Tim and Dana came over to remove our washer and drier because the washing machine broke. We thought (and Tim thought) that he was going to have to remove the whole window frame to get it out. But, it turned out he didn't. The new washer and drier is being delivered this Saturday, the 23rd.]]> Christina was asking about our crabapple trees because she was trying to find a kind of tree to fill a certain spot in her yard. So, I said she should come over and see ours and have lunch. So she did.]]> Charlie has come back after being away for 3 weeks. He was working on a project at the Kohler factory for an artist. He got here today after we had left to go to the dentist, so while we were gone he dismantled Catherine's (Murphy) setup for her "Becalmed" painting. After we got back we all had lunch, put away the groceries, worked on a couple of other things, and now we're working on the site.]]> These two guys came to deliver a washer and dryer we had bought at Best Buy (See "Two Authorized Home Delivery Specialists", September 27 2017). For whatever reason, they did not have the piece of equipment necessary to stack the washer/dryer, so I sent them away and didn't let them drop of the appliances.]]> The two delivery guys brought a washer/dryer that we had ordered from Best Buy. This was the second delivery of the washer/dryer. The first guys were not sent with the piece of equipment needed to stack the appliances. Who's fault that was, it's hard to say, although these guys should have had that piece of equipment because I told about 10 people at Best Buy "don't forget to bring that piece of equipment". This time, I had the guys (different guys from last time) hook up the washing machine and put the dryer in the garage until we could get the installation straightened out. I called Best Buy and intensely whined at them because I was pretty annoyed, and I don't want to go to the laundromat again. They called back the next day and said that the item needed was not in GE's warehouse and needed to be backordered, and won't be here until October 19th, but they won't charge me for it because of the problem.]]> Today was Charlie's birthday. He is now 29 years old. I gave Charlie a long list of things to pick up on the way, so here about a half hour later than usual. We were waiting for the man from Cranesville Block Company to come and pour concrete into the hole that Darren and Jean Jean dug. Marc Briscoe welded an apparatus with a loop on top to be put in the concrete. To that hook would be attached cable, the other end of which would be put around the trunk of the tree that's crushing my barn studio. When the guy from Cranesville finally got here and started pouring the concrete, everything went wrong. First, pebbles started coming out, and then overly thick concrete started coming down the chute, which soon got totally stuck at the top of the chute. The Cranesville guy kept hosing water up and into the chute while Charlie used a hoe to try and dig out the concrete. This eventually worked, and the whole time the Cranesville guy was hosing the concrete so what we got was a mix of too dry and too wet. I wasn't impressed with the guy's troubleshooting ability. The next day I checked the concrete and it did have small cracks in it. I am hopeful that when the tree is cable to the loop that it will hold. I think it probably will. When he left Charlie and I had pulled pork sandwiches (see next Charlie Smith entry (September 29th 2017)), after which we went up to help Cathy in her studio a little bit, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon working on the site. The reason Charlie and I work on the site together is because he types much much faster than I do.]]> When the guy from Cranesville finally got here and started pouring the concrete, everything went wrong. First, pebbles started coming out, and then overly thick concrete started coming down the chute, which soon got totally stuck at the top of the chute. The Cranesville guy kept hosing water up and into the chute while Charlie used a hoe to try and dig out the concrete. This eventually worked, and the whole time the Cranesville guy was hosing the concrete so what we got was a mix of too dry and too wet. I wasn't impressed with the guy's troubleshooting ability. The next day I checked the concrete and it did have small cracks in it. I am hopeful that when the tree is cable to the loop that it will hold. I think it probably will. Marc Briscoe welded an apparatus with a loop on top to be put in the concrete, which went into the hole that Darren and Jean Jean Dug. To that hook would be attached cable, the other end of which would be put around the trunk of the tree that's crushing my barn studio. The Cranesville kept saying they gave him a crappy truck, and that it wasn't the truck he was used to, and it was making him look like a rookie.]]> Tim stopped by to bring me a receipt and an estimate for work he did and has to do in conjunction with the leak from Alec Levinson's (our tenant) air conditioner. I was going to pay for the repairs, but then Alec's father mentioned that maybe the insurance company would cover it, which they are going to do. Tim also committed to coming sometime the following week to start work on various projects. Standing in the doorway is Charlie Smith, in front of a Thomas Nozkowski drawing.]]> On his way here today, Charlie picked up a container of buttermilk. He did a couple of his regular things, but then Al (Nowack) arrived soon after to photograph 2 of Cathy's (Catherine Murphy) paintings. Charlie and I helped Al by moving 2 paintings back and forth. Al photographed "Becalmed" and "Painting Drawing Painting". Right before that Aaron from Culligan came to deliver salt, so I dealt with that. I made a few phone calls while Charlie packed up a pair of shoes to send back to Macy's. Now, we're working on this entry. Right after we finish this entry, we're going to have lunch, and then start the afternoon's work. - We're back from lunch. Charlie and I had pulled pork sandwiches (the pork from the Farmer's Wife in Ancram) and Cathy had a yogurt. So I think we'll spend most of the afternoon working on this site, probably with a few interruptions for other things.]]> Al came over to photograph two of Cathy's (Catherine Murphy) paintings, "Becalmed" and "Painting Drawing Painting".]]> Aaron dropped off salt and I bought four water softener filters from him. We got to talking about his pictures on this site and he reminded me that he'd been coming here for 21 years.]]> Maria Arrived early as usual. Cathy (Catherine Murphy) and I were running around trying to finish the lemon squares for Josh Marsh's lunch (see Josh Marsh, September 30, 2017), and periodically we are running around doing something when she gets here, so we asked her not to come early anymore. She cleaned the house.]]> Josh came by for a visit on his way from Pennsylvania to Maine to visit his grandparents. He brought us ribs and a tomato cucumber salad, and Cathy made coleslaw and lemon squares for dessert. We have enough ribs for dinner for another night.]]> Janice (LaMotta) is the director of the Woodstock Artist Association and Museum. John Yau is curating a show for them called "The Book". He invited Catherine Murphy and myself to be in the show. So Janice agreed to pick up the work at our house. I arranged for Margaret at Catskill Art and Office to mat Cathy's two prints for the show. I was supposed to pick them up this past Saturday, but in rushing around and going to the Garrison Art Center to see Laura Kaufman's show, and then meeting Karen Wilkin and Don Clinton for dinner, I forgot to pick up Cathy's prints. Catskill Art and Office is closed on Sundays, so I panicked that Janice would end up coming all the way here and we wouldn't have Cathy's work to give her. I called Catskill Art and Office in Woodstock, which is open on Sunday, and they agreed to forward my contact information to Margaret and Lee, and ask them to get in touch with them. Margaret did call me back, and luckily she agreed to meet me so I could pick up the work. Janice got here around 1:30. We had coffee and lemon squares that Cathy had made for Josh Marsh's lunch. We had a rather nice visit.]]> Charlie did a couple of his usual tasks when he got here. Then we had coffee and talked about Amanda's (Neuman) trip to Africa. I went up back with Cathy (Catherine Murphy) and Charlie researched surveillance cameras for a drawing that Cathy is planning. We're working on the site now, but we have a lot of things planned for this afternoon. We're going to leave the house around 1, go get lots of empty boxes at Arnoff Storage, do some errands, have lunch, go to the drawing studio at Vassar to set up a still life, and then back here.]]> We were at the American Academy of Arts and Letters last night (see last bunch of entries), and Catherine's (Murphy) phone kept ringing. She answered it once and none was there. It turned out to be Benjamin Busch. He was calling to see if this was a good night to come by on his way from New York City to Sherborn NY. After dinner at the Academy, when Cathy and I were driving home, he finally got through to us. So, we arranged for him to let himself in when he got here, and that we'd see him in the morning. He probably got to our house around 1 AM. In the morning, when I got up at 7, I tried not to wake him, but that didn't work. The three of us had breakfast and visited. A little after 10, Charlie (Smith) came to work and took Cathy directly to the doctor for her B12 shot. Charlie and Cathy got back around 12 and the four of us had lunch. When we were done with lunch, Simon (Tosky) came to work (see next 2 entries). After Ben saw what I was up to in the studio and what Cathy had done, he left to head north.]]> This is Charlie's (Smith) first day here at the same time as Simon Tosky. Charlie has too many jobs and wants to get some work done in the studio so he's deaccessioning us, mostly. It looks like Simon is going to be our new assistant, so we thought it would be a good idea to have Charlie and Simon here to make the transition smoother (see last entry and next entry (Simon Tosky)). Charlie will be coming for 3 more weeks, once a week, and then on an as needed basis.]]> This was Simon's first day working for us. He came over last week on Sunday for us to meet him and for him to meet us. Today he and Charlie (Smith) were both here so that Simon could get used to the lay of the land and Charlie could be helpful in the transition from him to Simon (see last entry). Simon didn't get here until 1:30 because he was working at one of his other jobs. Soon after he got here Simon and I and Ben (Busch) went up to Cathy's (Catherine Murphy) studio so that Ben could see the new paintings that are done, and for me to show Simon where Cathy's studio was. While we were up there I thought it was a good idea to show Simon Charlie's construction for Cathy's book painting. After that, Charlie and Simon went over to the Dutch Barn Studio to clean up some of the bat guano. Then they did some stuff outside. And now, here we are working on the site. Charlie is typing. I am talking. Simon is observing.]]> Tim got here around 7:45 this morning to work on Alec's (Levinson) apartment. Somewhere in one of the past entries the whole event with Alec's air conditioner and the rotting of wood and wall was talked about. Tim set up his stuff outside and then came in and had coffee with us. Now he's back outside working.]]> We usually go to Betty and Jack's house for Thanksgiving which we did this year. Katie and Joe are foster parents and ?, and Tatiana have been with them for two years and they are in the process of adopting them. The other three children have started living with them this year. The next day we met (as we usually do) Gail Mazur at the Arlington Diner. After breakfast we headed to Wilson's farm (which we usually do) and then headed home.,Thanksgiving, Foster Children]]> We usually go to Betty and Jack's house for Thanksgiving which we did this year. The next day we met (as we usually do) Gail Mazur at the Arlington Diner. After breakfast we headed to Wilson's farm (which we usually do) and then headed home.,Thanksgiving]]> Daren came to finish up in the garden. Jean Jean felt up to it and wanted to work with Daren so they did. It was an unusually warm day for November, in the 50's. Warm enough for Aliyah to be in her stroller outside. January 8th they are moving back to the Philippines for the rest of the winter and will be returning in the Spring.,gardening, phillipines]]> Simon got here at 10am this morning and since Charlie(Smith) was delayed, I took Simon through things Charlie does. Charlie is leaving because he has to many jobs and Simon is going to be our new assistant. Charlie got here at 10:20am, Charlie and Simon continued work not he surveillance cameras which are being set up for Catherine(Murphy's drawing). After which we had lunch and now we are working on the site. Simon is handling the interface. Charlie is helping him figure it out and I(Roseman, Harry) am dictating the captions. See next entry.,Artist Assistant, transition]]> Charlie got here at 10:20am. Simon had gotten here at 10am. Charlie is leaving because he has to many jobs and Simon is going to be our new assistant. Charlie and Simon continued work not he surveillance cameras which are being set up for Catherine(Murphy's drawing). After which we had lunch and now we are working on the site. Simon is handling the interface. Charlie is helping him figure it out and I(Roseman, Harry) am dictating the captions. See last entry,Artist assistant, transition]]> Judy came over in the late afternoon to pick up a Winter Borscht that Catherine (Murphy) made to send over to Tom and Joyce. She also brought some delicious cookies she made. We had coffee and tea and cookies including Simon.]]> Carl came to exterminate the powder post beetles and carpenter ants in the unheated studio barn. He needed to do this on a day that was above freezing, even though it was in the 30's that day, somewhat above freezing, the people at Pestech thought it would be fine. In preparation for them coming Ben Keddy, Simon Tosky and I cleared out the studio. The chemicals were put on all the wood surfaces of the barn and are supposed to soak in and not only do away with the insects but also make the wood unappetizing for them in the futures. While he was here he changed all the mouse traps in the house and barns.]]> Simon came over to work with Ben (Keddy) and myself to put everything back into the barn (see Benjamin Keddy same date as this post).]]> Last night the oil burner was making a terrible noise, so that morning we called Botini to send somebody over to investigate. I went down to the basement with (I did ask his name and wrote it down somewhere and don't remember it) the man from Botini. The noise was very loud down in the basement. He looked at the boiler and preceded to take off a metal cover over some wiring and the noise stopped. It turned out the cover was just on a little wrong.]]> Ben came over to work with Simon (Tosky) and me to put everything (folded plywood sculptures+a lot of other stuff) back into the summer studio. Everything from the studio was either in the rented Pod or on the ground covered with a huge tarp. That was following the exterminators treating the studio for powder post beetles and carpenter ants. I think he had dinner with us and left the next morning.,studio, sculpture,]]> Judy Linn came over with cookies.]]> Simon came to work]]>