Hi everyone…did you think I disappeared from my Blog? Well, yea, I have not been good about posting but I’m going to try to do better this year. I really dropped the ball last year. I am usually the only one that reads/writes this post but that’s ok with me, I use it sort of like a diary. Take away what ever you want.

I have already done two shows this year. Last Christmas was pretty terrifying. After doing the Armadillo show ( which I swear I will never do again), in Austin, We picked up our son in LA and headed to Guadajara, Mexico. It was great and it was so nice to spend Christmas at the “White Lotus”(Ha) in Puerta Vallerta. It was a beautiful resort with everything available and a great place to relax. It was relaxing for the first two days and then David, my husband, got deathly sick. He didn’t leave the room for three days. We went to a doctor in the hotel but they were not understanding how serious the problem was potentially. David’s hernia had wrapped around his intestine from an old surgery and it was awful. And while we are at it, try to get on a flight back to LA on a holiday week- ha, that was impossible. We flew beck to LA on December 31st. and took David directly to Sedar Sinai Hospital where they said if we have been 5 hours later it would have been too late. He was operated on in less than three hours and was in the ICU for 7 days. It was scary as hell. Fourteen days laster we headed back to Austin to pick up our new van and I drove home from Texas…It took three days, we took it slow and took a lot of breaks.

January was recuperation from Christmas and I wasn’t sure if I could even do the Temple Beth El Show because of David’s surgery, but we actually were able to drive down there and I did the show and David hung out in the hotel. I love that show and it was worth it. Then came February. David and I both got COVID, no telling where we picked it up, but for David it was nothing and he got Paxlovid which put him back on his feet immediately. I, on the other hand couldn’t get out of bed for five days. My doctor wouldn’t prescribe the same med given to David, which I still can’t figure out, but man, it was not fun. Having done shows since 2021, I was starting to think I was immune, I had all my shots and boosters but that’s what I get for being cocky about it. I still can’t smell or taste much and it’s the end of March. I went to Gasparilla feeling pretty awful but being way past the date I would have been contagious. I figure I was ok to do the show. It was a fabulous show, I had not done it since befor COVID, so it was nice to get back there. I sold a large painting to the most upscale hotel in Tampa and was pretty happy about that.

I still wasn’t feeling good, and after complaining for a week I went back to my doctor the friday after the show and low and behold, lucky me, I have pneumonia. So I have been nursing that for the last two weeks and trying to get back on my feet because since I sold a ton in Tampa, I have to get on the stick! I’m working slower but I’m working and in the process of doing some big pieces.

The next show is the Dogwood in Atlanta on the 14th to the17th in April. I am in booth 44. I would love to see my Atlanta peeps there. It’s always a good show. After that, I don’t have a show until the first week in May in Nashville. I haven’t done Tennessee Craft since My tent almost went down in the front line wind situation that took out half the show in 2021. I’m on the steering commettee for the show so I want to support it as much as possible. The next weekend is Artisphere in Greenville South Carolina. This is a first time show for me, I’m happy to finally make the cut after applying for a few years and not getting in. Looking forward to that.

June is my craziest month and I have promised myself over and over I would not book multiple shows in a row- but I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. First up, is Summerfair in Cincinatti the first weekend and then Old Town in Chicago the next. Then two weeks later I’m at Des Moines in Iowa..the 22 to the 24. The last two are hella hard to get into. So I am excited about that. July has Central Penn and Ann Arbor in a two week run. And then…….dum dum da dum. We are headed to Sicily for two weeks. Don’t worry, I’m getting that insurance where the plane comes and gets you and takes you home if you break your leg or anything else crazy and unforeseen that with our luck, could happen. I have been wanting to do Magna Grecia for a while now, last year we wanted to go but plane prices were crazy…guess what? They are still crazy… so I’m just going to go. Life is too short to not travel while you can. This trip is research and inspiration and a little checking out the the housing market. One of these day my dream is to have a gallery in Greece or Italy, and I’m not getting any younger.

I’ll tell you about the fall shows later and on a last note I want to introduce you to our new kitties. Hebe, was feral and found on a cold January night at my father in laws house. Hebe was the youngest goddess on Mt. Olympus and it just seemed right to give her a goddess name. She now thinks she lives on Mt. Olympus. Then I saw a partially blind cat at my vets and fell in love with her. Circe is a character, afraid of nothing and super sweet. Being a black cat, Ziggy my 19 year old Main Coon ( Keegie’s former cat) thinks he has a shadow. Everyone gets along except Bernie my 6 year old cat who is not a happy camper.

Oh well. Till next time. See you on the road!