A day out, a little off
Went into Santa Fe today---were going to eat at Tia Sophia's, our favourite SF lunch place, but closed on Sunday. Decided to venture back to Cowgirls (which pisses us off regularly but has a cool atmosphere & good food.) We were pissed off again. I think they may have lost us for good this time. The service traditionally sucks, and this was no exception. We arrived for brunch, they were serving eggs benedict to everyone and their dog as we arrived. I LOVE eggs B. so ordered such. After a 20-minute wait--AFTER ordering--they come back and say they're no longer serving breakfast. I wanted to walk out (generally my husband does! And we HAVE walked out before at this place!!) but I chose something else & we stayed. It came without the salad dressing....to make a long story short, my husband DID NOT leave a tip. Something I'm not hesitant to do for bad experience and bad service, but he never does that. Not this time! I'm proud of him! And I did not even suggest that he not--totally his own idea. He doesn't like it when his wife is not treated properly!!
Massive, massive rain here in Truchas, in Santa Fe, for miles and miles around. It was actually flooding in SF today, holding traffic up; my Tonk floated across a couple of intersections, literally. Crazy. A couple of our other visits were curtailed because said businesses were closed on Sunday (we usually get into town on weekdays).
It was lonesome coming home. Not Willie OR the Big Guy to greet us. When I unlocked the door both kitties came out with meows of welcome home! But not the same as that wiggly butt, head in lap of big dog energy. It's so quiet around here with the both of them gone it's just positively weird.
Did we have a two-dog-down summer because we're not supposed to have dogs? Is something coming up that we must be dog-free for? I'm keeping my eyes open for a pair of doggies that are road-savvy (many hounds up here are) and can get along with and/or ignore the kitties. We had Elway, we know it can be done. I know my husband wants a dog--he's just not inclined to the inevitable grief--they will die, one day, before we do, and it will be sad and we'll have to bury them. Still. I would choose both Willie and Elway all over again, even knowing the fate and the date. I would in a heartbeat.
PS. We got leave from Elway's mom to go ahead and own him---she basically said he could be ours. Unfortunately that was only the day before he died. I'm still happy for that because I really, really wanted to put him next to Willie, and there they both are. He wanted to be here, he felt like our dog (he chose) but leave from the human is just the paperwork wrapped up.
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RIP Elway
Elway passed away today. We buried him out back next to Willie. Today is two months to the day that we lost Willie. I know little Will was happy to see his big dog friend again and they'll keep each other company out in the soccer field. A couple of our friends who were big Elway lovers came over & helped with the, ah, arrangements. Elway was a BIG dog. Just as we were finished a huge full rainbow appeared in the sky and it made us all cry.
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Elway
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Uh Oh.
I've got a very sick dog on my hands. Elway won't drink, won't eat, can barely walk, can barely lift his head off the floor. I made a call to one of his "other mothers" and she's going to call the son of his owner (the son used to own him) and find out what can be done, what we can do, if they will pay for a vet if we volunteer to take him or can we all pitch in or what.
Elway is SUCH a sweetie and we adore him. I just hope it is not end of life issues as the poor guy is 15+ years old. Will keep you posted. His "other Mom" is on the way over to have a look at him right now. She's got 3 dogs and knows all about dog things.
In other news we took a supply run into Española today. Whilst down there we filed "those" papers with the court. We waited an entire 2 weeks since I sent the letter asking "the defendant" to reconsider and offering to split the deposit. No response. So, on we go.
Got in the studio late afternoon & early evening to dig into those neglected new paintings. The next couple few days are devoted to art studio, real estate review, and mitten knitting in the evenings ;-)
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Back on line...
Oh yeah, Windstream had a "network error" for about 24 hours. They just put a recorded message on their phone. "We'll be back up when we're back up." The things we love about New Mexico are the things that drive us NUTS about New Mexico...you learn patience or you move back to the city! We just said OH, it'll be a day or two, and did other stuff. We're learning!!
Sunday we had a lot of gallery visitors, Monday none. Today one--but she doesn't count, she was looking for the Marketplace, the gallery of, uhmm, rather unsophisticated crafts and "arts."
We did get up into the woods today for a Tonka Truckload of Finest Firewood...We've got about 3 cords stacked out back now. A good start, we'll need at least 7 for the winter, maybe a bit more. If we double-stack the entire length of the back wall that'll be about 7 cords. We did the measuring bit so have a clear idea. We're going to make a mark a month (and name the month) so we'll know about how much we use each month...to prepare better for next winter.
I sent in my final quiz for the Real Estate Course today. When I get my score on that I'll have them send my final course's Final Exam to Judith & will take that in the next 2 weeks time. Then!! I will have passed the course, will attend the "Exam Review" class in person in Santa Fe beginning 9/15, and THEN will schedule my state exam. Wow, getting so close. Will be glad to be through it and done with it, get to work for real.
Having fun with knitting in the evenings. It's like a kind of meditation, each little stitch, over and over, quite peaceful, a nice feeling the yarn running through your fingers, and relaxing. Plus, when you are all done...you've made something useful and warm. My husband doesn't even wear sweaters but he's requested one. His yarn cost $95 dollars so we'd better find a good sweater pattern that he will wear. Because I'll have to put about 50 or 60 hours into it as well! No way he's not wearing that! What's that? About a $900 sweater? Damn! I guess people who hand-knit pay themselves about $1 an hour. Won't be selling these wares!
Trishtown pics. Coming up in the next few days. Have some pics ready to post....realize I must take others as we have come along in the house, woodpile, etc. If we don't go into town tomorrow will try to get those taken. (We need to go into town, I just don't want to). But soon, friends, soon, there will be a post with pics on Trishtown. (Don't you hate that "friends?" Way too much Nancy Grace, and we only can bear to look at her for about 5 minutes a time!)
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The Flea Report
Up at 4am, at the gate by 6:30, got a spot (one of the last) set up our tent, elegant presentation. No traffic. A few regular flea vendors came over to welcome us and to marvel at the "stunning, spectacular" work but no customers. Hardly even a glance. We had maybe two groups come into the booth for more than 3 seconds. Sigh. I honestly thought we would do really, really well. I truly did.
*I* did well. I got a brand new matrimonial hammock for $60 and I found a great Indian pawn bracelet at an unheard of price (let's just say I paid about a quarter of the value for an $800 bracelet)...totally balances out the look on my wrists. Turquoise on the right, something old and red on the left. I'm not really sure what I have, it's not coral or whatever it is they call spiny something...it's either stone or some sort of layered glass? Not sure, but it is fairly old, sterling silver, and is quite handsome, completely complementing the turquoise piece on my right hand. Even my husband likes how it brings out the color of the red gold wedding band and it positively gives life to the little rubies in the engagement ring!
OK, so. The art thing. We know we can do it, we know we can make it look good, we know we need a trailer. Poor little Tonk was positively stuffed to the gills and we actually forgot some important stuff. Tonk is NOT an art show vehicle. We need a little enclosed trailer--if only for the artwork that should not take such a beating. What with the monsoon wind and rain this afternoon I am completely surprised and thankful that we did not lose any pieces. I mean that in the plural. The work is waaaay too susceptible to the hard knocks of quick transport, quirks of weather, craziness of wiring it up in a tent, and the Sahara sandstorms that pass as dust in Tesuque.
The biggest mistake we made is....Yes, Indian market IS the biggest weekend of the year in Santa Fe. And EVERYONE IS at Indian Market. They do NOT find time to come on out to the flea...only the gullible vendors such as we clog the flea. Not customers :-/ Lesson learned.
We both agree we're up for trying it again another, different weekend. It wasn't all bad. I got one and one-half "Minnesota Winter" stocking caps knitted today ;-)
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run into Española
I ran in with Husband today to get him registered for welding class, alas, the one he wanted was full. Now that we know the procedure, will get him in early for next semester. I asked about the level of the violin class & when I told the guy I had played traditional celtic he not only rolled his eyes, he rolled his head!! I'm waiting until next semester as "applied violin" doesn't necessarily sound like it's what I want.No reason not to take out the fiddle & tune it up though...and get back into my scales & re-learn my tunes. Next spare minute I have ;-)
We also found the papers needed to file our court action. Took a bit of running around as the place we were supposed to get them burned up (or down, as you like) a few days ago. It was the headline story in this week's Rio Grande Sun.
Tomorrow we'll set up the tent and do a dry-run for our Flea Market setup.
Was making an apple pie for Husband but there's oven goo I forgot about so have to wait for the cleaner to loosen it up. I'll take a Real Estate study and hat knitting break--and put my feet up.
Had lunch yesterday with my future QB--Qualifying Broker--Vicki. It was great, she got me all pumped up again. Even in this awful market she's busier than she can handle. She closed three sales last month and has her fingers in a lucrative property-management setup. She's been in business for herself about 8 months and is already planning to move her offices to a building that she's BUILDING! So it looks promising for me. She's willing to work around any schedule I have and I can work as much or as little as I want, and I can have a home office. What's not to like?
I'm working on my LAST unit in the RE course right now! Then, of course, I've got the final for this course and heavy math review and heavy review in general--that can all happen before my state exam review class on 9/15.
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canvases & hat
Yesterday I stretched 11 of those little canvases (today first gesso coat) and knitted my husband a winter hat. In August you say? Ha! The last few days up here have most definitely been fall days that bode of winter! Rainy, much wind, cold. Today is more pleasant. Anyhow, the hat turned out wonderfully. He chose pumpkin & black and a style called "Minnesota Winter." It fits perfectly and is quite handsome.
I am making myself a granny-square hat to go with my fingerless gloves--it should be quite showy though not nearly as warm as "Minnesota Winter."
Got a late start today as we had 2 sets of drop in visitors this morning (friends) and I got a phone call from a family member. Then we had 2 sets of gallery visitors, both stayed quite some time and really asked a lot of questions about the paintings...they wanted to know technique, inspiration, ...the whole nine yards! They even asked me to bring one painting out from the back. I'm glad to have those kinds of visitors...those are the sorts that lead to sales.
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test post, test post
Is anything working over on this side? Sorry for the confusion, if this one doesn't work I go over to tblog.com com (look for "ravensrain" amd a few recent posts over there) then when that one quits working I come back here.
Yes, Trishtown works all the time but that requires me to actually code HTML rather than just type into a box and click on "post."
So you see why I am still here. For ease (generally) of communication. And when we go to Trishtown you get pictures, as both shoutpost and tblog seem incapable in any sort of useable capacity.
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back in studio, 2nd try
We made a small sale today...a print--Painted Desert--to the daughter of a local family who now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada (I say that because we have a Las Vegas, New Mexico, and ours is the first thought in people's minds when you say Las Vegas around here) she was back home to visit. Now that is an incredible compliment--'local' people loving our work that much!
Tomorrow morning we're getting up early to go cut a load of wood. Arruuggh. We always really, really ache the next day! Trees are incredibly big and severely heavy.
Right now we are enjoying our million-dollar view (it is always far better in late afternoon/early evening as the layers of distant mountains gain clarity and definition. That along with lengthening shadows really make he view dramatic) having a bit of bubbly to celebrate our sale (we celebrate them all. We're required to give thanks in order to ensure continued success) and having a personal BBQ supper of turkey filet mignon & veggie shishkabobs.
Elway and Missy are laying side by side out in their dust-puddles. Missy has realized Elway understands that she's the Boss, even though he is about 20 times bigger than she is and a dog besides. So peace ensues at Ravenswind.
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Back in the studio
Yeah! I've got six small canvases ready to go and I've chosen imagery for all...Houses/buildings...Got 2 drawings down on canvas today. I'm going to have to work faster though...I need to have these finished by the 20th or so. I'm not sure if that is possible. It must be. I still have to choose the skies to go with said buildings...I'll get some underpainting done then see what sort of skies the buildings are asking for.
We made a small sale today...a print--Painted Desert--to the daughter of a local family who now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada (I say that because we have a Las Vegas, New Mexico, and ours is the first thought in people's minds when you say Las Vegas around here) she was back home to visit. Now that is an incredible compliment--'local' people loving our work that much!
Tomorrow morning we're getting up early to go cut a load of wood. Arruuggh. We always really, really ache the next day! Trees are incredibly big and severely heavy.
Right now we are enjoying our million-dollar view (it is always far better in late afternoon/early evening as the layers of distant mountains gain clarity and definition. That along with lengthening shadows really make he view dramatic) having a bit of bubbly to celebrate our sale (we celebrate them all. We're required to give thanks in order to ensure continued success) and having a personal BBQ supper of turkey filet mignon & veggie shishkabobs.
Elway and Missy are laying side by side out in their dust-puddles. Missy has realized Elway understands that she's the Boss, even though he is about 20 times bigger than she is and a dog besides. So peace ensues at Ravenswind.
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August Second Sunday
We did not have a lot of traffic but the traffic we had was serious about buying/shopping for art. Every group, save one, asked about specific pieces, asked prices, took postcards, business cards, etc. I would not be surprised if we did not hear back from each and every one in the future as a collector. And finally! Someone pinned Leonardo down on a price for the chairs. We have agreed that these are display models and not for sale, however, we will take orders with 50% down.
My little landfill job has come to an end. I will be a full-time artist for at least the next few. Great, as I have tons of work lined up ahead of me and need to sit down at all those empty canvases for hours and hours a day.
Leonardo brought our fabulous red flagstones up from the back (we found them here, mostly buried) & made a walkway from driveway to portal....there had not been a clear path before and especially older, less firm visitors had trouble with the spot where the concrete drive from the carport curves down into the driveway--an awkward, curved step. Now it is apparent the path one should take from the drive--we even got a compliment today on how wonderful it was!
This evening we are enjoying a glass of wine and I have taken out my knitting project to sit on the portal with as the evening breeze comes in.
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Caveat emptor
It seems that this "biggest art fair in the west" has never happened before. This would be it's first year. And when I asked for links to all the other artist's web sites I was given none, but referred to four (4) pictures on the organizer's web site. One of the artists was the organizer i'd been speaking with. And the art work....well, nothing I'd really want to be in the same room with.
Needless to say we'll be passing this one up. And thank gawd I did a little bit of due diligence. Unlike my normal, trusting, eager, puppy self.
I did find an art fair that is actually upscale and we might want to try--trouble is you have to get juried in to find out the booth fees. And this one is exactly upscale enough for our work, trouble is, it might be too expensive to attend! Still, I think we'll apply anyway. They say the average sale per artist is around $4500, which would almost pay for the trip.
Oh Whoops!! We were at Ramon's birthday party tonight...making nice even though our former landlady was there (at issue with deposit return). Well, then former landlady left the party as it was winding down, we are still there with core friends, telling our entire sad story...apparently the new tenant was still there as well--absorbing our tales of discontent. Oops? or... Oh well? I say "Oh well." She deserves to have a heads up.
And the facts are what the facts are.
If you asked me again I'd say it the same way.
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the next phase
Next Friday will be my last at my funny little job as the person they've hired is apparently beginning the following Monday. So I can get back behind the canvas!
I've been juried into one of the biggest art fairs in the west, in Salt Lake City in November. There's a booth fee though (there always is) and though it's a bit steep for us we're still considering it. We haven't really been into art fairs but are also considering entering one in Los Alamos the end of October. Some friends of ours have tried it and have done very well, selling out in one case! And garnering collectors that now visit them at their studio/gallery. The one in Salt Lake City will have advertising in ArtNEWS and Art in America among other national publications. So......we shall see.
Today I'll get my husband's application for admission at NNMC together--he wants to get into a welding class. I should be able to enroll for the violin course by Tuesday, they are upgrading their computer systems this weekend and registration will be offline.
The big guy has wandered up the road these last few days so we are a dogless household. The kitties are happy, but he doesn't bother them at all so they're happy when he's around as well.
Hubby went into town to get a "dead and down" wood permit from the forest on the other side of us...we already have one for this one...as his scouting trip this morning found a good place to go cut wood. We are going out early tomorrow morning before we open up the gallery.
Now back out to finish up the housecleaning chores then it's into the studio to get painting!
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