Hi,

It's quite a while since I posted. Bron and I are much the same; we've now settled down to a routine allowing me a bit of free time.

I'm still practicing playing my violins which I very much enjoy mostly in about half hour sessions because longer than this my concentration tends to wander. It's bitterly cold here in Yorkshire; UK it being winter with snow on the ground so it takes a while to warm the studio before I can start playing. I'm trying a number of tunes;

Scarborough fair.

Amazing grace.

Lara's theme.

Fools rush in.

Ode to joy.

Sound of silence.

I'm enjoying struggling and won't give up practicing playing my violins. I still have lots of household and garden maintenance to keep on top of and although it's taken over a year I've kept having a go time permitting to restore a vintage Howard Bulldog petrol rotavator; this is now in use and a great help in rotavating the meadows; I'm on top of all the heavy work so 2024 is looking pretty good and once the weather picks up I'll spend more time in the studio.

Bron isn't at all well so she comes first every time; anything else can wait; I'm now doing more baking to help out; buns; cakes and even pancakes are now easy; I've done the dishes; ironing and supermarket shopping for years in fact early this morning I visited three local supermarkets; Bron's settled and comfortable watching an an old movie so I thought I'd update my blog before dinner time.

I thought I'd never complete this restoration; this Howard Bulldog rotavator is at least 60 years old.

I'm pleased now its finished and with Bron being so ill I think this will be my last machine restoration

I've converted most of our rear garden into three wildflower meadows; here I'm trying out the rotavator for the first time; it's still hard work but easier than digging by spade on the steep slope.

My first apple pie it's 10" diameter; we enjoyed scoffing it. I made it from scratch using a Be-Ro recipe and bramley apples.

My plan for this year is to look after Bron as much as I can and spend more time in her company; carry on with bungalow and garden maintenance and also spend time in the studio practicing violin playing whilst learning to use my recording gear; if only Bron was well but she's been ill for around 40 years; life is so unfair at times she deserves so much better; we are virtually on our own; being detached we see little of neighbours; friends live a long way away and no family; in spite of this we're happy and content looking out for each other. I'm now 76.

Good job this is a blog or I'd be in trouble for rambling on. Time now to make a mug of tea and spend some time with Bron before dinner then this afternoon I'll heat the studio and enjoy a violin practice.

Kind regards, Colin

Hi,

Thanks so much for your kindness @Mouse Things are improving; Bron's Parkinson's medication is now helping; the dosage was increased from three tablets daily to six tablets daily taken two at a time 30 minutes before a meal; her hand no longer shakes much to our delight. I feel more relaxed and settling into a new routine allowing violin practice for around 30 minutes daily; I've just enjoyed a practice.

Our snow amounted to very little indeed in fact it was more like dandruff from the sky but we've had a great deal of rain and terrific winds; lots of storms keep sweeping through with lots of flooding. The most snow we usually get is up to 6" deep but tends to linger well into April. The wind chill really drags the temperature down.

It's nice to spend time in the studio again. With summer to look forward to I hope to spend more time practicing; violin's are just an extremely interesting hobby to me and addictive.

Kind regards, Colin.

Hi,

After 37 years I'm at last on top of household repairs/maintenance and have a bit of spare time.

Earlier this week whilst we were watching a music video on YouTube my wonderful wife commented she'd like to have a go playing a guitar. Next week I'm 77 and my wife as usual offered to buy me absolutely anything I wanted; at first I didn't want or even need anything already having many toys to play with.

After a bit of thought why not buy a guitar after all I also wondered what playing a guitar would be like? I browsed eBay but it was taking forever because the sellers location wasn't on the opening page so I packed it in. Next I browsed Gumtree; there was an acoustic/electric guitar for sale locally but I wanted a straight electric guitar and with the exception of just one they all needed an airplane to get to they were so far away.

One in particular located just over an hours drive away caught my interest but I rejected it at first not wanting to leave my wife home alone in case she took another nasty tumble; I was assured my wife wouldn't do anything silly like going outdoors and I'd be back home after two hours driving plus collection.

Now I read the advert with more interest; the guitar was a Fender Squire Strat affinity and the amp was a Fender Mustang 1. The stated price was open to offers but as I read further down there was another price because there were two guitars for sale the second a Lindo ZST Series.

I sent off my offer by email and very quickly it was accepted. The seller and I arranged for me to set off at 5:00pm yesterday which I did arriving just after 6:00pm. The journey was a nightmare due to rush hour.

I was invited in and shown the two guitars and amp; the guitars came with soft Fender cases; rechargeable tuner and good quality jack cable; everything was like brand new much to my amazement and joy. The return journey back home was quicker and easier. Back Home I opened the cases to show my wife the two guitars and she too was amazed by their excellent top condition; it was too late to play around with them.

This afternoon I set up the amp in our front room and laid the Fender on my wife's lap for her to try out; unfortunately she could only try playing for a few minutes due to still needing a knee replacement but she's interested and hopes to have a better go at playing after her recovery.

I then took everything into the studio and thoroughly enjoyed an hour trying both guitars and Fender amp then finished off by playing my Yamaha electric violin. It made a massive change not to be under pressure with jobs hanging over me; I've never handled a guitar but was highly surprised by how heavy they are compared to my violins.

The Fender amp with my Yamaha violin in the foreground.

The Lindo ZST Series Guitar.

The Fender Squire Strat Affinity.

Kind regards, Col.

Hi,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?.....OB3H8Km38Q

Please have a good laugh I don't mind in the least. The video seen above is nothing like the initial playing as an audio file so it's lost a lot of identity whilst being converted to video. It's supposed to be "Can't help falling in love" first page of the music score also it should contain the first page of "Scarborough fair" but has deleted this in the conversion.

Now I have a video camera I'll try once again saving all the file format changes which are distorting everything.  Sorry about the graphics; this has kept me busy for a while this morning. I hope it doesn't bring tears to any music lovers eyes.

Kind regards, Col.

Hi,

Thanks for trying @stringy I think I posted too quickly because YouTube hasn't checked it; I did add the video as "Public" so hopefully it will appear shortly but I'll check. I'm pleased you liked the wildflowers; forget me not's are very pretty and not difficult to grow.

After posting this morning I enjoyed an hour playing with the guitars; violin and two amps but I then had to knock off to make dinner; every time I try to settle in the studio I should be elsewhere; dinner over; dishes done; Bron comfortable watching YouTube music videos so I've a bit of spare time; I'll wander into the studio now.

Kind regards, Col.

I've just checked @stringy the new video I added isn't yet on my playlist on YouTube but I can view it from the link shown on my computer; I'm sure you'll enjoy a laugh when it appears.

Hi,

Oh dear @stringy; the YouTube video is now live but I slipped up badly; it's not the song I wanted to post; I'd played "Can't help falling in love" & "Scarborough fair" but must have had a senior moment. I'll try harder next time.

This morning I rotavated our middle wildflower meadow; half way through I knocked off for a mug of tea and biscuit; when I resumed I thought it a good chance to try using the video camera again. No tripod so I rested the camera on an upturned bucket and hoped the strong wind didn't blow it off damaging it.

Having completed the job I brought the camera indoors and found it had recorded three videos; I have Cisdem Video Converter so set this off to merge all three videos; it's been running for about four hours with no end in sight; I thought I'm rapidly aging so I've cancelled it fed up of waiting and I'm disappointed with how slow this Cisdem is.

Thanks @Mark The video shown is different and I've learned quite a bit. The videos taken today look very poor being washed out; I'll try to edit them; I need lots more practice with videos but I'll win in the end.

Many thanks Emily; I managed to add the video at last to YouTube even if it wasn't the intended song; pity things can't be standardized rather than having to jump through hoops at every turn.

At last I've a bit of spare time so I'll wander into the studio for an hour; it's already getting dark here and as usual it's raining.

Kind regards, Col.