I am 17 Unpublished Posts ahead and Counting, it's a new Record for me and shortening my Posts is the primary reason and has been so well received by visitors to the ole Blog. I'm getting much higher Readership, even of the Archived Posts, which is why I'm not Purging any for now, they're all still being read quite a lot it seems. I'm trying to catch up on my own Blog Reading of everyone's Blogs and finding New Blogs to Read and to add to my Sidebar.
We got some Bad News from the Grandkids in Mexico. Bad for them, but, expected, their Dad is in Prison again and got sent up for 12 Years this time. He has never turned his Life around and went from being a very skilled I.T. Tech working for major Corporations on both sides of the Border, to developing a drug habit he never got clean of and got involved with Bad and Dangerous People. I feel badly for my Grandkids in Mexico coz they Love him, but him being around posed Dangers. I'm glad his Mom, Saint Maria, didn't Live to see this, Princess T really doesn't know him and never will.
The Daughter feels very conflicted when she hears the News, she got Clean and always hoped he would too, for the sake of their Kids and for himself. And she was in a Relationship with him for a very long time and was the reason she moved to Mexico and spent Two Decades there. He was a likeable Guy, but not a very responsible one, he Fathered way too many Children and had a lot of Baby Mamas. He and our Daughter had Four Daughters together during their Relationship. All Time in Mexican Prisons is Hard Time and he's Old, a lot Older than our Daughter. He will likely now Die in Prison.
I knew the Middle Granddaughter in Mexico had been trying to reach me and I couldn't fully translate what she was trying to tell me, but The Daughter did. I could read enuf Spanish to know it wasn't Good News, but I'm hardly fluent in reading, writing or speaking Spanish. I can get by and understand more than I can conversate. And my Spanish speaking Grandkids speak too fast for me to catch up and piece together a conversation and their English is marginal too. Anyway, the Bad News keeps coming... dammit!
I should go the Antique Mall, the New One I have yet to go to that I hear is stiff competition for ours. "America's Antique Mall", I don't know what their Hours are on a Sunday and I have no intentions of Buying, just trawling for the first look at it. I looked it up and they are Open until 7:00 p.m.. It's off the I-17 and Dunlap, so a fair commute from here. But, I went and I'm glad I did, I was very impressed, they will definitely give our Antique Mall some fierce competition and a run for the Money. It's New, more Curated and Vetted, has better quality Merch displayed and showcased really well. It's fully Rented out already and only been open less than 90 Days.
I really enjoyed myself there and am happy to have another good destination in the Industry to go to. I found Three Colorful Mannequin Hands that were Painted Altered Art Style and can mount on a Wall to hold/hang things from. The price on them was so low I bought all Three the Vendor had and Loved their Booth and Merch. Some Vendors had high end pricing. They had a lot of Vintage and Specialty Clothing Vendors and I felt their prices were exceptionally high. Especially for the Tees, I wouldn't pay $100-$120 for a T-Shirt, but I know the Eastside Antique Mall Vendors charge that much too for theirs.
I took loads of Pixs so will have plenty of Blog Fodder Imagery. It's a convenient location, I just have to drive on Two Freeways to get there and then get back Home, no Surface Street driving necessary. It's not very far from our Downtown Phoenix Location which is off the same Freeway a little further North, so I can go to both when I'm in that area now. I'd heard good things about it and they weren't Wrong, I will Shop there myself when I'm a Buyer or looking for Quality Merch. They had such Unique items For Sale, as you can see by some of my Pixs taken of what interested me.
I would have Loved to own that "Freak Show" Art Vintage Door, Fair Priced but not within current Budget. But, perhaps that won't Sell easily and be a Hard Turn, and then perhaps I can negotiate something with the Vendor to make it affordable and a possibility. I like Architectural Salvage and something from a Sideshow Attraction or Haunted Attraction with original Art on it, is something I'm very Interested in. The variety of Vendors was really good and I didn't see any Crap Hawkers evident. Some Merch wasn't my interest, but it was Displayed well and most Vendors had a Genre of what they were Selling.
An abundance of Unique Items and true Antiques were in there too, something lacking at a lot of places now. Loved the Steampunk Art Bar seen Below, never seen anything like it. A lot of Work had gone into the Creation of it and I'm sure it's OOAK so their price was Fair if you wanted a truly Unique OOAK Statement Piece for your Home Bar. We've now got a severe Dust Storm Warning in effect with Zero Visibility until almost 9:00 p.m. and it does look ominous Outside. I'm glad I got everything done out there that I wanted to do in my Garden.
A Monsoon Storm hit around 1:00 a.m. and it's pissing in Rain, enuf we could get some Flooding, but we are Sandbagged where it might be problematic. However, Irrigation is coming at 7:00 a.m. regardless of the Weather. And I don't know if The Daughter ever got Home to help me do it? The Son has to be in Work by 8:00 a.m. and I have to drop The Man off at Cardiac Rehab at 9:30 a.m., so, it's gonna be tight to be here to drop the Gates and turn off the Pump when our Rotation is over. I may have to solicit our Neighbor's Son, Rob, to do it. He did ask me if I could use some Help with it and I did tell him I might. He knows things are hectic over here with everyone Schedule and our assigned Irrigation Time this Week. *Oy Vey*
Well, at least the Property will get some good Water and we really needed it since it's been 114-117 lately every day and it's Toasting the Grass and Plants, stressing everything out. My Mints have almost Died off due to it, I've kept some Herbs and Succulents Alive and the Rosemary, they're hardy enuf. Never did get a Veggie Harvest this Season, too Hot too early and not enuf Rain. This day a lot of Smoke had been heavy in the Valley from all our Fires up North of the State and in other States like Colorado that are on Fire this Summer. Few are fully contained that are burning right now and we're losing a lot of Acres of Trees. That will cause more problems as Monsoons rip thru coz in burnt out areas you then get severe Flooding and Mudslides. Fun Times!
I put a Rain Barrel on the Back Patio near the Pool coz that area is prone to a Waterfall coming off the Roof in a certain area. We never did get hold of "Leaf Filter" for an Estimate for Guttering on the Back Roof by our Patio. I guess their Phone Lines were swamped or something coz they sent Mail Fliers several times but never answered calls. Never. Seems like a bad Business Model to spend so much on Advertising and then never answer your Phone Lines you give out on the Fliers. And then that makes me think, well, would I wanna then even Hire that Company and wanna do Business with them? Coz, how would you then get hold of them if Installation was a problem or you had any other Customer Service Issues? Even if I like the Product, if the Company has initial Issues, I'm skeptical.
Too many places these days Overpromise and Underdeliver. I'd rather they Underpromise and Overdeliver frankly. Same with our Politicians. I'm soaked right now at 1:15 a.m. coz I had to be out there in the pouring Rain dealing with stuff in the middle of the Night. The Rain was really Cold considering how Hot it had been all day. So, now I'm guessing Irrigation Water is gonna be really Cold to be wading around in up to my Calves as well later on this Morning. But, at least it will be Light by then, which makes it safer for me to be slogging around in it. The Son wanted his Sister doing it instead of me, but, I haven't seen her arrived Home coz I went to Bed early, so don't know if she made it Home or not?
Her Brother said she'd been Texting him to say she would, but sometimes her Friends who are paying her to do Work for them flake out and give her Rides out to help them on their Properties, then claim they can't provide Transportation back. Which would be fine if we knew in advance, coz I'd just go get her. It's out in Buckeye, so not as long as a Commute to her Jobs in Chandler for Friends. But, it's still a fairly long commute for me from here and I have to then know in advance to fit the commute in to my Schedule. Right now I still have a Sick Kid at Home, coz Princess T has been SO SICK from those Allergies and Respiratory Issues. She's been Sleeping whole Days away and Monday is her last Day Off to get Well from it! So she's in no condition for Work at her Job, let alone to help me with stuff here at Home.
And I really haven't had sufficient coverage for The Man's Caregiving either so sometimes I do have to leave him Home Alone for brief periods of time and just check in on him by Phone. He's done really well, I set him up in front of the TV with Beverages and Snacks or a Meal, with his Walker by him. Usually he hasn't budged from there by the time I get back from whatever short errand I HAD to do, like get Kids to and from Work or their Appointments. The Son had his Friend Q over to play Video Games since they both were off Work on Sunday so they looked after The Man for me so I could make that Pilgrimage to that New Antique Mall and get some Me Time and a Respite for a couple Hours. I had stayed looking around the 35,000 sf Mall for about an Hour, doing a rapid Marathon Look-See for my 1st visit and not lingering. The commute there and back was about another Hour.
To do it properly would take more than an Hour and when I have that Luxury of Time I'll go back and do that another day. The Above Assemblage Art is like something The Young Prince would Create. That Vendor had a lot of very Cool Assemblage Creepy Creations but a hefty price tag on their Altered Art. I know I wouldn't be a Player for this piece at almost $200. And I see some stress cracks already in the Assemblage where they used Clay to form the Body. I had purchased a piece of Halloween Altered Art last Year that the Artist used a Chalkware type of Sculpting Medium and before I got the piece Home it sustained damage coz it was too fragile a Medium and if slightly handled by who had packaged it for me, caused the Chalk to turn back to Powder in spots. I was so upset coz you couldn't do Returns. So my Grandson is having to Repair it for me, coz he is a Sculptor, Thankfully.
But I don't wanna Pay some Artist a Premium for Work that is too Fragile to hold up and have my Artist Grandchild have to do immediate Repairs for me on it. So I always look at how well it was constructed and will the Work they did hold up for the Buyer or fall apart after Purchase and be ruined? If its Cheap I might take the risk, but not on expensive Art. Some folks have the Artistic Talent but don't Create a Quality Product. I Pay Up only if the Quality is there as well as the Talent. Speaking of Quality, I went to "Robeks" Juice Bar for my fav Acai Tropical Mango Bowl and this time had a Male making it for me. He was sweet, but didn't do as good a job as the Young Gals they usually have making it. He was sparse on the Fruit Toppings except for the Coconut and Bee Pollen... hardly any Mango, Strawberry, Honey or Banana I usually have on it. But, plenty of Acai Sorbet, so I didn't feel too disappointed.
Coz that Acai Sorbet is expensive if I go to Sprouts and get a Pint of it to make some of that Bowl at Home. Right now the Fruits are always on Sale at the Grocer and I have some Bee Pollen coming from a Seller on E-Bay I got several Ounces of it from at a good price. My Allergies haven't been very problematic since using Local Honey and Bee Pollen which is Helpful to develop Natural Immunities to Seasonal Allergens. Coaxing The Man or Princess T, who have Respiratory Seasonal Issues, to use Honey or Bee Pollen is a challenge tho', they're not always on Board with my Holistic Remedies. *Smiles and Shrugs* I am worried that Princess T has been so Sickly this time around with her Allergies and Respiratory distress tho', so insisted she use some of my Remedies and she was in such Misery she was more compliant than usual. She said that she doesn't always Like my Witch Doctor Remedies. So, I will often hide them in her Foods. *Bwahahaha and Winks*
Whatever Works, I Work it, coz you can't rely on Luck... Dawn... The Bohemian
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