My ears have been feeling a bit blocked this week, particularly my right one. Yesterday I was a bit worried, with all that music coming up, but it was actually not too bad during the day. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the case in the evening. I wonder if it was the result of being seated next to a fairly hot radiator, causing the wax to soften and run together? Whatever the cause, I not only found my hearing very limited in my right ear but it was also more painful than it had been all week.

Just as well all the music was written down I just had to read it and glance round occasionally to make sure that the low brass players sat at the back with me were looking askance to indicate I was off beat, out of tune or too loud. The recorded snippet I saw today sounded good. I didn’t have the pain this morning but the ear was still pretty blocked. Playing at church is a very different kind of gig – in many ways, much easier (at least to me) but I do rely more on my ear. I had enough to make it through and several people reported that they really enjoyed the music.

Over the last few days, I have been making some use of olive oil to keep things soft. With a bit of irrigation this afternoon (using warm water and a rubber bulb – nothing high pressure), I was surprised how much gunk washed out. It still isn’t quite back to normal but I’m hoping normal service will be resumed in a day or two.