Blogging Continues, Nontheless

I read somewhere, (The Guardian, probs, but can't find the link now), that personal blogging is about done with, that most of us have moved on in social networking terms.  Subjectively, that's probably about right - I used to post here almost daily. And now it's monthly. But it's coming up ten years now, and this does a job that FB and Twitter don't do.  Really, it's a place to note how things are getting along with stuff I'm interested in, but that will tend to make anyone else's eyes glaze over when I start talking about them: photography, gardening, the piano. 

Photography is SO noughties, now. I use the iPhone to get photos - and that means I'm just concentrating on the image, no longer on the process and the gear.  And all that gear, like the Nikon F, I was going to put it all on eBay, but it was all purchased and taken so much care of over a decade, it seems a pity to part with it for mere lucre. So I'm going to box it all up and Molly or someone else can get the benefit from it in the future.  Ten years ago, I would have been overjoyed to get a treasure chest of cameras and developing gear and film, and I hope someone gets some joy, some time.

Gardening is back on the agenda.  I hope to be finished with Saudi next Spring, insha-bloody-lah, by which time I'll be advanced enough on the Kennyhill Allotments waiting list to get at least a raised bed, maybe a quarter-plot, which will be just right to ease me back into gardening. Hoping to get a full plot with a shed and a greenhouse, the whole bit, in a couple of years. 

Meanwhile, the old Kemble is settling in and growing on me. It's sticky keys have stopped sticking, (apparently Molly and her wee pal give it a good bashing once a week, whilst I'm away, which might explain that - it just needs plenty of use). It might be ever so slightly out of tune, but nothing hurtful on the ear, and I'll get it tuned to concert pitch when I'm home full time.  

Yesterday I walked across George Sq. There are a couple of pianos there now, I don't know if it's just for the Commonwealth Games or if they're to be a permanent feature, (and what happens when it rains?)  There were some kids plink-plonking as I passed the first time, but on the way back an old man was playing some boogie woogie - he was clearly an amateur, but competent. Quite a crowd had gathered, and they cheered and clapped when he finished.  

I'm still learning the keys. For each one, I do hands an octave apart, up and down, different tempos. Then contrary motions, then arpeggios.  I've got this routine down pretty well in C, D and E major, and made a start on F and G. In the last week or so, I've added the 12 bar blues to this routine, so far only in C, (two hands, octave apart) - I've got a feeling this is very important, though I'm not quite sure why yet.