Catching Up With My Own Life and Commonwheel Reports
This last week has been filled with doing reports for the Art Festival for the Festival Committee meeting and catching up with many things in my own world. Plus a couple of hikes.
The weather has been so very beautiful, I just couldn’t resist hiking when my friend called as mentioned, and then I called her when she was in her car heading to take a short walk in Red Rocks. I told her I could change clothes and meet her there and take a longer hike if she wanted on a trail we had passed up a few times for various reasons. I was ever so glad I did this! We got back into a forested area and that was totally delightful and filled with quiet moments. We sat for a bit and talked and just listened to the birds and squirrels who chattered at us.
It was very good for my spirit to take this time away from everything and do something nice just for myself.
I would add some photos, but am backing up my whole computer into a new cloud storage area that is really reasonable and haven’t taken the time to get the photos off the camera. This back-up is taking a bit of time and I don’t want to add new photo files while it is going on, but soon it should be done and I will get a photo or two posted here.
I got the masks that didn’t get checked into the Commonwheel Gallery onto Etsy, plus a few pairs of earrings. Halloween is coming and I do hope to have some sales there again this year. I need to look at that site and figure out how to sell a few more Estate Items, but that isn’t as high a priority as getting my Sustainable Book updated on Kindle and published on CreateSpace.
And a coaching session with Tony to push my financial situation into a better one by Christmas. (Goal)
I do need to get my inventory of what products I have, books, etc., and what are in the works, not just for this call, but for my own edification, to get motivated to do more marketing and get a bigger list. Too bad, no one is actually reading this blog currently, but it is a good practice of journaling. And some stories will surely be based upon it.
Next, need to catch up on my hiking blog that has more potential for a couple of books and finding an audience.
I did meet with the banker who set up the car loan that just repaid itself for a very small amount of added interest. That loan finished and we did another one with even lower interest. It pushed my Credit Score over the 700 mark and that is amazing in lieu of the fact that my bankruptcy, thanks to Miss Barbara Leuin and her pal Enrique Montiel, is only a couple of years out.
But enough grousing. Time to move forward . . . except need to do just one more grouse – had a call for a “quick” public opinion survey that went on for almost 15 minutes . . . That is not what I call “quick”. And it was very biased in many of the questions. Wonder who really was doing the survey?
On Friday, there was a gathering at MAC for the governor and all the individuals who received Grants after the flooding of 2013 and other important entities in getting Manitou Springs back on track for businesses and the mitigation work. Since Commonwheel recieved one of the Grants, our President and I were invited. I decided to bring one of my Flood Books along and if the opportunity arose, give it to the Governor. There was a lovely buffet and connected with some people I hadn’t seen much this summer. And the opportunity arose to give the book to the Governor’s assistant, who then had me introduced to the Governor and there is supposedly a photo that was taken that was to be sent to the Chamber for a FaceBook post. Forgot to ask them for that today when I went to a marketing meeting at the Chamber. When I get it, I will come back and add it to this post.
I am still doing the FaceBook posts for the Gallery. The person who may take it over and I have not been able to meet yet. So glad to have the income, but it is time consuming. Plus, I don’t know exactly how much she wants to do. Maybe meet next week.
My roommate is leaving for a week tomorrow morning. It will be good to have the house to myself for a short time. Not that she isn’t gone a lot, but I am hoping to also get some rearranging of the house and more chaos sorted out without someone else around. You know how sometimes when clearing spaces, they get worse before they get better. And I anticipate that as a possibility with what I need to look at for getting the house more aligned with the items that are just hanging out in places that they need to leave. And just realized I don’t know where I put the images from the 36 Views of Pikes Peak show. Not Good!
My upstairs tenant is not sure if she is renewing. I mentioned this to a friend who wants to know “right now” if the place will be available and wants to see it. Can’t really make that happen as the upstairs tenant has until the 22nd to give me notice or say she will renew. I guess I will try and talk to her tomorrow, just wasn’t up for it today as I had 2 meetings, a drive to the bank out east and a training today. Just couldn’t put anything more into my day or energy.
The Manifest folks wanted to borrow some signs and tents. So I met her and her two strong helpers at the Storage Unit. She got excited about the number of tents and sides she could borrow. The space was a mess. They pulled out almost everything to get at what they needed. Then put things back in an orderly fashion. I got a tent for Commonwheel’s demonstrators and some chairs put into my car. Then I decided to take our some items that we would never use and get rid of them myself. The guys offered to get rid of the leaking sandbags for me and tossed them into their truck.
One of the Manifest supporters has a storage unit just across from where ours is located, so they put some of the items in there for ease of access on Saturday. The said they would touch up and make look better some of the signs they took. Win! When they put things back into the storage area, it looks much better than it was. And with the items I took, although a pain for me right now, will avoid being moved many more times and not used for anything in the future.
At the Chamber Marketing meeting, I brought up the concept all event organizers should look at what we can share, what signage we could make look better and brand for Manitou, and in general maybe spend less on storage units if we banded together. Something to think about.
I need to get up in the morning and after getting everything ready for a hike, get some of the items out of my car, so on Manifest Sunday, the items we need will be easy to get in and out of my car.
And this hike was to be a different one, but the heat of 85 degrees made it not as interesting to go out east to see a young Clydesdale. Let’s start with and email I sent to a long ago High School connection that I keep seeing mentioned in a column in the Gazette. I was going to go out to his place last year, but then the flooding happened and I didn’t get out there and hadn’t connected in awhile. When I read his name again, I decided to email him and ask about a visit to their “ranch” and just reconnect. When he saw my email, he immediately responded because he has just written one to me, but his wife, who has a strange condition that causes electrical machines to turn off, or die, had walked in the room and his computer shut down. He had to rewrite the email that he was sending asking me if I knew anyone who did Kirlian Photography. I don’t, but had a suggestion for him where he could find that service. We got to chatting via email about his home and the area around it and other health issues. I called RE and asked him for his friend’s phone number that has this same electrical body issue. I thought to connect them to see how each handle it. Not sure where that will go, but got out of the middle of the conversation about that.
My hiking friend loves animals, horses in particular, so I thought a visit to these folks would be a perfect adventure and they have lots of interesting historical things to be seen around their land. But the prediction of 85 degree heat does not sound enticing, so we will have to put this adventure off, but not too long as the young Clydesdale leaves for a new home on October 6th.
This seems like a good place to end tonight.
Sustainable Commonwheel Art Festival Not as Successful as in the Past
When I heard the number for how much waste was diverted from the Landfill this year, I was a bit disappointed. Then again, I had to realize that the main person who has headed this up the past 3 years was in Minnesota at a conference. And so were about 4 other people who had been very helpful as Bin Guardians in the past. Still there were many people who put in a lot of time and effort to reach the 70% diversion this year. And that is still a huge amount of waste that was either composted or recycled compared to it all going to the Landfill.
I was told at the waste facility a great deal of compostable waste was in the Landfill containers. I believe if we had compostable bags for the Food Vendors that would help bring the numbers up. They are so overwhelmed and busy during the Art Festival, it is expecting a lot of them to be totally aware of how they handle all the compostable materials. Much of it got bagged into plastic bags, which meant some of the more focused Bin Guardians had to slit the bags to dump the waste.
So we will see what happens next year.
And I sent my Sustainable Festival book off to someone who has helped with this the Art Festivals Waste Wise side since the very beginning after tweaking it a bit more.
I was totally exhausted the next few days. But had many things to catch up with as follow up after the Art Festival and in my own life. It has taken days for me to feel even close to back to a normal energy level. Thanks to my Sharing Inner Health person, I did get a longer Tune-up session as no one was showing up in the time slot after me. Then her next person was late also. That was my Greek hiking partner, so I offered to walk with her to my house and back with my camera so she would have something to do besides just sit and wait until the person who was on time was finished.
I had wanted to get a picture of the Horse Chestnut tree with its spiky fruits and a picture of the house again.
Which reminds me, I need to go put those images on that web site tomorrow.
I had asked my friends who watch “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Survivor” if we wanted to watch the “Dance” finale over dinner on Wednesday. She emailed me and said she would fix dinner, and yes, let’s do that, as she knew I needed a break. I did bring Gluten-Free cookies for her husband and she sent me home with a loaf of her Chocolate Desert Bread. It was a lovely evening.
On the Friday after the Art Festival, I returned keys and did a couple other errands. Then I bought myself a lunch at Wendy’s and sat at a picnic table in the Garden of the Gods. I walked out onto an very easy trail from there. The Sage was shimmering silver and the strange alien purple flowers were very beautiful.
But I still wanted to do a longer hike and get into the rock formations. So I drove over to another parking area and took a trail I had never been on before. I was very fascinated by the two red rock faces and the white sphere.
I took many photos of them from all different angles. Each twist and turn of the path took me higher and gave me different views of these formations that I had seen from other areas of the Garden of the Gods. But this trail got me very close to them.
And I found them even more fascinating the closer I got.I am always amazed at the trees that seem to be growing out of solid rock. The contrast of the green against this white rock which also is a stark contrast to the red rocks that surround it fascinate me.
It was very hot this day. I did have plenty of water with me and my meal had me feeling comfortable fueled for the hike. I was enjoying the continuation of sunny days after all the rainy ones this summer. Still I wouldn’t have minded a bit of cloud cover over me. And as you can see there were clouds in the sky, but they all missed covering the sun. I found myself enjoying the heat for the most part. But did sit on a shaded rock to just drink in the beauty of this special place I am so blessed to be just 10 minutes away from and can drive through or hike many times.
I saw this stoney formation that looked like its out reaching arm was holding Pikes Peak. And then there was the smiling face in the cloud above the Cedar tree. I am so far behind on my hiking web site, but at least am almost caught up here. And can share glimpses of the hikes that have renewed my Spirit these last few days.
On Saturday, I slept later than planned. Headed to the Farmer’s Market and took coolers so I could go to the What If . . . Festival without having to take my produce home. I missed all the members of the Deja Vu Singles group, but ran into other friends while watching Edith Makes a Paper Chain. Then enjoyed the Chalk Art on the sidewalk. The most fun thing was the cardboard box maze created by Concrete Couch.
Watching the children crawl into this maze and then pop out with smiles on their faces was very fun.
And then there was the dragon . . .
Led by young lady that made me think of Alice In Wonderland by how she was dressed. All in all, a very delightful experience.
I had a few more trainings with Tony Laidig. But have missed most of the ones for Adobe Illustrator. He announced he may be doing only one more training this year, then taking a break from trainings, except for the Expert Media Show. That would give me a chance to catch up with some I have bought, but not watched.
On Sunday morning my other hiking friend called just as I was getting dressed. She wanted to know if I wanted to join her on a short hike in the Garden of the Gods. It was another glorious day, so I said yes. Got dressed, had a quick breakfast then met her at the trail head. Yellow was definitely the color of the day for flowers.
This is a pretty easy loop with great views of Pikes Peak.
And once again, it was a very warm hike. So glad I had put ice cubes into my water bag.
When I got home from this hike, my Greek hiking friend rang my doorbell. I wasn’t up for another walk. She had some lovely Einkorn based cookies to leave with me. Yum!
I had to get Facebook Posts and Tweets done to thank a few people, but more importantly for the upcoming Gallery One-Woman show. I spent some very focused time doing that. I will be sad to see the pay checks for this go away, but someone wants it as her co-op committee job and she does Pinterest also. So we will she how that all works out. We need to soon to discuss what she does and doesn’t want to do. I know I will still be doing the Festival Facebook postings, and I hadn’t gotten paid for those before, other than when I posted Gallery posts on this page. Changes are coming.
I went up to the North Library to see the 36 Views of Pikes Peak show. Good thing I did! It was the last day. Buy I couldn’t pick up the photos or Tina’s painting, as it wasn’t scheduled to come down until that night.
I actually had two photos selected.
After the whirlwind glitch filled attempts to get them printed and delivering them late, I was very glad to see them there. “Serving up Pikes Peak” came from a hike on Ute Valley Trail. I did a bit of manipulation to get it perfectly aligned, but thought it was a very fun image.
Though I think the one with the water wheel should have been there also. But the Peak was a bit subdued in that one. I am still planning on doing a book with inspirational sayings with many views of Pikes Peak that I had started before this exhibit. September is “Book Month”, but not sure if that is one that will happen in September. Still, in the works.
Stopped by the place I bought the printer. They say no printer will print landscape legal without being very expensive. She did give me the promised inks and they offered if I bring it in, to show me how to force it to print landscape legal pages. A future project, as I only need that for the Festival Park Map.
Talked to my upstairs tenant and she is thinking of moving out when her lease ends late October. If she does, I am going to raise that rent quite a bit. And will talk to some people who might be in the market for a new space. Still with utilities included and hearing what other places are renting for, I am sure I can get my asking price this time. Especially with such a tight market for apartments and people wanting to live in Manitou Springs.
A piece of good news came when I called a banker where I have a car loan that is just $13 from being paid off. I did this to help raise my credit score and it worked well. After such a short time from the bankruptcy because of B. L. defaulting on all the loans I had made to her & another “holistic” practitioner, this is really amazing and good news. Now if I can just get my income to look more solid, I will feel much more comfortable when my house loan changes in 2017. Wish me luck.
I did make some progress on clearing up some of the chaos in my home today. And harvested some catnip and peppermint to dry. Then took photos of my masks and earrings to post on Etsy tomorrow.
I believe I have almost caught up to today. Yeah!
And with adding all these photos, it is late again. And my bed is not made . . . Time to give Little One her last feeding she is telling me, then get my bed made and crawl into it for a good night’s sleep.
Catching Up After the Commonwheel Art Festival Part 2
Looking back at this year and all the years I have coordinated the Commonwheel Art Festival, I came to the realization that I have put a very personal touch to how I do this job. I am very vested in it coming out well. And I am where the buck stops. This last year it took more of my time than I was paid for by many hours, hell, days. And I let it take over my life quite a bit. From August 9, 2013 when Memorial Park and much of Downtown Manitou Springs was flooded, including the basement of the gallery, I became enmeshed in making the Art Festival survive and successful for its 39th and 40th years.
But now that I have accomplished that, I realize how much it took out of me to make that happen. How to handle it for this next year and what its future will be must be looked at very seriously by myself and the Commonwheel members.
But now back to catching up with this some other events that happened before and during the Art Festival.
Just before the Art Festival, I had to switch out the cottage with an new tenant for the 3rd time in 5 months. During the time when both tenants were not living there I had wanted my Handy-man Friend to do a couple of simple fixes. Adding electric to the bathroom where there never has been an outlet before, and putting a new one in the kitchen. Then do a fix of an area of the foundation. But when we got in there, the ceiling in the kitchen looked really bad. Was worried there was still a leak. So that became a huge project. The electric cost quite a bit more than I anticipated and the ceiling fix was very expensive. I decided to forgo the foundation work, but the bills came to more than 2 months rent, which I don’t have in savings. And with the Flood insurance coming due to the tune of almost $1,900.00, I could only pay part of those bills. A large part, but still, not all of them. Hopefully everyone who owes me money will pay me in time to take care of my monthly bills and the Flood Insurance. This is not how I like to do business, and am looking forward to making a change for the better in my financial world in the very near future.
Then on the Wednesday before the Festival, my Sharing Inner Health client told me that the person she had sold the School of Inner Health to, had given everything back to her, as he could not make it a success. So she needed me to do some work on the web site to let people know that Module One for the Craniosacral training would still be held in early October and somehow get all references to the School’s web site removed. Just before midnight on Thursday I worked on it and missed some connections, but did get a page up for the class. Not something I had time or energy to add to my life right then.
And I had to start the process of getting the info off the web site that we needed so it could be shut down and the domain name moved back to KM’s possession so she could work on finding someone to buy the School again as she kept it alive by doing the trainings she is so skilled at doing. But that had to wait until the week after the Festival was over and I had a day or two to rest and recuperate.
So after the call from Security that the sprinklers came on on Friday night, I dreaded what I would discover or hear from the food vendors in the morning. Since it had drizzled rain during set-up, it seems no food vendor actually realized that the moisture in the area was new and caused by sprinklers. No one asked me or the Security person about anything. And so I assume there was no real damage incurred. Whew!
The Saturday morning check-in went fairly smoothly. The Food Vendor area was the most challenging. And later, had a complaint that the BBQ person was advertising hamburgers & hot dogs & Brats, which he had been informed was to be sold by a vendor that only had those items. He argued a bit, saying he just was told to now “emphasize them”, not exempt them completely. He had some very unique items and real BBQ items that we had wanted to have there. It was pointed out to him that he had them at eye level on a hand written menu. Not very discreet. So he erased all but the Brats. Not the perfect solution, but as the days went on, it became clear he wasn’t really a good fit for future Art Festivals. No need to go into reasons here. Except, to note that as everyone was checking out on Monday, one of his helpers came up and asked what they were suppose to do with the “juice.” I asked him, what type of “juice” was he talking about. The frying oil was what he then told me. I had the perfect answer. “It is a state law that anyone who uses oil for frying in a commercial setting is responsible for the proper disposal of that oil.” He didn’t look happy, but couldn’t argue with me. Hopefully they handled it correctly.
About mid-day, a couple of artists came to the Info Booth to tell us that one of the photographers with a double booth was not the artist that did the work. That the person there was a rep. Totally against our rules. I was pretty tired and went over to look at the booth. He had many large photographs not just on the walls, but lined up on the ground. They all had paper on the corners. I asked the person in the booth if I could talk to Mr. Gertz whose signature was on the “art” hanging there. No, he was in Arizona and Santos was there as his business partner. We moved to the back area of the booth to continue our conversation. I made it clear that he/they had broken the contract that was signed by the artist that was suppose to be in attendance.He argued that we had accepted both of them. I repeated that the artist who signed the work needed to be at the Art Festival, and not one of the images had any signature but Gertz, who was not there.
Then I pointed out that his booth looked more like Walmart than an artist’s booth.I suggested that he remove the items that were on the ground and he agreed to do that. I asked him if he looked around the Art Festival, if he thought his booth fit into how the others looked. He was looking pretty sheepish at this moment.
Now I was talking rather quietly, but clearly make him understand that this booth was not acceptable and that they had clearly broken the signed contract.
Suddenly a woman came up and and told me I should not talk to this man this way. She and other customers were feeling really distraught by my “ranting” at him. I pointed out that I was the Festival coordinator and he had broken a very important rule in our contract. Then she raised her voice and told me I had no right to talk to him this way. Or that I should do it behind the booth. We were at the back in the opening to the back of the booth, but not behind the booth. She got louder and declared she was leaving the Festival because I had upset her so badly by treating this man so rudely in public. By this time, she had quite a few people much more distraught than my quiet conversation had caused. And later, I heard another artist talking about her ranting about my actions in his booth to his customer’s discomfort. Not sure how many times she did this, but hopefully not many.
When she left, Santos said he would remove most of the items that were stacked up on the ground. So I left it at that.
The next morning, another one or two artists came to complain about this booth. I gathered a coupe of Festival committee members together to discuss what to do. And I had the contract in hand. It was only signed by Gertz. On member said she would be willing to ask Santos to leave. We discussed whether to do it immediately, or let him stay one more day. She was adamant that it needed to be done now and for him to pack up so other artists could see that Commonwheel stood by its contract with them. She stated what she would say, and circled the two most important lines in the contract. That the artist needed to be present and if the contract was broken in any way, he would be asked to leave with no refund.We went to his booth. She asked to speak with Mr. Gertz. Of course, he was not there. Then she produced the contract and asked him to pack up and leave. He did not argue, but said he would need help getting a parking space for his truck to get out of the Festival. We were able to provide that help. So he left and many artists were impressed and thanked us for removing this interloper.
I had to ask three other groups of people to leave that set up without being part of the Art Festival. That is an easy task for me and has happened many times in the past. I just tell them we “own” the park for three days and everyone in the park has juried in and paid a large sum of money to participate in this Art Festival. Each day, they did pack up and leave. One uninvited vendor’s partner tried to convince the other one to stay, but I hung out until they were packing up felt sure they would leave. If they had not begun packing in earnest, I would have had a second conversation that would have informed them that I would have a Police Officer there to escort them out of the park. I hate having to go to that level, but usually just the mention of having the Police come in gets an uninvited vendor packing very quickly.
But mostly the art work was awesome and some artists had phenomenal sales, whereas others didn’t. Sort of “par for the course” as my Dad used to say.
These are the Bird Houses that made the front page of the Gazette on Saturday.
A person claiming to be part of a non-profit told the Info Booth Attendee that he had permission from Officer Johnson to set up a table on the edge of the Art Festival. I called him and said, he did not have our approval. Then I called Dispatch to find out if Officer Johnson would come talk with me. Two other officers showed up, but were pretty sure Officer Johnson was not working that day. By the time they arrived and searched the perimeter, this person was no where to be found.
One of the best things for me this year was that even without my being present much in the Group Booth, my Fantafaces items sold better than usual. That was a welcome piece of news each day. And actually without the jeweler who usually was there and took up a large area with her beautiful display, the booth looked more open and inviting and everyone in it seemed to sell better than year’s past. Something to think about in the future.
And the new sound person kept the music at a level that was enjoyable and had very few, almost nil complaints from artists. I had been a bit worried as the Music Tent was set up closer to the artist booths than I had anticipated. But it worked out well and there were many compliments of the music selections this year.
I did an interview on Friday with someone from the Gazette. Artists asked why someone would come on set-up day, but I said, if it gets us a story on Saturday or Sunday, rather than Monday, I would be very happy. I was thrilled when I opened Saturday’s paper and saw a photo of the Bird House creator filling almost a third of the front page. He got many people looking for him and we could not have asked for a better story!
I met with the Live Remote Radio Station people. The DJ was a bit cranky, had bad instructions to the park and could not get a signal. The woman with him was new to the area and was delighted by everything she saw and loved the give-away items I had for them. She wants to keep informed more about art happenings in the area. And just now realized I need to connect with her very soon.
On Monday, a TV station showed up for an interview. I asked our President to do it. I was not feeling peppy or pretty. Plus, I was afraid I would say something about how sad it was to let people see all the things they wouldn’t have a chance to see as by the time this would air, the Art Festival would be over. So best for me not to do that interview. She agreed and I am sure presented herself and Commonwheel in a very positive light.
Signage was still a challenge. Getting it where it needed to be was not an easy task, even when I drew maps for people. Thank Goodness for RE’s help. But even he missed placed one important sign that I got moved with the help of a strong man who saw me struggling to get the informative sign closer to where the Shuttles stopped.
And the Shuttles, geez, the drivers just had to be talked to every day. They were giving confusing instructions about which shuttles to catche and where the first day. I tried to meet with each driver the next two mornings and had fewer complaints.
Each night I went to dinner with two of my long distant girl friend artists. We were joined with different people each night. At the Keg for our Chicken Berry Salads, an artist couple joined us. Pretty interesting dynamics between them. Made for interesting conversations.
Another night a young man from Denver who we had met last year and had brought a couple with him to the Art Festival. Quite a few of this group had dietary restrictions, sowe all went to the Ethiopian Restaurant that K had introduced me to and was a safe bet for vegetarian and gluten-free meals. A couple of artists were not comfortable with the “we eat with our fingers” and finagled a fork. There was mixed reviews of the Teff rolled and spongy bread. The Denver woman and I had a very interesting conversation about blood clots and we learned more about the young man and his love of rocks and gems. I had driven us all there, which was good since parking was scarce and I couldn’t imagine 2 or 3 vans trying to find spaces. The young man and the artist painter had just met went to different restaurant the next night with Tofu Salad as their goal.
On the last night, getting all packed up was quite a challenge. I ended up having to do much more than I had planned to get things packed up from the Info Booth. And had to figure out the logistics of getting the stage to the Chamber’s storage unit, then the rest to ours. But I forgot to instruct them to leave one of the tents, the really short one in the front of the Storage unit to use on the 21st. I am afraid to go up there and look at the chaos. Plus the gathering of signs was another challenge. JM & RE were tasked with working on that on the next day.
I also forgot that I had told RE that if he didn’t find another ride back from the UHaul place to the park and his vehicle to call me. He must have called when I was without my phone when I was changing out of my wet shoes and pants caused by stepping into a muddy puddle hidden under straw when I went to get the eclectic switched off. Or perhaps he called when I was at the noisy restaurant. I had gone home and emptied some items (the tax money and the prize box) out of my car and changed clothes, then picked up one artist and headed downtown for dinner to meet with the artist friend who had come down from Denver. He got a late call also, as the artist with his phone number had forgotten to call him, but caught him just before he ordered at another restaurant. He is a very interesting young man. And his partner is a published author. The artist is a very hyper person, hope they make it as a couple. They did seem very much in love and had just moved in together with plans to move to one of the Carolina’s in a year. We had a pleasant meal, and fun conversations. Sadly, I walked out without my To-Go box and that was to be my lunch the next day. So it goes.
And again, I have gotten late into the night and not even close to today. But will have to take a break and hope to spend one more evening of writing to get brought up to the day I am writing.
Very Quick Update After Commonwheel Art Festival
It is too late to begin catching up completely.
It has been a very long time since I was able to post here. Between getting all the finalizing details for the Commonwheel Artists 40th Annual Labor Day Weekend Art Festival in place and doing the Art Festival, then trying to recuperate, I just haven’t had time to post here.
I did get in my hike in the Garden of the Gods, but not on the 23rd. I went to the Farmer’s Market and then thought I had a Life Celebration to go to that day. Turns out it was on Sunday.
So on Sunday, I got up and dressed to hike and go to the Life Celebration. I had planned to take a short loop, but went off down the path to my favorite off the beaten track hike. It was just me and my camera and I kept finding new and interesting rock formations to take photos of on this path. Then I realized I was near an area that I could get up to my favorite trail into the Ancient Cedars. So, up I went. It was a glorious day and I really needed this break from the Festival and everything else going on back home.
When I finally decided I absolutely had to head back down, I found the trail I have used many times in the past and headed down that way. I rarely will go back the same way I came, so this felt good. Suddenly I came upon a cliff, a drop off of more than 20′ where I could see the trail in the distance again, but I couldn’t get there. So I did a bit of bushwhacking and found another trail, that also lead to another drop off. OK, this time I had to climb back up. Luckily I had lots of water and some trail bars with me, as I was getting a bit tired now. And then I remembered I had a Ninja Red packet. That really helped keep me alert and able to figure out how to get back to a trail that would actually take me back to the parking lot.
I hiked for 4 hours. Much longer than I had planned, but it was a delightful hike and I felt rejuvenated in spirit, ready to finish the last days of tasks leading up to the Art Festival.
I made to the Life Celebration a bit late and very hungry now. Had a platter of cashew encrusted prawns and a Bloody Maria. Lots of conversations with friends. Gave his wife two of Emanuel’s books in hopes they would be of some comfort to her. Such a waste to see another young and talented person leave the planet. And just like with Robin Williams, it was tied into depression.
Now being this far out from some of those days, they are just a blur of activities that needed doing.
On Monday I met with a beautiful Red-head and she bought me lunch. We talked about essential oils and books and the Art Festival. Another welcome break. Then there was the Board meeting that night. Challenges handled and coming in the future discussed. That meeting is a bit of a blur right now also . . .
On Tuesday had a Marketing meeting at the Chamber. Was very glad to see the Festival banner was up. Future connections for more advertising opportunities seen. But mostly Chamber business. I also washed off my display stands and got them into my car.
I took a bit of time to work in my studio somewhere in this time-frame. I had a decent showing of earrings, hair clips and masks. Had to tag them on the night before the Festival. But got it done!
Had a three webinars with Tony Laidig scheduled this week. Made the one on Tuesday and Thursday. Will have to just watch the replays for the Adobe Illustrator training as I keep missing these on Wednesdays.
I discovered on Wednesday night that the new printer will only print Legal Portrait, not Landscape, which is what I really needed a new printer for, but didn’t notice that little note on its description papers. OK, I am a clever person and figured out a way to print the park layout for us to use in the morning to mark the park for booths. I took a screen shot of each page, then took it to PhotoShop where I had to size them to match and put them in a Portrait layout to print. Very tedious, but it worked. And I was ever so grateful that I was able to do this instead of having to work with Letter sized copies when marking the park.
Four of us met at Fields Park Thursday morning and set out to mark the park. There were numerous extra obstacles, the ditch down the center of the park created some challenges. Fortunately, there were fewer booths and we were able to work around this without putting it in the center of any booths. One helper had to leave before we were finished, but we were almost done by that time. My measurements and placement of booths was fairly close, so I didn’t have to do too many changes. RE and I left Miss A to write the numbers in the booths so we could move the flags and get the small tent out of the storage unit before he had to be at the Co-op to work. By now I was hot, tired and hungry. Went home and ate, then worked on making the corrections needed on the map to be ready for tomorrow’s check-in at noon. Miss A called to tell me we had an extra booth in one of the aisles, so I had to do some moving around of names of artists to fix that. Took an artist away from a space I hadn’t liked, but just moving that artist didn’t work well for who she would have been next to for media conflict. But got it done and printed out with the tricky way I had to do that. Would hope to not have to do that again this year.
Not sure what I will do about the printer, as I won’t have time to go back to where I bought it until tomorrow which is weeks after purchasing it.
Friday was the big push to check artists in. There were of course a few artists who needed to have a booth change. I was able to make most of the them happier. I had made one weaver who traveled far and had health issues extremely happy with her booth location. A jeweler friend was unhappy to find herself looking at a booth that she did not enjoy the art displayed there, but was very happy with being close to the street for an easy loading and unloading situation. Earlier I had a report that that FA booth was infringing upon another booths space. I wasn’t at my diplomatic best and told them not only that they had to move back a bit, but that in year’s past I had had complaints about them taking more space than they paid for by spreading out. She said they would gladly pay something extra, and later that day brought an envelop to the Info Booth with a check in it.
The kids area was a huge success. All three activities were located together and across from the Info Booth. But sadly, I saw a sign on the Balloon Artists tent that said that after 17 years doing this festival, he would not be back. Time to follow other opportunities. Never got to talk to him at the Festival. Will wish him the best of luck and I am sure there are other magicians or balloon twisters who would be happy to be here next year.
I went to dinner with my 2 favorite women and a new artist. The Loop was perfect. They all parked in my driveway and we walked down there. I had a much needed Martguerita, which my jeweler friend bought for me. Then we all headed to sleep for an early morning the next day.
And it was early for me! I had a call at about 9pm, just as I was about to get ready for bed. The security person said the sprinkler system had come on in the food vendor area. He was able to divert some of the water and I called the Dispatch who said they would find out who was on call for the parks. I drove down to the Police Station and they had no idea who was on call, but assured me dispatch would take care of it. Dispatch is no longer located in the Manitou Springs Police Station, but in Colorado Springs. My Security checked in and said the sprinklers were off, and perhaps nothing was damaged. I was perturbed enough to call and leave a message on the Mayor’s phone who I later learned was at a concert at Red Rock in Denver.
Not quite caught up, but my back is aching and it is time for me to head to bed.
Time Flies When Having Festival Detailed Fun
So here it is almost a week later. So much for posting every day . . .
Maybe I should be working on my Sustainable Event book instead of blogging. But is was a day I call a “Bad Nerve Day” that comes around once a month. Though I don’t remember one last month . . . And so I had a drink and it is easier to blog than do serious work. that bottle of Tequila I bought before heading to Amy’s party is about 1/3 consumed. Not like I am drinking a lot, but more than I have in months of having no alcohol in the house.
“Little One” is a very difficult kitty to be having in my space right now. She is demanding, and yet so very beautiful. I did take a photo of her, but haven’t downloaded them and don’t want to get distracted into PhotoShop right now.
Monday started with about 6 emails from people needing my attention for things I had thought were taken care of and I was done with for the Art Festival – but NO!
One of the reasons the art festival is better off not at Manitou Springs Memorial park is all the construction going for a new Spa that has big equipment everywhere making parking challenging.
They were also drilling a new well for 7 Minute Spring to shore it up and make sure it has a good casing for the water to flow from for many years to come. Quite the project, but it will be so good for Manitou Springs to have this new energy to bring people from all over for reasons relating to health.
Another artist cancelled. I told him I couldn’t refund his money, and just too late to go find a replacement. When I was placing artists, I realized it would have been more challenging without the cancellations. But mostly would have had on more row closer to the music. And since I have no idea how the sound will carry and affect the booths directly to the west side of the stage, I am taking the cancellations as blessings in disguise for us, not them.
All week long, I have been reassessing my relationship with the Art Festival. I really take it too seriously. But how can I not, it relates to the livelihood of about 100 people who have counted on this festival for 40 years. Well, they haven’t all been coming to it for 40 years, but some for at least 30 years. The other person than me that has been doing it for 40 years is having major health issues. My traveling potter friend who I spent many a days and years with doing Art Festivals and the RenFest with for that many years is suffering from Alzheimer and Dementia. I haven’t been able to go up and visit with her. Though I am told the video I sent to her was entertaining for a moment, but then she didn’t remember who I was, just entertaining.
So I declare that September is BOOK MONTH for myself and Z, who has books ready to be published. He came to my office on Friday and we got a few important things done for him. I loved it when he said he was really comfortable in front of a camera. That is a great skill to have and he does look good always, so will work with him. We need a better camera and as I wrote this remembered I have an older Flip Camera. Stopped to email and ask him if he wants to borrow it.
It felt really productive and inspiring to be working on something other than the Art Festival, and know that I have much time like that coming soon. Just need the Art Festival to be successfully finished.
My cousin who helped me with my Sustainable Event book asked for my input on what she was sending someone for an interview. I had no idea of some of the things she has been involved in during her life. She is amazing! I really wish we lived closer or I had more time to spend with her and a couple of my other beautiful cousins. Really need to take a trip to Arizona before much more time has passed.
And this is pretty wild. I got him to watch Tony’s 100th Expert Media Show and he won the full past and future trainings for Easy Book Illustrations! I had wanted one of us to win one of the physical prizes, but this is pretty fun and I have some of the trainings, so we can help each other learn how to use them better. He doesn’t have PhotoShop, but there are free programs he can start in and the first training will talk about them. Then as more abundance comes into our lives from books, he can get PhotoShop either on the monthly plan or just purchase it.
I had to leave that training at 7:18pm, it was way longer than normal. Lots of people coming on with some tips and some programs to offer (mostly free), but I had to be at City Council for a silly reason, in my opinion. I knew I would miss the first section that the Art Festival was on the agenda, but then it was up later , so I didn’t want to miss that also. I got there and they were in the middle of a very long discussion about Storm water. So I could have stayed to the end of the presentation, but how would I have known that?
I had started my Tuesday morning with Aine, it was very peaceful and centering way to start my day.
As much advertising as I have done and Social Media, I doubt there will be a new video for the Art Festival, though I have all the slides ready. Just have never seen many people watch it in the past. Though if I posted the link on a FaceBook post and Tweeted it, maybe if I had just one or two, they would get watched. Something to consider. And it would keep me practicing doing these videos for my future use.
So I am jumping around in this post. But that is how it goes some nights.
I kept having to do some Facebook posts to stay ahead of the calendar. I wrote them, I really didn’t want to waste them. Then I finally got time to finally getting them all up. And write up the bill for myself and the person who had created the poster image and done the complete poster and postcard.
Interesting the the Gallery show is “Wanyama Africa” with all the news about Ebola. And one of my festival committee members is headed to Africa during the Labor Day Weekend. Leaving on Tuesday. He will be 2,700 miles away from the countries where this disease is centered. I offered him my YL Purification and Thieves Hand Cleanser for the trip, we will see if he accepts it as a Bon Voyage gift when he drops things off for the Art Festival when I probably won’t be home this coming week.
Getting the park measured to my liking has been challenging, and then I started working on the Food Court area. Very crazy with all the trees and distances did not make sense when I came home to put it on paper. I met with the new Sound person. And it turns out he is a friend of my friend’s of mine from my Greeley College days. What a nice person. And he has the same concept of volume of music as I do, and won’t be afraid to tell the players that they only get so much volume. They are playing to a small crowd that will be right in front of the stage, not a huge amphitheater. And he was happy with the set-up and where the electric was. He did ask that the Stage Manager be the person who gets acts on and off the stage on time. He didn’t want to be that “bad” guy.
The night before, I had learned that the person who had gotten all the acts again this year would not be here. Her daughter is starting school in Boston and she will be there for the orientation. Her husband will be handling the Stage Management side. I am sure he do a good job. Just another new and different piece I hadn’t expected.
When we met, it was drizzling and that made it difficult for me to get more measurements of the Food Court area. But I think I have it close enough to place them. What to do with the Kid’s booth and the Balloon guy is still up in the air a bit. And then the only Food vendor who doesn’t need electricity is the Lemonade person. Hate to put him so deep in the Food Court, but with the Beer Garden also, the next best place would have him right across from that. Will see how this all works out. Am hoping if he is near the Kids Activities that it will work out just fine . . .
What I have been dealing with this last week so much is how I do get so intensely involved in wanting it all to work out for the participants. I did the placement of artists and had some feedback from committee members and am very concerned about a long time friend, that I can’t really honor her request with the new layout. How to let go of this? Working towards that. And I do know that I will have done my absolute best! on many levels – Advertising, layout, etc.
Thursday I got an email telling me that the PP Bulletin hadn’t done our ad in color, as agreed for sponsorship. But they would give us a larger color ad next week. They needed me to get the newly sized ad to them quickly to make that happen. And then on Friday morning I saw that the GO! ad wasn’t in color. I sent them the email that noted that I had dropped off the agreement for paying for color long ago. They will put an extra color ad in Wednesday’s paper. But geez, did I need the extra time spent on getting that all straightened out? Not really.
My new printer isn’t as easy to figure out as I had hoped. Can’t get it to scan yet. I think I need to take a day away from the office and look at it fresh on Monday. The reason I needed it to scan was to send a contract back with changes for the Shuttle. They are upping their sponsorship, but need me to agree to the new deal on signed copies returned to them. And of course, can’t just sign the contracts online in a pdf . . . need to sign and scan them back into the computer.
At the Wednesday MSAC meeting the new admin for COPPeR gave a rather exciting presentation. They are going to piggy-back off of, but not join in the National October Art Month campaign. With Septemberama happening with many art related events in September (including a Dance Party at the Art Festival to “kick’ it off) and then continuing a focus on the ARTS in October, hopefully more people in the region will start spending more money on the various art related offerings in our region. And a great report related to the Creative District application process was also heard.
I attended three trainings this week. Had to leave 2 of them early. I knew the Adobe Illustrator one would be cut very short on Wednesday. At least I got to be there for the Easy Book Content Creation training about creating “No Content” books. I have ideas for myself and Z. On Friday when I mentioned them to home, he did like the journal idea, but that also sparked another couple of ideas for books he could easily write and there is a market for in Real Estate.
My roommate is having a difficult time in a relationship she thought was solid. Now it is less settled which has her a bit on edge. But really glad she has some other things that are changing for the better for her life path and future.
I asked someone to put up the Festival Flags, and just as she predicted, she put them in not the right placement. I had said at the East end, by the large Flashing sign. She put them towards the West end and back in trees. Can’t really see them that well and don’t relate to the sign that is flashing for parking that we want them to pay attention to next week. Not sure how to fix this easily. May have to wait until later in the week.
I had thought a memorial for a friend’s husband was today, but it is tomorrow. Just shows how I was not totally in my center today. When I was going from one bar to another in search of this memorial, I saw the ad person from PPB and chatted with her. Met her husband who is one of the new owners of PPB. She made a point of reminding me that we were meeting for lunch on Monday at the new location for Adam’s Mountain Cafe. I will enjoy a break from the Festival focus. She is one of the contacts I want to work with when I do start promoting my and Z’s books. And she is a really nice and interesting person.
I did spend a short amount of time in my feather studio tonight. Have a few pairs of earrings and a couple of hair clips done. That is how I plan on ending my day tomorrow, playing in my FantaFaces studio creating some items to have at the Group Booth during the Art Festival.
I think I will head to bed a bit early tonight. And I hear the noisy kitty coming to ask for her evening feeding.
I am determined to go for a hike in the Garden of the Gods in the morning. The flowers that I have seen from my car make me really want to get out and walk among them with my camera in hand. And I will!
Cheering the Pikes Peak Marathon Runners
I have always said it all those runners can run up Pikes Peak, I will get up and cheer them on. So I did that Sunday morning. I did go back to bed both days and am feeling better for doing that tonight.
I have a cow bell from the shop next door that I ring and take some photos. There were very few people where I was standing this year.
Saturday 1,600 runners go up Barr Trail 14 miles to the summit of Pikes Peak. They have two starting times. The first and faster qualifiers start the run at Manitou Springs Memorial Park at 7am. A second wave begins their ascent shortly after 7:30am. It is quite a sight seeing that many people racing by. Some have no idea what they have gotten themselves into, others return year after year to do either the Ascent or the full Marathon. And a few even do them both! Now that is really crazy in my book.
They head up my street which ends at the start of Barr Trail that goes to the top of Pikes Peak. Some are already walking when they pass my house, but surely they step it up to reach Barr Camp in time to not get turned around.
It was challenging to ring the Cow Bell and take photos of a mass of people running past me, but I did get a few good images. Have quite a few blurry images too. I couldn’t find anyone else to ring the Cow Bell, so alternated between ringing and snapping photos.
Then on Sunday about 800 runners take Barr Trail and run up to the 14,000 foot summit and turn around and run back down.
This year was one of the best years for weather they have had in a long time. That was really a blessing considering all the rain we have had. It might have rained late in the day, but not sure where, as it didn’t in Manitou, but I heard the thunder booming around 4pm for a short time.
The man in red was way ahead of the rest of the pack. I wonder if he was the winner. I was up in my FantaFaces studio when I heard the crowd cheering the first runner coming down at 10:36 am. There may have been a new record set. I will check the Sports Page tomorrow to see who won and his time.
There are many different age and gender categories for awards, but a male runner has always had the best time.
Matt Carpenter owned this race for many years. Winning the Ascent and Marathon many times. And some years doing both. He has become involved in the organization side and hasn’t run the last couple of years. He still does other marathons, but I don’t think he ran this one this year.
On Saturday, I went to the Farmer’s Market after cheering, and stopped and did some more measurements at Fields Park. Ran into Reverend walking his dog and talked to him about the Art Festival. He took some flyers up to the Church. He is very active in the Flood Preparation and opens the church for an Emergency Shelter when necessary. I was really tired this day, so took a nap mid-day, and that helped get me energized to spend time in my feather studio to end the day up there.
I was able to spend a good amount of time in my FantaFaces studio both days. Got quite a few masks created. I still need to get some earrings, barrettes and pendants to have a good showing for myself at the Art Festival. And I really need to have more masks created also. Will see how that goes the next couple of weeks.
Tomorrow I have lots to do on the computer for the Art Festival really need to get the FaceBook posts done and put in my billing for that time.
The Cottage bill will be close to equal to 2 months rent. It does seem like this new tenant will be staying awhile. He and his Dad got work done on painting the two front room floors. I saw the red floor and it looks really nice. Sort of like a redwood flooring. Definitively an improvement from the scuffed and dirty wood look it has had for years.
And he was doing some “landscaping” in front. Used bricks that had been piled in the yard to create a planter space in front of the porch. Very ambitious young man. Really grateful I chose him to move in this time.
On my lunch break, the most beautiful large butterfly floated past me. He landed on a tree where I couldn’t really get a good photo of him. Except for this one. And then he flew away. Maybe he will return this week. I will be looking for him. He was exceptionally beautiful to watch and made my heart sing, though wishing I could be out hiking . . . can’t go there now.
I noticed that the Hummingbird Feeder was nearly empty. Yesterday it had had plenty of syrup, so there must have been a major gathering of hummers dining on it last night and this morning. So I filled it back up for them.
“Little” kitty is still acting very needy at times, or disappears. Her owner stopped by to say he still loves her, and took a bit of time to find her again. But when she did come out of hiding she was really happy to see him. And she does enjoy playing with string and catnip makes her very happy when she is meowing at me. Still not sure exactly what she wants, but trying to keep her as happy as possible under the circumstances.
My roommate hasn’t been home since “Little” arrived. Working long days and spending time with her boyfriend. Should be interesting to see what she feels when they do meet. Maybe she can give me some insights of what this kitty needs to be more relaxed and happy during her stay here.
I sent out reminder emails for Tony Laidig’s 100 Expert Media Show this Tuesday. I have to head off to City Council as soon as it is over. But I am not leaving until he has given away the last prize. This is a Free training series, and to celebrate his 100th show, he is giving away physical prizes and access to courses to some lucky attendees. I am visualizing winning one.
I also touched base with some people about Essential Oils, and set a date to meet with one person next Monday.
I am so looking forward to having time for my art and book businesses. And getting my affiliate web sites up. I do have at least one program I will start to promote just using my email list, or on Facebook. And really need to get the corrections for the “Sustainable Event” book done and uploaded to Kindle. Then finish the cover and upload it to CreateSpace. I still have vision of getting that done before Labor Day Weekend.
So I am caught up with these posts. Wish I could say that about my hiking site, but there are only so many hours in a day, and I do fill them up with various business focused work.
Stressfull Art Walk Friday And An Awesome Sky
Friday morning started with “Little One” arriving for her month long stay. She had started her life around here and I had had to find homes for her and her kittens. She is really beautiful Tortoise Shell colors. My long time potter friend had taken her in we think 2001 and she had loved where she lived with him and they became best buds. Now things were changing as he and his significant other were moving far away and in the process of building a home that wasn’t finished and their home in Green Mountain Falls was closing that afternoon. So she needed a place to hang out until the new home was finished. She has always been a hissy cat, and this morning and the next few days she exhibited that behavior often.
But not into being picked up and has a fussy meow that is hard to interpret what she is looking for when using it.
When released from the cat carrier, she immediately dashed off and found some place to hide. I will be using a bit of Young Living Peace and Calming around her to help her settle in over the next few days.
My tenant called me and asked if I would look at some ideas he had for making the floors much more beautiful than they are now. His Dad had refinished floors and his sister had one like he wanted in the two front rooms. I had never considered painting wood floors, but the images and the confidence he had in doing this sold me on the idea. And he also wants to lay some tiles in the kitchen and bathroom. They had done this at the store and showed me some really nice looking tiles. I just couldn’t say no to either project.
Then there were emails about new pricing for the t-shirts and I was just done with that. I told them what ever the committee decided, I would be fine with it. Though I am concerned we might not sell as many at the higher prices, what would sell would make a better profit. We will see how that all goes at the Festival and in the Shop over time.
I had dashed off to the bank to deposit the checks from yesterday and once again made it a long morning before stopping to eat. There were some odd Festival emails that I had to respond too. Seems I need to be the point person that everyone has to check in with or ask many questions of, which is normal. The day just seemed to be filled with many small annoyances, or I was really tired and not handling people in a cheerful manner.
I had stopped on my way home from Fields Park at Memorial Park. There was just one parking space that I saw, so I grabbed it. I took time to size and put the photos for a couple of ideas where the memorial tree could be planted without causing problems for events in the future and sent that off.
The Cottage Tenant called and asked if he could come by and talk a little more about the floors in person. He arrived at 6pm. I was all dressed to go to Art Walk, but it was raining and that made me have to think about umbrella or no umbrella. I decided to wear my black hat and a jacket, as it was just lightly raining.
Took 3 Patty Pots to Green Horse for them to sell and add to a fund for her health challenges. They had come from Keith with 2 strange and one very sweet saying, but I wanted them gone and as they had sold her pottery there, thought that would be a good solution.
At Commonwheel, had some more food and a glass of wine. Took photos of the Wanyama Africa Gallery show to finish up the Facebook posts for that show. Then stopped at Mountain Living Studio for a Jalepeño Margherita. Tasty and fun. Chatted with some more friends who are headed to Wisconsin Labor Day Weekend. Brought up memories of vacations our family took in Wisconsin as I was growing up.
As I walked home, I noticed some very unusual clouds in the sky.
Then they began to change and transform colors like one rarely sees in Manitou Springs.
I chased the colors in the sky with my camera for quite some time.
I was really enjoying this celestial show of colors and shapes. I don’t think I had ever seen so many different colors and cloud formations all in one sunset anywhere.
I wasn’t the only one taking pictures. Everywhere I went, someone had a phone or camera out capturing this awesome show. And I was ever so glad I had my best camera with me on this walk.
When I got home, I couldn’t even do the dishes, I was that tired. I just fell into bed and asleep.
At 11pm, I woke up and Little was meowing. I went to see if she needed food, but she was rubbing on the floor in a manner and place that made me think of giving her some catnip. She loved that. And we played with a string for awhile, then I headed back to bed.
My alarm was set for 6:30am to get up for the runners and needed to sleep deeply to be ready to do that.
And now it is time to get some sleep, as I have stayed up late posting. Someday I will get caught up and hopefully do a nightly / daily post to not get so far behind. Right! And Little needs some attention, perhaps her food dish is empty . . .
Very Full ThursDAY-Oh Deer!
I was scheduled to meet someone from the the Manitou Springs Parks in the morning to discuss some issues and learn how the water and electric worked. They showed up close to on time, but didn’t have the proper keys to unlock the electric panel. So while waiting for him to go get it, looked to the south and saw a lovely deer, then two spotted fawns appeared behind her.
I had my camera with me and was able to take a few photos as they hurried along.
But I had to hold my breath as the Doe crossed El Paso Blvd. and then the two fawns came dashing after her. A car had stopped for the doe, so everyone was safe this time. Still, will worry about them now as this is a well traveled road.
The electric panel is really an improvement from generators and the water access is way better and safer than what we had to use last year. Should make the food vendors very happy.
Next the Beer Garden Sponsor and coordinators showed up and we discussed where it would be set-up up. And since they were doing the music tent, aligned that in our minds also. Talked about how the waste would be handled and the type of cups that would be used. Hopefully they can use recyclable cups for both the beer and the wine to make sorting very simple during the Art Festival. They are really nice people and I am sure this will be a great addition to the Art Festival and profitable for us all.
I hung out afterwards and made some measurements of the food court area. It is very difficult to draw out with trees and curving sidewalks. I know I will have to come back again, but got a good start on it.
Came home really hungry! I hadn’t meant to stay that long, but the weather was nice and I was enjoying being outside, so it had made sense to do the measurements.
Then Karl had some more things to show me in the cottage. This is getting really expensive. And I will have to pay this bill over a few months, but many things will be taken care of to make it a better space for the new tenant.
I made a start on the Food Court layout, and it did not look like I had measured many places that would have helped me get this done. Did some Facebook posts to stay ahead of that project, but still need to take time to do all of them leading up to the Art Festival.
Then had a 5pm Webinar with Tony Laidig that went for almost 2 hours. Really good information and I am getting really excited for Tuesday’s Webinar and all the giveaways that he will be doing.
The Cottage Tenant showed up just as the webinar ended to pay his rent and the other half of the deposit. We went over and looked at what was being done and he wanted to make some measurements. I asked him if he was good with technical things and he said yes. I asked if he could look at my new printer and see if he could help me set it up. He was agreeable to that and quickly got it set up for me. I could have done this, but it would have taken me much longer and he just whizzed through all the steps with total confidence and it works great. He told me when I was ready to set up the Fax feature to let him know and he could help with that if I needed assistance.
What a great decision I made choosing this young man to rent the cottage.
A Day Filled with Serendipitous Timings
Wednesday didn’t go as I planned exactly, but the timing of what I did do was filled with serendipitous moments.
I called a friend to chat with her about the artist who was going to have surgery and give her some other good news. She was at her gallery and another artist wanted to talk with me. She told me she had heard I had one of my photographs in the 36 Views of Pikes Peak at the very north Library. She wanted to know if when I picked mine up, if I could get hers back also. She had had a horse related accident and couldn’t get around really well yet. I said I would do that if I could find out when we needed to pick them up, or find out more info in general about this show. I had thought the images would be sent off to another gallery space first, but didn’t have any solid information at this time. I do believe I have until mid-September to figure this out. And it is much farther away than I had realized, but need to get up there with the show up to make note of my photo(s) being included. Next week I think.
I had planned out my errands with exact timings that got quite changed many times as the day progressed.
It began with me meeting with the person working on the cottage. I had to put on shoes I could go up on the hill to get on the cottage roof. I had meant to change out of those before I left.
I packed my car with my Laptop to get help from a tech when I picked up my new printer. I had wanted someone to help me set it up and get it talking to my computer.
I stopped at the Commonwheel to deliver a mask, leave some items in the Accountant’s box and pick up something left for me.
As I drove out of town, I realized I hadn’t changed shoes or grabbed my water or camera. But didn’t want to drive home again through downtown traffic.
I took a deposit to the bank, then went to Spectrum Glass where I had needed to give them my Resale Tax Lic to make a copy for purchasing the leather necklaces last week.
I decided I had better get at least a couple dollars of gas, and as I was pulling into the gas station my phone rang with a question from a Festival Committee member about something I didn’t have the perfect answer in my head at that moment. But winged it.
I got there earlier than planned and debated about going to Costco to at least buy gas, but decided I should pick up the printer first. As I parked, the tech that had sold me the printer was getting in a car to leave. And although I had been told a tech would always be there, there was not one there to help me. The girl at the counter assured me the ink cartridges had been filled and I just didn’t want wait until someone did show up. So I decided to take the printer and my computer home instead of going to Costco. Good decision as there was a huge traffic jam going east on that road.
Drove slowly through the Garden of the Gods, enjoying its beauty. I am very grateful to have this beautiful place so close to my home and it is free to drive through.
As I pulled into Manitou downtown, my phone rang. And the person making copies at the shop hadn’t noticed the copier was out of ink and had ruined some pieces of paper and needed 20 more of the blue papers. She had replaced the toner cartridge. I told her I was headed to my house and could bring the paper back on my way out of town.
As I pulled into my driveway, the new Glass Artist was about to leave the dolly at my house. I had meant to call him, but forgot. I asked if they could transport it to the Art Festival to make my life easier. He readily agreed that that would be easy for him to do.
On the way back to my house, I had been repeating – shoes, Chai and camera, all of which I did remember and the blue paper when I left this time. I had taken all of the papers on my front seat into the house at this time.
I dropped the blue paper off at the Gallery and as I drove away, I realized I had left the directions to the House Warming party for a friends’ mother who had moved to Colorado recently. I knew where the building was, but not the apartment number. But just could not get myself to drive back through downtown traffic one more time. I figured there would be a desk with someone who could direct me to her new space.
At this time, I decided I needed a treat. I had thought I was going to have a bowl of ice cream when I stopped at the house, but didn’t with someone waiting for blue paper at the shop. I stopped and got a Wendy’s Chocolate Frosty in a Waffle cone and found a quiet shady place with flowers in my view to take a moment and savor this treat.
I stopped at the Indy’s office to drop off some promotional pieces before going to the Radio interview at KCME. Just as I was about to turn off my phone, that same member called with a different question. A financial decision to be made. I asked her what she would have done if I hadn’t picked up. Gone forward with the project, so I said, just do it then.
Chatted with the interviewer about what we would talk about, then did the interview. It was taped, so if anything really strange got said, it could be edited out. I think I spoke really well at this interview and had a lovely conversation afterwards with the woman who did it.
I dropped of coupons at my friend’s home on my way to the party. She wasn’t home, and I was pretty sure she wasn’t out of town, so boldly left them on her front porch, with promo materials in the package also for her to share with friends as she has in the past.
I got to the complex of Independent Living spaces, and after circling around a few times spied a young woman and asked her where I should park and where the entrance was for me to find my friend’s new home. She told me all this, and knew the apartment number the party was being held at. So I parked, and being early, read a bit of the Independent. A car pulled in next to me and it was my friend whose mother’s party I was headed to. I helped her carry some items in making that very good timing for us both. And she had a moment to talk to me about a trip she had taken. I hadn’t realized she was in Hawaii on a Cruise ship during the Hurricanes approaching Hawaii. Scary stuff, but they were fine.
At the party – people who knew me better than I remembered them, were there. And then someone who wanted to plant a tree in Memorial Park and a PARAB member both approached me about the best place to do that. I said I’d have to look at the park and give them some feedback later. But there is a bit of a rush on that, as the tree has been bought and needs to be planted soon. The PARAB person and I had a bit of a difficult conversation that I tried to get away from, as this was a party and not a place for her to be talking to me about this type of stuff.
I headed home and watched the end of “So You Think You Can Dance” while trying to figure out how to set-up the printer. Two glasses of wine and pretty techy sounding instructions did not get this task finished. And I was pretty sure the box had never been open, so it would have been hard to have had the ink cartridges filled.
Tomorrow is another day and so went to bed feeling as if I had accomplished plenty that day.
Never Ending Details for Commonwheel’s Art Festival
Did more advertising and Facebook posts and can’t even remember what else for the Commonwheel Art Festival right up until I walked over to Sharing Inner Health for a Tune-up Session. She actually called me to see if I could come a bit earlier so we could talk about her web site, so I changed shoes and walked over there. A really nice day out. It wasn’t about her web site, but an ad in a magazine that needed some graphics sent to them for her ad. So I said I could do that, but maybe not until Monday. She then gave me a Young Living Essential Oils Raindrop treatment to help relieve my stressed mind and Body. It did loosen up my back quite a bit and I went home and continued on working on the Art Festival.
A member needed someone to work her afternoon shift on Saturday – the time I had scheduled to be in my FantaFaces feather studio. But no one else had stepped up, so I said I would do it for pay.
So in the morning I went into my Feather studio and did some prep work to make it easier to do masks the next day. Then I had to get ready to go to the Gallery. I took the computer, but was busy enough that I never opened it up. I had some really good sales, including something on my own. At the end of the shift, I was really tired and had a glitch checking out, but just had to let it go when our President showed up in the computer doing some inventory updates. Beautiful night for a walk home in the moonlight. I basically came home and went to bed. I was that tired!
Slept in a bit on Sunday, then decided to go up to my Studio for the day. Had to wrestle with the glue bottle to get it refilled. The caps did not want to come off of two. But got them loosened up and actually replaced one with the top from a glue bottle of a type of glue I can’t use, but the lid fit on the Elmer’s Glue bottle. I created 6 masks and a dozen pairs of earrings. Not one of my most productive days, but decent.
On Monday there was a Group Booth meeting. I took 4 of the newly created masks into the shop. Later that day, 2 of them sold. I did have another Tiger that I had made, but wanted to save for the Art Festival, but brought it in the next day instead. “Strike while the iron is hot!” was on my mind to push myself to do that.
The Group Booth meeting was very productive. People took on jobs and our new members are awesome. Very willing to jump right in and take on jobs – including coming to get the dolly at my house that needed its tires filled – and they will bring it to the Art Festival! Double win for me there.
The advertising details for the Festival seem never ending. And I had to get some posts on FaceBook to not get behind, so did that this day also. My Greek hiking friend stopped by on her way to go listen to the last concert in Soda Springs Park. She gave me a bag of Chia Seed Chips that I started to munch on – they were really tasty. Was hard to not eat the whole bagful. But I stopped, got her a webbed folding chair to sit upon at the concert and went back to computer work.
On Tuesday, I had another meeting with my handyman friend who is doing work on the cottage. There are more problems inside than I had realized. Not budgeted for those. But he did discover there wasn’t much we could do about the sunken floor area he had shown me the other day, so will just let it be as it is now and hope it doesn’t sink much more in the near future. I do bless having the cottage income every day, but geez, it can be a money pit some days.
Tony Laidig’s Expert Media Show about how to do Affiliate Marketing was really helpful and I feel like it gave me some really good ideas that I can implement starting in September after the Art Festival comes to a successful conclusion. Plus some ideas for people in my soon to be Mastermind Group. One of which had called earliere in the day and I had already told him about some assignments to get ready for promoting one of his books, and how his short stories could all be individual books on Kindle, then become a collection as a paperback version on CreateSpace. He happily embraced this idea.
And I still haven’t had time to work on my Sustainable Event book. Guess that won’t be ready for the Art Festival, but first project when I do have time is getting that corrected and into paperback form.
The Cottage tenant finished moving out and I let the new tenant know. He will come by on Thursday evening to give me a check and get the keys. Which he did. Karl hadn’t quite finished, but since the new tenant wasn’t going to move in until after the Pikes Peak Marathon weekend was over, that didn’t bother him. Talked to Karl and he wasn’t feeling to good Thursday, so hadn’t come to finish up.
My friend who is moving into an unfinished home soon called to set the time and date for us to get “Little One” his kitty who needed to be safely house sat until the new place was more finished in a month. Little One began her life around here. She had had kittens under the left porch that I had captured and found homes for each one. RE was ready for a cat about that time and when he met her, it was love at first sight, at least on his side . . . she wasn’t totally happy about anything at that time. But she quickly adapted to living up in Green Mountain Falls and they became good friends. That was about 13 years ago.
One of the Festival Participants called late at night to let me know he could not participate this year. He was really hard to hear, and when he said he was to have surgery, I thought it was brain surgery, but it was back surgery for pain on Thursday. He didn’t think he would be recovered enough to to the Art Festival. I had to tell him that especially since we had just told another artist we could not return the fee, we couldn’t return his. Will think about what could do next year, but just thought that to myself.
I will have to do a post just on hearing of Robin William’s suicide. It really did hit me and some friends very hard. But want to just write about that another time.
I think I had a bit of Tequila again that night and now I will take a break before continuing on with this time of catching up. So close to today but need a short break.