First of all, let me say that vacuuming the cat went way better than I expected it would. This post is a departure from my recent types of posts. This is me practicing getting a blog post written, about whatever is going on here at the moment, without worrying over SEO. I miss the days of ‘journaling’ on my blog and at the moment, it’s hard to even imagine how I used to do it. Warning to readers… this post may just be a jumbled mess of thoughts being recorded as they come out of my head.
I’m wearing a lot of hats these days… ‘Website Admin’ is the one that causes me to pay attention to how I write a post. And even though I took off that hat specifically so I could write this post, it keeps finding a way back on top of my head somehow. For example. I added a heading just now after I wrote the paragraph about the cat.
To truly not be concerned about optimization, I should just keep typing and forget about headings. So let me get back to writing without caring so much about all that…
I’ll just start with what I’m doing right now, aside from typing. I’m chopping onions and putting ground venison on to make chili. This morning I helped get some paperwork submitted for a homeowner who needs assistance with storm damage repairs. After that, I vacuumed the cat for a little while.
Vacuuming the Cat
Yep, you read that last line correctly. I vacuumed the cat! I wasn’t sure she’d let me, but there’s been such an issue with her shedding hair since the temps are warming up. So I took the attachments off and used the hose, and SHE LET ME vacuum her. Wow. After the first attempt, she walked away startled, but then she came back and I resumed. She even seemed to enjoy the process. Consider me truly shocked.
Anyway, I have no photo proof of that. Once I finished with her, I went back to the floors and finished the job I’d started. Miss Kitty ambled off looking like I’d just teased her hair, but seeming pleased with herself.
Yesterday was my day to work at the real estate office in Berryville. That’s one of my hats – Roxann the Real Estate Agent. I left the house early so I could go to the feed store and pick up hay and feed for the horses. However, they didn’t have any hay. Usually, it’s quick to go in and get loaded and leave, so I thought I could get it all done on the way. But yesterday, since there was no hay, I ordered a bag of alfalfa cubes. Of course, those were on a wrapped pallet stacked high to the ceiling. So they needed to get that down before they could get a bag out for me. All of this portion of the day meant wearing my ‘homestead’ hat.
I ended up having to leave the feedstore without the feed, put on my real estate hat again, go to the office. A great thing about small-town living is that all I had to do was let them know I’d be back at lunch to get it. And when I got there, they remembered the plan, and loaded my stuff without question.
The real estate business has been slow-growth for me. I haven’t listed or sold anything at all yet. Other, more seasoned agents, have told me that it often takes a couple of years to begin actually making sales. So this is disappointing, because I can’t continue to rack up debt with no way to pay it off. Classes, fuel, more classes and fuel are all going on my credit card for this. I’m not ready to give up on this, though. Not yet.
Similar issues are going on with the art. But what sales I am making from the art are going towards paying both my art expenses AND the real estate expenses. So, I’m thankful for that, but I’ve got to go back to in-person events for the sake of making sales. In person events are the only things that have ever really worked. I started the studio/gallery thinking I could transition to a single location and quit the hauling, setting up, tearing down, and hauling home all the stuff needed for events.
But it’s not working. I’ll probably close the studio and gallery at the end of this season, because we’re just not making sales and the other artists can’t afford to keep paying rent, either. While I really enjoy being there on Saturdays and having time to focus on my art, it’s a long drive and fuel is expensive. Studio electricity and the garbage dumpster are other bills that will disappear when I shut it down. I just can’t justify continuing that avenue.
It doesn’t mean I’m quitting art. ‘Artist hat’ is my favorite one to wear. It just means the studio/gallery is a luxury that I can’t currently afford. One day I hope that changes, but in the meantime I have to cut some costs and that’s one area that will make the least impact on my happiness, but will save money. The next in person event will be the Bentonville Art Market on June 22.
None of that is as interesting as vacuuming the cat, though, lol. I’m still amazed she let me do it and even seemed to enjoy it.
Anyway, that’s about it today for my rambling ‘what’s going on’ post. Next on the list of things to do is go help get the tractor tires into the back of the truck. One of the front tires sprang a leak last week, and tomorrow we’ll haul them with us to town to get new ones put on the rims. Last month it was 4-wheeler tires. I sure hope the car and truck tires hold out for a while longer. It seems ridiculous for ATV tires to cost as much as automobile ones, but such is the case. And if you’ve never had to replace tractor tires, take my word for it, that’s definitely a sticker shock event.
Leave a comment and tell me how life is going out in your neck of the woods these days!
