UP EARLY to get to Stirling for an ultrasound scan on my left arm.
I get there in good time, find a parking space and find the right department. I’ve only just sat down when a nice nurse calls me – the ultrasound operator is a bit of a nippy sweetie tho’ and makes me feel that I’m wasting her time.
I’m done in a few minutes and am told it’ll be a week before the results are sent to the surgery then head for Glasgow. It strikes me as odd that there’s such long waiting list for ultrasound scans as (a) they only take a few minutes, (b) it’s not an expensive or laborious procedure and (c), the place is very quiet and there’s nobody in the waiting area before or after me.
First stop is Rightway in Polmadie to pick up some charcoal. It’s good restaurant-quality stuff and despite having doubled in price over the last few years is still much better value than the crap from supermarkets and most garden centres.
Next, Costco for a late breakfast hotdog and some shopping than Tesco.
I’m at the checkout when my phone rings. I pack the shopping , pay then call the number back – it’s the doctor’s surgery. They’ve had the results of my ultrasound already. There’s a suspected tumour and I’m being referred to neurosurgery. No idea of timescales or any other info. Ah well, it is what it is – no point in worrying.
Next stop Waitrose, Aldi and M&S in Milngavie before I finally pull up back home early afternoon.
The courier has delivered the missing box from yesterday’s PA delivery. I have some lunch then we head to the studio to give it all a whirl. Good first impressions.
No time to mess about too much tho’ – I need to pick up again with Margaret’s MacBook and see if I can get it back up and running.
I’m knackered and need a sleep – of course my mind keeps going back to ‘tumour’, but I dismiss it as trivial in the grand scheme off things.
Will arrives to drop off Freya for the night. Once he’s gone we take Freya to feed the ducks and play on the slide before bed.
I get the deck finished – just some cosmetic stuff to do now!
AFTER breakfast I get busy engraving some glass West Highland Way map coasters ordered via the West Highland Way Gifts’ online shop.
The camera on my machine has been playing up for ages and I decide to try a manual workaround to position the engraving which means making a jig. Hopefully it’ll save me some time in future.
It takes a while then I get ’em parcelled upend a postage label printed off.I’ll drop them off in Glasgow tomorrow (Wednesday) after my ultrasound scan in Stirling.
A courier drops off what is meant to be an ElectroVoice PA system – but there’s only half of it there! I call the supplier who, in turn, finds out what happens and calls back to apologise and let me know the rest will be with me tomorrow. Buddy hell!!
Margaret’s MacBook Air has been playing up a bit recently. At over ten years old it’s done well but I think there’s like in the old dog yet. I start ‘a process’ 😉
I have a guitar student at the studio late afternoon then I get back to the garden and finish off the deck and tidy up the fallout before heading out for a walk up the lochside.
When I get back Margaret’s done one more tidying and I get the grill going for some pjnchitos….
UP EARLY for the usual Monday morning sourdough procedure so it’s ready for breakfast.
The day’s guitar sessions kick off mid-morning and in between times I get bits and bobs done to further the decking rebuild.
After lunch I spend some time creating some video content for my pal Kevin’s socials then another online lesson.
One of my afternoon students has cancelled which lets me get a little more done on the deck then I prepare for tonight’s Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook…
The first casting of the new guitar earrings – available here
UNSURPRISINGLY I’m aching all over…but there’s work to be done!
After breakfast I carry on with the deck building.
I get the last post hole dug and the post cemented in place – then the first hurdle. The joist hangers are a bit pin the large side. I pull out the angle grinder and adjust them accordingly. Probably against all building regulations, but the deck is ultimately just a wider top step so I think everything will be just fine.
Margaret puts hooks on the prototype guitar earrings so I take a break from the deck and put ’em up for dale in my online store. The were time consuming and fiddly to make and are priced accordingly!
I’m still on the deck job at 8.30pm when rain calls a halt to the day’s work. Hopefully get it finished tomorrow (Monday).…
Day one of the new deck…diggin’ these holes is a tough job…
WE HAVE a long lie…then, after breakfast, I start to tackle the replacement deck.
It’s not too adventurous – just something so the doors don’t open straight onto the steps.
After referring to my sketches I measure and mark my first two post holes then the hardest part of the job starts. Digging the holes.
The clamshell hole digger is OK for starting ’em off but then the pinch bar comes into its own. Impossible without it. Still it’s hard, hot, strenuous work.
I’m happy to get two of the three posts in and postcreted in by late afternoon and make some time to go out for a paddle.
Back home I light some charcoal for the grill and soon we’re enjoying homemade blue cheese burgers, sweetcorn and chips.
AFTER a bit of a long lie we have breakfast in the garden. Sun’s out and it’s a lovely day.
I decided to bite the bullet and head into Glasgow to get all the stuff we need to rebuild the deck at our side door. I’ve managed to reclaim some of the deck boards from the old deck so the cost isn’t as dreadful it might be. Still, I need posts, joints, joist hangers, postcrete, screws and nails…
I call Kelvin Timber to make sure they have all the shit then head off. The joists are much longer than required…and waaaay too long to go in the car. I’m well prepared and have a saw with me so cut ’em in half, load up then go for some shopping.
Margaret’s got someone up for a meeting and they’re sitting in the garden when I get back. I join them for a coffee then get busy int he studio. One of the tasks is to make a vertical video reel with the press review from Kymi Kantri – it’s a valuable resource in our efforts to overcome the widely-held opinion that solo/acoustic acts can’t command a main/bigger stage in later or headline slot.
Acoustic and solo acts are often sidelined into smaller, out of the way stages – now on occasion that’s maybe the best or most appropriate place/slot, but that’s not a given. We want dispel that default view.
I’ve always been at a loss why promoters/bookers/venues take the view that a solo act can’t play a bigger stage/venue…especially when you see a solo comedian on stage at a five or ten thousand seater venue selling out for three nights in a row! While I doubt I’d ever reach these heady heights, it’s more the principal I don’t get.
There’s various hand-made guitar-related items in my merch store and on the table at shows – metal/epoxy pins and pendants and acrylic dangle earrings. A regular at my shows in Finland asked if we had some red earrings…I’ve never tried making metal/epoxy guitar earrings as casting such small items is pretty erratic in terms of successful casts. I decide to try….
I make a master and make some casts – I have to do four to get two that pass muster – cut off the sprues and smooth backs then mix and inlay some red epoxy. I’m not convinced of the result, but they may be fine after some rigorous sanding and finishing….
Amazing review from my slot at the Kymi Kantri Festival…see below for translation.
I MANAGE to get most of the routine admin stuff out the way before my morning guitar student arrives.
Once she’s finished I do a little work outside then make a sandwich and go for a paddle. It’s a bit windier than forecast so I only go as far a Clairinch where I sit on the beach and enjoy my lunch. The paddle back is tough, but I make it!
There’s another guitar student coming to the studio mid-afternoon then I move to the office and make up stuff to go with the last outstanding Wildcats’ merch orders. It all gets packed up and ready for collection tomorrow (Friday). Just one hoodie left to go out, but it’s to be held until my customer gets back from holidays.
Margaret gets a nice email from the organisers of the Kymi Kantri festival with a scan of a press review and translation of my part:
“When performers are selected for the event, the aim is to create a musical drama arc for both days. With this in mind, we decided to try the interesting solution of placing soloist Dave Arcari as the last performer on Saturday’s courtyard stage. This was a certain kind of risk, but it was worth taking, stated Kupari with satisfaction.
And really true. The Scottish Arcari was really amazing. The man’s incredible enthusiasm and energy left no one cold. It was one of the best performances in the history of Kymi Kantri. Of course, the Finnish Highwaymen line-up, which ended the event on Saturday in the book hall, can be counted in the same category.”
CATRIONA rolls up with Freya early doors – Margaret’s looking after Freya and Catriona’s working from our house today.
I have an online conference with the Association of Independent Music (AIM) all day. There’s a few interesting nuggets of information and new stuff but mostly it’s the same old, same old.
Once it’s all done I get a walk up the lochside then get busy in the office packing up Wildcats’ merch orders. The t-shirts arrived today but I need to make up some other items that folks have ordered to go in various packages.
I have a break to make dinner then it;s back not he packing and printing postage so the postie can collect it all in the morning.
TWO early online guitar lesson this morning….then a late breakfast.
There’s a bunch of packaging stickers to be done for Will (Manson Glass) – I couldn’t get the usual material and ordered an alternative before we left for Finland.
It’s a new material and expensive so I need to run a bunch of tests to make sure I don’t mess up the settings and create any unnecessary waste. That takes time, so it’s early afternoon before I get the job processing.
After my late afternoon student is done in the studio I get back to Will’s stickers.
Next job is packing up some of the Widcats’ hoodie orders and printing postage…then into the house to make red beans and rice….
