Stewart Creations

It’s certainly not showy, but the Spring blooming of the desert is upon us for sure.

We went back to the big wash where we found the pottery sherds. We took Molly and Vinnie, and their human roommates, to see them and I remembered the camera.

Is it sherds? or shards? I think I’ve heard it both ways.

The spring flowers were mostly too small to photograph with my camera. I probably could if I explored the close-up symbol (a flower, go figure) on the dial. That dial is such a pain in the …. I think my fingers have stopped working on tiny dials.

Some of the little yellow flowers were all rolled up and just starting to open in the morning, they reminded me of miniature California Poppies.

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Our young friend, Victor, the artist, is coming over for dinner. He’s bringing someone from the Curley School bunch that I haven’t met, Denny. I am eager to meet him because he is the guy who hung the last show and I have sent some bad vibes his way. I need to figure that out.
I am putting up a Red Hat Lady doll in the upcoming Red Show. Every time I finish one of these, it’s a little like giving birth, I have the urge to hand out al capone cigars and say, “It’s a girl!”

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Hank the Cow Dog gets to go to the vet tomorrow, he keeps dribbling blood. He got antibiotics last week but they didn’t do much good. We’re afraid that he got something seriously wrong. Tomorrow he gets x-rays and what-not all. No food after 8 and no water after midnight. Poor baby.
That means both he and my sweetie-pie will be gone all day, Hank has to be there by 8 tomorrow morning and it’s a 2.5 hour drive. Guess who’s getting up early?

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I mixed the raspberry glaze chemicals today. Tomorrow it will be nicely floculated, if I have that term right. I believe that floculation is the process of the powdered chemicals actually soaking up water. Although, it might be the opposite, the definition wasn’t clear and even when I talk to potters who know, it doesn’t seem clear, but it’s a great word.

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We now have 2 functioning dirt bikes for exploration without dogs. If we could figure out a way to let all the dogs ride some of the time, we’d probably take the dogs. We need hjc helmets or some kind of helmet anyway, and my sweetie says I need boots. He’s usually right about motorcycle things, so I guess I’ll be shopping for boots, too.
I’d post pics but can’t find the cord. Will we ever get totally unpacked?

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So far I have 9 boxes that I am happy with. Happy enough to bisque fire, anyway. These are going into the Red Show in February, so they all will have some variation of red as the main color.

Today I worked on the berry bowls after doing the finish work on the three boxes I built yesterday. I think I will have five berry bowls for Morgana to choose from. It won’t be long before I can do a bisque firing, I’ve almost got a kiln-ful already.

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now that we are here full time (I still feel the acute relief of not running back and forth), our dog walks are so leisurely. Today the dogs dug the whole top off of a sandy hill. Must have been some worried critters down in there.

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All of a sudden the holiday season seems extra long. Just a couple of days ago it was Christmas Eve and I went in to the studio as usual for at least an hour before I remembered that tomorrow was Xmas and it was a holiday. That’s probably why there wasn’t anybody else around, huh? I hadn’t realized it was that late in the season or something, I don’t know, I was confused there for a minute when it sank in that tomorrow was Christmas Day and I’d have a house full of people.
Today I am expecting my niece for a visit. She landed in Phx last night with a friend and they will drive here any time now, it seems like a lot of long minutes around here, waiting. She will probably be shopping for hiking backpacks and other gear in the big city, although I think Logan, UT has just about every store. Maybe they hit some bars, they’re young cops and Jo is a pretty frisky kid, and I think she has a friend in Phoenix, too, so…. What would you do if you were 35 and healthy and got away without the kids? I’m sure they found an adventure, she really likes the trails around Phoenix, maybe they just hiked somewhere.
My darling went to PHX today with the green truck and the trailer. He is going to finish up the house while I visit with Jo, isn’t that sweet? I was going with him to help and to drive the other truck back here, because tomorrow we get the 5th wheel over here in Ajo … who knows how now? .. we are up in the air about how to get all the cars here at once along with the 5th wheel. It reminds me of the fox, chicken, boat, riddle.

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Paris and Heather came for Xmas and stayed the night. We had a great time.
The chili rellano casserole was a hit and very easy to make.

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So far, the AZ Poodle Rescue people have the best and fastest info. They answered my email within minutes with a mobile spay/neuter clinic in Apache Junction next week. That might be a little too soon for us, since we don’t know how long Cookie was in heat before we found her, so we can’t predict when she will be done.
On another subject, my darling is making the chicken shed even more deluxe! He hasn’t got out the welding equipment yet, but he’s attaching hinges to their already great nest so we can open it and clean it. Those are some pretty lucky chickens! He made them a new ladder so far today already and he’s going to insulate their night box up at the roof so their heat will build up in case it gets really cold.

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My bisque firing went well. On Saturday I will load the glaze kiln, Yippee!!
I have great gifts for my aunt and cousin in Joshua Tree/L.A.
It’s not as fancy as Black diamond earrings … no, wait: it is! The gift is: original arrangements set in hand-crafted pottery vases. Holiday-themed colors and silk flowers. My friend, Sue, of Sue’s Trading Post, is planning the arrangements and I’ll easily have them in time to mail. She makes the most original and beautiful arrangements I’ve ever seen. I’ll get pic.
Those vases are done and Sue has them right now. I have some other things, like Justice’s acorn box that came through the bisque and are ready for clear. I can’t wait to do that.

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How is it possible to have too many poodles?
I found another one today. This little girl has been spotted out my window a couple of times lately, and it really made me think that Pnut was out once. I ran out the door and had to laugh when Pnut was right on my heels.
Well today I found her in the street and in heat. I think her people moved and left her or something, the way her hair is matted and how hungry she was makes me think she is on her own.

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I had a very nice time with my brother this time. He and his lady friend were able to stay a couple of weeks, and they had a good enough time that I expect them back again next winter.. if not sooner.
His main income in Oregon is with heavy equipment, like a skid steer, or other loader and digger equipment. There’s only so much of that you can do in the winter when the ground is frozen and there’s several feet of snow. So I might even see him back here before the winter ends. I think he knows enough about Arizona to not schedule a trip down here after May.

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It is time to start thinking more specifically about Christmas gifts. I want Sammie to have a knife block this year. She has some really nice, sharp knives but they’re in a drawer, and I want them up on her counter-top.
So you know me, I have been shopping on-line. There’s all kind of options, from Martor USA utility knives to Ikea, and pre-shopping can narrow it down some. I actually am looking for something plastic and bright colored, but I might end up with a light-weight traditional wood block.
At any rate, shopping is fun!

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I feel that winter is finally here! It got down to 58 degrees inside last night. I stayed under the covers for as long as I could, grateful for the warm dogs on my feet. My sweetie-pie was in Phoenix, probably happy for his foot-covering dogs.
As soon as I load the kiln for a bisque firing I will follow him and get that house closed up. We still have several loads for donate/dump to sort out and deliver and the masking off of the inside for spray painting.

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Did I say that we bought our get-away vehicle? We got the same fifth-wheel that we looked at 2 years ago. This one has the exact floor plan we want, and when we saw it at the dealer’s we thought we’d find one just like it, but used (much more affordable).
Turns out that one was custom ordered and they don’t just make them like that. Well, we couldn’t afford that, so we just kept looking for 2 years. Then, low and behold, the same one comes up on Craig’s list, a couple of years older and ten or fifteen thousand cheaper.
The guy who bought it evidently has some experience with rv repair because he completely tricked it out. It has a new floor, bigger cabinets, bigger tanks, bigger generator, and I don’t what all else. We are so tickled!
We take delivery in a couple of weeks, I’ll get pics.

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We had T-day right here in my house in Ajo. We were planning to go to the big pot luck out in the desert like we have for several years now, but it is so cold today that Mom didn’t want to go out and we all decided that was a good idea, too. So we decided to stay and just eat the things we had made for the pot luck. And we decided to eat on the disposable plates and spoons, using paper towels for napkins, so I have zero clean-up. Whoopee!
I made a huge roaster pan of stuffing and a big cauldron of gravy and Joe Ann made a big batch of traditional green beans casserole. She put onion rings on top and everything and it was so pretty. Turned out delicious, too. Mom provided the lemon pies. It would have made a nice contribution to the whole pot luck, but we stayed in and enjoyed our narrow selection of holiday foods.
It really is cold out, and looks dark like rain. We’re all snug inside. Happy Thanksgiving.

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Can you believe I forgot my camera at Morgana’s Halloween party? This year there were a lot more people and everyone was in costume. I am so sorry I didn’t bring my camera. Morgana said she’d email me some pics. I got one pic at home of my fortune teller machine, but without the necklaces and make-up.

This year there were no facial masks (remember last year, Sue’s costume of cleaning lady in full face make-up removal gear?)
Well, I had a lot of fun anyway, got to talk to a lot of the Curley School artists and some of the locals, like me, who were lucky enough to get invited.
I think for tonight I will get candy for the neighbor kids and just turn off all my lights and skip the rest of the goblins.
I’m getting old, dammit, and I’m going to go with it.

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My chicks are growing up and are nesting in the highest spot in the hen house already.
Their pen is built out of leftover wood from tearing down the car port. I thought about getting a metal building because it would be an almost instant solution, but then my baby built me a nice shed. it even has a concrete floor.
I am sure going to miss these chicks when I go back to Phoenix. We return to Ajo around Thanksgiving.

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We have been over this ground before, but never found this marker. It’s from the Gila Bend and New Cornelian Rail Service, which used to be real busy right here. Where this walk is, is across the road from the air field and the current Ajo airport and golf course. They was a pretty extensive siding, station, and living quarters, the foundations are all that’s left.
We don’t walk it in the summer because there is no shade, but it’s a lovely place to walk after the weather cools down a little.
We are not cold enough for CozyWinters.com battery heated gloves yet, but there’s hopeful signs of cooling on the horizon. We still are in the nineties foe another week or two, but looking forward to winter by Thanksgiving.

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Look at these ants! They have prettied up their hill with leaves. These are either Palo Verde or Mesquite leaves. There is one tree of each over this ant hill and when the leaves are all separated like this it’s hard to tell the difference.
Maybe it’s some of both kinds of leaves. At any rate, they are a pretty busy bunch.

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Wish I knew what these are and what I could use them for. They smell like soap, my sweetie said they smell a little like comino (cumin) to him. I looked into it and found that the same chemical make-up of the scent molecules live in soap and cumin. Go figure.
Now that I have my sites back up, I have time to shop for that notebook I want. I have been looking into places like this one, Samsung accessories, which is very interesting and informative.

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I have been froze out of this site (and all my other blogs, too) for almost a week due to some hackers. But it’s all clean now.
I need to go to the border and get my cap glued back on, I flossed it off two days after it was put on. It’s a lovely cap, even though my dentist had to do it with hardly any help, she is having a hard time filling Dentist Jobs there. So for a couple of days she did everything solo and for a couple of days she had a young lady who spoke no English and was not trained. But she did a great job. She is still on vacation but will be back by the end of this week I think.

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It’s Fall, and the cactus fruit is ripe. Some had fallen off and was carried or rolled quite a distance from this cactus, I looked like a little pineapple on the ground. I was curious, what is that thing? Well after I looked around a bit I spotted this cactus with its crown of fruit. Beautiful, and the birds and other animals no doubt like it a lot.

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You can really only see Hank the Cow Dog, but behind him is Annie Oakley. They are waiting to go after a nice, long walk this morning. We are in the red truck, the Dodge diesel this time, and something is wrong with the passenger side window; sometimes the control works and sometimes it doesn’t. My mechanic and driver (also my boyfriend, a man of many jobs) thinks it might have to do with the sleeving on the electrical system. One of these days he is going to take it apart and find out. Today it worked on the way home, but not on the way out.

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