Cuenca Updates: Saturday May 19, 2012

Saturday May 19/12 update

I have been up since 3am and decided to get busy and upload some of my work to some sites I have been ignoring. Even though I have not been uploading to RedBubble I have still been getting more sales there than from Fine Art America so I gave them a look this morning. They have amended the amount of “tags” we can use on a photo back to 50. I left them because they wanted us to go through all our work and drop all our tags to 10 a year ago and I objected to them arbitrarily imposing this restriction on us. It is nice to see they have relented.

I also have been slow to upload to Zazzle, mainly because it is an odd system, although they have a multitude of products available from posters to mugs to JIGSAW PUZZLES, which is a real new item that I am very excited about although they seem pretty expensive.
http://www.zazzle.com/souvenirphotostudio
You know I have well over 2000 works online, so if you see any artwork that you would like, in any format, just let me know and I will try to make sure it is available on Zazzle in the format you want. My personal site for links to my work is http://saccc05.tripod.com/

Something is wrong with this site today as it would only let me upload half of what I wanted. I did a nquery in their Forum section and it appears I am not alone with those problems today.

Bella went to collect from a lady here who bought a dozen of our Eleggant Hooks without success. Bella was hoping to buy a small freezer with the proceeds. Wednesday is now the target date.

This has been the greyest week since we have been here, very little rain, just threatening most of the time it seems. We should be almost finished with the “rainy season”.

Tom Thumb ignored me most of the morning but in the afternoon he must have been hungry. I held the feeder in my hand and he came to eat greedily. What a wild sensation to feel the wind from his wings.

I had two lights burn out in one day, even one of those compact fluorescents which are supposed to last for years. These lights are almost the same price as at home but are clearly inferior in quality.

Tonight we were invited to our old neighborhood, Los Sauces, for a procession, mass at the church, then a procession back to the community for fun and refreshments. We had no idea what it was for and Bella didn’t want to go. I had to get out and walk today so I went, purposely late and went right to the church. After the procession back to the community hall they passed around small cups of champagne for a few toasts, and also roses for the ladies. It turns out that the celebration was for Mother’s Day! Then they passed around heaping plates of pork fried rice and glasses of pop. There were a few short speeches then several people got up to sing, including a local man with a decent voice and an amazing 10-year-old girl who shows lots of promise.

Local Singer http://youtu.be/geaMV8b-muA

10 Year-old singer http://youtu.be/LbVBbnFfAi0

Part way through the evening a Mexican mariachi band came through the hall then sang a few songs in the open air while most of the locals shook a leg. This band was a pleasure to listen to and the vocalists were superb.

Mariachi Band #1 http://youtu.be/956xoYYlg0Q

Mariachi Band #2 http://youtu.be/YLcJuy9dzXg

Mariachi Band #3 http://youtu.be/DUdeZUl779g

Mariachi Band #4 http://youtu.be/OMcuwr0fdwA

Mariachi Band #5 http://youtu.be/1lz5BMHk9hc

Mariachi Band #6 http://youtu.be/qOSnjLsfwi0

Mariachi Band #7 http://youtu.be/uXKMWgW7rAw

Then everyone came back in the hall for another champagne toast and more pop. More singers got up, some good, some awful, but everybody was tolerant and cheered anyway.

I was about to leave when I spotted the Andrade-Rios family in the corner and went to say hello. They are the folks that showed me such a good time on New Year’s Eve. Everyone wanted to make sure that I caught a taxi home but I slipped out and walked home, staying on the well lit main streets, and I had no problems.

Don't forget to see the Sunday blog following this one. I tried to combine them but nothing is cooperating when I add the photos.

Enjoy the pics and videos. That was today’s excitement. Hugs to all.