When not attending to garden tasks what other things have filled your day?

Excellent Annie

My mate said he'll send me some pics when they pull it out of the hedge. I was amazed when he said it was the last surviving one from the mills as I'd featured some 100 year old sketches of them in a video of "Unknown Kent" a while back

 

We had a visit from the optician for "Specsavers" today, to examine my wife's eyes and prescribe new glasses. They'll be back in three weeks to fit them...or maybe... "or lower her ears." She's not able to visit their premises, so they offer this service. It was a two-person team, a guy to do the testing and a girl to do all the paperwork.

She's not had new glasses for fifteen years, so there were considerable changes to be accommodated. She'll be having two pairs, one for distance and watching TV, the other for reading and making her decoupage cards.

It was all pretty painless for her, less so for me, as the total costs were £310.

No "special offers" with this service!

It amuses me, because it was I who insisted she, "got her eyes sorted out" and even at the last minute she tried to get out of them coming to do it. But it was very necessary.

"Perhaps I'll get her ears done next."

 

Too wet for gardening, so I gave my tenor saxophone a bit of a service.
It's a Yamaha YTS62, made in Japan, considered to be better than other Yamaha saxophones which are made in Indonesia. The price of my sax has doubled since I bought it new fifteen years ago.

A "service" is just a case of dragging a special powdered paper across the pads and tiny drops of "key oil" on the many joints.


For those still reading, the mechanics of saxophones, have hardly changed in a hundred years, the most recent was the adding of high F# in 1960.

To play one, (apart from holding your mouth right) you use your fingers, thumb and palm of your left hand and your fingers and the side of your index finger of your right hand.The thumb of the right hand is used to support the instrument.
Some pads are open and others closed "at rest," a combination enables you to operate all 22 keys.







Saxophone manufacturers usually supply a basic plastic mouthpiece with the instrument, but there's an endless number of different mouthpieces you can use, some of the prices are horrendous. I've mostly used a second-hand Otto-Link New York, metal Super tone master. The price of these new now, is only "slightly horrendous."
I use a Rovner ligature with it.



Before I bought the tenor, I had this alto for a year. But I didn't play it that often so after five years I sold it. The prices of instruments had escalated so I got more for it than I had paid for it new.
With an alto, to play a tune in the same key as the tenor, requires entirely different fingering,



I still have the original "cheapo" Yamaha tenor mouthpiece. To be honest, there's only a slight difference in the sound.
There's probably as many types of reed available. These come in different strengths, the higher the number the louder they are and more difficult to play.
They are expensive now and the quality varies. I've noticed on eBay you can now get ten reeds from China for the price of one Vandoren ZZ, which I mostly use. I don't buy reeds that often, as I don't play it as much, "due to other responsibilities."

I've only ever played it at home, sometimes to backing tracks I record on my electric piano. I limit it to week-day afternoons, when the people in the adjoining semi are at work.


To add a bit of humour, I copied this from a saxophone players' message board over a decade ago.

HOW TO PLAY THE SAXOPHONE

First things first: If you're a white guy, you'll need a stupid hat, the more stupid the better and preferably a beret.

Sunglasses are optional, but all the really, really good players wear them, especially indoors.
You'll also need some "gig shirts"- Hawaiians are good, but in a pinch anything with a loud floral pattern is acceptable, as are T-shirts from various jazz clubs and festivals. The good thing about the latter is that you can get them mail order so you don't have to go to all the trouble of actually seeing and hearing live music. And sandals are an absolute must, even in winter.

Once you've assembled the proper attire, you can begin practicing. One of the most important things about playing is being able to convey emotion to the audience. This you do through various facial expressions.

The two emotions you'll need to convey are (1) rapture / ecstasy and (2) soul wrenching pain and sadness (i.e., the blues). You may find it useful in the beginning to borrow a page from the method acting school. So, for example, to convey rapture, try thinking of something nice-like puppy dogs or getting a kiss from Uma Thurman while Phil Barone feeds you Armour hot dogs with truffle sauce.

To convey the "blues" try thinking of something really appalling-like ulcerative colitis or Alec Baldwin.

You should practice your facial expressions in front of a mirror at least two hours per day. You may feel a tad stupid at first, but you'll never get the chicks if you don't jump around on stage like a monkey-with your face screwed up like there's a rabid wolverine devouring your pancreas. And, bottom line, getting chicks is really what music's all about.

Next, you'll need the correct ligature.

Some people think that the ligature is just a stupid old piece of metal that holds the reed on the mouthpiece. Well, those people are idiots. Besides your beret, the ligature is the single most important piece of musical equipment you will ever buy.
Mine, for example, is 40% platinum and 60% titanium; one screw is rubidium and the other plutonium. It makes me sound exactly like Booker Ervin would if Booker Ervin wasn't (1) dead and/or (2) living on Mars.

You may have to spend years and years and thousands of dollars finding the proper ligature, but in the end it definitely will be worth it.
Now reeds. Optimally, you'll want to move to Cuba, grow and cure your own cane, and carve your own reeds by hand. If you're just a "weekend warrior" however, you can get by with store-bought.

First, buy ten boxes of reeds -100 in all. Next, open all the boxes and throw away 60 reeds.
Those were unplayable. Take the remaining reeds and soak them in a mixture of 27.8% rubbing alcohol and 72.2% pituitary gland extract for a period of 17 weeks.

Throw away 20 more reeds. Those were stuffy.

Take the remaining 20 reeds and sand each one for exactly 13 seconds with #1200 grade 3M sandpaper.

Throw away 14 reeds. Those squeaked.

Take the remaining 6 reeds and soak them for another 17 weeks, this time however in a mixture of 27.8% pituitary gland extract and 72.2% rubbing alcohol.
Sun dry the 6 remaining reeds for 3 weeks, optimally at an equatorial latitude, and throw away 3 more just on general principles.

You now have 3 reeds that will last you several months if you play each one only 20 minutes a day in strict rotation.
Now, you say you just bought a horn. Although you didn't say what kind it is, I'd sell it immediately and get a different one.

The best one to get would be a Selmer Mark VI made at 4:27 PM on June 14, 1963, serial number 635543. If you can't get that one though, generally speaking the older and more expensive the better.

The following brands are good: Selmer Paris Mark VI. The following brands suck: any other Selmer, Yamaha, Conn, Beuscher, Yanigasawa, Cannonball, LA, Jupiter, Elkhart, King, Martin, Keilworth, Boosey and Hawkes, Couf, Silvertone, and Holton. On no
account should you play the horn before you buy it: go strictly on reputation and price.

You will also need some accoutrements: a flight case capable of withstanding atmospheric pressure of dP = - Dg dz where D
and g are, respectively, the density of air and the acceleration due to gravity at the altitude of the air layer and dz is a horizontal layer of air having unit surface area and infinitesimal thickness; a metronome; a tuner; a combination alto-tenor-baritone sax stand with pegs for an oboe, bass clarinet, flute, English horn and bassoon; Band in a Box; every Jamie Abersold play-along record ever created; a reed cutter; swabs, cleaners, pad savers, pad dope, pad clamps; a Sennheiser Digital 1092 Wireless Microphone; an effects rig with digital delay and parametric EQ; and a 200 watt (per channel, minimum) amplifier and 18" monitor.
It will be helpful if you listen to lots of sax players. Unfortunately, listening solely to players you like is absolutely the worst thing you can do.

To really understand the music and its traditions, you have to go back to the beginning and listen to every bit of music ever recorded. I'd start with madrigals and work forward. Once you get to the 20th century, pay particular attention to players like Jimmy Dorsey, Sidney Bechet, and Al Gallodoro who are the foundations of the modern jazz saxophone.

In no time at all, or by 2034-whichever comes first-you'll be able to understand the unique be-bop stylings of players like Ace Cannon, Boots Randolph, and Sam Butera.

Finally, to play the sax itself, blow in the small end and move your fingers around.

 

Last Tuesday hubby had a conductively study on his left arm. He's got a squashed nerve just about his left elbow, he's going to see a consultant in 22 weeks, then after another 22 weeks he'll have surgery, so he's thinking of going private.

This Friday I've got to have a Dexa bone density scan, because i broke my left wrist, at the Worcester royal hospital, it's one of two hospitals that have the scanner in our area.

 

I must have read it wrong @Logan as I thought you fell and broke your wrist. What happened did it just snap??


I have been having regular DEXA scans since 2011 when it was discovered that I have Osteoporosis. It's not a daunting procedure...no tunnels are involved, it only takes about 10 mins ( depending what body part is being scanned ) I have my neck, spine, and hips scanned each time.

All 4 of our local hospitals have the scan table ( bed) sounds like we are fortunate.

 

@Oreti no you're right i did fall and broke my wrist, the break went up the bone, because I've broken bones before the Dr thought that it would be good to have a scan for bone density. But i did the last one about 8 years ago.Yes you must be fortunate to have so many hospitals with it, the other one here is at Birmingham, i think that they're just doing my hips, I'm glad that i don't have to go through a tunnel, thanks.

 

Went to the Worcester royal hospital, the parking was atrocious, bits of parking all over the place and no signs to say which was which. It went well and it just took a few minutes, when we came out to pay for the parking, could only use cash at the machine.
Hubby doesn't like motorways so decided to go through wychbold, there's a Webb's garden centre there so we dropped in but didn't buy anything, we were looking for a rhododendron but they didn't have much, but they had all of the Christmas decorations and trees there but nothing that we wanted.

 

I went to Lowe's and got a big bag of soil 2cu ft. Then to my favorite grocery store Aldi !! Chocolate chip Brioche loaf !! Got 80 bucks worth of delicious !!

 

@Anniekay , we could do an exchange..... Choc Chip Loaf for a blob....nope I'll give you a bunch of blobs!! . OK?

 

Blob of what? Dependent upon what kind of blob it is, you may have a deal !!

 

..... I see you've worked out my message.... Anniekay......there have several blobs apparently now on our radar for tomorrow and from midweek.I'll waft them over to you.

 

Danke schoen !! .

 

Sie sind herzlich willkommen Annie.

 

Wir mussen nicht formall sein. . .
Du bist zu nett !!

 

Danke .