FEELING a lot better this morning and even want to eat something. Overnight oats and fruit it is.
Margaret takes Matty and the kids for a swim and I reluctantly get on with my accounts and tax return.
They all have lunch out and I hang out a little with the kids when they come back. Matty takes them back to Catriona’s late afternoon and we have the place to ourselves for the first time since Friday.
In the studio I get my tax return submitted. Phew. Good to get that out the way.
Next job it to start making a jig for embossing brass guitar pins. This is a fiddly and time-consuming job, but if I manage to pull it off it’ll save loads of time in the future.
MARGARET’S turn to be sick now…but by morning she’s feeling a little better. I’m not feeling 100% but get up and do some work.
I decide to go for a swim and see if that perks me up a bit. It does and I feel fine after…until I get home.
Hoping I’m not gonna get sick but stomach cramps, aching all over and a temperature don’t feel too promising.I go for a lie down. Then it’s the skits. Uh-oh. Luckily the vomitting doesn’t follow but I’m in no shape for a guitar student coming later….I get Maragret to message my student apologizing and saying I’ll be in touch to re-arrange asap.Probably a good idea to cancel tomorrow morning’s lesson too – my student has an operation scheduled soon and is probably better staying away from a house full of sickness bugs even if I am feeling better in the morning.
I sleep,doze, toss and turn. Matty’s still here and we’ve got the kids comign again for the night…but I’m ‘oot the game’…
THE KIDS have us awake early. When I go to the toilet there’s a hell of a mess everywhere…I ask the kids if they’ve been unwell? Nope. After Freya being sick yesterday afternoon seems it was Matty’s turn to be sick during the night.
Catriona and Will arrive just after 9am to pick up the kids and everyone goes back to bed except me. I have some breakfast then embark on my accounts. It’s my financial year end and I wanna be ready for all the ‘making tax digital’ changes coming…so best I get my stuff in order and my 2025/6 tax return submitted ASAP.
Margaret’s heating up some soup for lunch when I get back to the house. No sign of Matty who’s holed up in the spare room. Apparently feeling a lot better but knackered.
I get back to my accounts and make some progress then go out a walk up the lochside and do some promos for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook.
Back home I pack up some merch that have come in over the weekend then hit the studio and prepare for tonight’s livestream.
EASTER Sunday…and I’m up at 6am to get the smoker on for the pork belly. Once everything’s sorted I go back to bed and set a timer to go check the wood pellets and give the three slabs of pork belly a spritz with apple cider vinegar – an hourly exercise to help the bark form and keep things humid in the smoker.
A message form Catriona tells us she and Will haven;t been well overnight so won’t be coming – Matty’s on his way down form Dundee and will pick the kids up ‘en route and if she’s feeling better Catriona will come and pick them up later.
After breakfast I make a Carolina-style vinegar BBQ sauce and tend the pork while making another ‘fossil’ for the kids to find during their Easter egg hunt.
Mattey arrives with the kids early afternoon and despite the rain we have a fun time with the egg hunt and take Aaron to the bay…Freya’s not keen to come and when we get back we find out why. She’s been sick.Projectile vomitted all over the bed in the spare room. Margaret strips everything and gets the washing machine on then we have smoked pork belly, coleslaw and potato salad for lunch.
Mikey and Les leave late afternoon and we chill with Matty and the kids. Catriona’s not coming for the kids so they’re staying over – Margaret gets them ready for bed and I make some pasta for dinner then we watch Bill and Dorothy's livestream.
AFTER breakfast Margaret heads off to the village and I prep three big slabs of pork belly for tomorrow. I cut and trim as necessary, score the fat cap, slather in mustard then add a rub – my mix of freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt and garlic granules.
Then it goes in the fridge to be retrieved at 6am tomorrow (Sunday) morning when I fire up the smoker. We're having a family day with an Eater egg hunt for the kids and aim to eat around 4pm. The pork belly generally takes a little over eight hours and is best to let rest for an hour, so if all goes to plan it'll work out.
Margaret's not long back when Les rolls up – she's staying tonight, as is Mikey – both go home after the family day tomorrow (Sunday)...everyone else is coming just for the day but we'll have Matty 'til Wednesday.
I'm doing grilled flank steak tonight so make up my marinade which'll go in a ziplock bag with the steak – but not 'til an hour or so before grilling. Over-marinading can make the meat mushy.
We have a chilled afternoon and I take some time out to make some 'fossils' – deep embossing trilobites and ammonites in bits of broken slate – for the kids to find along with the chocolate eggs tomorrow.
It's 9pm by the time I light the charcoal. Mikey's still not arrived by the time we eat so we have dinner and I keep some back for Mikey when he gets here.
LOTS on ‘the list’ for today but the imminent arrival of Storm Dave has thrown up an opportunity to make some online content. Time is of the essence.
After breakfast I hit the studio and make up a quick video to post round my socials. Quick? Well, as usual I mess around with it for a while so it takes longer than it should!
There’s a lull in the rain so I start digging a hole for another fence post in the front garden. Rocks and roots – as well as general inaccessibility to the spot where I want the post makes it kinda difficult and I’m not sure the hole’s deep enough for the postcrete to hold the post. We’ll see.
Try as I might I can’t find the decking screws I thought I had in the shed. There’s a builder supplies place between here and Balloch so I drive over and grab a box of big fuck-off screws.
Of course the rain’s back on when I get home so next phase/s of fence repair gonna have to wait!
Great to get a paddle - and the aqua drone seems to work pretty good
THERE’S some good fortune that early this morning isn’t windy and the sun’s out – it means not only do I get out for a paddle but I get to test the HOVERAir Aqua drone that arrived yesterday after nearly a year’s wait.
I backed the aqua project on Indiegogo when it was launched and shipping was scheduled for October-December. Needless to say things fell behind and shipping only just started in the last couple of weeks. Now it’s here.
The drone seems to work pretty well but I don’t have time to check when I get back – a quick shower and breakfast before my pal Kevin arrives. We chat over a few coffees and come up with a plan for the release of his next single, Tell Me. Coming 15 May.
Kevin heads off early afternoon and I check out the drone video from earlier and edit some clips together with some talking head I recorded on my phone. Still haven’t worked out how to record audio with the drone footage.
Next job is to repair the front garden fence. I’ve already marked where the new posts need to go so it’s a case of digging the holes, breaking through rock and postcrete-ing them in. Luckily Margaret’s back with the shopping and can hold the post in place while I screw some temporary supports in before postcrete-ing.
CANNAE believe it’s April already. The last few months seem to have gone by in a flash.
Seems Wednesday is my new sourdough day, so up early to get it in the oven, baked and cooled ready for breakfast before my 9am online guitar session.
Then I have a couple of show indents to record for my upcoming radio show on Rock.scot ready for launch at the end of the month.
We find time to go for a swim then a late lunch before my double-header kids arrive for their joint guitar lesson.
There’s quite a few things on my to-do list. I start by emailing the FInland and Estonia folks on my email list with info on the upcoming shows. Next, similar targeted messages via Bandsintown then I make up vertical, square and wide promo videos for both Estonia and Finland.
I post the vertical ones as reels round my socials and prep the rest for social ad campaigns then head back to the house to prepare dinner. Betty’s coming along for dinner.
UP AND organised early to get the daily admin, socials and email sorted before my pal Tom arrives to go over the play out system for the new radio show launching at the end of April.
We have a coffee and catch up then hit the studio.It’s good to get an in-depth understanding of the web-based play out system so I can get properly familiar with everything before my first show. We also do some screen and video recording – not just as an aide memoire for myself, but also for some of the other presenters.
It’s mid-afternoon by the time we finish up then I see if I can edit up some of the video resources. There’s some frame rate and sync issues, but I manage to sort the majority of it out and make a start.
I don’t feel much like it, but I make myself go a walk up the lochside. Despite my tiredness I enjoy the walk and get back in time for a visit from tom to chat over some community trust stuff with Margaret. Nice to see him briefly before I go back to the video editing….
WE’RE all up at a reasonable time as I wanna have some time to work on guitar stuff with Davie.
He’s been a long time online slide guitar student – and also came to the residential workshop last year – but we’ve been doing a coupla things that are best worked on in person.
After spending some time int he studio we go back to te house, have a coffee then he and Jane hit the road.
I have some stuff to get done before a 3pm double-lesson online with a new student in Spain.
The online session goes well then I get a start editing some video to spin into tonight’s WIldcats’ livestream on Facebook. I’ve left it all a bit late but I get there and the livestream goes fine 🙂
