Day 2675

Day 2675
Friday April 3rd 2026
Winchester

I meant to go out a bit earlier but, same old story, it kept drizzling. I opted for Nando’s even though the fruit and veg bloke was doing his interminable shouts of ‘Strawberries, three punnets for a fiver!’ I bet he was right pleased to see me, and hear me blast over his shouting. The other noise adding to the cacophony is the bloke helping Dave the flower seller, who’s closing his stalls. This bloke is carting a big trolley full of small plastic trays off. The wheels are very loud…at one point a tray falls off, then a few seconds later another and another until the fruit and veg bloke does a loud whistle which attracts the attention of the trolley bloke, who stops and retrieves the trays.

Laughter In The Rain still fails to earn anything but there’s hope – a man gives me the thumbs up.

Near the end of the session (a mere hour), a man stops by with his two sons. At the end of Bond, he asks how I prefer to do an open G chord – which of the two main ways. I’d never thought of it before but having now thought about it (because I’ve been asked) I say it depends on what comes next…and before! He says most people, when they learn the guitar, play it using the forefinger, middle finger and with the finger next to the little one on the 3rd fret high string, which I suppose IS the way it’s taught. But if you want to do a C chord after, I would use the middle, “ring” finger and little one, as there’s hardly any movement that way. It’s all about conserving energy!

A couple of minutes before the hour, all the market vans have now come up and are parked right up to the crossroads. The woman who runs the stall just to my left has now parked her van in front of me – ‘Sorry, I’ll only be five minutes,’ she says. ‘It’s OK, I’m going now. An hour is long enough for me…and probably for everyone else!’ The takings are £10.45. 2011 rates! No busking until after I get back from the Palma/Valldemossa trip on the 10th.