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Tired…where’s that hot tub?

Well, I guess I’m not ready for it,though my neck, shoulders, back and knees, say otherwise! I did get the brick off of the water soaked sand today. In a way, it was a relief.

When I was building the house (15 years ago), it went like this:
Months before, we had selected a hot tub from a home show. “We won’t deliver it till you say so” they promised. yeah, right. The day they called we were putting the 8 x 8 beams (to hold the ceiling and the trusses to hold the roof) in place…one every four feet. I was in charge of connecting the straps from the crane around each beam and my staff were on the walls ready to guide them into place, when the call came in. They wanted to deliver the hot tub. The walls of the room were built, but no door frame or windows yet, and certainly, no floor(or roof for that matter). Since the floor is brick on sand, that was problematic (oh, way more than we knew then.) So, I’d strap a beam, climb down, run in, lay a few brick, run out, climb up, strap a beam…………you get the idea.

The sum of it is that it was less than perfect, by a long shot. The crew from the hot tub place arrived s I layed the final brick, brought in the tub, leveled it (miracle) and left.

All this time and since, that tub left (in pieces) and another came in, and left (in pieces) and now, after 15 years that floor has come up and is stacked in rows in the only level area that existed, right in front of the double doors. No tub coming in just yet. The sand underneath is miraculously drying (since it’s been raining off and on for the past few days) and it’s clear I’ll need more sand to get it level. The room, in this state, combined with the overcast skies and rain take me right back to 1994 and building this house. Then, it rained for 13 weeks straight. Well, I supposed it stopped now and then, but it sure didn’t feel like it. When it rains up here, the temperature dropss to 55 (or lower) and it’s just plain cold and damp. Problematic when you are building a house out of dirt…but that’s another story. A long one.

Stay tuned. I’m tired. good night all. and here’s to you, Dad. (Veteran, Vietnam, multiple tours. Also, another story)

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Sunday Serenity

Sitting on the front porch, gazing at the lake as I type. It’s 76 degrees, and the only sound is the birds, the frogs at my neighbors pond and the tinkle of Grace’s collar as she sniffs the ground like she’s never done it before.

I’m relaxing as I post, having just returned from Albuquerque where the noise and the traffic was getting to me. I have tons to do in the next few weeks, with 6 commissioned paintings to produce by July, a hot tub to get out of the house so I can pull up the brick to dry the sand, and a myriad of “Spring” household duties to attend to. Oh, and there’s the gallery. This coming Friday is the monthly reception “4th Friday” event. Hmmm. I’ll breath deeply now and run tomorrow.

The hot tub will be going out in pieces. Daniel is coming on Wednesday to literally cut it up. I’m so mad at it that I absolutely refuse to remove the doors and frame to get it out whole. That’s what it gets for causing so much trouble! Once it’s gone, I’ll pull up the brick (as I just said) and let the sand underneath dry…then re-level it and re-lay the brick. Then, a new hot tub is welcome to come to the room. A smaller one would be nice, to give us more space in the room for growing things. That’s what we’re hoping/praying for, anyway.

Robie (my roomba) is vaccuuming for me. Which is good, because even in 24 hours of being gone Grace left an alarming part of herself all over the floor…black hair, floating about as you walked through and disturbed the air!

Yup, I’m definitely blessed. And, there with the triumphant electronic toot of Robies “I’m finished” tone, I’ll sign off and go investigate the freezer for what to make for dinner. John will be proud of me. I think it will be fish (talapia) and asparagus. Yum.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM