Fantastic early morning paddle to Bucinch for breakfast on the beach
THE alarm goes off at 6.30am…Fiona’s coming to pick me up for an early morning paddle and we also need to set up some photos to accompany the news release for our May fundraising paddle for Scottish Mountain Rescue.
I set up the tripod, camera and remote to take the necessary pix then we head out on the water. We don’t have a lot of time this morning so we make for Bucinch where we have breakfast on the beach then paddle back. The weather is fantastic.
Back home I have shower, make some dough for bay buns then hit the studio to get some work done before my midday Zoom guitar session with one of my regular weekly students.
After the lesson I cut the grass and work my bay bun dough. It’s not risen at all and isn’t looking good! We’ll see how they work out once they’re steamed.
The caramelised belly pork, pickled greens and hoisin filling is great…but the buns are a disaster. I eat them anyway but they are crap. Back to the drawing board.
I spend the afternoon working on some products and preparing another batch of badges in readiness for the merch table at Saturday’s gig then make a set list and run through some of the songs.
We’re taking dinner along to Betty and Joe’s tonight. We’re often a bit later than we intend, so I start the teriyaki chicken early…we’re only ten minutes late this time!
WE’RE up early to go into Glasgow. I drop Margaret off then head to the Fort shopping park and nip into Morrisons for a roll and sausage, a coffee and get some work done.
Next stop is picking up some stuff I need to drop off in Glasgow later on then I have a wee wander around in the sun.
On to Costco for some lunch and shopping, then Tesco…then off to pick up Margaret.
Back home we drop off some stuff for Betty, put our shopping away and I mix some epoxy for some Loch Lomond chopping boards for West Highland Way Gifts and use the spare to top some of my own acrylic badges. We’ll see if it works!
The sun’s still shining and I sit on the front step playing guitar and sipping a coffee. Tempting to have a beer, but I’m trying to have at lest a couple of alcohol-free days this week!
FIRST on today’s schedule is a Zoom session with one of my guitar students followed by a walk to the village shop.
In the office I mix some epoxy for some products I’m prototyping and I use some leftover resin to ’cap’ one of my new badges to see if it improves them. I’ll find out tomorrow when it’s cured!
After lunch I drape the backdrop I painted over the table in the garden and try and tidy up some of the rough edges. Quite pleased with the way it’s turned out 🙂
I take advantage of the nice weather and go a walk up the lochside stopping to some pre-livestream livestream promos along the way.
Back in the studio I do some prep for the livestream before another Zoom guitar session then it’s virtually straight onto the livestream…
Still not 100% satisfied with my images of Will’s paperweights but they’re getting there…
UP AT a decent time to go along to my pal Martyn’s. We go for a long walk and have a good catch up. Seems ages since we’ve done that.
When I get back home Margaret, Catriona and the kids are coming back form rolling their eggs for Easter and it’s turned into a nice sunny day. We hang out in the garden for a while then the go back to Doune.
We have some lunch then I chill in the hammock in the sun for a wee while before hitting the studio for another session photographing Will’s paperweights. I try a few different techniques and manage to improve the shots a little.
The bags for my fridge magnets arrive so I get them packaged up and take them to the village shop then do some more work in the studio.
There’s some pizza dough leftover form last night so we have pizza again….they work well and Margaret prefers these ‘thin and crispy’ pizzas to my favourite Neopolitan/artisan efforts…
I WAKE up with a sore chest, aching all over, a bit of a temperature and having had little sleep thanks to frequent coughing fits through the night.
When I get up and start moving the phlegm loosens a bit and I feel a little better. A walk down to the shop to get some eggs helps too…and they need some fridge magnets 🙂
I get busy making the stuff for the shop but I’m out of packaging stuff so they get ordered online for deliver tomorrow.
Betty stops in for a coffee and some help with some online stuff then we have lunch.
I’m feeling a bit better but decided to drive to Balloch to get some chest/cough stuff from the chemist. Our nearest chemist closes at lunchtime on a Saturday..and although I’d normally enjoy a bike ride to Balloch I;m just not feeling up to it today.
A quick stop at the Co-Op on the way back for some supplies for tonight’s pizza and then I’m home.
Is pend a bit of time int eh studio setting up photos of some of Will’s paperweights. I manage to minimise reflections but the photos aren’t very complementary to his work. I send them oil anyway and will try another approach tomorrow….
I finish off some badges and put them on sale in my web shop…
WE have a bit of a long lie after last night’s livestream efforts…plus, I’m aching all over and not really feeling 100%.
One of my first jobs of the day is to finish off some Dave Arcari badges I’ve been working on. Quite pleased with the results so I take some photos and put them on sale in my online store.
There’s a fair bit of tidying up and re-setting of gear to be done in the studio.
In the evening I have a guest spot on The Gator’s live podcast. We chat for an hour or so and have a good laugh then I get the grill lit for some marinaded flank steak.
FIRST on the agenda today is an in-person guitar lesson with my usual Thursday morning student. She arrives bang on time and we have a good session.
In the studio I do a little bit of promo for tonight’s livestream concert on Bandcamp when Fiona arrives to go for a quick paddle. She’s going for a long trip but I’m short of time so only go for half an hour. When I land back in the bay Betty’s passing on her way to see Margaret for a coffee.
I spend the first part of the afternoon on some more promo for the livestream. ‘Tickets’ were going a bit slow but have picked up this afternoon.
There’s a fair bit of technical set up, but first I have to get the backdrop I’ve been painting on the studio floor out and into the office. Thankfully it’s dry enough to move without a problem.
As usual, the setup takes longer than I expect and we don’t have time for dinner before the 8pm go-live. Margaret runs the stream and moderates the chat…then after the concert section he joins me for the aftershow chat. Overall, it seems like a success 🙂
THE alarm goes off relatively early as I’m planning to head out for a paddle and have (part of) my breakfast on one of the islands.
I’m out on the water by 8am and although the forecast says it’s not too windy, I feel like I’m battling the wind all the way. At least it should be behind me on the way back!
After landing on the side of Inchcailloch opposite Clairinch I do a couple of quick livestreams, eat my yogurt and granola, drink my coffee then start the paddle back.The wind is indeed at my back, but there’s a weird swell that it like constantly having to deal with a motorboat wake. It’s hard work staying upright and I’m using muscles I didn’t know I had! Ah well, good experience.
After a quick shower I have the rest of my breakfast – scrambled egg on toast – then do a little more prototyping on the Dave Arcari badges before hitting the studio to put another layer of paint on the backdrop. Hopefully that’ll do as I need the thing to be dry so I can free up the studio for tomorrow’s (Thursday) livestream.
After making some arancini for lunch using mushroom risotto left over from last night I get back to work in the studio, stopping late afternoon for a quick walk in the forest.
Will drops by early evening to drop off some paperweights I promised to photograph and use to set up his online shop the we take a pot of chilli along to Betty and Joe’s for dinner.
I’ve been posting the video promos in phases and the last part is to share the vertical format videos to Facebook and Instagram stories, reels etc. I also do a little work on some ideas for badges…it;s all a bit experimental
I make some ramen for lunch then start work on my backdrop. First I project the image onto the cloth which I’ve taped to a wall in the live room at the studio and create a guide outline in chalk. Once I make some space I take the cloth down, spread it out on the floor having taped down some dust sheets first (I learned that I should do that the hard way after accidentally waiting the wallpaper making my first ever backdrop – Summerfield Blues – way back in 1990) then start painting. it’ll take another one or two coats…
Margaret has a late afternoon meeting about some community stuff and the guest – Lynne – comes up to the house for a coffee afterwards. It’s after 8pm when she leaves and I start the mushroom risotto.
One of the promo videos for Thursday’s livestream concert on Bandcamp….book here!
THERE’S some online orders for West Highland Way Gifts‘ fridge magnets…I get them going before my first Zoom guitar session of the day.
I also have some ideas for badges I wanna prototype and I manage to get the test processes going before lunch.
With Thursday’s livestream concert on Bandcamp getting ever closer I make some promo videos – widescreen for Youtube, square for social media posts and vertical for social media stories and reels.
There’s a bunch of video clips and photos from our trip to Wales which I’d promised Catriona. I spend some time editing them all together into a wee video memory.
I pack up the fridge magnets and also some Dave Arcari merch orders and drop them in the postbox while out for a walk up the lochside and do the now obligatory pre-livestream livestream promos for tonight’s Wildcats‘ livestream on Facebook.
When I get back I do some prep for the livestream before my final Zoom guitar student of the day…there’s only 20 minutes or so after I finish until golive. All goes well then I get back to the house for dinner 🙂
