It's Toy Box Time!

Discussing what my grandson Hunter might like for his 2nd birthday, Anke and my daughter settled on the idea of some kind of chest or toy box.  It sounded like a good idea but I have to admit was somewhat mortified when Anke volunteered the suggestion  "Would you like Opa to make one for you?"!

"I just don't have time!" I retorted rather defensively. After all, his birthday was less than 3 weeks away.

Well, "happy wife happy life" they say, and to her great credit, Anke's confidence in my abilities was far greater than my own.  A few hours later there I was in Bunnings staring at the rows of timber trying to imagine what a toy box might look like & how much timber I might need.  After much deliberation I left with 8 x 2.4 metre lengths of pine 190mm x 19mm  pine tucked under my arm still with no real idea where to start!

Suffice to say, with Anke's help using her new found skills on the palm router to make a name plate, we did it... with seconds to spare.  Actually that's not quite true.  At the time we had planned to arrive at the party, I was still screwing on the hinges so we actually arrived  1/2 an hour late.  But... we made it. I didn't even have time to take a photo of the finished product so you'll have to imagine it from this single photo I took of Hunter sitting in front of it with his Oma whispering how clever we both are over his shoulder!

Opa time...

Is it really that long since I posted something on my Blog?!  I can't believe it... I wasn't even a Grandpa then - a title I have to admit that still feels (or sounds?!) a bit strange I have to say. "Grandpa... ". It sounds so... well, old. But it is awesome.  Hunter is nearly 2 now and it's really cool that he recognizes us when he sees us and is even happy to be picked up for a cuddle.

Recently when his Mum & Dad both had to work they asked Opa (as I am called... it's German for Grandpa) if he would like to look after him for the morning... as you might expect, I didn't have to think about it for very long & so Hunter had his first visit to Opa's shop. Normally it's me telling parents that "they'll be fine... they can't hurt anything" but it's different when YOU are one looking after a 2 year old! 

Good to get them used to music early I say...

A fantastic Cycle Tour of North Thailand...

I'm reluctant to call our trip a "holiday of a lifetime" as that might suggest we wont ever have another holiday like it again... & we would definitely love to do it again but what a fantastic (if somewhat physically demanding!) time we had in Thailand!  There is almost nothing I would change... even getting (almost) scammed by a team of  well organised fake tourists & tuk-tuk drivers in Bangkok was so interesting... fortunately that only cost us a few hours but it was still an experience - I'd love to do it again & turn the tables on them somehow! (Note: beware of 'helpful' locals who say they've been to you home-town & give you advice on where to get a bargain... & how you can double your money if you buy some of their jewelery with the intention of reselling in Australia!).

The highlight was of course the cycling... I have come back with a renewed respect for the word "undulating" - we just don't have hills like that in Perth.  SO steep & SO long.... but of course you know what that means? Lots of Down Hills as well... exhilarating!

Every night we spent in a different town or village & we enjoyed a vast varierty of local foods selected for us by our (excellent!) Tour Guide "Mr T" from Spice Roads.  The organisation was fantastic & the accomodation, like the foord, was very varied & interesting & ranged from very basic bugalows on farms right through to a boutique resort in Chang Mai.... a wonderful holiday.

Lovely customers...

Yum!!  Don't these look fantastic?!  And I can tell... they tasted equally as good as they looked!  :-)  It's actually not all that unusual at Concept Music to have a customer drop off a bottle of wine or a 6 pack of beers after they've bought a new instrument just to say "Thank you!" and it's one of the things I really love about owning & working in the music industry... it's not like selling fridges or microwave ovens - people get SO excited when they buy a new instrument & I feel it's a real privilege to be involved in helping them choose their next guitar (or bass or saxophone or whatever).

Yesterday one of our customers dropped these incredible cakes off  just to say "Thankyou!" for helping them get their beautiful new Yamaha Custom Alto Saxophone. They won't do much for my waistline I have to say but I can assure you that any uncertainty as to whether I should eat them or not was very short lived & they definitely didn't get time to go stale!  It happens that the customer is also a small business owner and runs a patisserie in Nedlands called Martineaus and we can definitely vouch for the quality of their pastries!  Thank you Martinaus!

Along with a number of other Australian dealers, I was recently invited to take part in an all expenses paid  tour of Taylor Guitar factory in San Diego, USA.... an offer that only took me a few seconds to consider and accept! It was a bit of whirlwind trip which meant spending only 3 days in San Diego however that was long enough to see first hand and in great detail how they approach the art of guitar making and what an exact science they have turned it in to. Their passion for all things wood and their attention to every minute detail has resulted in them becoming one of the fastest growing guitar makers in the world and their output is astounding considering the price range of the guitars they make. The USA factory (I say "factory", but it is in fact a conglomerate of 5 adjacent buildings) produces around 260 guitars a day. The total annual production (including their Mexican factory which makes the One Series guitars as well as their range of "Baby" Taylor and GS Mini models) is a staggering 100,000 units per year... double that of 3 years ago! All the more impressive as that growth has been achieved in the middle of the biggest global financial crisis we've seen in many decades. Their consideration and understanding (and one might almost say affection!) of timbers and how they move and breathe seem to be critical to their success and greatly affects the way they approach the entire manufacturing process. With many "resting" periods in between manufacturing stages, Taylor aims to be 100% certain that every guitar that leaves their factory is as stable as possible and will never cause the final owner any issues... a goal it would seem to us they have well and truly achieved with flying colours. Since we started selling Taylor guitars again earlier this year we have not had one guitar come back in need any adjustment at all let alone a fault! Taylor guitars are different in so many ways to most of other barnds of guitar on the market today. A fantastic experience... thank you Taylor!

Go the Black & Green!

Well THAT was a much harder ride than either Anke or I anticipated!  Having corralled the troops at SPR (South Perth Roulers) to get a team of 8 intrepid warriors together for the 79kms Waroona Cyclo Sportiff ride last Sunday, I have to say that while I didn't think it would be easy...  I didn't think it would be that hard either. God my legs felt it the next day. It was a really good workout.

Anke & I regularly  do a "hills ride" of that distance with SPR pretty much every Sunday but of course, leaving from South Perth, we then have the benefit of a 20 to 25kms flat ride just to get to the hills... not so Waroona - less than 1 km down the road there was our first climb... & it seemed to never end.

All in all we had a good ride though it was definitely a case of "Follow me, I'm right behind you!" from my perspective! When I wasn't panting & gazing into the distance trying to see just how far ahead the rest of the team were, the scenery was beautiful and... we did it! One partial flat; one comfort stop & water bottle refill and just under 3 hours later... we were back at Waroona enjoying a roast beef dinner. Thanks especially to Cameron & Leah for their help dragging me up the worst of the hills... which, come to think of it, was pretty much all of them!

Welcome to Hunter... my grandchild!

Wow... it's so hard to imagine!  In fact I still don't believe it, but it is certainly a fact... I am a Grandpa! My daughter Kerry & her husband Tom had a little boy this morning (the "little" being figurative of course... he was 3.8 kilos!). His name is Hunter Allen McIntyre and (naturally) he is extremely cute & well natured.
 :-)

We bought him his "first" birthday cake (which of course is quite distinct from next year when he will get his first First Birthday cake!).  I guess I'd better  get down to the tackle shop & look at baby sized fishing rods!

Bicycle... bicylce... sounds like a title for a song?! Hang on. I thnk it is!

Well who would have thought?  A year ago I had ridden a bike only a handful of times since I left Primary School!  Then, finally giving in to that small nagging voice that kept telling me "You should be doing SOMETHING" to get fit, a friend of mine & I made a pact & started riding around Swan River 3 times a week... I still remember the first time we did it: when we finished I was so exhausted & was puffing so much that my friend Charly became very concerned for me and nervously asked "Are you OK?!"  I assured him I was... but I was lying!

Soon after that, Anke realised how imcompetent my cycling skills were & was secretly worried I was going to kill myself I think so she politely asked if I'd thought of doing a "cycling skills course" & even went looking for some for me. I felt silly doing booking in for cycling lessons (I mean, what is there to know? You jump on & start pedalling don't you?!) but we found a course run by Perth Integrerated Health (PIH) twice a week in Kings Park... & off I went. So now I was cycling 5 times a week! And I have to say, I learned HEAPS. The course was perfect... lessons on climbing, cornering, emergency stopping, looking behind, sprinting... all sorts. It was excellent.

So it wasn't long before I found myself buying lycra & becoming one of those bloody annoying types that "clack" into your favourite coffee place & destroy your peace & quiet in the mornings! But I was loving it... & it wasn't long before I realised that riding Anke's old hybrid wasn't going to cut it & I needed my very own piece of sexy coloured carbon fibre!  

So here we are year later... a 25kms ride around the river? Pfft! That's not a Ride! THIS is a ride! :-) 

Last weekend Anke & I completed the iconic "3 Dams Ride" together. It's a 146kms ride up in Hills which takes in Mundaring Weir, Canning Dam & Wungong Dams and returns to the start point in South Perth. As nervous as I was about even attempting it... we did great & completed it in 6 hours and 9 minutes.  And  having taken everyones advice to "take it easy at the start" we both felt strong at the end.

Now I can travel back to Switzerland every day!

Well... not quite!  But I was so impressed but the stunning & very cute window boxes on all the houses & chalets in Italy & Switzerland when we were there I thought "Maybe we can do that at home... on our shed?". 

Last year we had a new workshop built in our back-yard & we were keen from the outset that it didn't look like your typical back-yard "tin shed" deciding instead that we wanted it to look more like a cottage.  Consequently, instead of colourbond, we had it clad with flat 'blue board' panels & with a double glass door. Then we painted it with the same textured paint as the house so that it blended in really well. It did, but it still didn't quite look quite right to me. 

A possible solutuion occured to me when Anke & I were on holidays in Switzerland... fake shutters with planter boxes under them!  Would it work... or would it just look kitchy?!  You can be the judge. 

Not being prepared to pay a fortune for proper shutters, I managed to find 2 old louvre cupboard doors at a local junk yard... all that was required was to cut them in half & put new ends on them so they were 4 of them exactly the same size; paint them in blue to match the existing glass doors; mount them straight onto the wall and then hang some planter boxes planted with geraniums to complete the trompe l'oeil effect.  Voila!

Very happy with the end effect...  Anke reckons maybe we should turn into a guest house after all as it sure doesn't look like a shed now! Perhaps more like a Swiss Chalet in the Alps. Perfect.

To the Fatherland... and beyond!

We seem to have settled into a  (very nice) routine now of travelling back "home" to Germany once every 2 or 3 years and then having Ankes parents visiting us in the off year. This year was a summer visit and we were very lucky with the weather & even luckier to spend some of the time travelling with Ankes parents & nephew Tim to Switzerland as well Sudtirol in Northern Italy.  Ankes friends were extremely generous (as always) & even sprung a Surprice Wedding on us...  coming pre-prepared to a party organized by her parents with a wedding dress, flowers, flower girls & even a fake Priest so that we could get "married" a 2nd time but this time in Germany!

The Alps in Switzerland and Austraia/Italy were mind blowing & I felt quite inspired by the number of cyclists we saw riding the different Passes... I can't wait to go back! Would I go with my bike? Not sure!

On yer bike!

OK... so yes, it's true. I've become a MOMIL!  What's a MOMIL you ask? A Middle Aged Man in Lycra! Earlier this year I started riding around the river 3 times a week with my good friend Charlie and the next thing you know I'd enrolled in a Cycle Skills Course at Perth Integrated Health (thanks to Anke's diligence... using her esteemed research skills to find a good one for me... without me even asking!) which meant I found myself out there 5 & 6 times a week.  So now I've turned into one of those people I used to hate (used to? I think I still do!) when they came clacking in like a flock of seagulls with their noisy "click clack" & bulging lycra shorts intent on to destroying my peaceful morning coffee!  Of course I should have started years ago but now I'm into it & loving it (& trying to keep the momentum these cold, dark, winter mornings!) and even did the full 80kms Cyclo Sportiff ride in the Swan Valley with Anke last weekend... I reckon I should have got 96kms credit as the start line was 8km from the velodrome but hey, even 80 was an achievement - you couldn't have got me to do half of that this time last year! 

And of course, you have to LOOK the part as well so after getting started on Anke's old Trek Hybrid, then doing a few months on my neice Melissa's old Leggera Carbon.... after spending some time drooling over the "latest" Factor 10 Carbon options... with Shimano Ultegra (of course!) & out I went & bought myslef a beautiful new Specilaized Roubaix SL3 racing bike... and god she's nice! 

See you out on the road...

Hello to all our German freunds!!!

Wie getz?!  Hallo to all our German friends back in Naumburg und Germany.  Anke was very organised this year & even did a web page for all her friends so here it is....   click here!

Dinner with Tommy

One of the great things about being in the music industry (apart form being able to turn up to work everyday wearing jeans & T shirt!) is the great people you meet... Tommy Emmanuel & I have been friends for over 20 years & when he was in Perth last week we caught up over a fantastic Mex meal at That Little Mexcian Place where the service & food were both outstanding. It was very relaxed evening & it was great that Tim, Lauren & Anke could join us as well.

Hot & Humid in Darwin... but lovely.

Darwin can now officially be taken off my "List of places I have never been" after I went there last weekend.  Anke was working there for 2 weeks so, tempted by a very generous offer from some good friends working up there to stay with them for a few days, I flew up on Friday so we could spend the weekend there together & check it out. 

While I wasn't expecting it be quite so humid considering the time of year (it was still up to 95% some days!)  it was very nice.  I don't know what I was expecting (except probably not quite so many Back-Packers!) and apart from the humidity, which the locals say "you get used to after a few years" I could easily imagine myself relaxing into that T shirt & thongs lifestyle!  We spend one day in Lichfield National Park & swam in a few creeks & water holes which was awesome. Plenty of interesting things to see including giant magnetic termite mounds and a Bower Bird nest right next to one of the pathways... & then a stop off at a butterfly farm for a nice cold cocktial! Very relaxing...

Up Up & Away!

Not for any particular reason, but I have never done the Hot Air Balloon thing before... maybe it was the wondering the weather would be ok or the thought of the early morning drive to Northam (you have to be there by 5:00am!) but recently my kids gave Anke & me a voucher to go ballooning in Northam so there was no escape!  It was a stunningly beautiful morning & crisp but not too cold & it was a really great day. To avoid the early morning drive, we stayed in Northam overnight in a very nice BnB & had an even nicer meal in Northam at funky cafe/restuarant called "Mon Petit" that had apparently just opened the previous week... the food was fantastic. The balloon trip itself was only an hour & half but it seemed much longer & was a whole lo of fun! Thanks Kerry, Lauren & Tim! VERY generous of you... & much appreciated!  

My darling daughter's wedding!

Walking your daughter down the aisle has to be one of a father's greatest & proudest moments (even if the aisle in this case was a grassy embankment in Hyde Park!).  Yes, my darling first born daughter, Kerry, got married last Saturday... & doesn't she look sensational?!  It was a stunning day in very way (well, except for the the fact their B&B gave away their wedding suite !).  And of course, you can't have a wedding without a groom or son-in -law! Tom is a fantasic young man & we couldn't be happier for them both.  And that's my other (equally gorgeous!) daughter Lauren in the backround

Surprise!!!!

Anke's Mum & Dad came over from Germany again a few weeks ago & while they were here we used them as an excuse to invite thefamily & some friends over for BBQ & a "pig on a spit... & while many guests thought something was going on, many others were caught completely by surprise when we announced the arrival a 'special guest' which turned out to be a wedding celebrant!

The back yard looked beautiful & the weather was just perfect & it was a sensational afternoon... from Anke walking out to Abba song "Take a Chance on Me!" to the 2x3 metre backdrop of the "Dome" in Naumburg (prepared & sent over specially by some of Anke's friends in Germany!) to the playing of a recording of the unique Naumburg church bells after the ceremony it was a perfect day... we couldn't have asked for a better day! 

Phew.... what a long few months that was!

I haven't had time to even look at my personal blog for months!  But the Concept Music Renovations are now finished (at last!) & only just in time Christmas.  It's been such a big project & part of me is actually feeling a bit lost now it's finished... it has been my life 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for months now so hopefully now it's time to relax a bit... & reaquaint myself with some of our friends & family!  But I gotta say, the shop looks great.  The new Acoustic Guitar Room in particular I'm wrapped in, but I'm pretty happy with the look & feel of the whole shop really despite it running several months (& more than several $!) over budget.  Now we cross our fingers & hope that Santa makes 2009 a very musical Christmas this year!