September | October | November | December
Saturday, December 3 - The Elastic Band had a gig today at an elementary school where the bass player teaches. Most schools have a Christmas Fair where they sell things to raise money and also provide children with presents to give and this of course calls for some Christmas music. We played carols and Christmas favorites for about an hour, interrupted only by Father Christmas as he walked through the gym ringing his bell (!)
Afterward I went into London with Jane and went to Liberty, the famous purveyor of beautiful fabrics, also a regular department store now. It was great fun, and on one end of Liberty is the famous Carnaby Street, home of the hippest designers in the sixties. It’s a pedestrian street and there are neon lights above the pavement (photo)
Sunday, December 4 - My host’s son Laurie and I caught the 8:05 train to London to see Madame Tussaud’s and the Planetarium. I was there in 1999 but it’s all completely different, with different celebrities, and I hadn’t seen the planetarium show before. We had a really good time, posing with various persons (photos) Also, Laurie wanted to go into the Horror Chamber, which I had skipped last time. There are live actors in there, just waiting to jump out at one and make weird noises. There are signs everywhere saying “Don’t touch the actors” but they get right in one’s face and up the back of one’s neck!
After a nice lunch in Regent’s Park, Rosie, Mike, Laurie and I went to the London Zoo and saw the animals. There’s one place where the monkeys are not in a cage but in the trees and grass around the visitors, fortunately with two keepers right there to protect them. It was quite cold, so we went into the Reptile House to get warmed up again.
On the way to the tube station we passed this cute little refreshment stand in Regent’s Park (photo). There are little sights like this everywhere in London, just charming.
Monday, December 5 - This was my last working day in London, tomorrow I will spend packing up and getting ready to come home. So, I was very happy that I got to see a really nice oOld Italian violin today, by Peter Guarneri of Mantua. It had really pretty corners and f-holes and the varnish was spectacular. With a little help from John I actually guessed what it was so I’m feeling pretty chuffed, as they say here.
Tuesday, December 6 - Packing day, then a small group of people for drinks at Tony and Rosie’s house, to say goodbye.
Wednesday, December 7 - Goodbye, and hello!
Addition to Monday, November 28 - Today was Greek day in Mike’s school class, so he got to dress up as Dionysus, complete with real grapes in his hair and on his jug (photo)
Tuesday, November 29 - Working on setting my neck today, only a few millimeters to go and all of the numbers are looking good now, but it’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride. Length of neck, centering, overstands, extension, all must be perfect.
Elastic Band rehearsal tonight, Christmas carols and songs; we’re ready for the gig on Saturday!
Wednesday, November 30 - Finished setting my neck and got it glued in. It went in just as I had dry clamped it, this is a little unusual. Most of the time it gives no trouble, practice run after practice run, then with the hot glue on, things go horribly wrong. Not Today!
Once it was in, I had time to finish Mike’s violin and work on the Sgarbi cleaning up the rib structure. We will take the bass bar out of the top, among other things.
As a treat, and because I found out that the National Gallery is open late on Wednesdays, I took myself off, caught the 5:34 train (actually 17:34) from Richmond and went to Trafalgar square. The Gallery is a large collection of paintings begun in 1824 as a national museum. It now has paintings from c. 1250 to c. 2000, including some very famous ones. Among others, I saw the Velazquez Nude, the Arnolfini couple portrait, a pack of Rubens, a whole roomful of Rembrandts, two Vermeers, a half roomful (but it was a big room) of Van Goghs, Seurats, Renoirs, many Holbeins, Gainsboroughs, Constables, Turners, etc. etc. The National Gallery is right next to the famous church of St. Martin’s in the Fields (photo). No fields at this time, but a beautiful building. In front of the Gallery is Trafalgar Square itself, with Nelson on his column. Each year the Norwegians send the British a lovely Christmas tree in gratitude for their support in WWII and it’s put up in Trafalgar Square with white lights (photo). It’s rather touching and its appearance is anticipated by many Londoners. I came home late and tired and happy.
Thursday, December 1 - I spent all day working on the shaping and finishing of the neck, with a little dinking on the edge work thrown in. I have never used a template for this step before, it does make it much faster and easier, plus more consistent. There’s still a bunch of grunt work at this stage, tedious because I’m SO close to being done.
Friday, December 2 - Finished the edge work clean up, and a little more on the scroll and we’re calling it done! (three photos, I couldn’t stop) I covered the fingerboard with aluminum foil and put it in the light box to tan. The foil keeps the fingerboard from getting hot under the lights and warping. I am used to just spot gluing the fingerboard for the neck shaping step, then taking it off for the varnishing. John glues it on permanently, then just lets it have a bare spot under the fingerboard where the brush can’t reach, just like Strad. Good enough for me. Both cats joined me at my bench for a little while (photo).
I had time to take the bass bar out of the Sgarbi and then study the Scarampella violin that’s in the shop. It’s not in his usual style, he was copying Balestrieri. John has photos of several Scarampellas and a couple of Balestrieris so I could look at the photos and the violin and see where the copying starts.
Tonight Rosie, Tony and the boys and the Dilworths and I all went out for a nice dinner (photo) together, to Wagamama, a mostly Asian noodle restaurant across the river in Richmond. The food was quite good, especially the deserts (Lime and stem ginger tart with crème fraish, chocolate fudge cake with wasabe cream filling, Ginger and white chocolate cheese cake), they take reservations.
Saturday, November 26 - This was my big performance day, with practicing by myself in the morning, traveling to St. John’s Waterloo church from 1:15-2:15 (photo of my friend Deborah in front of the church, plus a better view of the church), rehearsing 2:30-5:45, eating a little Italian food, concert started at 7:30, and we finished around 10 and went out for a little drink at a nearby pub. Then home on the train. Very tiring day!
Sunday, November 27 - Big tourist day today. Laurie (my hosts’ son) and I went by tube to the Natural History Museum and spent a couple of hours there (photos). Then Rosie met us at the tube station and we went to Charing cross, where we had to change to the overground train, so I got to see Nelson’s column (photo) at Trafalgar square on the way. We went all the way out to Greenwich and saw the Cutty Sark, the most famous China Clipper ship ever to work the tea trade route to and from China. She’s a beautiful ship!! The accommodations were a little Spartan (photo). We went into the Royal Naval College (photo) and toured the famous Painted Hall (photo). Then we went up a sharpish hill to see the Prime Meridian, from which point all times around the world are calculated (photo). There were many tourists there, and the Flamsteed house was unfortunately closed. This is where the first marine chronometers are housed, which enable sailors to determine exactly where they were. They saved many thousands of lives over the years by preventing shipwrecks. Lastly, we visited the National Maritime Museum, where we saw the uniform (photo) Admiral Nelson was wearing when he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar, which ended Napoleon’s hopes for sea domination. There’s blood on the stockings, if you look closely, not Nelson’s blood but his secretary’s. He was killed earlier in the battle. Wow! We were all very tired when we got back home.
Monday, November 28 - Another huge day! John and I visited Sotheby’s again (photo), Biddulph violin shop and Christie’s again. We saw some really great instruments. When we got back to the shop I started on the mortise for my neck, which is really the last step before the varnishing process.
Sunday, November 20 - Today was rehearsal day for the Westminster Philharmonia, so I took the train to the tube to the Indian YMCA, which is the usual rehearsal venue. The floor in our rehearsal room is solid wood, and it looks like an exotic hardwood from India, it’s beautiful. The BBC broadcast a really lovely production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” starting at 8pm, with Ben Kingsley as the Fool and Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia. I really enjoyed it, I never read it or saw it before
Monday, November 21 - Still trying to finish up my scroll, and I glued the top onto Michael’s violin. I rounded the edges of the corpus, ready for sanding.
I met the 5:04 train at Richmond station, Rosie and the boys were on it so we went into Waterloo station (photo) and walked to the London Eye (photos) so the boys and I could ride it. It’s really enormous, the pictures don’t do it justice, but I tried. We entered a capsule with only four other people (photo) It takes about a half hour to make one circumference, and at the top we were looking DOWN on Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament (photo). The blue lighted building is the National Theater complex, where we went to a production of “Coram Boy” after the Eye. It was very well done, with an interesting stage set up; it’s almost in the round but not quite, with visible live musicians. I’ll have to think about it some more before I decide if I really liked it!
Tuesday, November 22 - After sweating for hours, my scroll is finished in concept, and nearly done in the cleaning up part. Next step is to glue the fingerboard on, cut the neck down, and set the neck in the body. Then finish the neck, check it over one more time, and it should be start the varnish process time!
We had Elastic Band rehearsal tonight; we’ll be playing Christmas carols next weekend in Teddington. There’s also a town called Tooting, and the best part is it has a Common-- Tooting Common. If it’s unclear think dead Egyptians.
Wednesday, November 23 - I picked up the turkey today from a fishmonger’s shop in downtown Twickenham. I almost wish we were having fish for dinner; they had 5 or 6 kinds of prawns, plus langostine, whole mackerels, whole mullets, sprats, sole, squid, octopus, cod, etc. etc. Anyway, we got a nice, free-range, bronze turkey. It was dressed and beautifully cleaned, not by a machine, either. There were a few pin feathers to pluck out, and the whole leg was on, they only cut off the feet so we had some scaly shins on the ends of the drumsticks. I baked two pumpkin pies tonight, one for Dilworths and one for the dinner tomorrow. I bought three different kinds of cream because I wasn’t sure which ones would work for what!
Thursday, November 24 - I started the stuffing this morning, went to work, came back at 12:30 to stuff the bird and put it in the oven, and went back to work. I finished the soundpost and bridge for Michael’s violin, now I just have to do the fingerboard. My scroll is done and the neck is being cut down. When I came back from work the second time, the turkey was all done! I thought it would take another hour. Rosie and the boys didn’t get back from music lessons for an hour an a half, but everything was fine. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, and traditional British runner beans! We had champagne, too, then pie.
Friday, November 25 - I did some more touch up on Mike’s violin, and dressed the fingerboard. Next Tuesday I will finish it, I hope. I spent most of the day on the neck for my violin, cutting down the neck foot and then starting to shape the neck itself. I was taught to do the latter after the neck was glued in, John does as much as possible before that, so I’m doing a different method.
Monday, November 14 - On John’s advice I am replacing a section of purfling that didn’t turn out very well. I found some purfling to match and bent some bits of it last Friday. Today I picked out a section of the old purfling and fitted the new piece to the channel and glued it in. Then I finished sanding the bass bar and glued the top onto the rib structure. We have a box! (photo) The rest of the day was spent fitting the neck of the Irish fiddle to the new block. I will glue it in tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 15 - I finished fitting the neck of the Irish fiddle and glued it in. It is now straight and at the right numbers! I finished the peg box of my violin and started on the fluting of the scroll (photo)
Wednesday, November 16 - Did a little work on the Irish fiddle, started the chamfer on my scroll, took the top off a small violin for Mike (Rosie and Tony’s son) and worked on a crack in it.
Thursday, November 17 - I can’t believe that I leave here three weeks from yesterday, that’s only 12 working days from now! This morning I worked on cleaning up the scroll some more, it seems to take a long time. Then a man came to deliver an instrument and also show us the encyclopedia of Violin Makers that he is writing. It will be available as a CD-Rom only, to make updates easy, plus he has included references so one will be able to judge how much to trust the particular information. It’s searchable by year, place, employer, name (even a partially legible label when entered, will give results!!) and kind of instrument or bow. It looks fabulous.
This afternoon it was arranged that I visit the workshop of J. & A. Beare, the premier violin shop. To get there I took the overground train to Waterloo Station, the Underground on the Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus and then a ten-minute walk up Regent Street, during which I passed the church of All Souls (photo), which is very beautiful. One must ring at the front door (photo) of J. & A. Beare to be admitted, which I did. One of the shop workers was kind enough to give me a tour. As would be expected, the showroom is elegantly posh, with instruments hanging on the wall and in lovely antique cases, including a gorgeous mint condition tiny little Forster cello. The instruments being worked on today included a Tononi cello ( Venice), a Serafin school violin ( Venice), a Grancino violin ( Milan) and a Tasini violin ( Venice). One of the workmen had been making a copy of Joseph Guarneriu filius Andrea scroll so he had THREE of them on his bench, so I got to hold THREE Joseph filius scrolls in my two hands!! That won’t be repeated during my lifetime!
Rosie and I went to her friend’s house for dinner tonight, so it meant more train and tube riding. We had a lovely time with good food and wine, and then playing music for violin, flute, and cello and guitar.
Friday, November 18 - I reamed out the end button hole of the Irish fiddle and touched up the little sleeve that’s all that’s left of the new wood I put in. I stood up the old post, which doesn’t fit, and checked the old bridge, which will not work with the new neck set. We were hoping to reuse it, partly because she didn’t want the sound to change and partly to save time on this instrument. New bridge coming up on Monday! I finished the widths of my new fingerboard and made good progress on shaving down the top surface; I will finish it and glue it on Monday.
Saturday, November 19 - I decided to go to the British Museum (photo) today, to see the antiquities, including this head of a pharaoh, circa 1390 BC (photo). The Elgin marbles are here, which is basically large chunks of the Parthenon. What I didn’t know is that he had written permission from the government then in charge of Athens, which was Turkey. His agents were even accompanied by an official from the Sultan, who supervised the removal. The Greeks unfortunately had nothing to say about it!
The Museum has quantities of everything, excluding musical instruments! So I visited the American galleries, where they have a huge totem pole, this Mayan glyph (photo) and a wonderful sculpture of a rattlesnake, which is Aztec/Mixtec and from below shows a perfect mathematical (scroll-shaped!) spiral (photo).
On the way back to the tube station I was forced (!) to walk through Russell Square, where there is this lovely fountain (photo). Life is so tough, here.
Tonight I am traveling (unfortunately, in the dark) out into the country to the stately home where Michael and Laurie have their music lessons every week. Mike is in a little opera made up of Schubert’s music. It went really well, but I am very tired as we didn’t come back until almost midnight.
Tuesday, November 8 - I removed the ribs and blocks from the mold and clamped it onto the back while I glued in the upper linings. I had bent them in Red Wing and brought them with me as my mold was too thick to glue both sets in at the same time. I prepared the bass bar stock to 5.5mm thickness and laid out the measurements, then started to fit the bar. I got quite close today and will glue it in tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 9 - I found the center line of the Irish fiddle, glued in a little piece of filler wood, and laid out where the neck will need to go. I started turning the edges of the back plate (rounding them over) and finally finished the corners to both our satisfactions. The bass bar was finally fitted into the top at around 5:30 and I glued it in. Tibor, John’s previous employee, came by with his two little kids for a visit today. He had a viola and a violin for John to look at, as well. He is a very nice guy.
Thursday, November 10 - Early this morning I dreamed that there was a gap under my bass bar and the closer I got, the bigger the gap, until it ran the whole length of the bass bar so I picked it up and it fell out! When I got to the shop today, I was relieved to see that the bass bar looked just fine so I started cutting it down (photo). I got the back glued on today (photo), after finishing the rounding of the inside edges, weighing and pitching the plate. It weighs about 99 grams, which is excellent. Work also started on the resetting of the neck of the Irish fiddle (photo).
Friday, November 11 - The bass bar is cut down to height, trimmed to a nice width and shape, all that remains is a bit of sanding. The edges on the top are turned and all that remains is a bit of sanding. I drilled holes in the peg box to start hollowing it out (photo) but didn’t get it finished today. The linings are all cut down and the blocks are trimmed to their final shapes and scraped smooth. In other words, on Monday I can glue the top on!!
Saturday, November 12 - This afternoon Rosie, Michael and I took the train into town to Vauxhall station. On the way to the Tate Britain (photo) we passed MI5, home of British Intelligence (photo). At the Museum there was a special exhibition of Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, and Sickert. It was fascinating to see the development and connections between these three artists and their friends. Walking back across the Thames to the Tube we got to see fireworks off in the distance (photo). We got back to St. Margaret’s (where I live) just in time for me to leave to walk to the Dilworth’s for a ride to Tiffin school, where Julia and Miles are singing in a performance of the Messiah. I believe this was the first time I’ve actually seen a performance that I wasn’t playing in. It was so cool!!! There were around 300 performers, including seventy-some boy sopranos and an orchestra playing period instruments, including the valveless trumpets which have a big solo, “The Trumpets will Sound” close to the end. It was gorgeous and great fun.
Sunday, November 13 - The Elastic Band had a gig today, at the annual Remembrance Day ceremony. This is a local one, but the Mayor of Richmond and many veterans were there, along with Sea Cadets (aged around 13, it seems), and other various groups that I couldn’t identify. The ceremony is held outside at the War Memorial, and it was COLD, breezy, but fortunately dry. The violin was not happy but it was fun to play the British hymns, National Anthem, the Elgar Elegy and Moonlight Serenade and Chattanooga Choo Choo. The different groups ceremoniously laid poppy wreaths at the foot of the Memorial. It was very touching to see the veterans, getting quite elderly now, with their medals all on their chests and quite a few of them clearly damaged in the war. I was really glad to be done and try to warm up. (Continued)
Friday, November 4 - The f-holes are completely finished, as is the top graduations. The only things left on the top are the bass bar and to round the edges. I cut down the linings on the back side of the rib structure so that it’s ready to be glued on. I will probably clamp it onto the back, and then take the mold out so that I can trace the outline of the linings and blocks on the back in order to finish it perfectly. Then I can glue in the upper linings and trim them, then the top can go on and the box will be finished.
I also worked on the Irish fiddle, finding the center line of the instrument and working on how and where to set the neck and the bridge.
On my walk today I saw two swans on the Thames, they’re quite common here (photo).
Saturday, November 5 - “Remember, remember, the 5 th of November”, tonight is Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, when the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and most of the Royal family was discovered, complete with barrels of gunpowder in a cellar, ready to go. What this means for us is that people have been shooting off fireworks since a week ago, and tonight being a Saturday, many many more were scheduled. Tony, my host, shot off a roman candle in the back garden, and we had sparklers. Fireworks of most classes are legal here, if you’re over 18, as is walking down the street with a beer in your hand. Sounds like it could get ugly, but since most of the people here are British, they behave themselves. Curfew on fireworks is from 11p to 8am, and I heard some going off until around 11:10 but it got quiet as a grave.
Despite Bonfire Night, we got tickets for a farce, “The Monkey’s Uncle” at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. It was an odd duck, to me. The first two acts were sort of a parody of an Edwardian era French farce, complete with ‘Georges’, ‘Benoir’, ‘Yvette’, and people dropping trousers right and left, ladies in corsets and drawers, then the last act switched to the present day and was sort of a melodrama, with references to the construction of a French farce, but with the best laugh (for me) of the whole night. Interesting.
Sunday, November 6 - Orchestra rehearsal today, all afternoon. We haven’t rehearsed for three weeks and I have been practicing.
Monday, November 7 - John and I went to the Royal Academy of Music (photo) today (we were there from 10am to 4pm) to measure the Viotti Strad, a recent acquisition (photo). The “Maurin” Strad is also there and John suggested that I bring my violin parts so that I can compare them to the original. Unfortunately, the Maurin was out being played so I didn’t get to see it, but the Viotti is an absolutely stunner of a Strad, one of the best three Strad violins in the world for condition. We spent a long time measuring and drawing and looking at it. I used my 10 power loupe to gaze deep into the varnish and it is spectacular, sort of three-D with many, many colors and so much depth. Wow! There’s a lot of other stuff to see, too. The collection includes ten Strads, including two of the twelve violas that he made, and the table of the ‘Kux/Castelbarco’ is better preserved even than the Viotti. There were Brothers Amatis, a couple of Nicolos, a Hieronymus II, Joseph filius Andrea Guarneri cello, Omobono Strad, a couple of Vuillaumes, including a cello, a Dilworth viola, and a killer Guadagnini viola.
After we got back I finished the graduations on my back.
Friday October 28 - On the way to work today I took a picture of a palm tree in a front garden (photo). It still seems odd to me to see such things as Fuchsias as big as bushes and English Ivy all over everything. I worked all day on my graduations. I had drilled the pilot holes yesterday and started gouging out all the excess today (three photos). The top got down to about 4 or 4+ mm thick so I laid out the f-holes (photo). This has to be done early on because the arch is reshaped a little bit around the f-holes from the outside. If the inside is scooped out all the way, the wood gets too thin in places. The rest of the day I spent on graduating the back (maple) which is much harder than the top. I got the center of the back down to 4.7mm which is generous. The upper and lower parts of the back are still quite a bit (2-3mm) over thick but I will have to finish it on Monday. I am a bit behind schedule on it so will be working a little less on the repairs.
Saturday October 29 - A quiet morning, as I have a bit of a cold. Rosie and I took the 3pm train from St. Margaret’s station into Waterloo Station and walked along the South Embankment, taking in the touristy sights. The London Eye is a huge Ferris wheel actually over the Thames that turns very slowly all day and all night. (two photos). In the one picture, Big Ben is just visible at the lower left of the Eye. The other shows Big Ben and the Victoria Tower on the houses of Parliament, with just a bit of the Eye on the left.
I took two pictures of St. Paul’s Cathedral because it is so beautiful. In one there is a red double decker bus crossing the bridge; in the other you can also see an odd building called “The Gherkin (pickle)” because of its shape. I think it’s an office building. Walking along the Embankment we also saw some performance artists (two photos-zebra man and yellow man) who strike poses and stand very still for long periods. People do this in Red Wing sometimes but other people hardly ever put money in their hats for it.
We visited the Tate Modern art museum and saw three Picassos (and much more) and this construction by an artist named Rachel Whiteread (photo) that’s making a huge splash on the art scene. I liked it better than I thought I would, I felt like I was very tiny and standing in some spilled sugar, or else in Antarctica with ice towers all around.
After some pizza for supper we went to the Old Vic Theatre (photo) for a performance of Richard II, so I got some Shakespeare under my belt. Kevin Spacey (yes, an American) starred as Richard, he is the director of the Old Vic company right now. It was over three hours but really interesting. I’m glad I did a little reading up before I went, or it would have gone completely over my head.
Theatres are different here; there were three (count ‘em, three) bars in the theatre (selling wine, beer and mixed drinks as well as juices) but only 5 stalls in the Ladie’s Loo, go figure. The Old Vic seats about 700. They also sold little tiny cartons (with a tiny spoon inside) of Haagen Dazs ice cream inside the theater itself during intermission, but there were no wastebaskets anywhere. Our tickets were 35 pounds each, yes, Virginia, that’s about 70 dollars, and the program was another four pounds. With transportation and the pizza, I spent about $110 for an evening out.
Sunday October 30 - We visited Hampton Court (photo), built by Cardinal Wolsey and taken over by Henry VIII because it was too fancy for a Cardinal, in the King’s opinion, and the King’s opinion counts! It’s not so much a palace as a not-too-small town, with many courtyards (photo) and alley-like openings between parts of the building. We saw the state rooms, the Tudor kitchens (circa 1530), the rooms added for William and Mary (c. 1690), and rooms built for George II (circa 1740?) The gardens here are huge and fantastic, with a very famous hedge maze, three or four large formal gardens with topiary and fountains, large allee’s with distant views, and a grapevine planted by “Capability” Brown in 1748 which still produces about 250 Kilograms of grapes each year!
Monday, October 31 - Went into town to Sotheby’s again today to see three instruments. It was a mad house because the big fall sale starts tomorrow. John did a condition report on a Ceruti violin, a late Scarampella violin (with a Balestrieri label), and a Pressenda cello. A typical Ceruti in good condition with a certificate has an insurance value of around 100 thousand pounds. Back in the shop, I worked on the upper and lower parts of the back graduations.
Tuesday, November 1 - Put the fluting on the wings with a gouge. This is way earlier than I’m used to doing this step. Worked all the rest of the day on the back graduations again.
The Elastic Band rehearsed tonight, we’re playing for Remembrance Day (like Veteran’s day) on Sunday, outside, I hope it’s warm and dry! We’ll play some hymns, the National Anthem (God Save the Queen), and Elgar’s Elegy for the wreath laying ceremony.
Wednesday, November 2 - Took the top down to 3.0mm then 2.7mm, then 2.5 in the upper and lower lobes. I sawed out the f-holes by hand with a fret saw (photo). Fitted the new upper block to the Irish violin and glued it in (photo), with the ribs glued to the new block as well. The new block is finished except that it is a little over tall to allow for fitting the table to it. Once the table is back on, we’ll reset the neck, put in a new sound post and fit a new bridge.
Thursday, November 3 - Today I cut the f holes in the table, using the templates from the “Maurin” Strad (photo), it took me most of the day. I also planed down the new upper block in the Irish violin, fitted it to the table, and glued the table back on (photo). Quite a bit done for one day! (back to top)
Wednesday, October 26 - Through the good offices of John Dilworth and Mr. John Milnes it has been arranged for me to visit the Ashmolean Museum (photo) in Oxford (via train, subway, and bus), and three of the instruments of the Hill Collection were brought out for me to examine. They were the “Alard” Nicolo Amati (the most beautiful scroll in the world), a beautiful Gasparo da Salo viola (17 ½ inches!), and a small viol by Giovanni Maria of Brescia, made in Venice.
I put on white cotton gloves and was allowed to handle the instruments and look at them as long as I wished. The Alard used to belong to Vuillaume, then his son-in-law Delfin Alard, then the Hills, and it has its original neck. It’s gorgeous! The Da Salo has its original neck, fingerboard, tailpiece, pegbox and scroll, though the peg box has been cheeked. For something that dates to the late 16 th century it’s in surprisingly good shape, and with its size and commanding style a very impressive piece. The little viol dates to 1500-1525 and is in a guitar shape with no overhang.
The back is flat, the top is gently arched, and it has purfling like a violin all around the edges. I took several pages of notes and drooled until I got a headache. So I ate lunch, including “College Cake,” lemony deliciousness, for dessert. Then I visited the Hill Collection room, which was missing the three instruments that had been taken out for me, but had many other treasures.
They have the “Messie” Strad, the Cipriani Potter Strad (decorated ½ size), two Andrea Amatis from the Charles IX group, three brothers Amatis, including a viol/cello instrument, another da Salo, and many more. Technical drawings are available from www.Ashmol.ox.ac.uk.
When I got too tired to absorb any more from the instruments I walked around Oxford and climbed the St. Michael at the North Gate tower for a view (photo). This tower dates from around 1040 and is Saxon and the oldest building in Oxford. The tower contains some ancient silver, church records dating back to 1409, and the door to the cell (photo) in which Archbishop Cramner and two others were held prior to being burned at the stake. Queen Mary (Elizabeth I’s older sister, daughter of Katherine of Aragon and Catholic) wanted them to abjure Protestantism and they wouldn’t. That’s conviction! The church to which it is attached has stained glass dating to 1290! I also saw this old Inn, the Ship (photo) which is much, much younger, yet still older than our country by a couple of centuries.
Thursday, October 27 - I took tracings of my violin archings and started hollowing out the inside of the table (photo). Also took a photo of the bumper on the Irish violin. Today was a beautiful, warm (70 degrees) day, sunny and dry so I went for a walk at lunch time across the Thames to a little café. (back to top)
Saturday, October 22 - Today I went for an extremely long walk, through three different boroughs. It would have been shorter except that I saw a sign to “All Soul’s Church” and decided to take a look. It turned out to be a rather grim brick Victorian structure, not too interesting. But there was a little bridge over a little river and only an hour later I found my way home again. I saw a large rose still in bloom (photo) at the end of Bridge Road, my lodging street . I took a picture of the outside (photo) and of my little room (photo). This evening my lodging family and I went to the new Wallace and Gromet picture; very funny and quite charming. Then we went out for pizza, it’s not Italy but the pizza here is very good
.Sunday, October 23 - I wanted to go to Horace Walpole’s house, Strawberry Hill, but that didn’t work out so my host dropped me off at Syon House, seat of the Duke of Northumberland. It’s not his only London house, but it’s a doozy (photo).
The interior is considered to be Robert Adam’s masterpiece, and it’s beautifully decorated with molded plaster ornamentation in a style inspired by Ancient Greece. The front hall alone has eight or nine larger-than-life marbles plus one bronze, “The Dying Gaul”, the original of which is in Rome. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the house so you’ll have to use your imagination. A great house like this one has public rooms, which are used for entertaining and impressing people (including royalty) and private rooms, which is where the people actually live. There was a Tudor manor house on the site, which is where King Henry VIII’s coffin spent the night on its way to the burial site. Gruesomely, the body burst during the night and in the morning dogs were found licking the floor, thus fulfilling a prophecy.
Photography is allowed in the grounds, fortunately, so this is what the Duke’s back yard looks like, including his private conservatory, private geese, and private lake (three photos). They don’t use the term “handicapped” here, but the “disabled toilet” did not sound that attractive to me (photo). Poor thing probably can’t walk.
Monday, October 24 - I fitted and glued a “bumper” onto the neck foot of the Irish violin, and worked on my corners some more. Today is Tony’s (host) birthday so there was a huge party with lots of English people and two Americans, food and drink. Fun, but a very late night.
Tuesday, October 25 - I cut down and trimmed the “bumper” and made a new upper block for the Irish violin and started fitting it. I started the fingerboard for my violin, got it fitted to the neck, ends cut to length and square, and the top shaping begun. Big day tomorrow! (back to top)
Tuesday, October 18 - Stayed home today, caught the Daily Show on TV, what a breath of HOME!
Wednesday, October 19 - Ditto, except no Daily Show
Thursday, October 20 - Went in to work today, though I wasn’t feeling 100 percent. There was a new violin in, not very high quality, that needed some work. I took the top off and cleaned it up. I glued a few splinters back into place on the top and cut away the upper block (two photos). Since the neck of this violin has come down, the strings are too far off the fingerboard and it’s very uncomfortable to play. With the upper block gone, the neck came away from the ribs and button quite easily. I will glue a “bumper” onto the back of the neck foot, fit the new upper block (a little bit bigger than the old one) into the ribs, and then reset the neck.
I was able to get a candid portrait of Truffles, Peanut’s sister (photo) while she was looking at something in the garden.
Friday, October 21 - Another red letter day! John needed to go to the Strad magazine offices to proof some of the data and pictures for the poster so we took the mainline train to the underground. The office is right in the heart of the City of London, that small area within the original walls, close to St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Strad currently shares premises with Boxing Illustrated magazine (!) The article under construction is about a beautiful Montagnana cello. The technical drawings all needed to be checked and all of the numbers gone through again to check for errors. We did find a couple, but mostly everything was good. The photos of the instrument were there, along with early proofs to check the color of the printing. The color on the main poster looked good for the top but the back, ribs, and scroll shots were a little bit off. It’ll be fun to see the poster come out in whatever issue it will be, I don’t even know.
Next, we took the underground to the South Kensington station (very posh bit of town, this) to visit Christie’s auction houses (photo) This is very near the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and the Science Museum. Good part of town to know! At Christie’s we enjoyed a round of quality over quantity, with just two instruments to cover, both cellos. The first was a Santo Serafin, and John knows of only three other Serafin cellos, though the violins are fairly common (as old Italians go). It had beautiful flamed wood in the back and ribs and an absolutely stunning scroll, lovely, graceful, strong and beautifully carved. It had quite a lot of original varnish on it (polished over, unfortunately) and a bit of worm damage. Because it is so scarce, there’s a real question of how much it might bring at auction.
The second was a Carlo Giuseppe Testore cello, considered an absolutely primo example of this maker’s work, and he’s the best of the Testores. Dated 1691 (or 97), it was generously covered in dark orangey red varnish. I didn’t know the Testores used anything like that, at first glance it looked Venetian to me, it had crackle and everything. The scroll had the typical “flower pot” look to the volute, and the work was quite professional. The back might not have been purfled originally, but it’s purfled now. It’s condition was quite good, with a small amount of worm damage, and a few cracks. Quite few considering it’s 400 years old! (back to top)Friday, October 14 - Today we went to Sotheby’s, an auction house that sells many nice instruments. There were three that John needed to look at and confirm identities and check for condition issues before they are sold. I took notes and got to hold and examine the instruments myself as well. They were a Joannes Cuypers of Amsterdam, a Guadagnini shop violin from Turin 1840-50, a probable Deconet of Venice, a composite violin with a Goffriller back and everything else not original, a modern Italian violin, a Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi cello from Milan, and an English cello with a Venetian label and a reworked German commercial scroll. The Cuypers had unusual f-holes so the head of Sotheby’s musical instrument department got out another they had on hand so they could be compared side by side. OK! It’s unfortunate that I didn’t get to take any pictures but I didn’t really have time. Anyway, they’re all in the Sotheby’s catalog.
While there, we also saw a Stainer viola da gamba, two Stradivaris, and a Carlo Bergonzi. Wowee wowee! The best day I’ve had so far, really fun!
Saturday, October 15 - This was an at home practicing violin music and doing laundry day. In the evening, my adopted family went out to a restaurant to celebrate a birthday. They had very good French style food, so we ordered Snails for appetizer, both red and white wines, and haricots verts and garlic/rosemary roasted potatoes. For my main dish I ordered the confit of duck, with peas French style. Very good, almost as good as the confit I had in France. Then, petit pot de Chocolate and espresso to finish. Really good! It was expensive but worth it, about $80 just for me. Can’t do that every week but I’m really glad I did it once!
Sunday, October 16 - Rosie and I walked Riff-Raff (photo) through the park on our way to pick up Mike and saw a huge field just full of footballers (photo), or soccer players as we would say. No matter your age, gender or skill level, you’ll be able to find a football club to play with here. Mike had a theater rehearsal in the Fox (photo), a public house on Church Street in Twickenham. There has been a pub on this spot since at least 1635 and the floor of the pub is two steps below the current level of the street because of years of repaving.
We left at 1:15 for a rehearsal in central London (we passed Madame Tussaud’s on the way) for the Westminster Philharmonia, an amateur orchestra that I’ve been invited to. We’re playing Walton’s 1 st Symphony, which I don’t know and is really hard, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff, and the William Tell Overture by Rossini. By the end of the rehearsal I was very achy and having chills.
Monday, October 17 - I seem to have a virus. John is sick too so no work today. (back to top)
Monday, October 10 - Spent almost all day on my arches, they are nearly finished. An old Italian violin was dropped off to have some gluing done, so I went over it and wrote some notes. It’s a Landolfi and has a couple of open bouts.
Tuesday, October 11 - Again, arching almost all day, started scraping in the middle of the afternoon to better visualize the shape, a little more planing and I think I’m just about there. In the afternoon, I glued up the Landolfi. He will pick it up tomorrow.
Since the Parent’s band (actual name is the Elastic Band, because it varies quite a lot how many instruments of which kinds will actually be at a rehearsal) meets tonight, I did a little work on the instrument John is lending me to play on. It is a George Hart of London, 1887. I tried to adjust the sound post but it was too long so I shortened it and moved it and the violin sounds much better. At the rehearsal I read off of the flute part because the band is having a crisis in the management department and the violin music wasn’t there. The flute players, and everyone in the band, are extremely nice and friendly. It is an Elastic Band.
Wednesday, October 12 - I cleaned up the Landolfi after gluing and it’s ready to go. It seems a very distinctive violin to me so I’m trying to memorize all of its features and wrote a set of notes (5 photos). Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi is the maker and the father of the family; he has a fairly rough style so it’s more distinctive. Also, today, I finished my archings, all but a little bit of final scraping. (2 photos) It has taken me longer than I expected but it’s the nicest and most Strad-like arch I’ve ever done. Hooray! Weatherwise, it started to rain in a polite British fashion in the morning and kept up pretty much all day and evening.
Thursday, October 13 - It’s still raining, still politely, but pretty darn damp. I’m told that this is much more typical of the autumn than the nice sunny days we’ve been having. I actually thought it was pretty damp before! I do hope it stops sometime before I leave.
I did some more scraping on the plates and worked more on the corners, still a bit more to go on both. Mostly, I carved the volutes on my scroll (2 photos), using the plaster cast of the Maurin Strad as a pattern. Again, John does things differently but fortunately I hadn’t gone too far so I was able to get back on track.
A customer brought in a nice Goffriller violin that I got to look at; two piece bird’s eye maple back (I thought only Serafins had those) with deeply carved channels, especially at the corners. (back to top)
Thursday, October 6 - I stopped at the greengrocer (a store that sells produce and flowers only, but all fresh) to buy some vegetables. This type of store is dying out, replaced by versions of American style supermarkets, so I’m doing my bit to help them out. Good Brussel’s sprouts! Once at the Dilworth workshop, at the crack of 10, I make a pot of tea and get to work. Today I finished the nut for the Sorsana violin, and then a customer came with her viola. She’s a very busy professional musician and plays a Dilworth, based on a Bellosio viola from Venice. After she left, I glued up some loose corners and worked on my top arch before lunch. After lunch, the Sorsana fingerboard got nearly finished and I worked on my corners and arches some more, a gradual process!
Friday, October 7 - More arching, they’re getting closer and closer. I’m using a pin template to check the shape and compare it to a cast of the original Strad. I finally finished off the last steps on the Sorsana fingerboard to John’s satisfaction and my great relief. A new fingerboard is a big, tricky job and one of my least favorite things. In the afternoon I observed John making a new bridge for the Sorsana, Beare style. He worked there for around 12 years and has lots of experience with nice old instruments. After the bridge was on, we played the violin a little and it sounds very good. Then I remeasured the channel on my violin so that I know where I am. More arching! I took photos of the Andrea Amati table (two photos) that John is restoring, plus Peanuts the cat came into the shop and helped out (three photos)
Saturday, October 8 - This is a no work, stay out of the way day for me. I did laundry (yes, the washers and dryers here are very different) and walked to Kew Gardens, which took nearly an hour. The most famous building here is the Palm House, which is hot and humid inside and has an ebony tree growing inside (photo). I also went into the Temperate house, the Waterlily House and the Minka, which is an old-style Japanese peasant house with a thatched roof. Mostly I just walked around looking at all the trees and other sights, including redwoods, Lawson’s cypress, and eucalyptus (5 photos of trees). The pagoda (photo) is the emblem of Kew Garden and there are swaths cut through the trees to provide long distance views of it. Tucked away in a corner is Queen Charlotte’s cottage, which she had built so her family could enjoy picnics there (photo). It is in a pseudo rustic mock antique style which was very popular at the end of the 18th century. Which makes it a real antique for me! Then I walked another hour to get home to rest. That evening I went to concert in Aldershot (which is a military town) in which my hostess was singing and got to listen to the Rutter Requiem, Tavener’s The Lamb, Pange Lingua by Zoltan Kodaly, Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Faure, another Rutter piece and some really lovely flute/harp duets. Then to a forest pub (called The Foresters’, oddly enough) for a quick one and then home, big day!
Sunday, October 9 - Did some more laundry and hung it outside, as it was a beautiful sunny day (a little unusual for this time of year). Rosie (my hostess), Mike (her son) and I walked around York House (seat of power for Twickenham), saw a beautiful fountain (photo) and had a traditional ‘roast’ lunch (choice of roast chicken, roast turkey, roast beef or roast lamb, served with veg, delicious chips, and beer or scrumpie (hard apple cider). This was at a beautiful pub by the Thames called the White Swan (photo). Then I walked home through the park and baked brownies with Mike. Big hit! We played some duets and then some trios and I practiced a little on my own. Next Sunday I’m supposed to go to an orchestra rehearsal and I want to be prepared. (back to top)
Sunday, October 2 - Day of rest. I played tennis with Mike (aged 9) at Moormead Park in the afternoon, and Mike, my hostess Rosie and I went up to Richmond Park again in the late afternoon. On the way up we passed Mick Jagger’s house and the house where Pete Townsend used to live. Elvis Costello is also a local, along with Peter Green the founder of Fleetwood Mac and Ronnie Lane of the Faces. I’m told that if I hang out at a certain newsstand long enough I’m sure to run into one or the other of these guys.
Monday, October 3 - I finished the sides of the new fingerboard for the Sorsana and scooped out the underside. When making a replacement fingerboard great care must be taken so that the new one fits the old neck without any damage to it. Even one careless swipe on the neck and the whole thing must be reworked. John showed me how he glues on the fingerboard and we set it aside to dry. The rest of the day I worked on the top arch of my violin and then removed the table of the Sgarbi violin. Inside we found a bread ration card from 1918. It seems to be glued down to one lining and just fits inside the height of the rib. Why it is there is an unanswered question. The Sgarbis were father and son and the son died in 1905 so it probably wasn’t them. The table had to be off in order to install it.
Tuesday, October 4 - Most of the workday was spent on the new fingerboard for the Sorsana violin, now that it’s glued on the planning of the top surface is done. There was about a millimeter of ebony that I had to plane down. At noon we went out to a restaurant by the Thames and ate our lunches outside under the giant sycamore trees. Then John showed me around Richmond-upon-Thames, including the all-important chocolate shop and an old church where I found an interesting tombstone (photo)
Then it was back to work. By the end of the day the only things left to do on the fingerboard were the final finishing steps. John does a fingerboard quite differently from what I was taught so it’s taking a bit longer than I expected.
Tuesday is Parent’s Band night so we went down to the Turk’s Head pub at 7:30 and played big band tunes (and the Way We Were!) until 10, when most people adjourned to the bar and had a quick one.
Wednesday, October 5 - I put cellophane tape carefully on the neck of the Sorsana to protect it while trimming the sides still closer. Next I started the nut and when it was nearly finished glued it on. John has been working on the restoration of the table of the Andrea Amati that I took to Cremona. Many cracks, a couple of patches, pressing the arch in a plaster cast plus complete new edges all the way around! A huge job and a long way to go, plus he’s making a cello for a client, repairing one of his violas, and at least three other major jobs that I know about.
I did a little work on the corners of my violin and I left for the day. Because I hadn’t done it yet, I stopped at the “chippie” and bought some plaice (like sole) and chips (like french fries) for me dinner. Pretty tasty but definitely a guilty pleasure with all the grease and salt!
Thursday - I crept quietly down the stairs and out of the house at 6:15am and left for Heathrow airport. My flight left at 7:50am and arrived in Milan at10:30 local time (an hour later). I stood in the passport control line for around 40 minutes, which seems to be the minimum time for that anytime I pass through an airport. I was met by a young man holding a sign with my name on it. He was Marco Bodini, son of the president of the Entente Triennale, which is putting on the exhibition. He drove me all the way to Cremona, which was about a two hour drive even in the fast lane. We went as fast as 150km (and some people were passing us!) and arrived at the museum safely, where I was very happy and relieved to hand over the Andrea Amati violin that I brought from London. That evening we instrument carriers and part of the Exhibition committee had a lovely dinner featuring Cremona specialities in a local restaurant. We started eating around 10:15 and finished around 11:45.
Friday - Today the customs official had to view all the instruments and process the paperwork. Later in the afternoon we moved the instruments from the vault into the exhibition room to mount them in the cases. The official opening of the Andrea Amati 500 th Anniversary exhibition (speeches by politicians and photos by journalists) was at 5:40pm and the gala banquet in an old palazzo started around 8:30ish. There was wine in quantity and hors d’oeurvres, including fried pumpkin blossoms (I think) and little spicy balls of something. Then we went upstairs to the banquet hall, with 20 foot ceilings and carved statues holding up the ceiling. First course was pumpkin mousse with cheese sauce and pomegranate seeds. Second course was cold prosciutto (ham) and smoked salami with an artichoke and little fried bread pillows. Third course was wild mushroom risotto. Fourth course (to which I was completely indifferent by this time) was boiled ox cheeks and pork sausage, accompanied by the famous Cremonese mostarda and a parsley sauce. DESSERT! was a delicious saffron cake with blueberry filling, surprisingly completely eaten by me. Lashings of wine were also consumed. We finished up around 12:30 and walked back to the hotel.
Saturday - The exhibition opened to the public this morning at 9am and I met a friend there at 9:30. Among the fabulous items in the exhibit are five Andrea Amati instruments (there are only about 20 known in all the world), including the “King” cello and the viola from Vermillion, the Tully house museum violin made for Charles IX (photo), the Charles IX violin that belongs to the City of Cremona, and the one I brought. Incredibly, the exhibit also included St. Catharine’s violetta and bow. She is depicted in paintings with this instrument and it was interred with her when she died, in 1463!!!! It is the oldest known existing Western stringed instrument of any kind and was brought out of her tomb to be displayed in Cremona. (photo) The death record book for 1577 which includes the record for Andrea Amati was also there (photo)
Marco returned me to the airport in Milan and I came back “home” via London Taxi around 9:30. Tomorrow will be a day of rest. (back to top)
Saturday, September 24 - I worked on the computer for a couple of hours, then went out by myself exploring. I walked a long way along the Thames on a tow path until I reached Ham House, built in 1620 by a friend of King Charles I. This house had thermal (double pane) windows as early as the 1670’s!! Also the first private purpose built library in the country and the first purpose built bathroom (it was for the duchess and was in the basement).
Sunday, September 25 - In the afternoon my hostess drove me up to Richmond park, where the descendants of King Henry VIII’s deer still live today. It is a huge park with lakes, trees, meadows, swans, miles of paths and much more. It’s beautiful. Later that night, we watched the telly because my hostess (an actress) was in a show that was being aired. Wow!
Monday, September 26 - I worked on my violin corners, gluing wood on because I cut them too short. Eight corners need to be fitted, glued on and then reworked, but they’ll look much better. Also I finished cleaning up the Andrea Amati that I’m taking to Cremona tomorrow morning. It’s a beautiful old instrument that was unknown until someone bought it at an auction and then found out what it was. Another big project is an Urqhart violin from 1621 that is a mess. We’re going to do a plaster cast of it so I spot glued it down to a flat board for support.
Tuesday, September 27 - I started trimming down the new corners on my top and glued on the new corners to the back. I wrote up a work list for a Sgarbi violin; I don’t know much about this maker or the violin yet, except that the value is surprisingly high. I borrowed this violin (with the Boss’s permission) to play in a parent's band tonight. We met at the Turk’s Head pub. Some of the band members have clip-on drink holders attached to their music stands--this is my kind of band! We played Moonlight Serenade, Pennsylvania 6-5000, Georgia on my Mind, Live and Let Die and other classics. The Porter at the Turk’s Head is excellent.
Wednesday, September 28 - I worked on carving my scroll. It’s still not done, but it’s looking a lot more Strad–like. The original is near here so we will probably go visit it some time. I did a work estimate and workmanship record on a Spiritus Sorsana violin from 1726. Then I took the nut and fingerboard off and started on the new fingerboard. This violin came all the way from Dublin just to be worked on. I don’t know if I will be finishing the fingerboard, because there is a time limit on it, and I leave tomorrow morning to take the Amati to Cremona, Italy for an exhibition. (back to top)
Saturday, September 24 - I worked on the computer for a couple of hours, then went out by myself exploring. I walked a long way along the Thames on a tow path until I reached Ham House, built in 1620 by a friend of King Charles I. This house had thermal (double pane) windows as early as the 1670’s!! Also the first private purpose built library in the country and the first purpose built bathroom (it was for the duchess and was in the basement).
Sunday, September 25 - In the afternoon my hostess drove me up to Richmond park, where the descendants of King Henry VIII’s deer still live today. It is a huge park with lakes, trees, meadows, swans, miles of paths and much more. It’s beautiful. Later that night, we watched the telly because my hostess (an actress) was in a show that was being aired. Wow!
Monday, September 26 - I worked on my violin corners, gluing wood on because I cut them too short. Eight corners need to be fitted, glued on and then reworked, but they’ll look much better. Also I finished cleaning up the Andrea Amati that I’m taking to Cremona tomorrow morning. It’s a beautiful old instrument that was unknown until someone bought it at an auction and then found out what it was. Another big project is an Urqhart violin from 1621 that is a mess. We’re going to do a plaster cast of it so I spot glued it down to a flat board for support.
Tuesday, September 27 - I started trimming down the new corners on my top and glued on the new corners to the back. I wrote up a work list for a Sgarbi violin; I don't know much about this maker or the violin yet, except that the value is surprisingly high. I borrowed this violin (with the Boss's permission) to play in a parent's band tonight. We met at the Turk’s Head pub. Some of the band members have clip-on drink holders attached to their music stands--this is my kind of band! We played Moonlight Serenade, Pennsylvania 6-5000, Georgia on my Mind, Live and Let Die and other classics. The Porter at the Turk’s Head is excellent.
Wednesday, September 28 - I worked on carving my scroll. It’s still not done, but it’s looking a lot more Strad–like. The original is near here so we will probably go visit it some time. I did a work estimate and workmanship record on a Spiritus Sorsana violin from 1726. Then I took the nut and fingerboard off and started on the new fingerboard. This violin came all the way from Dublin just to be worked on. I don’t know if I will be finishing the fingerboard, because there is a time limit on it, and I leave tomorrow morning to take the Amati to Cremona, Italy for an exhibition. (back to top)
After several lengthy delays, some luggage troubles and communications difficulties, I arrived safely in London on Thursday afternoon, only six hours behind schedule.
Friday morning I walked from the Timpsons, where I’m staying, to the shop to get to work. I spent part of the morning and all of the afternoon cleaning glue off the ribs of an Andrea Amati violin, one of around 20 instruments by this maker that survive. Andrea died in 1577 so it was a real honor to work on one of his violins. I also did a little work on my violin, starting the recurve over the purfling.
We had lunch at Thai on the Thames restaurant. We had Golden Treasure (mixed appetizers) and Green chicken curry (pretty spicy for a Minnesotan!) I’ve had more tea the last two days than in the previous month, plus I turned down several offers for more.
Today is Saturday and a beautiful sunny, cool day. I took a little extra turn on my walk this morning and got a little confused, but managed to find the shop again. I am planning to walk some more to get orientated to the general area. I haven’t seen the Thames yet except from the air so I anxious to get down there. There is a tow path that runs along the river for miles, and it should be very hard to get lost! (back to top)
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