Nuts Doesn't Begin to Describe It!

What a day we've had here at The Bluegrass Shack! We had breakfast at the local Gary's Restaurant, and at 9:55 a.m. when we pulled into the parking lot, there were already people waiting for us! Please know that I am not complaining at all -- it was a fantastic day!

I was finally able to get some of the fiddles that I have been repairing finished and "out the door." It is not a fast process when there is glue work and finish work to do. The glue has to set 8-12 hours each time something is done, and the finish has to wait 3-7 days between lacquer coats for touch-ups. I generally work on 5-6 instruments at the same time.

Some of the people visiting us today included Dr. McCready & his daughter Gretchen from Hillsboro, MO. I haven't seen Gretchen since she was a litte baby. Gretchen is now in college. What a nice young lady she is! Her birthday was today and she was wearing one of the neatest shirts I've ever seen. It looked like a picture of a radio tower on it with waves coming out from it. It detects wireless signals and will light up some of the waves coming out from the tower depending upon how strong the wireless signal is. Anyway, Dr. McCready was picking up a fiddle that I repaired for him that was his father's. I really enjoyed talking with him because he was one of my former (and favorite) college professors.

It wasn't long before Carie came. Then Brian and Rebekah. Then Liz and her sister, Max, Matthew and his Dad. Max and his family came all the way from Springfield. Stan and Abby drove in from McLeansboro. John came by and so did another gentleman looking for some strings. I met a new woman today (too bad I can't remember her name). She will be coming back because her and her 10-year old son would like to learn banjo. Denny came by, saw how crowded it was, and left...

In the workshop, I also finished Bayle's fiddle. She has a really nice 3/4 German fiddle that was handmade. She had dropped it and I had to remove the top to repair two large saddle cracks.

I'm currently working on several other fiddles and a banjo. The banjo is an older "Prairie" banjo. It looks like the older Kay or Sears & Roebuck banjos. (I learned to play on one like it!) It has a larger size head than normal, and I am at a standstill with it until the new head comes in. Mike helped me out yesterday by cleaning all the parts. Its new owner found it in Grandma's attic -- and it looked like it had been there for a while!

Liz is trying out a new fiddle and bow. Brian also tried out some fiddles, but is waiting to hear the one he left us to repair. It belonged to his grandfather.

I really enjoyed my day! Lots of good folks, good coffee, good music, and fun! Dolce (my cat) is glad that everyone is gone because she is sitting on my lap as I type this. :o)