Good Morning

Yo my friends,

Well, today is "MOVE OUT OF THE TINY UNIT DAY"

We sold our 40" LCD HDTV and those folks will pick that up this morning.  We will clean our way out of the TINY UNIT and then head to the local Best Western Plus.  We stay there for Sat - Sun - Mon and then Tuesday 4/3 move to an airport hotel in Albuquerque for one night and fly out to Indiana on 4/4.  WOO-HOO!!!!!!!

Not too much more to do before our flight - will do a laundry on 4/2 and that's about it.

So my friends - a short posting but time to get to work and complete this move out!!!

Stay tuned - lots to follow especially once we arrive in Indiana and receive our indoctrination of our new HOME.  I think we are going to have it video taped as there is a lot of information to process and retain - especially for an OLD GUY like me.  The manufacturer actually suggested the videotape making.

My DW Melissa and I will be posting information of our journeys on our individual Blogs.  My blog address you of course already know but Melissa's is:

http://writeryogini.blogspot.com/

Both of us will be reporting on our adventures through our own eyes.  I think it will be interesting to compare and contrast my visions as compared to Melissa's.  She is more serious than I and perhaps her reports will be more accurate as I tend to LIE   whoops I mean exggerate a bit - (just a tiny bit!)  :>)

An example might be:  Melissa enjoys a foggy, rainy day and I'm sure her report will  be  both positive and expressed in a writerly manner.  Me - NOT SO MUCH - I most likey will say "Another crapolla of a rainy day today and the friggin fog is so thick I can't see the ocean - which is why we came here!!!!!"

So as I say, stay tuned ------- lots-lots-lots more to follow!!!!

JR   :>) 



Getting Close

Good Morning My Friends,

Well another day closer and another dollar shorter!!!!

Another load o "STUFF" to go down to the STORAGE BUNKER today so or long term and some for the RV.  We are now into the small stuff and the one-zies and two-zies.

For those of you who have not moved in a while or have not yet gone thru a gearing down of STUFF yet - you have a big surprise coming!!!!!!  We started becoming minimalists about 12 years ago.  When we moved from East Boothbay Maine to Arizona we tossed - donated and sold lots of STUFF!!!  7 years later when we moved from Arizona to New Mexico, we tossed - donated and sold lots o STUFF!!!  When we sold our home in New Mexico we tossed - donated and sold lots of STUFF!!!

Now that we will be moving into a 250 sq foot RV, NO MORE STUFF!!!!!  We won't have to police ourselves as in an RV - NO ROOM FOR STUFF!!!!!

We can finally say we are successful MINIMALISTS and it feels GOOD!!!!

Well as Melissa's Irish friend say "I best be gettin' me skates on!"

That means I've got a lot to do so I best get busy doing it!!!

Later - enjoy the day and the upcoming weekend.

JR   :>)  

Good Morning Blog Buddies

Well yesterday we spent quite a bit of time at the STORAGE BUNKERS and we managed to get the new STUFF added as well as things rearranged.  We left there feeling we had accomplished quite a bit.


We have a few more items from our TINY UNIT to put into the LONG TERM STORAGE BUNKER - which we will get done on Friday.

We've got some packing to do for the Elkhart trip and some laundry to do so we can start next week with everything clean.

Soooo things will start to get busier and my blogs will most likely become shorter - but soon we will be back to normal.

Take care my friends and enjoy life.

JR    :>) 

Yo My Friends

Good Morning,

Well today is going to be a busy day and perhaps a long day.

I pickup the U-haul truck at 8 this morning and we start moving most of our remaining possessions out of our TINY UNIT and bring it down to the STORAGE BUNKER.

As I outlined in a previous post, we need to do a lot of rearranging of the STORAGE BUNKERS in order to fit in the new incoming possessions.

My function in all this is to lift things up and put them down!!!!  Melissa is a master of packing and she will be directing the effort - pick that box up - put that box over there - lift that chair up and put it on top of the other chair - LIFT IT HIGHER -HIGHER!!!!!!    I'm just kidding!!!!!!!

:>)

We actually work together very well - once in a while there is a TONE!!  The one receiving the tone will say --- "Did I just hear a TONE??!!"  Then we laugh and all is fine - until the next TONE!!!!   :>)

After we are done -perhaps  we'll go to our favorite Coffee Bistro - ECCO - and get a mocha and a treat.

Sooooooo my friends time is closing in and on 4/4 we fly out to Elkhart Indiana to pick up our new home!  WOO - HOO

Enjoy the day and remember ------------------------- DAMN I forgot!!!!!!!!!

JR  :>)

GOOD MORNING BLOG BUDDIES

WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here we are at ONE WEEK AND COUNTING!!!!!!!

Time certainly has gone by quickly - it is almost hard to believe that we are at the final stage of our count down!  WOO - HOO - WOO - HOO!!!

This week I will be doing last minute packing for both THE LONG TERM STORAGE BUNKER & THE SMALL RV STORAGE BUNKER.

Wednesday 8 am I will pick up a 10' U-Haul truck and we will empty out most of our TINY UNIT and bring the STUFF down to the storage facility.  We will be left with:

2 reclining beach chairs
1 40" flat screen TV
2 thick air mattress for sleeping
minimal food - enough for 2-3 days
clothes and packed travel bags

On 3/31 the folks who bought our 40" TV will pick it up and we will move into the local Santa Fe Best Western Plus and stay there until 4/4.  At this point we will relocate to an Albuquerque airport Hotel, stay overnight and fly out to Indiana on 4/5.

Now the WORK begins!!!!!!!!!  Wednesday we have to empty out a portion of the LONG TERM STORAGE BUNKER to make room for any LONG TERM stuff from our TINY UNIT that will be left in the LONG TERM STORAGE BUNKER for the long term!!!  :>)  Most of the STUFF being emptied out is STUFF for the RV which we have not placed in the SMALL RV STORAGE BUNKER.

WAIT!!!!!!  WE ARE NOT DONE YET!!!!!!!

The SMALL RV STORAGE BUNKER is EXTERNAL STORAGE so some things we will retain in the INTERIOR LONG TERM STORAGE BUNKER.

So when all is said and done we will have:

A LONG TERM STORAGE BUNKER containing mostly LONG TERM STORAGE ITEMS & some RV items.
A SHORT TERM RV STORAGE BUNKER containing RV ITEMS

When we return from Elkhart Indiana with our new home, sometime around April 15, the following will happen:

There is a Sam's Club almost across the street from the STORAGE FACILITY.  We will stay in their parking lot the night that we return to Santa Fe.  In the morning we will access both of our STORAGE BUNKERS and move ALL THE RV STUFF via our car over to our RV in the Sam's parking lot.  This will take about 4 - 5 trips.  We will then surrender our SMALL RV STORAGE BUNKER.

We plan on weighing all the boxes so we have a general idea of the amount of weight we are bring into the RV, remembering there is a critical WEIGHT LIMIT that must be adhered to!!!!  Once all the RV STUFF is loaded into our new RV HOME, we will drive to the KOA RV Park in Santa Fe, setup for a 2 week stay and begin to unload all the RV STUFF from the boxes and find a place for everything and everything in its place!!!

It is quite possible that our "eyes are bigger than our storage space within our RV and somethings will need to be brought back to the STORAGE FACILITY and stored in the LONG TERM STORAGE BUNKER and not taken on the RV Journey.

Sooooooooooo within about 3 days of returning from Elkhart Indiana we should have our new RV HOME setup and loaded for travel.

COMPLICATED EH!!!!!!!!!

We will set out on April 30th or May 1st for San Antonio TX for a one week stay in an RV Resort which is quite close to the RIVERWALK - thus our Journey will begin.

WHEW I'm tired already.

Stayed tuned my friends there is Soooooooooooooo much more to come!!!!!!!!!!!

JR  :>) 



LOCAL ARTIST NOT BEHAVING

Local artist seen man-handling dancing sheep.

When asked why - he said

"THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!"

LOST DAY

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well, yesterday was a lost day for me!

It was food shopping day and errand day!  To top that out, we have a really nice "scatter" rug that thank goodness is machine washable.  Soooooo off to the laundromat I had to go as I needed to use a large commercial machine to wash and dry the rug.

Going to a local laundromat here in Santa Fe is quite an experience - Santa Fe is a mecca for some rather strange yet seemingly pleasant people.  I believe one could spend the day in a laundromat or better yet sitting on a bench in the park on the Plaza and it would be a full day of entertainment.  I'm sure all cities have these happenings.

We bought our rug locally in Santa Fe and it is called A Happy Rug."  From the photo below, I think you can see that it is a "A Happy Rug!"  We love the colors in it and this will come with us in the RV.  The think the colors will be outstanding with the dark cherry wood cabinets.  It is hand made from remnants of Pendleton rugs.  The artist who makes these buys the remnants directly from Pendleton.  Very unusual and it will travel with us.

OUR HAPPY RUG

Soooooo by the time I was done - the day was done!

Today we've got a few things to get down to the RV STORAGE BUNKER and then we hope go for a nice long brisk walk around the Plaza.

We managed to sell our 42" LED Sony TV and that will be picked up on 3/31.

We are also giving our pillow top mattress, box spring and queen bed frame to Jenise (our friend who was in a very bad car accident.)  She is home from the hospital now and really needs a soft comfortable bed.

Things are working our quite well for our moving out of our TINY UNIT on 3/31 - off to the local Best Western PLUS for a few days and then our flight to Elkhart Indiana to pickup our new home.

Soooooo my friends until next time - enjoy the day - enjoy your life and count your blessings - we all have them - sometimes they don't jump out and hit us up side the Head so some times we forget to be thankful.

JR   :>)

TUESDAY

Yo Blog Buddies,

Well it's Tuesday again and most of us know what that means!

LAUNDRY & TINY UNIT CLEANING

Both of which I am happy to say are DONE!!!!!!!

Sort of a quiet day today - some minor packing of both long term storage items as well as items to be transferred to the RV.  After this I will watch my RV videos again as repetition is reinforcement - and old people need that!!!  :>)

The systems - electrical - water are very much different then those of our houses - or as RV-ers call them Sticks & Bricks.  They also need way more maintenance than the same systems in our S&B's.  Most people do not realize that driving along the highway in an RV has it bumps and shaking and shimming and turning and stopping etc etc. So things can loosen up and not work correctly or on occasion break!  Sooooo when stopped and parked at your destination there are checks that need to be done to help eliminate these possible problems.

I have a weekly list as well as a monthly list of "PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PROJECTS" for me and Melissa to do.  Melissa wants to learn all the IN & OUT procedures for our RV - this will help in these projects getting done quicker and we will both share in the responsibility - team work!!!!

Speaking of which the donations for Jenise ( car accident friend of Melissa's ) has almost exceed $11,000!!!!!!  Talk about TEAM WORK!!!!!!

Some people think living in a motorhome is VACATION!!!!!  Wellllll for the first 3 - 4 months it will be but after that it is just a different life style in a different type of home that needs to be maintained as does a S&B.

Well until next time - hope Y'all are in good health - good spirts and good fortune.

JR    :>)

Things are improving!

Yo my friends,

Well, we got our TV service back this morning - now all I have to do is fine out what happened on the programs we watch on Sunday eve's.

Spoke to the manufacturer of our new RV home today and when the RV is finished, they have weight scales in the factory and they weigh the RV with all it's components and a full tank of gas.. This is called the UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight.)  Our RV weighed in at 12,560 pounds.

When you add in 2 people, 40 gallons of fresh water, 41.6 lbs of propane this will leave us with approx. 1,159 Lbs that we can add to reach the total allowed weight of 14,500lbs.

That is a good # as I cannot imagine us having more than 1,000 lbs of clothing etc etc food etc etc - OH - wait a minute - I forgot about my DW's SHOES!!!!!!!
Oh well, we'll get one of those enclosed carriers for the top of our car a put all of them in there!!!!!!!!  :>)

So, I think we should be in good shape weight wise and we actually have some room in that we would never travel with 40 gallons of fresh water - more like 10 gallons so there is a savings of 250 pounds so that even makes the figures even better.

OK ------- I'M HAPPY -NOW WE CAN GOooooooOOOOooooooo

JR     :>)

Good Morning Blog Buddies

Yo my friends,

Well, time is passing and passing quite quickly!!!!!  :>)

It won't be long now and we'll be on our way to Elkhart Indiana to pick up our new home!!!

There will be quite a few adjustments in our life style as a result of moving into a home on wheels and one that is about 1,350 sq ft LESS than the home we lived in.

One thing with RVs, depending on the size of them and the type of chassis - they can only carry a certain amount of WEIGHT and WEIGHT can be the enemy to the RV-er!!

Our RV is certified to carry no more than 14,500 pounds IN TOTAL.

That is further broken down by a certain # of pounds for the front axle and the rear axle.

Our RV as two wheels on the front and 4 wheels on the rear.

An overloaded RV can cause the axles to break as well as a dangerous situation if a sudden stop is needed.

Soooooooooo weight will be something that we watch very carefully. 

When the completed RV rolls out the door in its finished state, it is weighed and that weight is recorded as well as all the components that made up that weight.

We have the RV it self and then the "ADD-ONS"

Our RV has a:

55 gal. fuel tank - gas weighs 6.1 lbs per gal - full tank = 336 lbs

42 lb propane tank

40 gal. fresh water tank - water weighs 8.4 lbs per gal

36 gal grey water tank - grey water weighs 8.4 lbs per gal

27 gal. black water tank - black water I'll assume weighs 8.4 lbs per gal

Soooooo I'll let you do the calculations - However we would never travel with more than:

1/4 tank of fresh water

1/4 tank of grey water

1/4 tank of black water

The experts say to figure 150 pounds per passenger so that's another 300 pounds - 2 people

 (Glad I lost some weight!!!!)

I'll save you the trouble - when calculated out, all of the above represents about 850 pounds.

Now we need to load the rest of the STUFF into the RV

Clothes

Cooking utensils

Food ( refrigerators are small in RVs - 3 days food max)

glasses, cups, plates, silverware

laptops

printer

etc - etc - etc the list goes on  on

So as you can see, weight can accumulate very easily and when loading all this STUFF into the RV weight distribution is a key factor.  The goal is to get the weight distributed according to the front and rear axle loads as well as side to side.

At best it is a challenge as well as a PITA guessing game.

There is hope however - one can get their fully loaded RV weighed at a weigh station to see if the total allowed weight is OVER or UNDER as well as the side to side weights.

This costs about $75 - $100 to get done.

This is best done at a private weigh in station as if you do it at a State weigh in station on the highway and you are OVER WEIGHT - they will make you unload STUFF and will not let you proceed until you meet the requirements!!!  :>(

Lots to think about THEN added to this is ----- with the enormous weight of RVs, one needs to consider the STOPPING DISTANCE which is sooooooooooo much longer than with a car - I mean like it could take 10 times of a longer distance to stop quickly!!!

HOLY CRAP 10 TIMES LONGER!!!!!

I'm a diet A&W root beer JUNKIE!!!!!  I've had to limit myself to 5 of those big tall bottles a week!  It is a habit I know but hard to break!! Have you ever weighed those bottles????  They weigh a lot - more weight than I want to add to the RV - soooooo I've stopped buying diet A&W root beer - in the long run it will be better for me health wise but I have to tell you I'm at the point I would KILL FOR AN A&W!!!!

It's only been 4 days!!!!

Well ---- I'm stating to get a headache so I'll stop for now - needless to say a lot to learn and a lot to understand and a lot to do and a lot to lot to lot to lot to lot to lot to lot

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JR   :>)

Applying for gun permit

Well - once again I have to say that CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS!!!!!

Turned the TV on this morning and every channel has the message

THIS CHANNEL HAS NOT BEEN PURCHASED

WELLLLLLLL - once again Qwest (now CENTURY LINK) has discontinued our TV service - INSTEAD OF ON APRIL 1 AS REQUESTED!!!!!!

My DW is on the phone again trying to get it squared away and it seems as tho they are not sure how to turn it back on again - I guess the real STUPID people work on the weekends.

This is getting to be very, very frustrating - the C/S Rep who turned the service back on a couple of days ago promised us it would not happen again until APRIL 1 and she re- verified that the date of disconnect was correct.

Today the C/S Rep verified that the disconnect date on our order is APRIL 1!

My DW of course asked "How could it be disconnected before APRIL 1?"

The simple (and I mean SIMPLE) answer was "I Don't know!"

Did you ever notice that once you decide to leave an area - All kinds of CRAP starts to happen which makes you very glad you are LEAVING!!!

I'm not on the phone as I do not have the patience for CRAP like this and would not be a very pleasant person to talk with.  The fact is most C/S Reps have no idea what they are talking about - they merely work from a pre-printed script that may or may not cover your problem and if the script does not cover your problem they merely LIE to you as to the cause of your problem.  They suggest such stupid things as unplug the unit - count to ten and then plug it in again. 

Soooooo the saga continues!  It does not look like they will be able to restore our service today - they know how to shut it off but do not know how to turn it back on.

MORONS!!!

NEW PHOTOS OF OUR NEW HOME

Yo my friends,

We got word today that our new home - our 31 foot NEXUS RV is 100% completed and sitting in the show room awaiting our arrival on 4/5!!  WOO - HOO

Following are some photos:

This is Claude - the President of NEXUS. I had our logo the DREAMCATCHER

put on the back of our RV and told him I wanted to see it for the first time when we came on 4/5 - so not to send any pictures of it.

This is him covering it up!!!

The living room slide out which gives us 20 more feet of floor space in the living area.  the slide out room is 10 feet long by 2 feet extended depth

Electric sun canopy

The rest of the photos are self explanatory

Hope you enjoy these pics - we of course are very -  very - very excited!!

Did I mention we are EXCITED!!!!

WOO - HOO

JR  :>)

Good Morning Blog Buddies

Sun is out the sky is blue BUT--------------- according to the weather weenies we have a storm coming in and the wind is going to pick up this afternoon with 50-60 MPH gusts and Sunday - Monday - Tuesday into Wednesday we will have rain and snow showers.

It will be interesting to see what really happens as the weather forecasters in the Southwest do not have a very good batting average when it comes to forecasting the weather.

The wind in Santa Fe as I've mentioned in the past becomes very irritating to most as it seems to start mid March and can run into July!!!!!  The biggest problem with the wind at this time of the year is the blowing around of the POLLEN!!!!  This starts the season for anti-histamines FULL TIME!!!!!

While living in Maine I had a lot of sinus problems and headaches as Maine can be a very rainy climate - at times it seems from spring well into and through the summer.

After moving to Arizona, all these problems disappeared and I was GOLDEN for several years.  Unfortunately with the very, very dry air in the SW - over time, nasal membranes get dried out and saline solutions become necessary.  Also what happens - it takes about 3 -4 years for the allergens to invade ones body so allergies to the various "flora bunda" does not start immediately - but alas they do find you!

So me thinkith no matter what part of the country - the weather can raise havoc with ones body.

That said - and I just said it - I cannot remember any body afflictions while in Aruba during our 20 years of visits and no problems in La Paz Mexico Hmmmmmmmmm!

Well I'll pop an anti-histimine when and as needed and soon we'll be in many different parts of the country and one can only hope that the local allegens wil not have time to catch up with us.

I think the secret is to keep moving.................

Which reminds me of a friend back in Massachusetts.

We were stuck in a huge Boston traafffic jam - He being a local in the Boston area new all the back roads and alleyways.  So the next thing I know he pulls out of traffic and heads down an alley way along Boston Harbor.  I said "Al why are you doing this - it is not going to get us to our destination any quicker - and may in fact take longer!"
Al looked me square in the face and said "As long as you are moving - you are going some place!"  OKkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!?????????!

Well my friends - we decided not to go to lunch today - "Save the money - save the calories!"  So we shall have a nice quiet morning and perhaps take a nice walk (if the wind is not too bad) and just enjoy one anothers company today!

Take care my friends - until next time.

JR   :>)

Good Morning

Yo Blog Buddies,

Not a busy day today - my DW Melissa is going to a Yoga class at 11am so I will do some proof reading of the first few chapters of the sequel to her novel The Christmas Village.

After her yoga we will do some more packing of STUFF to be stored in the large STORAGE BUNKER - which will not be going into the RV.  I've reserved a small U-haul truck for 3/28 at which time we will move out the rest of our belongings - some into the small RV STORAGE BUNKER and most of it into the large STORAGE BUNKER.  Also on 3/29 the Salvation Army will arrive as we are donating our pillow top mattress and box spring and bed frame and a reclining chair to them.  There is just not enough room in the large STORAGE BUNKER to store these items.  We will sleep on nice thick air mattresses until we move out on 3/31.

Sooooo I think I've got all our ducks in a row and on 3/31 we move into the local Best Western Plus for a 3 day stay.

There will be lots of last minute packing and just throwing STUFF into a box and we'll deal with that STUFF when we return from Indiana with our new home.  WOO-HOO!!!

Well, that's it for this morning - NO PAINTING TODAY - the first day of my of not being able to paint - I HOPE I CAN GET THRU IT!!!!!  :>(

Have a great day and enjoy the upcoming weekend - enjoy life - go out and have some fun!!!!!  There are a couple of local restaurants we want to go to for lunch B4 we depart Santa Fe and today or tomorrow we just may go to one of them!!!

My diet has gone just a tad off, in that I got down to150 but have since put 2 pounds back on - when I sit down and rationalize this, I realize that once we get out on the road and are paying $4 - $5 per gallon for gas and only getting 6-8 miles per gallon - we won't have much money for food so the diet and any extra weight gain will take care of itself!!! 

JR   :>)

Yo My Friends

WELLLLLLLL - after spending what seemed like HOURS on the phone yesterday trying to setup the disconnection of our electricity, Direct-TV, phone and WiFi
EFFECTIVE 4/1/12 and reporting that I fully expected things to be disconnected TODAY.

 I never get a comfortable feeling with "CUSTOMER SERVICE FOLKS" they do not seem to listen to you nor do they seem to understand exactly what it is you would like done nor do they even seem interested in what you are requesting.  They constantly put you on HOLD - which gives me the feeling they are asking the person beside them how to process your request!!!!  Either that or as I said yesterday they go back to reading their book - make you wait 5 minutes so it seems as tho they are working hard for your benefit!!

Today we turned on our TV and NADDA - ZILCH -ZERO  no picture - just a message to "CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE!"   OH CRAP here we go again!!!!
I asked my DW Melissa to call as I was still upset at having spent most of yesterday on the phone!

She called - explained the problem and was told - YOU GUESSED IT ---- OUR SERVICE HAD BEEN DISCONNECTED!!!!  The customer service rep my DW was talking to turned our service back on and connected Melissa with another CUSTOMER SERVICE person in order to straighten out the disconnect order.  WELLLLL DW was put on hold and after almost 10 minutes the phone called became disconnected!!! CRAP!!!

DW called back in again and spoke to another CUSTOMER SERVICE rep and explained the problem ------ this rep said she corrected the disconnect date to 4/2/12 and all should be fine!!!  Actually the disconnect date had to be 4/2/12 as they can't disconnect on a weekend day!!!!!??????!!!!!! HUH??????????

Tomorrow is Friday - any bets as to whether we have Direct-TV service tomorrow?????

We took all my painting stuff down to the small STORAGE BUNKER today and packed everything in!  With tears in my eyes we drove off with me looking out the back window of the car at the metal roll down door of the STORAGE BUNKER.  :>(

Until next time my friends - have a great day.

JR    :>)

THE SAD DAY ARRIVES!!!! :>(

Hello Early Afternoon Blog Buddies,

Well today was food shopping day and errand day.  Not a lot of errands to do - Sam's club and the art store to stock up on some canvas sheets.

Today I decided that my last painting for the next approximately 6-8 weeks would be one that I throw caution to the wind, as I tend to do!  I decided I would do a monochromatic piece using all palette knife work and just let it become what it becomes - on it's own.  No influence from me in that there was no pre-planning and no concern for the exactness of form - just paint thrown with "wild abandonment"  I LOVE IT!!!!!!  :>)

Some people have asked me how I can just start throwing paint around without any pre-planned - no sketching - no concern for exactness.  Wellllll to that I say "THAT'S ME!!!"

There are times that I do some pre-planning and sketching and that's when I find that I overwork the painting and it ends up being way too detailed - for me the fun and enjoyment in painting can be summed up in three words:

  SPONTANEITY - EMOTION - EXPRESSION

If one plans out every brush stroke - every color - every palette knife swipe to me one ends up with a BORING - LIFELESS - DULL painting.  But as I say THAT'S ME!!  :>)

MONOCHROMATIC CONTAINER

12 X 9 on a primed single canvas sheet

Painted with SEE  (SPONTANEITY - EMOTION - EXPRESSION)

I did not take any progress photos as this was done in a time span of less than 10 minutes using bold swipes of MAC the palette knife without regard for ANYTHING - except spilling or splashing paint on the carpet!!!  :>)

I could not have this be the last painting for 6-8 weeks with out a close up for my ATTENTIVE BUDDIES

HOW HE DO DAT??????

Well my friends it's time to pack up all my painting tools and put them into the small STORAGE BUNKER

I cannot see myself painting again until we reach S. Carolina - mid May - then I will be painting a lot of ocean/dune scenes plein air.

In the meantime I'll be blogging on our preparations to depart for Elkhart Indiana on 4/4 to pickup our new home.

We'll be in Elkhart for 5 days or so and then in transit back to Santa Fe to stay at an RV park for 2 weeks before beginning our Journey!

Have a great day my friends and enjoy life.

JR   :<)



Yo My Friends

Welllll - today being Tuesday I got the laundry done - folded - put away and I got our TINY UNIT cleaned!!!

I've been putting off the phone calls to cancel out phone service - wifi - direct TV - and electricity effective 4/1.  WHY you ask???  Because it is a hassle to cancel services  compared to starting services.  You are brow beaten with sales pitches to keep the service and just transfer it - or coaxed into putting the service on hold for 6 months etc etc.  Well, I made the dreaded phone calls today and as expected they just did not understand the concept of we will not be living in a conventional home - our home will be ON WHEELS AND WE WILL BE CONSTANTLY MOVING-------------------------

After over an hour on the phone I THINK - would not bet money on it but I THINK all of our services should be cancelled as of 4/1 or 4/2.

I fully expect our electricity to be disconnected TONIGHT & our phone, wifi and TV to be disconnected 5 minutes after the lights go DARK!!!!

I'm sorry but CUSTOMER SERVICE ---- SUCKS-----  :>(

While I was going thru this torture and being put on hold every time I asked a question, I decided to multi-task - not something a person my age does as a normal course of events.  I have trouble walking straight as well as forgetting where I was going!!!

In any event while being tortured I took a few photos as well as did a painting.

These are the 6 boxes we are shipping to Elkhart Indiana with all sorts of RV goodies that we will need for our 5 day stay and our 4 - 5 day drive back to Santa Fe.  I think the RV manufacturer will think we are MOVING IN!!!!

The most important is the GPS - without it we would have to become residents of Indiana!!!  :>) 

As you can see, it really was laundry day as to the left is one of the 11 items that I did not put thru the dryer today.  Yoga clothes are not cheap - the cost of 6 or so "outfits" could almost support a 3rd world country - SOOOOO no way am I putting Yoga clothes in the dryer!!!  OH NO!!!!!!

When visiting Old Quebec City a couple of years ago ( this is our Paris - we love it ) I saw some paintings in galleries in the Old City that were "IN YOUR FACE" paintings and no care was made to make the women portrayed even close to semi-attractive.

I'm sorry but their features were exaggerated and not proportionally perfect

(pretty much like REAL PEOPLE- no Christie Brinkley here!!!!)

So I did a series of three and the expression on the face determined the title.  The series was called "ACCUSED"  Now remember this is meant to be Parisian Art - a bit different than we AMERICANOS would even consider buying.

This one is 24 x 24 on primed MDF panel

The title is:

Vous ne pouvez pas prouver une chose!

OR

You can't prove a thing!

I have this hanging in my studio --- Why you ask???  Because I like it!!!!

Of course I like it ----- I painted it ------- and I understand the meaning and concept behind it - does anyone else like it ?????

OF COURSE NOT!!!!

The blank defiant stare of the eyes and the tightly puckered full lips - I love em!!!

OK - I'm getting excited - best move along!!!!!

While being tortured, I decided to do a painting - so I put the phone on speaker and jumped right into multi-tasking!

Not too many progress pictures as to me multi-tasking means doing 2 things almost at the same time.  If I tried more than 2 tasks I would have a breakdown!

"DUNES BREACHED"

9 X 12 on a sheet of primed canvas

First I throw in the sky and the contrasting horizon line

Next we need an ocean with some activity

The rest will go quickly as the "customer service rep" just came back to me and thought she had the answer but SOOOO DID NOT!!!  OK - back on hold again --- I should be able to wrap this puppy up before she comes back on the line.  I think all they do when they put you on hold is to perhaps read the newspaper or a book for 5 minutes then check back to see if you hung up disguested!!!

BUDDA BING - BUDDA BOOM

DONE!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed this demo - I'm still on hold and I'm not going to hang up!!!!!

Enjoy the day my friends - until next post and perhaps my last painting for about 2 months!!!     :>( 

JR    :>)



WATER-WATER-WATER

Yo Buddies,

Well, a "Funny thing happened on the way to the easel!!!"

The water containers I use are about 14 years old - yes, I'm very FRUGAL!!!!
( OK ---CHEAP)

I use emptied - washed out large containers of Yogurt!!!!  The containers I have now I brought from Maine 12 years ago and had used them in Maine for at least 2 - 3 years - used them in AZ for 7 years and thus far for 5 years here in New Mexico.

On the way to the easel - I filled them up with water - placed them on my table and started throwing paint around.  Wellllllll I noticed the towel on top of my table was getting wet!!!!  For those of you who do not know, water ALWAYS FINDS ME!!!  WATER IS MY ENEMY!!!!!!!  I actually have a "FEAR OF RAIN!!!!"  Long story but there is such a syndrome and believe me it is REAL!!!

Anyhooooo I lifted up my ancient water buckets to find that one of them was leaking water from the bottom!!!!  Of course it had to be my favorite one!!!!  Not to mention I was hoping to get another year or two out of them!!!  Somehow a hole had developed in the bottom!!!  DAM!!!!  Now I have to eat a large container of yogurt again!!!  :>(

I'm down to one bucket now for water - good thing I'm packing up everything come Wednesday!!!  :>)


I'm beginning to think all that built up CRUD over the past 14 or so years can not be very healthy to breath in!!!!  Maybe that's what is causing my insomnia!!!!  :>)  

Well - since we are going to be moving away from this area and perhaps never return I'm starting to miss my Sangre' de Christo mountains.  As I mentioned before, we love to go up into these mountains and they certainly will be one thing that I fondly remember.

So with that said - and I just said it - I've done a couple of recent pieces of my beloved mountains.  The last one was "Remembering Autumn"

This piece will be 12 x 9 on heavy Linen paper done with my trusty palette knife

"MAC THE KNIFE"

Rough sketch of tree trunks

Aspen trees are not as white as birch trees, so I lay the base coat in with MAC and I use an off white color sort of a parchment tone.

Detail of palette knife work

Time to add more color and this needs to be done with "SOFTNESS OF STROKE"

as I'm working wet into wet and a heavy touch will result in MUD for color

Most of you folks know that I most always put the BG in last - most painters do not - they put it in first - let it dry and then paint the subject matter and the FG.

Well I'm self taught so all of my processes are not according to Hoyle - most of them I just developed myself and Hey it's ME!!

For the most part - painting around objects is not hard to do and I like to blend the BG into the subject matter in that way things do not look "pasted on."

Blending the BG around the trees

Well I'm going to finish this up post haste forth with as I'm getting ready for some lunch and if I don't eat on time I get CRANKIE!!!!

OK --- Now I need to put the finishing touches and tweaks on and this is where I go into hiding so my finishing secrets are not divulged!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BAM

WE HAVE COMPLETION!!!

:>)

Now for my ANAL WHOOPS  ATTENTIVE Buddies

HOW HE DO DAT????

Well I hope y'all enjoyed this little demo - I had fun with it and enjoyed using MAC THE KNIFE again - he won't like being put away for 2 months but it is what it is!!!

Take care - have a great day and enjoy life!

JR   :>) 

GOOD MORNING BLOG BUDDIES

YO my friends,

Well today starts the countdown of WEEK 3!~!  WOO-HOO!!!

It won't be long now as the closer we get the more last minute things we have to do relating to the packing up and the moving out of our TINY UNIT we have occupied for the almost past 6 months.

It's been a pleasant stay - comfortable, clean, quiet and although I would not want to live in this apartment for ever - it has been perfectly acceptable for the duration of our stay. 

Now we get ready to move on to a new phase and pathway in our life.

We (DW & DH) for you new comers DW is Darling Wife and DH is Darling Husband ( that would be ME!!!) this is RV LINGO!

We are both biting at the bit to get started - not even knowing what lies ahead of us out there - the mystery of it all is part and parcel of our desire to JUST START IT!!

Well, I hope later this morning once my "ADMIN" duties are completed to start a painting - so perhaps I will be logging in again today with the results of my efforts - after all -------- Wednesday all my gear gets packed up for storage for 2 months  :>(

Remember what they say ----------

WHEN IN ROME - DO WHATEVER YOU WANT - NO ONE WILL REMEMBER YOU ANYWAYS!!!!

JR   :>)

JR   :>(

CORRECTION

Yo,

I reported that Jenise had 17 broken ribs - well that was incorrect information!!!  I don't think you even have that many ribs do Ya?????  DUH - I'll look it up!!  :>)

She has a total of 17 BREAKS on her ribs, some with multiple breaks!!!

Either way OUCH!!!! 

My DW Melissa went to visit Jenise this morning and she is doing well - the meds are keeping the pain away for the most part.  The next surgery is sometime next week at which time as I mentioned a steel mesh will be inserted to cover her ribs and assist in their healing.

Hope to get back in front of the easel tomorrow as Wednesday all my painting gear gets packed up and brought down to the STORAGE BUNKER on Thursday.  Wednesday will be a very sad day for me - I actually thought of asking someone to pack all my stuff up - I don't know if I can do it.  NO PAINTING for 2 MONTHS Aarrrggggggg - WHAT AM I GOING TO DO???????  :>(

I've got several videos to watch regarding the operation of all the systems on the RV as well as a very good instructional RV DRIVING video.  Still somewhat fearful of driving something 31 feet long with another 10 - 12 feet of car being towed behind it!!!

Well as they say "JUST STEP UP AN DO IT!!!"  YA BIG SISSY!!!

Til next post - have a good day my friends.

JR    :>)

YO

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Just a short post this morning as it is Sunday and that for the most parts tends to be a DAY OFF!!!!

Melissa's friend Jenise had her back operated on yesterday and all seemed to go well.
Next is the issue of her ribs - it turns out that she does not have 5 broken ribs she has

17 BROKEN RIBS  - OMG!!!!!!

Some of the ribs due to the crash are also "moved" and are OVER one another!!

I can not imagine the amount of pain she is in and I'm sure will be in for quite a while.  In a few days they are going in to repair and MOVE her ribs back where they belong as well as install some kind of steel plate to protect the ribs.

Needless to say Jenise will be accumulating $100,000 of dollars of medical bills and she is without any medical insurance.

I had mentioned that the Yoga Community has a goal of accumulating $10,000 to help Jenise with her rent - food - etc until she can get back on her feet - which seems that it will be a long time!  Jenise will be sent to Albuquerque for extensive Rehab. 

Thus far the Yoga Community has raise just over $5,000 to help.

Count your blessings my friends - I certainly am!

Until next post - take care my friends.

JR    :>)

Couple more RV pictures

Yo Dudes,

The RV manufacturer sent a couple more photos of the interior components.  He say we should get a lot more next week as the RV will be 99.9% completed!!!  WOO HOO!
There are 2 photos but a lot of space between photos as GOOGLE BLOGCRAP is not working correctly AGAIN!!!!  :>(  DAMN!!!!!

RV KITCHEN CHERRY WOOD CABINETS- SINK(WITH COVERS)STOVE/MICRO WAVE WITH REFRIG TO THE RIGHT





  

RV COUCH - SEAT BELTS WILL BE HIDDEN
THEY ARE REQUIRED BY LAW!!!

More photos to come sometime next week

WOO - HOO!!!

JR   :>)



Good Evening Blog Buddies

Yo,

Well today was sort of a lost day.  We sat around most of the morning checking email and other blogs etc etc.  Mid morning we went for a nice walk - it started snowing which even tho I do not like snow it was lots of fun taking a nice walk in the snow!

We stopped off at our favorite coffee bistro ECCO - I got a medium mocha with 2 shots and Melissa only wanted a coffee.

We came home and napped most of the afternoon away!!!!  LOVE IT!!!!!

One of the Yoga instructors at the studio where Melissa works and teaches was in a very bad auto accident a couple of days ago.  She went up to the Sangre de Christo mountains last week on a really warm beautiful day to take a hike with her dog.  The whole story is not fully known, but her water bottle fell onto the floor of the car and she bent down to pick it up.

Well in that brief moment the car went off the road and down into a ravine!!!!  She was very badly injured - with 5 broken ribs and damage to her back.  Her dog was severely injured as well. 

Melissa is giving a 2 hour Yoga class tomorrow for donations with all money donated to go to the injured Yoga teacher - Jenise.  The Yoga studio has started a campaign to raise $10,000 to help pay the rent and other incidentals.  Jenise has no medical insurance and the medical costs are estimated to be astronomical - that of course is another entirely separate issue.  She was having an operation on her back this afternoon and in a day or two they plan on putting steel plates onto her ribs.

Jenise makes her living by teaching Yoga - making and selling jewelry and massage therapy.

One brief moment of a lack of concentration and her whole life has changed.

Melissa hopes to raise several hundreds of dollars with donations tomorrow.

Say a prayer for Jenise - she will need all the prayers she can get - she has a long struggle ahead of her.

Stay safe my friends and count your blessings.

JR   :>) 

Good Almost Noon Time

Yo,

Well, not much going on today!  Brought some STUFF down to the STORAGE BUNKERS this morning.  My DW is at the Yoga Studio and should be calling soon for me to come pick her up.

We hope to go for a nice long brisk walk in the Plaza area before we head home to our TINY UNIT.  :>)

Most likely I will not get any painting in today - it's just one of those days that seems like it will be over before I get started - which is OK with me - I need a rest!!!

It's starting to cloud up a bit - they predicted 1-3 inches of snow for overnight - but that did not happen.  The weather forecasters in NM are either completely wrong 99% of the time or they are 2-3 days early with their forecast.  In either case one is better off just waiting to see what the weather does.

Our Tiny Unit is starting to look bare - as we move more and more STUFF into the STORAGE BUNKERS!  This Saturday 4 paintings come down off the walls and will be installed on the walls of a YOGINI friend of my DW.  She owns a business and has offered to display some of my paintings and offer them FOR SALE.  This was a really nice thing for her to offer! 

Well - I assume my DW will be calling any moment so I best get me skates on and be ready to roll when she calls.

Have a great day, and fantastic week-end and stay HAPPY!

JR    :>)

DECISIONS-DECISIONS-DECISIONS

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well some decisions are hard to make - however - some decisions are necessary.  I've prolonged the packing away of all my painting gear long enough!  With our upcoming move from our TINY UNIT it is time to choose a PACK-UP DATE - bite the bullet and JUST DO IT!!!!

So with that said and I just said it - Thursday 3/15 all my painting "THINGS" will be packed up and taken down to the STORAGE BUNKER!  :>(

These are tears   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the 15th of March and for the next 2 months we will be busy moving and learning HOW TO RV!!!  So I most likely will not paint again until mid May when we arrive in S. Carolina.

I will however continue to BLOG - most of which will be RV related.

Anyhoooooooo I did the food shopping this morning and then some dumb errands - that had to be done but none the less they were dumb!

Sooooooo I finished up the SEED POT painting this morning and now I shall step you thru the process.

Seed pots come in all sizes - the bigger the pot the bigger the opening in the top.  These are small seed pots most likely used for the smaller size vegetable and edible flower seeds.  As you can see, a mouse or rat or snake would not be able to invade the pot.

I jumped right into this piece - as I say this was going to be a QUICK piece perhaps
15 - 20 degrees this side of SLOPPY  - HOWEVER my MIND & HAND had other ideas and took over the process of doing this piece.  The more I got into it the less it became a QUICK - LOOSE piece.

I started out with 3 free hand shapes - at this point I want to mention that the older the seed pot - the more RUSTICITY it has.  This is not CERAMICS 101!!!!!  The older pots and many of the newer ones are HAND made - with coiled clay - not electric potter wheels to turn them - these are the REAL DEAL!!!  Therefore realize that this type are not perfect little circles - they have character and although they sit flat they do not have PERFECTION in their shape and I tried my best to present that wonderful RUSTICITY.  This once again is done in a MONOCHROMATIC presentation.

Some adjustments made in color - shape - shadows.  The light is coming from the right

Some additional adjustments in all 3 pots

OK - FORWARD----------------------------------

Time to throw in some FG and to do that magical TWEAKING that I do behind closed doors so all my secrets STAY secrets!!!  :>)

Now for some BG and SECRET TWEAKING!!!

B A M

WE HAVE COMPLETION!!!!

Now for a closeup for my ATTENTIVE blog buddies

HOW HE DO DAT???????

The seed pot I have in my collection is BLACK - I love BLACK pottery a lot and in this area it is a speciality of the Santa Clara Pueblo.

Pretty much each Pueblo has their speciality - some use clay with MICA in it as this is what is in the ground on their Pueblo.

Most if not all of the clay used is hand dug from the grounds of the Pueblo where the artist resides

I hope you enjoyed this demo - it is sort of a dedication of my appreciation and love for the Hand Coiled Native American Pottery

Until next time and with 3/15 being the PACK UP DATE - we won't have many more painting demos until mid May.  :>(

JR