Our new Keys friend Peter asked us for a little creative help.  The local SPCA has a spring social fundraiser tonight, and Peter’s friend Roberta is making a very interesting donation.  Roberta is a novelist who writes Key West murder mysteries under the pen name Lucy Burdette.  She has agreed to include the auction winner’s pet in her next novel..!!!  

Ron went right to work.  He downloaded Photoshop Touch on his iPad and designed this photo of Juan Carlos for the auction.  Ron knew without a doubt that Juan Carlos should be part of this.  He scanned through thousands of our pictures to find just the right one and I helped with the wording. Voila! 

Auction table teaser stars Juan Carlos…!

Art.. Charity.. New friends.. and a really cute puppy.

We’ve been settling into Key West very nicely. We signed up at the Old Island Restoration Foundation and went on five house tours, biking all around town and seeing different neighborhoods. Very interesting to see how people restore and renovate old conch houses, to walk through their personal spaces and to see how people really live.

One of the docents was very friendly with us and recommended that we visit the old armory on White Street… It now houses the Studios of Key West where artists work and display their art. We biked over there and had a preview look at the displays for an upcoming AIDS Help charity auction, and they told us that we should come back for the champagne reception that night. (oh… okay : ) I did like one painting and Ron was happy to try to get it for me. Ron is an auction natural…  While my heart thumped in my chest, Ron seemed to really enjoy raising his paddle as the bids went up and up, and finally, it just got way too high.

Armed and ready.

The one that got away… “Blue Boy” painting of a blue heron with a fancy flair.

In the spirit of charity, Ron bid on one he liked and won “Tuscany.”  What a thrill to win!

“Tuscany” watercolor that Ron won at auction.

And in an interesting twist of charity, Ron has now decided to donate “Tuscany” to another Key West charity – the Florida Keys SPCA animal shelter.  (They are trying to raise money to replace their crumbling shelter).  We found out about the charity by meeting a new little friend, Ziggy, and his parents, Peter and Sally.  We were biking in the Truman Annex and couldn’t help but notice this cute little puppy.  Peter told us about adopting Ziggy recently, and he very quickly realized that Ron and I are big animal lovers.  He enlisted our help for some creative work for the SPCA, and invited us along for the charity’s spring social this Friday night.

Ziggy is a little chihuahua mix from the shelter. Just four months old and so happy and full of life! He is so sweet and friendly, he could just about make me cry.