Stewart Creations

The people in that traditional Mexican household were quite sensibly afraid to touch her, she looked like she probably had mange which is prevalent in Rocky Point and is contagious to humans. The traditional home remedy to treat this mange is to boil some creosote bush for the tar it produces. The tar goes on the affected skin several times a day for several days. It’s unpleasant smelling and will ruin the pan for any other use. There is also a readily available cream in a tube, I think it contains the hormone melatonin, but this is a traditional family.
I leaned over and said some baby talk toward her and she turned those Dumbo-like ears and hopeful eyes up to me and gave me some happy thumps of her little bare tail. I was hooked. Without thinking, I picked her up and cuddled her against my neck while my friends all shuddered and stepped back.

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Dog owners have lower blood pressure. Several studies have shown that the simple act of stroking a dog can reduce blood pressure. More recent studies have found that these effects continue throughout the day when people are away from their dog as well. Dog owners cope with stress better and lowered blood pressure is a result of that relationship between a dog and his human. This feeling of well-being is subtle, but it is noticeable in its absence to a dog-lover who loses a beloved pet suddenly. I was two weeks away from the death of my beloved dog when I found La Fea. When it came time to adopt her out, I think it was this feeling of well-being after two weeks of intense loss that made me change my mind and keep this particular pup for my own.
Fea came to me because Mom and I had too few pups. That’s not usually a problem in Rocky Point, Mexico. We had no pup for Sonrisa (sounds like Sondrisa and means Smiley in Spanish) to nurse and her teats were hard. We looked around for a pup and discovered that we had given away one too many pups that day in a combination of incredible luck and, for Mom and me, persistence. No pup for Sonrisa to nurse.
I started calling around to see if I could find a spare pup to put on her, and much later that night a friend got word to us that he’d picked up a pup off the street and we could come get her early in the morning. At first light, I went over and found the whole extended family household out in the yard in their jammies and blankets, looking down at a naked little pink lump with big, shaggy ears. This poor pup was in rough shape. She was hairless and sunburned, had a gash on her inner thigh, and had the bloated belly of malnourishment. The poor little bony thing had probably been subjected to the traditional method of ‘placing’ pups in that area. The pup is thrown from a slow car in a decent community. There, done! I took one look at her and, hands to my face said Que fea! (How ugly!)

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I am in need of some appetite suppressors after that Bahamas vacation.
We ate all the time, not that that’s different from usual, it’s just that I managed to get my clothes tight again, maybe relaxing had something to do with it. Boy did we have fun!

Thank you, Aunt Elaine !!!!
I would like to go again, this time I would like to stay in Nassau, I think. One of our drivers took us all around back roads and to a fish market. It was all expensive on the island, but there are avocado trees and fresh fish, and I would think romaine lettuce grows year round. I could see living there. It would be almost as expensive as the Aleutians, and I survived that. The water in the Bahamas is much friendlier.

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My first foray into MarJon, the Ceramics store came today. I been wanting to go for a long time. I got some black clay, called Cassius, for some reason… what a funny name! But it is smooth and real dark and will probably fire to cone 5 beautifully. I also got a new wooden wedge tool and some glaze that breaks into peacock colors. I can’t wait to try it.

Tuesday I get to play with my new stuff.

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My week there at Paradise Island was truly stupendous! I had such a good time with my aunt and cousins. My aunt paid for it all, she never misses a chance for a vacation get-together. I wouldn’t have been able to go if it weren’t for that. Thank you Aunt Elaine.

The art work at Paradise Island is phenomenal, and there is so much of it. Every nook and cranny is detailed with art of some kind. It was a lot of fun.

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Since Arizona requires every car on the road to be insured, it seems there’s a never-ending battle between insurance companies to be the number one provider of cheap auto insurance , I remember that Titan was really big around the year 2000, then Geico seemed to have taken the lead… it seems that there’s an ebb and flow to this insurance thing- with one company taking the lead for a few years and then fading out a bit while another company takes the throne. All of this talk about insurance makes me wonder: can you insure an insurance company? They can’t very well provide their own insurance. Also, isn’t the insurance industry basically gambling? Or are the odds so good that it isn’t really a high risk venture?

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Flying can be a really boring experience, provided you aren’t afraid of flying and you don’t need a few hours sleep. I’ve found that it’s not that bad if you remember to bring a few of your favorite books along with you. I’m thinking of picking up some sudoku or crossword puzzles for my next flight. Either that, or I’ll try to schedule my next nap to coincide with my flight time.

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Bertha, the big truck, is getting her new fender and tailgate painted red to match.
I will have pics tomorrow, I’m at school right now waiting for a class to start. I got some good pics of him spraying the primer on in the back yard. One tip, always put some thinner in the primer when it is a hundred degrees and dry, like today in Phoenix. He had to clean everything in the middle ’cause it gobbed up too soon.
I am just about packed for my VACATION to the Bahama’s!!!! I decided to take some of my Beading Tools and wire twisting tools so I can twist up some vacation necklaces from shells off the beach. I think my aunt and cousin will like that.
Could I get any more excited? Doubtful.

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Now I am getting really excited about the Bahama vacation! In just four days I will be winging my way east and off the continent. I have not been off this continent in my life, unless Dutch Harbor/Unalaska counts, and it probably does.
I was out in the Aleutians for several years and now I get to go the extreme opposite direction. Kind of balances things out.

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Good friends are hard to find.
Somehow I am in the middle of several really good friendships here in Phoenix. One of my good friends has a birthday in a couple of days, I would like to get her loose diamonds or something else valuable, but due to student funding concerns (I’m broke) I am not able to do that.
What I think I will do is make a delicious cake in one of my bread baking pans from last term’s ceramics class and give her the whole thing. Cake and gift.
Gwen, you’re not going to read this before then and spoil the surprise, are you?

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At least it feels like summer’s over at the moment. We had a squall of rain yesterday and some sun-blocking clouds today, so it never even got above 100 degrees. Balmy by Phoenix standards.
School is a hoot, though, whatever the temperature. Taking the full load of twelve credits at a school is one way to get the information you seek, but Forex training webinars is just another method of self-training.
I just prefer the normal school approach because of easier funding. It sure is a lot of work, though, maintaining grades and getting the grants.

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Sorry for the pic you are about to see. I couldn’t help posting it, but I know the fat factor makes it hard to look at. I know I am a good candidate for apidexin and the only reason I posted it is because it makes me look even less fat than I really am. The curve of the truck window is the reason, I think.
But I am now really dieting, though I should, I am kinda militant about judging my fat, I judge myself harshly enough to listen to other people’s criticism.
So take that!

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School is great this term, I have really good classes and even though I am carrying 12 credits it seems like a light load and my schedule is easy.
I am going to miss long weekends in Ajo once the weather gets good, but I still have three days off in a row each week, so that will have to suffice.

so here is a shot of me in the side window of the truck. We were out walking the dogs and I had a do-rag on to catch the sweat… because it was HOT.
It will get progressively cooler now for a few months, so we can breathe easier.

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Universities are starting to contact me! This is so exciting, it looks like my hard work and Honors classes is going to pay off.
San Diego State U. has contacted me and I am now finding out from them how much money they can help me come up with in case I decide to go there. I love the weather there! It gets cool enough in the winter to need an electric fireplace , but not so cold that it snows. I love the summers.
I am not ready to move on to a university yet, but it is nice to know that I will have choices.

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Since my spouse retired the end of June he has been catching up on vehicle maintenance and house maintenance. Seems like we got real lucky that the cars didn’t need so much work until the time he retired. My clutch went out, for one problem. He had time to fix it.
We are not missing shopping for mens ties, although he did wear one last week in California at his nephew’s fancy wedding. He got to visit with both his brothers in one geographic location for the first time in years … maybe decades. What fun.

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My honey and I are considering whether or not we should move to Ajo and rent the Phoenix house in January.  It would be a big step for us, but would relieve us of the total expense of mortgage and utilities on this house, and the Ajo house is paid for.

I would have to take at least six credits online to keep from having to make payments on my student loan and to keep my funding simple and to keep my hand in as far as school goes.

So I have been looking into Accredited Online Schools.  There are web sites all over with real good information.

I have a neighbor here in Phoenix that takes her accounting classes online, so I could do that, I need more math, and accounting works for that.

It would be a big change, moving to Ajo full time.

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We are staying home this week. We have too much to do here, him in the garage and for myself, the first week of school.
We are going to Home Depot today to look at flooring for when we go next time.
The living room looks so together we are planning where to put the couch and where the Christmas tree is going to be. We might even get some new led christmas lights, a friend of ours in Ajo is contracted to install solar powered LED lights in the town square, and I hope this sets his new solar business on fire!! What a good concept, solar in Arizona. The sun shines every day and LED takes so little energy. I’m stoked to watch the progress.

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We are staying home this week. We have too much to do here, him in the garage and for myself, the first week of school.
We are going to Home Depot today to look at flooring for when we go next time.
The living room looks so together we are planning where to put the couch and where the Christmas tree is going to be. We might even get some new led christmas lights, a friend of ours in Ajo is contracted to install solar powered LED lights in the town square, and I hope this sets his new solar business on fire!! What a good concept, solar in Arizona. The sun shines every day and LED takes so little energy. I’m stoked to watch the progress.

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Dear Heart is gearing up for another race. He needs to get his health insurance first, looking around online, like at bcbsnc for instance. He needs it to race, the tracks won’t let a rider race unless he has proof of insurance.
But I have no doubt he will get it all in order before the race. He’s out in the garage tinkering right now.
He’s also re-building a new bike for sale. It’s so great that he has time for it now that he’s retired. I’m so happy to have him around that I don’t even mind when he hogs the computer all day. Although I am thinking about setting up another computer somewhere in the house so we have two.

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I talked to my ceramics teacher last night while I was wandering around on break (math class), and told him about the new mud I got from my friend who has Sue’s Trading Post in Ajo. She got the clay from some Indians who make pots for her shop. He was curious, so I will lug buckets of that in today.
I love ceramics, you need good headphones, so go to the headphone reviews and get a set, put on your tunes and work for hours in the mud.
I am really looking forward to that. I did a few hand-built things this summer, mostly on Monkey Fridays with Mike, my ceramics buddy, but there’s nothing like working for hours in a well-equipped studio.
School is great!

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This is my fifth term at PVCC, a two-year college. I know I’m slow, but I’m thorough.
Last year I did a bunch of two hundred level classes, this term I am back on the one hundred level classes. I have English Composition 101, which is my honors class and looks to be a real good thing for me. You know I love to write, so the writing (over 3,000 words) is no problem, and what I will learn is the MLA style and there are some other technical styles that I don’t even know the names of that I will learn this term. This class will really help me at the University level.
The other solid I have is a five credit Math Anxiety class. It is actually a remedial math class, 093 is the number, not even a one hundred. I need this because I failed so spectacularly last term with the same class taught by a very fast and confusing teacher, Terry Grygiel. Don’t EVER take a class from him. I got out on the last day I could without losing grades, I lost money because I thought I could do it, but I couldn’t. He signed my withdrawal form and said he didn’t understand, I was getting the second highest grade in the class, a “C” and that should make me proud, but I informed him that I am an Honors student, with money tied up in the good grades, and if I was getting a “C” then I didn’t think I was really ‘getting’ it. I was spending hours each day in the math tutoring room and still not understanding. But this math anxiety class looks like it is good, and I had friends take it who raved about how good it is. I really need to understand the math before I can continue.
Today I have Ceramics … WOO HOO!

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We may camping with only a microwave, fry pan and the outdoor grill to cook on, but we won’t be savages. Roasted cumin is heavenly in the cowboy beans I made for dinner. Roast the whole seeds until they are dark and then grind them. Yum!

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The Ajo house got a new bathroom floor this trip, and the living room got its floor prepped for when we find the right flooring.

We had a couple of ‘pool party’ dinners, where we put the patio table legs in the dog water pool and eat dinner with our feet in the cool water.
I need to get some outdoor cushions for the chairs to make it complete.
It’s much cooler outside at sunset than it is inside. Then the swamp cooler catches up and the nights are pretty comfortable in the bedroom. But having dinner on the front patio in the breeze is our evening ritual in Ajo.

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A good friend of mine covered a briefcase with a collage. This lady is one of the best collage artists I have ever seen, and pretty darn outstanding in all areas of artistic expression. Her field is Graphic Design, but she’s not the type of person who will limit herself.
She has a good grasp on how to save briefcases. Another alternative to buying new.

I really have fun with this particular friend, and really enjoy staying in touch.
Liz, thinkin’ of you today, girl! Thanks for the pics.

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I have been a bachelor for two and a half days now, and have been eating personal favorite foods rather than organized meals at regular intervals; for the last two days I have been eating pumpkin pancakes, as a ‘for instance’. Yum Yum. But try getting anyone else (my sweetie) to eat them.
These pancakes turned out a little heavy for a couple of reasons.
*heavy wheat flour with added bran
*a whole package of organic pumpkin (or was it squash?) soup — anyway, the whole thing minus one cup. (It was tasty.)
*extra raisins
Now that’s a pancake!
I have another carton of that soup, so maybe I will find a recipe and follow that. … if all else fails, find the instructions. If the pancake is fluffy enough, he’ll eat it. Me, I could care less about fluffy, I like the bran and the peanut butter. And the raisins.
My lambie-pie is back tonight, so I will fry an eggplant and cook some spaghetti, he likes that. Maybe wait to try squash/pumpkin pancakes next week in Ajo, I’ll be hungry for them again by then.

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