Busy Days

We went “live” with the new website yesterday and I LOVE it. I think it is fun, arty and reflects me and A & S very well! My web designer, Lisa Gray, did a fabulous job!

Today we had the jury for Virginia 09. What an amazing group of proposals we received! The talent in our mixed media arena is incredible. As usual, we have many more submissions than we have room for at the event – which makes the selections extremely difficult.

The next step is for Vonnie to gather all the descriptions and photos and begin working to upload them onto our new website. This takes quite a bit of time, but we plan to have the VA classes ready to review by Sept 15. Registration for VA will begin Oct 1. It will be another wonderful line-up and I am thrilled to be able to offer them to you.

We will be getting the Portland packets ready to mail the first week of August. It is a daunting task, so please be patient!

An update on our critters.

Quack 1, 2, 3 & 4 are growing rapidly. They have all their feathers and continually test their wings by stretching them out. Take off, however, has not occurred. Abby runs with them flapping her arms, and they wildly run after her – not flapping their wings. She gets quite discouraged. We have two drakes and two females -- who still peep --- occasionally, we will hear a small “quack”. They are quite contented in our big pond and come running when we call them.

Amy, our abandoned mamma kitty, is doing great. She is a little hunter and is taking care of the mouse population in and around the barn. We still have two kittens, Lily and Lucy and it looks like we will be keeping them as well as Amy. I brought Lily into the house with a bit of concern, thinking that she would be intimidated by my 3 other girls. She couldn’t have cared less about them. Sophie and Pica hissed and growled at her – Annie was just curious. Lily wasn’t nervous, didn’t hide – she just took over and did whatever she wanted to do. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Amy

We have had one other animal rescue -- a bird visitor – a small flicker. He got caught in the mouth of the cat. Fortunately, the kids found him before any serious damage was done and we were able to save him. I gave him antibiotics and in 24hrs he was ready to head back to the forest. So that is one gone and 4 ducks, one colt and one mare to go!!

New Hotel for Portand attendees!

We have completely overwhelmed the Embassy and the Sheraton in Portland. Both room blocks have sold out --- there isn’t a closet available at either property. However, good news prevails! The Sheraton has just built a brand new art deco property called: aloft. It is located in the new Cascade Station shopping center – which is just down the street from the Embassy. Cascade Station features IKEA, among other trendy shops and restaurants, is on the MAX line for easy access to downtown Portland and brings another fun element to Art & Soul.

This hotel looks incredible. Although I am not personally a big fan of art deco or anything modern – I can certainly appreciate what they have achieved. Here is an excerpt from a press release about the new chain:

As a Vision of W Hotels, aloft hotels are shaking up the lodging industry with urban-influenced design, accessible technology, style and a social atmosphere. aloft hotels offer a total sensory experience, with guest rooms featuring loft-like nine-foot ceilings and oversized windows to create a bright, airy environment. The centerpiece of each aloft room is the ultra-comfortable plush platform bed, and large stylish bathrooms complement the guest experience with oversized walk-in showers and amenities created by bliss® spa. Each aloft room is also a combination high-tech office and entertainment center, featuring wireless internet access and plug & play, a one-stop connectivity solution for multiple
electronic gadgetry such as PDAs, cell phones, mp3 players and laptops - all linked to a large flat panel LCD television for optimal sound and viewing. aloft offers atmospheric public spaces designed to draw guests from their rooms to socialize and make friends. Guests can read the paper, work on their laptops via hotel-wide wireless internet access, play a game of pool or grab a drink with friends at the re:mix SM communal lobby area and bar w xyz SM. The re:charge SM fitness center and splash, the indoor or outdoor pool, give travelers options to de-stress and re-energize; while re:fuel by aloft SM, a one-stop food and beverage area, offers sweet, savory and healthy food, snacks and beverages to grab & go, 24-hours a day.

The BEST part is that Art & Soul attendees are being given a huge reduction in the rate! The Sheraton is honoring our $124/night – so if you haven’t booked a room – go for it. Here is what the sales manager says you have to do: call Aurie Cacho (503)-335-2854 at the Sheraton to make reservations at the new aloft Portland Airport Hotel at Cascade Station! Do not have call the hotel (aloft) directly yet as it will confuse the process. The actual reservation process should be settled sometime next week. Please indicate that you are making an overflow room reservation at the aloft Portland at the A&S group rate and she will manually put in the reservations.

Sounds exciting. I am anxious to know what you think! Who enjoys the upscale, trendy hotel and who is happy lounging in our old diggs?

A Callous Act

Wednesday, we discovered that someone had dumped a mamma cat and 7 kittens at the Corbett house. Fortunately, we had been at the house a few days earlier, so we knew that they hadn’t been there long. The poor things were starving and thirsty and they greedily pounced on the food that we put out. Mamma and babies are not feral, so obviously someone had been taking care of them before deciding to get rid of them. The babies are about 4-5 weeks old and cute as a kitten can be.
I don’t understand this behavior. First of all, be a responsible pet owner and have your animals spayed/neutered. There are countless programs to assist with payment for the procedures. And secondly, what kind of person does this? What a selfish, shallow act. Driving to Corbett is about the same distance as driving to the Humane Society. This coward knew that the house was vacant….and took the opportunity to relieve him/herself of a responsibility he/she no longer wanted. With the kittens being so small, they could never have made it to the front porch on their own so we know that they were “hand delivered”.
During the 20 yrs that I lived in the lodge, we could always count on numerous “stray” dogs and cats appearing each summer. Many had been attempting to forage on their own before finding their way to the house – others were quite healthy and had just been thrown out of a moving car by our driveway. I’m glad that I was there to help them, as we are with this new family. I would certainly like to get my hands on the creep.
So –anyone in the Portland area who would like a kitten – I’m the person to contact! We moved them to the barn and they are occupying Zahara’s stall. As long as the weather is nice, the horses are outside enjoying fresh pasture. Abby has her hands full taking care of baby ducks, baby kitties and baby horse. She loves every minute.

The Menagerie Grows

Ah Spring. Babies are beginning to take up residence. Aside from 5 week old Dexter, we now have 4 mallard ducks – and Abigail is mamma duck. They follow her in single file as she leads them from their enclosure to the pond for a daily swim. When they were only a week old, they swam in my bathtub. Jada, our Rottweiler was quite concerned when they peeped and would look at Abby as if to say – “help them”. They also enjoy sitting on her lap as she watches TV with Jada at her feet. Herding 4 ducks is no easy task – Abby has informed me that she does NOT want 4 children when she grows up – but Jada tags behind and helps scoot them along. It will be fun to see if they take up permanent residence in one of our ponds when they are fully grown and released.

Dexter is doing quite well, and mom Zahara is beginning to show her weight gain and is looking really nice. Dex is our little clown and should be a great horse for the right people. Vonnie calls it the “Pee Wee Rodeo” whenever we have to hold him down for a check up. Most of the time he just follows us everywhere – until its time for some serious business – then he shows us that he is a horse after all. We hope to find them good homes later this summer.

Annie, our mauled kitty, is having difficulty with her leg. Arthritis has taken a nasty toll on her elbow and after she races around the house – she suffers for a couple of days. It breaks my heart to see her in pain. She endured so much to keep her leg but we may have to amputate after all. She and Pica, our other ‘found’ kitty are best friends.

I'm busy working on retreats for 2009. We are getting ready to go "live" with Abigail's Art Retreat. The classes are wonderful for adults and kids alike. The cost will include your choice of 3 days of classes, three lunches and two dinners. AND - most all supplies will be included. Some classes WILL have an additonal nominal supply fee depending on the type of materials required for the class. The cost will be: $1300 for adult + child and $650 if an adult wishes to attend alone. For those that stay at the Embassy, we will have some special activies in the evening to keep the kids busy. I'm pretty excited about this new venture and can hardly wait to get it uploaded!

Animal Savior

I am so excited for my friend and attorney, Scott Beckstead. He has just been offered the career of a lifetime (well it is to me and HIM). He will be the Director of a new horse sanctuary being set up by the Humane Society of the United States. The sanctuary is located just outside of Roseburg, OR on an 1120 acre property that is an absolute paradise. They will take in a large number of PMU mares from Canada who were rescued as they were being shipped to slaughter, as well as a couple dozen mustangs. These horses will live on the property for the rest of their lives. After that, they will take in needy horses on a case by case basis, with the hope of rehabilitating them and finding them loving homes. I can’t begin to tell you the chills of joy that I feel for him and his family. They have dedicated their lives to the care of unwanted animals – especially horses – and this opportunity is well deserved. My deepest congratulations to them!

To learn about PMU mares, go to: http://www.friendsofanimals.org/programs/domestic-feral/horses/pmu.html
It will make you very angry that the practice continues across the country. Hot flashes are indeed unpleasant, but what is done to these magnificent creatures is criminal.

Whirlwind Spring!

My blog has a new look. As you know, I am totally techno challenged so Jan helped me understand the necessary steps to get started with my blog a few months ago. The banner was a watercolor that Jan had given me for my 60th birthday. (She knows about my bird rehab, and how much I love blue birds & ravens in particular....so it was a logical choice for a banner.) Now I've decided it is time that the banner reflect a bit more of me -- does that make any sense? And I felt like a fraud using someone else's artwork on my blog. I DO make art -- just not very often anymore. So until I actually create something of my own -- I asked Susan Tuttle to design something with my spirit. She asked me about 10 questions and ZAP -- I had a new banner! I love it so much, that we are working to create a new website using the format. Cool, huh?!

What an incredible whirlwind we have been on! Just before leaving to go to Asilomar, Vonnie & I decided to rescue a very pregnant mare. She was on pasture, extremely skinny and in desperate need of immediate care. We returned from Asilomar on Thursday, April 16 and on the 17th we brought Zahara to her new home. She is a beautiful little Arab, just the right size for Abigail.

The vet examined her and we immediately got her on decent food and supplements. It didn’t take her long to learn that Abby was the key to the treats and she would nicker when Abby entered the barn.

Vonnie & I were scheduled to leave for Virginia on the 28th and as the week progressed, we began to realize that Zahara was ready to foal. The vet confirmed that delivery was imminent and we were in a quandary! A malnourished mare could have complications, or the foal could be sickly. Poor Derek didn’t sign on to be an animal nurse, but he was willing to learn and do whatever necessary to help us.

At 12:30 am, April 27, DEXTER was born. Our little 14.5 hand mare gave birth to a whopping big stud colt. My first grandhorse. We watched in awe as he struggled to get his gangly legs under control and to stand up. Zahara encouraged him to get into positon to nurse and he immediately began to suckle greedily. Our vet arrived in the late morning to examine both patients and we learned that Zahara was not producing enough milk for the baby. This was due to her poor condition, but it was imperative that something be done immediately. It is not recommended that you bottle feed a foal—first of all, it is very time consuming – but most importantly, the horse can become a bit unruly as it matures. The solution was to locate a very expensive and rare supplement to give Zahara and begin the treatment that day.

Now we were really in a pickle. Due to fly out the next morning, we couldn’t leave the horses without someone who understood the situation to care for them. I desperately needed Vonnie with me for the first few days in VA – and then I felt that she could leave me to head for home. And then, as life happens, everything fell into place as we were able to find an actual “horse sitter”. (Derek was hoping that she would also cook dinner – but no luck for him.) It was a fabulous solution and I’m happy to say that Zahara and Dexter are doing great.



















Dexter at 4 hours old. And poor Zahara -- she was so skinny.

Hampton, VA

Virginia has just been the BEST! Each event is special in its own unique way – its hard to describe, but those who are fortunate enough to attend Art & Soul at different locations will understand what I am saying.

Maria has outdone herself with the store! We have everything but the kitchen sink – oh wait a minute – I think we have a miniature one in the vintage ephemera section. The hottest item has been the new DG3 art gel. She has sold over 400 bottles. The make-and-takes have been a huge success. Attendees are grabbing lunch and then rushing to the store to make something new and fun. It has been a great place to gather, make new friends and review the day. Our thanks to US Artquest for donating the supplies for our projects.

The weather has been very cooperative after the tornado on Monday. Suffolk is only a short 20 minutes away and they were hit hard. The proceeds from our Silent Auction will be donated to the Suffolk Tornado Relief Fund.

As with the Asilomar attendees, our VA gals have outdone themselves with the ‘special project’. I am continually amazed at how everyone interprets each item and the creativity that is expressed. Portland – you have a challenge ahead of you!

And once again, Vendor Night was amazing! It was a purchasing frenzy and exciting to watch. There was no room for me and the scooter to navigate the room – it was wall to wall women (with a few very tolerant husbands thrown in). There was so much incredible art -- wish I had a bazillion dollars to spend.

Sadly, it is time to begin packing for the return home. But we will have fond memories of 08 and fresh ideas to implement for 09!