I am finally taking the time to do a blog post. So much has transpired since my last post (when I taught with Orly at the end of May!). Since that time, I taught an oil and cold wax class at Sitka in June, taught for the first time at the Creative Arts Community in August, had a solo show at Salem on the Edge in September, taught a contemporary collage class at Sitka in October, participated in a member show through Astoria Visual Arts, had two pieces with my art group show at the Cannon Gallery at Western Oregon University, had my art featured in the North Coast Squid publication through the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita, and participated in the Little Things show at Guardino Gallery and the Small Works show at Salem on the Edge. Geez, that is a lot of activity since May. And NOT ONE BLOG POST.
Maybe a bit of the reason is that during those months of art activity, Howard and I decided it was time to downsize our life – both where we lived and our possessions. We started by cleaning out the house and I started to purge the found objects and many of my collections stored in my basement studio. It became a months long process. Some things were given away, other things were priced and boxed for a garage sale (our EPIC sale took place in September, add that to the list of big life things that took place).
As I write this, it is New Year’s Eve and we are settled in our new house in SE Salem. The story of the sale of our Belmont home and the purchase of our new Pullman home is an unbelievable tale of synchronicity and pure magic. Here is an abbreviated version of what transpired . . . .
We had decided to prepare our house to sell, which started several months ago by cleaning things out. We were casually looking at houses for sale in Salem, just so we would know what was available and so we could determine what our house might sell for and what we would be able to afford to buy. A house popped up that we loved, but the timing was not right and then the house we loved sold quickly.
In October we took a time out and flew to Washington DC for a ten-day vacation. When we returned, the house we had loved popped up for sale again and there was an open house the day after we returned from our trip. We decided to go see if the Pullman house was as nice as we thought. The minute we walked into the house, we loved it. But our house wasn’t even staged, much less for sale. But we loved the Pullman house. We happened to mention to the realtor that we would be selling our house, he asked where it was, and that was that. Howard and I were trying to figure out if there was a way we could make an offer on the Pullman House……
Here is where the magic comes in. In a whirlwind of activity, the realtor showing the Pullman house had clients who were looking for a house in our neighborhood. Our Belmont house was shown and they loved it as much as we loved Pullman. Poof. Our house sold, we bought Pullman and we signed for the selling of our house and the purchase of Pullman on the same day. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!? Howard represented us as the sellers of Belmont and the buyers of Pullman, saving us many thousands of dollars.
So here I am writing this long blog post summarizing the past seven months of my life. I am nestled in Pullman, the walls freshly painted, the art all hung, and the projects completed. Grateful for how things turned out as we look to what 2024 will bring.
One thing it will bring is a new painting studio in our backyard . . . . but I’ll save that for another post.
Happy New Year!