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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Echos of the past...

The movers are gone and the house is empty except for the echos. A house that is devoid of furnishings has a hollow sound to it, as though all the life has been drained out, and the only thing that remains are the echos of the past. Many happy get-together s with friends.
Just some more sweeping and throwing out or giving away the last of the items that did not sell in the garage sell and the plastic coolers that I forgot to bring to Emma and Jon . Our remaining days in Costa Rica are with our friends Jon and Emma. They are excellent hosts.  

Thursday, August 26, 2010

They went right to their work...

I have moved many times and this is the first time the movers packed everything. They didn't have much to say,(all in Spanish) except where to start and what gets packed.
It's still stressful and tempers can get short, but it still went well. They will be back in the morning to wrap our bed and desk and any other odds and ends that we might say "that one also for Peru". The number of boxes is way more then we expected. But then they pack better then we would. I think my painting took up a lot packing supplies. Over 40 painting going to Peru!
Laurie is wondering where the hell are we going to put all this "stuff" when we find an apartment. I hope we have a good amount of wall space for hanging paintings. Tonight we will bunk in with Emma and Jon. Then up early to meet the movers again.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The quote of the day...

“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Pablo Picasso

Monday, August 23, 2010

Almost there...

The garage sale is over. We still have lots of stuff to some how get rid of. Oops, just sold some more today! One of the neighbors came over to look around and wow did she see a lot that she bought. But Laurie was into some serious bargaining! Typical Latin way.
My Spanish is terrible but I managed to figure out what they wanted and then convert from Dollars to Colonies.
They liked my paintings but no offers and I don't bargain well.
I'm waiting when we board our flight, knowing that we won't be coming back, settles into my brain. Eight years of our lives have been living in Costa Rica and now we start all over again. For me it's a mixed bag, the excitement of moving to a new country and the sadness of leaving friends behind.
We have new friends in Lima that will be waiting to greet us when we arrive. We won't feel alone. I hope I can keep up with the blog and make it interesting enough for others to read and enjoy. I know that the weeks ahead will be filled with laughter and anxiety as we deal with getting settled in Peru.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Where did the week go?...

Between Laurie working on getting the Garage sell ready, my dentist appointment, more good bye lunches, and closing one of bank accounts this week really whizzed by. Today was no exception. Once  nine A.M. rolled around and we opened one of the large metal doors the shoppers arrived. We had a nice turn out up til noon, then it tapered off.
Our friend Linda stopped by to pick up the painting she bought. Our friend Dale helped us with the customers.
Not sure what we will do with the left overs.
Now next week will not get any better either. Another dental appointment, dinner with friends again. Then on Thur the movers arrive with their 20ft container to pack and load the container. By Thur. night or Friday morning the house should be empty! Wow where is all our "stuff"? We will hold out enough stuff for our trip to Peru.
 This time we will careful how much stuff we accumulate...sure! Stuff Happens!
We will be in Lima a while before our stuff catches up with us since we have to have an apartment to put our stuff in.
Stay tuned for more to come... 

Monday, August 16, 2010

The day after Mothers Day

As I take my daily walk in the mall I notice the leftover flowers are on sale. All the stores in the mall have Spanglish signs in the windows "Se Sale". The food court is only a quarter full. What a difference from Saturday and Sunday. I stop at my favorite place Cinna-bon for coffee. Then I take a rest from my walk down the hill. I enjoy drinking my coffee while I people watch. There seem to be two sizes in young women walking through the mall today anorexic and obese. The men seem to be in the middle.
Today the mall maintenance people were working on tall ladders and going into openings in the ceiling.
I turned to a sketch I was working on in my little note book. A nude women sitting on the ground her back against a long wall. She looks sad for some reason and her hair hangs down as if not combed in a long time. The only cover she has is small rag over her feet.
I stopped sketching and put the book away. Finished my coffee and continued on walk through the mall.    

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Big day in Costa Rica...

Such a big day in Costa Rica and I almost slept till noon, Mothers Day!! Aug. 15th.
But mother nature didn't care and sent rain almost all day. Maybe it was her tears from watching as we pollute and ravage the country side with trash and bill boards. That's right bill boards, and big, tall SOB'S that almost block out the sun. But I shouldn't get started on that on this Sunday mothers day.
I sold another painting! One of our great friends Linda, told Laurie that she wanted to buy the one I called Night Flowers. I love it when I know that the painting will be with a wonder person.
Makes me wonder if I could sell a painting to someone I didn't like. I've never thought about this before. Would I sell, but just raise the price? Or be gracious and sell at the first price? Paintings can become like children; hard to part with. After all I did create them. Now even to sell them sounds so, so crass. Sell your own children! Maybe if I raised the prices higher? Or, give them away? I think I making too much out of this. As Laurie says "Take a deep breath and calm down."
You have over 40 painting! You need to sell some of them.
She's right...Hey, buddy wanna buy a painting...cheap.   

Friday, August 13, 2010

The speed of creation?

 Some want to turn the creative process into a race to the finish line or the last brush stroke. "The French and German embassies in conjunction with the Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud in Costa Rica is conducting a rapid painting contest."
What fools!
Michelangelo's sistine chapel ceiling painting took 4years to create and who can say if he was fast or slow. God only took 6 days for his creation, ( He rested on the 7th day.) Fast or slow? What does it matter. Both were/are magnificent creations.
When I sit down in front of a blank canvas I don't think about how much time it will take to the final stroke. I create and work on until it is finished and I am satisfied.
Thomas Edison, in his lab, had the insides of a clock taken out and replaced with a round block of wood, because he said that time must be measured in accomplishments.  I saw that very clock in his lab in Greenfield  village, Michigan. I strained  to look up and marveled at the Sistine chapel ceiling when at the Vatican in Rome.  Then the awesome creation of the Grand Canyon in Arizona .
When looking back and time compresses all, the above happened in the twinkling of an eye.
The Abstract Mind 

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Blogging while it Rains...

It's a Wednesday afternoon as the rain drizzles down. The wind coming off the mountains is cool so the mixture makes for hot chocolate time. It also makes me feel a little lonesome. If it wasn't for Laurie and Larry's comments on my blog I would be down right blue.
I now know how writers must feel if no one buys and reads their books. Keep those comments coming so I know that there still are folks out there in cyber space.
I've been getting a little stressed out lately. Medicare is ok, as long as you don't have to deal with them. I've been on Skype for hours at a time and the best answer I can get from them about anything is "I don't know".  "I will have to get you up to our Claims Representative...please hold....music....all our reps are busy "helping" other clients....your wait will be approx. ten minutes". Twenty minutes later...."we are sorry for the delay, please hold....more music...".

Well you get the idea. I could say more about my adventure in Medie-land but that will be for another post. Have a nice day...

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Three weeks and three days...

We still have three weeks before we leave Costa Rica and we have had several farewell get together events.
The sale of our things have been better then expected and that's good news. And we haven't even had our garage sale yet.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

More sales...

There is an echo in the house now that we have all the art work off the walls. The guest room is empty now. Steve picked up the bed and is happily sleeping on it in his house. Haven't sold any painting, But then I'm not advertising them for sale with the house hold stuff. I will take them along to Lima. There is a lot of artists in Lima and I'm hoping that my art will sell their. I need to find another quote of the day... Found one that made me laugh...
“I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money.”
Pablo Picasso
I used to say..."I don't want to be millionaire; I just want to live like one." But that only gets one into debt. and Picasso's isn't good either. Need something in the middle. Live within your means as best you can.  

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Movin right along....

The house is still full of our stuff, but the stage is set and things will be disappearing soon. "Will the last one out please close the back French doors and turn out the lights."
No matter how excited we may be, heading to a new country and finding a new place to live; I will feel a little sad leaving a house that has been our home since 2002.
I have lived in many places and many houses in my life. Just counted and I came up with 16! That's about 5 years on avg. per place. Some longer and some shorter stays.
Still haven't gotten any better at packing.
This time we will have professional packers and a 20 foot container to put our stuff into and, when we have a new place in Lima, they will unpack it for us too. :) Can't wait to populate the new home with all our art, mine, Aunt Kay's, Dales, & others. I really feel that art helps to make a house a home.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The Final count down!

August 1st. and 29 days -6hrs,55min. till lift off and the beginning of the adventure "Edging Farther South". Final destination...Lima Peru and a new life in South America! Wow!
Still so much to do. Ship stuff, sell stuff, give stuff away, and toss stuff away.
The artist has now been given his "to do list", which does not include creating any art work. So that part of my life will be suspended for a few months.
The blog updates will be about getting ready and being ready for lift off. WE WILL BE READY!  What fun this will be.