Self improvement in these times

[DracoM]

Learning how to fight rampant ivy on a garden wall...phew!

[johnb]

One of the things I would like to do during this time is to work on my right hand. I used to play the classical guitar reasonably well for an amateur but these days my right hand is fairly crap, which is both frustrating and a touch heart breaking. (Long periods of not playing, accumulated bad habits and a hand operation haven't helped.)

So if I can gradually get back something of the right hand facility I once had that would be a win. (My left hand is fine.)

[Pulcinella]

looking forward to hearing how Qarky got on today. I suppose its a bit of a substitute for the footy results .

It does make me wonder what other activities ( not not those.....) could go on despite lockdown. Darts competitions would still be feasible. I think there is high level chess taking place .

One of our choir members posted a challenge he had had from a member of another local choir to learn the C sharp major prelude from Book 1 of JSB's WTC.
I took one look at it and nearly passed out at the seven sharps (and then some accidental double sharps!).
I can play the D flat major scale quite happily, but have real problems seeing a written E on the stave which (because of the key we're in) becomes an F!
Self improvement?
Self flagellation, more like.

[teamsaint]

Learning how to fight rampant ivy on a garden wall...phew!

Yep, time, tide and ivy.....

I killed all the ivy on one end of our place a year or so ago. Just been getting rid of the dead stuff which the weather hasn’t made a dent on.
My strategy: remove the largest pieces with claw hammer. Next layer ( smaller stuff) with wallpaper scraper. Last bits with one of those heavy duty wire brushes ( £5 at Aldi ). That has got rid of about 95% , but bloody hell it is obstinate stuff.

[MrGongGong]

Splitting a colony of bees into two colonies
and doing a few online gigs with them as we go

[johnb]

Yep, time, tide and ivy.....

I killed all the ivy on one end of our place a year or so ago. Just been getting rid of the dead stuff which the weather hasn’t made a dent on.
My strategy: remove the largest pieces with claw hammer. Next layer ( smaller stuff) with wallpaper scraper. Last bits with one of those heavy duty wire brushes ( £5 at Aldi ). That has got rid of about 95% , but bloody hell it is obstinate stuff.

Last autumn I tackled the ivy on my garden wall too. Most of it was fairly easy but I too used a wallpaper scraper, together with a pair of lopping shears for the thick stuff.

[Joseph K]

One of the things I would like to do during this time is to work on my right hand. I used to play the classical guitar reasonably well for an amateur but these days my right hand is fairly crap, which is both frustrating and a touch heart breaking. (Long periods of not playing, accumulated bad habits and a hand operation haven't helped.)

So if I can gradually get back something of the right hand facility I once had that would be a win. (My left hand is fine.)

I have been working on this except... in another direction! So to speak - I've been working quite diligently on my plectrum-picking skills.

Oddly enough, I've found some of the technical issues I encountered while working on my right-hand finger-picking have arisen while working now on my plectrum-picking - namely, that of the bouncing forearm. Of course, the idea is to stabilise the forearm so that all the movement comes from the fingers in the case of classical finger-picking or from the wrist in the case of plectrum-picking. Like many things, this takes time and patience is key...

Despite the progress I've made since switching (back) to using a plectrum and jazz last May, for a while, and this is still the case to some extent, it really pays to keep playing some things at the same tempi, making sure you gradually build good habits in how you do something rather than the speed at which you do it; I like to think of this as analogous to laying down a building's foundations - the foundations are not visible or at least not when the main parts of the building are constructed, but you would know if they weren't there! of course. So despite having made clear progress I still feel that I am 'laying down the foundations' of my right-hand plectrum technique...

The coronavirus situation hasn't changed much for me - other than the library where I volunteered has now shut. I am still at home practising 6+ hours' a day.

[ardcarp]

Last autumn I tackled the ivy on my garden wall too

Sad to hear this attack on ivy. Ivy is wonderful! Our garden is not tidy, and ivy has always been a feature on part of its 200 year old stone walls. It is a haven for wildlife of all sorts, and if allowed to grow right to the top of a wall it produces big flower-heads which all sorts of insects love. And of course birds just love nesting in it.

[cloughie]

Sad to hear this attack on ivy. Ivy is wonderful! Our garden is not tidy, and ivy has always been a feature on part of its 200 year old stone walls. It is a haven for wildlife of all sorts, and if allowed to grow right to the top of a wall it produces big flower-heads which all sorts of insects love. And of course birds just love nesting in it.

It can get out of hand, but as I have found it is very useful for holding fences up - I removed most of the fences at the front but one bit I retain with the ivy as the electricity earthwire is attached!

[Quarky]

looking forward to hearing how Qarky got on today. I suppose its a bit of a substitute for the footy results .

It does make me wonder what other activities ( not not those.....) could go on despite lockdown. Darts competitions would still be feasible. I think there is high level chess taking place .

OK teamsaint. The contest goes on through the night until 3 pm tomorrow, but I'm giving up for the evening now.

It's a bit of a lop-sided contest, because points can only be scored if contact is made with a polish station. This means the rest of Europe and N America are on the look out for polish stations, and whenever one pokes his head up, he is immediately bombarded with half a dozen first class hardened operators, who are up to all the tricks for getting through. I've been having a hard time, and only 15 contacts for somewhat less than two hours work.

Ah well, some of the tricks of the trade are brushing off on me. And like banging your head against a brick wall, it's lovely when you stop.

[teamsaint]

Sad to hear this attack on ivy. Ivy is wonderful! Our garden is not tidy, and ivy has always been a feature on part of its 200 year old stone walls. It is a haven for wildlife of all sorts, and if allowed to grow right to the top of a wall it produces big flower-heads which all sorts of insects love. And of course birds just love nesting in it.

Plenty of havens for wildlife, intentional and otherwise round our place. And the space cleared is going to be used for growing plants,fruit veg, etc.

Plus we still have plenty of other ivy round the place.

[oddoneout]

Sad to hear this attack on ivy. Ivy is wonderful! Our garden is not tidy, and ivy has always been a feature on part of its 200 year old stone walls. It is a haven for wildlife of all sorts, and if allowed to grow right to the top of a wall it produces big flower-heads which all sorts of insects love. And of course birds just love nesting in it.

A lot depends on what it is growing up or on. A combination of soft brick and lime mortar, found in my part of the world, is lovely for the ivy but gets seriously damaged by it growing into the joints and the brick, and it can be difficult to keep on top of it. Trees can suffer from being overwhelmed by rampant growth regardless of size, and the sail effect can cause a lot of damage. Not being able to make out what kind of tree one is looking at because of the ivy overgrowth is not something I find especially positive. From a wildlife point of view a mature healthy oak tree beats the amorphous blob of branches covered in ivy which too many have now become round here, and looks much better as well.

[teamsaint]

OK teamsaint. The contest goes on through the night until 3 pm tomorrow, but I'm giving up for the evening now.

It's a bit of a lop-sided contest, because points can only be scored if contact is made with a polish station. This means the rest of Europe and N America are on the look out for polish stations, and whenever one pokes his head up, he is immediately bombarded with half a dozen first class hardened operators, who are up to all the tricks for getting through. I've been having a hard time, and only 15 contacts for somewhat less than two hours work.

Ah well, some of the tricks of the trade are brushing off on me. And like banging your head against a brick wall, it's lovely when you stop.

Thanks for the update Quarky, and a glimpse into a world that I really know nothing about. It is always( well usually) interesting to venture into these new worlds.
It sounds fascinating in a strange way, and competitive in a way I had no idea about. Do tell more if you resume the competition tomorrow. 15 in 2 hours sounds very good to me !!

[teamsaint]

A lot depends on what it is growing up or on. A combination of soft brick and lime mortar, found in my part of the world, is lovely for the ivy but gets seriously damaged by it growing into the joints and the brick, and it can be difficult to keep on top of it. Trees can suffer from being overwhelmed by rampant growth regardless of size, and the sail effect can cause a lot of damage. Not being able to make out what kind of tree one is looking at because of the ivy overgrowth is not something I find especially positive. From a wildlife point of view a mature healthy oak tree beats the amorphous blob of branches covered in ivy which too many have now become round here, and looks much better as well.

Yep, we have a hawthorn that is being overrun with ivy, very much to its detriment. That ivy will have to come down , but that is a bigger job.

[Bryn]

Yep, we have a hawthorn that is being overrun with ivy, very much to its detriment. That ivy will have to come down , but that is a bigger job.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/groundcover/english-ivy/kill-english-ivy.htm

Got in fairly quick to deal with the newish ivy on my rescued hornbeam this afternoon.