the morning after the campfire dance

After sending my husband out the door at six am this morning I started the task of unloading the pickup including a mound of dirty laundry. After being gone a week...being out of the routine...everything seems a bit disoriented...but I did have a beautiful sunrise on the mountain to greet me.

dancing 'round the campfire

Don't look for me here.....I'm camping!

paint brush prominade

Recently the anticipation of company inspired me to get out the paint and bursh and put a fresh coat of paint on our front door. I'm always surprised what a drastic improvement a little paint can make. The door was previously painted a pale yellow. The paint job was poor so at spots you could see through the brush strokes to the previous color.






Along with the dirty, shabby paint job the door was suffering from a screen that was showing signs of wear. I used a decorator's trick of drawing the eye away from the flaw you don't want people to notice. I stiched the "Welcome Friends" sign on the aging screen. Now when someone aproachs the door their eyes linger on the welcome sign and the screen goes unnoticed.


So...if you happen to be in the neighborhood know you are welcome....just don't look too closely at the screen.

Tiptoe through the tomatos

The saguaro cactus in our back yard looks a lot like one of the Veggietales characters...long, skinny, green with two bulging eyes...thus I have given him the name Larry the Cucumber.




Recently my husband came home one evening with potting soil and a single Roma tomato plant.

I am now in charge of making sure Bob the Tomato plant gets watered regularly.


Bob, Larry, and I have been spending some quality time together the last few days. This weekend we are hosting a gathering to celebrate Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) and we hope to be able to have the onge (banquet feast that will break fasting) outdoors. It appears the weather will be cooperative (cooler temperatures are expected with high of 85 and a few clouds) and we have plans to light our yard with tiki torches.

In order for this to happen I have spent several hours preparing the yard.

Before...


"Lawn care" in Arizona is quite different that what I grew up with in Michigan. Every so often you will see someone with green grass they water and mow but for most a manicured lawn involves gravel that has been made free of any weeds.


Our yard had become quite weedy the past two months as I had concentrated my efforts on getting the house put together.

After...

Although I had to remove some pickers from my fingers and have the tell tale sore leg muscles from so much bending I'm pleased to announce that Bob, Larry and the yard are all looking quite good today.

Dancing in the Raw (food)

Recently I've been leaning about eating raw. My initial interest began when a friend from Michigan began educating herself about raw foods. She would try new recipes and bring samples for me to try. I was impressed with the flavorful dishes she shared. A few weeks ago I got an email about a raw food speaker/author (Paul Nison) that was going to be in the Phoenix area. I attended two of his lectures, the first a biblical perspective of a raw diet and the second where the focus was on the scientific reasons to eat raw. After the lectures I visited the local library and checked out books on juicing and eating raw. I've been making juice drinks in the morning for a couple of weeks using fruits and vegetables from the local farm market. The drinks, especially when I include Kale or Romaine lettuce, remind me a lot of the green sludge my brother Keith used to whip up in his blender when he was focusing on weight lifting.



Yesterday I made a cole slaw that included two types of cabbage, carrots, cumin, fresh garlic and cold-pressed olive oil. The garlic and cumin combination make it a slaw that is not for the faint of taste bud but for those who like food with an attitude it's a winner. My husband, after tasting the slaw said "this is amazing".

Dancing to the Rhythm (of an international beat)

This morning I rode into the city with my husband to pick up a car a friend had borrowed. My plan was that after getting the car and sending my husband off to work I would drive another 15 minutes to the Ten Thousand Villages store and redeem the gift certificate we were give as a wedding gift (thanks She!)


There was a slight modification in my plans when after getting the car and entering the expressway traffic I noticed it was shaking badly before I even reached 55 mph. I called my husband and he directed me to the nearest Costco with the hopes that balancing the tires would fix the problem. Once a Costco I took a quick look at the tires in a effort to gain any possible information that might help me answer the questions I would inevitably be asked. When I got to the last tire, the right rear I was shocked to find a gash one third the way around the tire so that I could see the steel radials sticking out (I'm not sure if that's what you call them but it sounds good here). Praise YHWH (God) he was watching out for me so that tire didn't blow while I was driving on the expressway.

Long story short, I bought a new set of tires today. After an hour of lunch and wandering the asiles of Costco while chatting on the phone I was back on the road again headed to my original destination. I found the store with not too much problem thanks to my GPS, Tina Turner.


The stores in the plaza were upscale shops including Chico and Talbots. I was tickled to see they had a misting system ...a very cool idea-no pun intended-of spraying an area with a light mist to keep you cool in the dry desert heat...although I did hear the weatherman say that Friday it will cool down a bit and is only expected to reach 98 degrees.


For those of you who are not familiar with the Ten Thousand Villages stores they are a connected to the Mennonite Church and sell products from artisans around the globe using fair trade practices. If you have never visited their stores I would encourage you to check them out on the Internet at www.tenthousandvillages.com

The store was packed with a wonderful variety of beautiful products that make just looking fun. But today I was going to have extra fun as I had money to spend...well, at least I had a slip of paper that said I could spend some money.



The products were artistically displayed in color groups that were very pleasing to the eye. Each item was tagged with the name of the country it came from. As I moved from one section to the next I found lots of beautiful things that I could have spent that gift certificate on.


Before going to the store I had visited their website and decided ahead of time that I would like to purchase some cloth napkins and maybe napkin rings both to be green (by not using paper napkins...something I thought my husband would appreciate) and also to make a pretty place setting with my new dishes. However...


When I entered the store the first display I came to was musical instruments... from drums to wooden flutes to singing bowls. I knew immediately that this was were my husband, had he been free to join me, would want to spend our certificate. Not only does he enjoy experimenting with a variety of instruments but he has also been wanting to find a way to help the young children in our Messianic fellowship be able to join in the worship.



After making my way around the store several times while engaging in a pleasant conversation about Ghana and Haiti with the sales woman I finally made my purchases. Two sage green cotton napkins from India....



and three fun but not too loud rhythm instruments.

dances with wolves

OK...so maybe "dances" and "wolves" is a slight exaggeration.....












how about... backs away from potentially wild dog while shooting pictures with camera










....this morning I took the shortcut, a dirt "road" between two paved streets. When I emerged from the gravel I saw something
standing in the road ahead of me.








What it was I wasn't sure, javelina, coyote, wild dog or stray?....I got my camera out and started shooting...he turned so that I could see it wasn't pig but rather something in the dog family.



Friend or foe I could not know.



I took a step or two in his direction and he turned and began walking towards me.




OK...maybe not too smart to continue this direction. I stand still and continue to shoot, he continues to slowly move in my direction.




I begin walking backwards around the corner of the street, keeping one eye on the animal while spotting the nearest front door I might knock on. One hand is on the camera button and the other holding my walking stick/paint pole intended to fight off wild creatures.


The critter continues to move even as I back away.













I near the second house...one that has four or five dogs in the fenced yard and the wild animal finally decides to find a new route.










I finish my walk anxious to return home and see just how much I can detect from the photos I've shot. He looks to meaty for a coyote and his coat is too dark. Maybe hes just a stray pup as he has that low to the ground look.








Still uncertain of what it was I encountered the matted nappy coat makes me glad I didn't try to get any closer.