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Interesting conversation in the violin shop...
Onions and Osmosis
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Mimi Aysha
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January 11, 2020 - 1:08 pm
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Quick visit to our local privately owned violin shop - we take donuts and kolaches. I need a new A string, my friend needs a book.
 
Owned by a sweetheart older lady who used to teach, it was her husbands dream, since he passed, she runs it to carry on his dream, and her new partner in crime is a younger guy who also does all the repairs. The 2 of them are a hoot.
 
We discussed how to described strings….we decided…..like onions! Peel back the first layer and allow the other layers to shine through and when played right they can bring you to tears - probably both ways, when played wrong you will also be in tears.
 
The purchase of books - Osmosis won't work on books, my friend has the largest collection of beginner books, from Suzuki 1 to kids fiddling, she seriously has about 10-15 books on beginning to play. Violin shop - Buying more books won’t get your to the level you want to be at, however, playing through them will help. The young guy spreads his arms in front of the beginner books preventing her from looking…
 
Also on the topic of books, you can’t buy sheet music with all the fun extras fiddlers throw in, the actual tune is just under a page and the basic version can be learned in about 15 minutes….(or for us, about 7 days) - we get an amazing demonstration of red wing with all the extras by the owner….she invites us to one of the local Mexican restaurants where they play fiddle at weekends. (I’m picturing her walking around with a huge hat playing mariachi music)
 
Rosin - are they all the same?….my thoughts, it’s in a pretty box so I’m buying it. My friends thoughts, I need a strong one cause I have to keep rosining and its affecting my playing….Violin shop, not all rosins are created equal, but as beginners, put it on right and just about anything will work...I'm still in awe of the pink sparkly one.
 
Inspecting our bows (both from fiddlershop) - all agreed, amazing bows!
 
Inspecting my fine tuners, none of them match….My thoughts, I want pretty gold ones, maybe with a blinged out E…Violin shop - well it plays great, so you could just leave them for a while or change them for around $20, or the set you want about $175, (seriously not going to happen!)
 
The violins, my friend and I in awe of their violins, we'd love to try them, we are both too embarrassed (we can’t play anything really good) we’d buy from Fiddlershop again anyways, but it’s sooooo tempting! - they convince us to try at least one each, we sounded pretty OK-ish….at least they knew what tune we were playing....Violin shop, it's not the violin, it's you! 
 
We get shown the vibrating safe box they put the new ones in, apparently makes them sound better, we ask if we can put ours in there...
 
Donuts eaten….my friend buys a dark rosin, they finish adjusting my violin (it wasn’t a botched A string, it was the sound post)…fun morning! 
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BillyG
Brora, North-east Scotland
January 11, 2020 - 1:47 pm
Member Since: March 22, 2014
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@Mimi Aysha   Great story!  Awesome sounding folks and a well-spent morning ! 

The best advice is freely given, and it is often not recognized by many!  You have a gem of a place there and made the right choices !!!  

Osmosis won't work on books

roflroflroflroflexactly

P.S. Had to go google "kolache" - nearest thing it reminds me of are vol-au-vents but with a fruity filling rather than savoury - mmmmm tasty foooooood

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - guntohead.JPG

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

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starise
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January 11, 2020 - 8:21 pm
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That sounds like my kind of violin shop!

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Mark
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January 11, 2020 - 9:16 pm
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Mimi Aysha,

starise says,

That sounds like my kind of violin shop!

Exactly what I was thinking.

Mark

P.S. if Fiddlershop was just located in Indiana.

Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.

Albert Sammons

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Mimi Aysha
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January 12, 2020 - 10:16 am
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Nice peeps for sure! They do all the local schools rentals and such...

....last time we were in there a mom came in with 3 kids and said she wasn't wanting to pay to rent a violin for her kid anymore, she asked if there was a refund policy, he wasn't interested and never wanted to play it, said it sounded awful, she put the case on the counter. The owner opened it and replied, well it's probably because it's a trumpet...we giggled about that one for a while...

Billy - The kolaches I bought were filled with fruity jam, they do savory too, I am lucky enough (or unlucky considering my waistline!) to live near the cutest little bakery, it's their signature item.....I'd never heard of them before either but pretty yummy.

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BillyG
Brora, North-east Scotland
January 12, 2020 - 2:39 pm
Member Since: March 22, 2014
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Mimi Aysha said
........

Billy - The kolaches I bought were filled with fruity jam, they do savory too, I am lucky enough (or unlucky considering my waistline!) to live near the cutest little bakery, it's their signature item.....I'd never heard of them before either but pretty yummy.

 mmmmm...... LOL !!!!

In one of my last jobs, I worked as a software consultant to a small local company.  They were a REALLY small concern - not much more than what you might describe as a family-business.   Money was always tight but they had a great little product idea to bring to the market (and indeed succeeded).  I recognized what they were trying to do, and every few days, I would bring in danish pastries and such like to brighten the mid-morning coffee break...    Sounds like much the same delicacy but the danish are on a larger and more mouth-watering scale !!!!  

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - guntohead.JPG

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

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AndrewH
Sacramento, California
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January 13, 2020 - 3:32 am
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They're popular in Texas, probably even more so than in the Czech Republic where they originated. Kolache shops were everywhere in Houston when I was in high school there.

I'm not sure I'd compare them to Danish pastries or vol-au-vents, though; I think the closer comparison is brioche.

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
January 13, 2020 - 7:52 am
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

Mark said
P.S. if Fiddlershop was just located in Indiana.

Thanks Mark. Maybe the perfect winter getaway!!!

Our new location (moving this coming weekend hopefully) is located a few blocks from Duncan Donuts. LOL

I don't eat donuts but I'm happy to get them for customers. :) We very often offer fruit at Fiddlershop and the best coffee you'll find at any violin shop, and most coffee shops. We roast our own beans because I love coffee and especially fresh Ethiopian roast. 😁

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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starise
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January 13, 2020 - 1:17 pm
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My kind of place! 

I like to roast my own coffee too. Haven't lately due to the weather here. Ethiopian coffee is the best!  Add that to violins and you have a hit! 

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CyndieZ
Maryland

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It looks like I may be going to West Palm Beach for vacation in April or May....... if my Florida geography is right, I'm thinking that is not too far from the shop. Hoping I can make it there for a cup of that fresh roasted coffee, and maybe a new violin! (Although I just ordered a cello, so I'm going to be working on violin and cello......  might have to wait just a little on the violin upgrade.)

Cyndie 

Come and let us reason together.

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Gordon Shumway
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January 13, 2020 - 6:03 pm
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Mexican coffee used to be good. I like it high roast, so I don't roast it; and I don't grind it, because the mess is unbelievable.

Plain donuts are great, as are yumyums, as is fruitcake, as are sultana fingerellas. But once I open a packet, I eat the whole lot, so I'm banned.

 

Mimi Aysha said The purchase of books - Osmosis won't work on books, 

  

Open University student's motto "A book owned is a book half read."

My variation on that - "a webpage bookmarked is a webpage half read."

But yeah, beginners' books, with practice your learning rate will be so high, you'll get past them in no time.

Andrew

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Mimi Aysha
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January 14, 2020 - 12:35 am
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Plain donuts are great, as are yumyums, as is fruitcake, as are sultana fingerellas. But once I open a packet, I eat the whole lot, so I'm banned.

As am I banned from malt loaf, with butter - my fav, don't think I can get it over here in the US, my mum sneaks a couple in her case for me when she comes over...I don't share...and I convince everyone else thats its an acquired taste, a bit like marmite so they stay away from it.

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Gordon Shumway
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January 14, 2020 - 4:26 am
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Mimi Aysha said

I banned from malt loaf, with butter  

Where are you from, the UK? I like malt loaf with butter, but I don't often eat bread, so I rarely have any butter in the flat either.

Andrew

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Mimi Aysha
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January 14, 2020 - 10:21 am
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Yep I am a Brit abroad....Portsmouth is my home town on the south coast, although I worked between London and New York for several years after college, then married an American and moved to Texas....culture shocker!...

The people are lovely, everyone seems really chatty, I can't go anywhere without making new friends...the weather is glorious most of the time (a bit hot sometimes!) - but I still get a little homesick. My brother is a Met. copper in London...and my sis is an ER doc in London Bridge Hospital. We try to visit every few years, so that we don't get too long apart...we were all pretty close, so I do miss them terribly...

My mum brings Yorkshire tea bags, (my hubby loves a cuppa) cadburys flakes, curly wurlys, and malt loaf - I try to make fish 'n' chips (although it's not quite the same) and no one knows what a Yorkshire pudding is...

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Gordon Shumway
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January 14, 2020 - 11:57 am
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Mimi Aysha said
Portsmouth is my home town  

Lol - I'm from Gosport!

Andrew

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Mimi Aysha
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January 14, 2020 - 12:15 pm
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Gordon.....

OMG - used to get the ferry over there pretty often with my bike, and hang out with friends....nice place....Well gosh, small world....

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
January 16, 2020 - 9:01 pm
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CyndieZ said
It looks like I may be going to West Palm Beach for vacation in April or May....... if my Florida geography is right, I'm thinking that is not too far from the shop. Hoping I can make it there for a cup of that fresh roasted coffee, and maybe a new violin! (Although I just ordered a cello, so I'm going to be working on violin and cello......  might have to wait just a little on the violin upgrade.)

That is fantastic news. I look forward to meeting you. We're moving this weekend so I've been super busy with preparations. You'll get to see our new building. :)

West Palm Beach is so close that we even have a luthier who lives there. Probably a 45 minute drive depending on where in West Palm you stay.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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