Luna Mew

Today I got my little kitty from heaven!

My image of Mary holding baby Jesus stone!

Hi all!  Just a quick post about my "madonna stone" or Holy Mary holding the papoosed baby Jesus.  This took at least 4 trips to the lapidary with plenty of polishing involved maybe a total of 3 shop hours.  It is one of my first cabochons that I made from rough rock. This started out as a 3 pound piece of Bog Jasper then I slabbed it and noticed the image right away and tried to capture its beauty.
heres a pic of it that is on E-Bay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Holy-Mary-holding-baby-JESUS-cabochon-Bog-Jasper-/220824831945?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336a2f87c9#ht_500wt_949

Here is a pic of it for after my auction ends.   Thanks

favorite cabs

summer rain

Hi Art here, real quick statement about the rain, today is July 5 and we got our first summer rain.  Last years I can't remember but just going down the blog posts in history will uncover last years rain.  From my memory, we had 2 days last year, I know we blogged about one of them.

Right now the pumpkins are the size of small oranges. Hooray!

YES!! This is a pencil that was gifted to me today by by a 70 year old couple that goes to my church. What is funny is that they were in Hamilton Montana and knowing that i graduated from there had a great idea to go to the high school and ask if they had a pennant or flag they could buy for an alumni(me). They haven't been in a high school in decades. They apparently did not acquire the necessary visitor pass!!! Instead of getting me a gift they were given this pencil asked to leave and told not to come back?? High school isn't what it used to be ehh?

Check out some of our work

We are loving our Lapidary classes! We have cut several cabochons and still work on soapstone and some newly acquired alabaster at home since we only have hand tools here. The tomato plants are trees!.... we have lots of garden growing. I'm not feeling so wordy today so Ill write more this next week. 

I looked back

And realized I am also looking forward. It was fun for me this week to see how much I blogged this time last year. We were so excited and freshly clean and full of hope. Now we are the fulfillment and the culmination of that hope. I am exactly where I want to be doing exactly what I dreamed I would. No I haven't forgotten my long lost children, I am investing in myself, and praying Gods will be done, and I feel less tragic, and more humbly hopeful. I have been opening doors I boarded up long ago, and closing ones I should never have opened. Joining our Lapidary school is awesome...I feel oddly akin to the rock hounds there...like Im home after a long journey or back at a familiar place. The pumpkins are behaving perfectly. Our crazy little sunflowers that have millions of babies are back 6 strong. The tomatoes are making roots to China, and all the nursury plants are repotted and up for adoption (haha sale).  Our yard is way clean and other than the dust from carving soapstone, the house looks great. Theres never been more life on the Rancho...we even have a new tenant...they eat rattlesnakes and cactus.....sounds like great fun!  

New Fun

 We joined the San Diego Lapidary Society

 once a rock hound always a rock hound! They are great people so we found! Art and I are seeding the front field today. The pumpkins have several leaves now. All art wants to do is Google rocks and hike, but hes been faithful to the tomatoes and jack o lanterns !!! 

I have refreshed our plant supply. We have some pretty little babies up at the victory garden. Life is in full bloom on el rancho be damned!. 

Soapstone Honeymooners

Steatite

A huge step

Well, I did my hair folicle drug test today, and we are all legal with the car and our licenses and insurance. Yep Im bragging. We have bigger tomato plants than YOU DO...Muah hahahah! Cant catch us now. 

new life

I don't feel the blog bug today. I have given up on the idea that there are other people reading this....how could there be...we don't tell people about it...but more what I have found id that I love to read back at what I was doing last year now. Our sober b-day is here, and our blog b-day is coming up. I hope to celebrate. Until then ...hi future art and tilly, you will love these pics!

Back to the farm....back to the blog.

Well if anyone is really out there listening, we began planting on the farm yesterday. I will take some photos. Its supposed to be 77 out today...so I bet we get a lot done.

plants

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alpine boulevard

Netflix and Rain

We Joined Netflix and I just found the new meaning of life. Rainy nights, watchin movies and painting our house. So fun. 7 months sober by the way. Can't beat that, eh? Check out this cool pic I did of Arturo! Sexy aint he....kinda got that Rasta thing goin on too, ya think?

Too Long

AFTER Workin hard, I love my big happy comfy couch!

OMG we make the best bloody Mary's Y'all!

I realized today that if I didn't blog I might as well quit. Our farm did its harvest thing. This was an early fall. The rain is here again. Hey does anyone remember the baby owl? It rained then too. Its cold, even. I have been remodeling like crazy. Ive got the insane hgtv and ace hardware hobby. Soon the house will be more fitting of our new lifestyle. I even have a plan for an add on to have a guest room...yippeee!!!!!!! I rarely change out of my paint clothes. I love it though. Total hermit though. I hate leaving. Well I guess I'm in the blog mode again. Hope you are well.

Smut

After several days of heavy reading...(c.s lewis mere Christianity, grapes of wrath, bible, etc) and a decent worship at church I admit it... I'm watching nothing but MTV smut all day. no lie. If I could hold food down Id eat a whole bag of chips...and a 2 liter of Pepsi....but I am still super sick.....sigh...and we have no food but veggies....tonight is food network night woo-hoo.

All Stars

Today I was watching mid day TV and a Local San Diego show called "one on one" came on. It was an insider look at the Chula Vista Little leaguers who won the 2009 world series.  I had heard about them last year. I guess everyone has. They made it to letterman. I guess the reason they struck me today, is when I saw the way these kids struggled. They are growing up in the hood...where the most desired goal is to be a gangsta thug....Where the value of a life is placed on ho's and rims....their families torn by poverty and crime. Then it hit me. One thing about human nature I have learned is that mediocrity isn't favored. These kids are super stars. Cinderella stories.....thats what we look for in our race. So here I am a child of mediocrity, I grew up in some ghetto fo sho....but then I was a middle class child of mediocre parents. These kids rocketed out of mediocrity....as a result of seeing some hard times....but what a challenge to someone like me to quit being mediocre out of laziness. These boys are adoreable though. Check out that show if it reruns.!!

Jesus Christ

Hi everyone. Its Friday night. I should be preparing for tomorrows farm stand. I have not. I am sick again. Being sick has made me come closer to terms with things as they are. We all know we are not permanent. If you are anything like me you struggle like hell to forget the reality of life....the eventual end...death. When you are sick, chronically sick, this reality becomes larger than life. Last week at the farm stand I overdid it for being just hospitalized....and regret it still. In my just out of the woods attempts to overcompensate and prove I am fine, when in fact my health is a real issue right now, I drove myself further into the pain which is my reality.  I have been reflecting a lot lately and tonight was a huge moment in my faith growing and my sudden craving to understand faith in Jesus. I received a book today. Art went on a tractor ride to a drug addicted loco friend of his trailer. He brought me an odd assortment of gifts...planters, flowers, old timey magazines, and one odd book...A christian woman "Anne Lamott" writing on "grace"  which is coincidentally the name of our church here on the ranch. I have read 127 pages in 2 hours. When Art brings me little gifts I feel him trying to help guide me out of pain and misery and self loathing which is my life. Most of the time I suck it up and pretend to be fine....and pass up  the wisdom contained in any of the miracle divinity contained with in his gifts .But this womans writing broke the levy of self pride and fear I am holding on to....I can honestly hold more personal truths today than yesterday because of this book.  My blood pressure won't go down, my meds make me sick,  I am in pain, I'm scared to death, I love my life and I am not ready to decline. I feel sadness and joy equally and simultaneously and am frantic to run from the end and would save myself at all costs....who wouldn't...... When I was at the hospital last week, I woke up to the sounds of a gurney and furniture moving around. I had been alone in the room for several hours. I could hear all the sounds of the standard admission  paperwork and the vital sign collections. When the husband of my new neighbor arrived I kindly offered my empty visitors chair to the family of the new tenant. Partly because I am nice whenever I can be, and partly because I knew I wasn't needing it...I spend my hospital admissions alone.  Throughout my last day in the hospital, I witnessed the sounds of this woman and her family learning she had terminal non-treatable cancer...and  suddenly it hit me today, I havent told anyone how hard this was for me....how much I just ignore what hurts and keep going like it never happened. How I have learned not to cry about missing my kids or having my undying love thrown away and my life torn from me.....How I have learned not to cry for my lost dreams broken friendships, debts, both mine and those due to me.  God forbid I have to look back and reckon...im not done undoing.....and I havent been allowed to sit back and enjoy my second third and fourth chance...at figuring out this great mystery of life....I am a little depressed tonight..... depressed I am being robbed again of simple joy...my life is fially perfect, yet I lie here vomiting and in pain....but to find a way out of pain regrets sorrow and fear...I felt a gush of relief at the thought of Jesus, greeting us on the other side...like an old friend....and after many years of doubt and standalone faith I understood the need to believe...in him.