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I'm feeling about as spiffy as this barn...

I hate being sick. Every year I get bronchitis... and you'd think I would be used to the process...
But... every time it surprises me how much I cough... how sore everything is... (I even broke ribs twice due to coughing)...
and how exhausted everything makes me. It's a struggle to breathe.

And so... I am taking my nebulizer treatments as ordered... and trying to rest as much as possible... 
drink lots of fluids... yadda, yadda. And here I am at 5am... coughing up my toes.

Anyway. I'm not here to complain. 
I am here to show you this photo that I took a couple years ago back in PA. I love this old barn. 
Not only is it right across the street from one of my all-time fav houses... but the paint on it is just stunning. It's been locked for as long as I can remember... and I'm still not tall enough to look in the windows... so who knows what treasures it holds...
 what wonders it contains... my imagination goes crazy... in a good way.

Oh... and did I mention that today is Friday the 13th?!
How cool is that :)

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I've been up all night... for the past couple of nights... dang bronchitis.
Anyway... I thought I would make myself useful and work on some photos.
And so.... here are a couple that I have done.

And now... time to make some more lemon tea...





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--- just a few photos from our recent trip up to Santa Fe last week.

The highlight for me, of course, was seeing the Vivian Maier exhibit at the Monroe Gallery...
which ends on the 22nd... so if you get a chance to go see it... please do soon!
I cried like a baby... it is such a thing of beauty.

But... we also explored several cool shops... 
wandered around the Plaza
listened to some fabulous street musicians
talked with lots of people
saw some cool art
re-connected with some friends who have recently moved back to the area
saw the Basicilica 
ate some good food
and watched a glorious sunset on the way back to ABQ

((oh-- and I took a few photos))




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 some days are harder than others
i see your face... and feel your pain
although you gave nothing but joy to everyone
smiling through it all
grace personified

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I need water like
I need to breathe
surrounded on all sides
floating me up to the surface
filling all my pores
saturating me with love
making me whole

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So much has been going on... and yet, I have no idea what to write about for today.

It seems as though this week has been filled to the brim with the necessary stuff of everyday life...
laundry, housework, cooking...
And yet, I have tried to make an effort to rest as much as possible. I even put my Etsy shop on vacation.
It can be a fine balance.... trying to manage getting things done... and getting enough rest.

I try to live an art-filled life.
Every day I work on my photography... often spending hours on end working on the fine touches to a photograph. It probably seems silly to most... and yet, I find I can not live any other way.

In other news... today I made a trip to Lowe's... and got almost everything I needed to get for our yard and garden.
I still need to get a couple hoses... and a shower head for one hose... and I hope to find a place that has some lovely lavendar plants to put in the front yard. In the meantime though... I have a whole bunch of pretty plants to put into pots over the weekend...  and so it begins.

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I do not like to take medications of any sort. 
In fact, I have "non-compliant" written all over my medical chart for refusing different therapies over the years.
Chemo.... steroids... all kinds of stuff.
However, when it came to going to the dentist this week... I was a jiggly bag of goo.

A couple plum martinis and a valium pill ... before my appt... and several shots of Novocaine during my appt...
however, helped me find a happy place during all that drilling and such.
I am very appreciative to my dentist for understanding my fears and working with me.

Now... I have several days of healing ahead of me. 
I was (again) very reluctant to take anything... but after hours of being in pain...
I finally succumbed to taking some of the hydrocodone pills he prescribed. 
And again.... I am grateful.

So... lesson in all this?
Why suffer un-necessarily.
I am not one to take things without reason... and I'm not about to start abusing anything
... but if I need it... I need it.

And in other news... I took a short walk today.
The sun was shining... and a neighbor of mine has this gorgeous peach tree that has simply burst into blooms...
and so I decided to take a few photos.
I hope you like this one.




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So... the weekend of the 18th... when BAJ and I went up to Farmington for a wedding... 
we also spent one of the mornings visiting the Ruins in Aztec, NM.

"The buildings date back to the 11th to 13th centuries, and the misnomer attributing them to the Aztec civilization can be traced back to early American settlers in the mid-19th century. The actual construction was by the ancestral Puebloans, the Anasazi.
The main ruined village is now part of a 27 acre complex that also contains several smaller unexplored sites, the visitor center and a picnic area."



Do I need to tell you that we had a wonderful time?!

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This weekend... we drove up to Taos.

I know nothing about sheep... but this is what I learned.
Patricia Quintana is an amazing woman. She owns and operates Rancho La Fina, which is a fabulous ranch just outside of Taos.
She is a powerhouse... and one of the unique breeds she is raising; are the Navajo Churro Sheep.
A rare breed... there are only about 6,000 of these sheep registered in the world... most of which are in the USA
... although a few are in Mexico and Canada.
They are beautiful... and their fiber is highly sought after by weavers and artisans. 

This is the "baby" season on the ranch... and she has helped bring over 18 young-uns into the world recently.
They were hopping and skipping... and enjoying the spring air when we drove up....
and to be able to photograph them was a delight.

Along the way ... there was a scrumptious salad, brie and raisin toast...
some excellent wine and wonderful music. (and let's not forget the cigars).
 Thank you Patricia from the bottom of my heart.

((She also has a few horses, dogs, several cashmere goats, a Llama, and a feisty old goose named Sheila)).






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In celebration of the Spring Equinox... AND the New Moon... 
I put up a new collection of stuff on the altar...
( I got some lovely orchids at Home Depot... and I scattered about some SPRING themed items)
and we had a fabulous bonfire.