At last. A paddle. First time on the water in seven weeks!
UP EARLY to get some artwork done for the Black Bull in Gartmore before Fiona arrives to go for a paddle.
I get everything done and finish breakfast just as she rolls up and we paddle to Port Bawn on Inchacailloch and back. First time I’ve been out on the loch since my cataract op seven weeks ago.
Back home I jump int he shower then we head into Glasgow to pick up a load of hoodies and Ts from our screen printer pal Kenny.
Next stop Costco and a quick snack then the optician in Milngavie for my post-cataract check up and new prescription.
On our way home we drop the shirts and hoodies off at the embroiderer’s and get back just in time for my guitar student arriving at the studio.
Once done I do a little prep for a Zoom interview with a music journalist in London.
While Margaret makes dinner I finish off an order of Conic Hill leather bookmarks. Busy day!
A BUSY day kicks off with a 9am session with one of my online guitar students…followed immediately by an in-person student.
There’s a 20-minute or so break before another online session then I get busy with some merch in the office.
With Good Friend Blues dropping on Friday I have a load of radio and other promo to do as well as making the track available to folks in my Wildcats’ Facebook group and on my email list.
Late afternoon we head to Doune to look after the kids. There’s some stuff to drop off at Europa Music so we take the kids into Stirling then back to Doune to wait for Catriona to get back from work.
It’s after 8pm when we get home and I try my hand at fish tacos for dinner…work out not bad at all.
WE SLEEP in…I don’t wake up ’til after 10am. Think our body clocks and routine are all away to fuck!
There’s so many different things needing done I’m not sure where to start and tackle random jobs to try and clear the decks.
I’d hoped for a paddle…or maybe a walk…but before I know it it’s well after 5pm and I have a guitar student coming at 6pm.
I get a bit of tidying done in the studio and a quick walk to the water before my student arrives.
Once done, I make the sugo for our Italian sausage pasta and stretch the sourdough before sorting some more stuff out in the studio.
After dinner I call radio DJ and host Abe Perlstein in California – I’m guesting on his show. I use an app called Yolla as Skype is no more and it seems to work OK.
Abe plays six tracks from the forthcoming Still Friends album and we chat between them. Grand.
Goodbye Beaumont et Avoine…we’ve had a great time…
A LAZY morning then we start packing and getting everything ready to hit the road.
Another lovely lunch with Dominque and Marie-Claude then we bid farewell and hit the road to the port at Caens.
It’s a fair drive and dark when we get to the port. After a snack at the terminal we get on-board the ferry, find our cabin and sleep all the way to Portsmouth,
At Bistro 64…grand wee venue and a nice way to finish my run of shows in France…
THERE’S been a lot of attempted fraudulent purchases through the Love Balmaha and West Highland Way Gifts websites over the last few days – a couple have made it through though…I refund them and mark as suspected fraud.
The issue is that I am still out of pocket re the transaction fees. They’re not much, but if I let it continue it could mount up.
Had the same on this website’s (davearcari.com) online store and an anti-fraud plug-in seemed to stop it…but it hasn’t worked on the other sites.
I decide to temporarily put both sites into maintenance mode for a few days to see if the fraudsters’ bots move on when they can’t reach the shop page/s.
There’s some stuff to do for the Black Bull in Gartmore then I do some last-minute promo for tonight’s show in Tours.
I’s not for – just 45-minutes or so – to Tours. We go ahead as we wanna grab some stuff form a supermarket to bring home (most are closed on Sunday)…Marie-Claude and Dominique are already at the venue when we get there!
Bistro 64 is small but has a good stage area and they host some good shows. We get loaded in, soundchecked and ready to hit the stage at 9pm.
The place is busy and get even busier as the jungle drums seem to beating and bringing folks in.
We’re back at the mill just after midnight. Marie-Claude and Dominique have brought pizza back – we eat and drink red wine until after 2am….
AFTER breakfast I restring the acoustasonic after a string breakage the other night.
The process is cursed, tho’. The sixth (bass) string is too heavy to go through the tuner post and needs a load of faffing about…then the first string won;t stay locked in the ‘locking’ tuner. Needs more winding (it shouldn’t) but is now cut. I have no more extra strings with me for this guitar and try a used one. The ball end comes off. Bah. We’ll go to the music shop in Chinon later.
We have lunch then I do some work and promo for tomorrow (Saturday’s) final show of the trip in Tours.
The music shop opens at 3pm and we also want to go and pick up some wine to take home so we jump in the car and kill two birds with one stone.
Back home I fix the guitar and ensure all the stuff I need is fully charged up for tomorrow’s show in Tours.
Later on we take Marie-Claude and Dominique out for a meal to say thank you for their amazing hospitality and kindness. The restaurant they choose in Chinon is fantastic!
AFTER breakfast with Dominique and Marie-Claude I start working on some temporary videos for Facebook and Instagram ads for the album launch shows.
I need to get some ads running for these gigs ASAP –but the ‘master’ video I usually use for this is on the machine at home. In the meantime I’ll use the promos I filmed in the garden here at the mill.
Once edited into various vertical, square and 16:9 formats I set up the ads. We’re still not sure when we’ll be home, but whenever we do get back I’ll do some new video for the ads.
We have lunch in the garden and then have a nap before heading to La Salle de Sports for this evening’s show. It’s a small, almost private, gig and we have a lot of fun with our friends.
Back at the mill Marie-Claude makes dinner and we chat over a few glasses of red before bed.
AFTER breakfast I do a bit of work on our local hydro society website and post some news round the socials. Best get that done now rather than wait ’til we get home.
The ‘when we get home’ to-do list has grown a little more than I would have hoped!
It’s another beautiful day so I take a walk for an hour and discover lots of interesting wee roads and buildings.
We drive to a nearby town to pick up one supplies and have a snack – when we get back Dominique and Marie-Claude are at the mill along with their pal Jacky.
After an aperitif (or two) we have dinner and chat the night away. C’est tres bon 🙂
