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’

My 1967 VW bug needs some love

So when I was 16 I got this 1967 light blue VW bug as my first car. I loved this car. I even took my drivers test in it to get my license. Through the years I have created so many memories with this little car. As I got older and moved to Arizona I brought it with me. I got married and still drove this car everyday to work. After about 20 years of driving it I had to get the engine rebuilt, but could not at the moment. It sat in my garage for about 8 years. I finally had got the engine rebuilt and it was great. Now my son was old enough to drive. I taught him how to drive it and he drove it to work and to school half the week. I always thought that would be cool to have my first car be my son’s first car. Well now my daughter is learning to drive and should be getting her license this week. I started teaching her how to drive the bug. She did very well for the little time she drove it. Well the way life works is when it rains it pours. We have our main car in for repair. My car needs repair so I had to drive the Bug to work this week. We’ll on my way I was just getting off the freeway and I was only about five minutes from work. On the off ramp I heard a loud POP sound. I looked back quickly and saw the deck lid bounce up and then a large amount of white smoke started to come out of the engine. I pulled over and the smoke turned black and then flames were overpowering the engine. The person behind me stopped and called the emergency for me. I am thankful for her because I was too sad to think of who to call. Not in the right state of mind. Another person pulled over and had a fire extinguisher. We tried to put it out and could not. The fire would keep going and restart. So we watched it burn. While we waited for the fire engine to arrive the fire moved to the inside of the car. So very sad to see so many memories fade away. It kinda also reminds me of Paradise and all the memories that I had growing up there. All just memories now. I’m safe and that is what matters most. I had the car for 33 years. It’s just sad to see it go. I think I will try and sell it all as is and if there are no takers I will just strip it for parts and sell them off. Not sure what else I could do. It would cost too much to rebuild. Maybe someone else can put their heart and soul into it. It was an awesome car. So sad to see it go.

10/28/22

After a lot of thought I feel like I just can’t let go after 33 years and it being my first car. I want to rebuild this. My envision is to keep some of the battle wounds and keep the bunt body if I can and seal it like that. I hope to find time over the years to buy parts to slowly rebuild it. I guess this is a good time to redo the pans that have holes in them. I have a lot to learn. I need to learn to weld and how to rebuild a car. If anyone would like to donate to the cause I’d sincerely appreciate it. Hopefully my kids and I will be able to drive it again someday.

Donate

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.

Photography and the joy of editing

I’ve always loved photography. I remember taking a photography class in high school with my sister and cousin. We enjoyed that class so much. We even all continue to do photography today. As much as I love it, I also love post editing my photos. I like to edit each one individually because I feel each photo has a certain feel and look. Each one needs that extra care to make it work best. I know I can improve a lot, but do what I can for the time I have. Here are a few family shots I recently did of my daughter.

I loved the lighting that day on the beach. I know lighting is so important. I struggle with light on most of my attempts at taking photos. There is either too much light in one area or not enough. I think I struggle with not enough light on most cases. I did buy some more lighting a few years ago and that helps a lot. I just don’t like having to always bring a load of equipment around with me. I try to use natural lighting as much as possible. It’s just easier.

I at times do photography for others. It’s always a joy to work with others and to see what we can come up with for great shots. It doesn’t always turn out, but there are always a few that come out just fine by the time everyone is exhausted. I say just go with the flow. It does not have to be perfect.

I will continue to take photographs of the things I like and I’ll try and share them more often. If you ever would like me to take some photographs for you then just let me know and we can work it out. I sometimes am willing to just do the editing of photograph that you have taken. Just another thought.

As time goes on we all continue growing at our own pace. Photography is one of those things that never gets old and I feel that I am always growing with each new project. I hope you too can enjoy taking photos and try and take them to the next level. We can all improve on paying attention to detail. Getting that extra hair out of the face, a better pose, or shooting at an angle that hides unwanted objects in the image. All these things can help the photo become just a little better and the more we practice these small improvements the better we get at it. The better our family pictures will be. Just face it, most of our photos are of us and our families. It is great to sit down and share photos with family and even better when the images are of a higher quality and a joy to look at artistically too. Everyone keep on shooting with a purpose. take care till the next blog post. :)

Mission Rings Update

Ok so this is just a quick update on my site in the Mission Rings section. I know I only have three rings so far and soon I will post one for Mexico. So I hope to come up with more designs, but it’s a slow process. I am not able to make a sample ring for every mission out there so I have found a way that hopefully works. Now when you order a mission ring you will be able to select your finger size and then once you add it to your cart a pop up window will come up and ask what mission you were in. Just add the mission name to the field and add it to your cart. This way I can change out the text before I cast it and you will have you mission ring that looks like the sample photo, but with your mission name on it. It’s an exciting update that I feel will help to easily make your mission ring personalized. If you wanted a date or something like that, I am thinking of having that option too. Just like this post if you would like this and I’ll add if with enough support. Thanks.

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. :)

So the Adventure begins.

So the Adventure begins! It’s official. We just sold our house and in exchange bought 2.5 acres of land with no home on it. We are excited and a little scared at what comes next. There is a lot of change that will go on in our lives for many years to come. My family and I will grow together through this new and exciting times for us. I hope we can make it happen, meaning that we can build a house that we are happy with. Last night (3/28/22) I dropped the 1967 VW bug off onto the property. I will keep it there. That was day one. Today is day two is today as I write this. Not much happening besides some planning. My plan so far is to get rid of a tree that is going through our electrical line. Once that is gone I hope to get the electricity on so I can then move my shop onto the property. Dana Arts will live in a new home. Cramped, but with lots of room to expand as I am able. After shop is set up we will start making plans to clear the lot a bit, find the leach field, grade the land in some areas, and start to look at plans for a house. My days will be full from here on out. I will do my best to share here on my blog my progress with the land and hopefully my Dana Arts expansion over time. Thank you for supporting me and lets keep Dana Arts alive and growing.

Now to explain these images. lol. So the property use to have a manufactured home on it that burned down. This shed and the backyard walls were still remaining. There is a lot of cleanup to do all over the whole property and to save some time and money I will get this shed up to speed for Dana Arts shop. At a later time down the road I will hopefully build a bigger better shop, but this little thing will get me going for now. I hope to post pictures as I progress through this growing/transition period.

Future site for Dana Arts

For the ruins I already have plans to save money. I plan on keeping them to save money and time so I don’t have to do all the work myself or pay someone a lot to get rid of it. I’ll clean the area up and then I plan on turning this into a garden. I can envision a garden within the ruin walls. I’ll modify it a little bit, but once cleaned up it should come out beautiful.

The Ruins

I love the dream. I hope that my family and I can make it happen. The first step is complete and now to do the hard work. Stay tuned for more progress at “The Garden House”. (what my family and I decided to call the property).

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Moving off Silversmith Trail????

Well ever since I lived in this area I’ve always wanted to live on Silversmith trail because I though it would be so cool to live on a street that fits me and my business. I mean silversmith trail, how could it be better than that? A silversmith living on silversmith. Well it has been fun and I have enjoyed this home on silversmith trail. It has served me well and has been a great place to grow my business. I have been able to start casting here and I have turned the 3rd car garage space into a workshop. It has a sink in the garage too where it has been very handy to have. I do wish it was bigger, but all in all it has done it’s purpose. I will miss this place greatly. This is my second home and have raised my kids here in a memorable way. We have created a garden here that has finally started to produce for us. A grape vine that has finally grown to be very large. An apricot tree that yielded a lot of fruit this past year. We have lots of good memories here.

It’s time to move on. We have always known this would not be our final home. I’ve always wanted some land where I could expand and create a lasting home with more memories. I have been trying to find and get some land for maybe six years now. We even at one point sold our first house and tried to get an acre lot that didn’t work out in the end and so we were guided to this silversmith house. I’m glad we are here. Now the adventure continues as we go for another piece of land. This time it’s 2.5 irrigated acres that already has water, electricity and a 2000 gallon septic tank on it. There is no home on it and I don’t know when or what we can afford to build on the land. I do know that this is our next adventure and we will figure something out even though it’s probably a bad time to build with the prices so high right now. I’m excited. We have done lots of praying and figuring out our next phase in life. We all, as a family, feel good about this decision. Some people might think we are crazy for trading a house for land, but that is what we are doing. I will hopefully start sharing this new adventure as we try and develop the land and create new memories. Even though it will take time, I will start out by having my business there in a shed that I can work out of. I’ll keep you all posted of how that goes. Definitely will not be as nice as here for a long time. I’m going backwards to start moving forwards.

My unfinished backyard