QUITE a lot on today’s to-do list. After breakfast I pack up some merch orders that were waiting for the embroidered beanies, print postage and book a collection.
It boils ma piss that the post office close all the local post offices (nearest to us is now 12 miles away – a 24-mile round trip!) – and then have the audacity to charge for the postie to collect when they’re at the door anyway. Moreover we have to work out the postage ourselves and print the labels etc and pay for the privilege. Anyway…
There’s ameeting with a local group hoping to buy the recently closed church from Church of Scotland so we head along to get an update on the project. I’d planned to walk there and back but it’s pissing rain…and I don’t really have the time.
When we get back I spend some time on artwork and promo stuff for the Black Bull in Gartmore’s upcoming winter music season.
WE have a leisurely breakfast and morning with Alastair and Karen then they hit the road.
I have some stuff to do for the Black Bull Gartmore’s upcoming music season and spend some time in the studio getting some graphic ideas together an collating the artist info and photos.
Louise from The Unique Company messages to see if I’m around to drop off an order of embroidered beanies. She pops up and we have a blether. The hats are amazing 🙂
We’re both knackered and have a nap on the couch then I get stuff ready for tonight’s pizzas and ball up the dough I made the other day putting the extras in the freezer.
As well as the free-plus-postage stuff there’s the additional items most folks have ordered…and some of them need made. There’s also orders for embroidered beanies which I won’t have until tomorrow.
I make up some leather hat patches and print up various mugs then get the orders packed up and postage printed.
The other orders will need to wait for the embroidered beanies or other ‘blanks’ I’m waiting on.
Alastair and Karen are coming from the night and I wanna have as much food prep done as possible, starting with the Vietnamese rice paper wrapped summer rolls. It’s a bit of a fanny dance as the vermicelli noodles are cooked in coconut water with some bashed lemongrass stalks and then Wolle’s into the rice paper ‘wrappers’ with iceberg lettuce, prawns, coriander, mint and chives.
Once they’re done I make up the dipping sauce then move into the marinade for the salmon.
I have time for a very quick walk and am just back and shutting the studio when Alastair and Karen arrive. Next thing we know it’s nearly 3am….
WIPED this morning for some reason…so a bit a of late breakfast.
There’s a load of merch orders to be sorted out – all the ‘free-plus-postage’ stuff has been snapped up and most folks have ordered additional stuff.
There’s also been a bunch of orders from the same person – based overseas – and even more ‘failed orders’. It seems a wee bit suspicious to me. I don’t wanna blow out the orders – or take an undue amount of time to fulfil them – out in case they are genuine….but I don’t wanna send stuff out if someone’s being scammed. Dilemma.
I think I’ll sit tight and see what I think in a few days and consider refunding the orders…or look at what other actions might be best.
After lunch I have a couple folks coming from the Black Bull in Gartmore for a meeting. We’ve just finished when my late afternoon guitar student rocks up with his mum.
A BUSY day of guitar stuff today kicks off with an online session and then straight on to an in-person lesson.
A local pal needs help with some t-shirts and stuff so I bet that done then, after an early lunch, head off to the school in Balloch for my first music session of the academic year.
Back home I get a ‘free-plus-postage’ clearance sale set up in my online store. With the implementation of my revamped logo looming I wanna get rid of some odd bits of merch with the ‘old’ logo and this is a good way to do it.
By the tie Betty arrives for dinner I’ve managed to get everything live and fire out a few emails.
I close off the Wildcats’ livestream with Big River…complete with a clusterfuck 😉
SEPTEMBER already. Jeez. My right eye seems to recovering OK from Friday’s cataract op – still a few weeks before I can go for a paddle or ‘exert’ myself tho’.
After my Monday morning sourdough routine I get some admin out the way, have breakfast then hit the studio for a session with one of my online guitar students.
Next, onto radio promo for the next single – MacPherson’s Lament –which drops on 26 September.
That keeps me busy ‘til Violet arrives with her mum for her weekly guitar lesson.
Having had pretty much zero exercise or fresh air since Friday’s procedure I’m keen to get a walk. As soon as I step out the door it starts pouring so instead I do some prep for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
The rain eases a little so I grab a waterproof and get a bit of a walk before the livestream….
Post cataract op – not quite the pirate look I was hoping for!
WE’RE UP early and no time for breakfast before we head to Vale of Leven hospital day surgery to check in for my cataract op.
There’s five folks ahead of me so I have to wait a good couple hours before I’m taken – but the nurses are good craic.
The procedure itself only takes about 20 minutes and whilst it was a bit freaky it was pain-free and not traumatic in any way. The doc and all the theatre folks were very pleasant and efficient.
I’m having a cup of coffee and a couple biscuits whilst getting my post-op care instruction when Margaret comes to collect me.
Back home I swallow some paracetamol, have something to eat then have a sleep.
I’ve to keep the plastic eye thing on ‘til tomorrow and start my rigid regime of drops. A little more complex than the usual to minimise the potential for a uveitis flare up.
I’M STILL knackered when I wake up…no idea why…too much to do to laze about tho’.
Top of today’s list is to make a Spotify canvas – a short vertical looping video that displays when a track is played – for the upcoming MacPherson’s Lament release (26 September).
Once the canvas is uploaded I pitch the song to Spotify’;s editorial playlists.
I take a break and try and learn a little more about 3D sculpting and modelling on the iPad then get back onto promo stuff for the single.
Once the news release is written I add links for private streaming/download previews and also a link to an assets folder with .mp3 and .wav versions of the track, cover art, the news release and a lo-res preview version of the official video.
The rain’s off so I go for a walk, stopping in at Betty’s to help out with a couple wee things.
After dinner I try and have an early night. Eye surgery – cataract – at 8.30am in the morning….
