More food, update for Ubuntu, and packing boxes

Last night I had supper at Sandi’s and again it was superb. The features were bison meatloaf and a rice dessert with Ecuadoran chocolate and a bottle of Merlot. Excellent! Thank you Sandi. I’ll miss you when I leave for my trip across Canada, not only for your excellent taste for food and the finer things in life, but especially for your friendship.

Today I started to upgrade my Ubuntu linux computer to Ubuntu version 7.04. It looks like it’s going to be an all night affair, even with ADSL, with a download of almost 1200 files. For the rest of today I will be using my Microsoft Vista machine while hoping there will be no interruption to the Ubuntu install.

I went to Whitehorse today to get some boxes and bubble wrap for packing my artwork and other stuff for storage until such time as I have some place available to move them to. The cost floored me! 85 cents per foot (4 ft wide) for bubble wrap, $17.75 per large mirror box, $10.75 per small mirror box and $1.5o per 2 cu. ft. box. Total cost $575.05!

I started a task list for what I have to do before May 16th and *I should have started earlier*. The list is *long*. The time is *short*.

Stuffed Mushrooms With Supper

It is not very often that I have an opportunity to have stuffed mushrooms with supper. Bob and Shirley invited me over yesterday and with an excellent roast beef supper Shirley took the time to make superb garlic stuffed mushrooms. Of course Shirley is a very good cook and the meal was up to her usual tasty norm. Thank you Shirley.

While Shirley was busy in the kitchen Bob and I spent some time figuring out how to delete all the pictures from his digital camera at once . . . *not* one at a time. Come on Sony, you could have done better than that; it takes about ten steps to perform that delete function. And it is *not* intuitive at all. Bob . . . *don’t* lose your manual! Sony . . . smarten up!

Homeless in Tagish

Yes, Cisco and I are about to become homeless . . . by choice.  My house has been sold, with a closing date of May 16th and I am about to start packing. What will I do? The first plan is to shed my life of almost all unnecessary belongings . . . most will be left in the house for the new owners to use . . . or throw out. My paintings will go into warm storage in Whitehorse, as well as some books and a few other things that I want to keep. I will load the travel trailer with everything needed for an extended trip . . . of course I will include my painting stuff . . . and I will head across Canada towards New Brunswick where I will visit my good friend Sheila. I am keeping an approximately one acre lot in Tagish in case I return and want to build something on it in which to live. Something *smaller* than the large house I am now living in. Or maybe I will move to another location somewhere in Yukon like Haines Junction or ???. Or maybe I will spend the winter in Arizonza or somewhere else that is *warm*. Or maybe I will stay in Eastern Canada somewhere . . . I have never lived east of Ottawa. I am not committing to anything certain until sometime later. My options are many. For now I am looking forward to a leisurely trip to New Brunswick that may be called a “painting” trip, then some studio time in New Brunswick at Sheila’s. After that, I have no plan. Many options . . . but no plan at this time.

I will keep on blogging along the way, keep up my website, and keep on painting. All my current art will be in storage and *new* paintings will be created.

On an office wall

Here are words of wisdom found on an office wall recently:

Great minds discuss ideas – Average minds discuss events – Small minds discuss people

Eleanor Roosevelt

It’s been a very busy spring

Yes, Spring is finally here . . . I think. At least I don’t think I will have to shovel any more snow until next winter. The roof of the house had about 4 to 5 feet of *compressed* snow.  The travel trailer had the same. The trailer is now clear of snow (except around it) and there is only a small patch left on the house. Lionel from Inuvik and his son Dustin from Whitehorse worked very hard to remove the snow from the house and from around the trailer. I was quite worried about it and I can’t thank them enough for their help. It was impossible for me to do the roof of the house as I do not have a death wish. A metal roof covered with snow is quite dangerous to be on. Lionel and Dustin don’t have a death wish also, but I envy their youth . . . especially for stuff like this. Lionel’s wife Judy also invited me over for supper on Good Friday. Not only  that but I also later enjoyed left-overs given to me to take home. Thank you Judy, it was delicious!

On Saturday Sandi invited me over for supper. As usual it was superb. We dined, drank, danced and partied until the late morning hours . . . just kidding, but it certainly was an enjoyable evening. Thank you Sandi . . . And more left-overs to take home for later! That also was delicious.

As I could get into the trailer today, I took some pictures of the inside and added them to my website page that has the trailer for sale. With Aggie gone, I do not have any desire to travel with it *alone*. You can see the trailer here. Or if you want to see the website, click here.

I had started an Easter painting but with all the activity that took precedence I never got to finish it. My painting could be on hold again for awhile as I am also in process of selling the house. It is much to large for just me. There is a good possiblility that I may have to move out of the house by the end of April. It looks like soon I will be “homeless in Tagish”. My plan is to move the trailer to Whitehorse and sell it there before going to New Brunswick to visit my good friend Sheila. There I will plan *what* to do, *where* to do it, and *when* to do it. I expect that will take 3 or 4 months. I still have a nice lot in Tagish in case I decide to build a small house on it . . . or I may decide to move to Haines Junction or maybe stay in New Brunswick. I have never lived east of Ottawa before. Of course I  will take my painting supplies with me and experience new environments for painting. Stuff that I *can’t* take with me (I plan to travel with the Suburban) I will leave in storage at Whitehorse. The stuff in storage will be minimal . . . some books, music stuff, and lots of paintings. The stuff I take with me will also be minimal . . . my computer stuff, painting stuff and a few clothes, and of course my small dog Cisco. That’s all. For the first time in my life, I will be homeless. I am looking at this trip as the beginning of a *new* life.