AFTER breakfast I get the two brass orders all finished off and packaged up. One of the packs has to go to the USA and the other is being picked up later today. Phew.
There’s a wee bit of tidying up and stuff to be done outside Then I hit the studio and start some work on tomorrow’s radio show.
Mikey arrives late-afternoon and Margaret helps him with some of his account and paperwork while I carry on in the studio.
John and Vicky roll up to collect the brass and we have a coffee and blether for w while…then I go back to the studio.
Another late dinner by the time I get the charcoal lit for smashburgers….
NOW I’VE got all the signatures and stuff I need for my board nomination for Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park (LLTNP) I check over all the forms and get everything printed out.
The stuff needs to be delivered by hand to the returning officer at Stirling Council so we take a trip into Stirling to do that.
Margaret needs to exchange some paint and we also wanna go and check out what the current situation with the PCP agreement on our car which we’ve now had for three years.
Looks like we need to sit tight for the final year of the PCP thing…I’m ready to go electric with our next car/vehicle and rather like the new Kia PV5. None to be seen here tho’…might need a trip to Glasgow to check one out properly.
Back home I carry on with the brass golf markers and Buchanan church pins etc for Clan Buchanan. Need them all finished for tomorrow.
We’re so busy with stuff that I don’t get the pizza oven on ‘til nearly 11pm..so a late dinner for us…!
AN EARLY start – first up is an 8.30am haircut before heading into Glasgow for an eye test at the optician.
I have time to pick up some shopping and venue have a coffee and muffin before the optician and I’m on my way back home before 11am and drop in and see some local folks along the way.
Back home I continue the brass golf ball marker I production – I need to have them finished ASAP so I can get the Clan Buchanan pins started and finished by Saturday lunchtime.
After lunch I give the audiopoint info panel it’s first coat of varnish so Betty can see progress later on tonight then I get to work on some stuff in the studio.
I nip back to the house to make some wild garlic pasta dough – and a batch of pizza dough for the weekend – then back to the studio.
Betty comes along for dinner – just a plate of wild garlic pasta with cherry tomatoes – and we have a nice night catching up.
I’M on a mission to get the brass golf ball markers finished and figure if I go full pelt I can have them done by close of play tomorrow (Thursday). That’s a good couple of days ahead of schedule.
Just as well though – I’ve been asked to make a batch of brass pin for the Clan Buchanan before their USA visitors leave on Sunday morning. It’s gonna be tight, but I think I can get it done.
Processing each brass item takes time which allows me into the studio to work on some new guitar ideas and then after lunch I head up the lochside to get another signature on my nomination form for the National Park board. I’m not too hopeful of being voted on but it’s worth a try – our area needs a say!
Back home I do some work in advance for Sunday’s Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues radio show and get some more guitar stuff done in between monitoring and changing the brass stuff on the office.
MARGARET’S off early to meet Les and get her hair done in Edinburgh – I have a load of things on my to-do list.
First up, I need to get the brass golf ball markers on the go…the jig I set embossing last night isn;t gonna work which is a bit of a pain as I’d hoped to be able to set up four at a time so’s not to have to go and reset every four hour or so. I can’t get the laser to do layers on each in order – it wants to do one at a time then move on…by which time the focus is out. It also doesn’t let me double check the alignment on any of the engravings after the first one.
Ah well, one at a time it has to be.
I experiment with some infill for engraved text on the wooden audio point info panel, but it’s not gonna work very well so it may have to stay ‘raw’.
In the studio I play some guitar and run through some songs I might play at next week’s – Wednesday 27 May – show with my pal Charlie Parr at Cottiers in Glasgow. Unsure what set length I’m playing here my uncertainties about what I’ll play.
Margaret gets back and has some shopping but she’s run a little late (!!) and has to rush straight off to a local community trust meeting. One oof my guitar students arrives right behind her…for some reason I’d not put him in the diary and get caught a little off guard. All goes fine tho’… 🙂
I’D HOPED to get out for a paddle after my morning Zoom session with a guitar student. No such luck – the calm day predicted has unsurprisingly ended up windy and the loch is a bit on the choppy side. Ah well.
Instead, I do a little more work on the audiopoint info board. The engraving is OK, but I’d prefer it to be higher contrast. I think I’m gonna have to try and inlay the lettering with mica powder. I seal up a test engrave with shellac and order some clear-drying wood glue to mix with the mica powder. We’ll try it out when the glue arrives tomorrow and see if it’s likely to work.
There’s some prep to do for a guitar student coming later today and a courier drops off some raw brass I need for a special job.
Next, I get some video clips ready to spin into this evening’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook then get to play guitar for a wee while before my guitar student and her mum rock up.
I have time for a quick wander through the woods before the 8pm livestream, All goes to plan and I’m back in the house by 9pm.
I continue work on the info panel for the audiopoint
WE HAVE A bit of a long lie then I hit the studio to do some more prep for tonight’s radio show – the second Dave Arcari’s Deep Blues on Rock.Scot.
It’s not hard, but it is pretty time-consuming deciding what tracks to play and getting everything organised to fit the time slots etc.
In the office I get a bot more work done on the info panel for the local audiopoint. Bit of jittery pokery needed to work out how I can do the engraving as the panel is at least four times bigger than the capacity of my laser…I split the artwork/design into four sections and do each separately.
Before my radio show I make a batch of pasta using some of the wild garlic purée I made yesterday…then it’s showtime…
UP AT 6am to get the dough for my weekend rolls made…then back to bed for an hour before I get up again and make coffee.
I have a young guitar student coming – by herself this time as her wee brother has a birthday party…the lesson goes better as she is attentive and keen. Her wee brother has, let’s say, a shorter attention span and can be a bit of a distraction during the normal ‘two at once’ lessons.
We go along to the village hall for a fundraising community lunch. Having only just had breakfast we stick to coffee and hang out for a while chatting with folks. Margaret has to go to the village for some stuff and I walk back, picking a load of wild garlic along the way.
Back home I do some test engraving on wood offcuts from the audiopoint sign then wash and sort the wild garlic before making some wild garlic purée which I’ll use in pasta dough.
We wander down to our pal Sara’s at the boatyard for dinner where Betty joins us and we have another grand evening.
FIRST job of the day is to get tonight’s brisket onto the smoker – then some web stuff for my pal Kevin who’s new single is out today.
Then it’s straight onto a community hydro society meeting which goes well.
I tend the brisket through the afternoon taking some time out to dot between the studio and office to prep for Sunday's radio show and do little bits and bobs on the audiopoint sign.. I’m printing a soft TPU gasket to ensure a snug fit wee it coms to integrating the panel with the actual audiopoint…my 3D printer’s too small so it’s printing I section and each one is taking about four hours!
I’m considering a nomination for the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park board and go through the nomination pack and do some research. Everyone I’ve mentioned it to thinks it’s a good idea. Mmmm….
The brisket has reached 203 degrees internal and is ready to come off the smoker and rest in the faux cambro just as Duncan and Irene arrive…Betty follows shortly and we have a grand night of grub and chat.
NOT a bad day outside so once I’ve got the usual admin and socials stuff done I go out and tackle the wood that’s as delivered yesterday (to the wrong address!) for the audiopoint signage.
The slab isn’t exactly as ordered but some creative cutting should sort that out. Means I only have once ‘spare’ instead of two.
As usual with these projects there’s a fair bit of improvisation – partly due to lack of ‘the proper tools’ and partly down to my lack of experience.
There’s a fair bit of measuring and to-ing and fro-ing to the audiopoint but I eventually get all the rough cuts done. There’s a fair amount of ‘finishing’ to be done and I need to design and 3D print some kind of gasket so it fits snugly round the audiopoint unit.
No time to dothat now, though – I need to prep a brisket for the smoker for tomorrow (Friday) and then fo to Braehead for a rock.scot team meeting. The meet up is worthwhile and I’m home for dinner by 10pm….
