Wednesday 5 February 2014

Ordered!

I have taken the plunge and bought a cheepo half size piano accordion online. After trying on a full size beast of a thing, I found that my worries about my bosoms were correct, and that they would get squashed to pieces by the weight of the instrument should I go for a full size one. So, after much deliberation lasting several days, I have ordered a thirty four keys, seventy one basses, three voiced, bright red accordion, weighing 8kgs, which is approximately 8 bags of sugar. I should manage that. Just need to get those arm muscles firmed up so I can get those bellows in an out.

 
 
Feeling a tad on the guilty side, I also ordered a bright red mandolin for Lester.....
 
It is not as tiny as the photo would suggest, but it is the only photo I could find!
 
Middle of March, that is the expected arrival time, so we await in eager anticipation. Gives me the push to get my fingers exercised, and try to get used to playing without music, relying on what I am hearing to give me the tune rather than relying on sheet music. That, my friend, will be quite a feat, as I do not have a retentive memory.
 
So is this an unnecessary expense and burner up of time. I don't think so, because there is nothing quite like making a noise (hopefully in tune) with someone else.
 
And then there are the two little chicks now resident in a box in the bathroom, newly  hatched in the incubator. They join the drying washing and the stored cheese in, what should be, a place of serious ablutions. But I have no warm and humid place to keep the maturing cheese, and the washing is drying in what is the only heated room in the house, and the chicks need to be put somewhere cosy, warm, and minus dogs, who would be very interested in seeing what those little chicks tasted like. I suppose that my bathroom is a farm bathroom, just as Sara down the road uses her 'sitting room' as a place to dry her small goats when flooding is happening to her land. Farm life ensures that one's house always has some of the farm indoors, whether it be animals drying, mud drying, boots drying, bits of hay and straw drifting over the floor, etc......
 
 
.....this is a rough idea of what comes up off the floor, some of it contributed to by the rottweiller girls..... and this is not an exaggerated photo!
 
Now to order a camera online. I found the camera I 'lost', and it was as I thought....the two rottweiller girls had thought it a thing to be played with, and the other day I found it lying on its back, definitely dead, because it had it's shutter half open, which made it look very sad, as if was it was looking at me reproachfully for being so neglectful of its wellbeing. So, a new fangly dangly camera... one that I shall have to study seriously hard to use, and one which I shall no doubt often get frustrated with. But I need a camera which will have to do several things well, so I have chosen a Panasonic Lumex FZ200 bridge camera. It's middle of the range. I hope I have chosen right. I am not particularly patient with techno stuff.
 
Off to help Lester get the animals sorted out for the night. All have been indoors today because of the weather,  including us, apart from when we need to get hay and straw from the bales. Today, therefore, has been a good day to do online shopping. It was that, or nodding off for extended naps!
 
Hope you are keeping dry and warm...
 
Bye for now....
 
Vx


PS. The rottweiller girls are still subdued. No romping, playing, scraping up of rugs to make beds, no going into the refuse bin to see what they can eat, no endless wanting to go in and out. Hope they get back to normal soon. It does not seem quite right to have them so docile......

9 comments:

Diane said...

The animals are going to love their musical 'parents'. We will have to come down that way just to see and hear what is going on :-)) Take care Diane

Vera said...

Diane, you are welcome any time, but don't expect too much of my musical ability!

John Going Gently said...

Watch you nipples don't get stuck in the concertina!
Can you post a video of you playing?

Rosaria Williams said...

What a smart thing to do! I've had a similar idea and have bought a fiddle and signed up for lessons. It is hard and demanding; but, it pushes me to get out of my comfort zone.

Vera said...

John, this was a concern of mine! But a vid? Probably not!

Rosaria, good for you. My husband plays the fiddle, and I do keyboards. I can play the piano reasonably well but it doesn't go with the Irish jigs and reels that Lester plays, hence the piano accordion which is played in Irish music. So, you having a go at the fiddle, and me having a go at the accordion! Wow!

Ohiofarmgirl said...

a farm bathroom is very different, isnt it? we've had all manner of critters in our bathroom.

i'm wondering about the dogs. have you done a "once over" feeling them with both hands all over? esp feeling their bellies for pain or anything unusual? they should not be "in shock" from a run around but i wonder if they ate something bad? are their paws ok?
:-/

Vera said...

Ohiofarmgirl, we did check them over after they came back, but they seemed alright. Whatever happened to them, they are different dogs, much quieter, less full of puppy nonsense. I don't think it was a 'run around' they had. I think that they galloped away for some distance, had a fright, and realised that they had nowhere safe to return to, because when they have But at least their eyes are looking calmer and less anxious now, and hopefully they have learnt the lesson that it is better to stay within sight of home!

Tim said...

Vera...
has the camera arrived?
You picked a good one...
just been reading the reviews.
My gal was thinking about another camera and I looked for decent real bridge cameras... but missed this one.
At least 60% of so-called "bridge" cameras don't seem to have a viewfinder... just the screen that is useless on bright days...
but they are bodied to look as though they have... but they aren't a bridge.
Look forward to seeing pix you take with it on the blog!
Tim [Aigronne V W]

Vera said...

Tim, the camera has arrived but I have not had time to get to know it yet. I chose this one because of the good reviews it got, and also because it is well supported by YouTube videos explaining how to use it and take good vids and pics with it. Got it from Amazon UK, and it arrived here in SW France within five days. Also ordered several other bits and pieces to go with it, and they all arrived quickly as well. Would recommend!