As if there wasn't enough happening

I've got my first solo exhibition coming up in ten days time. So there's a lot to do to prepare and get things ready. It's only at the library at Burton on Trent in Staffordshire but it's an excellent venue, the exhibition space is great, the light is great,the staff are enthusiastic and they have a lot of people through the door there. So all in all, its a good thing and I want to do my best for the show. I think I can hang a good amount of artwork, and I can hang prints as well so there will be something for everybody, and if I want to do some demonstrations I can, and just get involved with the patrons of the fair brewing town of Burton on Trent.

Except, this is the week that I'm house hunting.

And this is the week that I've viewed not one but two houses that I REALLY REALLY like. Fortunately they happen to be three doors away from each other so it's easy to view them together. The problem is, and its a nice problem in a way, is that there are aspects of BOTH houses that I really like. If I could take the kitchen, bathroom and the room that I would use to paint in, and mix them into the other house I'd have a perfect mix. But I can't. So I have to make a decision. Which one do I want MOST????

Mmm...... I'm been thinking long and hard about THAT question. And I THINK I've come up with the answer. But it DOES mean another viewing of both of them to fully answer that question. So I've arranged to do that in the next few days.

And JUST to add to the lovely mix of the week, the week when I've got enough on my plate as it is. This  week is the VERY week that my car was involved in a car accident. AGAIN. And I've only had my car back ONLY three weeks from the last dent put into it whilst I was down in Essex and an old man reversed his car out of a parking space in a pub car park, to richocet into a Mercedes parked next to  mine, and shunt it at force sideways into my parked car and embed the cars into each other. Thank goodness no one was in either car so no one was hurt and the old man admitted liability so I was able to have my car repaired quickly and it came back looking pristine and new again all of THREE weeks ago. So, you can imagine how delighted I was to be driven into by a tow truck  yesterday and find that he had dented it in more or less the same place as the last dent! When I spoke to the repair garage, who had only sent it back all done three weeks ago, the receptionist said she THOUGHT the name and car reg was familiar! I said the lads in the body shop will say they only fixed this car last month, and its back again. Like deja vu!!!!!

So whilst I'm dealing with all of that, and sorting out the hire car, its not getting things done for the exhibition at the library. At this rate, I'll have to book in again next year for a repeat performance, and hope that I haven't got so much on my plate THEN!!! :)

Bad timing and the importance of missing the spot

What should have been a nice little break away in the picturesque county of Essex suddenly became a lesson in the subject of timing!

And before you ask, yes I DO mean picturesue Essex - parts of it are really lovely, green, pleasant, verdant and buccolic!

I only went for four days. Its not a lot to ask. A short relaxing break.
Or so I thought.................

The peace and quiet came to a shuddering halt right in the middle of lunchtime. Just after I'd paid the bill after enjoying a delicious lunch in an old country pub and was looking forward to spending the rest of the afternoon exploring more of the pretty surrounding area.

I had been alerted a few minutes beforehand that all was not right in the car park. And sure enough, on my arrival there it was to find a small group of people standing looking at two cars embedded in each other.

And one of them was mine.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Fucccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!)

It turned out that an old man had reversed out of his car park space right into another car at SUCH a force that it knocked the first large saloon into mine SIDEWAYS on. Leaving the two embedded in each other. And then he had driven off.

Great!

So that meant the police had to be called (although they wouldn't attend the incident because no one was hurt). And that in turn meant that I had to go and find a police station, in an area I didn't know. And that took all afternoon. So I didn't see anything of the fields and pretty villages.

And the next day was spent on the phone. Talking to insurance companies, car hire companies, the woman who owned the other car, the car repair company and all the other people who needed to be informed of the incident.

But it was afterwards, when all had quietened down. That I realised............that had I gone out from the table a little quicker, just a few minutes, then I might have been between the two cars when he bashed into the first one, that in turn was knocked at such a force into mine, that the metal of each car was caved in and badly crumpled. So, its annoying that my week has been put about with sorting out the problem of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I'm just thankful I wasn't anywhere near it at the time. And neither was anyone else.