It's been neck-down work this week as the new intake of second-years are inducted into the ways of the Rural Studio. This means we all work in big mixed-year groups on various projects, mostly helping with maintenance of existing Rural Studio buildings or doing work on some of the bigger in-progress projects that are currently on the go. So yesterday, I was cleaning the 'glass chapel' in Mason's Bend and today I was on the firestation in Newbern, helping the thesis team from last year complete this mammoth project. It's quite fun doing neck-down; as the name implies, it doesn't involve much thinking and you get quite a lot done. And in between, you get to lie about in the sun, eyeing up the men in a pleasing reversal of the usual roles.



Apart from that, I'm getting ready for my first gig as an old-time fiddler, next weekend at the Tannehill Opry. Practising hard, and tomorrow I've got to go shopping for a gig outfit...

It's exciting to play on stage again for the first time in years, but scary too, given the presence of a microphone. The natural loudness of a fiddle compared to the other instruments is bad enough when playing unamplified, but the idea that a whole venue will will be subjected to my miserable caterwauling is quite enough to terrify me into practising my scales.