NAME OUR TORTOISE!

We had a "contest" to name our tortoise. I made a "ballot box" for the customers to put in their suggestions for a name. We still don't know the sex of the tortoise, so we asked for a "non-gender-specific" name. We gave a month for suggestions.

The winner is: "SCOOTER!"

So "Scooter" scoots about the tank he/she/it lives in and vacuum ups the stuff we leave in there for he/she/it to eat.

And EAT SHE DOES! If she keeps going this way; morning, noon, and night; she'll be so big as to fill her enclosure!

Wendy

OUR TORTOISE!

Our tortoise had its/his/her "well bay" examination by Dr. Elizabeth Bradt on Monday. Liz is GREAT! She has seen our birds from time to time when they've had "issues." She found our tortoise to be A #1! Good flesh; bright eyes, no nasal discharge, very active, eating GREAT! AND she found NO PARASITES in the fecal sample!

We're STILL looking for a name, however! We have the "ballot box" in place until August 27, exactly a month since we bought the tortoise from PetCo. We will then go through the suggestions to pick the one we like best!

I realize this all seems rather "frivolous" compared to the devastation we've been through recently, but Life Goes On, y'know. You have to LIVE.

We're getting VERY near the end of this recent "set-back" the FIRE. The insurance company is VERY close to closing the claim--so if you haven't contacted me about your lost piece DO SO IMMEDIATELY!

Soon, we will start gutting the old location and re-building. I want it to look similar--but not REALLY--to our current temporary space. We have ideas...

Onwards and upwards, always!
Wendy
The Art Corner
231 Washington Street
Salem, Ma 01970
978-745-9524
artcornersalem@verizon.net

Insurance Adjusters

I placed a call to my Public Adjuster today. When she called back, she said I must have felt my ears "burning," as she had just gotten off the phone with my insurance company's adjuster. The claim had been filed about three weeks ago and we were just waiting for the call to meet with the adjuster with his Questions.

That should happen this coming week. And then, the check will come through shortly after that and then I can contact all you customers who have lost stuff and have been in CONTACT WITH ME and have produced receipts of your lost work and then YOU and I can "settle up." But that only applies to those who gave me receipts prior to three weeks ago. Those who have contacted me since then will have to wait a little longer and those who HAVEN'T produced receipts will have to wait even longer--and may not have any satisfaction from the insurance company in the end.

I'm trying--and HARD!--To make things work for you, but they need "evidence!" They will not take my word for it that your lost work is worth such and such. They need PROOF! Just like in a court of law. The more paperwork, the better.

In the end, I can advocate and my public adjuster can advocate for you to the best we can, but it's all up to the insurance company and their adjuster and their decision.

If you have issues with those decisions, we can direct you to the persons responsible and you can meet with them and try to persuade them.

Best of luck to us all! (Fingers crossed!)

Wendy
The Art Corner
231 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01970
978-745-9524
artcornersalem@verizon.net

UNDERPINNER HEAVEN!

Here's how we will deal with our brand-new underpinner! It is the machine that puts the nails into the frame to join it. It uses "V" nails--slices of metal that are pneumatically "pushed" into the bottom corners of a frame. If used with wood glue, a better join could not be built!

But a flat surface for the frame to rest on is also important, and we think we have come up with a way to do that.

As you can see, we've built a mobile "table" to fit the underpinner as exactly as possible. The underpinner as well as the table have been put on wheels. We plan on building two more tables, to accommodate the other three corners of a large frame, when the need surfaces. When we don't need to have "mobile expandable corner-supporting tables" we can push those tables aside and use them for something else.

EVERYTHING IS ON WHEELS! And they LOCK, so we can have stabiltiy!

Check it! 2x4's, 1x3's, foam core board, locking casters: EASY! We could patent it!

Wendy
The Art Corner
231 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01970

OUR NEW STORE MASCOT

Here is our new MASCOT! I decided we needed a new mascot, over and above the goldfish that the firemen saved the night of the fire.

Here she/he/it is! We have NO idea the creature's sex, as we need to wait until she/he/it is 5 inches long, but she/he/it is only 4 inces!

Chuck and I have had turtles: box and water. We have a Chinese Three-Striped Box Turtle who is 24 years old! But we've NEVER owned a tortoise.

The tortoise is a Russian Tortoise, Testudo horsefieldii, and we don't know "it's" gender yet. Therefore, we need a "non-gender-specific" name. We have a "ballot box" set up at the store and a pile of "ballot Sheets" to write down an appropriate name for our new mascot! Nancy expressed doubts about a tortoise as our mascot because of the implications. Tortoises are "slow." But, to US, They "get the job done!" As in the Aesop's Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. The Hare is fast, but fails!

He/she/it is a PIG as far as eating is concerned. The tortoise is about 4 inches long, but is expected to reach upwards of 8 to 10 inches in length. Russian Tortoises' diet is VERY specific--NO fruits! And NO PROTEIN! They thrive on common yard WEEDS! Dandilion, plantain, crabgrass. They're better than GOATS to clear the yard! Except they're very small...so it'll take them all summer to NOM, NOM, NOM through all the garden weeds. This one especially likes our garden squash blossoms. "It" eats them first and quickly!

Help us name our mascot! Non-gender-specific, of course! These torts live for about 75 years and this one is prolly 2-5 years old, so be GENTLE! We'll find out "eventually" if "it" is a male or female!

Wendy

The Art Corner

231 Washington Syreet

Salem, MA 01970

978-74-9524