This is as good a time as any to ask- who is Doug? I've been popping back to your blog to see your Doug offerings long before I ventured to comment- they're always very cute. :-)
Fran, so it's Doug you like and not me. I see. Well, here goes. Doug is a real person, but he's a shy, modest, mysterious character who prefers to remain in the background. I met him in real life when we gathered in NYC in October of 2007. He's a perfectly normal human being who happens to have a vast collection of jokes, cartoons, and funny videos. He, along with a couple of other kind folk, supply me with material to help keep this little blog chugging along.
I don't know if anyone would find this interesting, but we have bought a new house and have put the one we're living in on the market.
And we're going crazy. The agent wanted it listed immediately despite a few bits of deferred maintenance in need of finishing. So we're doing things like paint touchup, crack filling, etc. late at night and early in the morning so we can have the house presentable for showing during the day.
Haha.. no, it's you both.. actually it's the combination - Doug makes me laugh- you make me think! Actually you've made me laugh too..
Anyway it's a great blog and chugs very nicely under your supervision..:-)
Another question while I'm at it.. I saw the painting of the Wounded Bird on the side but there wasn't an explanation of the significance of that as the name of the blog.. unless it's further down and I should have kept reading.. is there an extra meaning or is it just that you liked the painting that you named the blog after it?
Wow, Mike! Suddenly you seem so much more exciting! I wish you the very best with the fixing and the selling and the buying of houses. It can be a real pain. In fact, it almost always is.
Now that I could see a larger image of the painting I can understand your love for it.. it's amazing.. figurative yet abstract at the same time-It becomes so many things.. a landscape with the suggestion of possible figures inside.. with an ocean or a cosmos to the right near where its eye would be.. an amazing picture and touching story of how this last painting came to be.. and a lovely tribute the website is to him.. I can see why you were moved by it.
Yes, it's a pain. I've had nonstop nausea for the last several days.
We decided it is time for us to downsize. We are moving into a garden home with a very small yard. It has enough dirt for me to play in but will not get overwhelming like our current large yard has become. Actually, the homeowner association fee covers yard and flower bed maintenance front and back, so if I don't want to do anything at all, I can just let them do it. They even come through and do the seasonal annual color plantings.
Also, we've become weary of all the maintenance we have to do on this old house. We're ready for something brand new that comes without a long list of projects for us to do.
The new house is a bit smaller than this one too, so we have to figure out what not to keep.
The real estate crunch has not hit San Antonio very much. Things are moving a little slower, but prices are still rising, although a bit slower than a year ago.
We expect closing on the new house to take place within 2 weeks, then we can gradually move over there. We just hope it doesn't take too long to sell the old one. It will be a pain to be running over here to make sure everything is okay and do the spot watering in places the irrigation system doesn't reach.
Fran, the small view doesn't do the picture justice at all. As I said, it seemed to me like a gift from God and Luiz, Sr., because we had the same title.
Mike, we desperately need to downsize, too, but there's no "we" about going forward, because Grandpère doesn't want to move. That's that. End of story for now.
Your new house sounds like my kind of place, but GP loves his big yard. I hope that your house sells quickly.
I used to love the big yard here too, Mimi. It wasn't unusual for me to spend up to 8-12 hours out there on weekends even with the help of the yard man. I just don't enjoy it as much any more, so I don't do as much as I used to do. The yard man doesn't really do much to the planting beds, he just keeps the grass trimmed.
The yard man will help out with the planting beds, but he's not much of a horticulturalist and sometimes pulls the good things along with the weeds. I grow a lot of unusual things that you don't see everywhere, so much of my garden is unfamiliar to him, thus he sometimes confuses them for weeds. So I have to be here when he's out there mainly to protect the things that are supposed to stay!
"As I said, it seemed to me like a gift from God and Luiz, Sr., because we had the same title."
So your blog had that title BEFORE you saw or knew of the painting? Far out!
I love when things happen like that- I've had things like that too and they send shivers through my spine since I really don't believe in coincidences anymore..
"If you don't have anything nice to say about anyone, then come over and sit by me."
ReplyDelete--Alice Roosevelt.
This is as good a time as any to ask- who is Doug? I've been popping back to your blog to see your Doug offerings long before I ventured to comment- they're always very cute. :-)
ReplyDeleteYo, Counterlight! I'm with Alice.
ReplyDeleteFran, so it's Doug you like and not me. I see. Well, here goes. Doug is a real person, but he's a shy, modest, mysterious character who prefers to remain in the background. I met him in real life when we gathered in NYC in October of 2007. He's a perfectly normal human being who happens to have a vast collection of jokes, cartoons, and funny videos. He, along with a couple of other kind folk, supply me with material to help keep this little blog chugging along.
I don't know if anyone would find this interesting, but we have bought a new house and have put the one we're living in on the market.
ReplyDeleteAnd we're going crazy. The agent wanted it listed immediately despite a few bits of deferred maintenance in need of finishing. So we're doing things like paint touchup, crack filling, etc. late at night and early in the morning so we can have the house presentable for showing during the day.
It's a real pain.
"Fran, so it's Doug you like and not me."
ReplyDeleteHaha.. no, it's you both.. actually it's the combination - Doug makes me laugh- you make me think! Actually you've made me laugh too..
Anyway it's a great blog and chugs very nicely under your supervision..:-)
Another question while I'm at it.. I saw the painting of the Wounded Bird on the side but there wasn't an explanation of the significance of that as the name of the blog.. unless it's further down and I should have kept reading.. is there an extra meaning or is it just that you liked the painting that you named the blog after it?
Fran, here's the story of the painting.
ReplyDeleteLuiz, the son, is now living in the US taking seminary classes and studying art. At the present moment, he is working as a steward at Lambeth.
Wow, Mike! Suddenly you seem so much more exciting! I wish you the very best with the fixing and the selling and the buying of houses. It can be a real pain. In fact, it almost always is.
ReplyDeleteNow that I could see a larger image of the painting I can understand your love for it.. it's amazing.. figurative yet abstract at the same time-It becomes so many things.. a landscape with the suggestion of possible figures inside.. with an ocean or a cosmos to the right near where its eye would be.. an amazing picture and touching story of how this last painting came to be.. and a lovely tribute the website is to him.. I can see why you were moved by it.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a pain. I've had nonstop nausea for the last several days.
ReplyDeleteWe decided it is time for us to downsize. We are moving into a garden home with a very small yard. It has enough dirt for me to play in but will not get overwhelming like our current large yard has become. Actually, the homeowner association fee covers yard and flower bed maintenance front and back, so if I don't want to do anything at all, I can just let them do it. They even come through and do the seasonal annual color plantings.
Also, we've become weary of all the maintenance we have to do on this old house. We're ready for something brand new that comes without a long list of projects for us to do.
The new house is a bit smaller than this one too, so we have to figure out what not to keep.
The real estate crunch has not hit San Antonio very much. Things are moving a little slower, but prices are still rising, although a bit slower than a year ago.
We expect closing on the new house to take place within 2 weeks, then we can gradually move over there. We just hope it doesn't take too long to sell the old one. It will be a pain to be running over here to make sure everything is okay and do the spot watering in places the irrigation system doesn't reach.
Fran, the small view doesn't do the picture justice at all. As I said, it seemed to me like a gift from God and Luiz, Sr., because we had the same title.
ReplyDeleteMike, we desperately need to downsize, too, but there's no "we" about going forward, because Grandpère doesn't want to move. That's that. End of story for now.
Your new house sounds like my kind of place, but GP loves his big yard. I hope that your house sells quickly.
I used to love the big yard here too, Mimi. It wasn't unusual for me to spend up to 8-12 hours out there on weekends even with the help of the yard man. I just don't enjoy it as much any more, so I don't do as much as I used to do. The yard man doesn't really do much to the planting beds, he just keeps the grass trimmed.
ReplyDeleteThe yard man will help out with the planting beds, but he's not much of a horticulturalist and sometimes pulls the good things along with the weeds. I grow a lot of unusual things that you don't see everywhere, so much of my garden is unfamiliar to him, thus he sometimes confuses them for weeds. So I have to be here when he's out there mainly to protect the things that are supposed to stay!
"As I said, it seemed to me like a gift from God and Luiz, Sr., because we had the same title."
ReplyDeleteSo your blog had that title BEFORE you saw or knew of the painting? Far out!
I love when things happen like that- I've had things like that too and they send shivers through my spine since I really don't believe in coincidences anymore..
Mike, GP will work himself to death (perhaps literally) in the yard and the garden. They're his pride and joy.
ReplyDeleteFran, I started my blog in January and put the painting up as soon as Luiz told me about it and gave me permission in September.
Doug is a genuine person, but he's a timid, humble, strange nature who prefers to continue in the background.
ReplyDelete===========================
susan
Virtual Bird Dog Blueprint