Zara is Back!!

Yes, I am back and in charge. It’s always nice to see Alfa act like she is in charge. She says the right things and acts well, but she doesn’t always deliver. You know what I mean. To be kind to her, she has been looking after mum a lot. Mummy is not too well and Alfa is a very good nurse for mummy . She is a great comfort to mummy, which excuses her from her poor sales. It was sort of a typical Zara week.

On Monday I looked after a sale of a pre loved Yamaha YCL225 Clarinet. Customer of course was very happy and waited till Monday to buy so they could get the paw of approval from me 😻. On Tuesday a family came over to check out 3 instruments from DR TOOT. After a little maintenance demonstration, the family walked out with an amazing YTS 380 Tenor Sax, and BAC SL500 Jazz Bb/F Trombone and a BAC Apprentice Bb Trumpet. A very musical family and the kids were very lucky to have such supportive parents to support them on their musical journey !

The rest of the week featured the usual sale of accessories and Brass & Woodwind repairs and service. Taka is so busy that on saxophones and flutes, he is fully booked until beginning of February. Daddy on the other hand is still accepting brass repairs and his turn around is great.

The weather here is very warm and we are expecting a very hot summer. We are told that things will ease off later this month and more people will have a bit more freedom than before. All the staff at DR TOOT are fully vaccinated and here to help you with your next musical journey. Please feel free to call us and ask about our instruments. I am always excited to see you and we will all look after you. Even Alfa……when she isn’t eating or sleeping 🙀

I had my 14th birthday on Tuesday and it's Rico's birthday today...he would have been 13 today. 💜💚

Time to go and have a rest. Its been a hard week and a hard week is coming. Love you all and stay cool like me. Your Queen Zara 💖

#lifegoeson 💜💚💗

The week started with beautiful sky and sunshine…just like me 😸 Lots of things happened at House of TOOT…Unfortunately, I am unable to tell all stories here, but there were a sad story and an exciting story both happened this week. Just all coincidence…the life is just like this. 

Tuesday, it was Mummy’s birthday…of course. We cerebrated with a very nice cake 😻 Then, Thursday, it was my BIG BIRTHDAY….Yes, I turned 10 years old !!! 🎂 Times really fly…I cannot believe I am 10 already. In human age, I am much older than Mummy and older than Daddy, ummmm.

Well, an interesting thing is that Daddy and Mummy purchased our current house on Friday, the 12^th November 2011. 10 years later, Friday the 12^th November 2021, they bought a shop in the heart of Howick !!!!!!!!!!! 🙀🙀🙀

DR TOOT was supposed to move from here to a new shop late November or early December….However, they have decided to stay here and lease it out. Well, I begged Mummy to not leave Zara and me alone at home all day, every day…..hehehehehe.😼

Nearly 2 months later, the parcel from Germany has finally arrived. It has got a few new products and mummy will list them on our website soon !

Auckland is now Alert Level 3 Step 2, which means customers can enter shops in Auckland. We have seen some customers - It’s very good to see more humanoids 😻 Hopefully, we will see more and more customers like before !

Take care, everyone. Stay well and Happy Tooting from Alfa...Your Princess Alfa 💕💝💖

BANG BANG BANG BOOM BOOM BOOM…🎆🎆🎆

That’s what went on at the end of this week! No, it’s not Alfa misbehaving or even Alfa eating or even Daddy practising his new tuba. It was fire works Friday and Saturday night. You see, humanoids in this part of the world light off fire cracker in celebrating Guy Fawkes Night. This and New Years Eve are the most horrible times. All that noise and it really scares us cats. More so Alfa than me of course but still it’s not nice. One day I hope this will stop and give us pets of all sorts a break!

This week started with a sale of a beautiful pre-loved Yamaha cornet. A cornet is like a trumpet but smaller in size and mainly used in brass bands. They have the same fingering as a trumpet but with a more mellow sound. I know these things. I am Zara. Daddy’s personal PA. Alfa thinks that a trumpet is an ice cream cone with chocolate coating on top. Poor Alfa. The cornet was the only major sale of the week, but we still have made many accessory sales including a sale of a vintage saxophone mouthpiece to someone in New York. Our customers are far and wide. I think DR TOOT is famous 😼

Mummy is being very patient with Daddy. Mummy is training Daddy on how to use the business computer for invoices, accounts etc. Daddy so bad on the computer and Mummy has to type out things for him to follow. Poor Daddy. I’m sure he will understand in time and give our Mummy a bit of a break. Speaking of Mummy…. This Tuesday is Mummy’s Birthday. It seems that this year has gone so fast. The other special news is that my birthday is one week after Mummy’s. I believe Alfa’s birthday is coming up soon too...😺

This weekend has been full of sunshine, so Mummy and Daddy, under my guidance have been out gardening and making everything look so beautiful. The roses are out and everything is looking so beautiful. Almost as beautiful as me 😻

Well, it’s time to catch up on some sleep. This watching hard work is hard work! Till next time. Be like me. Be like Zara 😻😸😼

Happy Halloween ! 🦇

It was a short week and lots of things happened at House of Toot during the 4 working days. I am not allowed to say much here... yet but a big news is coming up !!!!!!! I am not talking about Mummy’s birthday or Zara’s birthday…. or even not my birthday…bigger than that 👽🙀

It’s already the end of October and Halloween…and Christmas is coming. Wow, 2021 so fast…faster than my eating 😹

Unfortunately, my sales’ skill didn’t shine this week but I am sure my big sis, Zara will make it up for me. Lots of accessories went out and they have gone to all over New Zealand.

Auckland now has reached 80% fully vaccinated - that’s a great news…and 10% to go ! At this rate you all will be able to see me soon 😸

Well, my furball friends, it’s time for me to try and sneak outside while Daddy’s not looking….meow, meow, meow ! 😻

Long Wet Weekend, and nowhere to go…

Greetings to my loyal furball and human subjects. Some of Alfa’s friends say that I am arrogant. This is untrue, I just know better that’s all. I am older and so much wiser. I am Queen Zara, Daddy’s personal P.A. Anyways, that’s enough about me 😸 

This week at DR TOOT has been a busy week with trumpet, cornet, flute, clarinet, saxophone and a special tuba repair. People come to the shop and wait for Daddy to open the door so that they can leave their instrument on a table to assessed. Many instruments are couriered to us as well. I miss not seeing people because I know how much they loved to come in and stoke my fur and give me a cuddle. I hope that soon we can get back to normal again.

One of the instruments that came in for repair was Daddy’s old tuba that he sold over 20 years ago. It arrived from Hamilton by courier which required some major TLC. Daddy seemed happy to see his old tuba again and played a few tunes on it after he finished the repair. We hear Daddy EVERY MORNING playing his tuba before work. Personally, it’s driving Alfa and I a little loopy 🙀

Two instruments were sold this week and have found new homes. The first one was a Backun Alpha clarinet. When I heard Daddy say that they sold an Alpha, I got so excited. I thought he meant Alfa, my half sister!!! But no……it wasn’t Alfa…😼 The second instrument was a beautiful BAC Elliot Mason model Artist Trombone. This one found a home in Auckland and was picked up on Saturday morning. He seemed very happy.

Mummy and Daddy said that this weekend is a long weekend. Every weekend is a long weekend for cats. We eat, sleep, eat, do our business and sleep again. Alfa of course does much more eating than I do. She is such a chunky Tabby. Well, it’s time to go back to my bed and curl up. Maybe Daddy will watch Netflix again and I will sleep on his lap. I love my Daddy. I know you are all counting down the weeks and days till my Birthday. Not long now…..😻😺

Cats & Vax !

Times really fly…it’s been nearly 2 months since this time lockdown has started. We all are hoping to Auckland will go down to Level 3 but Step 2…so, our customers can enter our showroom and try instruments or mouthpieces.

The team of Mummy and Daddy are fully vaccinated and Taka will have the 2^nd one this week. So, the DR TOOT Team will be fully vaccinated and ready for our customers…Sorry, Me and Zara cannot be vaccinated but we are cats and we are very fine…Meow ! 😺

Taka and Daddy have been very busy with repairs/services on instruments. A few customers who booked in many moons ago brought in their instruments and they are happy to see well-serviced instruments back !

On Friday, one of pre-loved saxophones has found a new home via Trade Me. It’s a vintage Martin alto saxophone and she is leaving for Gore on Monday. The husband purchased it for his wife’s birthday….what a very good surprise ! Hope she will love it 😍

We have a good selection of clarinets (brand new and pre-loved), saxophones, trumpets and trombones - they are available from our website. Another saxophone, Yamaha tenor sax YTS380 is also on the way.

It was “Super Saturday” and 130,002 people got vaccinated around New Zealand yesterday. What an effort and well done, humanoids, New Zealand…Keep it going…meow, meow, meow !😸💜😻

It’s Mouthpiece Time !

Good afternoon, my lovely subjects to another thrilling blog from your Queen Zara 😻 

Let's just say that I did 100% more sales than Alfa did last week. As my fellow feline furballs know, we are still in lockdown in New Zealand and more so in Auckland. I love my Daddy very much but he is now always around when I’m eating or sleeping or just relaxing. Every morning, when I’m trying to rest after a fishy breakfast, Daddy practises his tuba for no less than an hour in the morning. This does my head in and I am sure the other cats and humanoid around notice this too. I’m not as young as I used to be although I am just as beautiful as always of course 😼

After Daddy finished grunting his beautiful new Miraphone New Yorker CC Tuba, he went back to the workshop to do some repairs. Later that morning, a customer came in with a clarinet that they bought from us last year. I remember them and the boy was very kind. To my surprise, he named his clarinet after a very famous cat… ME 😻 On his tag on the outside of his case it reads Zara (Clarinet), belongs to….The funny thing too is that the Clarinet was a Backun “Alpha” Clarinet that was named after me….Sorry Alfa…not! The clarinet was here for it’s warranty service and while they were here, they bought a Briccialdi Intermediate flute for the other brother. I bet they don’t name it Alfa 😱 I mean, why would you? 😸

As mentioned before, we are now the agents for Laskey mouthpieces. They are world famous for their mouthpieces, especially for their Tuba and French Horn mouthpieces. We of course Daddy had to have one. He didn’t just get one, he got two and both were gold plated. Maybe he thinks he will be famous…. 🙀 Th mouthpieces arrived on Friday afternoon and Daddy was so excited. The kind people at Backun/Laskey also included T Shirts, Drink bottles and other gear as a special present for Mummy and Daddy. That and over 20 Tuba mouthpieces. French Horn mouthpieces will be in the next order although we did receive a couple of Laskey mouthpieces with this order. Daddy is very very happy with his Laskey mouthpiece and he says that if you are a tuba player and serious in a great mouthpiece, then you must try and get a Laskey tuba mouthpiece. We have them in stock for American and European shanks.

Enough of mouthpieces. They connect to the tuba and Daddy has been spending more time with his tuba and now new mouthpiece then he does with me. I have to think of something fast. Farewell for now my beautiful followers and try your best to be like me 😸😺