The Grande Dalles

Just dropped Sam off at his new little play-group daycare thingymajig down the street, and back home doing some work. Thought I’d share what I’ve been working on these past few days:

– Editing Scott’s video debut – that stylist I need for myself could also be used on Scott, at least his choice of t-shirt (a gag-gift from a friend, not a statement he’s trying to make). I did my best to edit what I could out, hence the jiggle effect. Sorry if you get sea-sick while watching. Scan the horizon.

– Website nitty-gritty. We’re trying to get an expanded website up, other than our DIY splash page you currently see at The Grande Dalles address. I’m 2.5 months behind doing it – trying to coordinate with the designer I traded work for, and the programmer, and how it can be done on the budget we have, and how the design drives budget and my head hurts. Then all the “where should one go after clicking here?” “How to return?” “Is the message clear?” “How much will this add to programming costs?” And then all the gentle stylistic proddings, to a well-seasoned, know-her-crap designer. See, that’s the (one of the) trouble(s) with people with vision (meaning me and scott) — we know what we want because the vision is so deep within us. But since we don’t have the know-how to create it (like this website – as much as I’d LOVE to learn programming and more about design), we have to rely on people doing their best to translate their idea of what THEY think WE want. Painful sometimes.

– Restaurant/chef picks. When we were in New York last month, The James Beard House was so excited about our wines and story, they want us to present them at a dinner sometime in the future, something we are deeply honored by, even just the idea! So now it’s trying to find a chef who might want to present a meal with our wines. We have a shortlist, so  in the last few days I’ve done some research to uncover the chef’s stories — I LOVE that stuff — sleuthing, and stories — to see how we might be a good fit. Of course, who knows if any of them would be interested, but The James Beard House?! AND The Grande Dalles wine?! C’mon!

– Setting up our e-comm page to link with website. Lots of DIY (that’s Do It Yourself, for you Euro readers) in this endeavor.

– Going through an emotional roller coaster — I know, that’s old news for you seasoned readers — but here’s the skinny: LAST week we were turned down a SECOND time for a loan to move into a bigger home. This the second house we had found. I was so angry and sad, all our sacrifice for this endeavor and living in this tiny house and blah blah blah. THIS week Scott found us a local bank who said, “Yes.”! We will get that larger house. Fingers crossed.

Ok – enough of the blah blah — I’ll post this and get Scott’s video up, too —

Over and out –