black and white mountain

photo credit Jay

I used my phone a friend option for this photo. I saw the clouds snuggled tight against the top of the mountain but didn't have my camera with me. I called Jay and he hustled out the door to take this photo. I changed the photo to black but in reality the original was very close to what you see above.

new heights

photo credit David Ingold

A Birthday Blessing for my favorite 11/11 blogger:

This year
May the shalom peace of The Father and the freshness of the Holy Spirit
rest in your thoughts,
rule in your dreams each night,
and conquer all your fears.
May Abba Father manifest Himself this year
in ways you have never experienced before.
May your creativity flourish
and overflow into unexplored territories.
May your joys be fulfilled,
your dreams be closer,
and your prayers be answered.
May faith enter a new height for you;
and your territory be enlarged.
May you know shalom peace,
health,
joy,
and true and undying love for The Father.
May YaHWeH bless you and keep you
and make his face shine upon you.
May He bless you going out and your coming in,
your lying down and your rising up,
your labor and your leisure,
your laughter and your tears.

ron in black and white

I've spent the the better part of the past three weeks helping our friends Ron and Lura as they work through health issues involving Ron's lungs. On Sunday we'll travel to Tijuana, Mexico to a clinic where they will treat Ron's condition with faith based practices and natural protocols that have a better success record than the big name treatment centers in the states.

This morning was a good morning. Ron is four days off the morphine and much stronger and more alert than he has been for many days. Up until today I couldn't bring myself to take any photos but today I pushed past my comfort and got some shots. This one was one of my favorites.

black and white november

In honor of the self-designated black and white photography month I am taking up the unattractive, dated, gold carpet from our living room to uncover the gray concrete slab beneath. Actually, I've been waiting for this moment since the first time I walked in the house. We took up the first part of the carpet in our bedroom earlier this year and replaced it with wood flooring I had purchased off Craigslist. I've found that my the hacking cough and rattle in my lungs that I couldn't seem to shake regardless of the remedies I tried disappeared after removing the bedroom carpet. That made me all the more anxious to get the carpet in the living room out the door. When Tracy, our favorite homeless friend, took up one area of carpeting today we found black dots the size of quarters that looked suspiciously like black mold. Although I may have to live with drab gray cement floors for a time I will enjoy the physical and ascetic health benefits of removing the ugly carpet.

melon for breakfast

Last week I bought a box full of very ripe cantalope melon for $2.00. Each morning I cut a melon up for the chickens but I save a slice back for Lily.

When the weather is hot she often will not eat until evening when it is cooler but now that fall has arrived she has been quick to slurp up this yummy (at least to her) treat. So quick that I almost missed this Kodak moment when I stepped in the house to grab my camera.

how to make a mountain disappear

I'm always surprised when the weather-either rain or dust storms- causes our mountain to disappear from view. It's enormous presence is the backdrop for "home" and it feels disorientating when it is suddenly gone. This afternoon the winds blew and the mountain all but disappeared in a cloud of dust.

the end....

and the beginning....

My spring garden (which didn't produce very well due to a late start) is on it's way out. One tomato plant, a couple of pepper plants and the ever-hardy zucchini are on their last root.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the "real" Arizona growing season is here and I've been busy planting seeds and transplanting seedlings. The temperature has been very comfortable which makes working outside very pleasant. I usually putter in the dirt for awhile each morning after I get the chickens up and started on their day. I hope to stretch my planting out and rotate new plants in as others mature. I don't think it will take long before the first bed is full so I hope to get Jay started building a second bed.



This volunteer tomato didn't want to wait for a second bed so made it's home in my compost pile.