THE kids wake us just after 7am. After half an hour of them jumping all over us Margaret takes them through for some breakfast…and I grab another wee snooze.
After breakfast we take the kids to feed the ducks then drop in to see Betty.
We’re not long back home when Catriona comes to pick the kids up and then I hit the studio to try and sort some of the malware mess that’s playing havoc with all my websites. I seem to cross one hurdle to come against another two…seem to spend my life sorting stuff.
Evening comes and I start preparing red beans and rice – with Andouille sausage and Tasso ham…then we chill.
AFTER breakfast IO deal with the usual emails and social media stuff then get on with my accounts.
The banking stuff is almost up to date and I manage to make a start gathering all the other info I need for my tax return.
Will arrives to drop off the kids – we’re having them stay over tonight – then one of my guitar students arrives for a lesson.
I’m back in the studio when Margaret and the kids get back from feeding the ducks…back in the house the kids have something to eat I do a little dinner prep before heading to the local pub to catch the end of Tom Urie’s evening set.
When I get back the kids are almost asleep and I get the grill lit for the pinchitos.
WE have a long lie for no other reason than it’s dark, cold and pouring with rain outside!
After breakfast I hit the studio and clear the decks of emails and other tasks that have been piling up then get my guitar stuff sorted and head off to the school in Balloch.
After a good couple of hours with some of the kids I get back home and take a walk along to see Betty to sort some stuff out for her.
We have an early dinner before a local community trust meeting at the village hall.
Buddy hell – number 1, 12 and 13 spots in Roots Music Report’s charts!
UP early to get some work done before my 10am guitar student arrives.
Once we’re done I geas to the studio and catch up on some work. The ongoing saga of website ‘infections’ takes a few more positive steps albeit at a price. If it works I’ll do same with the other sites on the server.
The afternoon is spent working on my accounts. The tax return still seems a while away though – and the deadline is approaching. Eek.
I stumble across the Roots Music reports charts and find I’m at numbers 1, 12 and 13…and also in the top 40 of ‘best of 2022’ chart! Ace.
UP EARLY into Glasgow. I drop Margaret of then take the car to the garage in Maryhill for it’s MoT.
It’s a stinking wet day and I wander into the city centre and find somewhere for coffee and wifi. Amongst the morning’s tasks I need to try and get to the bottom of the ‘infection; on the server affecting all any websites so spend an inordinate amount of time on that.
There’s an unspent £50 GuitarGuitar gift card that I’ve had for ages…and nothing I really need or want without going into the £1000+ range but I have a hankering for a wee headphone amp and the Fender Mustang Micro fits the bill. I take a walk down to Trongate and pick one up 🙂
I’m soaked through and miserable so decide to head back to John Lewis where I grab a toast, muffin and coffee for lunch and spin it out until the garage calls to say the car’s ready and Margaret’s on her way into town. She picks up the car – another £400 taking our car maintenance spend to nearly £1000 in the last four weeks. Ouch.
We pick up some shopping and head for home.
After dinner we nip along to see Betty for a wee while then home for a nightcap and some telly.
UP at 7am to get the oven on and the super sour wholemeal loaf ready. the dough’s a bit sticky, but hopefully it’ll turn out alright.
It does turn out OK. Brilliant, in fact 🙂
There’s a lot of clearing up to be done outside…and all the music stuff needs to go back to the studio before my first zoom guitar student at 11am.
Dave Bayfield drops by to pick up his guitar and stuff, we have a coffee, then I have my guitar session.
After I’ve got the gear and studio sorted I go back to the house for lunch then get to work on the garden. Lots of chairs, seats and tables to be put away, some rubbish to go in the bin….then I need to decide what to do with the gazebos.
They can’t go down completely or be put away ‘cos they’re wet…and, indeed, it’s still raining. Pouring. I semi-co.lapse the. And take the cover off the big ‘manual’ shelter in case it gets windy.
Back in the studio I prepare for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream…OBS and stream deck software all needs configured on the new Mac Mini and I need to edit the timelapse video of the garden concert setup to use in the livestream.
Another Zoom guitar student then the livestream….in between times I manage to get thank you notes out to everyone that sent tips/donations via PayPal.
Margaret’s got dinner ready when I get back to the house just after 9pm….then a little more work and an early-ish night.
A still from the garden concert…you can watch the archived livestream here
AS SOON as we’re finished breakfast we go out and start getting the gazebos up for this evening’s garden concert.
Anna’s is problematic, but we get there with the help of some cable ties – the two ‘pop-up’ gazebos go up in seconds.
Margaret goes indoors to start preparing the soup and stoves and I get the PA, gear and guitars across from the studio and set up.
After a quick soundcheck I start arranging seating and lights under the food and merch tent then hit the studio to get a few things done before David and Fiona arrive.
They’re soundcheck is easy then we do some more prep and our photographer pal Alistair arrives.
Folks start arriving just before 5pm and by the time Dave Bayfield starts his opening set the garden is full. Fiona joins him on fiddle for a few tunes at the end of his set then Margaret dishes out soup, storied and crusty beard while I tune my guitars and get ready.
Soon I’m underway and, aside from my guitar going badly out of tune on one song, all goes well. What a blast!
AFTER breakfast Margaret goes swimming with Catriona and the kids…I go into the garden and try and figure out how to put up the big gazebo we got from Anna. No instructions.
I spend some time laying out the zillions of pole sections and , using a process of elimination, kinda figure out what might go where.
In the studio I continue manual set up of the new Mac Mini. Everything seems to be going to plan, but it’s slow progress.
I take a break when they all get back from swimming and have a coffee and a blether then get back to it in the studio where I am ensconced until Margaret’s got dinner reward around 9pm…big day tomorrow – the garden concert!
NO long lie today as there’s stuff needing done before my 10am guitar student arrives.
The lesson goes fine then Margaret and I start tidying up some of the stuff kicking around in the garden in preparation for Sunday’s garden concert.
There’s a large gazebo/shelter type thing that I got from my pal Anna few months ago. We’ve never put it up so we get it out the shed and try and make sense of the zillions of poles…and no instructions. The rain comes on, we decide to leave it ’til tomorrow and I message Anna for any clues on how to get the thing put up.
I spend most of the afternoon in the studio setting up the new Mac Mini. First, I need to work out all the connections and hubs. A ‘migration’ form my laptop has resulted in far too much trash and legacy stuff being moved over so I start over and decide to do things manually.
Tom Urie is playing in our local pub in the early part of the evening and we take a wander down for a drink and to enjoy some music. Fiona and Steven are there so we bag some seats beside them and have a grand time 🙂
AFTER breakfast I go to the studio to try and sort out a signature capo order so I can fulfil a merch order.
The system with G7th has changed and new instructions lead to s simpler, easier process, I get an order in for my customer 🙂
One of my ‘in-person’ guitar student arrives for his lesson and we pick up were left off a few weeks ago. He’s only 13, but picking things up fast.
After lunch we discuss some of the computer hassles and decide to head into Braehead and get a new Mac Mini for the studio. I;ve been waiting for the M2 version. but it’s still not ben announced and things are getting desperate.
We have a couple of Apple vouchers from old iPhone recycling and Margaret can get an education discount. That means we can just about squeeze it onto a credit card.
Back home we have dinner then wander along to see Betty for a wee while. My first gas of wine – or any kind of alcohol – for a fortnight!
