random sightings when we are fortunate to have our eyes open

Tonight i was doing a Tango video chat with my girlfriend, Pam and we were talking about my new puppy kashie (we get him on Monday!) Anyway, one thing lead to another and she showed me a little video she took of a darling little Shar pei puppy that she had seen at a local pet store. It made me remember this story and these wonderful photos I took to accompany that story. I've never published (blogged) these pictures before and i don't know why; because to me, they are amazing. I've thought about it, but never got around to it. So she motivated to start scouring my hard drive for them.

here's the story:

a few years ago my mom and i were on a road trip. the trip started in Dallas and would end in Tucson. (She had recently left my house, after spending the holidays here and was driving back to the west coast. So I decided I would fly out to Dallas and continue to drive with her to Tucson) We were making our way to Patagonia, Arizona, where we wanted to photograph hummingbirds who were beginning their migration. Well, it seems we arrived a tad early in the season, so we didn't get to see too many hummers, but we did a lot of driving around. We went to Patagonia Lake and visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, where we did get to see many species of hummingbirds flying around in their habitat (i have some amazing photos from that too!)

As we were driving around the little town of Patagonia, I yelled out to my mom. "Stop, Mom - Puppies!" (quite loudly) to my astonishment, there was a tiny little house with a dirt yard and 7 Shar pei puppies (plus mom and dad). What a sight! I don't know why it struck me so, but I doubt i 'll ever see that again. I adore these photos i took, but again, i could be fondly remembering that special trip.

how i spent April 1st 2010

It was 19 years ago today that my son, Tucker, suffered a severe brain injury due to medical negligence. That day changed our lives forever. we've suffered through heartache, depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress syndrome. It is a tough day for us and I spent the day doing fun things to keep myself from thinking about that ill fated day. I was going to do some art, but it was so gorgeous outside that i decided to spend my day outdoors.
I recently left a little shop where i was selling things and the van was full of booth and product stuff to put away. So after emptying out the van, we needed to find a place for an old shabby bookcase and an old medicine cabinet. So i decided to make room on the front porch for them. (it was perfect timing as i needed to clean the porch up anyway)
i put the old medicine cabinet over my yummy green farm table and then decided to "merchandise" it with some of my nature findings. (nests, shells, sea glass, driftwood, etc.) So i went shopping in my house and dragged out all sorts of fun stuff.

here's what the cabinet looks like with the doors open:


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this is actually a tiny little hummingbird nest. it is as big as half dollar. I found this nest in Arizona when i was traveling with my mom. i made little nest holders out of rusty wire springs. (the white eggs are from our finches)
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this is a robins nest that Dillon's friend, Jimmy, brought to me. It had been made inside a wreath on their porch and the flowers from the wreath are still embedded in the mud. (jimmy also brings me heart shaped rocks - how sweet is that?) i filled the nest with these tiny little egg rocks that i like to collect when i am at my mom's in Bass Lake, Ca.
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this is a heart shaped rock that i found in California when i was visiting my sister in feb. i was walking the beach and said to myself, "i really want to find a heart shaped rock" and viola! like magic, it appeared. (true story!)
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not sure about this bigger nest as it is part mud and part stick - probably another robin nest. it gives you good perspective on the size of that sweet little hummer nest.
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this is a Japanese beetle that Dillon found last summer. he was sitting under a tree and it fell next to him. he saved it knowing i would want it. i think it looks awesome displayed on one of my grandmother's old floral frog.
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here is a wren nest that i found just yesterday in some brush off our driveway. it is very sweet and holds a few bluebird, a cardinal and a mystery feather.
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after i was done with this project, it was almost time for tucker to get home from school. We all went into the backyard where jeff, dillon and friends played some volleyball while i made some nests out of grapevine. i want to add some of kirby's fur to them and then display them around the house. then we brought tucker outside and did some yard work around this area in the middle of the yard that is nicknamed "flower island". it needs a lot of work as last summer we had a terrible mole problem. flower island looks as if it is sinking since the earth underneath it is all torn up. so we raked and tried to rearrange and level things. we've decided to replace the old pergola with a new one as it is rotting and tilting from the weight of the wisteria on top of it.

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so you see, i ended up having a lovely day and tried to focus on the small stuff that makes me happy instead of spending my time in sorrow. as i was raking, i saw this in the leaves and it reminded me to find love in all that i do.