The piano tuner came two weeks ago to tune our piano. It needed some very minor repair to the upper keys and we discussed the repair cost of all the hammers. Since they didn't have to be done all at once and the piano didn't have to leave the house it was doable and affordable. But after the tune he took off the bottom panel and began doing a once over of the bottom area. The hammers, sadly, are the least of the problems. All the wires come to these strips.
Well...the black one to the right has a major mechanical problem.
It is not easy to see but where the little pegs go from one then a space to two...as you head left along that black strip....there is a crack. It is fairly significant in some areas and then hardly noticeable in others. But it is a crack running almost the entire length of the bottom of that piece of wood. As the crack worsens it will begin to loosen the little pegs which have the wires wrapped around them. This can also be repaired. But that requires it being moved to the tuners shop and being unstrung. Making a potential of many wires breaking. The rough estimate of this job is 2100.00! Add the 1200.00 of the hammers and we are looking at way more than the value of the piano. Unless I was to have it professionally restored. Then its value would be roughly 15,000.00!
The tuner said he wouldn't call it a smoking gun. But to just enjoy it as a lovely family piece and use it until we can't use it any more. I will also add...he played it a little before he started tuning and with amazement said that he doesn't hear that kind of quality from most of the grand pianos he tunes! Not bad for 114 years old! But it was not the news I was hoping for as I am really enjoying playing it and advancing in my lessons and hope to one day be able to open a hymn book and play something by sight.
The tuner said he wouldn't call it a smoking gun. But to just enjoy it as a lovely family piece and use it until we can't use it any more. I will also add...he played it a little before he started tuning and with amazement said that he doesn't hear that kind of quality from most of the grand pianos he tunes! Not bad for 114 years old! But it was not the news I was hoping for as I am really enjoying playing it and advancing in my lessons and hope to one day be able to open a hymn book and play something by sight.
Almost exactly a year ago David wiped down the baseboards in the house. He also did this stairway which was a very pleasant surprise and it looked so clean and crisp. Well...other than quick dusting I have not wiped it down since. The other day I asked Liam if he would like to do something for me. He said what and I said use a wet rag to wipe down things I show him. He was very happy to do that. So with a little help from me pointing to areas that got missed he wiped down the stairway and then some pictures and then an end table and then the tv stand and, and, and. He was a very good helper! But I really do need David back to do the base boards again!
Last week I took my niece, Jacqueline, to a spa/salon and we had manicures done. It was fun and nice having our nails so fancy. It had been years since I last polished my nails and had even thrown out an old bottle of polish remover a few years back. Not a good thing as my nails needed attention three days later! Liam loved my nails and today at Wal-Mart he asked if he could pick out a polish for me to do. At first I didn't want to because for starters, I never manage to wait long enough for them to dry before I have to use my hands and mess up all the hard work...and the other reason is that I am having tremors in my left hand so wasn't sure I could keep it steady enough to polish my right hand. But he was just so cute and hopeful that I gave in. He picked out for me a sparkly purple. I put it on this afternoon and I was quite impressed. It dried fast and my left hand didn't tremble enough to cause a problem! I am thinking that the fact that it is sparkly and you pretty much wouldn't be able to see a flaw if there was one helps. So I might start spending a little more time with my nails. We'll see.
After our nails we had lunch. It was a very nice afternoon. You can't tell by the picture but I had lost my voice a couple days before. So conversation was quite interesting. I did cut our day short by two hours. My throat was just hurting so much and talking was getting harder.
And no....my not quite 13 year old niece is not standing on a step stool...and yes...she is that much taller than me!
And no...we did not manage to keep all our finger nails long for this special day.
After our nails we had lunch. It was a very nice afternoon. You can't tell by the picture but I had lost my voice a couple days before. So conversation was quite interesting. I did cut our day short by two hours. My throat was just hurting so much and talking was getting harder.
And no....my not quite 13 year old niece is not standing on a step stool...and yes...she is that much taller than me!
And no...we did not manage to keep all our finger nails long for this special day.
I will leave you with a couple parting shots of Liam. He chose this outfit and of course the flippies.
He loves the camera...problem is, he generally hams it up for the camera.
I will leave you with a Liamism: Craig asked Liam what he wanted to watch...he said "it is already in there daddy" What is, asked dad...."the movie I want to watch" Show daddy what you did when you put it in there.......'I did this" pushes button, 'and this' pushes another button. And sure enough the dvd was in the player and even in the right way. When did you do this? asked daddy. "I put it in there miles of days ago!" exclaims Liam, stretching his arms way out.
I wonder if that is anything like 'last year ago" ?
I will leave you with a Liamism: Craig asked Liam what he wanted to watch...he said "it is already in there daddy" What is, asked dad...."the movie I want to watch" Show daddy what you did when you put it in there.......'I did this" pushes button, 'and this' pushes another button. And sure enough the dvd was in the player and even in the right way. When did you do this? asked daddy. "I put it in there miles of days ago!" exclaims Liam, stretching his arms way out.
I wonder if that is anything like 'last year ago" ?