FIRST job on the list today is a custom leather airtag holder for someone in Australia. It’s my second Etsy sale!
After creating the custom artwork I get the engraving and cutting underway then go to tidy up and clean the studio. It’s a mess and Duncan and Irene are popping by this morning so I don’t want it to be a riot in there.
They show up mid-morning and I get a hard drove from Duncan so I can transfer over the video files from our show together a couple of weeks ago. It5’s gonna take a few hours so we go into the village for a coffee and bump into Betty and Joe.
I go back to the house to get on with some work and Duncan’ll come back this afternoon for his drive.
After lunch I dye the airtag – purple, my least favourite dye to use….not because I don’t like the colour but the pigment is so strong it marks anything it touches and it’s a pain to clear out the airbrush.
It’s windy – still way too windy to go out on the loch –but it’s a nice day so after Duncan’s picked up his drive I have a wander up the lochside.
Back home I decide to finish the airtag with saddle soap rather than the usual resolene – it give the leather a much softer feel…but never having put it on dyed leather before I’m not sure how it’ll work out. It might be the dye hasn’t;t had enough time to dry…or maybe it just does;t like saddle soap…but it ends up lifting the colour in places making it look kinda distressed. It might be to some folks’ taste, but it’s not the finish I advertised so I have to start a new one from scratch.
We’re taking dinner along to Betty and Joe tonight and I’m trying my hand at beef bourginon – in the instant pot, of course, so instead of taking four hours to cook, it should be done in an hour or so.
Unlike the airtag, the beef is ready on time and is hailed a great success 🙂
Charlie plays a fantastic show at the Glad Cafe, Glasgow…
OFF into Glasgow early – Margaret drops me in Milngavie and I get the train into the city centre.
I stop for coffee and get some work done and then go to meet my pal Charlie – he’s over from. the ‘states on a European tour and playing in Glasgow tonight.
We catch up for a coffee then go a wander before stopping at Mikaku for some lunchtime ramen. And very good it it too.
Charlie got back to his digs to get ready for tonight’s show and I go to meet Margaret and pick up some stuff I need for tomorrow night’s dinner which Ilm taking to Betty and Joe’s. The main shopping trip is tomorrow, but I need to start cooking before Margaret’ll be home with everything.
We meet Charlie and his tour manager Martin at the venue and have dinner together then enjoy Charlie’s show. A wonderful performance 🙂
There’s few folks we know in the crowd too and it’s nice to catch up before we head for home. A great day and night.
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AFTER getting a batch of egg bites in the Instant Pot I go out to the office and dye the leather bracelets…hopefully they’ll be dry by the time I’ve finished breakfast and I can get a finishing layer on.
If so, I might be able to get them finished before my first Zoom guitar student of the day…then get the parcel off with the postie. As t is, I get one off the bracelets edged and a snap in place, so the parcel is ready.
I’ve only just finished the Zoom session when the postie arrives and agrees to take the parcel 🙂
Back in the office I make some stands for the chopping boards I have in the village shop. They’ve been behind other stuff on a top shelf with no pricing/info since I dropped them in. That needs to change 😉
I take the stands down and have a blether then go home and make gyoza for lunch.
In the studio I edit another song form the Memorial Hall show then revamp the landing page and SurveyMonkey page to make it all a personally run competition with me undertaking to donate the equivalent amount of entry fees to our Scottish Mountain Rescue fundraising effort.
Once that’s all sorted I spread the word then get prep done for this evening livestream into my Wildcats’ Facebook group.
My final Zoom student of the day is followed by the livestream, dinner and an early night….
I’M not feeling much like it, but I drag myself out of bed for an early paddle. It’s forecast to be windy on the loch by lunchtime and the outlook for the rest fo the week makes it unlikely I’ll get out again until next weekend.
Regardless of tiredness I really enjoy my paddle out to – and around – Inchcailloch and manage to livestream my paddle home form Port Bawn which results in a few more donations to our Scottish Mountain Rescue fundraiser.
Margaret’s breakfast ready when I get back home – s’pose it’s technically an early lunch as I took granola and yogurt out on my paddle.
There’s a trellis to be fixed to the wall in the front garden to train a rosebush that’s been growing in all weird directions over the last year. Slow progress drilling the brickwork with my underpowered cordless drill but I get there eventually and have the plus in just as Catriona, Will and the kids rock up. They’re bringing back the mini-bar/cooler we lent them for yesterday’s get-together.
We have a coffee and chat in the garden then they go on their way and I get some work done in the studio then deliver some new over-sized ‘I climbed Conic Hill’ fridge magnets to the village shop.
In the evening I’m packing up some merch – one of the others includes a Dave Arcari leather bracelet in the only size and colour I don’t have in stock. I make a batch of them which I hope will be dry and ready for finishing in the morning…
Freya takes a swipe at her piñata…took some bashing to get it open!
I’M up early to get some miles in for the Scottish Mountain Rescue miles challenge.
Someone’s mentioned to Fiona that my ‘prize draw’ incentive might cause Scottish Mountain Rescue a problem with their gift aid stuff. I disagree, but I don’t want to cause a fuss so I decide to opt for the safe option – I’ll run a personal ‘giveaway’ and personally make an equivalent donation to our fundraising. that’ll keep the naysayers/scaremongers happy!
I get a new holding page up o the web before I head out then make my way northwards up the east side of the loch, past Milarrochy, the sailing club and Critreoch until I find a nice wee place to stop for my yogurt, and granola…and a coffee.
There’s another four miles on efforts by the time I’m back. Matty’s heading to Ben Lomond for the hill race and we get ready to go to Catriona and Will’s for Freya’s fourth birthday party. Matty’ll come to the party after the race.
We have fantastic afternoon catching up with folks we haven’t seen in ages and get home just after 8pm 🙂
A paddle up the east side of the loch – the furthest I’ve been in that direction
I’M on a bit of a mission to find out why the reviews/recommendations aren’t appearing on my guitar lessons’ Facebook page.
After spending an inordinate amount of time on it I draw a blank. No time to investigate more so it’s gonna have to wait.
There’s more video to edit and while it’s processing I spend some time in the office working on a prototype ‘I climbed Conic Hill’ mini plaque/magnet.
We have lunch in the garden then I get back on the video editing before a quick walk up the lochside.
Matty rolls up late afternoon – he’s staying tonight ‘cos he’s doing the Ben Lomond hill race tomorrow. We have a drink then wander along to see Betty and Joe and have an aperitif (or three) then head home and make pizza outside.
I’D SET the alarmfor 7am with the intention going out for a pre-breakfast paddle. Not happening tho’ – for some reason I have a terrible hangover!
When I do eventually get up it’s too windy to go out on the loch – and the forecast is crap until Saturday morning.
Instead, I hit the studio and get on with some work for the rest of the morning.
After lunch I have a Zoom guitar student then I take a walk to the local polling station to vote in the local council elections.
I’m knackered when I get back home and start to wonder if I’ve got some kind of lurgy which might explain my ‘hangover’ and tiredness earlier.
Back in the studio I create some images to use for Instagram and Facebook ‘stories’ to spread the word about the prize draw I’ve set up to go with the Scottish Mountain Rescue fundraiser.
I also realised that I’ve never re-instated my guitar lessons website and that the related Facebook page hasn’t had ‘reviews/recommendations’ activated. I set it up and email out a few past and present students to gather some feedback and testimonials.
It’s quite late when I get the charcoal lit for the grill and make Vietnamese beef….bit it’s good!
AFTER getting some work done in the office I head to the studio for a radio interview via Zoom.
There’s another Zoom session – this time with one of my guitar students – then I make some ramen for lunch.
I spend the afternoon working on my accounts. It’s a bit of a slog having not really touched them for a year…I did spend some time on it a couple of weeks ago but more pressing jobs knocked it down the to-do list.
I take a break form the computer screens and go for a walk up the ,outside. it’s quite a nice afternoon but way too windy for paddleboarding and I don’t really have time today anyway.
Back home I make a coffee and check my emails and socials. There’s a message from The Music Cable Company offering a custom-made guitar cable and a guitar wall hanger as prize to help with my ‘paddleboard through May’ fundraiser for Scottish Mountain Rescue.
I spend some time trying to work out the best way to integrate it with the fundraising and decide the easiest thing to do is have a prize draw that folks can enter if they donate £5 or more.
I’m only just finished setting things yup when it’s time to go to Betty and Joe’s for dinner…we’ve been invited along with other pals Tom and Joyce and have a great evening 🙂
Fiona’s new board hasn’t;t arrived and she hasn’t got a repair kit for Sunday’s puncture so I go solo and paddle round Inchcailloch stopping at Port Bawn for my packed breakfast of yogurt, granola and coffee.
When I get back I spend some time editing video and doing some promo for the cause then start editing another song from last Saturday’s Memorial Hall show.
In the office I redesign an acrylic and epoxy earring design I’ve been messing with – the first effort was too flimsy in places. Hopefully version two will be better.
I have a Zoom call with my pal Martyn to help him with Facebook pixel and Google codes for his website then I get back to the video editing.
Margaret has an community trust trustees’ meeting early evening and I get dinner prepared so it’s ready to go when she gets back.
My special guest Duncan McCrone joins me onstage for the finale at the recent Memorial Hall show…
MOST of the morning is spent updating the fundraising blog on the Scottish Mountain Rescue website, sorting photos from yesterday’s paddle and trying to link my page with my Strava account to log the distances.
In between times I have a Zoom guitar student which gives a welcome break from all the techie fiddle-faddling about.
After lunch I pull some video from the Memorial Hall show into Final Cut to edit something to include in tonight’s livestream to my Wildcats’ Facebook group.
While my resulting edit is rendering and processing I go for a walk – stopping off to deliver some West Highland Way Gifts’ stock at the village shop, then at Betty’s to sort her Alexa and set up a new clock before heading up the lochsiode.
I’m home in time to do a little more prep for the livestream and my final Zoom guitar student of the day.
The livestream goes good then it’s back to the house for dinner and an early night.
