Living Colour at Barrowlands, Glasgow – tremendous show…
MY MORNING guitar student has had to cancel so instead I make up a set list for Sunday’s garden show in Drymen. I’m playing a short half-hour set along with a bunch of other local folks to raise money for the Drymen village hall.
No relation to my Wildcats’ Facebook group, Gene Vincent’s song of the same name has been a favourite of mine for along time. It’s crossed my mind a few times I should try and play it and maybe even record a version – if only for a bit of fun within the group.
I note down the lyrics, mess around with the guitar/s and record a very rough version to see if I can make it work.
There’s also some work to be done on a revamp of the local community hydro scheme website. I’ve been kinda dragging my heels over it as it’s low priority, but I really do need to get on it. I mess around for a wee while until it’s time to head into Glasgow.
We’re lucky enough to be on the guest list for the Living Colour/Mr Big show at Barrowlands. My cousin (‘third’ cousin, actually) is part of Spector and has made Living Colour’s Doug Wimbish’s basses – hence our invitation to the show.
There’s some shopping to be picked up and a snack at Costco, then fuel, then we roll up at the venue.
Living Colour is quite superb – I wouldn’t have been champing at the bit to go to this show (generally because we just don’t have the spare cash to go to bigger gigs), but the show was really, really good. Mr Big follows with an impressive show too but not quite as good as Living Colour.
I HAVE a busy morning catching up on emails and various admin stuff – and also sorting out a couple of bits of unfinished merch for the store.
Late morning there’s an online meeting with my fellow community hydro scheme directors then it’s lunch time.
Margaret has a prescription to pick up in the village and I decided to go with her and take a walk back. It’s kinda damp and drizzly but I enjoy the walk and headspace it affords. Lots on may mind right now!
Back home I hit the studio for a while and mess with some song ideas and a couple covers. I also pick up the banjo and try and sort out a song I wrote a while ago – Third Time Lucky. There’s something odd with it and I’ve always struggled with the vocal at then end of the verses. I’ve tried various ‘melodic’ adjustments’ but never really sorted it. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s to do with the chord sequence at the end of the verses. Watch this space!
I’M sitting up in bed checking emails and drinking coffee when a call comes in from an unknown number. Luckily I decide to answer – it’s the hospital in Glasgow with an emergency appointment to see consultant about the ‘suspected tumour’ on my left arm.
It’s on Monday coming – I have bunch of stuff in the diary but don’t wanna miss the chance to have this investigated asap so I gladly accept then set about cancelling meetings and re-scheduling some guitar lessons.
I have a morning online guitars session with one of keys students then Fiona arrives with Nova to go a paddle.
Margaret ‘s gonna take Freya to Milarrochy and we’ll paddle up to the bay there and take Freya out on the paddle board.
We have a grand couple hours on the water then back home. Fiona and I both have work to get done.
Margaret takes Freya to Buchlyvie to meet Will then pick up some shopping and I do some work on new West Highland Way Gifts‘ ideas…
IT’S decent weather so after my first online guitar student of the day I decide to tackle some ‘jobs’ that are on the list.
First up is a stool repair. We have a wee three-legged stool in our conservatory that I used to sit on during in-person guitar lessons. Six months oration, tho’, it collapsed under me and has been awaiting repair ever since.
I grab the bull by the horns and fix it!
Next, the new decking bit I built needs some cosmetic touches – seeing as I have the saws and stuff out for the stool repair, I decide to do some work on that too.
After break for another Zoom guitar session make some progress then tidy up in time for another guitar student arriving with her mum. It’s still nice so we do the lesson in the garden.
I’m back in the studio when Will arrives to drop Freya off for the night…we’re babysitting tonight and tomorrow.
I have a meeting on the village hall and take a walk along there and then back home in the last of the evening sunshine.
HEADING along to Martyn’s to go for a morning walk so up at a reasonable time.
We have grand walk and catch up over the seven-miles.
After lunch Margaret and I drive along to our pal Aileen’s and walk round to have a chat with her neighbour Gill who’s hosting a fundraising garden party next Sunday (28 July). Aileen’s asked if I’d join the list of entertainment.
We get a plan in place then go back to Aileen’s for a coffee.
I prep red beans and rice for dinner and we chill the rest of the evening.
I finish off the pins and and ‘second prototype’ earrings
FIRST job after breakfast is to nip along the road and take some reference photos of a house..the owner’s having a housewarming later on and Betty has commissioned me to make some special mugs as a gift.
I spend a few hours creating a watercolour painting-style graphic then set about getting the design onto some mugs.
In between times I finish off the wooden inlay guitar pins and second prototype of the guitar earrings.
Betty comes along for a coffee and picks up the mugs then I get busy in the studio
CHECKING emails and socials in bed with a coffee and an order for a guitar pin comes in. It’s for a pewter guitar with wood inlay….and we sold the last one in Finland. Guess I’ll be making one form scratch today!
After a late breakfast I pack up and print postage for a couple of merch items. I want folks to get them tomorrow but alas too late for today’s collection from our nearest post box.
Margaret has some stuff to go too so offers to take everything to the post office in Balloch. I go for part of the ride then jump out the car at Kilmaronock and have a nice walk home listening to an interesting podcast along the way.
Back home I cast a couple of guitar pins and another prototype for guitar earrings. The last ones had no sound hole and I wanna try another version with a sound hole. The pins are fairly straightforward to cast but the tiny guitar earrings are hard going and it takes a few pours to get an acceptable result.
I’m out of raw pewter so get an order in for more then we wander along to Betty’s for dinner where we have a grand evening 🙂
UP EARLY to get to Stirling for an ultrasound scan on my left arm.
I get there in good time, find a parking space and find the right department. I’ve only just sat down when a nice nurse calls me – the ultrasound operator is a bit of a nippy sweetie tho’ and makes me feel that I’m wasting her time.
I’m done in a few minutes and am told it’ll be a week before the results are sent to the surgery then head for Glasgow. It strikes me as odd that there’s such long waiting list for ultrasound scans as (a) they only take a few minutes, (b) it’s not an expensive or laborious procedure and (c), the place is very quiet and there’s nobody in the waiting area before or after me.
First stop is Rightway in Polmadie to pick up some charcoal. It’s good restaurant-quality stuff and despite having doubled in price over the last few years is still much better value than the crap from supermarkets and most garden centres.
Next, Costco for a late breakfast hotdog and some shopping than Tesco.
I’m at the checkout when my phone rings. I pack the shopping , pay then call the number back – it’s the doctor’s surgery. They’ve had the results of my ultrasound already. There’s a suspected tumour and I’m being referred to neurosurgery. No idea of timescales or any other info. Ah well, it is what it is – no point in worrying.
Next stop Waitrose, Aldi and M&S in Milngavie before I finally pull up back home early afternoon.
The courier has delivered the missing box from yesterday’s PA delivery. I have some lunch then we head to the studio to give it all a whirl. Good first impressions.
No time to mess about too much tho’ – I need to pick up again with Margaret’s MacBook and see if I can get it back up and running.
I’m knackered and need a sleep – of course my mind keeps going back to ‘tumour’, but I dismiss it as trivial in the grand scheme off things.
Will arrives to drop off Freya for the night. Once he’s gone we take Freya to feed the ducks and play on the slide before bed.
I get the deck finished – just some cosmetic stuff to do now!
AFTER breakfast I get busy engraving some glass West Highland Way map coasters ordered via the West Highland Way Gifts’ online shop.
The camera on my machine has been playing up for ages and I decide to try a manual workaround to position the engraving which means making a jig. Hopefully it’ll save me some time in future.
It takes a while then I get ’em parcelled upend a postage label printed off.I’ll drop them off in Glasgow tomorrow (Wednesday) after my ultrasound scan in Stirling.
A courier drops off what is meant to be an ElectroVoice PA system – but there’s only half of it there! I call the supplier who, in turn, finds out what happens and calls back to apologise and let me know the rest will be with me tomorrow. Buddy hell!!
Margaret’s MacBook Air has been playing up a bit recently. At over ten years old it’s done well but I think there’s like in the old dog yet. I start ‘a process’ 😉
I have a guitar student at the studio late afternoon then I get back to the garden and finish off the deck and tidy up the fallout before heading out for a walk up the lochside.
When I get back Margaret’s done one more tidying and I get the grill going for some pjnchitos….
