Before the storm

Monsoon season in the desert is incredible. I've posted about this before - but as long as monsoon season is here, I'll be posting about it again! The storms have the most incredible beauty, and force. 2 inches of rain fell in 20 minutes during the storm last night. At least, in my neighborhood. You can live 5 minutes away and get nothing, because the rain comes down in rain shafts. I'll get some pictures of that soon, promise. And the lightning! Quite a few people have been struck by lightning in recent weeks, including one 8 year old boy. Tragic and scary and terrifying to realize the power of the storms.

Here are some pictures, about 1/2 hour before the storm made it's way to our house. The mountains you see are the Tortolitas - we live in the foothills of that small mountain range.

It was just after sunset.

Fairy Giveaway!

On Etsy, I belong to a wonderful group called Natural Kids. These are shop owners that strive to make toys and other things for children out of natural elements. I LOVE these shops. If you go to Etsy and search for handmade items, type in "Natural Kids" and see what you find!!

One of the members of our group is an INCREDIBLY talented lady; her shop name is Oritdotandolls. She has offered to giveaway a fairy!

I think her fairies are really special.

This beautiful fairy measures 9" high, made from natural merino wool and pure merino wool that Orit hand painted with ecologic colors [without heavy metals].In her hands there is a cotton pipe cleaner so you can change the gesture of her hands.On her back there are cloth petals flowers, for her beautiful wings. She is both needle felted and sewn.


This last picture is a view of the fairy's wings. The detail is so beautiful.

To register to win the fairy:

1. Go to Orit's shop.

2. Find your favorite item.

3. Come back to this blog and leave a comment with your favorite item.

4. LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, or you can feel free to contact me at either of my shops,

Buster and boo, or Woolies, if you don't care to leave a contact for me here.

5. I'll register your name TWICE, if you also go to one of my shops and mention your fav's from my shops too.

6. Contest will end on Friday, August 1st, at midnight.

THANK YOU! and good luck!

Boo plays

Boo never stops playing. She wants to play with all the much bigger and older doggies here. She is funny and silly and loves me to death, as I love her.

I had a nightmare the other night that we had to move and couldn't take her. It was awful.

Anyway, here's some crummy pictures of my little girl:

She's a peekapoo - 1/2 pekinese and 1/2 poodle. She weighs a little over 7 pounds.

Sorry for the crazy eyes in the picture!!

Just had to share!

When she is ready for a nap, she comes to find me, and begs to be picked up - then promptly falls asleep in my arms. I need a baby sling for her.
:0)

Winner!

bfox74 is the winner of my latest giveaway! don't forget to check out Black Briar's unique shop.
And check back often, I love doing contests. The next one will start in a few days.

Thanks to everybody who entered!

Monsoon Flood

Our last year in Philadelphia, it rained 18 weekends in a row. In Tucson, when it rains, it's a BIG event. Right now, it is monsoon season. Incredible thunder storms that can do amazing damage in a very very short amount of time. All throughout the southwest, there are 'washes', that are dry, 99% of the time. And then the rains come, and the washes fill with water, FAST rushing water. Sometimes, for the big washes, they close the roads. They've built bridges over the really really big washes, that turn into major rivers (30 feet deep, it can get). We love monsoon season.

Except it can get scary. Like when the lightning hits 10 feet outside your door, and when your yard turns into a river. Our dirt road has a wash that comes in just across our driveway. It makes a turn, and then continues on the other side of our horse arena. The road becomes impassable.

Next time, I'll get pictures of that. There was too much lightning to venture out to the end of the driveway. So here's some shots of my flooding desert yard, taken from the relative safety of my porch. The water ended up coming right up to both my back door and my front door. I was starting to think about sand bags.

This all happened just before dinner. After dinner, the worst seemed to be over. My 15 year old wanted to go to a friend's house. I offered to drive him. His friend just lives 5 minutes away. My younger son came with me.

Then, we couldn't get home. Every road we tried was flooded, including the "front" way into our road. I ended up going way around, and thankfully those roads were not as badly flooded.

Oh, and our garage flooded. Reminds me that I need to have a yard sale. Or just call the Salvation Army, I want to get rid of all the junk.

Before it floods again.

Another fabric Woolies!

I did it again. Embroidering their faces is a challenge for me - and I don't want to use plastic safety eyes, trying to keep it "natural".

One thing I really really like about making these dolls is that it is less time consuming than knitting animals. I love to knit, it is a part of me forever, and I probably love the knitted animals better (she says in a whisper), but I love these too - and can make them in a few hours, rather than many hours.

Lulu is made from a pattern by bitofwhimsyprims on Etsy. Her name is also Sarah (with an H), thank you Sarah!

Here's Lulu - she's in my Woolies shop. Love any feedback, including constructive criticism....

GIVEAWAY!

The best thing (well, one of the best things) about Etsy is finding new artists - collaborating, even, with other artists.

Tiddlyinks and I have done this with my scrabble tile pendants. Here is her owl image, on a pendant.

I just love it!

This talented artist also has another Etsy shop, Black Briar.

And, to brighten your day, is offering a giveaway, right here!

This will include set of notecards, a magnet, a mirror and a print of one character.....That is a $25 or more value.

To win, please do the following:

1. Visit Blackbriar's shop.

2. come back to my blog and leave a comment with your favorite item from her shop.

3. PLEASE leave a way for me to contact you. Blogger does not always show emails. You can contact me at one of my shops if you do not want to leave your email here.

4. Winner will be announced one week from today - July 19th, 2008.

Thank you and good luck!