sand canyon

well, somebody got a hold of some scissors yesterday (on dad's watch!) and cut her hair. SO, i had to do my best to salvage it... please tell me what you think!

then we had a lovely family hike at sand canyon. it is one of my very favorite spots for desert hiking and i always feel so fortunate to have it so close. we were there in the early afternoon and the light and the temperature and everything was just perfect. i found myself really appreciating the beauty in every little thing in the canyon.

glenn & june

simon & molly

junebug & i

miss hazel, with her new haircut & bobby

view of mcelmo canyon

juniper berry

juniper berries

this is a liquor store that we pass on the way down to sand canyon. i've always gotten such a kick out of its' name. i thought you might too...

wow!

so i re-opened my etsy shop on sunday, a little bit nervous about how sales would go after being closed for a month. i've also changed things around a bit, in an attempt to have more "ready to ship" sales than "made to order" sales. well, i have sold 10 items already this week! yee-haw! i hope it keeps up. i would love to have my sales consist mostly of pieces that i have already made, soul-satisfying pieces that i can share with my customers, ya know? i'd rather NOT have a repeat of last year's holiday season, when i made over 200 guitar picks, staying up until 2 am every night, slaving away in my shop... i think it would be just lovely to consistently have several "ready to ship" sales a week. that could be the answer to my balance struggle. if i can use the precious time that i get out in my shop to make the pieces i really want to make and sell a few of those pieces each week, well that would just be alright with me!

tres flores and labradorite lotus

i finished a couple of new pieces yesterday and wanted to share them with you. the tres flores piece just went into my etsy shop. the labradorite ring... i can't part with it yet. it is the most spectacular stone! i adore the shape, and the flashes in it are incredible. plus, it feels delectable on my finger, and fits just right...

i will get a nice long day out in the studio tomorrow, the first in a LONG time. can't wait!

halloween

my mom and dad were here this weekend for a wonderful visit. for those of you who don't know, my mom had been battling bone marrow cancer over the last year. she is finally feeling back to her old self and her most recent tests declared her as close to "in remission" as she can be! yay! it was so wonderful having them here.

dad and hazel carving pumpkins

juniper sorted the seeds

hazel and i carved the bunny pumpkin, in honor of bobby of course

junebug was a daisy

hazel was lightening mcqueen (with bobby as a driver)

here are all the little friends, ready for trick-or-treating

(june was not at all pleased with the event; i took her home pretty early.)

i've been making flower pieces again. this one sold right away (to the wonderful kathy~ thank you!) but i've got a couple more in the works...

snow

we awoke this morning to our first snow of the season. such a delight! june was particularly excited. it is the first snow that has happened since she's been mobile and able to express herself.

just look at those little slippers

so we spent about 45 minutes locating all of the snowsuits, hats, gloves, boots, etc. and donning said snow gear, only to spend about 6 minutes actually outside in the snow.

hazel, feeling better, but still not herself

(we did go back to the doctor again today. she was put on antibiotics now for a flippin' sinus infection. i just feel so terrible for her. the doc did insist that hazel go to school tomorrow for her halloween party though, so she is ecstatic. she is dressing up as lightening mcqueen.)

june walked around, pointing at everything, saying "uh-oh". she's very into tidying messes; (though i have no idea where she got that trait from) i think she was looking at all of this white stuff and wondering who was going to clean it up.

here. i'll help you shovel.

i mentioned earlier about my fever-induced design ideas. i thought i would share with you the sketches i did in my book along with the finished products. (i've already showed you the mountain piece.)

this piece of amethyst is just incredible.

and kyanite... this piece looks like a zeppelin to me, though that was not my intention.

sick

so, although i do not have insurance, glenn and i decided yesterday that, whatever the cost, i have to get better. i woke up again with a crazy fever and body aches. i cried. i just knew i couldn't go through any more of this. so we went to durango urgent care. i was told that i have not only h1n1, but also pneumonia! ugh. he told me to continue with the rest, fluids, cough syrup, etc. and gave me an antibiotic. all told, it was only about $180. well worth it if i actually do get better. i honestly do not remember what it feels like to be well. i have been sick since my return from austin. 3 solid weeks. my entire life has stopped. we are living in this strange little bubble.

now that hazel is starting to seem a bit better and i am not so scared for her, and june still miraculously hasn't gotten it, i can allow myself to grieve for the fact that i've scarcely had any time at all out in my studio for this entire month. i closed my etsy shop for the month, envisioning blissful hours out in my studio, unimpeded by etsy orders and packaging and time spent on the computer. however, that has not been the case. i am so sad. for a while, i was having crazy, fever-ish visions of pieces i needed to make once i was well. i did sketch plenty of new ideas. but i can't get out there to make anything! it's killing me.

however, on the bright side, had i not closed my shop and this sickness had come, it would have been unbearable. so this has just been a time for us to hunker down and nourish ourselves and do what we need to do to get well. and, now that we've all had the dreaded flu, at least we can't get it again. though we can continue to hope that june doesn't get it. i like to think that she has been exposed to it enought that she's developed her own immunities to it without having to go through it, but i don't know how that all works. anyway, eat lots of garlic and emergen-c, appreciate your health, and stay well!!!

purple potatoes

i thought that during my break from my etsy shop i would be doing a lot more here, on the blog. however, my entire family has been so sick off and on for the last 3 weeks, not much of anything has been happening. i am so grateful that my shop IS closed. there is no way i possibly could have managed it on top of everything else.

hazel has been diagnosed with h1n1. we spent about 4 hours in the emergency room the other night. she's been on tamiflu for 2 days, with very little improvement. we are going back to the doctor today. PLEASE keep her in your thoughts and prayers. so far, june does not have it. the doctors put her on tamiflu as well, as a precaution. she is so wonderful and resilient and full of her usual little spirit.

at this moment, i am SO scared for my family. i have been sick for 3 weeks. i simply cannot fight it off. i don't have any insurance, so i cannot even go to the doctor. glenn has been sick off and on for that whole time. hazel first had a regular cold and now this. i have been trying so hard to somehow be positive about it and the only thing i can come up with is this: this flu is ugly. it is terrible and it is scary. but, the one thing it has done for us is brought us all together. the girls and i have barely left the house for 2 weeks. we are nurturing each other in every way we can. i have such a renewed, deeper sense of appreciation for my family because of this. glenn has been the least sick and he has been quite the hero for the family, the only one well enough to brave the grocery store, returning with soup and popsicles and juice and whatever else might be of some help to us.

i have had a few brief opportunities to sneak out to the studio for some soul-replenishing work.

this piece features a "mountain" of labradorite with a sunrise

i made another maven soul ring

this ring features a beautiful white stone that i believe is montana agate

and a maven soul necklace