Great to see my pal Alastair on his West Highland Way walk…
AFTER breakfast I’m straight onto pledge pin production. I need to make sure I can come up with the goods before I blow out the manufacturer.
The prototype is looking good so far and I’m just putting the final touches to the fin ish when my pal Alastair arrives.
He’s doing the West Highland Way and we couldn’t have him passing our door and not have in for a coffee and some lunch.
Great to chat and catch up, then I walk along to Milarrochy with him and bid him farewell on the rest of his walk.
I wander home and spend the rest of the afternoon casting blanks for the rest of the pledge badges. I get a good number done before the midges get the better of me.
A pal is bringing his dad to the studio tomorrow (Sunday) to record a song so I do a little prep and tidy up before starting an edit on the video footage I shop while smoking Friday’s beef short ribs.
UP EARLY to get the smoker ready and beef short ribs prepped.
All goes to plan other than a cut finger trimming the ribs – except I managed to cut myself when I wasn’t actually trimming them!
I’m trying to film the whole process – prepping and smoking the ribs, not cutting my fingers – as folks in my Wildcats group have been asking about BBQ.
The badge production folks have come back to me with a good offer to help sort my screw up but it’s still gonna be expensive. I set about trying a DIY prototype.
After lunch I have a hydro society meeting which goes on a bit longer than intended. At least I can now monitor the smoker and contents from anywhere and be fairly confident that the billows fan will do a decent job of managing the temperature in the pit.
I get a little more work done on the badge prototype then remove the ribs from the smoker when they’re done.
Duncan and Irene are coming for dinner and Betty’s also joining us…the ribs can sit in a faux cambo for an hour or so until it’s time to eat.
I GET a little work done before Fiona arrives to go for a paddle.
After a nice hour or so on the water I get back and have time for a quick shower before Eva arrives for a photoshoot in the studio.
All goes well then I have the first in a bunch of video and phones interviews. First up, Helen St Helen on Speakerbox. You can see the result here!
Margaret goes into town for some shopping and I get busy with various bits and bobs of work.
The new badges arrive – pledge pins and general release pins for Still Friends. Except I’ve cocked up – they say Devil May Care instead of Still Friends. Doh!
I did send the production folks the correct artwork and visuals…but when they sent the proofs back of an OK I didn’t notice they;d used the art work for the past badge order a few years ago. I was checking for flaws and color.
Ultimately my fault but I can’t help feeling a little peeved. I email the production folks and let them know, accepting the blame is mine but to see if they can accept a quantity less than their minimum so I can at least get the Kickstarter backers’ pledge pins done without haemorraging more money. We’ll see what they come back with.
I may have to try and make them myself…although last time I attempted that it was a fail.
Good to get the chance to try out a couple of big boards courtesy of my buddy David
UP EARLY to get down to the bay and meet my pal David Stransky.
We;ve done a few paddles together with the PaddleFast group and he’s often messaged when he’s around to see if I wanna go for a paddle as he knows I’m keen on the bigger boards he has.
Unfortunately I’m usually busy, but today the stars align and we manage to hook up.
I don’t have a lot of time but we head for Port Bawn. On the outward journey I try out his over-size Gladiator. I;d had a quick shot in the bay before but this is a good tryout. I like it!
On the way back we swap boards and I try the Bluefin tandem. Heavier and sleeker – I ‘think’ I prefer it…but to be honest both are good and it’s great to have a chance to try ‘em on a proper paddle.
We say cheerio and I get back for a shower and sort my gear out for an afternoon music session with the kids at the school in Balloch.
I pick up some shopping en route home then catch up on some work and get the studio set up for a photo shoot tomorrow.
Betty comes along for dinner and we hear about her trip to Chicago and have a grand wee night.
SOURDOUGH is in the oven early. While it cools I open up the studio and notice the ivy on the front and side walls has crept into the soffits.
I decide to pull some of it down – the stuff I can reach, anyway – and disturb a zillion midges. They ain’t happy.
Back in the house for breakfast I take stock of the bites and look out the antihistamines cream. Hopefully it’ll relieve the itch.
Next, an online guitar session then I deal with some online orders.
After lunch I cover myself in midge spray, find some gloves and a hoodie, grab a set of ladders, and tackle the rest of the ivy. Suitably protected this time.
My afternoon guitar student arrives with her mum and we have a great session…then I spend a few hours working out why the mic and cameras aren;t playing ball in the studio.
Camera fault turns out to be a dodgy HDMI cable…audio is down to some deep settings in my audio software that have somehow got fucked up.
A LONG lie to recover from a late one…then brunch in the garden.
Quite a few wee jobs to get through today. First up is the rotten bit of wooden window surround at the side of the office.
I get the old wood off, pull the leftover nails, clean with a wire brush and sand things down before treating the exposed wood and cutting the replacement bit of wood to size.
Margaret stains the new bit of wood and does some other prep. I’ll nail it on tomorrow once everything’s had a chance to dry/cure.
Next job is a complete clean out of the smoker. The grate and heat deflector get cleaned after every smoke session and every two or three sessions I clean the ash out. This time, though, I can’t get the bit of metal through the vent and into the bottom of the kamado…that’s what prompts the complete clean out!
I take out the unused charcoal then remove the ceramic fire bowl and empty it out. Underneath there’s a load of ash and I see why the metal ash remover isn’t getting through the back of the vent…the opening on the bottom collar of the bowl is mis-aligned. My bad – can’t have put it all back together properly after the last deep clean.
Next, I cut the grass and do some strumming then hit the studio.
I deal with some stuff on the to-do list then find there’s some kind of problem with my website. A ‘fatal error’ when I try and log in….and I notice the online store is fucked up. Aaarggh…time to make some tortillas for tonight’s tacos so I leave the web stuff until faster dinner (ie: about 11pm!) and manage to get things fixed. Phew!
I never tire of the Ben Lomond ‘reveal’ when paddling past the far end of Inchcailloch
AN EARLY alarm – well, 7.30am’s early for me – to get the smoker fired up and a pork butt on for tonight’s pulled pork.
The new Thermoworks RFX yesterday and billows fan for the kamado make it faster and easier to get things going and the pit stabilized at the right temperature.
Then back to bed for coffee and the usual email and socials routine.
Another lovely day outside so I head out for a paddle with Fiona. Outward paddle to Port Baden is a lot choppier than we expect but all in all a grand hour or so out on the water.
Thanks again to the new RFX probes and fan on the smoker I’ m able to get on with various bits and bobs during the afternoon. Of course I still pay attention to the cook, but it’s good not to have to babysit the smoker and stay within range of the old wireless temperature system.
Keith and Donna are not coming ;til 7,30pm and the pork butt is ready at 6.30pm and put in a faux cambro while we do the rest of dinner prep.
Out today! Available via all digital services – see links on my homepage!
RELEASE day for Come With Me – the first in a series of six singles in the run up to the album release in November.
I take a break from ‘day of release’ promo for a two-hour hydro society meeting to discuss the grant applications that have come in this year.
Once I’m free of the meeting I get some short ribs on the smoker and set up the new Thermoworks RFX probes and billows. We’ll see if they make life easier.
Then it’s back onto promo while Margaret goes to get some shopping and stuff for a few maintenance jobs outside. There’s a bit of window frame trim needing treated and replaced at the office and some roof repairs on the smoker shelter after a fallen tree took out the back corner.
ALTHOUGH I’m not expecting to be able to send out the rewards to Kickstarter backers for another week or two, I wanna be well prepared so send out the ‘backer survey’ to get folks’ delivery addresses.
It’s a nice day and the loch beckons. I head out for a paddle round the island and it’s really calm. Halfway back tho’ the wind picks up and before I know it I’m getting blown all over the place and need to kneel down to make any headway. It’s a long, hard paddle back.
After lunch I prep some graphics and stuff for my socials ready to post tomorrow on the release of Come With Me – the first single from he forthcoming album.
Next job, setting up ticketing for the Aberdeen show on 6 November then I have a phone interview with Ian McKenzie – presenter of Blues in the South and editor of the newsletter of the same name.
The kitchen beckons. First up, pickled red onion to go with the BBQ I’m planning for our guests on Saturday.
Then a batch of kimchi and an Italian sausage sumo for tonight’s pasta.
Finally some fresh pasta dough. While it’s resting I do some work in the studio – a Spotify canvas for the next single release (Hellbound Train on 6 June).
