More absence

Last weekend I was still feeling limp and lifeless as the lurgi continued morphing into different symptoms and into its fifth week, so there was no running to be seen anywhere.

However, as a direct result of this post we wandered up to Bedrock Music to buy 24 new guitar strings and while we were there, Kim traded up in the bongo department, from

 to 

To the percussive sounds of a grinning Kim, I then set about removing old strings, oiling fret-boards (with the lemon oil that Lucas mentioned), cleaning, and eventually restringing all three guitars.

There were ten or fifteen wilderness years where I hardly played my guitars and my strings probably did not get replaced at all during this time, or maybe only when my Bro took pity on them on the rare occasions that he was across from the States.

Since deciding to start playing again I have had the strings replaced by Steve at Bedrock or by my good friend Andrew, so this was the first time I had done this task for maybe 15 or 20 years!

I didn’t make as neat a job as Andrew (who is a perfectionist), but the guitars all have a bright sound again and I really enjoyed the process so will definitely be doing it again in the future!  Andrew recently gave me a book of Jazz standards, so I have been patiently trying to twist my fingers into knots for a few weeks now… my resilience is paying off as it now takes me only ten minutes to play the initial 60-second track!

The week that ended in Easter was a really busy one for me and seemed super-long despite only being four days.  So this week I thought I would try taking an additional day off!  Yesterday Kim and I drove down to the amazing Goodwood Sculpture Park and wandered through the woods enjoying the sculptural creativity… it really is a most amazing place.

As we neared the end of the trail there was a tell-tale crack of thunder and a few spots of rain so we retired to the luxurious Goodwood Hotel for a substantial lunch.  When we finally emerged much later in the afternoon, stuffed to the gunnels, the sky was clear and there were deep puddles of water everywhere… our timing had clearly been excellent!

Neither of us could face any further food last night, but in an ad break around ten o’clock we managed to  do another HIT session, the second this week.  It’s amazing that you can schedule a meaningful fitness regime into the time it takes to make a cup of tea, whilst the ensuing heat rush could save a fortune on your utility bills!

The percussive backing track that has become a normal part of life here has quietened momentarily, while Kim taps away on the keys of her laptop, so it’s time to twist my fingers into knots again on those new strings!

By the way, good luck to all you mad people running the Brighton and Paris marathons tomorrow… I won’t be there but I will be thinking of you!  I might even take my runners for a spin in your honour!