Hi again pmh,

Your wife sounds like a treasure. And I agree with her not to listen to people being dismissive or discouraging. And having a porch and family member to jam which is great.

I have nobody else in my family who played but had a (by all accounts) brilliant pianist grandmother - Chopin, Beethoven, you name it. So maybe some natural inclination runs in the family. I seem to be the only one interested.

Jimmy Buffett eh? I saw him - from a distance - at the Blues Festival at Easter this year. I got up to Byron Bay this year and had a ball. Lots of 50s and 60s types like me. I live down south in Canberra so decided to do the trip up there by train, the traditional way.

It was like that with the Doobie Brothers, by that stage of the festival we were pretty tired and there were about 3000 people in front of us when we got there. So we watched them from the back in comfort. All great insiration for us aspiring guitarists though.

cheers W