The guitar practice continues. I have a short list of songs I like to play which improve my fingerpicking fluency. And then there’s a shorter list of songs with very specific fingerpicking patterns that I’m learning to play both because I like them and because they will enhance my versatility, hopefully. Among the latter are Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide and Simon and Garfunkel’s The Boxer. The latter seems quite simple but it’s the transitions and little riffs that make all the difference to how it sounds. An added extra is Blackbird by The Beatles. That’ll take a while. Keeping it simple and starting slowly seems to work. As does sleeping on it. In other words, going as far as one can go one day only to find that there is a marked improvement the next. The brain, eh?
On Saturday, our next door neighbour, Michael, brought around a plastic box with 3.5 kilos of rhubarb. About half an hour later, I saw a Facebook post from our other next door neighbour, Ashley, who was making gooseberry jam. Out came the phone and Google pointed me in the direction of rhubarb and ginger jam. And rhubarb cordial. I trimmed the rhubarb and froze 3 kilos of it in kilo bags, and made cordial with the rest. I bought pectin today and I’ll make jam at the weekend. Here’s the cordial process …
I carved this, on a whim. Rough …

William (we swap creativity stories and ideas) sent me a link to a mesmerising video on weaving during the week and co-incidentally (isn’t it funny how that happens a lot – more so when you’re open to it!) I found something on Pinterest that combined pebbles and string in an interwoven pattern, and inspired this …

Poor Christine broke her wrist (and sprained her ankle) a couple of weeks ago on uneven paving stones in Harold’s Cross. She’s healing quickly but her cast was unadorned. So I fixed it …

Otherwise, I blogged about a brunch in a lovely new bistro around the corner …

and I had a Dart-related boozathon with Phil …

‘Nuff said.
Thanks for taking care of me and making sure that I have the best decorated cast! x
Hi Dave,
interesting artwork! And the cordial sounds lovely.
Making rhubarb jam may be tricky – have never tried it, but will you have to use loads of sugar to thicken it?
Leeside greetings,
Joe
P.S. Phil with a Hannibal Lecter mask: should have known!