digging playing with rocks

Here is more of what David and I have been up to lately. The red rock looked like it could have come from Mars as we were driving down one of the neighborhood roads the other day. The pic here doesn't do it justice. The green rock is magnificently covered in lichen and was found on our property.

I decided to add more than just rocks to this eclectic little project and took some shells off my bathroom shelving. My Mom said that would make it easier to dust...hum, I can't remember how to do that little chore!!

Okay, who does this remind you of?? Remember Wilson? I know he wasn't a bowling ball but this is a special bowling ball that we found in the ditch by the church where our son got married in Arkansas so he had to be named and well... anyway. He is holding down a bird waterer and is a new addition to the Project.

The expanding picture. Eventually everything behind Wilson and the shells will be full of rocks. The 3 pronged piece of wood has a yellow cast in it from the fat wood (resin) and is very pretty.

The dirt is no longer coming in the door but should we just stop now?? No I don't think that is possible. I have added a few adornments to the other side and so far the wind hasn't knocked anything over. This is a lot of fun. I used to enjoy going into work and being gone over night every week just to do something different but now tomorrow is work day and I DON'T WANT TO GO!! I want to stay home and find rocks and just be here checking out the birds and reading the afternoon away in my swing. I have such a good life!

just stuff

More rocks...I am getting the bug but I already can tell a difference in our vestibule. Not near as much dirt getting in. I am now a rock hound stopping on the side of the road for good ones!

Speaking of hound...Roly Poly got his annual haircut. Sorry I didn't get the picture while he was still cleaned from his annual bath!!

HE really is black but when you add in all of our dust (enchantment) then he looks a little gray around the gills.

THis is the close-up of the next picture which is a scarf I just finished for a very good friend who lets me stay at her house once a week so I don't have to drive back and forth (to my 140 mile round-trip to work).

I hope she likes it!

Rocks

So what you are looking at is the absence of dirt. Dirt that blew into our vestibule at every occasion. I decided to make a change that might keep out the dirt. I really like the heart rock...do you see it?

It started as a little project and once I showed my hubby what I had accomplished he decided to help me get even more rocks...

We already had the matate but we needed some other cool stuff so off we went with the wheelbarrow down the road and found some really good ones. He didn't try to butt into the deal but let me do all of the arranging since I had already started. Actually he is quite good at this sort of thing but while I was busy he helped in another way.

He already had some really pretty rocks on our property that he had obtained from here and there and he gave them to me to finish off this side of the door. Later we are going to tackle the other side as that is where the west wind blows from and for now it is functionally preventing the dirt but we want both sides to look this good.

Trout Creek Trail

We went hiking last weekend in the snow. It seemed a little crazy at first since the eldest of us is 76 but it turned out to be a beautiful day and all went well.

We hiked north of Luna, NM along a small creek named after the trout that were not present at least on this early April day.

We went up to see a small cave with a few petroglyphs and this was the view back down to the trail and the creek.

I would like to come back in the summer and check out this little watering hole. It looked like a good place to soak your feet if the weather was right that it...right now it looks a little cold.

The hiking party at a lunch spot. There is still a bit of snow about but for the most part it warmed up nicely and we could actually see the trail on the way out. We had intended to go to another spot to hike but the locals had put up a chain with lock across the road so this turned out to be a good plan B. A good time was had by all.

heaven

Could this bug know more about enjoying life than we do? And by the way...does anyone know what it is? We have had these in our house for 2 winters now and don't know what they are. They are sort of greenish and brown, they don't hurt anything and they kinda smell flowery when you touch them. We call them Herbie for Herbie the Love Bug. If you know...let me know...just curious.

I don't know why this is in a different font or underlined so just forget that part. I called this post heaven b/c I just read a really good book by Jodi Picoult called Change of Heart. She is by far my favorite author but this book just really got me thinking. That was her intention by the way so I guess she did good. It is about a guy on death row. He wants to donate his heart to a little girl that desperately needs one and the story in pure Jodi fashion is told by 4 of the characters. This flower you are looking at and the next one are a pink geranium that I planted in a huge planter and has done exactly what is was supposed to and grew to a huge height. The blooms in the last few days were just too gorgeous to not share...so I am.

So why heaven? I have been wondering about this place for as long as I can remember and wonder if these beautiful flowers aren't heaven...right here on earth. In the book I mentioned it asks where heaven is and one answer is that it is inside you and outside you. A very simple answer that makes much more sense than golden sidewalks and milk and honey, many mansions, etc. I have been asking questions my whole life. I have annoyed teachers, both scholastic and religious b/c I don't seem to be able to just take someone else's word for my beliefs. That is the whole point of this book so it really hit home for me. I couldn't stay in the Christian church as a young person because no one could or seemingly wanted to answer my many questions. I joined the Baha'i faith because one of their principles is "individual investigation" yeah well, that turned out to be half true. You could investigate all you wanted but the only answers that were provided were quoted scripture. That just didn't sit with me so I left the religion behind never to be involved with another organized or unorganized religion. I did take up Shamanism for a while and it served me well for a time as it is individual and you get the answers that are only right for you. Why don't I still practice that? I am not entirely sure except that it didn't seem right for me any longer.

This was given to me 2 christmas's ago and a friend of mine told me that they wouldn't live past their season because of how they were grown in the nursery. Well, I guess this one proved to me that asking a question and getting an answer (that I don't agree with) may show to me that I can find things out for myself and form my own new belief in that area of life. This dude is thriving and it is still in the original little pot that came from the grocery store where it was purchased.
One of the things that Jodi brings up in the book is the Gnostic gospels that many haven't ever heard of but were written at the same time as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John but were hidden away so that the Orthodox Christian church could be formed in a more controlled manner. There were many different schools of thought at that time and it was probably a bit chaotic so those in charge made it much simpler. The problem was they left out some pretty cool teachings one of which is that religion by definition had to be personal- and that if you simply believed what others told you to believe or said the right words during a church service or just got baptized, it wasn't enough to reach spiritual fulfillment. Above all, the Gnostics said, ASK QUESTIONS!! and so they were labeled as heretic and disappeared...until 1945 when 2 brothers dug up the ancient gospels by accident. The biggest thing that was lost in these gospels was the belief that people might reach spiritual enlightenment in a variety of ways, rather than one "right" way.
I recently went to a Jewish service and felt the same thing that I do at a Christian service...this is the only way to God so you better join us. I don't think so folks and this book has been a great reminder of what I already believe and I appreciate this author very much for helping to bring these thoughts to light...so to speak.

Tigger and snow in march

This is Tigger. He is looking at the white stuff and wondering...

He does look a little put out but this is one of his favorite morning spots sitting in the sun. It is 28 degrees out and see below for the view!

This is just south of the garden. I told David it was too early to plant potatoes but we'll see if they come up or not.

A close up...that is the bicycle tire in the background...maybe I'll just go for a walk today.

There is more snow in the forecast for the next 2 days. Right now it is sunny and oh, by the way, today is Friday the 13th...I don't think it is unlucky to wake up to snow on the ground even in March when we are a week away from spring.

More kids and grandkids and brothers

Before leaving for home we went to see David's brother and his new place. David's nephew is to the right of him. We sat on that log a few hours in cloudy weather but got a little sunburn for our efforts. They had an ice storm and the tree along with many, many limbs got knocked over.

Johnnie and his best girl the morning of our departure...I hated to leave them!

Nichole getting Jamie ready for "school". He is wearing his Dad's jean jacket that I saved from when he was a little guy. He is also able to wear his Dad's winter coat that I saved for him.

Speaking of his Dad! I think poor Josh is as wore out as us old folks after this weekend! Are you ready to go back to work and rest a bit??

Waylon didn't want to smile for Emma and her camera. It looks like there is a little devil behind him getting ready to strike...