First attempt at metal casting…need refinement and work but looks promising…
AFTER my guitar student leaves I go straight onto Zoom for a hydro board meeting.
That takes me right up to when I need to leave for a guitar session with the kids in Balloch.
I drop off a batch of custom flasks in the village on the way home, clear some ivy from around the studio then we head back to the village for the coffee shop opening. I;m stunned when a guy comes up to me and says “do I know you?” Turns out he was a neighbour in Glasgow when we were kids. Hadn’t seen him in 40-odd years!
Back home I get a little work done, manage to cast a reasonable prototype of a jewellery idea – needs work and refinement, but not a total disaster – then wander along to Betty’s for an aperitif.
It’s nearly 11pm when we have our enchiladas…then I fall asleep…
STILL a load of production to get through for the shop – I’d like to get the stuff down to them before close of play today.
Once things are underway I start assessing funding applications that have come into the hydro scheme – we have a board meeting on Friday to decide not he awards.
It’s a much more in-depth and ponderous process than I’d expected, but that’s a good thing.
Next up I make a chicken and avocado wrap and get ready for a paddle with Fiona. We head for Torrinch, have lunch and paddle back. A grand ‘lunch hour’.
I manage to get all the West Highland Way Gifts‘ products finished, an invoice done and all down to the village shop before closing time.
Fiona, Steven and Betty are coming for pizza tonight..but I need to nip along to Betty’s earlier with a custom leather gift she’s ordered for Kate and see if I can sort Alexa on her Sonos and find the missing STV app on her telly.
I’m back in time to get all the pizza prep done and we have a grand evening in the garden with our pals, heading inside when the midges get too much…
A wee look at Whitley Bay Carnival…and a clip of Devil May Care….
A LOVELY day outside.I get busy on production for the shop order in the hope that I might get out for a paddle at lunchtime.
Although not exactly work, there’s a note int he diary to sort my bike chain which is stuck between the biggest cog on the rear cassette and the wheel. Once I get it free I spend some time re-indexing the gears.
While hand finishing some of the West Highland Way Gifts‘ products I’m not happy with the engraving so next job his a bit of – probably overdue – maintenance on the laser. Mirror and lens cleaning, rail lubrication etc. Then production resumes.
Next, I make some sandwiches and paddle to Port Bawn on the far end of Inchcailloch. The sun’s beating down and I have nice couple of hours’ extended lunch break.
After a quick shower when I get back I work on some custom designs for leather items then spend some time in the studio messing with song ideas.
Margaret brings home the shopping and I make tacos for dinner – corn tortillas, pulled pork, pickled red onion, smoked cheese and coriander. With a squeeze of lime. Maybe the best tacos I’ve made!
The rest of the night is spent assessing community funding applications in reparation for a hydro society board meeting later in the week.
THERE’S no milk in fridge so I have an early dash to the village shop to get some…and an order for some West Highland Way Gifts‘ products.
I get production underway then hit the studio for a Zoom session with one of my students.
Next, I start editing the video from Saturday’s show at Whitney Bay Carnival…then it’s back to production and ordering materials for the shop order.
It’s a lovely day but there’s a lot on the to-do list, inclusion sorting a special acoustic show at Kilmaronock Old Kirk for Friday 14 July. I manage to get out for. quick half-hour walk before my 7pm guitar student then it’s straight into my Wildcats’ Facebook livestream…
A BIT of a panic to get everything ready for today’s sale at Drymen village hall.
As well as gathering all the stuff to sell, card readers and other stuff I need to make a wee sign to let folks know that all West Highland Way Gifts’ stuff can be customised/personalised.
The event opens at noon and although we plan on getting there around 11.30am it’s more like 11.45am. The organiser is a bit difficult as apparently there’s a WhatsApp group for the event that said folks must be there by 11.30am latest. She’s already turned someone away!
Well, I’m. not in that WhatsApp group – although she added me to another that as bombarded me with other ‘opportunities’ – so didn’t see ‘the conditions’, paid may money and I’ll be set up before doors open. She relents and lets us in…but her stubbornness is a fatal error that means I will likely avoid events organised by other folks in future.
Despite a good range of sellers, the event is pretty quiet. I do well as I spread the word on socials and I have a steady stream of visitors – most of whom buy stuff, including some vinyl and CDs that I threw in the bag ‘just win case’! I also get some custom orders for batches of items 🙂
We’ve thought about hosting our own sales for local creatives/bakers/producers – but charging a small donation (like a tenner max) to the community trust rather than charging £30/£40 per table. The (out of town) organiser must have made a (guaranteed) few hundred quid out the event while the sellers are all on a gamble…didn’t look like anyone else sold much. Entrepreneurial perhaps, but I’m not sure I like that balance!
Anyway, it was a good few hours for me.
Back home I have a coffee in the sunshine then get on with some work before we go along to Betty’s for dinner along with Shona, Ian, Tom and Joyce….
STILL not feeling 100% and the toilet visits are still pretty violent. Good to travel tho’…
I manage to get a few West Highland Way Gifts’ things made for Sunday’s sale event in Drymen before we leave for the drive south.
It’s a beautiful day and we have a nice drive to Whitley Bay, arriving in time for the carnival reception where we hang out with the organisers, sponsors and some other folks involved in the weekend-long event.
Our hotel is close by and after checking in we go to a nearby restaurant for some dinner before retiring for an early night.
THE doc sees me at 2.30am then I get some more pain relief and anti-sickness stuff…and another drip.
I think I manage to fall asleep around 3am and I’m woken at 7am by a nurse wanting to take blood. Another doc comes by soon after and tells me I need to go for a CT scan. I’d overheard him telling someone else that they’re scared may be ‘today or tomorrow morning’ so I ask when it may be and explain I have a show to play down south on Saturday. e takes my request on board and by midday I’ve had my scan.
I’m feeling a lot better and mange to get a few bits and bobs of work done on my phone but still not firing on all cylinders. Mid-afternoon the doc come back and tells me the CT scan doesn’t;t indicate a diverticularitis flare up, but there is some bowel inflammation/colitis…I can go home this afternoon tho’…and I’m prescribed antibiotics and some other tablets.
I call Margaret who comes to get me and we head home. Although not feeling much like it, I need to sort some guitar patches on the Quad Cortex ion advance of Saturday’s gig and I get the gear sorted and car parked ready for our drive to Whitley Bay tomorrow.
