooffftt!
It’s windy outside, but no rain. Having got most of today’s to-do list out the way I got a wander up the lochside and take the hammock…stopping on my return journey for ten minutes’ chill time listening to the waves and watching the clouds form the hammock. No bed for a bug net ‘cos of the wind…and the whole thing takes less than a minute to put up and take down. Amazing!
Back in the office I finish off the batch of brass guitar pins and get the pins and backs sorted out before tacos for dinner.
MARGARET has a meeting at 8.30am and sleeps in…to be woken at 8.45am asking if she’s coming! The annoying thing is that I’ve been up since 6.30am and would have them her long ago – but for some reason I thought her meeting was 10.30am.
Luckily it’s a local meeting so after a mad panic she’s off…and I get some stuff done before my guitar student arrives.
Betty’s coming for dinner later and I have a slab of pork belly ready for the smoker. The electric smoker’s throwing up an error code so I rush around getting the kamado set up with wood and charcoal. No sooner do I get it all going and the pork belly on than the electric smoker decides it’s human work. Ah well.
I set the grill cleaner cover to print on the 3D printer then head to it studio for some prep for Sunday's radio show…which is gonna have to be pre-recorded before we head to South Wales on Saturday.
The rain’s hammering down outside and I take a break from choosing tracks to rehearse some of the stuff I might play at the XS Festival on Sunday evening.
I’D HOPED for a paddle this morning but it’s absolutely tipping it down. Instead I hit the studio and make some promo videos for my show on Rock.Scot and send them off.
Next job is to make an info/landing page on my website for the radio show. It makes sense to have some local to the radio stuff. You can see it here.
After lunch the rain’s off so I get Margaret to drive to the village to pick up a prescription and I walk back. Narrowly avoiding getting caught in torrential rain.
Back home I prep the sourdough dough for tomorrow’s bread, trim and rub a slab of pork belly for the smoker (tomorrow) and pickle some red onion to go with tonight’s tacos.
In the studio I mess about with the new song idea and record a very rough version. For some reason none of the reverb plugins are working in my DAW (digital audio workstation)…everything else is showing up and despite a load of online searching I don’t find a solution. Nevermind, it’s not crucial. I make a wee video with a bit of the recording in it and post it to my Wildcats’ Facebook group.
I used up all the limes making the pickling liquor for the red onion and there’s no coriander so I take a drive to Balloch and raid the supermarket for supplies. We eventually have our tacos around 10pm!
AFTER breakfast I finish designing a wee bracket to hold a swivelling curtain rail (don’t ask!) and send it to the 3D printer.
I manage to get another few things off the to-do list before a mid-morning session with one of my online guitar students. Once done we go to the village for a swim and get back home in time for lunch.
There’s some music to go through for next Sunday’s radio show which will need to be pre-recorded as I’m playing the XS Fest in south Wales next Sunday’s easy show night.
I take a break, plug in a guitar and see if I can develop the guitar part for the new song idea I’ve resurrected. It’s I can knock it into some kind of shape I’ll run it past the Wildcats’ during tonight’s livestream.
Next I find some unused video from recent shows and edit up a couple of songs to spin into the livestream,
I’d hopped to get a walk up the lochside, but I’ve note left much time so end up just having a quick walk to the old pier and back…then it’s livestream time.
ONCE I’ve finished all the prep for tonight’s radio show I can start looking at things and stuff for next week’s show which needs to be a pre-record as I’ll be getting ready to go on stage at XS Festival in South Wales when my show goes out next Sunday.
After lunch I take the two big basil plants out the hydroponic system and pot them up. Once goes in the poly greenhouse thing in the garden and the other on the kitchen windowsill. Curious to see if one does better than the other.
Back in the studio I spend more time on the new song. It’s coming together but I’m still getting the vocal line and guitar off a bit mixed up timing wise. The problem isn’t so because song, it’s my timing!
I start compiling a list of potential tracks for next week’s pre-recorded show…then I film a wee promo for tonight’s broadcast and share it round my socials as well as the Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues Facebook page.
There’s time for a quick walk before tonight’s radio show goes live at 7pm….
STRAIGHT into the studio after breakfast…a few ‘studio-centric’ things on today’s to-do list.
There’s still some music submissions to go theorists before I can start any serious prep for tomorrow’s (Sunday) radio programme – plus, I’m playing a show in South Wales – XS Festival – next Sunday (5 July) so I not only need to prep for next week’s radio programme and sort out a pre-record.
With the XS Festival coming up I make some cover art for my Facebook page and profile and post it around then message the South Wales folks on my email and Bandsintown lists.
I spend some time messing with the ‘new’ song idea then get back to some radio prep until it’s time to head off to Gartmore for dinner at Duncan and Irene’s.
I WAKE in a panic thinking the XS-Fest in south Wales is this weekend…it’s not, it’s next weekend.Phew!
Makes me realise I won’t be around for next Sunday’s Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues on Rock.Scot – so as well as all the prep for this week’s show, I need to prep and pre-record next week’s show…and I have a busy week coming up. I hit the studio.
The rest of the morning is spent gathering potential tracks for Sunday – going through my own music collection and listening through all the submissions. Most of the submissions are good stuff, but only a tiny percentage fits with the kinda stuff I play on my show.
I’m not sure if folks submit music without even looking to see what I play…or whether their music is more mainstream than they think. Or maybe they know it’s not a good fit but think “he might play it anyway”…!
The new song idea that I’ve been messing around with for ages – the guitar bit, not lyrics – gets some attention. The stumbling block has been getting any kind of top line melody to fit around a one-chard repetitive, full country-style guitar part. Any chord changes ruin he hypnotic, droning feel I’m looking for and while a sung melody is gonna be pretty simple and sparse it’s hard coming up something to fit. From a melodic rather than a lyrical viewpoint.
I persevere and make a little progress then go for a wander up the lochside.
ANOTHER nice day and after the routine stuff’s out the way we decide to go to the village for a swim.
We stop off en route to visit some pals and their new baby and drop off a gift…then on to the swimming.
The good weather brings opportunity to get some stuff in the garden done before going abck tot he village for an appointment at the doc. He refers me to dermotology. While there I get him to take a look at my right ear – it started to feel a bit off the other night and I thought I maybe had a bigger bite or something inside. It’s not painful but I’m increasingly aware of A mild discomfort.
A quick look and the doc can;t see anything but says to keep an eye on it.
I’m home in time for my guitar student arriving then, after the lesson, we head of to a local energy club info meeting at the village hall.
Back down I light some charcoal and get the grill going for some chicken and Betty joins us for dinner.
Later on I spot an email from one of the halls on Mull we’ve booked for a show at the end of September. They’ve double-booked. Jeez, this is a pain as it means we have to move the whole trip…and all the time I;ve spent setting up ticketting and creating the required graphics is down the tubes. Back to the drawing board in the morning….
SOURDOUGH day so an early rise to get it in the oven then it cools on a rack while I go to the studio for a session with an online guitar student.
Back to the house, breakfast, then I top up the water and feed in the hydroponics in the office. I’ve got tomatillos in one that are nearly ready for potting. It’s a bit late this year ad I should probably have put them in the bigger hydroponic unit so they could stay in there permanently. Ah well. The bigger unit has a couple of good looking basil plants, another on the way and some coriander that’s just germinated.
Next job is weedkiller then I mix some dough to make hotdog buns for lunch.
In the studio I start setting up ticketting for the shows on Mull at the end of September then the dough for the hotdog buns is ready to go in the oven,
By the time I’ve messed around making the buns lunch is a bit late….worth the wait tho’. Margaret misses out ‘cos she’s in Glasgow…but there’s a couple left for tomorrow.
I check and prep the bike for a bike ride to Balloch….not been a proper bike ride for newly a year. Today the weather is good, I have some time and there’s some merch to be delivered…so a bike ride to Balloch ticks all the boxes.
I’m not long home and enjoying a drink in the garden (despite the worst hay fever attack I’ve since I was a kid) when Margaret gets back. She’s picked up some shopping while she was out so we put it away then I have a Zoom session with some fellow wait presenters from the IBBA (Independent Blues Broadcasters Association).
I RE-FILM my ‘remember to vote’ in the National Park board election and post around various local groups and socials. I doubt I’ll win the race, but it’s worth a shot and I’d welcome the opportunity to represent the communities in our area on the park board.
AFTER a Zoom guitar session I have a list of diverse things on the to-do list.
First job is to ‘self-tape’ an audition for an advertising campaign. I got an email from a casting agency to say I had been shortlisted and asking for an audition reel. I set up as best I can, get it filmed and submitted. We’ll see if it goes anywhere.
I make steamed hirata buns with caramelised pork, pickled cucumber and hoisin for lunch then get back to the studio to film a special birthday video that someone has requested.
Margaret has a local community trust emergency general meeting (EGM) this evening and need some help sorting a projector. I look out all the cables and get it all working then back to the studio. Next job is some ‘reminder’ videos to help canvas some votes in my bid to join the national park board.
I get something done but not convinced it’s right….I’ve run out of time ‘cos I need to go to this EGM so I’ll pick up on it in the morning.
THE KIDS wake us up early bringing me Fathers’ day cards from Catriona and Will…and themselves 🙂
After breakfast I go to the studio and do some more prep for tonight’s radio show on Rock.Scot
Fiona and Neil rock up just after 11am to go for a paddle. It;s a nice day and we head over to Port Bawn…they carry on and, being a bit tight for time, I make for home.
I sit in the garden with the kids then go back to do my final prep for tonight’s show.
Everything’s ready come showtime and it all seems to go fine. While clusterfucks are a feature of my livestreams, I’m not quite sure they’d be tolerated on the radio!
THE dough for my weekend rolls is ready just before my Saturday morning guitar student arrives.
After the lesson I do some final finishing on the audiopoint info panel – a bead of clear silicone round the front and back of the mounting gasket. Once it dried I’ll do the last bits.
I have a fair bit of stuff to do in the studio including prep for tomorrow’s radio show…then, when the silicone beading has dried, I go to the office and attach the mounting brackets and make a giant jubilee clip.
I’m just finished when Catriona and the kids arrive….I go down and fit the panel to the audiopoint. It fits perfectly 🙂
Back home I hang out with everyone then get a get a message from Betty saying she’s going to see her panel…I meet here there and take some pix then she comes up to the house for a drink in the garden.
Later on when the kids are in bed I make pizza – caramelised onion, mushroom and thyme – and we spend a nice hour or so outside.
MIKEY leaves just after breakfast and Margaret has a meeting about the local place plan.
I hit the office and realise that in my haste to get the mounting bracket things for the shoes of the audiopoint info panel done I forgot to add a notch so they’ll for flush with the main seal that will fit between the wooden panel and the metal body of the audiopoint. I go back to my Tinkercad designs, make the necessary changes then send them to print.
Meantime, I fix the main seal/gasket gasket in place on the panel then hit the studio.
I go through a load of music submissions to see if there’s anything suitable and interesting for Sunday’s radio show…I start some euro so I don’t have a last minute panic!
After a break to make some pizza dough for tomorrow (Saturday) I get busy making up a couple of ‘Dave Arcari’ mugs for a merch order. I’d run out of ‘regular’ mugs when the merch order came in and ordered more yesterday…they arrived earlier today, less than 24 hours here I ordered ‘em!
I press some tofu for dinner later then go back to the studio to work on some sounds.
It’s after ten when I get back to the house and make tofu in ginger, garlic and soy…it’s ready in time to watch the football. I’m not a football fan but despite the disappointing result, quite enjoy it.
PRIORITY job today is to design and print the mounting system for the wooden audio point info panel I've been working on.
We take the panel and the angle measurement tool I 3D printed tot eh audio point and measure up...then back home to design the mounts. I start with the one for the top and when I;m happy, send it to the 3D printer.
It's gonna take about three hours to print so we go for a swim then home for lunch. Still some printing time to go so I start designing the side mounts which have some fine angles to take into account. I'm using Tinkercad as it's very simple and easy to use on the iPad...it's not feature-rich but it's intuitive for a newbie like me. That, along with Nomad sculpt are my two go-to 3D design tools.
My 3D printing has been 99% functional problem solving or creative since I got the wee Bambu A1 Mini almost a year ago. A £140 marvel of technology. So far I've made replacement toilet seat 'pads', the gasket and (almost!) mounting system for the audio point info panel from soft TPU filament; clothes drier ground cover, replacement section for a broken garden table leg, various tools and masters for casting a penguin paperweight and some jewelry ideas from the regular PLA filament. The only pre-made 'nonsense' I've printed is a fidget thing to clear out the PLA when changing filament.
So in. less than a year I've made enough stuff to more than cover the cost of the printer, filament and stuff plus – more importantly – learned a fair bit about 3D design and sculpting...and had some fun.
Margaret goes off to host a localomplace plan drop-in session at the village hall – after my afternoon guitar student leaves I take a walk to the hall and hang out for the last hour or so of the event. Nice to see some folks and catch up.
Back home we have dinner then Mikey arrives – he's making an impromptu overnight stay...
WEDNESDAY…my new ‘sourdough day’…I’m awake and up early to get it in the oven so it’s baked and cooled in time for breakfast.
I’ve not allowed quite enough time for it to cool – best practice says an hour, so I adhere strictly to that advice – so I have to go to the studio for my guitar guitar student of the day before breakfast.
Worth the wait, though – then I get busy working out how I’m gonna measure up the audiopoint info panel so I can design and print some bracket kinda things to lock it in place.
My guitar is fixed and ready for collection so we go into Glasgow, stop at Jimmy Egypt’s and collect the guitar then go an get some shopping.
We’re not long back home when my afternoon guitar student arrives. After the lesson I join Margaret in the garden – she’s planting up some hanging baskets and I need to repot one of my tomatillo plants. The midges are out tho’!
Betty’s taking us for dinner and we have a lovely meal then go back to Passfoot for a nightcap.
I CAN’T understand it. In bed before midnight last night, no alcohol…and we sleep through the alarms and don’t wake until nearly 11am! Luckily nothing time-specific in the diary this morning.
In the office I meet and design a tool to help me measure the angle of bracket/s I need to make to mount the wooden audiopoint panel. I come up with something and send it to the 3D printer.
We take a drive to the village and go for a swim then back home for a late lunch.
Both Sandy and Betty drop by just as my afternoon guitar student arrives. They sit in the garden and I join them for a blether after the lesson.
I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening messing with some guitar ideas. I really need to get some new stuff written and recorded!
UP early to get the smoker fired up and a pork butt on – then I manage to get most of routine stuff out the way before an online session with a Zoom guitar student.
Next job is to upload a copy of last night’s radio show to my Mixcloud and post the playlists online.
The ballot papers for the National Park board elections arrive in the post – the trigger for me to post my canvassing videos round scripts Facebook groups. There’s another two very worthy candidates so I don’t hold out too much hope for success, but it’s worth a try. I do think I could make a difference.
Next job is editing up the last bit of live video from the FInland/Estonia tour – a video of See Me Laughing from Philly Joe’s in Tallinn which I want to spin into tonight’s Wildcats’ Facebook livestream. Once done I dig out an archive video clip to show too.
The pork butt is far from being ready – and when Betty dropped by for a coffee earlier and I invited her to join us for dinner later…with the caveat that it might be. Fruity late before we eat!
There’s time for a walk up the lochside before the livestream, after which I get back tot he start and we wait for the pork to reach 203F internal! It’s worth the wait tho’….
STILL quite a lot of prep for tonight’s radio show to do…once I feel I’ve got all my ducks in a row I get back to the house for some lunch.
It’s not a bad day outside so I get the cover on the wee Aldi greenhouse thing – it’s lasted well, much better than the more expensive ones from garden centres we had in the past.
Next job is the fruit cage round the blueberry bushes. The flowers have started to turn into berries and it won’t be long before the birds demolish everything so no time like the present.
The weather’s still good and I get out for a paddle and do a couple of livestreams from the loch to promote both tonight’s radio show and tomorrow’s (Monday) Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
Back home I feed be shower then hit the studio and get going with my show. The show finishes at 9pm – just in time to get back to the house for dinner and tune into Billy’s livestream.
THE KIDS are through jumping all over me long before the alarm goes off…not gonna sleep in this morning!
After breakfast I hit the studio to do some prep for tomorrow’s (Sunday) radio show and Maggi and Joel drop off their wee dog Rosie for Freya and Aaron to look after.
Margaret and the kids go a walk with the dog and I carry on with some work in the studio. When Maggi and Joel come back we all have a coffee and a catch up then we take the kids swimming. Been a while since we’ve been – Margaret rented our memberships last week. Good to be back albeit a bit busy. It is a Saturday I guess.
Catriona and Will come for the kids just after 6pm and we chat for a while.
I get a pork butt out the fridge and say some prep with my ‘Memphis dust’ rub ready for the smoker tomorrow.
Then back to the studio to do a little more work then fire up some charcoal for it grill – Margaret’s marinaded some chicken with some kinda weird mustard and mayo stuff…it turns out great!
NOT quite sure what happened, but we sleep through all the alarms…odd, ‘cos we weren’t even late last night.
I call guitar repairman Jimmy Egypt to see if my guitar’s ready for collect but the new sound has only just arrived, so it’ll be next week.
Looks like I need to go into Glasgow anyway to get some shopping and deal with some other stuff.
Things take a little longer than planned so it’s late afternoon before I’m home then Will arrives to drop off the kids for the night.
Once the kids are in bed I do a little prep for Sunday’s radio show then back home to roast some lamb I bought as a special dinner…Margaret and I met 21 years ago last week!
MARGARET’s off to a meeting t the park HQ and I have a bunch of video to edit into vertical clips for my socials/reels. There’s also a bunch of routine admin stuff needing done.
I’ve also realised that I need to keep on top of music submissions for my radio show otherwise the pile gets too much to handle.
In the office I start heatforming the paperweight stands for Manson Glass. A hundred of them. Fifty big and fifty small. I finished cutting the acrylic the other day and want to ave them ready for Will to collect when drops the kids off tomorrow (Friday).
The jig I designed and then 3D printed works a treat. It’s still time consuming, but every one turns out perfect and I don’t burn myself in the process.
I have them all done by the time my late afternoon guitar student arrives.
Once he’s through, I take the audiopoint info panel to the audiopoint to check sizes and mounting options. A build up of varnish is preventing it fitting the way I want, but some sanding should sort that easily enough. That might need some subsequent varnishing/protection tho’ which might take time.
UP EARLY to get the sourdough in the oven then off to the studio for a Zoom session with one of my weekly online guitar students.
I’m just finished when my in-person student arrives and we have a good session. Once she’s finished we have a late breakfast and I get busy editing some of my campaign videos for the upcoming national park board elections.
I think I have a lot to offer if I’m successful, but I don’t have high hopes given the other candidates’ profiles etc. Gotta give it a shot tho’.
I go out to film some more ‘background video’ to complete my content library. Can’t make up my mind if I should it shouldn’t do any social media ads…probably not – seems like bad form – but I may reconsider.
I do think I need to have more info available so make up a landing page to direct folks to if they wanna know more about me. Not many folks know my background and experience prior to being a full time musician! You can see it here.
Late afternoon my final guitar student arrives with her mum and stepdad. Sometimes these sessions are as much social as they are tutorial. Been a busy day 🙂
A NEW trustee on the local community trust comes up to go through some stuff with Margaret…and I need to get a photo and write a blurb to add them to the relevant page on the trust website.
Having got some ‘background’ video for my National Park board member campaign I need to film a piece to camera and decide to try an outdoor greenscreen rather than the studio. It takes me a while to get everything up but I get there and end up quite happy with the result.
Betty’s coming for dinner later and I have the bacon-wrapped pork loin to go on the smoker. It’s not a huge piece of meat so hopefully will be done in a few hours.
I nip out to get some more ‘background’ guitar then start some editing. Looks like it’s all gonna work OK so I make up a couple of versions in wide, square and vertical formats. I’ll get the rest done tomorrow ready to post when the ballot papers are sent out later in the week.
The first of my two guitar students arrives and we have a good session then I get out for a quick walk before the next arrives.
Once the lessons are all done the pool is ready – I put it in a faux cambro to rest and stay hot then get a little more work done in the studio before Betty arrives.
A BUSY day kicks off with an online session with one of my regular guitar students.
Next job is to share my radio show playlists and Mixcloud link on my socials etc then I hit the studio to work on my campaign for the National Park board – voting will start soon and I wanna be ahead of the curve.
After writing up my main blurb I think about how I might produce my campaign videos....mostly to go round the Facrbook groups in relevant areas. I may even pull together a wee ad 😉
I want to make different versions of the video, each 'located' in different areas. it's gonna be logistically easier to use green screen so I head off to Port of Menteith and Gartmore to get some background video. I don;t want bright sunshine...or rain...so there's a bit of doing about.
I don't get Drymen or Gartocharn footage 'cos the sun's out...and I can grab some local stuff anytime. I'm up against it a bit as the car's away for service tomorrow (Tuesday).
Back home I edit up the last of the videos from the Cottiers show a couple weeks ago ready to spin into tonight's livestream then nip out for a wander up the lochside.
Home in time to set up the livestream...then dinner...then I rub and wrap a pork loin in a bacon weave ready for the smoker tomorrow.
AFTER a bit of a long lie and late breakfast I go out to the office and start the finishing work on the audio point info panel I've been busy with for the past few weeks.
There's some clear acrylic sheets to be cut to size and paperweight stands to be made for Manson Glass plus a leather bracelet and airtrag holder to be finished.
Once I've caught up with all that I go to the studio and spend some time doing all the final prep for tonight's Dave Arcari's Deep Blues show on rock.scot. Not only do I have to decide what I'm gonna play and make sure I've got it on the station's playout system, there's a lot of sifting through new music submitted for consideration for airplay. A fair amount of work goes into what is 'just' a two-hour show once a week!
Before the show I have time to start pulling together the last couple ion bits of video footage from the Cottiers show the week before last. There's two songs'-worth I'm hoping to edit up to spin into tomorrow night's (Monday) Wildcats' livestream on Facebook.
After the radio show I upload the entire gig to my Mixcloud and sort out the playlist ready for posting round my socials and the Dave Arcaris' Deep Blues Facebook page in the morning.
WE HAVE (an extremely!) long lie…albeit checking emails, socials and discussing stuff over coffee.
Since starting my Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues show on Rock.Scot a month or so ago I’ve started getting lots of music submissions. A lot of the music is good but doesn’t fit the profile for my show so I have to give everything a listen, even if it is just momentary.
I spend some time in the studio going through submissions and pulling some tracks into my library malign some notes as I go.
Margaret moves me to say Betty’s dropped by for a coffee so I join them in the garden then get back to the studio for a while before a late lunch.
After lesson with a young guitar student I the Margaret to run me to the village to pick a prescription and I walk the four-and-a-half miles home. It’s nice enough weather and I enjoy the walk.
Back home I hit the studio and play some guitar. My arms have (almost!) recovered from yesterday’s Air Ropes session so I go through the second session. The session itself isn’t too gruelling but I know from yesterday the pain comes later!
Super impressed with how quick and easy (less than a minute!) it is to put up the Nakie hammock.
AFTER breakfast Margaret takes the car to the garage for an MoT. I hit the office and do some work on the audiopoint info board. Starting to look good now, but full a few more coats of varnish and other finishing stuff to be done.
In the studio I do a little prep gathering tracks for Sunday’s radio show then play some guitar and set up some audio patches for a lesson later on.
The doc calls for my ‘phone appointment’ following up on the fact that the gastro specialists have blown out his referal…it’s taken three weeks to get just this phone appointment (ridiculous, but that’s another story!). He’s at a loss as to what do do…he’ll try another referral and we may consider going private. Overall, though, I’m not sure anything (or a reason) to find so maybe just save to accept the vomitting thing and move on. No point in searching for something that isn’t there.
During the phone call a courier drops off the ‘air ropes’ I ordered online after months of deliberation. I get it app set up and give the first ‘workout’ a whirl. It’s quick but brutal and my arms feel like jelly afterwards!
Back to the studio to work on some sounds and wait for my late afternoon guitar student. He’s usually bang on time but doesn’t show…I message his mum who reminds me he’s away on a school trip this week. I’d messed up putting it in the diary. Doh.
It’s a nice evening and there’s a good breeze to keep the midges away so I take the opportunity to go out for a walk and take the Nakie hammock with me..not had a chance to try it yet and it’s a little too big for the hammock stand in the garden.
I wander through the woods and find a test spot. I have the hammock up in less than a minute and am amazed how comfy it is. Result! Not often a product you discover on social media is so good.
Back home I do some work designing a jig to keep form a batch of paperweight stand for Will (Manson Glass)…always end up burning bushes with the heat gun and fiddle-faddling to get the bends nice and symetrical, so maybe this will help. Not sure if the 3D printer filament I have will stand up to the heat, but worth a try…and if it works I’ll maybe try and find so,e more suitable filament.
Then it’s time to light some charcoal and fire up the grill for some smash burgers.
THE ALARM goes off at 6am to get my sourdough in the oven.While it’s baking I drink coffee and deal with emails, socials etc.
I have an online guitar session with one of my students at 9am then spend some time pulling together some new music to include on Sunday’s radio show.
After lunch we pick up Betty and head to Stirling. Betty has an appointment with the audiologist then we go to the cinema via Nandos…Betty’s son-in-law Joe (Andrew L Jones) is production designer and we’re all keen to see his work on The Mandalorian and Grogu.
I’m not big on Star Wars or any sci-fi kinda films but this is really good. Really good.
We all endure the film then pick up some shopping and stop in for a snack with Betty before home time.
ONCE the routine stuff’s out the way I jump in the car and take my signature National guitar in to Jimmy Egypt in Glasgow for repair.
It seems the broken pickup delivery switch isn’t just cosmetic – when I plugged in for soundcheck at Cottiers last week the output was intermittent at best.
On the way home I pick up some shopping and am back by lunchime.
There’s a load of old design shirts in odd sizes in the merch store and I decide to shift them with a ‘free-plus-postage’ offer. I set it all up and spread the word first to folks in my Wildcats’ Facebook group then my mail list.
Late afternoon I go out for a walk in the woods and when I get back have a coffee with Betty and Margaret before shutting up shop in the office and studio and getting on with making dinner.
BLUDDY hell – June already. Doesn’t seem like to when you see the weather!
After some work on playlists and posts relating to last night’s radio show I get the whole show up on my Mixcloud then it’s time for a universe session with one of my guitar students.
I do some more sanding on the audiopoint info panel. It looks like it may have worked so I spend a while filling the rest of the engraving with a mixture of clear-drying wood glue and black mica powder. Can;I help wondering if I might’ve been better using resin…not sure how it may react with the varnish tho’. Maybe I’ll do some experimenting one the future if I have time.
In the studio I start editing video form also week’s show at Cottiers in Glasgow. I wanna have a couple of songs done to spin into tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook and post on my socials later in the week. These will be the first videos with the Klos full-carbon travel guitar.
Once the rain eases off I take a walk up the lochside, getting back just in time to set up the livestream and get going.
There’s some show idents to sort out then I nip back to the house for a coffee with Margaret and Betty,
In the office I sand back the engraving on the ongoing auditorium info panel project. Looks like it ‘might’ work…no open to do too much though as I have a lot more prep to do before my radio show goes live at 7pm.
Later on we meet Betty, Seonaidh and Michelle for some dinner at the local pub and have a grand catch up.
THE ALARM goes at 6am to get the dough made for my rolls. Once it’s one he go I make a coffee and deal with my socials.
I have an early meeting with a local pal who’s asked me if can use one of my drones to survey a few acres of gorse oin the grounds of his house. Conditions are good and I get the job done despite I the midges. When I get home the dough for the rolls is ready so I divide it up, shape it and stick it in the oven.
Alas, I only have a few minutes form the beginnings and end of the drone flight. No Iidea what’s happened to the main part.
I have a 20 minutes or so before my young guitar student arrives so I dash back and re-do the video, making sure I have it in the bag this time.
After the guitar lesson we have breakfast then I check out the audiopoint info panel in the office. The layers of varnish are definitely building up in the engraving and making it less legible. I hum and haw then decide to mix some black mica powder with clear-drying wood glue and overfill some of the engraving. Once it’s cured (tomorrow) I’ll sand it back and hope it’s worked. If not, the thing could be ruined and put me right back to the start.
We’re off to see our pal John. Goldie playing in Gullane this evening. It’s show for Vintage, Rare & Retro Guitars who’ve booked me to play their next show at Gullane Village Hall at the end of August.
We leave early so we can drop into Costco in Edinburgh en route.
There’s a few folks we know at the show…we have a grand night and roll back home by 1am…
FRIST job is to try and deconstruct the old charcoal grill. Easier said than done – and not made any easier by the drizzle and abundance of midges.
I drag it under the smoker shelter and spend a good hour freeing up corroded nuts and bolts in girly inaccessible place while getting bitten by the wee flying bastards. All the bits are added to the pile to go to the dump later.
Next job is some work on the wooden audiopoint info panel. I lightly sand it and add yet another layer of varnish. I’m getting a little concerned as the engraving is starting to become marred a little by the build up of layers of varnish. Mmmm…I’ll see how it looks tomorrow.
There’s radio playlists to be submitters to the IBBA (Independent Blues Broadcasters’ Association) – I’d sent my playlists from Dave Arcari’s’ Deep Blues, but the IBBA chart is about albums/EPs rather than singles so I need to add in the albums from all my May shows.
I do a little prep for Sunday’s radio show and post round some appropriate groups to let folks know about the show and that if they have any suitable music for consideration to pass on some links for me to check out. I’m keen to support some of the lesser known and/or new artists on the show.
Then it’s time to go to the dump. We had to make the ‘appointment’ on Tuesday and this evening is the first available slot. A piece of nonsense, really, this ‘booking’ system seems to in a hangover from COVID…and every time we’ve been there’s no-one else there! Dave fucking thing with the doctor’s too!!
While I wouldn’t ever condone dumping, I can see that it happens out of pure frustration.
Margaret’s off to Sara’s at the boatyard for a “ladies’ night” so I’m left to my own devices for dinner and stuff. I play guitar for an hour or so then make a big plate of gnocchi.
NO long lie after last night’s show – I manage to get the gear unpacked and video downloading before my early minting guitar student arrives.
I’d promised to restring Dawn’s guitar so our session lasts a wee bit longer than usual.
Last night’s promoter asked if we have any photos from the show. I have some I took of Charlie, but Margaret only got video of yours truly so I grab a couple of still from the video footage.
In the office I don’t the audiopoint info panel another coat of varnish. It takes 24 hours to dry/cure and I think I’m gonna have to sand it between coats. I suspect it’ll need a good few coats to help make it weatherproof.
I also remember that Will added for a batch of stickers for his paperweight boxes. Luckily I have some of the thin black/gold acrylic in the store so I get busy. Over time and experimentation I’ve found the best method is to cut on the CO2 laser then batch fill and engrave on the diode. Easily the fastest, easiest and best result.
It’s another nice day outside and I manage a walk up the lochside before one of my young guitar students rolls up. We have a good session then I get back to the start and we prep dinner for Betty coming.
Cottiers, Glasgow – amazing venue, great crowd, grand night out 🙂
MARGARET has an optician appointment first thing. I drop her off and go to Costco to pick up some shopping and stuff.
We’re back home by lunchtime. I pack the car and stuff and we make our way back into Glasgow and park up at Cottiers in the west end.Our pal Charlie’s already there and engineer Ben wastes no time in getting us both soundchecked.
There’s time for the three of us to have dinner and a catch up before doors open..this is the last date of Charlie’s European/UK tour before he goes back to the USA…but he flies back from the Netherlands and has to drive south after the show to get a ferry tomorrow and drop off his rental car. Oooffft.
The venue is pretty full when I take to the stage and play a 40-or-so-minute set…then Charlie plays a spellbinding set. Everything goes well and we all have a grand time 🙂
Amazing weather for a change…and time to get out for a paddle 🙂
CRACKING day outside. After breakfast I g out and see if I can dismantle the big old cross trainer that’s been sitting under the smoker shelter completely unused for two or three years. I’s kinda big to take to the dump in one piece.
There’s some engraving to be done on the wooden info panel for the audiopoint. Hoping to get a better contrast than my first efforts. I sanded down the reverse of the first one I made and trying to see if I can do better.
It’s nearly lunchtime before I get out for a paddle. The loch’s choppy in places, but it’s still a lovely day and I have
I have a late afternoon guitar student. Once he’s through, I get out to the office and make a couple of brass resonator guitar pins…we need to replenish the merch for tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) show in Glasgow.
In the studio I make us a set list for tomorrow's show and run through the songs.
Once done I restring the guitars I’ll be using and get some of the other stuff ready….
AFTER breakfast and my first guitar student of the day I investigate Mixcloud as a possible way of archiving my radio show and providing a ‘listen again’ separate from rock.scot which hasn’t yet got that feature.
I manage to set up an account and upload my archive copies of the first three episodes. Check it out here.
The sun’s out and it’s not due to rain over the next day or two so I take the opportunity to get the rest of the weedkiller down then venture to the studio with the striker and cut back some of the grass that’s sprouted out front.
Vintage, Rare & Retro Guitars has announced my show at Gullane Village Hall near Edinburgh and knocked up some poster art. I get eh gig listed on my website and other online listings aggregators and sites, set up a. Facebook event and spread the word.
My afternoon guitar student arrives with her mum and we have a grand session of music and chat then I head back to the studio to prep for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
I get some video edited to spin into the livestream then I have a live interview on Monster Radio out of Lanzarote. An hour. Then a frantic rush to finish livestream prep before I go live at 8pm.
NICE DAY outside but I need to get into the studio and finish prepping my radio show for tonight.
I take a wee break and cut the grass and then sit in the sunshine and play some guitar. Still haven't decided what I'm gonna play at Cottier's in Glasgow on Wednesday night.
Margaret is sitting indoors with Mikey trying to sort out his accounts and stuff.
By the time I'm all prepped for my Dave Arcari's Deep Blues show on Rock.Scot – 7pm-9pm UK time – there's not much time for a walk, but I manage out for a wee while before my show.
AFTER breakfast I get the two brass orders all finished off and packaged up. One of the packs has to go to the USA and the other is being picked up later today. Phew.
There’s a wee bit of tidying up and stuff to be done outside Then I hit the studio and start some work on tomorrow’s radio show.
Mikey arrives late-afternoon and Margaret helps him with some of his account and paperwork while I carry on in the studio.
John and Vicky roll up to collect the brass and we have a coffee and blether for w while…then I go back to the studio.
Another late dinner by the time I get the charcoal lit for smashburgers….
NOW I’VE got all the signatures and stuff I need for my board nomination for Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park (LLTNP) I check over all the forms and get everything printed out.
The stuff needs to be delivered by hand to the returning officer at Stirling Council so we take a trip into Stirling to do that.
Margaret needs to exchange some paint and we also wanna go and check out what the current situation with the PCP agreement on our car which we’ve now had for three years.
Looks like we need to sit tight for the final year of the PCP thing…I’m ready to go electric with our next car/vehicle and rather like the new Kia PV5. None to be seen here tho’…might need a trip to Glasgow to check one out properly.
Back home I carry on with the brass golf markers and Buchanan church pins etc for Clan Buchanan. Need them all finished for tomorrow.
We’re so busy with stuff that I don’t get the pizza oven on ‘til nearly 11pm..so a late dinner for us…!
AN EARLY start – first up is an 8.30am haircut before heading into Glasgow for an eye test at the optician.
I have time to pick up some shopping and venue have a coffee and muffin before the optician and I’m on my way back home before 11am and drop in and see some local folks along the way.
Back home I continue the brass golf ball marker I production – I need to have them finished ASAP so I can get the Clan Buchanan pins started and finished by Saturday lunchtime.
After lunch I give the audiopoint info panel it’s first coat of varnish so Betty can see progress later on tonight then I get to work on some stuff in the studio.
I nip back to the house to make some wild garlic pasta dough – and a batch of pizza dough for the weekend – then back to the studio.
Betty comes along for dinner – just a plate of wild garlic pasta with cherry tomatoes – and we have a nice night catching up.
I’M on a mission to get the brass golf ball markers finished and figure if I go full pelt I can have them done by close of play tomorrow (Thursday). That’s a good couple of days ahead of schedule.
Just as well though – I’ve been asked to make a batch of brass pin for the Clan Buchanan before their USA visitors leave on Sunday morning. It’s gonna be tight, but I think I can get it done.
Processing each brass item takes time which allows me into the studio to work on some new guitar ideas and then after lunch I head up the lochside to get another signature on my nomination form for the National Park board. I’m not too hopeful of being voted on but it’s worth a try – our area needs a say!
Back home I do some work in advance for Sunday’s Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues radio show and get some more guitar stuff done in between monitoring and changing the brass stuff on the office.
MARGARET’S off early to meet Les and get her hair done in Edinburgh – I have a load of things on my to-do list.
First up, I need to get the brass golf ball markers on the go…the jig I set embossing last night isn;t gonna work which is a bit of a pain as I’d hoped to be able to set up four at a time so’s not to have to go and reset every four hour or so. I can’t get the laser to do layers on each in order – it wants to do one at a time then move on…by which time the focus is out. It also doesn’t let me double check the alignment on any of the engravings after the first one.
Ah well, one at a time it has to be.
I experiment with some infill for engraved text on the wooden audio point info panel, but it’s not gonna work very well so it may have to stay ‘raw’.
In the studio I play some guitar and run through some songs I might play at next week’s – Wednesday 27 May – show with my pal Charlie Parr at Cottiers in Glasgow. Unsure what set length I’m playing here my uncertainties about what I’ll play.
Margaret gets back and has some shopping but she’s run a little late (!!) and has to rush straight off to a local community trust meeting. One oof my guitar students arrives right behind her…for some reason I’d not put him in the diary and get caught a little off guard. All goes fine tho’… 🙂
I’D HOPED to get out for a paddle after my morning Zoom session with a guitar student. No such luck – the calm day predicted has unsurprisingly ended up windy and the loch is a bit on the choppy side. Ah well.
Instead, I do a little more work on the audiopoint info board. The engraving is OK, but I’d prefer it to be higher contrast. I think I’m gonna have to try and inlay the lettering with mica powder. I seal up a test engrave with shellac and order some clear-drying wood glue to mix with the mica powder. We’ll try it out when the glue arrives tomorrow and see if it’s likely to work.
There’s some prep to do for a guitar student coming later today and a courier drops off some raw brass I need for a special job.
Next, I get some video clips ready to spin into this evening’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook then get to play guitar for a wee while before my guitar student and her mum rock up.
I have time for a quick wander through the woods before the 8pm livestream, All goes to plan and I’m back in the house by 9pm.
I continue work on the info panel for the audiopoint
WE HAVE A bit of a long lie then I hit the studio to do some more prep for tonight’s radio show – the second Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues on Rock.Scot.
It’s not hard, but it is pretty time-consuming deciding what tracks to play and getting everything organised to fit the time slots etc.
In the office I get a bot more work done on the info panel for the local audiopoint. Bit of jittery pokery needed to work out how I can do the engraving as the panel is at least four times bigger than the capacity of my laser…I split the artwork/design into four sections and do each separately.
Before my radio show I make a batch of pasta using some of the wild garlic purée I made yesterday…then it’s showtime…
UP AT 6am to get the dough for my weekend rolls made…then back to bed for an hour before I get up again and make coffee.
I have a young guitar student coming – by herself this time as her wee brother has a birthday party…the lesson goes better as she is attentive and keen. Her wee brother has, let’s say, a shorter attention span and can be a bit of a distraction during the normal ‘two at once’ lessons.
We go along to the village hall for a fundraising community lunch. Having only just had breakfast we stick to coffee and hang out for a while chatting with folks. Margaret has to go to the village for some stuff and I walk back, picking a load of wild garlic along the way.
Back home I do some test engraving on wood offcuts from the audiopoint sign then wash and sort the wild garlic before making some wild garlic purée which I’ll use in pasta dough.
We wander down to our pal Sara’s at the boatyard for dinner where Betty joins us and we have another grand evening.
FIRST job of the day is to get tonight’s brisket onto the smoker – then some web stuff for my pal Kevin who’s new single is out today.
Then it’s straight onto a community hydro society meeting which goes well.
I tend the brisket through the afternoon taking some time out to dot between the studio and office to prep for Sunday's radio show and do little bits and bobs on the audiopoint sign.. I’m printing a soft TPU gasket to ensure a snug fit wee it coms to integrating the panel with the actual audiopoint…my 3D printer’s too small so it’s printing I section and each one is taking about four hours!
I’m considering a nomination for the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park board and go through the nomination pack and do some research. Everyone I’ve mentioned it to thinks it’s a good idea. Mmmm….
The brisket has reached 203 degrees internal and is ready to come off the smoker and rest in the faux cambro just as Duncan and Irene arrive…Betty follows shortly and we have a grand night of grub and chat.
NOT a bad day outside so once I’ve got the usual admin and socials stuff done I go out and tackle the wood that’s as delivered yesterday (to the wrong address!) for the audiopoint signage.
The slab isn’t exactly as ordered but some creative cutting should sort that out. Means I only have once ‘spare’ instead of two.
As usual with these projects there’s a fair bit of improvisation – partly due to lack of ‘the proper tools’ and partly down to my lack of experience.
There’s a fair bit of measuring and to-ing and fro-ing to the audiopoint but I eventually get all the rough cuts done. There’s a fair amount of ‘finishing’ to be done and I need to design and 3D print some kind of gasket so it fits snugly round the audiopoint unit.
No time to dothat now, though – I need to prep a brisket for the smoker for tomorrow (Friday) and then fo to Braehead for a rock.scot team meeting. The meet up is worthwhile and I’m home for dinner by 10pm….
UP EARLY to get my sourdough in the oven and let it cool while I run a session with one of my online guitar students.
After breakfast Margaret gets on with some gig booking then goes outside to tackle the build of the new grill – I’m busy in the studio gathering some tracks for upcoming radio shows and doing an inventory check on my guitar string stock. Wanna try some slightly heavier strings on the new Klos carbon fiber guitar.
I also mess with a new song idea 🙂
Margaret's away to Doune to pick up the grandkids from school so I pick up on the grill build. As is often he way with these things, every bit that could be seperate is, meaning a zillion pieces to put together. Assembly nightmare!
It takes me about three hours to get the thing finished albeit with breaks to make some dough for burger buns and ball up some mince for tonight’s smash burgers. They won’t be done on the new grill tho’, ‘cos it needs seasoned…the electric grill with a griddle plate will have to suffice.
It’s 7pm by the time I get out for a walk up the lochside.The midges are out in force but it’s a lovely evening….
MAIN job today is to check the stereo mix for the vocal links on my radio show. On Sunday my voice only came out of the left channel….the techies got on the case and messaged me a fix. I try it…and it works 🙂
I also need to pull more tracks into the play out system for future shows.
Once done I go back to the house and decide to go and get some shopping in Glasgow. First stop is Costco where I spot a charcoal grill we’ve had our eye on.
Our current grill is over 15 years old and seen better days. It wasn’t particularly great to start with.
After a bit of research we found a Masterbuilt charcoal grill we liked – but at £450 it was way out our budget. I noticed Costco had it for £349 so we thought we’d save up and get one. Today, though, I see it in-store at Costco for under £300. Fuck it, credit card to the rescue. We’re not gonna find a better deal.
After getting the rest of the shopping I spend inordinately amounts of time in three traffic jams as I head home…ooooft.
A FEW admin things to get out the way before a Zoom session with one of my online guitar students.
I also sort my playlist for my debut show on Rock.Scot radio last night and post it on the show Facebook page and around my socials. I also need to fix a typo in some of my ‘how to listen’ graphics.
There’s an invoice in form the hospital in Helsinki. Six-hundred-and-fifty euros. Fuck. Margaret looks out our UK Global Health Insurance Cards and I send a scan of mine in the hope that it will cover – or at least reduce – the bill.
After lunch I go through all the grant applications submitted to the community hydro society and add my scores and comments before our board meeting later in the week.
I decide to use a 2020 video session with Charlie Parr in my Wildcats’ livestream later – my next live show is with Charlie at Cottier’s in Glasgow (Wednesday 27 May). The original video is way too long at over an hour so I try and edit out as much as possible and split it into two sections. Still a bit long,but hey ho.
There’s time for a wander up the lochside where I do a ‘promo’ livestream for the main event later on. Weirdly Facebook lets me livestream from my page onto the Wildcats’ group…but said livestream isn’t visbile in the group! Had this problem last week, then a test the other day was OK…and now the problem’s back. I go live into the group form my personal profile and all works fine. I make a note to remember to do same later!
NO LONG lie today – we’re up early to get over to Kilmaronock Old Kirk for the annual plant sale – we have a space at the market for West Highland Way Gifts. And Love-Balmaha and even my music stuff.
The sun’s shining as we put up the gazebo and set the table with stuff. It’s a wee bit windy, though, which is a wee bit challenging, We’re good to go when gates open and have a nice few hours chatting to folks and catching up with some pals.
As with all these kind of events sales are minimal, but it’s more about the social side for me.
Once we’re done we stop off at the But & Ben in Croftamie for a late lunch then get home and unpack everything.
I do a but of promo on my socials for my debut Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues show on Rock.scot and also send a message to my email list. All goes well with the show – although there are a couple of techie things to be ironed out – like my mic/voice only comign through on one – the left – channel. Not an issue for most folks – but for those listening on headphones/earbuds it’s not ideal Hopefully sorted for next week’s show.
A bit windier than I expect when I get out for a paddle
I’M ONLY just finished breakfast when my six and eight year old brother and sister guitar students arrive for their double-header lesson.
The six year old is really too young – although interested, he is very easily distracted and is kinda holding his very able big sister back a bit. I think I’m gonna have to suggest separate lessons.
I’m frazzled by the end of the lesson but need to get into the studio and finish stuff for tonight’s debut Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues radio show on rock.scot.
Once I’ve everything sorted I go out for a paddle. A bit windier than forecast but it’s still fun.
Back home I have a nap then get stuff ready for tomorrow’s (Sunday) plant sale at Kilmaronock Old Kirk
Suddenly the day is done and we wander along to Betty’s for dinner with her and some of her pals.
A FEW fairly big tasks in diary for today…but the main thing is to prep and set up my debut Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues radio show for rock.scot. It’ll go out Sunday at 7pm UK time.
Pulling together the music I wanna feature is more time-consuming than I expect – and planning the show and timings is quite involved as I have to get my head round the tech and systems.
I take a break for lunch and a courier rocks up with the new guitar – a Klos full-carbon travel guitar. The box is tiny. And lightweight. The guitar builds up quickly and easily and sounds amazing for such a small instrument.I’m keen to plug on and see how it sounds amplified but I need to get some more work out the way first.
Back in the studio I gather some info I need to assess grant applications for the community hydro scheme then I get back to the radio stuff. I set up a Facebook page for the show then post about it – and my upcoming debut – round my existing socials. Be good to have a decent audience to kick things off.
Eventually I get a chance to plug the new guitar in. Sounds great…first impressions are that I’m really pleased with it 🙂
UP EARLY to get my sourdough in the proven…my routine shifted from Monday to Wednesday (overnight oats for breakfast on a Monday and Tuesday now!) but I was too busy to get he dough ready on Tuesday this week.
There’s some prep to do for a couple of guitar students coming later on and I need to order some raw brass for a run of golf ball markers I prototyped yesterday.
In the studio there’s some kinda connection problems between bots of gear which turns into a nightmare to sort out then it’s time for lunch before a doctor’s appointment and voting.
I’m hope in time for the first of my back-to-back guitar students and once they’re all done I go back to the house. The phone rings and it’s the guy from Klos Guitars in Utah…they’re trying to sort out the duty/tax issue but don’t; want me to have to wait any longer for the guitar. They’re suggesting I pay the fees and they will refund me. That sounds good to me.
I call DHL and update them, pay the duty/tax and they say, hopefully, the guitar will be out for delivery tomorrow (Friday).
QUITE a nice day so after breakfast I sit outside and get some work done.
First up, the background image on my website landing page has mysteriously disappeared. I replaced it then set about fixing the menu links for the merch store which have got messed up at some point over the last month or two.
While I’m doing that I run a few batches of ‘Dave Arcari’ bottle opener keyrings. Since I 3D printed a jig to do ten at a time it’s made the process much faster (and easier!).
Next job is to design a prototype brass golf ball marker for a charity event. Takes me a while to create a suitable depth map based on the event’s logo then I get the brass prototype underway.
A message comes in from my pal Diana – she’s in the area with her grandson and wonders if we’re around for a quick visit. We sit in the garden and have a blether over coffee then she and wee Charlie head off.
I go for a walk up the lochside and find the midges are out. In force. Looking like this might be a crazy midge season!
VICKY’S already left on the next stage of the West Highland Way when I get up and out the shower.
John’s up by the time I’ve opened up the studio and office and we chat for a while before he heads off.
I decide to tackle he info point sign I’m making for Betty nd get everything set up outside. Disaster strikes, though – the guide I’m using for the router works itself loose as I’m cutting the circle and the result is a mess.
I haven’t gone right through the wood as I was planning on two or three passes to complete the cut so I turn the wood over and try again. Same thing happens. Game’s a bogey and I’ve ruined the nice piece of wood I sourced for the project 🙁
After my afternoon guitar student leaves we jump in the car and go to see Catriona and the kids – it’s Freya’s eighth birthday today. We hang out a while then head back home.
There’s an order for a ‘blues comes in many colours’ mug so I get it sublimated, packed and ready to go while Margaret sorts dinner. I also manage to get the big hydroponics all set up for some basil and coriander 🙂
MAIN task today is to sort out the taxes on the guitar coming from Klos in the USA. I got a message from DHL on Saturday saying I had to pay. Various duties etc and as far as I’m aware they were all paid up front.
There’s no answer form DHL in Glasgow and I can;t work out if it’s because they’re shut for the bank holiday or just can’t be arsed answering.
After a mid-morning session with one of my online guitar students I get the pork belly on the smoker then get back on the DHL thing. There’s no messages saying they’re shut today and the website suggests the place is open so I some lunch then drive into Cambuslang….only to find it’s fucking shut. Ah well.
When I get back our pals Vicky and John have arrived. Vicky’s walking the West Highland Way and John is driving her ‘support vehicle’. I say hello then hit the studio to edit up some video and prep for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
There’s something odd happening with the Wildcats’ group tho’ – the ‘I’ll be live later’ livestream I do doesn’t appear on the group page…and when in go live for the main livestream at 8pm it’s not appearing anywhere either – the only way to see it is to click on my account avatar. Weird.
Back at the house the pork has turned out good and we have a grand evening of food, drink and chat.
UP and breakfasted at a decent time – Martyn’s coming up this morning to go for a walk and catch up.
We have a good walk and blether – nice to see him – then he heads off and I get busy with some video editing.
I also finish off the replacement stoppers/numbers for our toilet seat. The soft TPU filament for the 3D printer has worked 🙂
We have visitors coming to stay tomorrow (Monday) and I’m doing pork belly in the smoker. The two slabs I took out the freezer yesterday have defrosted so I trim and score them, add a rub and put tem in the fridge ready to go on in the morning.
After a little more video editing in the studio I go back to the house for dinner and we watch our pal Billy’s livestream from Florida.
NOT sure why, but I decide to try and rejig the studio desk space so I can sit properly and get my knees under the desk.
I mess with a few options and get sorted then go back to the house and start to prototype replacement ‘bumpers’ for the toilet seat. The existing rubber ones have started to perish and look a bit shabby…and are a bit of a magnet for dirt etc. Margaret had looked online and couldn’t find replacements so I ordered some soft TPU filament for the 3D printer to try and make replacements myself.
The soft TPU filament is rubber-like and notoriously difficult to print with. My first design doesn’t come out great so I make some changes both to my design and the printer settings and get it sorted 🙂
In the studio I finish sorting out the video footage from Finland and Estonia then finish of some bit for my pal Kevin.
WE ENJOY watching the squirrels while we have breakfast then one of my young guitar students arrives.
It’s a nice day and the wind is light so I head out onto the loch for a paddle and go to Port Bawn at the far end of Inchcallioch. It’s quite aside from a couple of lassies who’ve also paddled from the village. I get some video with the Hoverair Aqua and make way back to dry land.
After a late lunch in the garden I have a shower then Matty rolls up. He’s staying over tonight.
In the studio I gather some bits of video footage from the FInland and Estonia trip ready for editing over the weekend.
AFTER breakfast I check the rotary drier ground spike/mount I concreted in yesterday. It’s good. I take some measurements and start designing a cover to 3D print.
The first version isn’t quite right so I make some improvements to the design and print up another. Success.
I don’t want to venture far as I’m waiting on the doc calling to discuss the mystery vomitting etc and I want Margaret to be on the call too…she always has lots of questions!
There’s a load of onions that need transplanted from seed trays so I get that done then remove the chilli and micro tomato plants from the hydroponic system and plant them out. They’re well established but the hydroponic unit needs a good clean out and I need to get the tomatillos going.I clean the unit out, remove the pump and fit an air stone but realise I don’t have the right baskets and sponges.
I order more then look out the old, smaller hydroponic kit and plant the tomatillo seeds.
In the studio I do some video work for my pal Kevin then play guitar for a while before going back to the house and marinading the duck and ginger for our brouchette de canard for grilling later.
UP IN time to get some work done before a 9am online guitar lesson. Feels like I’m getting back into my ‘normal’ routine!
Then it’s straight onto a local hydro society board meeting which takes me up to lunchtime.
I have some personalized trekking flasks to finish off and an order for a custom magnetic leather bookmarks to make up. There’s also some euros to be sent off to the foreign exchange place and some set lists to be submitted to the overseas collection societies before a coupla venues will accept invoices for my shows.
It’s a nice day so I take the opportunity to get some weed killer down but run out before I get to the front of the house. Refill ordered.
Next job it to dig out the ground spike/base for our rotary drier. It’s been in for about ten years, but the guy that put it in didn;t dig deep enough and it stood a good six inched above the gravel meaning folks were constantly tripping over it. Also, more recently, the grandkids have taken to filling it with stones and other shit, so the drier doesn’t go into the bae far enough and is a bit wobbly.
Of course anything involving digging around here is a nightmare as the topsoil is only a few inches before you hit rock, boulders and stuff. Plus the ground spike has been concreted in a huge lump.
Takes me a good coupla hours with a heavy ground breaking bar and hole digger – always annoys me that I need to make a 18-inch diameter hole for four-inch ground spike/base/post etc. Anyway, I get a suitable hole dug, empty out the socket of stones and stuff and postcrete it in. I’ll design and 3D print a cap to keep stones etc out, especially now it’s flush with the gravel.
In the studio I record some more idents for my upcoming show on Rock.Scot radio and upload some tracks to my library.
AFTER a nice long lie we have some breakfast then I start clearing out some of the archived posts and images on website. A job that’s become long overdue.
I get the bus into the village where I’m given a clean bill of health form the dentist and hygienist then walk the four miles home.
There’s some merch orders to be packed up and an order of five custom flasks to be made up for a group of Australian walks doing the West Highland Way next week.
Betty’s invited us for dinner and we have a lovely evening.
WE’RE up early to get out the hotel and return the rental car to Hertz at the airport…then on to check in for the first leg of our journey home. Tallinn to Helsinki.
Once through security we have some breakfast then at the gate I have a shot in a massage chair then a complimentary ice cream before we board.
There’s time for lunch in Helsinki airport and then on to the flight to Edinburgh where we land just after 5pm. Bus to the car parking place then a stop at the supermarket for some supplies en route home. Phew!
Great to catch up with our pals Martin, Andres, Siret and Marilyn in Tartu fo other merch too
WE’RE not as sore and tired as I expected after our night on the floor in the junk room – but we need to get on the road ASAP.
After saying cheerio we head for Tartu arriving late morning and stopping on the edge of town for a sleep…then McDonalds.
We arrive at Salong at 5pm for load in and Andres arrives a the same time. Booker/owner Ants has us set up in no time and I get a chance to chill and chat with Andres before more pals Martin and Marilyn arrive.
There’s a really crowd in. I’m very pleasantly surprised as this show as a late booking. I have a grand time playing and we sell out of vinyl and shift a fair bit of other merch too. That’s gonna make life easier for packing for the plane!
Margaret’s driving us to Tallinn right after the show and we give our pal Martin a lift – he’s off to the USA and flies out a few hours before us.
It’s late when we check into the airport hotel but Margaret is keen we sort all the packing out so there’s no rush in the morning….
AFTER a decent breakfast at the hotel I sit out on our room’s balcony and get some work done before we hit the road.
Not too long ago drive to Torva and we’ve not arranged to be at our ‘accommodation’ ‘til 3pm. We have lunch at a nice wee coffee shop in the centre of town then find the place we’re staying.
The guy there seems nice enough. There’s a load of folks sitting round the kitchen table drinking beer and we’re shown upstairs to our room. Uh-oh – it’s the ‘junk room’ with a skinny mattress on the floor covered in a random selection of kids’ blankets and stuff. Fuck. Too late to say “sorry, we’re gonna drive somewhere and find a hotel”.
We sit with our ‘host’ and various pals/family members. Seems they’re all involved with Pubi Juudas in some way….but none of them are coming to the show. It’s all a little weird.
The venue is great..and it’s a nice surprise that our pal Al is in Cry Baby – the other act on the bill. Venue owner Elton and sound guy Kevin are cool too and there’s a lovely spread of food and stuff backstage.
It’s a fairly quiet gig audience-wise but there’s a decent enough bunch of folks who’ve travelled to see me and we do well on merch.
We’re back at our accommodation just before 2am and luckily everyone seems to have gone to bed. Unsure if the blankets and stuff on the floor are clean we sleep in our clothes, hoodies pulled up and off to sleep….
WE’RE PACKED up and out the apartment soon after 11am and go to get a taxi to the airport to collect our rental car.
Getting an Uber in the largely pedestrianised old town turns out to be tricky and we have to wander around trailing our bags and stuff to find somewhere we can get a pickup.
Eventually we get sorted and pick up a car from Hertz at the airport. Margaret’s not happy with the first one they give us so goes back for an upgrade and a more suitable vehicle.
There’s a couple of hours to drive to Voru and we stop en route for coffee and cake.
Show promoter Lauri meets us at the very swanky hotel where he’s booked us the best suite. We sort our stuff then load in at the venue.
After soundcheck we’re sent to what turns out to be the best restaurant in town for a great meal then we go back to a packed, sold out venue and get ready for the show.
I have a grand time playing two 45-minute or so sets, the crowd is awesome and we have a great evening 🙂
WE HAVE a chilled morning then take a 20-minute walk to the theatre to meet our pal Krista. She is theatre manager and producer there and we catch up over coffee.
It’s a nice day and we walk back via the supermarket then get the gear along to Philly Joe’s which is only five minutes’ walk form our apart-hotel.
Soundman Kristian is on hand and takes great care over my sound. Eva and Martha look after us very well and hen we chill in the green room.
I’m a little worried about numbers but no need to – the place is pretty full and it’s nice to see some familiar faces.
I have a grand time playing and the audience is amazing. After the show we get packed up and Krista and Martin help us back to our place and come in for drink. Fantastic evening and start to the Estonia section of the tour.
Krista and Martin help us back with the gear after the show
WE have to be out the apartment-hotel at 11am. Margaret did all the packing and sorting last night so there’s no panic.
After breakfast we go to the foyer and arrange a taxi to take us to the ferry port where we chill for an hour or so after checking in.
It’s a smooth, two-hour Baltic crossing to Tallinn where we fend off a pushy unofficial taxi driver. Another comes along and says he’s ‘official’ but turns out he’s not. He’s a nice guy and very helpful but nearly 50 euros for what I suspect is a 15-20 euro leaves a sour taste. We have too much stuff and are too tired to argue.
Our apartment is three floors up and there’s no lift. We bump onto a Scottish guy at the entrance who’s having problems unlocking his key safe – perhaps a result of too much to drink – and help him out then get to our place and chill for a while.
It’s after 7pm when we venture out into the old to find some dinner. The place we’d planned to go has a pretty poor and over-pried menu so we wander around a while and find a reasonably priced sports. Bar ≠ and unlikely place for a decent meal but we decided to give it a try.
We both order fillet steak at under 20 euro a pop. Expectations are low, but it turns out to be one the best and most enjoyable steaks I’ve ever had, regardless of cost.
Next stop is a 24-hour supermarket for some breakfast supplies then we pop into a rock/metal bar Bar Bar…a new location for the place – I played a show for them in another location pre-covid…and the owner, Mad, had previously promoted a show for me at a venue called Rockstars (sadly no longer there) which was one of my best and favourite shows ever!
We walk into the place and are immediately greeted like royalty! Mad isn’t around, but the other folks remember us!
Lunch and a great afternoon out in Helsinki with our pals Maiju and Miika
WE wake early then fall back to sleep. Suddenly it’s nearly midday! Our body clocks are pretty messed up.
A late breakfast, showers and we’re good to go – and meet our pals Maiju and Miika who are waiting for us outside the hotel.
We take a short walk to a place called Deli Beri in the city centre where Maiju treats us all to lunch then we sit, drink coffee and chat all afternoon. It’s really nice to catch up.
After saying cheerio Margaret and I have a wee wander about, pick up one stuff for dinner later and head back to our hotel were we’re happy to have a chilled evening. We’re off to Estonia tomorrow.
ANOTHER ‘recovery’ morning in the apartment in Lahti then we start gathering our stuff up.
There’s no strict time schedule today as we only need to get the train to Helsinki. We’re ready too go early afternoon and luckily the station is less than ten minutes walk form the apartment.
After an hour-long train ride we get into Helsinki’s and go to find our hotel. We’re here two nights.
We need to do some washing and the hotel has a laundry…but I only have the pair of jeans I’m wearing. And they need a wash so we take a walk to the shops and I find a pair of lightweight black baggies that I can use.
Our hotel room has a kitchen area so we pick up some stuff for dinner and when we get back Margaret takes all our stuff to the laundry.
ANOTHER long lie after a late one….and then I fix some bust strings on the Acoustasonic.
Tonight’s show isn’t far away but Ismo comes to pick us up at 3pm to take us to the house for a late lunch before we head to Pensuo.
It’s nice to see Suvi and the kids…and Ismo gets the grill going and cooks up a storm.
We have a lovely few hours then Ismo takes us to Pensuo where we load in to the Juke Joint…a kinda private venue run by the local ‘blues mafia’ 🙂
It’s an extra gig - a filler sorted by the mafia blues fans - and we’re not expecting much. We’ll, however wrong could we be - great people, great place and probably my favourite show of the tour so far!
First song, first video in Sastemala and these two walk right in front of Margaret to snap a selfie!
OUR body clocks are kinda messed up with the hospital carry on and the late nights…and I’m buggered when I wake up even though it’s nearly midday!
After my now routine wander to the shop for breakfast stuff we catch up on stuff and then go a walk to the town centre. I forgot to bring an emergency jack-to-jack guitar cable in case my radio pack gives up…and it could also be handy if I need to connect my stomp box if a venue doesn’t;t have a spare DI box. We pick one up at the music store.
Ismo picks us up at 4pm for the 2-½-hour drive to Sastemala where venue owner Hannu greets us. We load in, set up and soundcheck then take out stuff to the dressing room before being sent to a nearby restaurant for a fantastic meal.
Ismo and I both have fun playing but it’s nearly 1am but he time we’re loaded out. I manage to stay awake and talk to Ismo the whole drive back…quite a drive after a show!
Ismo joins me for a song at the end of my set in Hammenlinna
ANOTHER long lie – well, more like a long sleep – dunno when I’m gonna start feeling like I’m getting back to full strength.
A wander too the shop and some breakfast then I get busy with some of the emails and social media stuff that’s been neglected a bit over the last few days. There’s also some video do download form the wee camera and phone from last night’s show.
Tonight Ismo and I play in Hammenlinna which is just over an hour’s drive from Lahti. Ismo pick us up and we hit the road.
After we get set up we’re given a fabulous meal. I tackle it carefully and enjoy what I eat. Most importantly, it stays down!
The place is pretty packed when Ismo takes the stage then there’s a short break before yours truly. Agin, I’m burst when I finish my set but it was still fun and everyone has a grand time.
It’s around 2am when Ismo drops us off…and I’m, ready for bed.
One of a bunch of images taken in Lahti by our pal Leif
WE SLEEP ‘til midday then I go out to find a shop and get some yoghurt and stuff for ‘breakfast’.
Tonight’s show is in town here in Lahti and Ismo’s not picking us up ‘til 6pm so we spend the entire day chilling, sleeping and trying to recuperate. I’m returning to eating slowly and carefully and have even downloaded a ‘slow down your eating’ hypnosis thing to try and re-educate myself not to eat so quickly. I always manage to slow down after the sickness bouts, but the change is short-lived. This time I want to try and make a permanent change to my fast eating habit.
It’s an easy load in at Virasto and the sound engineer, Atti, is on the ball – the venue staff are great too. Just me tonight, so I have to play two 45-minute sets which I can hopefully manage through.
There’s quite a few folks we know in or the show and all goes grand – although I am struggling physically toward the end of each set.
Ismo drops us back at the apartment and we go straight to crash.
