Around the Town: Big sale doesn’t stop visit to the art show

By Loretta Humble/Around the Town

This is going to be short. The main thing I thought of last week was that sale. The sale I shamelessly used my last column to advertise in order to raise a lot of money so we can send two granddaughters to Ireland in May. I have pushed you and my publishers to the limit on that subject, so even though that is still mostly what I’m thinking about, I had better find something else to talk about.

But maybe you won’t mind if I tell you that the sale went quite well. People weren’t beating the door down like I thought they would be, but they kept coming, and they kept buying. I did notice that not many said they read about it in my column. Where were you folks? Don’t you like bargains? My granddaughters were there helping when they could. And then Laken started listing things on the Internet, and the orders started rolling in. She is selling things like nobody’s business. Who knows, maybe we won’t have to hold as many sales as we thought. But I will be sure and let you know about the next one.

There is one other nice thing I can tell you about: I took off from our sale, and, still in my grubby clothes, went to the Star Harbor Watercolor Society’s annual show and sale, “For the Love of Art.” I believe it so happens that they are all ladies, no men. Years ago, when I first heard about these ladies and their group I kind of mentally sniggered. “Prissy little old ladies trying to be arty,” I thought. But the first time I saw their work, it just knocked my sock off. It still does. They are not just good, they are excellent. I have jokingly asked them what they do with anybody who joins them who turns out to be just mediocre. I forget what they tell me about that, but they obviously have that worked out, as there are no so-so paintings there. The best part for me was that my two very favorite artists were there and we got a selfie with the three of us hugging. To me, Celene Terry and Christi Barrett are the tops—wonderful, fun people who produce absolutely wonderful art.
I have another great picture. I hope both of them can go with this column. The other is of Ireland-bound granddaughters Laken and Taegan, scrubbing on things for the sale. These girls are serious!

I need to let you know my mouse situation is just a little better than it was. The cat brought another one in and turned him loose day before yesterday. But we set a trap, and maybe he was the one it caught last night. Maybe. We couldn’t get loose to take him for a ride right then, so I slipped a couple of grapes in the trap to keep him hydrated. I was thinking that for him a grape would be like a gallon of water for us. But I guess he didn’t need them because when I dropped him off the grapes rolled one way and he ran another.

Every now and then I am reassured that somebody reads what I write and even remembers it. My wonderful friend Charlene Abbe Owen called and asked me what those dresses I wrote about were called, the ones that are so comfortable and just slip on. I told her I would show her some of my Lularoes, and she could see if she liked them. So I jumped in the car with an armload of dresses and the mouse in the trap on top of them. And the car wouldn’t start. So I had to catch a ride to get rid of the mouse, but I’ll save the dresses for another day when Charlene and I can visit.

You can see a little bit of the Star Harbor show here.