Chapel Violins: Day 9

This morning I met new guests for breakfast David and Julie. They are dairy farmers from somewhere near Blackpool and are in town for the Antiques Fair. The farms here are quite small - they have 60 head of cattle. That would be a hobby farm at home!

When I arrived at the Chapel, I mentioned to John that the Fair was on and he was very interested. He guaranteed that I would pick up some chisels at the Fair. Decision made. We will go tomorrow, meeting at the Chapel at 8am. I do hope I sleep better tonight.

 

My day at the Chapel saw me working on making some templates to help me cut and fit bridges. I got the violin one finished and am still working on one for viola. That is about all I have done, except once again being privy to discussions about restoration and try out a bridge which Andy from Hong Kong had reshaped.

Some templates to be made

 

John is full of stories and interesting hilarities. He came into the workshop after being to the toilet feeling very proud of himself. He had rescued a fly from the toilet and thought that it might like a bit of honey rather than whatever else it may have been feeding on. There it was, sitting on his finger, very much enjoying it's honey. I asked John if he could also train fleas. We all had a chuckle and John then named the fly 'Fred'. It flew away, but only did a 300mm circle and returned to John's finger like a boomerang. Fred hung about most of the day and John felt good that he had done some good by giving the fly a better life, out of the toilet.

 

It was Stephan's last day and we finished off by taking photographs and saying good-bye. I have enjoyed Stephan's comradeship and wish him well in the future with his studies. I have given him my email addresses and wonder how long it will be before he contacts me.

Stephan and me

Having fun

 

Somewhere along the river walk

John drove Stephan and me into town to drop Stephan at the railway station and me at Asda. I had seen a pair of shoes there for £18, and returned to get them. After picking up a couple of pairs of socks as well, I went for a photographic walk. Unfortunately the sky was not as good as I had hoped it to be.

 

Autumn colour

 

Unknown flower

Another view of the castle

 

I went into a specialty wine shop and got excited when I saw a Langmeil sparkling Shiraz, but unfortunately they had run out of the Keigelbahn. I ended up getting a bottle of Grant Burge Shiraz to give to John Gosling. It has a lovely label with stringed instruments featured on it.

 

I am sitting in a little restaurant enjoying a vegetable bake for my dinner, along with a glass of Hungarian wine. Their full bodied red is not a sniff on those that I know!

 

I will return to the Vicarage after my dinner and get my things packed for setting off to London on Saturday morning. This will allow me to relax and enjoy tomorrow night.

 

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