Stickers and Storms, More Work and Sidetracked

Yep, finally remembered to get down to the town hall for this year's parking and dump stickers. The resident parking sticker is a pretty blue this year. The dump sticker matches in color and is out of camera on the front of the rearview mirror. Jayne's Net Crimes bumper sticker gets center window. Then moving to the right is the Thacher Island sticker and the silly Rockport sticker.
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Went out to see the Estey organ with the prospective customers, Mr. and Mrs. P. Here's the one and only photo I managed to take................................................
just seconds before the storms hit! As I was driving in the entrance I got in a quick photo. There was an enormous clap of thunder and then the rain came down in bucketfuls. I could barely see out the truck windows and couldn't get a pic of the "chapel". Anyway, the house is over there on the left and a small addition connects it to the granite "chapel" behind. We did get the organ to play. It has a remote blower in the basement of the addition. We went exploring down there and found it tucked away in a corner. A few hesitant moments later the motor hummed and blew. We left the owner minding the blower, in case things started to smell dangerously hot, and went back up to the organ. Mrs. P plays very well and although it was weak, it sounded very nice. The foot pedals do not work for some reason. I relieved Mrs. Norton in the cellar so that she could go up and hear it being played. It was the first time she had ever heard the organ. Here's a photo of the Estey organ.
And, since the photo is so dark and it's impossible to see the bottom, there's an illustration of the organ from Gellerman's "The American Reed Organ" just below.
It must have been quite a sight as we ran back and forth between the cellar and the chapel in the downpour. The rain refused to let up! Arrangements were made for the "parties" to get in touch and make some decisions about the organ. Privately Mr. P. suggested to me that he would be willing to "donate" some work, keeping the organ in place for Mrs. Norton to enjoy. I think perhaps the thought of trying to remove it is a bit daunting. The instrument would have to be completely taken apart in order to get up a granite stairway and through the door. And yet, as most of us sentimentalists understand, Mr. P. would love to see it working well and being enjoyed in it's original home. An interesting afternoon although I do wish I had gotten those pictures!
The opportunity may still present itself as Mrs.Norton has asked that I get in touch with her about having lunch together sometime.

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The melodeon is finished! I emailed the owner/customer yesterday and I'm waiting (not too patiently) to hear back from her. It's a cute little machine that needed piles of work. It had been stored in her grandmother's attic for many years. The roof leaked. Not shown in this photo is the new rosewood veneer that I did on the top (when closed). Also, one pedal rod was missing and the other broken in two, interior linkage was missing, a key mutilated, fabric eaten away, and hinge screws ripped out. The main outward pressure spring inside the reservoir had broken. That was in addition to all the "workings" having to be restored. I should have taken a before picture - the pile of parts.

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Finally, some more keywork is coming in! It's been a two week lull. It always seems so strange when that happens. Weeks of frantic work on keys. Five or more sets per week and then all of a sudden, nothing. So the first of three incoming sets arrived today while I was playing at the farm.

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Thursday will be a day of a little work and a lot of play. Always the newspapers to deliver and then some prep work on the keys. In the afternoon we are having company. More specifically, my folks are having company, but we will have them on a tour of our "new" place. Later, if dad feels up to it, we'll be heading north to Skip's for dinner. So.......tomorrow I'm being sidetracked!



















(Couldn't resist)