Violin; raw novice.

Hi,

Thanks Logan; it sounds like you're back to normal once again and Barley too is happy. Does Barly like salt & vinegar on his chips?

It's heartbreaking when a pet is ill or has to be put to sleep; Bron and I have been in tears at the vets a number of times. Our late cat Gino was diabetic and cost us a lot of money but we kept him alive with daily insulin injections for a year; like you and your hubby Logan money is always found for pets.

The weather forecasters drive me round the bend; first forcast no rain for two weeks then a couple of days later rain forecast for last Tuesday then rain forecast for yesterday (Sunday) everything outdoors was soaking wet first thing yesterday but the entire day remained dry in fact I did the painting very early expecting rain but in the afternoon I washed the car; checked its tyre pressures and topped up the AdBlue;



I've just copied this so it will be interesting to see what happens.

I'm now getting into the studio a bit more and this morning I've just joined a Home Recording forum; I'm having problems setting up my Tascam recorder and amplifier so rather than mess around for ages I just join a relevant forum and ask questions; the Tascam & amplifier work but the amplifer volume distorts very badly indeed; I'm used to these problems and with patience I'll win in the end; the heating's on in the studio so I feel a violn practice coming on.

Have a great May Day Logan.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks about Barley but he had a bit of a setback, it came back a bit so had to stop his food again and over, but I did expect it because it was worse this time.
They would have vinegar and salt but noexpensive but

So sorry for your cat being ill and yes it's very upsetting when it happens, we have pet insurance but it's so expensive but when Barley was about 4 months he had to have a operation on both of his elbows and we used up all of the insurance claim for that year.

Yes they can only predict the weather and a lot of the time it changes.

Good that you joined a Home Recording Forum and perhaps you can solve the problems that you have with the recorder and amplifier.

I hope that you had a good violin practice today and had a great May Day and thanks I did have a good may day doing my seedlings.
Have a good evening
Logan.

 

Hi,

Thanks for your good wishes Logan. I hope Barley is better once again and enjoying his tucker with lots of tail wagging.

Bron and I don't trust insurance companies one bit; six weeks after moving here into our dream bungalow it suffered water ingress to two ceilings during our typical dire Yorkshire weather; the Legal & General insurance loss adjusters paid us a visit and virtually told us to get lost; the damage was due to lack of maintenance. We were on absolute maximum mortgage unable to borrow another penny; the repair estimate was £6,500 the roof was in need of full replacement.

The following 18 months Bron and I saved every bit of money we could whilst working as much overtime as possible; we lived with buckets and bowls all this time collecting water; I put polythene sheeting and even nailed some cushion floor onto the roof to stem the flow; it was horrendous; unable to borrow for repairs unable to sell the bungalow we were well and truly trapped.

We visited the big Marley roofing tile depot in Dewsbury; Marley were brilliant giving us a thick trade folder of every type of tile they made with installation details and regulations. I bought a very good book explaining how to install a new roof so we did lots of research having never tackled a big job like this before; our main bungalow has a two roomed extension to the rear so both lots of roofing needed replacing.

I did lots of calculations and we ordered the tiles these tiles Marley Wessex the most expensive tiles due to the low roof pitch of the bungalow. I booked an extra week holiday at spring bank 33 years ago; the first big skip arrived and we got stuck in; I was stripping the built up felt roof whilst Bron loaded the skips; round the back I kicked in two ceilings which Bron bagged ready for the tip.

Two weeks later the new roof was installed; we paid £40,000 for the bungalow a great deal of money in those days on our income but now we were in a position to sack the building society involved and we had a new valuation by another building society carried out; our bungalow was now worth £90,000 for mortgage valuation and £120,000 to sell. Eventually when I retired in 2,000 we paid the mortgage off but then for years we didn't have insurance at all but now all we have on insurance is building cover; we detest insurance companies. Welcome to our dream bungalow?

Our lady neighbour directly across the street had just had her roof replaced and she was very happy to tell us she'd had "Professionals" do the work; these professionals returned dozens of times and even now the roof isn't watertight. Our immediate neighbours laughed at us when we said we were going to do the work ourselves; they didn't laugh when their roof started leaking immediately after we'd completed the work and they then asked us if we'd replace their roof?

Not the happiest time of our life but we survived and our roofs are still watertight; all the research and reading worked wonders. Total cost for all the best materials including best timber around £2,400 still a fair lump sum in those days but what a saving on the quoted £6,500.



I pressure washed the roof in Sept 2020; it's still like brand new apart from the birds messing on the extension roof; we've got panaromaic views right across the valley to Victoria Tower in the distance.

I've rambled on enough but yes I'm now enjoying more violin practices and a forum member might have given me the solution to the amplifier problem so I'm about to try it out.

Your seedlings should take off big style later this week assuming the forecasters get it right when they forecast higher temperature; good luck Logan and please give Barley a cuddle for us; we love animals.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks again about Barley and he'll be fine soon.

That's terrible about your house insurance and you did a better job yourselves.
That's a nice pic of your bungalow and your roof still looks good.

That's great about your amplifier and enjoy the practice.

Thanks about my seedlings, not doing much today because of Barley just incase he wants to go out again.

Have a good day
Logan.

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan, one thing about your babies they get lots of love; what a shame they can't talk or they'd have a tale to tell.

18 months of living with buckets and bowls catching water ingress every time it rained was a nightmare and living here in Yorkshire meant no shortage of rain but we found out who our friends were.

The new amplified monitors (speakers) arrived yesterday and I finally got time to connect them up today; also the Pirastro Gold rosin arrived so I was keen to try both out; I cleaned the old rosin off the bow hair and strings using meths then applied the new rosin to the bow; I recorded a bit of violin practice then played it back through the speakers; what a terrific difference; the rosin is excellent and my playing sounds much improved through these monitors; I've also bought a microphone kit which hasn't yet arrived so I'm setting up my recording studio nicely.

I started on jobs at 8:30 this morning and knocked off at 7:30 tonight apart from mealtimes another full on day. I dismantled our heavy garden bench in order to give it a top notch repaint; I never skimp or bodge a job; it takes a bit longer to do a job the way I do but it's always worth it.


Bench slats undercoated.

Bench slats top coated; I applied the second top coat this morning.

Bench ends finished and all now ready for reassembly; I'm using A2 stainless steel fastenings. The bench should last another twenty years; I've also trimmed hedges and cut the grass as well as squeezing in half an hour in the studio. I used a 2" paint roller on the slats and a brush on the ends; it's amazing how much time these jobs take to complete. Tomorrow I'm replacing exterior sealant and painting handrails just two jobs to get the day rolling.

I've had enough today and am ready for bed; I won't need Horlicks to get me to sleep in fact I never need Horlicks I just drop into a coma always tired out.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks again about my babies, hubby has a bad knee so I'm doing all the walking.

Great about your new speakers and that they make a difference.

I like the new paint on your bench and you sure like to keep busy.

Because of hubby's bad knee I'm going to have cut the grass, did the front last friday so going to do the back but it's only like a postage stamp these days with all the fruit plants.

Have a good day
Logan.

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan; I hope you and hubby and your babies have a lovely day today.

Having set up the new monitors (speakers) only one cable needed was supplied I need two; other cables were also supplied but not of the type needed to connect to the Tascam; I was however able to use the amplified monitor as a mono unit and I've ordered extra 5m cables which should arrive mid week then I can fully connect the Tascam to the monitors.

Having recorded a bit of violin playing I then played back through the monitor but I was somewhat disappointed by the output volume I expected it to be a lot louder? I had bought a Laney guitar amplifier and strangely this too only played at normal sound without amplification so as expected it wasn't my kit at fault but it was me at fault; the volume control didn't work at all on the Laney the volume being controlled by the Tascam but the volume control on the new monitor worked up to normal sound levels; so time to play around a bit.

I finally sorted out the volume problem it being two controls on the front Tascam panel and once I found these everything worked as it should much to my relief; just another ballistic learning curve and as usual I do things the wrong way first but I'm stubborn enough because if there are 100 wrong ways to do anything I'll do 103 things wrong first because I often make the same mistake a number of times; I well remember years ago whilst cutting a length of timber to size; I must have measured at least 5 times and still cut it wrong length; life can be so much fun.

By now Logan you'll need to cut the front grass again; what a shame your husband is unable to do the grass cutting; he must feel very frustrated indeed; following a road accident in 1970 I've only got one knee cap but it doesn't bother me at all I'm still capable of climbing trees and wandering up and down our mountain of a garden. I try to help Bron whenever I can; I do the supermarket shopping twice weekly; do the dishes and do the ironing; we're a good team and I love my Bron to bits.

Thanks; the bench parts are now fully painted just awaiting new stainless screws then I can reassemble it and tick the job off; I've already done the supermarket shopping and now I've got another appointment with a paint brush; I'm repainting the handrails; the longest at 42' I rubbed them down yesterday so I'm off to a good start today; there's never any let up to work needing to be done around the bungalow and gardens but I'm never bored I simply haven't the time; I did manage to squeeze in a number of violin practices yesterday and hopefully more practices today.

Got to go I'm busy as usual.

Kind regards, Colin

 

Hi,

I've just knocked off for a mug of tea. Almost 50' of handrail and brackets now painted; I feel frozen even though it's 14C but the prevailing breeze gives a real chill factor.


I rubbed the handrails down yesterday and spot primed where needed; the sloping pathway; bespoke fence and low retaining wall are all my work; there used to be nine steps to our rear door. Tons of wet clay were dug out using a shovel.

Here's an idea I dreamt up years ago; I found the orginal handrail (Mopstick) I installed suffered damage at the joints due to water getting in; I thought I'd try using self amalgamating tape to seal the joints and as seen here it works a treat and it can be painted; not seen is the 3/4" round bar stock mild steel rod inserted axially for support; if I have a problem I like to find solutions.

Job done; handrail just painted so another job ticked off.

Here's the second handrail I've just painted; I made new garden steps into the garden then made another bespoke fence adding the handrail for safety; due to our very steeply sloping site I decided to design and make the new fence panels; just a bit of thought and imagination can make a great deal of difference; a number of our neighbours have since copied our sloping pathway. Our steeply sloping site makes doing any work outdoors challenging; there's a big house just the other side of the fence seen at the top of the picture; it sure is steep here.

I'm now keen to assemble the garden bench but still await the stainless screws. I think I can squeeze in a violin practice this morning; whoopee.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks we will have a good day today.

Good that you sorted your amplifiers and everything else.

Your doing a great job with your handrail.

Thanks about hubby, his knee is slowly getting better so hopefully he'll be able to do the walks and yes he does get frustrated with it but I have to keep a eye on him so he doesn't do anything stupid.

Yes the wind chill can make a difference to the temp, even here.
Have a good violin practice today.
Have a good day
Logan.

 

Hi,

Many thanks once again Logan; I've just come indoors after doing a bit of exterior painting and I'm perished; it's cold out there and as usual with a wind chill; BRRRRR.

I hope your hubby's knee gets better more quickly allowing him to get around without discomfort but we guys don't understand stupid we always behave like kids but then this is why you love us so much. Bron's used to me; years ago when I was contagious with shingles having to isolate at home for a week from work why waste a week with a long face; I set about replacing wall foundation bricks in our garage together with new damp proof course; I managed to fracture a rib working from scaffolding I'd erected for safety whilst working on the front of our bungalow above the garage; I was finishing off painting at the time and just took short breaths for a week. More recently whilst learning metal spinning I fractured another rib due to the pressure needed on the spinning tool handle even thought the tool was 42" long; once again short breaths for a week; yes we do stupid things but it saves us ever being bored; good luck to your hubby.

The handrails are now fully painted and the garden bench too is fully painted but still in bits in the workshop due to stainless steel machine screws still not arriving; I'll be glad to get the bench out of the workshop and reassembled; usually I do very well buying through eBay but I might end up buying locally tomorrow if the srews don't arrive; it just slows progress down.

I've managed a few violin practices and I've been playing around with my new Rode NT1-A microphone which has arrived; as usual it proved another learning curve connecting the mic to the Tascam but yesterday I succeeded after 9pm it being another long day. Our studio is small so I didn't want a large floor stand for this mic but as supplied it wouldn't stand upright so I made a wooden stand from offcuts I always have in the workshop; not a pretty stand but does the job.


New Rode microphone.

Not a pretty stand but it cost nothing other than a bit of interesting work using offcuts. I can set it up for best position in the studio not nereding to move it around.


The meadow is coming along nicely this it's fourth year and as usual I rotavated and started from scratch. The garden sure is steep giving me a good workout just climbing up it; dragging the petrol mower and petrol rotavator to the top is challenging.

Here's the middle of the garden I recently cleared of very tall trees creating a special patch for Bron; I broadcast British wildflower seeds without any grass then I can compare with the meadow once both burst into bloom.

I only trimmed the hedges and laurels a few days ago but they're going balistic; I've trimmed the hedges again but the laurels are laughing at me; perhaps I chose the wrong thing to learn in violins I might have been better adopting a mobile phone welded to my ear which is so common these days then I could just concentrate on the bungalow and gardens; the work here never lets up with the extremes of weather forever attacking us.

Wishing you and hubby a super day Logan; take care.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks about hubby and he's slowly getting better thanks.

Yes you men don't know how to do things safely.

Doing that when you had shingles didn't you feel unwell at all?
It must be easy breaking a rib like that? I know that they can't do anything for it just have to be careful.

Good that you had a bit of violin practice and that stand looks great.

Your wild meadows are coming up well.
Can't you store the rotavator and mower up on the hill? If you built storage up there.
You have a good evening
Take care
Logan

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan for your good wishes; I hope you and hubby are keeping well and that you've had rain for your gardens; we've had rain but also lots of wind although today it's just breezy giving the usual chill factor.

I didn't give shingles chance to really annoy me by being very busy as usual which stops me moaning about ailments; I made use of the time off work though because it was huge stress at work that gave me the shingles; I was in charge of three departments and there were strong rumours I was to be given a fourth department; the shingles were a warning because there had already been heart attacks; strokes and suicides at work; after 24 years of conflict I finally accepted redundancy and have never been back; I was saddened to learn my boss now aged 55 had passed away; the stress had to go somewhere but now the company are manufacturing in India with just a small team here in the UK being a distribution center; in a meeting the company was described as a rosy apple with a rotten core which summed it up nicely.

I've now been retired 21 years and still wonder what retirement should be like; I've already visited three supermarkets this morning and am just enjoying a mug of tea before doing more jobs around home. Two days ago I sent an email to an ebay seller to say the stainless screws had not yet arrived; no reply as yet and still no screws so I'm going to visit a local industrial fastner supplier because I want to get the newly painted bench assembled and out of the workshop; there's always problems to hold me up and I often dream of time to get into our music studio.

Parked in Aldi car park reading "The Strad" magazing at 7:45 this morning at peace with the world a rather battered big van started to back up to the front of our Yeti; I thought it's going to hit me but suddenly it stopped a moved forward a few feet obviously for another attempt; watching this I started the engine and slipped it into reverse; just as the van was about to hit me I reversed; the guy driving certainly hadn't parked I thought he'd abandoned his van given the angle he left it; I just let it go but I'm pleased I was still there allowing me to get out of his way; a couple of weeks ago a guy took up four parking spaces at Morrison's with just one car; the're amongst us.

Thanks for asking Logan; I made two heavy duty garden huts a few years ago; one at the bottom of the garden the second part way up the garden; the petrol gardening kit is stored in the higher hut but just trying to walk up our garden gives a good workout; I daren't store kit near the top of the garden unless it's hard wired into the national grid.

The school run should be over by now so safe to set off to the outskirts of Huddersfield to buy the screws; Bron and I never ever visit Huddersfield Town center and haven't done so for over twenty years the council dislike car owners with a passion so they can close the town center and let the preferred cyclists have it to themselves.

Enough of this I need to get off my backside before another day disappears at a rapid pace; I'm not moaning though because I don't need to visit a gym.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks we are both well and yes we had some rain a few days ago and it was good for the garden.
It's a bit windy and not warm but I don't like it too warm. We have 4 water butts but 2 of them aren't joined to the pipe so the water from the other 2 has to be decanted and put in them. Usually done in the winter but it was forgotten about, so we might go short on water this year.

I know that you can get windy weather where you are.

Good for you about your shingles and it's good that you retired when you did and that you keep yourself busy as you do.
Yes it's best to get the screws from somewhere else if they aren't going to come from eBay.
Good move when you were at Morrisons

That's good then about those huts that you made and it does give you a workout going up there.

Not doing much today, it's hair washing day and going to see my friend Marion tomorrow.
Have a good day
Logan.

 

Hi,
Thanks Logan for your good wishes; I hope your weekend has been a good one.

We don't need water butts given the rainfall here but on the rare occassions the ground dries out I just use the hosepipe although most of the time I wonder why I bought the hosepipe.

It's been windy for days here but today it's just breezy and I've been tormented by rain showers and being blown around by the wind thinking I should have nailed my cap on but I've stuck with it; yesterday I ticked off six jobs and more jobs ticked off today; I've just knocked off after another busy day.

The SS flanged screws didn't arrive but when I returned from the supplier in Huddersfield I found eBay had given a full refund so it was a good decision to buy screws locally but I couldn't get the length of flanged screw needed so I bought extra long screws and had to cut 28 to length using the hacksaw this on top of wasting about five days awaiting for screws from eBay which never arrived even though they were despatched? My luck never changes.


After days of nothing but hassle and bad weather the garden bench is now fully reassembled and out of the workshop much to my delight.

The bench must be twenty years old and once again looks like new; I could have saved days work by simply painting as it was but it's not the way I do things; by taking it to bits I could do a top job of painting and it should last another twenty years but next time it will come apart easier due to using stainless steel fastenings.

Here's yet another job that's tormented me for more than a week due to our dire climate; the black lines are new sealant to seal the joints; again not wanting to bodge I removed the old linseed oil mastic but then undercoated to seal the surfaces then glossed with black paint before applying the new cartridge sealant then another undercoat over the sealant and today two final coats of colour; I installed the cladding in 2016 and it's subjected to extremes of weather here on the exposed valley side in fact the weather attacks everything I do outside.

Another job ticked off knowing I've done my best in spite of the weather.

I know you like animals Logan so here's a picture specially for you; he's our neighbours cat called Gruffalo one of many cats we like feeding and making welcome. He's very timid and I'm surprised he posed for the camera.

Here's another of the jobs I ticked off taking a lot longer than expected; whilst painting the handrail I noticed one of the brackets looked thin on it's bend and these are for safety so once again a small job turned into a much bigger job; the old screws were rusty so I cut through the brackets with the hacksaw in order to gain better access to the screws; the screws to the posts I'd used brass but to the handrail I used standard steel screws thinking they would be fine being well painted; they refused to come out causing a lot of extra work so I attacked them using the angle grinder and used new locations for the new screws; the new brackets as seen are stainless steel and this time secured with stainless steel screws.

What's all these jobs to do with my violin playing; well in fact a lot because of them I can't get into the studuio and it's like this every year after the dire weather has caused more maintence but I'ff I ignore these smll jobs they quickly become big jobs; whatever I do even sweeping up I do my best; it was beaten into me by the pit engineers never to compromise and thankfully it's always stuck with me.

I hope you had a good day with your friend Marion; my hair takes little washing because I have little of it.

I can see good times ahead in the studio because the way I've been working flat out the jobs needing doing won't last forever.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin
Yes I had a good time with my friend Marion yesterday thanks.

We only have water butts because of the blueberries need rain water but they can have tap for a while.

Good that you sorted your bench out and it looks great.
Yes you have to keep up with the maintenance of everything.

Lovely cat, don't they get fed at their proper homes?

I hope that you get some violin practice soon.
Have a good evening
Logan.