Stewart Creations

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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Well, I got to give the new kitchen sink a good workout this time. I was so nice to have a basic kitchen counter top and dish washing area. Then we got the floor down! What a wonderful thing!

And now we have a new floor in the kitchen and pantry and utility room. It is the Pergola type flooring that snaps together. This one looks like tile and feels so good on bare feet. Or rather bare feet feel so good on it.

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Our end of Ajo is all dug up. This is right outside our driveway, Dear One and Neighbor discussing the parking situation.

They start around 5:00 or 5:30, which makes it about the time Reddy stirs us around. That’s his summer hours; daylight driven. Reddy likes to get us up at daybreak, hoping we’ll play with him, or take him for a walk, or even just give him a little snuggle and pet.
So in Ajo, even though the coolest time for sleep-related activities is around that same time, the construction and Reddy together pull us out of bed for an early dog walk. It’s also the only time to get out in the summer desert.
We saw centi- or milli- pedes this time, they appeared to be feeding on the lichen, which bloom in the damp weather.
It was overcast all week but we only got moisture in town once, really. I heard that we missed a belly-washer here in Phoenix.

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My neighbor invited me to her birthday party Saturday. It was a fairy themed costume affair. What a blast! We had a lot of fun and I got some great pics. Click on the link here to see the pics.
http://s815.photobucket.com/albums/zz71/shellysha/AvasFairyParty/
It was one of the funnest parties ever.
Another neighbor was supposed to have his birthday party later Saturday evening, but his wife got sick so they postponed. They just got married, too, so we’ll have double the reason to party once she gets back on her feet.

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I feel so good today! It’s like it stopped raining or something … no, actually, since we’re in Phoenix with skies full of threatening humidity-packing, heat-trapping thunderheads, it’s more like it finally started to rain.
I popped up at five o’clock just because I couldn’t lie in bed any longer. I have been spending more time in bed than out for three days, and couldn’t wait to get out.
Then the house smelled closed up and I had to clean the corners. The house is sweet now and I feel so healthy! I could give prototype 37c reviews all day long!
We are going to see a movie this evening, and the world is fine!

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Boy, I am bad in the heat! It’s just an accident that I am here in Phoenix and now in Ajo, both hot enough areas to where if you’re out in it you can count it as one of the best weight loss pill around.
It’s too hot to eat, maybe I will lose some weight.
But the dogs loved it, they ran until they were winded. Fae had some kind of asthma attack one day, and I gave her a little piece of an antihistamine when we got home. She’s fine now.
The lizards were out and running fast. Dogs love it.

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Boy, am I glad to be back from Ajo. It’s soo hot and we don’t have AC, just the swamp cooler, and there were clouds in the sky every day, humidity was high. You know how swamp coolers are in the humidity, not efficient, that’s how.
I didn’t drink enough water, I know, that’s bad for my complexion, so maybe I should look for an acne treatment before I do that again.
I really, really hated Ajo this time, but we (he) got the beautiful sink installed. We got to visit with Mom and Beto, the dogs had a wonderful time in the desert morning walks.
One good thing about cloud cover, it blocks the sun for awhile in the morning and that makes being outdoors better.
We have to go back in a week for Mom & Beto’s birthday….. they were born on the same day, what are the chances of that?

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My son and I are going to the auction tonight. It’s Triple J or something like that, and right in the neighborhood. I think it was this one, or maybe another auction, where he got an external hard drive for like $5.00. So now his computer is really souped up.
This particular auction has lots of furniture, and their stuff is nice and clean, and good quality. Like estate sale stuff.
I got this box in a job-lot of stuff at the A-1 Auction, Wednesday mornings. Wonder what it’s worth?

I got a beaded lampshade for $5.00, bags of silver rings and earrings for $2.50. It’s a good auction and I really look forward to it.

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We have really been enjoying my mate’s retirement. He hasn’t got his first installment on his social security benefits yet, his retirement is that new.
It’s a good thing he has time, because there have been major repairs needed, like the ignition on the Ford.

This one took him 2 six-hour days, but it is done perfectly now.
I really think he can do anything. At least I haven’t seen anything he can’t do.

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I am hooked on another game; Big Fish’s Bubble Town. It’s only because I can’t pass the Decapitating level.
It’s the simplest game, but impossible to win it seems. I have been stuck at this level for days… hours at a time for days. What’s wrong with me? I am such a time waster.
But it’s irresistible fun, and I keep thinking I will get a good deck and beat the level and go on to tougher levels, which I will then beat, too. See how useful that is?
HA!

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As if we had income that was disposable! We have to go to Home Depot for the house in Ajo. Actually, we always have to go to Home Depot for the house in Ajo.
This time we are taking down a new sink, the old one is just too bent up, so we will use it for an outside sink. We already have a beautiful Hansgrohe faucet, or some brand. And it has a sprayer, it uses four holes, which is just right for the most reasonably priced stainless steel double sink. Somehow I am excited about this. I must have the remodeling bug.

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Bertha is getting a bath. We might even take her to the Home Depot later, just to get her some air. She’s a fine truck.

My honey has all but got her fixed up after her blowout. He did it all in the driveway, no need for extra POS systems, Darling’s got it covered.
He is shopping an installation kit for the fifth wheel hitch, though. THEN we can seriously shop for a fifth wheel trailer.

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We are having so much fun with Star this week. She’s a real good girl.

If our plans actually gel, we will be taking off with Star’s mom to sell Johnsonville dogs at fairs in our fifth wheel trailer. Once we get it, that is.
If we need to do any motorhome repairs I am not worried, my sweetie is real good at fixing things.
This is a very interesting chapter in our lives, I’ll keep you posted.

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It will be nice when we can find a place to live where I don’t hate summer so much. It’s not that I’m looking to need summer snow boots, but some place where I’m not constantly sweating would be nice. Also, this heat is dangerous. It’s freaky to head off across the desert in your car hoping the AC won’t blow, or you don’t have car trouble and cook your dogs.
Yes, I really hate this heat.
Sometimes Phoenix sucks.
Although I have to admit that when we got home the other day from spending ten days in Ajo, I was so terribly glad to see the city. It’s not real fun in Ajo right now with the house torn up and with only a swamp cooler to combat the heat.
Maybe Phoenix isn’t all that bad, the hundred degree temperatures still scare me, though.

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We had my son and daughter in law over last night for a feast. I found organic pork sausages at Sunflower Market, My Dear grilled them and I made string beans with almonds, and broccoli, and for dessert we had warm pound cake with mashed strawberries and vanilla ice cream.
If we’d been smokers, we’d all have wanted an e cigarette at the end, but we just watched a car talk show from the BBC. Pretty funny stuff. Probably just as good as a cigarette.
A good time was had by all.

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We made another step toward retirement travel yesterday, we bought a hitch for the eventual fifth wheel trailer. Now the only industrial supplies we need are the actual trailer and a good portable dog fence.
Got the hitch off of Craig’s List after months of looking. Right price and right end of town. It was a guy who teaches at a motor school up in Glendale, practically in our front yard. He had a couple of them, but we only needed one.

We will need the fence to surround the fifth wheel so we can let the dogs out no matter where we park.
Now we’re getting close!

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Look at this cute dog! This is Star, and we get to babysit her for a week.
Her mom understandably was afraid she’d gain a bunch of weight. She knows how my dogs like their home-cooked meals. So if Star gets fat I promise to put her on a treadmill right away.
She’s a really good dog and getting along just fine, we’re so glad to have her.

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Our lawn really greened up while we were away for ten days. Lack of dogs, I think. The kids watered pretty steady, too. That was sweet.
The grass looks inviting, but it’s over a hundred degrees out there.
The hummingbirds seem to like it. They are buzzing around the yard, chasing finches and sparrows and each other, shopping, getting life insurance quotes, eating bugs, you know, just the regular hummingbird day.
They move fast! And it’s hard to get a good pic.
See what I mean?

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My clever lover has found the part he needs to fix the ignition. We were all packed to go to Ajo when it broke, so he rigged a way to start the truck with only a gloved hand. Somewhere under the dash.
He studied the problem before we left and decided that it wasn’t a dangerous thing, he’s so careful that I wasn’t worried a bit.
So today when we went out he picked up the part from the dealer for less than $20, and now is putting it in.

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