Creative Heart Seeds

I have a bucket full of creative heart seeds and I'm heading up to Taos. Tomorrow I'm going to a Writer's Spa. My husband is taking care of the kitties and holding down the home front. It's a big step for me and I'm a bit nervous. I am also very excited. I'm going on a personal vacation and I'm declaring I like to write so much that I'm making my vacation a writing retreat. I hope to find some inspiration to start myself on a new path.

I've had the thought to make creativity seeds out of clay for a long time. One day it finally began to come together when I realized I'd like to make the seed shape into a heart shape. I still think of them as seeds. They are a metaphorical object. A little object to remind you to follow your creative heart, to nourish it, to plant your ideas and allow them to grow. I know we all have in us the potential to create. This first batch of seeds will be my offering to the other participants at the writer's spa. I just got them out of the kiln this morning. FYI - they are made from a New Mexico clay called storyteller (seems appropriate for a creative seed and a bunch of writers huh?) I know already what I'll do next when I make more.....and I definitely plan to make more and start giving them away soon ....so stay tuned for more info on that.

I'll be gone a week so I wish for everyone who comes here to visit a creative, inspirational, and restful week. Many blessings......

The close up views.......

I think the most fun I have with my camera is in capturing the little details. Finding those small images in life. Our visit to Colorado included staying at a friend's uncle's home. Here are a few of the little detailed photo finds from around his home.Can you see the heart? Click on photos to make them larger.

I was lucky to find not one but two heart shaped prickly pear cacti!


This is a piece of farm equipment.....

I studied this plant and they were all around but past blooming. I think they were a kind of aster - a balsam root. I love how the seed pods look.

Last but not least is the brightness of another kind of aster in full bloom.

That is just about enough of our Colorado trip. There are a few more photos but I'll just let them appear as I need a photo.

More from the jeep ride

Here's yours truly close to 13,000 feet in elevation. By the way, that frazzled look on my face and the disheveled appearance is just camera trouble and climbing in and out of the jeep along with a slightly high altitude daze!

The same plants grow up here as at the lower elevations but they are very short.
This little plant was growing very well up there. It's called Moss Campion. The tour guide said it waits for the dust and sand to collect around it and then it will spread. Imagine that - nestled near a rock it waits for the soil to come to it and then it spreads across the alpine.

Her Majesty.....

Okay vacation is over and we've been back for a while now - so why haven't I finished posting about this Colorado trip......I know you have been looking.......ah, the lazy days of summer.........(doesn't that sound better than I'm too scattered)

On our jeep ride the driver spotted a red columbine. He said these weren't rare - but they certainly are not plentiful like the blue columbines. Our driver was so knowledgeable about wildflowers and history and I really enjoyed what he had to say. He knew that this red columbine was fully open - which is different from the way the blue columbines open. I wish I could have gotten a slightly better photo but with all of us women lining up to take her picture I didn't want to be a whistle pig by keeping her all to myself. After all Her Majesty was a busy lady waving to Her subjects.....

I'll pop in again and leave more photos soon.......

Into the San Juan mountains we go.........

On our Colorado trip (see previous two posts for more info) to the San Juan mountains we took a day long jeep ride beginning out of Ouray. I recommend a half day because for me and my husband a whole day was just too much - too much bumped around on your behind - too much sun and really an overexposure to scenic sites. Yet, the advantage to taking a jeep ride is it gets you places you wouldn't easily be able to see any other way.

I think this is my favorite photo. I'm not sure why I'm so fond of it other than it looks like a rock slide, but really it is a rock glacier.


Here is a photo of our jeep. My camera shutter didn't like the altitude so I missed a lot of shots from this vantage. I thought about it later and realized I was really befuddled up there. We were just below the Imogene pass. I'd guess at about 12,000 feet. I couldn't seem to set my camera right and then the shots that did happen the shutter is partly closed. Also there were a lot of wildfires burning in the southwestern states and it made for so much haze we really couldn't see so far.


This is an old house. Yes, a miner's house. Imagine having to live with a fine mesh on your floor so that the pack rats wouldn't come inside. Oh, and did I mention it's location - Imogene pass -elevation 13,114 feet. There are people who run (like in jogging) over this pass. - We saw one and later I wished I'd taken his picture - it seems as amazing as seeing a wild animal. We saw some marmots up there - but they hide as soon as you spot them. The tour guide said they were sometimes called whistle pigs because of the sound they make.
After a lunch in Telluride we returned via Ophir pass which isn't as high. We went through some very lovely old growth aspen forests. I'm sorry I don't have a photo but it was a gentle view to look straight up and see these 100 foot aspens fluttering above. As we came up on Ophir pass I would have to say it looks like I imagine the moon to look. And I was most amazed to see nothing much growing - but some columbines. Columbines are the state flower of Colorado. When I saw those flowers I thought - yup -they deserve the honor of being the Colorado state flower indeed.
My last photo is of another set of mountain peaks. I regret I don't have their names. I took this photo accidentally in a sepia tone setting. Oddly though I'm fond of this photo too because after seeing all of these old mining sites this photo captures that old time feeling for me.
Okay, it'll be a busy weekend and I don't expect to post again until next week - but when I post next I want to show you all some wild flowers and other photos so please check back. Have a great weekend!

The first leg of our trip

Look at my previous post to see where I've been..........


Okay, I downloaded the photos.....actually most of them didn't turn out so bad. I had such a tough time with my little point and shoot camera that I really thought I was going to be disappointed with a lot of the photos. It was a whirlwind of a trip. We drove to Colorado and stayed in Alamosa. We went to see The Great Sand Dune National Park. It was very windy so we didn't walk up to the top of the sand dunes. We went out there a little way but the sand was blowing so hard I think my legs got a good exfoliation treatment. There was a thunderstorm coming in. This photo doesn't show the mountains that surround the sand dunes, but it does show the dark clouds beginning to move in.



The next day we drove to Gunnison Colorado. This is a photo I took from the car of the Gunnison lake. I know it is hard to tell there is a lake there. I really took this photo because I liked this hillside. If you click on the photo you can see it bigger and be able to see the lake. The lake gets wider and narrower and stretches at least 10 miles along Highway 50.

We were headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.



So here I am at the Black Canyon. It's really a place to see in person. The photos cannot truly capture the depth and breath of this canyon. I had visited it briefly in the winter one time. To have a chance to explore it in the summer was fun. Both of these National Parks deserve more than just a few hours spent with them.

After this fast visit we drove to a home near Montrose where we were staying with friends. From there we went to Ouray and took a jeep ride up to 13,000 feet in elevation. I'll post those photos next.

Back from a trip

The best part of travel is coming home. We went to Southwestern Colorado. Explored the the San Juan Mountains. Really there is so much to see and do there you'd need years to explore it. I came home with Scenic Overload. I don't even want to download the photos yet. Of course I'm also a bit frustrated with my little point and shoot camera - it's shutter didn't want to open so I missed bringing home the best shots.

I lived in Boulder, CO for nearly ten years - so I've seen some Colorado mountain sights. West of Denver and Northwest Colorado. All have lovely mountain peaks and forests and scenic views. I'd never been to the San Juans before and I have to say if you are wanting to see Colorado Mountains then go visit the San Juans. You'll get a lot of mountain peak scenery in a very tight space. I'd like to go back sometime and ride some of the trains - the most famous one is the Durango Silverton train. If you go farther north up to Ouray you really get into some mountainous country!

As I said the best part of traveling, for me, is coming home. I have a new appreciation for where I live and the scenic views right here in my own back yard. It is good to use my travel muscles. I have not used my travel muscles very much lately. With travel you kind of get into this learning exploring mode. It made me want to really get out and visit my own area as if I am a tourist.

I'll post some pictures soon........