Sunday, June 28, 2009

Finished things!!!!



Well we finished a bunch of things this week!!!! Here you can see the final design for the windowsill after all of the tape came off and one of the four points of the stencil we put on the floor. We will either put a true Fluer de lys or a variety of one in the center. The trim is done and the only thing left is to apply the acrylic finish to the floor and arrange the furniture!!!! That should be done by next Friday and I can start getting into the studio and working on some serious projects!!! We also cut down a tree of mine that fell in my neighbors yard during that ice storm in Dec. There is a HUGE project outside as well regarding the sofet (sp?) (roof overhang) out back that is rotting away due to the old gutters getting clogged up for years. But that will not interfere with art projects. Anyway..will post more when the furniture is in and I am hopefully going to enter an art competion called "Herding Cats" a fundraiser for homeless and feral cats in Lowell at the Brush art Gallery. Bye for now!!!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Update......

Hey all!!! Well the windowsill is looking good, and we almost have the design for the floor done. (we are staining a simple pattern on the wood. ) So I would say that the room will be done by Friday!! Also I heard back from Harvard and they want the bird!!!  So Michael and I will be heading there sometime this week and will also get to see the skeleton of the Blue Heron we donated 11 years ago. LONG story........ So anyway the next post will be Friday and wait 'til you see it all put together!!! Thanks!!!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Windowsill in progress!!




More pics than words  this time. After we decided on color placement for the blocks I took some pics of Michael preparing and then spraying the windowsill that will be a checkerboard pattern with hand painted details. Will post the finished product later in the week!!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

On the Side


So today brought two surprises that although not pleasant, reminded me how important that everything  you can hold onto and treasure , you should because you never know when it's going to leave. Driving to work this morning (unfortunately) there was a beautiful coyote that had been hit, lying in the road. If I had had time I would have moved it out of the way but I couldn't. I thought about it off and on while at work and how it was too bad wild things had to be around things they didn't understand like cars.  And then while at work someone noticed an adorable sand piper looking bird which turned out to be an American Woodcock running around outside. I checked on it and it was not flying away and one wing seemed to be at an odd angle. I brought it inside and later Michael brought it home to hopefully give to someone that was qualified to help it. Unfortunately it passed away soon after so something must have hit it earlier or it was sick. So I painted this quick watercolor of it and will try and donate the bird to the Harvard Natural History Museum. The point to this post is that although we have this plan in place to go to France in a year, it is also a good reminder to relish all of the things that are around now and not just live for the future. You never know what's not going to be here later.  

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ah progress!!!


Today started off wonderfully with going to a great breakfast Diner near my house!! Ah pancakes and bacon!!!! We then went back home to load up the steam radiator that needs to be powder coated an antique cream color that will look great against the red wall. At some point I'll post the one we had done  with a wonderful copper color a while ago for those of you who haven't seen it in person. What a great find this place was!!!! He only charges  $10.00 a section for radiators!!! Anyway here is a pic of Michael SLOWLY lowering it down the back stairs on a dolly.  It has to weigh about 300 pounds. Then we took an old washer and dryer to a salvage yard and got a whole $5.80 back!!!! Yay!!!! Money towards the trip!!!! I know I know, money earned is not equaling money spent yet, but just wait 'til we start finishing things for sale!!! Michael will  be playing piano for an hour this Sat. so that is a small gig and then there are other things coming up. So he's moving along well with that. I have someone possibly interested in a painting in Haverhill so that might work out. So off to some painting on the trim and then my niece graduates from the 8th grade!!! That's it for today kids!!!! 

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Day One!!!



Well day one is over and we got a great start!!!  After I got home from work we worked on the office that will help us organize the rest of everything.  The walls, lighting  and ceiling are done, and the trim is next. After that the floor gets a light coat of varnish. This will be our "central hub" for life in general and for the trip. So as soon as the office is done, the studio will be next, and the projects can begin!!!!! I have a lot of paintings, fimo clay beads, and jewelry things that need to be finished and put up for sale on my Etsy.com page. Michael has some wonderful Boutique amps that he has built that we are going to work on selling. And he has gigs coming up at the Strange Brew in Manchester NH. So-here we go!!!!

It Begins!!!

Welcome to our blog-France or Bust!!!!!  We have one year to clean up our houses, finish as many house repairs as possible, and finish and sell as many of the art/music projects that could help us finance the trip as we can. Including dates Michael has booked for gigs and art shows for me. House swapping with someone in Paris for one month!!! As soon as we make an agreement with someone it will be posted here. We will be keeping a log of what we get done, things in progress, things for sale and anything else that comes along.  Not sure how much it's all going to cost but we will be pricing airfares and cost of living and we will get to that later. So thanks for looking and keep watch!!!!