Varnishing

June hasn't been the nicest of months. Alberto has been waiting for the sun to come out so that he can varnish the latest violin. I wanted to get the laundry done.

Apparently, exposure to sunlight not only helps dry the varnish, but also makes it insoluble in turpentine, which also means that Alberto can subsequently polish the instrument to a high shine. Alberto--true to his instinctual nature--just says it makes it easier to varnish, makes the varnish go further in thinner coats.

Beat Beethoven

On June 7th my brother Stuart and I ran the 8km Beat Beethoven run while my pregnant sister-in-law walked the 4km and Alberto held coats and took pictures. The Kingston Symphony put on a free concert (Beethoven's 3rd Symphony) while runners and walkers followed the route. My brother generously kept me company for the first 3km before taking off to go at his own pace. Unfortunately I missed out on most of the concert, making it back with just seven minutes to spare.

I finished in 43.21 beating my own goal of 46 minutes. Over 700 people walked or ran raising oodles of money for the KSO. All in all it was a great time and I hope to do even better next year.








Runners line up at the start.

The symphony plays.

Sue (my sister-in-law) walks and claps.





After, at the pub.