Happy New Year

Jackie Collins

Bought a new Jackie Collins book today. A continuation of her Lucky
Santangelo series. How can a guy resist buying a book from such a
gorgeous author? Sexist?; probably so. She does have a unique style.

My favorite author died recently, and I have read all his books. Tony
Hillerman wrote murder mysteries about the Navajo Tribal Police, and
infuses a lot of the Navajo culture into the books. He will be missed,
and his cast of characters will be frozen in time.

Tahoe Sunset

We are traveling past the casinos in Lake Tahoe. California is ahead
at the stop light. Was a great day for us in Nevada today. Went to
Carson City to have a Sirrius radio installed in the Subaru. Love it.
It was "first come, first serve" at Best Buy's audio installation, so
it took a few hours (5). This gave us an opportunity to walk around
and help the economy. Buy stuff, take it back to the car, then head
out again.

Christmas Cards

Every year I prepare a limited edition holiday card, sometimes before Christmas, sometimes after. This was the art for this year's card, a limited edition of 125 plus 10 artists proofs. It is titled "My Little Chickadee", inspired by W.C. Fields. The Mountain Chickadee is often called the "Cheeseburger" bird by Tahoe locals, because it's whistle sounds like it's saying "cheese-bur-ger". Three notes, going up on the first, then descend on the other two. Though I consider myself a local, I just found out about this rare fact recently. No, I am not going insane with "cabin fever".

Christmas Day

Have a duck in the oven and waiting for the snow plow to come by. I
have the driveway plowed, but the plow will most likely leave a
massive berm since there is so much snow in the road. Seen at least
two vehicles get stuck in the snow trying to get up the hill. I don't
plan on going anywhere, though it's reassuring to know I can. I am
waiting with the snow blower for the berm.

Kitchen Paint Job

Here are some photos of a recent job in the Sac area. The job involved changing the cabinets to the brown wood finish, painting stones on the wall and painting the shelf scenes on the peninsula. The cabinets were originally a gold color, and the walls were a beige wallpaper.

The House

Here is a shot of the house with the big kitchen. My contribution has
been the verdigris finish on a variety of surfaces. Currently on
several wrought iron railings. Had to postpone the completion of the
job due to the fact it is outside and way too cold for both the paint
and the painter (me). Will return in January once the temperature
exceeds 55 degrees.

Big Kitchen

This is not the home I mentioned in an earlier post that would not let
me take pictures. This home is being built by a plastic surgeon who
does not cook, nor does his wife. This kitchen is larger than some
homes. He says it's primarily for the caterers. I'm doing some
verdigris faux finish in their home this week.

Time To Post

This is an old photo I found on my phone, but I like it. Working on a
job (phase three) in Roseville right now. I'll try to take some
pictures, though the client does not want any pictures taken. She
say's she is very private. I, however, have over three weeks invested
in the job and would like some documentation. I use pictures to get
business, but some clients not want any strangers to see there
project, even though they saw other's projects to decide on their's.
Strange.