MARGARET has to go to the village for some stuff so I jump in the car and get a walk back, stopping to film some reels and stuff to promote tomorrow’s (Friday) release of MacPherson’s Lament.
In the office I make a brass pin – a surprise gift for a pal – and then pack up the old backdrop to end out to the winning bidder on eBay.
Next, rehearsals for Saturday’s show at The Met, Bury…and the subsequent shows in France.
I edit some video clips I filmed while walking earlier and get them posted round my socials.
Margaret’s busy in the kitchen when I get back from the studio. Fiona and Betty are coming for dinner.
We have a grand evening – I walk Betty home just after 11pm – then we sit chatting with Fiona until nearly 2am!
We have a grand evening at the BBC New Comedy Awards at Barrowlands…
AFTER the usual admin and stuff I have a session with one of my online guitar students.
Then it’s off to the school in Balloch for a music session with t he kids. Margaret drops me off and picks up some shopping And stuff before collecting me and we head into Glasgow via Braehead.
Next stop is our t-shirt guy to pick up a batch of shirts and hoodies then onto Barrowlands for the BBC New Comedy Awards which we enjoy more than we expect!
My first “I need a..” design and print solution! A tripod mount for the Osmo Pocket.
THE morning is taken up with promo for Friday’s release of McPherson’s Lament. It’s already available on Bandcamp prior to the ‘official’ release on all streaming services.
With the wee GoPro proving unreliable, I’m looking at ways of making use of the old Osmo Pocket camera to document gigs. It’s difficult to mount on a tripod when the WiFi module is clipped on the bottom so I set about designing a mount.
This is my first real attempt at 3D design and I get it started before ANita form the Black Bull in Gartmore comes for a meeting about the venue’s upcoming winter music season.
Once we’re done I get back on the 3D design and start a 3D print. It comes out OK but I made a small mistake measuring the hexaganol part of the connector. A small adjustment and version two works. I’m chuffed and amazed!
We spend the evening at Liz’s where we have a lovely dinner and good craic.
I make another wee promo for The Met show to post round my socials…
I SPEND AN hour before my first online guitar student trying to sort the wee GoPro I use as a close up/second camera for online lessons/sessions.
The camera’s been plague by power and battery issues for as long as I can remember and I’ve tried every combination of batteries, USB-C cables, resetting I can think of. And more. I finally get it to at least power up and get me through the session.
I usually use it to capture some video at live shows but its unreliability has made it impractical. I wonder if my DJI Osmo Pocket might be an option. I look it out and check its WiFi adaptor. Maybe give it a try at The Met on Saturday.
The sun’s out so I take the chance to do a little more tidying up in the garden then get some weed killer down – a job that’s long overdue!
I use the wee drone to make a another quick promo from Saturday’s show then take a walk up the lochside before my afternoon guitar student arrives.
Then it’s back to the studio to prep for this week’s Wildcats’’ livestream on Facebook. There’s time to send out a news release for the local hydro society before I go live and have a hassle free livestream 🙂
`LOVELY day outside – cold overnight but a clear blue sky.
After breakfast I hit the studio and run through some of my set for next weeken;s show at The Met in Bury. Must try and get myself match fit.
In the office I sort some more merch then tackle some of the stuff needing done in the garden. A bit too windy to spray weed killer so I start dismantling the fruit cage which isn’t very ‘winter-proof’.
Late afternoon Mikey leaves and I take a walk along to Betty’s to do a ‘quick fix’ on something….
AFTER breakfast burritos I leave Margaret helping Mikey with his accounts and I take the bus to the village and pick up a prescription from the chemist.
I stop in to the art studio and have a chat with Tessa then Walk home. It’s a nice, mostly off road five-mile or so wander listening to podcasts as I go.
There’s an event on at the nearly Tir na Nog that our neighbour Jess is involved with. We thought the kids might like it so we head off, taking Mikey, and meet Catriona, Freya and Aaron there. We have a fun few hours, the kids particularly liking the fire-breathing dragon.
Back home I grill some sausages and we all have hot dogs before Catriona and the kids go home.
In the office I engrave a batch of insulated cups with the new logotype and prep some other merch for our travels next week.
LOTS of social media stuff to do this morning – just a week to go ‘til my show at The Met in Bury.
In the office I get some bits and bobs of merch in production to make sure we have enough stuff – not only for The Met, but also our subsequent journey to France to play Festival B.A.R. and (hopefully!) some other shows. The booker/agent is, let’s say, a little laisssez-faire.
I manage to get a break for a wander up the lochside then when I get back I put the old backdrop up for auction.
There’s a decent harvest of wee tomatoes from the hydroponic – and forest of basil so I make some pasta dough and prep to make pasta with cherry tomatoes.
Later on Mikey arrives so he and Margaret can get a decent start on his accounts in the morning.
MARGARET’S off early to Edinburgh to pick up Les and go to get her hair done.
I get a message from the embroidery lady asking if she can drop off a batch of beanies so I get out my pit and have breakfast before she drops by.
Stephen Jardine has an optician on his BBC Radio Scotland show and is taking calls. I message and get a call back from one of the producers – they’ll call back in ten minutes so I can pitch my query live: how soon after my cataract op can I safely go out for a paddle? My op was three weeks ago and guidance is a loose three or four weeks – what does she think?
A careful answer recommends I wait ‘til after I’ve seen my optician which isn’t ‘til we get back from France. Ach well – the weather over the next week’s crap anyway, so unlikely I’d have a chance to go out anyway.
In the studio I finish off the hydro society news release and send it round my colleagues for fact checking before I fire it off to the local media.
Next job is to make another set of videos to promote next week’s show at The Met, Bury round my socials. The light is inconsistent with the sun coming in and out unpredictably but I get something done.
I also want to use the ads as the creative on a new set of Facebook and Instagram ads retargetting folks that have watched the videos in my other ads for the show.
My late afternoon guitar student arrives at the studio then I go back to the house for a nap before starting to prep dinner.
Another idea for some merch popped into my head…had to make it…!
I HAVE a couple of hours to catch up on some work after my 9am online session with one of my guitar students.
Margaret reminds me that we’re out of current design (‘the blues comes in many colours’) t-shirts and hoodies in some sizes so I call Kenny to see if he can do a rush order for next week. The new design shirts with screen printed backs and embroidery on the front are still some way off.
There’s also a news release to be written for the local hydro society but halfway through I have an irresistible urge to take a merch idea that’s popped into my head and make a prototype. So I do.
After an early lunch I head to Balloch for a music session at the school.
Back home when Margaret goes to a community trust meeting I take a wander upon the lochside.
After my walk and Margaret’s meeting we pick up Betty and go toot he next village for some dinner. Lovely.
THE TO-DO list is out the window after breakfast – Margaret needs photos urgently for our local place plan.
I trawl through my archives to see what I have and pull out a bunch of stuff, but she needs some specific stuff. Urgently.
We’re off into Glasgow – I have a Musicians’ Union meeting – but we leave early as it’s decent weather and we can stop en route to get the pix. I have the drone and ‘normal’ camera so manage to get a selection of shots in the bag.
Onward to Glasgow and Margaret drops me at the STUC centre for the meeting and goes for some shopping before coming back to collect me.
Back home we sort the pix and then spend some time wrestling with email accounts then outside for pizza.
