echo basin

we camped here this weekend. at the top of echo basin road, at the base of hesperus mountain. so beautiful! by all reasoning, the camper should not have made it up that high. but we were meeting our dear friends dan, rachel, col and rose up there so we persevered and now we know that louellen (lily?) is a total badass.

our dutch oven meal for this trip was an amazing italian dish with sausage, noodles, zucchini, onion, lots of cheese, sauce and wild mountain chives. with a side of garlic bread thank you very much.

we love the camper! when the girls climbed down from their nest, they snuggled me for a bit.

this was the view out the window.

hazel took this picture.

june took this one.

this australian shepherd (which hazel named "hearts") was our companion all weekend. she had one solitary sheep that she was responsible for. we thought she had been abandoned and she seemed starving, so we spoiled her a bit, only to discover that she was playing us all along.

daisy came along.

and molly! we haven't had room for her to come with us lately, but now with the camper, she gets to come. she can't go too far anymore, but she loves to be up there with us.

oh how i love where i live!

i've been working hard on the camper. she is starting to look so great. here i am buffing off the old paint and giving the aluminum a nice brushed finish, just like my silver. i am using an attachment for my drill that is just like what i use to buff my silver.

and here i am riveting a "patch" on, to cover up a particularly ugly spot.

i am getting very excited for my little trip this week. i leave for santa fe on thursday. i was planning to bring lily (okay, yes, i think it's lily.) and was really looking forward to it. however, i have spent so much money buying her and getting her road ready that now i can barely afford to go at all! i realized today that my little car uses about TWICE as much gas when it is pulling the camper than it does when it is not. pretty crazy. so, i think that i am just going to take my car and a tent. oh, well. next time. it will still be fabulous and i can't wait. i am bringing my mountain bike and also plan to do some hiking, as well as check out the galleries, which i really haven't been able to do during my last two visits.

i have to say i have been kind of enjoying taking a break from etsy and even from my studio. it has been so wonderful to be able to camp so often, and to work in the garden (we had our first salad tonight made strictly from the garden) and to swim in the river and to ride our bikes. summer has just been flying by so fast and i am determined to spend what's left of it outside and with my kids. so i apologize for the lack of new stuff, but it will come, i promise.