Magical SouthWest

You might have to listen closely, but there is something magical about living in the southwest. You can almost hear the drumbeats of the Native Americans who lived here before us. Just down the road from our house, they often find shards of pottery from the Ho-Hokam tribe.

I often imagine their struggles - what did they do for water? It is very dry here in the Sonoran desert.

We've seen petroglyphs and ruins - they are all over Arizona. I used to ride my horse in Catalina State Park, just ten minutes from home. There's an area of huge boulders, where you can see (from up on top of your horse), where they pounded grasses (maize) into grain.

One of my favorite images of the southwest is Kokopelli. Kokopelli is a jester, a flutist. He is a fertility deity, and also he is a trickster God, and represents the spirit of music.

I've been fascinated by Kokopelli since my first visit to Arizona, when I was 16. I have several paintings, and one great print by an artist I found on Etsy.

So when we found this great image of Kokopelli, just the right size to be set in an almost-antique typewriter key setting, I fell in love with it. The background color is turquoise, just right for the southwest. You can find it in my shop, Buster and boo, later today.

Spring Lambs a'comin'

I dropped by my friend Kathy's ranch today - Kathy raises angora goats, sheep, llama, alpaca - all kinds of sheep (you should see the HUGE merino sheep) - and it's starting to be baby season.

I saw a 2 week old cria - baby alpaca. SO CUTE.

Kathy takes great pics! And I love seeing the animals.

I'll be there for Spring Shearing Day with lots of Woolies. Stop by and visit all the animals!

Old Fashioned Method of Going Green

Forget about the dryer! What an energy sucker! Noisy! And it shrinks cotton shirts! Bad Dryer!


Hang those clothes to dry! Even in the winter, back east, my basement had clothes lines, and clothes hanging everywhere. Sometimes I just hang wet clothes on a hanger, and they go on the shower curtain rod. If the weather is inclement. Which is rare out here in the southwest.

(Growing up, my Mom refused to have a dryer. She hated them! )


But this is still the best - hang 'em outside! Let the sun and wind do their natural job!

the littlest one

The littlest one in the house wasn't feeling so well last night. What was wrong?? She couldn't rest - she would lie down and then a few minutes later jump up and run to another spot. She shivered a lot. That indicates pain.

She also licked her lips a lot. That means her tummy doesn't feel good.

She looked for grass to eat outside. We live in the desert - not a lot of grass around here.

Her tummy felt tight.

Her nose was cold and wet.

I called puppy urgent care.

We debated.

We waited and watched.



She seemed to get better.



Poor Puppy!!!

Amazing new jewelry design

Created from natural Cholla - a cactus that grows in the wild of the Sonoran Desert - is this magnificent piece of jewelry.

You sure don't want to touch Cholla when it is alive, but when it dies, the wood is filled with natural nooks and crannies. No more thorns, just beautiful natural wood.

My husband, Eric, has gotten creative. He used natural turquoise and filled some of those crannies. The result is a wonderful treasure - one of a kind - never to be exactly repeated again. As, even if he decides to make more, each piece of Cholla is unique. Each chunk of turquoise is different.

This piece of jewelry carries some of the desert with it - you can faintly hear traces of Native Americans who walked where we live.

Available at Buster and boo.

Educational Toys

I did not home school my kids, but I SO believe in the incredible value of educational toys - even, or especially! if your kids go to a traditional school.

One of my oldest son's favorite toys was a wooden alphabet puzzle - like this one:

Alphabet puzzle available at Wood That's Fun.

It taught him the alphabet! Colors! Manual dexterity! I made sure none of the letters got lost. I was kind of fanatical about it.....

Beneath the Rowan Tree has another take on alphabet games, with these coins -

The Enchanted Cupboard has another game - sorting and stacking bowls:

The acorns can be found at FairyFolk's shop.

It's been on my mind for a long time to create a memory game - Voila!

Available at Woolies!

Give your child something fun, that they will treasure forever! (Well, maybe not forever, they do turn into teenagers....)

:)

Together we Thrive, Tucson and America, The Memorial

6 lives. From age 79 to 9, gone. Our country mourns this tragedy.

Barack and Michelle Obama came to Tucson yesterday, to mourn with us. 14,000 filled the McKale Center at the University of Arizona for a memorial service. It was broadcast live on local TV here in Tucson. We were riveted.

My son was actually there. At 18 years old, this was an opportunity to witness a once in a lifetime event. To see his President. To hear words spoken that will be broadcast many times. To mourn with his city, his friends, his country.

He took his place in line at 1am. The doors opened at 4pm. When he got home at 10pm last night, he'd been up for 40 hours. Yes, I'm making him go to school today, no matter how tired.

I can't wait to hear more about it.

While he was in line, he was interviewed. He was on live TV (NBC) yesterday morning at 6AM, and quoted in the Arizona Daily Star. He is eloquent, and beautiful.

I am so very proud of him. How can I protect him from crazed shooters? I have to let him go out in this world, and it terrifies me.

Photo credit KVOA.com