August 23, 2010

MEDITATE AND MOTIVATE

Sadly, our fun, family filled weekend has come to an end and we are on our way back to Santa Fe. What a great gathering or two we enjoyed these last few days. The weather was unbelievably gorgeous. The sun was shining the entire time. We were invited to participate in a celebration of marriage of our cousin, Carolyn Sylvester and Don Bolton. The event was held at their lovely home atop the highest mountain in Pine, CO. They have a 360 degree view of nothing but beauty-WOW. It is a challenge in the wintertime but I'm sure it is worth every effort it takes to keep it going.

Next, we had a blast at my great nephew's 1st birthday party. His Mom worked herself to the bone creating the cutest birthday cake I've ever seen!! I'll be posting pictures of all of this when I get home. Again, I re-connected with family that I haven't seen in many years. I miss the days when families lived in the same town and you could run up the street to grandma's house and she would always have a cup of chocolate milk and a donut waiting for you. Actually, the donut shop was on the corner just one block from her home and when we were old enough, we could walk to the shop and pick out our own donuts. When I would attend church with her, she would always take me for a nice walk to the local hotel coffee shop and we would enjoy our time together, she with her coffee and me with my chocolate milk and donut.....Oh, how I miss those special moments. My other grandma lived next door to her (remember, everyone lived in the same town) and I loved to visit her as well. She had a very large conch shell that sat on top of her bookcase. Whenever I visited her, I immediately ran to pick up that shell and listen to the ocean play in my ears, I miss not having my family nearby but life does go on doesn't it???

Ok, back to reality, We just enjoyed lunch at the Dog Bar & Grill in Cuchara, Co. It is really quaint and definitely worth the trip off the freeway and traffic where everyone is in a big hurry to go who knows where. It kind of reminds me of Cheers where people take the time to talk and be friendly to each other. We ended up here because Sandy and I wanted to check out LaVeta, CO where one of our favorite quilters lives and films a television quilting series-Ricky Tims. We are a bit confused right now because upon arriving at our destination, it looks like his shop is closed up. As soon as we can receive wireless internet I will be checking on this. At any rate, it turned out great because we've been able to enjoy a wonderful drive through the mountains and had a great burger for lunch. All's well that ends well, right!!

It is beginning to rain a drop or two as we continue on our journey so I will sign off for now. Life is good so enjoy the journey!!

Oh, I almost forgot. My blog title, Meditate and Motivate came to me from the latest edition of O Magazine. She has pages of great information on self improvement and motivation – check it out.

God Bless America and all of Her Beauty

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post. Believe it or not there is a reason and I will try to update you on our happenings of late.

We took off in the Airstream on September 8, destination of the day was Canyon de Chelly. What a magnificient canyon. We set up camp and proceeded to take the driving tour and enjoy the numerous spectacular viewpoints above the canyon floor. The sun was beginning to set and the reflections of the shadows off the geological wonders was very spiritual. The national monuent, which actually includes Canyon del Muerto, Monument Canyon, and Canyon de Chelly (pronounced - Canyon de shay), has housed people for more than 1,500 years. Numerous pictographs, petroglyphs, and ruins tell the tales of the people who once made their homes their. The style of living has changed from the circular pit houses of the Basket Makers to the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi and Pueblos to the hogans of the Navajo (who first came here in the 1700's), but the regard for the cliffs as a spiritual place has always remained true.

One of my favorite sights was the Spider Rock, an 800 foot spire said to be the home of "Spider Woman".

These beautiful words are on a pedestal overlooking Spider Rock:

"...with beauty all around me, I wait.....

Navajo Night Chant

Listen

Smell the pungent juniper.

Feel the gentle power of beauty.

Ancient Black Rock hunches on

the distant horizon.

A dark cloud above means rain

will soon be upon us.

The awesome monolith at your feet is Tse No ashjee ii - Spider

Rock. Holy Spider Woman is an

important deeity in Navajo

mythology. It was she who taught

the People how to weave.

There is purity and strength here.

And places sacred to the people.

Places strong in the oneness of

earth and sky and of all things.

"I am indeed its child

Absolutely I am earth's child."

Navajo Song of the Earth.

It makes me smile just to remember this beautiful day. If you haven't had the priviledge of a visit to this monument, you need to schedule one.....It is one of many of our wonderous treasures to behold.

Off to work in my studio today so I will sign off for now. Hugs to all and it's good to be back.

I almost forgot to tell you about my experience at the Visitor's Center at Chelly. There is a Navajo silversmith who has worked creating his beautiful wares at the center for over 35 years. He spent quite a bit of time with me and showed me his hand made stamps, the tree stump that he has used forever to form his metal and many tricks of the trade. He was such a delightful man and I really wanted to spend more time with him. I might just go back there some day to soak up some more of his expertise.....there is so much to learn and so little time to study....Enjoy the moment!

Oh, It has been so long my friends

It has been so long since my last blog. I don't know where life goes some times. We have been so busy with this house renovation that we haven't had time for ourselves. I will attach the pictures of the finished product tomorrow and you will know why we are so elated!!!

I joined the White Mountain Women's Group last month and have been very busy ever since. We are preparing for our annual Fall Home and Garden Tour along with a wonderful boutique and bake sale. As everyone knows - if you want to give to others, it takes time and effort. I love it.

We (John and I) are preparing to depart on Tuesday, 9/8, for a month long trip in our Airstream trailer. We are going to trip through Utah, Montana, Idaho and back home to Arizona. I will be doing a daily post of our activities. We are going to Idaho to visit friends and relatives that I have not seen in many year - too many. I can't wait.

It is getting late so my salutation to you is this - cheers my dears and enjoy life as it is the biggest thing we have going at the time!!.. Love

Spring is on the way

It's that time of the year again. You know, the time when all of the flowers start blooming, the birds are building nests, and the wind is blowing constantly. This all leads to one thing - allergy season. I should be dehydrated as much as I've blown my nose and wiped my tears away this past week. The good news is that it will all soon be over - I hope.

I had a wonderful trip to Santa Fe and the Interweave Beadfest. I even caught a few snowflakes on my tongue one day. We were walking from one hotel to the other and all of a sudden there was a huge snow storm.

It was so much fun to meet the instructors, authors and artists that I've interacted with for many years via the web and books. I took a wonderful workshop from Tracy Stanley - Cold Connections. It was really exciting to learn different techniques of texturing metals and combining them with several different kinds of riveting to create a fabulous bracelet. She is a delight to spend time with and a wonderful instructor. Check out her website to learn more about her

http://www.wiredarts.net/

The first picture is of Tracy, me and a new friend of mine. When we were getting settled at our tables before class started, we discovered that we were from the same town, Green Valley, Arizona. It is still small enough that we probably should have know each other before now. We are both active in the same metalsmithing and lapidary classes so go figure why we hadn't met before now. Anyway, we will be having some fun together now. The picture of the bracelet is of one of Tracy's examples because we didn't finish ours by the end of the class. It is a lot of work to put one of these together - guess that's why Tracy told us that they sell for $420.00!! If you're interested, I'll work you a killer deal though":>}

Another exciting moment for me was meeting and visiting with Susan Lenart Kazmer. For those of you who do not recognize her name, she is an explorer, inventor and maverick, according to her bio. She is the queen of cold connections and has developed techniques most would love to be able to master. Her recent book is titled Making Connections. A Handbook of Cold Joins for Jewelers and Mixed Media Artists. It is a great book to learn from and also makes a nice coffee table adornment. Susan has more energy than any ten people I know and she is a delight to watch in action. I plan to take a class from her next year but boy, the minute the classes are posted they fill up so if you are interested I have one word for you - hurry! You can check her out at the following address:

http://www.susanlenartkazmer.net/

This is a picture of Susan signing my book. What a fun time.

I was able to visit my brother and sister-in-law while attending the conference too. They live about 20 miles from Santa Fe so it was great to be able to B & B with them. Thanks so much Jerry and Sandy. I hope I can return the favor this summer up in the White Mountains of Pinetop. Of course the visit wouldn't have been complete without several shopping trips - something my sister-in-law and I have down to a science:>} She had several vintage pieces of jewelry that we (she) re-worked and a good time was had by all. My brother was happy because he was in complete control of the remote and could watch anything he wanted for an entire week........

I guess I've rambled long enough so I will sign off for now. Happy spring to everyone and have a great week. I'd love to hear from you so if you read my blog please let me know what you think of it.