Coping With Long Covid

…currently…

….everything I do is split into “manageable” blocks interspersed with breathing exercises…

…all in aid of me not being an exhausted quivering blob at some point in the following 72 hours….

…stacking the fire wood for instance…

…I can manage four barrows, loaded and unloaded, before I need to rest…

…to help my befuddled mind I place one block on end per barrow as I go, so as not to exceed my measured limit….

…28 blocks equals 28 barrows equals 3m of nice macrocarpa winter warmth…

…or…

…(after the obligatory rest period)…

…tonehenge…

…(excellent)…

…(my mind seems to be misfiring at its usual level)….

Playing for time

….um….

…gave away my accumulation of 50/60/70/80s sci-fi pulps a while back…

…(zero resale value…unlikely to read them again…too many giant purple monsters)…

…but hung onto a couple with attractive (to me) covers….

…in side back cover ads deserve an honourable mention…

…and as an annex to a major framing project (yep, finally confronted the matte cutter in the room) I did this….

….right….

…um….

…back to painting circles…

…but not till I’ve scoffed a handful of testrones…

…(or was it overones?)….

Cloudy

…with a chance of hares….

….2 day holiday was a little stormy….

…(almost the best ever lightning and thunder I’ve ever experienced)…

…and after the inclemency a rainbow appeared…

…along with several representatives of the local introduced pest species….

….(non edible)…..

Last Sunday

..went for a “picnic” at the scenic container wharf at Port Chalmers, NZ….

..fed chips to the gulls…..

…what could this be?….

…hmmm….

…ah…

https://chchdarkspace.bandcamp.com/album/darkspace-a-fundraiser-to-help-fill-the-void

…Dee’s band, Tiny Pieces Of 8, has a track on this….

…flicking thru it at the moment and there are some awesome tracks…

…check it out…

…(I may have added the googly eyes to the sticker)…

Ladies And Gentlemen Start Your Engines

…. 20 crates (count ’em) of the record accumulation I’m currently processing will drop on the 4th of July, 2021, at Restore, 7 Gordon Street, Dunedin Central…

…here’s a random crate…

…ah, crap….let me try that again….

….the stack of 70 crates featured in last week’s post now sits at 72 with more to come from inside the house….

…we’ll be adding more crates to Restore’s stock every week for some time to come…

…something in there for almost everyone…

…with…so…much…more…to…come….

…see you Sunday, 11a.m…..

…er…

… and every subsequent Sunday…

…until it’s all done.

Routine

…what routine?….

….sketchbook…paintbox…sketchbook….

…(alleged regular posting routine falls foul of long weekend and short staffing at work)…

Last Weeks Mystery Object Explained

…it’s one of these….

….came with this bright idea for containing my paints aaaages ago….and have been using a cardboard mock-up of what I had in mind since then….

….finally got it made when a looming project required an up tick in how many colours I need at my finger tips….

…the paint brush hole was a late add in, necessitated by the fact that I’d no longer have space for a paint brush pot on the edge of my work space after adding the new improved paint box….

…(yes I’m still stalling for time on the big secret project)….

…(and may continue to do so for an unspecified length of “awhile”)…

Post Hols Photo Heap

…started a few things on holiday…

…a pile of these…(actually one of series of piles)….

…and couple of those…

…got a bit obsessed with “faces” on my palette….

…(they’re looking at me, I swear)….

…Dee came up mid-week and made a poster for her upcoming gig….

…(the one on the left is the one that will be used)…

…(see you there)…

…saw a goat….

…saw it again at night…

…Dee phoned in the sighting….

…(cell phone coverage exists at the water tank)….

…some of the above images are elongated because I may have had the camera switched to vid’ for a day or so after filming this…

,,,bit of a grey day on Friday….

…so we went on our traditional Central Otago charity shop run….

…did rather well…

…as is explained in this short documentary….

….spent the fine days removing bumblebees from the house…

…(…sign says “bug”…but battery died before second shot and didn’t want the wee fellow to be under glass too long)…

….and savoured the fine evenings enjoying the fragrance of the apple blossom…(or is it plum?)….

…all in all a bloody good holiday….

…(did I mention my Pitcairn Island carved flying fish?)…

Process

…receive test pressing of lp in post….

….listen to lp…..

…listen to lp with band….

…say “yes please” to record manufacturer people….

…receive large box of lps….(thank you Holiday Records on so many levels….you guys rock)…..

….open all the boxes…

…mmmm…records….

….make the covers….(we already printed them but “somebody” hadn’t glued ’em up yet)…..

….find booklet you DID prepare earlier…(it’s probably in THAT box)….

…all hand folded and stapled neatly….(sorry no vid’)….

…put them all together….

…oops!…don’t forget to hand stamp the labels (first identifying which side is which)….

…small printing blocks (cheers Tracer) taped together with masking tape may come in handy at this stage…

..place lps in in inners then inners in covers….add booklet…place in outer sleeve…

…and there you have it …

…all ready for the lp release on the 28th September at The Crown Hotel….

…see you there.

Let There Be Light Fittings

…I first “met” this particularly wonderful example of 70s plastic and “gold” plated light fitting when I had the record shop at Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers…

…I needed to own them…

…but they were attached to the pub…

…I’d drive by and ogle the only other example I knew of when ever I could….it’s a commercial double sized version that hangs in a glassed in stairwell on the side of a warehouse in the South Dunedin industrial area…just down from my favourite DIY materials haunt….

….then…

…having driven past a second hand shop sign outside Ranfurly on numerous occasions and thought “how sad that it had ceased operations on the main street”, I drove thru Ranfurly in the other direction only to discover that I’d been completely missing the other sign that indicated that said shop had moved to the outskirts town….(duh)…..

…The Curiosity Shoppe is now located in a delightfully spacious tin shed next to a converted railways workshop, where the proprietor resides….having met a kindred spirit in said proprietor and during the ensuing tour of the premises, right at the back of said railways workshop, we came upon two large cardboard boxes containing….oh be still my beating heart….not one, not two, but five of the coveted light fittings all separated in to halves and covered in dust….

….bargaining….

…bargaining between second dealer-collectors….

….I bought two….

…and promised photos when I’d got them installed…

…that was months ago, sorry Ali’, but now they’re up….

…in the living room….

…and the library….

….thank you Ali’….

…my life is near as damn complete….

…almost….