Violin; raw novice.

Hi,

Many thanks Logan; yes a nice weekend and I hope your weekend also was a nice one. I think my personal black cloud must be lost if he's with you; incredibly there's been little rain here even though it was forecast; whilst in the garden with the hoe yesterday I came across dust which is rare. I've already done the shopping this morning and it's wall to wall sunshine without the prevailing breeze; at the moment it's dead calm but it won't last.

We feed all the neighbours cats so that's enough for us; no dog walking but I know you and hubby love your dogs; I hope Barley is now fully recovered and everything's back to normal.

Every day's the same for us even holidays come and go making no difference at all to us because we never go away from home on holiday; I've been retired 21 years and am still as busy as ever but I think at last I'm on top of all the big heavy jobs and I'm starting to relax in the studio.

Yesterday I enjoyed two sessions; I played all three violins and tried playing the balalaika again making a bit of progress; in the evening I very quickly learned four more notes of Lara's Theme which surprised me because I've struggled til now to memorize notes so I must be improving; I learn four notes at a time then keep adding them; eventually I'll achieve my dream of playing the full Lara's Theme score on my violins then I'll try doing the same but with the balalaika then have a go at mixing using the Tascam pocket studio and laptop; it's all coming together nicely.

I feel a bit strange and lost today; no must do jobs hanging over me even the shopping already done; perhaps now I can spend time doing what I want to do and not what I have to do.

Have a great day Logan.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Good that you had a nice weekend and thanks i did as well.
We did have a lot of rain on Saturday with your black cloud but now it's sunny here, and Berry finds it too hot to go for a walk.
Thanks about Barley, he's still getting upset tummy on and off, but they were both due to be wormed so i did it last Wednesday and hope that it works.

When it rained it brought a lot of sand from the Sahara that's why your car is dirty again and it's a shame that you just washed it.

That's great about the cats that you feed. When i was growing up we had a cat and dog, so i do like cats but they make hubby nervous so i don't have one but there's a lot around here.

We don't go on holiday, never have so i don't miss it.
Like you it's good to be at home.

Great that you're getting on with your practice and that's how to learn it.

Yes it's strange when you don't have to keep doing things.

I've started weeding the last border and hope to finish the weeding tomorrow and put in the rest of the plants.
Have a good evening
Logan

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan; wouldn't it be wonderful if we could talk to animals or birds and hold a conversation with them; I'm sure they would have lots of stories to share. Fingers crossed Barley is better soon and Berry seems to have plenty of sense.

We had a former lady neighbour who was terrified of cats and we know people who are allergic to cats. Many years ago whilst still at school I was once walking home with a school chum called Alan and we were chatting away; a farmer was bringing in his cows for milking and no trouble at all to me as I kept walking with the cows brushing past but then I was suddenly aware I was talking to myself; Alan had disappeared; when the cows passed by Alan appeared from a garden hedge; he was scared of cows; we laughed about it but the fear was so real to Alan.

Sounds like you and hubby and I and Bron are much alike when it comes to not wanting holidays away from home; we don't feel the need to run away from home putting up with all the hassle involved regarding packing and transport etc; so many go on foriegn holidays they simply can't afford just to show off to friends and neighbours; obviously many like to visit new places and of course it's their choice but Bron and I have always used our hard earned money to better our lifestyle and home and because of this I was able to fully retire aged 53 now retired for 21 years so every day is our holiday and we still don't spend time away from home on holidays.

I moan a lot about our dire climate but Yorkshire is a truly wonderful place to live; we've got a beautiful detached stone built bungalow on a good sized plot and it's all ours including the freehold fully paid for when I retired; life is excellent for us the only two glitches are the weather and our steeply sloping site but in spite of these we're otherwise very well off indeed so I need to stop moaning about the weather and as to the steeply sloping site it was like this when we moved in.

Lots of neighbours cats visit us daily; yesterday whilst I was working in the front garden our neighbours cat Ruby was with me wanting me to make a fuss of her which I'm always happy to oblige; here's Ruby the black and Aspros the white cats so we've got them in black and white; we spoil them all rotten.



When the studio warms up I'll enjoy time in there today; sometime today I've got an Interface due to arrive so more kit to play with in the studio; I've also bought a new cordless mouse and mouse mat for the laptop these to also arrive shortly; the mouse mat is rather special because I've sent an image of me on my BMW motorcycle and this will be copied to the mat; the studio is coming along nicely but I'm running out of space for all the kit; I keep asking Bron if I can buy her something special but there's nothing at the moment she wants; a couple of months ago we ordered a new sofa which Bron fancied and it's due in August but I don't regard this as a present for Bron; I'm married to a real gem of a very special lady.

This thread has turned into a blog so I'll be in touch with you Logan shortly. I added this thread just for interest to see if other members were interested in musical instruments which was a long shot considering this is a gardening forum; I'm a member of Home Studio and Stringed Instrument forums which occupy a bit more of my time; I'm also on other forums so I'm never bored.

Have a great day.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks about Barley and Berry, Barley isn't over it yet,it came back this afternoon so trying a different food.

I agree with not going on holiday and who would look after the garden and we wouldn't put the boys in kennels, can't trust some of them.
Your cats look very happy waiting for you to come out and it's good that they're black and white.
My friend Marion is allergic to cats even when she takes a antihistamine.

Great about your studio and your laptop mouse and hope that you enjoy it a lot.
That's great about your mouse mat.
Perhaps Bron would like something for her crafts that she does?
Have a good evening
Logan

 

Hi,

It's quite a while since I posted on here so I'd like to resume with an update of my activities.

Many thanks Logan for your friendly reply which I truly appreciate. I hope by now Barley is fully well and that Berry is once again enjoying walking after this rare extreme heat; if only animals could talk. Lots of people are allergic to cats; years ago we had a neighbour who was terrified of cats; I suffer severe intolerance to dairy products; it's a strange world isn't it.

My violin playing and studio have moved on a great deal so I've a lot of catching up to do on here; I'm short of time at the moment with a busy day ahead but I'll be back shortly.

I sold my Union Graduate woodturning lathe to a guy who lives about 80 miles away; he's having problems wiring it up; he has a sparky friend who's connected it but is having lots of problems setting the VFD (variable frequency drive) parameters hence once again I'm diverted from wandering into the studio whilst I trace back to how I set the parameters in order to try to help him; everything seems to take so much time these days.


This is the Graduate I fully rebuilt years ago and have just sold. I'm selling quite a bit of gear because now at almost 75 I want to concentrate on my studio spending more time with my violins and recording kit.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Thanks about Barley he's fine now after deciding to change his food, somehow he became sensitive to a ingredient in the other. Berry has got back to normal now the hot weather has gone.

Great that you are getting a lot of practice in and you're doing well with it.
I remember you saying about you selling your Graduate wood turning lathe, great that you sold it.
Logan

 

Hi Colin
Can't seem to see your email properly when i click on it, can't see it on this forum.
Virgin media did some work on the broadband today so it's not right yet.

Thanks about my boys and you will get your practice right in the end, just give it time.
Logan

 

Hi,

Many thanks @Logan . I had lots of problems yesterday afternoon whilst trying to add a post with images; after spending quite a while composing the post and checking it when I tried to post it just locked up; when I finally succeeded the post was missing text to the images so in the end I gave up having spent too much time so I deleted the entire post.

These things happen with computers and can be so annoying but I'll start over from scratch and post later with the update. This used to happen with my emails so in order not to lose a lot of time when the email went down I used to copy to "Word" then I could start a new email and "Paste".

"reCaptcha" drives me mad on some of the sites I need to visit; I'm all in favour of online security but now it's becoming silly having to play a computer game before logging on; fortunately this forum is still quick to access but other forums I'm a member of can take ages and lots of frustration having to click on no end of tiny out of focus poor pictures before being granted permission to log on; life is getting so complicated these days.

As Arnie says; I'll be back.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

I'll try adding the post again which I had trouble with yesterday.

I'm pleased Barley and Berry are back to normal @Logan it must be a relief for you because I know you love them so much.

Thanks; yes the lathe is now up and running in the new owners workshop and he's over the moon with it. I'm practicing more with the violins but still spending time doing jobs around home and gardens also I keep upgrading the new music studio.


I wanted to clear as much gear as possible from the bench tops; I bought a cheap microphone boom through eBay and modified its mounting as seen in the picture; the studio has heavy wooden frames I installed years ago and I thought these would be ideal for mounting the mic which is quite an heavy "Rode" condenser mic; the original mounting seen right wasn't deep enough so no problem I just made a completely new heavy duty fitting seen left.

Here the mic is seen now clear of the bench top and test fitted to the wooden frame; I made the fitting extra deep because the frame uprights are wider; a bit of wooden packing adjusts the differences.

My headphones too were taking up quite a bit of bench top space so I made a pair of simple wooden brackets as seen; the balalaika too is also off the bench top having a permanent home.

A couple of days ago I decided to sort out the electrics; I'd added 2 x 13A double sockets and also a strip of four 13A sockets but I wasn't happy as to how they looked; I'd used sockets I had to hand. I visited Screwfix and bought new sockets and pattress boxes then set about connecting these in two lots of four; each four mounted on a back board for neatness. Here I'm setting out on the workshop bench.

Sockets fully connected using 1.5mm T&E cable; please note the most important thing in my workshop the mug of tea.

Four sockets mounted nearer one end of the studio. note the USB outlets one I use for the laptop.

The second four sockets on the far wall where I can plug in my amps etc. Each four sockets are not hard wired in; they have a single lead fitted with 13A plug allowing them to be plugged into the ring main; very convenient and safe; protection is by 13A fuse at the supply socket further protection by mcb and RCD at the consumer unit; I'm now happy to have 16 sockets to plug my gear into; no way in my small studio will I ever overload the sockets. I switch the lot off every time I leave the studio.


One of my presents bought for me by my lovely wife; a Yamaha THR amplifier and it's truly wonderful connected to my new Yamaha YEV electric violin.

Enough for now but I'm pleased I can spend more time in the studio.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks for posting again, computers and forums sometimes, who needs them?

Thanks about my boys and yes i worry about them, our late Willow had to go on a different food but a different one from barley's, put him on James wellbeloved and he was fine with that one. But years later he had kidney failure, he was 13 so don't think that it was the food.

That's great about the lathe and good about your violin practice.
The microphone looking good and how you're making things a lot tidyer and those sockets that you've done.

Your Yamaha amplifier looks great.

Hubby was thinking of upgrading his surround sound system, it's very old the Amplifier is a Maclaren and the others are audiolab. He has a oppo dvd/cd player that's not so old. The oppo is on top the amplifier next down and the other 4 that does the sound.

One of the speakers, the other one on the other side of the TV

The TV and underneath is the middle speaker. Underneath that is the hard drive recorder. Got 2 speakers on the back wall.

Logan

 

Hi,

Many thanks @Logan It's always heartbreaking to lose a pet because they are close family; I hope your boys now settle down and enjoy life for years to come.

Thanks also for adding the pictures; you've got some impressive kit; many times the older kit is much better than modern kit; these days things tend to be built down to a price not built up for quality as they used to be (Great Britain?). Before retiring I was subjected to an intense one week "Kaizen" training course at work; the basis of this course was why supply a Rolls Royce when a mini will do. The team I was on was charged with reducing the lead time on electric motors fitted with a brake; normally it took at least six weeks before the motor was completed; we reduced it to 27 days and this was implemented throughout the factory from admin to manufacturing.

I've been diverted again away from the studio; this recent very rare hot weather caused a bit of damage to our front porch door making one of the wooden glass beads shrink opening up two mitred joints; if left as is then water gets in and before long it becomes a much bigger job so I'm on it; I made the porch and door a few years ago and until now it's been fine.



It's the bead just above the letterbox. Typical of my bad luck; I've tried to buy more of the same expensive Benjamin Moore paint I used but now it's not stocked so my lovely wife said why not paint it black? Good idea so onto the Benjamin Moore website and every shade of black I viewed was no longer available; I emailed BM to double check and received a short reply saying if it's out of stock it won't add to the shopping basket; goodbye Benjamin Moor paint and welcome Zinsser exterior satin black at a very reduced price; I've ordered 2.5L and it's due in the next few days. One job makes another so I'm also now getting the double side hung garage doors ready for black paint. There's always something preventing me spending time in the studio; when I do get into the studio my arms usually ache and with sore hands from work. GRRRRR it never lets up.



Every colour I selected this pop up box appeared saying out of stock? Enough is enough of wasting so much time.

After contacting three local central heating companies by email to have our boiler serviced all emails ignored; late yesterday afternoon I phoned a company and they will be here this morning. home maintenance is demanding.


Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin and thanks about the boys and yes they should be fine now, thanks about the surround sound system.
Yes things don't last as long as they used to.

Good that you don't have to work anymore, but now you have other work to do.

That's the trouble with hot weather, it warps wood and other things.

Shame that it stops you from violin practice.

That's great that you can get your boiler serviced. Hubby always phones our regular engineer for that and hubby doesn't leave it until late autumn, that's the time when they're busy.
Have a good day
Logan

 

Hi,

Thanks @Logan for your good wishes. The first boiler service was cancelled at 11 o'clock yesterday morning but would 4pm be OK? Boiler at last serviced having contacted four companies the first three without a reply. We've now got the service guys details for future; our last three service guys all retired.

I've been working flat out again repairing excessive heat damage to our front porch and garage doors getting them ready for new paint. The paint arrived a short while ago and it's too hot now to apply it so first job tomorrow morning.

As usual living here start to get on top of a job and another big job pops up but this latest is a very big job which I've no intention of doing myself; I'm sick of this constant work demand from our bungalow.


We have a two roomed extension to the rear of our bungalow one of the rooms just kitted out as a music studio; I'd seen a small crack in the jointing mastic at the wall joint between extension and bungalow; early this morning once again with a workload to sort out I was appalled to find the small crack was now wide open. Here's the middle wall top.


Here's the end wall viewed from inside where I can see right through the opened joint.

Here's the joint from the outside opened up full length.

The other end wall showing the wall damage.

My wife and I have given 35 years of our lives doing nothing but work on this bungalow and gardens and we'd just got it finished allowing me to finally spend a bit of time in the studio. The previous owners broke this rear door the day they moved because it was sticking; first job then was for me to make this door which is still like new; all the paintwork is first class; I never bodge or skimp.

The two roomed rear extension; first job when I retired in 2000 was to dig out by pick and spade this new pathway; the dry stone wall was 4" away from the extension involving nine steps from the garage; I dug out; rebuilt the wall further away and laid all the heavy paving this picture taken today.

I'm constantly dogged by bad luck which never ever lets up; now today on my 75th birthday just more bad luck; this time enough is enough; it's a big job to sort out so I've put in an insurance claim this morning; it's going to cost us £1,000 excess plus higher premiums but I'm just so absolutely fed up of this constant heavy work; I want to settle down in peace in the studio before I drop dead. GRRRRRRR

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Oh dear i hope that you get your repairs done soon, will it take a long time before you get your insurance complaint come through?
Logan

 

Hi,

Many thanks @Logan because of the bank holiday the insurance company hasn't replied yet but we're considering just getting a builder in and be done with it; I could do the repairs myself but I'm sick of these big jobs popping up each time I want to get into the studio; now the studio is against me detaching itself from the bungalow; just as I've completed it and looking forward to violin practice; this bungalow must have something against us because it won't give us a minutes peace not even during the 35 years of living here; complete one big job another big job immediately pops up demanding urgent attention; this latest job is now a job too far I'm sick of all the never ending hard work. I was out painting the garage/workshop doors and the porch front door very early this morning; I thought once I'd done these I could then at last get into the studio but no chance and I wonder if I ever will.

It's now too hot to give a second coat of paint so another day already sorted for tomorrow; it never lets up.

Kind regards, Colin.