Made it! Eight miles on the first paddle of our fundraising month…
AFTER breakfast I get busy with he rest of the West Highland Way Gifts’ order for the village shop.
In the studio I start a video upload so I can edit some more video from last weekend’s show at the village hall then grab some lunch.
Fiona arrives at 1.30pm, We load all our paddleboard gear into the car and Margaret drives us too Drymen bridge where we launch for our first fundraising paddle for Scottish Mountain Rescue. We’ve each to cover 56 miles in May. Today we expect to cover seven or eight miles.
I’ve never paddle a river before so it’s an exciting adventure. The water’s pretty low in places and here’s big currents in others so it’s an interesting start…not least because within the first mile we discover a leak in Fiona’s board. Luckily she’d brought some gaffa tape and manages a temporary repair.
It’s not a difficult paddle, but it’s my longest outing to date. We cover just over eight miles in about four-and-a-half hours (including coffee and repair stops!) and Fiona’s board withstands the whole trip.
Back at the house we sit un the garden and drink beer and wine with Margaret before Steven joins us. It’s nearly 10pm when Fiona and Steven toddle off and we have dinner. An exciting day!
AFTER a bit of a long lie and breakfast I get busy with some more promo for our fundraising paddleboarding through May.
There’s a small topside of beef to go in the Instant Pot to start the sous vide cooking process. It’s a small joint so only needs about 8-½ hours.
Catriona and the kids rock up just after midday. They’re not long in when Betty drops by for a coffee . We all sit and chat then I go to the studio to get on with some songwriting.
I take a break mid-afternoon to build up a wee mini greenhouse I bought on Amazon for 20 quid…it’ll let me get my chilli seedlings off the kitchen windowsill and there’s some other stuff we’ve planted that needs outdoor protection.
The snap clamps I ordered arrive – we have an old frame that I wanna cover and already have some greenhouse plastic and tape. Alas, they’re too big so I pack them back up and organise a return…then order some smaller ones.
A trip to the village shop results in a re-ordering of some fridge magnets and trekking flasks…I get the fridge magnets underway as soon as I get back home.
I make a peppercorn sauce to go with the sous vide beef and it all turns out good. After eating we have a relaxing night in front of the telly with a few glasses of red.
Pretty pleased with my PR efforts getting us on the front page…click pic or here to help us out!
AFTER breakfast I check the local papers to see if anyone’s picked up my news release and pix promoting our fundraising paddle through May. I’m delighted (and surprised) to find we made the front page of the Stirling Observer and a nice feature inside and same on the Daily Record website.
Hopefully that’ll boost our fundraising efforts.
With 1 May almost upon us, I start creating some images for social media – Facebook covers, posts, vertical stories etc – and start my social media campaign to build awareness of our efforts.
I make arancini for lunch then Margaret takes Freya swimming before dropping her back off in Doune.
In the office, I spend a good three or four hours trying to solve the problem with Margaret’s email. The hosting company can’t really shed any light now hats going on so I take matters into my own hands and eventually manage to sort it. I reward myself with a wander up the lochside in the evening sun.
Back home I make pizza – we sit outside and enjoy our dinner and a couple of drinks before heading indoors.
MARGARET’s away into Glasgow early to get the car fixed – seems like the nearside rear brake callipers have seized and the pads stripped 🙁
I get prepared for my ‘in-person’ guitar student and the subsequent lesson goes well.
In the studio I work on the video edit of a couple of banjo songs from last Saturday’s village hall show. The video files are 4k and shot in log, so things move slowly on my old Mac. While they’re ‘processing’ I change over the fins on the paddleboard to a single low-profile ‘river’ fin then go out for a quick paddle in the shallows.
The fin work well in the very shallow water, but it’s difficult to keep the board going in a. straight line!
When I get back the video hasn’t;t process as there’s not enough memory in the computer. I can’t find a way of getting the software to export the finished edit to an external drive so I clear out some stuff and start the process running again.
Margaret’s come back via Doune to pick up Freya who’s staying tonight. I go back to the house and entertain her for a wee while before bed then embark on tonight’s mushroom risotto.
THE epoxy I used for the paddleboard earrings has, at last, cured so get them packed up, postage labels printed and in the postbox for delivery tomorrow.
I do a bit of promo for them on social media and stuff then blow up the paddleboard…it got pretty mucky last night. And now that it’s blown up it’d be rude not to go out for a paddle. I take a coffee and a bit of brownie in my dry bag and hit the water for 45 minutes.
Back home I light the pizza oven which heats up while I have a quick shower then I make some lunch with a leftover ball of dough from the last batch.
Once I’ve eaten and spent half an hour in the sun dealing with emails and social media I make a batch of poolish for this week’s pizza dough. The poolish pre-ferments overnight. I’ll make the dough tomorrow and it’ll be ready on Friday.
In the studio I finish off the online shop for Manson Glass, let Will know it’s now live then get ready for this evening’s Homesong livestream…’soundcheck’ is at 6pm and we go live at 7pm.
Margaret;s busy making some chilli to take along to Betty and Joe’s for dinner. We’ll head along as soon as I’m done with the livestream.
We have grand night…and after we’ve eaten I play a few songs on the guitar for Joe 🙂
PaddleFast SUP Club meet at Loch Venacher – great fun and great bunch of folks 🙂
THE epoxy I poured into my wooden paddle board earrings isn’t cured yet, so not gonna be able to fulfil my orders ’til tomorrow…I’ve emailed folks to let them know tho’ and everyone;s cool with that. Phew!
After a 10am phone meeting I get the bike out and head to the village to pick up leftover stock at the shop – sadly The Hub G63 is closing 🙁
On the way back I stop off at Martyn’s to pick up a hard drive with the video rushes from Saturday’s gig then pedal home.
After lunch I make my first ever batch of brownies to the to the PaddleFast SUP Club social meet/paddle at Loch Venachar later. Looks like they’ll be OK but we’ll see later on when I try and get ’em out the baking tray!
In the studio I start transferring the video files from Martyn. Looks good! Just with I’d remembered to press ‘record’ on the audio recorder…we’re gonna have to make do with the audio form the cameras.
While the video is transferring I do a little more work on the Manson Glass web shop then get my paddle board gear ready. Margaret’s got the car and, I hope, will be back by 5.30pm.
Meantime, I get into my wetsuit and manage to get the brownies out the baking tray. Margaret’s a little late having got stuck in traffic after getting the shopping, but I still make it to Loch Venachar on time to meet the PaddleFast SUP Club folks.
We have a great evening on the water and it’s a great bunch of folk of all abilities from total beginners to hardcore paddlers!
It’s 9.30pm before I’m home and have a quick shower…Margaret’s got dinner ready so we eat, chill and have a wee nightcap before bed.
A still from the Wildcats‘ livestream on Facebook – join the group free here
THERE’S my usual Zoom guitar session after breakfast then I nip back to the house and put some weedkiller down in the garden and tidy up a little.
Martyn’s dropping by for some ramen for lunch which I have ready just in time. We eat, chat a while then go our separate ways.
I edit a time-lapse video of the setup from Saturday’s show and then grab some of the rough GoPro footage to edit so I can run some of it in tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
Next job is some work setting up the Manson Glass online shop. Missing some info tho’…so I don;t get very far.
There’s time for a quick walk and pre-livestream livestreams to promote tonight’s Wildcats’ episode then I get home, prepare for the livestream and another Zoom guitar session with my regular Monday evening student.
In between times an Etsy order comes in for some paddleboard earrings. I;d forgotten about Etsy and, typically, I don’t have any of said earrings. I set them to cut and engrave while I do my sessions and livestream then, after dinner, mix and colour some epoxy and pour the infills. Hope it all sets OK!
UNSURPRISINGLY we have a bit of a long lie…then breakfast before we head to the hall to break down the lighting and sound, pack up and give the place a clean.
It takes a good hour or more to get everything done, finishing up with the backdrop which is a struggle to get down and folded. Worth it though, really pleased with the way it worked.
We take a run along to our pal Martyn and Louise’s to drop off an extension reel and stop for a coffee. Martyn’s processing all the video he took last night and asks if I have a hard drive I can drop off later. There’s a terabyte of footage!
Back home we unpack everything and I start trying to get the studio back to normal. While doing so I back up and clear a 1TB drive and, once I’m finished tidying, I drop it off for Martyn.
It’s a beautiful day outside and there’s still some sunshine left. We’re both knackered and after a sandwich I have forty winks in the hammock in the garden.
I make a late dinner of velvetised chicken with mushrooms and we relax before heading to bed before midnight.
Duncan joins me on stage after my set for a wee finale….
NO TIME for a lie in today – it’s gig day at the village hall!
There’s some bits of merch to be sorted then Margaret gathers all she needs while I prepare the PA, lights, instruments and stuff at the studio.
I take some time-lapse video of the packing…and then the unpacking at the hall…then set up the GoPro on the balcony to capture same of the setup.
Once we get my backdrop hung we set up the PA and sound, then start the lights and haze. When Duncan arrives I’m ready to soundcheck him and once sorted we all go back to the house for some dinner.
I have to be back at the hall for 7pm to let Martyn in with some video gear and fine;sie some of the lighting setup. Margaret, Duncan and Irene follow close behind and we’re able to open doors slightly ahead of time. There’s been a few call-offs but the hall is still at capacity and we have a great night.
Duncan opens the show…then joins me onstage after my set for a finale of a song each. I play banjo to Duncan’s Rollin’ in my Sweet Baby’s Arms and he joins me on guitar for Folsom Prison Blues….
THERE’S a lot of badges and earrings to be made/finished for the merch table at tomorrow’s show. I get on it straight way.
I take a break to put out the news release and photos for our fundraising paddle boarding through May to various journalists etc then get back on the merch production. I also make a stand to display the resonator guitar earrings.
There’s time at the end of the afternoon to run through some of the songs in my set then we head along to Betty and Joe’s for pizza with a bunch of pals 🙂
