DA update and life

So I’ll have to say that a lot has been going on because usually I can’t stand still and keep things moving along. lol. For Dana Arts I keep myself busy. I always have and will continue to do so. I’m a small business that is just me and my determination, passion and love for what I do that will keep it going no matter what. I have to admit that the past 5 or 6 months have been more than slow as far as sales go, but I continue to try and find ways to come up with new ideas, improve the website, or as of lately planing to do more video about what I’m up to. I have a few pendants that I think are really cool that will come out for the next few months as my newest featured items that you can usually see when they come out from the banner at the top of the webpage. I try and come up with ideas of what I think is cool. There have been times when a customer had an idea that we worked together on and are now available for sale. If you’d ever are inspired just let me know. I can do custom unique pieces just for you or we can work it out to put it into my line of jewelry. My shop is a bit cluttered right now. I have a 12’x12’ shed that I work out of right now. It has all my equipment for jewelry, gardening tools, and wood working tools. Oh an a lot of vw bug parts all over the place mixed in with everything.

So the shop has been real messy lately as I have been working more on my vw bug engine than jewelry. Ever since the fire I’ve been slowly trying to get parts and now cleanup to get this thing running again. So far I’ve managed to pull the engine from the car. (my first time ever doing so). Now I’ve been tearing it apart. I’ve managed to paint a few tins and am currently working on cleaning up other tins for painting. Next I’ll clean up the engine bay and then re wire the car. After that I plan to assemble the engine and put it back in. I want to test it to see if I can get it running again. If it does then I can work on the seats, windows, and the rest of the car to make it usable again. I just want to know if it can run before I spend the time fixing up the rest. The sad thing is that I am not going to be able to restore the whole car as it should be. I can’t replace the pans right now that have holes in them. I can’t do a lot of things that should be done since the car is stripped down to nothing. I don’t have the money to put into it, so I just want it running and drive able again. This way I can enjoy it once again even thought it won’t be perfect. It’s just a joy to drive my 67 VW bug. My first car. It’s a big fun project that I will share more about down the road.

The garden is doing well. After the last frost I pulled out all the tomato plants and basil. Right now I have onion, yarrow, mint, carrots, a few types of lettuce, bak choi, thyme, cilantro and a few other small plants and herbs. It’s starting to warm up a bit and I have planted a few carrots, celery, squash and more. It may not be the right time for some of these, but I will replant if nothing shows up. Already we have tons of tomatoes popping up from the old tomatoes. Same thing with the basil. It’s like a weed. I plan to keep the garden area a bit more clean this year. We’ll see how it goes. My henna plant may have died in the frost because it got frosted when my cover blew off it. Hopefully it survives. I could go on and on, but that’s just a small update on the garden.

Garden Area in the back and the fire ring up close to us.

The Garden House. It has begun. Yes the day we have been waiting for for almost 2 years now. The pad was built a few weeks ago and then it rained for a week. Now that it’s dry again the footing was just poured Friday the 16th of February 2024. I look forward to seeing the next steps and progress of the build. To get to this point felt like it would never happen. I did have to change the plans and lower the pitch of the roof from a 9:12 to a 6:12 because it just plainly cost too much. I also had to modify the foundation a bit to save some money. We are happy that our builder is our next door neighbor. He is amazing and so helpful. I would love to post about this whole journey someday. It’s a blessing that I’d love to share with everyone, but for today I’m just keeping it simple and letting you know that it has begun. Within six months we should be in our new home.

The House footing is poured.

Live is full of ups and downs. I know that nothing lasts and I’m sure hard times and good times come and go. I just know that if we keep God close to us we will be able to get though anything, appreciate life and see the light as we progress through life. Our outlook on life will be different and we will have greater peace within our life and that energy will show. I will keep everyone updated now and then on mainly the house, garden and of course Dana Arts. Take care and I’ll talk with you again soon.

Garden Beds

I love gardening and I wish I had more time for it. last weekend I was able to make one more garden bed 18’ x 5’. I had planned on making two more of them, but only had time for the one. The next few weekends are busy. I had to get some seed into the ground for this growing season. My family and I were able to plant more carrots, some lettuce, three or four types of tomatoes, broccoli, onions, sweet snap peas, sun flowers, basil and thirteen types of peppers. I think that’s all. Hopefully something comes up. I’ve never had much success with tomatoes from seed, but I did a whole row of them. I hope at least a few come up. Anyway, if all of it grows we will have more that we need. I plan on doing what I can to preserve extra and then give away the rest to family and friends.

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Garden Beds

Ok so another week passed and I didn’t post. There is another garden bed as you can see. This time my daughter Anja wanted to learn and took the initiative to do it herself. I helped and guided, but she did most all of it from pick axing the ground, mixing the dirt, making the frame, adding more dirt and then the water spraying system. So proud of her. We had a freeze one day that I think was the last, but it did some damage to the citrus trees. The leaves are falling and since they are just freshly planted I hope they can recover now. Because of the frost I feel no seeds have come up after the time frame they should be coming up. I may plant more just in case or maybe the seeds know and are waiting for the right time to pop up.

added another garden bed to the right

Slowly but surely we will get this garden dirt better and better every year and hope this all works out. I did run into a slight problem. Finishing off the water system by adding the last spray heads dropped the water pressure too low to work for these three beds. We took out a few spay heads to try and spread out the water. We managed to get it pretty good, but not perfect. I’m thinking I may just take out the water pressure regulator that is set at around 30psi and just not have one. The pressure is low anyway at around 42psi. That just might fix the pressure though. This also gets me to worry about the water pressure in the house. Hopefully we can maintain a nice pressure from the street that is so far away. We’ll see when that time comes. For now the garden is starting to take shape. A place to come to and take care of. It has taken almost a year to get to this point, but it can only keep improving from here. Until next time. :)

A little update on life

So the holidays were great! It’s a wonderful time of year where we can all enjoy good spirits and family. Now that the new year has started I have hopes that life will continue to grow and expand and mature as the year goes on. I will go through what my plans are for this year.

First off Dana Arts will be posting a new design every month for this year. Keep an eye out for these new and exciting designs. I love designing and want to keep the flow of creativity going through the year. This means creating new design even when there are so many other things I have to take care of in life and in the business. I hope you will be as excited as I am to see each new design as the become available. I’ll try and promote each one through the month so you can have a look at it. I hope to grow Dana Arts this year as much as possible. I need your help to spread the word and continue buying rings that you love. Every bit helps when you are a small business like me with no employees.

American Flag Star ring with and eagle on the inside.

The Garden House. Well the plans were submitted on December 8th. I called today and it has gone through various steps and it’s in the actual plan review stage. They say it will now take another 30-40 business days. Really? They blame it on the holidays and being backed up. They say they are a week ahead and we should have them reviewed by the end of February. That’s a total of 3 months. Wow! I really hope there are no revisions that have to be done because each revision will take another 2 weeks for them to review and hopefully I won’t need weeks to make the changes, but it’s possible. I’m starting to have the feeling the house will not be completed before my son returns from El Salvador in November. I was trying so hard to make that happen, but it will be close. I’m so tired of waiting. Once the plans are approved I know things will move forward and wont' worry so much.

The Garden at the Garden House. Well I have finished the second strip of garden box. They are both 5ft by 15ft. The next ones will be a little longer. I need to pull weeds and then start mixing the dirt. I would like to get a few more done before spring planting. The new Home Depot just opened here in San Tan Valley so I can make shorter trips for the things I need. for building, so that is a plus.

The driveway. We need to be working on this. I have a friend that will come help me cut some 23” pipe that will hopefully go in at the front of the driveway. I need to destroy a little of the old cement of the old spot for the pipe so this new one can go in it’s place. I then would like to brick lay the end of it and then fill the top with cement. The top cement layer will be thin as this pipe is in reality too big and should be smaller, but that is what size is there and our wonderful neighbor is so kind and generous to give us that pipe. So I’m humbly thankful for their generosity. Once the driveway is fixed we can get rid of all the trash that is on the property. It will feel good to have it cleaned up a bit more. Each new stage is challenging and I am up for it. This is where I want to live and improving the land is a way to make life happier.

Broken part of the driveway.

We all need something in life that keeps us going and keeps us happy. For me it’s believing in God and Jesus Christ and all they do for me as I strive to follow the gospel that has been taught. My family and the joy they bring to me everyday. My work that to me isn’t really work, but play time. My new home where I can create a place of peace and beauty for my family and I. A place of safety where we can all grow together. This is what life is all about. With this we can also then think about serving and helping others the best we can and know how to. We are all here on this journey through life and it’s wonderful to serve and help others the best we can. It only lifts our souls and make life that much easier and joyful. I hope this year that we all can progress together on this journey of life to live it to it’s fullest.

The Garden House Plans are submitted

I’m so excited to announce that after 8 months of figuring out how to get and make plans for our future home has been submitted to the county for review. It will take 40 business days for the county to review the plans. I figure there will be some changes that will have to happen and they will red line lots of it, but I am relieved that the first step is done. I’m sure we will be able to work on what ever changes are necessary, but right now I don’t know what they would be so I’ll wait. Once all the necessary changes are made and they are approved, I’ll keep you all updated. To me this is the hardest part of the whole process. The not knowing, uncertainty, the research, the feeling of being alone in this, my lack of understanding, the pressure, and the list goes on. I know this is the right path for my family and I so I keep at it with all I’ve got.

Now that the plans are submitted I will concentrate on fixing the driveway. The tube that goes over the irrigation ditch is breaking on the sides. It’s caving in and needs repair or replacement before any large trucks can drive over it. I found out that I don’t need a permit and I can do it myself. So the planning begins. I am analyzing it right now. Only the last 3 feet of it is damaged and mainly because the metal tube on the inside is rusted out. The rest seams fine. So I may just repair the end, but maybe the whole thing too. It may depend on how much pipe I have to buy. If it comes in only long sections then I may have to buy it and instead of waste it I’ll just replace the whole tube. Ripping all that out will be quite the project too. Such fun times, but I need to get on this and have it done by the time my house plans get done being reviewed. This way I’m prepared for the next steps. The first thing after the driveway is fixed will be to get the trash hauled off the property. Can’t wait.

The pressure is on. I need this all to go as smoothly as possible because I only have one year before Lucas gets back from his mission in El Salvador. I need the house done by this time. So yes, the pressure is on to get all this done asap. I do great and even better under pressure. I just hope the builder and crews can and will do the same. :) A lot still just depends on how smooth this plan approval goes with the county. So wish us luck and if your religious, keep us in your prayers.

The front of the Garden House

Garden Update

Finally I finished the irrigation for the garden section of the yard. I have one strip that I mixed in some manure into the dirt and then a good top layer of soil. I’ve planted and already have Sunflowers, Carrots, Lettuce, Kale, Sweet snap peas, Green onion, Garlic, Sweet Basil, Cilantro, and maybe something else. We managed to cover the small row with a mesh that should keep out the birds and wild chickens while everything spouts. Once the plants grow up a bit, I’ll take off the mesh and hope for the best. I plan on having five more strips of garden like this one. I finally have enough area where we can have enough to eat and not just a taste of the fresh veggies every year. I have all the valves hooked up for the other areas, but I don’t have the final way it’s going to be done yet. There is still a lot to do, but I’m going to wait on those parts until the house gets built. I don’t want to get too far along and then have to ruin part of it when the house gets built. What I have is enough for now. A fun winter garden.

This is the first row that is 5’ x 15’

Little bits of progress

Little bits of progress is what it’s going to take to improve our lives and in my little world, our land. Each day is a new day. I don’t always get to work on the land everyday, but I try to do as much as I can when I can. My day off work is the day I get my biggest chunks of work done. So far I have been able to clear some of the trenches for the irrigation pipe work for the small garden area. I have learned that since I only can get to it once in a while that I need to do it in sections. If not the trenches back in by the time I get to them. So I have begun to work in one area at a time. I feel that a lot like life. We sometimes take on too much at once and can’t get anything done. So by working on smaller chunks we can see improvements. I connected pipework and made a closed system for the time being because I need access to the water. I then started to bury the lines that are finished. This way I don’t have to worry about the trenches filling in. I also created a box with the brick that’s laying around for a shutoff valve and covered it with some flagstone that was also laying around. It’s interesting that it’s probably a more costly box I created than if I were to buy one, but it’s cheaper because it’s just brick I already have. Anyway, this first area is done although the image only shows the stage before the flagstone. I’m on to the next box area where my valves will be. This will be a large box area. I’ve now gathered the brick for that box and am not sure if I should use motor for the joints or not. We’ll see. I’d like to experiement with it since I’ve never done it before. I’m ready though. I will probably do it this weekend. I’ll upload an image when done.

Finished installing new pipe lines, shutoff valve, hose bib, and electrical control box for irrigation stations

The side of the shed/shop and the new flagstone to cover the top of the shutoff valve box.

This is the large valve box area. Room for pipes and walking in there.

Update 9/1/22

Brick valve box. My first time using mortar and it worked.

I installed 6 valves. Ready for continuing the pipe work and trenching.

Always a little progress is good

Things are moving along slowly, but to me any progress is good. I was able to figure out where some of the electricity is going. I got electricity working in the shed I want to tare down and possibly rebuild. I also got a telephone pole that has a light on it working. It had extra wires I disconnected that I have no idea where they go and are not live. I also would like to redo some wiring because it all looks so old and falling apart. Probably not very safe. There is one light near the shop that I tore down and need new wiring and a new light. That will be done soon.

The guy I’m going to hire to use machinery to help clean up the land has cancelled our scheduled date. It should be happening again next weekend. Until then I’ll continue working at it one day at a time cleaning up as much as I can. For now I’ve included an image to show you the vision I have for the property.

This is my vision for the Garden House

I haven’t had any sales this past month so I’m taking advantage of the time to polish up some designs I had cast months ago. This gives me the time to work in other areas of my business that need work on. So expect to see some new designs come out soon. That is always good. :) It’s been hard to find all the little miscellaneous things I need to work smoothly. For example I want to take pictures of some new designs and I can’t find my white box that I made to do that. My lighting is also not easily accessed. I now have to find a new way or make and find a new spot to do my jewelry photography. It’s those little things that sometimes can be big and make a difference. It’s a lot like life in general sometimes. My new goals are to do as I’m doing along with trying to find new ways to promote my designs. Not sure how yet, but as I try and figure it out, my hopes are that my mind will be enlightened with ideas as to how I should proceed. I see it all the time that people quit their jobs and start their own businesses and manage to survive. I’ve been doing this for well over 20 years and I still can’t manage to survive (good thing I’m not surviving off it). I think the one main difference is not product or design, but promotion. I can design and make beautiful things, but I don’t know how to promote myself. That is the main issue. Once I push my boundaries in that area and find a way to put myself out there, I will probably then find a way to survive. Let’s hope I can do that sooner than later. I don’t want to be a huge business, just one that I can make a living from. Anyway, I am thankful for all of those people that have supported my over the years by buying my art. Each sale is so important to me and I am thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you!

My new DA shop is up and running and Progress at the Garden House

So I finally got the shed bug proofed as best I could without rebuilding it. I also moved all my equipment in. I have electricity and water (no sink). I’m so excited to have my shop all set up and working. A place to go and work. It will be there for a while till we are able to build something new years down the road.

I also have been cleaning up the yard on weekends. I’m slowly moving brick, cutting weeds, etc. Last weekend I had a friend come and help with taring down the roof of the carport as you can see in some of the images. This weekend I plan to tare down the carport rafters, walls and the shed next to it that’s falling apart. By the end of the month I will be hiring someone to do a lot of work with machines to help clean up the land. It will take me too long to do it all by myself. This will speed things up so I can concentrate on taring down the walls on the property. I will have a lot of brick to stack for projects or to sell. I have already sold some random things from the property. I can’t wait to get it clean enough to start with my vision which I will share at another time.

For now I just hope to keep moving forward. With interest rates going up so fast, by the time we have plans made and ready to go, who knows what the prices will be to build. If it’s out of our reach, that would not be cool, but I’m optimistic and will always be trying to make things work out no matter how hard it is. No one said this journey would be an easy one. We will enjoy the journey because that is where all the memories of this place will bring. We will remember all the progress we did, difficulties along, the fun times and beautiful times. I will keep my blog posts going to keep you up to date on our journey at the Garden House. Over time I hope it becomes just that.

Keep watch as you slowly see the progress at the Garden House. :)