I’VE got a new West Highland Way Gifts’ product idea that’s been in mind for quite a while…today’s the day to try and create it, so busy designing in the studio.
The lights I ordered last week to light the green screen in the studio more evenly were meant to be delivered by DHL yesterday (Wednesday) but became subject to a ‘delay’. They’re out for delivery today…I need to have them sorted in time a for a video shoot for my pal Kevin on Saturday.
On the upside another delivery – from DPD this time – arrives. Rubber matting for the new stomp box that was ordered 10 days ago and was subject to four ‘delays’ in delivery. What the fuck is wrong with couriers this week?
I take a break from designing the new product and mess with the keyboard in the studio. The software all needs updated though, so my tinkering is short-lived.
By 6pm the delivery tracking for the lights tells me the driver is about 12 stops away…apparently it’s to be delivered by 8pm. I keep an eye on things but just after 7pm the live tracking ‘disappears’ from the website and app. Mmm..I can guess what’s gonna happen now. Or not.
Sure enough, no delivery by 8pm and around 8.40pm I get an email from DHL saying ‘delivery status updated’. On tracking I see the package is now back at the depot. Fucking useless.
AFTER my regular Wednesday morning guitar student has left I get on with some admin stuff.
Next, I head to Vale of Leven hospital for an x-ray. I get parked up right outside and only have to wait 10 or 15 minutes to be taken.
A quick stop of at the supermarket not he way home then it’s time for lunch.
In the studio I spend some time looking over the local community hydro society website. As a board member looking after comms, I reckon we need to give it a bit of a revamp so start thinking over some recommendations.
My sourdough is almost finished. Normally lasts a week but I’ve been making lunchtime toasties with it this week. I got the starter out the fridge after lunch but forget all about it until I come back from the studio…it’s nearly 9pm so the dough ain’t gonna have as long as it should before it goes into the fridge overnight….
THE alarm goes off to remind me to call the doc as soon as the surgery opens (8am) to see if I can get a face-to-face appointment.
My shoulder/upper arm and back still giving me pain and discomfort and the ibuprofen gel the nurse practitioner prescribed a couple weeks ago hasn’t done any good. He’d ‘diagnosed’ rotator cuff problem but I’m not so sure…I’d like the doc to have a look nd he can’t do that with. phone appointment.
I’m lucky today and get through in time to bag a late afternoon appointment.
After checking the bank I realise we’re in financial do-do (again)…a bit of brainstorming and it seems like a loan to clear the credit card and cover some unexpected expenses might be a sensible solution. I do some research online – mainly via the money saving expert – and apply for a loan online. Looks like it’ successful. Not ideal, but the best of a crap range of options.
In the studio I restring the acoustasonic. Been having third string ‘unwrapping’ issues resulting in a ‘dead’ sounding string. Newtone has sent me some different options to try out but I’m beginning to wonder ion the problem is down to the locking tuners. I may be over-tightening the posts and damaging the delicate winding on the third/G string.
Margaret runs me to the village where the doc reckons I need to go for an x-ray – which I can go for anytime (tomorrow I hope!) – and a scan..whoch might be a while away.
I enjoy the hour-and-a-bit walk home despite the drizzle then spend some time in the studio and, now my Wildcats’ Facebook group folks have seen it, upload the Younger Days video to my YouTube channel and Facebook page.
I’M UP early to get sourdough in the oven…the kids aren’t far behind and come to jump all over me!
After breakfast I hit the studio while Margaret, Catriona and the kids get ready to go to a local farm for a ‘lambing and calving experience’.
I have a couple of online guitar sessions with a lunch break in between then Catriona and the kids head off.
In the studio I finish sorting some video clips of Trevor’s set from the village hall show and get them on a USB stick to send him. Next, I edit footage of Younger Days from the same show.
The edit’s a little fiddly as I wanna ‘lose’ the string breakage in the middle of the song.
Thanks to the lighter nights there’s time for a wander up the lochside before my Wildcats’ livestream then it’s back to the house for dinner and some telly.
MY FAVOURITE kinda Saturday morning spent in bed, drinking coffee, watching Saturday Kitchen and dealign with emails and socials 🙂
After a very late breakfast…’brunch’ perhaps…I get busy ion the office prototyping some ideas and designs for ‘I climbed Conic Hill’ badges in prep for tomorrow’s (Sunday) wee West Highland Way Gifts’ pop-up in Balmaha car park.
For some reason I can’t get my dye-sub badges to work despite having had success before. I try various kinds of acrylic and wood, finally deciding on walnut laminate with a white acrylic infill. We’ll see if they work out.
Mid afternoon I go out for a quick walk to pick some wild garlic. Taken a notion to make pasta tonight. Haven’t done fresh pasta in a while and spotting some wild garlic sparked the notion.
Back home I do some more work on the badge ideas then get out for a quick paddle..just half an hour or so. I do a wee livestream while I’m out there.
Margaret goes to get some shopping while I make wild garlic puree for my pasta dough. I’ve got the dough finished and resting in the fridge when she gets back…but it’s still well after 10pm when we eat. Worth it tho’ 🙂
The first batch of Conic Hill pins/brooches finished and on sale here 🙂
AFTER my guitar student and her dogs have left I get busy in the office finishing off the first run of Conic Hill pins and pendants. Pretty pleased with the way they’ve turned out 🙂
A message comes in from a potential Zoom guitar student asking if it’d be possible to have a lesson this afternoon. Short notice, but I’m fairly flexible time-wise so we get something sorted for mid-afternoon.
In between times I research ways to improve my green screen lighting for a video I’m gonna be making next weekend. I really need to sort some flatter, better lighting for the screen.
I have a good session with the new Zoom guitar student and we arrange a follow up lesson…then it’s back to the green screen lighting research. I don’t have m much, if any budget, so need to look for a cheap DIY solution.
I’d hoped to get out for an early evening paddle but the weather’s turned a bit. Plus, I want to start spreading the word about a special international touring/live performance event that Andres and I are doing at the Scottish Music Centre, Glasgow before our run of Scottish dates kicks off in May before we head off to Betty’s for dinner…
FIRST job of the day is to redesign my Conic Hill pin and pendant. The prototype pin was too big and balance between metal and inlay wasn’t quite right.
We’re planning a wee pop-up in the village car park on Sunday so it’d be nice to have some Conic Hill related stuff.
I get my designs done then hit the studio while the masters are processing. I wanna do a ‘proof of concept’ for some of ideas for my pal Kevin’s video we’re gonna put together soon.
When Margaret drives into Glasgow for some shopping I get her to drop me off so I can return a screen to my pal Martyn then walk back home. It’s a nice evening and IO come across some cool spots for future video and photo shoots.
Back home I cast some more Conic Hill prototype pins and pendants, cut and tidy up the castings and add some inlay. Hopefully I’ll get them finished tomorrow (Friday) and they’ll work out OK…
AFTER breakfast I hit the studio determined to have a bit of a clear up in the live room.
It’s gonna take much longer than a few hours to do a proper job but I manage to at least bring a little order and tidy up a bit.
I spend the afternoon messing about with LUTs and experimenting with colour grading in Final Cut before starting an edit on Younger Days from the hall show last weekend.
Late afternoon the rain has eased off…the wind has died down enough to go for a paddle but my left shoulder is really achy. While it does;t seem to be exacerbated by paddling, I decide to let it rest and go a walk up the lochside instead.
WE’RE a bit late getting up…the weather’s not bad outside and after breakfast I decide to see if I can reclaim any of our only dismantled decking for a new, much smaller ‘top step’ deck.
I measure up, pull out some of the better condition deck boards, give them a good clean and scrub and knock out some of the old screws and nails.
Margaret’s booked a slot at Balfron dump for late afternoon. Seems strange to me though this pre-booking that started during covid is still in force. That, combined with the very limited (and bizarre) opening times and the fact that they no longer accept stuff like plasterboard makes it a pretty shit facility.
Anyway, we have buckets of stones with broken glass from when the garden table got trashed by the wind that can’t be discarded over the fence so need to go to the dump along with other bits and bobs.
I save some more bits of decking and chop up the rest of the stuff lying around . The rotten stuff can go to the dump and better stuff in the woodshed for burning.
In the studio I mess some more with the video edit for Walk the Walk. LUTs, grading, aaargh…I’m out my depth but I manage to get a reasonable result and make widescreen, square and vertical versions for YouTube, Facebook and other socials. Not sure why, but the seem to get a bit mangled but he upload process which largely negates my grading efforts.
After our dump run I get back into the studio and lose myself in the video stuff…suddenly it’s after 9pm and Margaret’s got dinner ready.
THERE’s a West Highland Way Gifts’ order to be made up – I get it started then hit the studio for a session with my regular Monday morning Zoom guitar student.
After the session the flasks have finished processing. I get them parcelled up, postage applied and book a collection for tomorrow (Tuesday).
Having rushed last week’s video edits form the local Memorial Hall show, I’m keen to try and up my game and have at least one song form the show edited to spin into tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
The video was shot in log, but I converted some of it to make it more manageable in my ‘pro-sumer’ editing set up…I think the grading suffered so this time I import the log footage and work with that. More time consuming and cumbersome given my gear limitations (and my editing/knowledge limitations!) but I get things underway before my afternoon guitar student arrives.
I manage to get he video finished in time for the Wildcats’ livestream. I like to let folks in the Wildcats group see things first…I’ll publicly post the result in the next day or two….
