A Sunday Afternoon

A walk over to Cambridge... cloudy, but the temperature was good and the sky tried to spit at me a few times.
Mickey arrived about the same time I did and we set up camp at our end of the bar... (this is the Plough and Stars, for those not following closely)
We then proceeded to lose money on scratch tickets, before wading into the crossword. Not a bad job of that, a bit clumsy here and there, but we got done only cheating once (the other times we peeked was only for confirmation). Tales over and over again about the evening before... seems like there were lot's of drunks about (I'd gone home early). The music came on at 5:00, I stayed for the first set, then cabbed it home as it was finally raining. A pleasant, but not spectacular afternoon.

Gawd, A Week Went By

Yes, a week went by...
Nothing really special to report.
Art installations and small painting jobs took up most of the time.
I DID get the guys started on the small exterior painting job, here in Somerville,
but I didn't have any time to work on it myself. I was taking care of a couple of
regular clients in Brookline. Both small jobs that needed patching, priming and painting
so I bounced back and forth between them waiting for things to dry.
There was on installation that STARTED at 8:00 Thursday night!
The woman of the house was much more enthusiastic about the work than her husband.
Eight small encaustic, abstract pieces that were to be hung in two grids flanking the door
in the dining room. A few minutes composing the placement before I installed the first grid (two over two)
which took me about 10 minutes. The speed was commented on. The second grid went up and the husband finally decided that they looked pretty good. In my cheeky way, I looked over my shoulder and said, "Don't be so surprised! It was a good choice". They then wanted to hang a piece that was badly framed and inappropriate for this modern, formal dining room... it would kill the elegance. Both myself and the art consultant tried to dissuade them... we didn't put it up, but I'm guessing that they did it themselves.
Anyway...
A walk over to the Plough in the morning... might be an interesting afternoon.
Supposed to rain, but I walk over, rain, shine or blizzard every Sunday.
I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

The Past Couple of Days

I just returned from Sally O'Brien's in Union Sq., Somerville.
Reverb Joe's band was playing a tribute to him (Joe passed away in early August).
Sounded good, with Joe's son Jake doing most of what Joe used to do.
Good crowd, most of them I know from the Plough. I always had hoped that I
could get Big Al Davies over here to meet Joe... they would have got along famously,
each of them being terrific stringed instrument players.

Earlier in the day Sylvia and I went up to Gloucester and had a ramble. (I'm sure there's a
few pics on her Flickr site) It started with a rather underwhelming lunch... but the walk was nice.

Let's see... Thursday I took some artwork to Waltham, some sort of pharmaceutical offices.
I was supposed to be supervising the installation (union rules or insurance wasn't allowing me to do
the actual work). But the building was still in construction mode, so the artwork wasn't going
up that day. With about 5 hours to kill, I called Mickey and suggested lunch. She balked at first but in the end she treated me to a couple of beers and a shared sandwich at the Plough. On to the next job, a presentation of artwork in a posh condo downtown. Worked until 8:30 pm... picking up the work, delivering it to the site, unwrapping it, showing it, wrapping it back up and taking it back to the art consultant's place. (she did sell pieces for 4 walls)

On Friday I was trying to get Michael to come look at the carpentry for a job we're supposed to
start soon, but I couldn't get in touch with him. Took a proposal to the client and again spent the downtime at the Plough, doing the puzzles. That's where I saw Spider John... he seemed to take more time with the "Cryptoqute" (even saw him using an eraser... I work in pen) but he beat me by a word in the crossword.

Enough. A walk to th Plough in the morning for the usuall.

Wednesday, and I Finally Shipped the Piece

Sylvia and I went out last night for her birthday...
Ruth's Chris Steak House (we had gift certificates)
Wouldn't have been my choice otherwise.
Not a bad experience... way too much food.

Finally got the Parrish print crated up and sent it via the post to Mississippi.
Surprised that it only cost $30, including insurance.
More than I'd anticipated, but the piece will arrive safe.

Yesterday afternoon I was doing a residential installation... the art cosultant
had been telling me for two weeks that it was about a dozen pieces.
Turned out to be over 50 !!!
We installed about half in the time alotted and will go back Friday to finish.
I know these people can never count, but I've never seen one this far off the mark.

Today was an easy pick up at the framers and an easy install at the client's .
About 16 pieces in all. Then on to an EMERGENCY install in Brookline.
This client needed a few things rehung before her holiday on Friday.
Everything worked out fine...
Got the work done... got the crate shipped and had a pint at the Plough.

The checking account is in the black for a minute.

A Busy Monday

Yesterday, of course, I walked over to the Plough. Mickey showed up, but she was going to the ballgame, so I was alone with the crossword. Did fairly well with some help from Duggan. Mickey finally returned after the game, but by that time it was time for me to make the walk home. I returned to find that I'd sold a Maxfield Parrish print on eBay. Now I have to figure out how to ship it.
Today I started by picking up artwork at the framers. When I asked them for advice for shipping my piece they rolled thier eyes (it's under glass). They did give me some low tac adhesive paper to apply to the glass... dunno if this just keeps the glass intact if it breaks or actually helps to keep the glass from breaking.
On to the first client where I installed the 4 pieces I'd collected at the framers, directed by the art consultant. The next client needed 14 pieces moved from her studio to the basement of her home. Simple enough. Went on to pick up paint for the kitchen window and check out mirror boxes at UHaul. When I said the piece was under glass the guy advised me against shipping in that sort of box. I decided that the best way out of this was to build a crate. It'll cost me a lot more for the shipping than I'd planned (or recieved from the buyer) but a much better chance of it arriving safely. Went to Home Depot to get the makings for the crate. Home to paint the kitchen windows, luckily it didn't take as long as I'd expected. Then started in on building the crate. I won't finish it tonight, but I've got a good start.
Tomorrow is Sylvia's birthday... I guess we're going out to dinner.

A Saturday

Saturday... Rainy. The art moving job I was counting on got cancelled because of the rain.
So I headed out to get glass for the window in the kitchen that Sylvia wanted fixed. On to the grocery store... got everything on the list except ground sage which was $5 for a LITTLE container. There must be a better source, hell we have a sage plant outside! Back to refit the window... applied a bedding of glazing compound, set the glass in and was lucky enough to find some glazing points in the van. Finished the puttying and started to put the window back together. The sash cords were long gone when I took the window apart, so I found some and did the job properly. Washed the glass before all this. Finally got it all back together (took several tries). Washed the woodwork, sanded it, washed it again and found out that I didn't have the proper trim paint. So I'll paint it Monday after work. Tomorrow, as always, is devoted to an afternoon at the Plough.

11 September

So... eight years ago today, we arrived in London, having flown from Logan Airport in Boston.
We landed quite early in the morning, dropped our baggage off at the hotel (too early to check in) and went on a wander. Just trying to adjust to the time difference and jet lag. Around 2:00 we decided to stop in at the pub, (The Beehive on Crawford St. in Marylebone). We noticed everyone looking at the TV even before we entered. At home at 2:00 it could have been a football match, but here it was too early. We went in to see the first tower burning... Yikes!!! Got ourseles a couple of pints, just in time to watch the second plane hit the second tower. There was very little information at that time and we were glued to the place for the rest of the afternoon. We eventually learned that both planes had flown out of Boston that morning!!! We thought that "bad guys" could have been in the airport when we were there. Obviously, it was dreadful and frightening as we learned about the other two planes... wondering when it was all going to stop.
Otherwise, the trip went well... with the exception of a scare at the Tate Modern the next day. The alarms went off and we were all asked to leave the building. As if we weren't scared enough! Whatever it was didn't last long and we went back in less than an hour later. We got to visit with our friends Hazel, Archie and Michael up in Chester and our friends Graham and Deb in Deptford.
We flew back on our scheduled flight which was surprisingly empty considering the number of people who's flights had been cancelled.

Today I finally had a paying gig... the first of the week. I hung close to 50 pieces of artwork in a condo over in Brookline (the clients had just moved in). It went pretty smooth and only took about 4 1/2 hours.
One beer at the pub and home to take apart a broken window that I'll have to put back together tomorrow.

OK... It's Been a Long Time

So summer comes to an end...
Not a great summer by any means.
It rained in the beginning and we only had a little heat wave early in August.
Actually, Syl and I went to Montreal for a week in June
and the weather was better. People comented on my tan !!!
(you couldn't have acquired one here)
Sad to report that we had three friends pass away...
in the space of a week. I loved the others, but it was
Joe Scurio that affected me most. He was a great musician and friend.
As I was leaving the pub on my birthday he offered to buy me a beer...
I had to go so he said, "I'll catch you next time".
He had a fatal heart attack 4 hours later.
3 days of wakes, funerals and memorial services followed.
Always makes one consider his own mortality. (selfish, that)
And we wander into autumn...
I've had little work so I've spent time trying to put my studio in order...
actually painted today after a long hiatus.
Doing my best to make lemons into lemonade.