#ROD Class: Remains of the Day Swap

Gathering some ephemera goodies for the big Swap

My first ROD Journal

January 22, 2012



 A while back I took the online course, Remains of the Day otherwise known as ROD...

 

After creating my first ROD Journal I was hooked!  No two have been alike and I always enjoy rummaging through my stash of ephemera looking for just the right combination of textures and colors or that elusive retro graphic. I like my journals to have a balance of pages for writing, drawing, and visual interests to add photos. I also love pockets! Seriously, you can never have enough pockets whether it's a backpack, skirt, or journal. So I add lots of little pockets to store all those tidbits of life we collect along the journey.


Since taking the class I was able to join a Yahoo group for the class.   

 It's a special group of ladies that love to create beautiful things and are generous enough to share their time, ideas, and wisdom with others.  

There really aren't too many people who get it when you get together over a cup of coffee and share with them a scrap of paper from the 1800's or a stash of vintage buttons; the kind your grandma had in an old ball jar. For ladies like me there is nothing better than receiving a small stash of ephemera heaven. 

So a group of 20 or so ladies ranging from all ages and locations agreed to make 10 packets each of 15 or so items and send it off to our host who will in turn sort them all out and send us back 10 packets, one from each lady participating. 

Laying out my 10 packets and adding to each pile

Stuffed and ready to be shipped off

This is my first swap so I was a little unsure of what and how much to put in my packets. I came across some old file folders and loved the dark green color so I decided to use those as my packet and stuff all of my ephemera treasures inside. I put in things like old film, cards, stamps, pattern paper, sewing instructions, fabric, postcards, paint chips, old papers from world furniture book, etc....

Once they were all assembled off they went into their box and on their way to a new home. 

I am really looking forward to seeing what other ladies have collected and incorporating them into my journals.  A huge thank you to our gracious host and all the ladies participating.

 I can't wait to get my box of treasures in the mail soon.... We should receive them around Feb. 4th:)

Morning Hike with the puppies

January 24th, 2013

I have a little ritual I do every morning. As soon as I wake up I like to peak my head behind the curtain and greet the new day. Since we live in the desert, most of the time I am greeted with clear, blue skies and abundant sunshine. Imagine my delight when I pulled back the curtain to find dark gloomy clouds and a neighborhood soaked with fresh rain! 

It is such a treat to have rain in the desert I knew a portion of my morning was dedicated to taking the pups for a nice hike in the beautiful weather.

It was eerily still during my hike. I think all the critters were hold up in there nests or dens watching the rain drops pitter-patter on the rocks. With every step I took farther into the desert a rush of cool, moist air brushed my cheeks like silk drifting in the air.

The rain intensifies the odors in nature. As soon an moisture fills the air the cresote bush fills your senses with it's strong, medicinal scent followed by a lemon sage, and rounded out with the smell of wet dirt. I know if I can smell so much more when it's raining you can be sure the dogs sniffer-boxes are on overload. The hound rarely lifts his nose from the ground, his ears just barely grazing the dirt.  All that sniffing paid off becasue the puppies managed to rustle up two jackrabbits.

By the time we made our way back to the car Hampton was ready for her princess pad and bowl of water. Two very content puppies and a happy Momma.

Starting off our New Year Right on the Gold Claim

It's been far too long since we did a little prospecting on the claim. We have a small stretch of time off before Matt starts his new job and in between my shop orders, so we are getting out of the city for a few days.
A camping trip is long overdue for us. After a couple of months in the city we are both aching to get back out to nature. Nothing can compare to the tranquility of the desert. We truly feel right at home living in a tent on our gold claim. I can't think of a better way to start our new year off right.

We woke up to a chilly 19 degrees! We had a hard time finding a place in town to load up on water. The pipes were frozen solid. Thankfully we ran into a kind gentleman who was gracious enough to let us fill up our 50 gallon drum. We had a full load on the truck with all the gear and our trailer. This was the first trip for our M101A1 trailer and it did beautifully. The original tires from 1968 are still on and going strong. You have got to love old military gear, it takes a beating and keeps on going.
We spent all day setting up camp and getting it all sorted out.  This time we brought the table inside and have a Coleman two burner stove set up in the tent so I don't have to spend 30 min getting the fire going every morning just to cook breakfast.  Besides trying to start a fire when it's 15 degrees out is rough.

We packed enough food and water to last us 7 days so we don't plan to head back into town until it's time to leave. We absolutely love living off the grid and making our wall tent into our little home. 

The puppies are curled up on their own cot, wood burning stove is keeping us toasty, and we are ready to pass out after a hot dinner.

Tomorrow we will be scouting out a new area to work and setting up a new gold recovery system. We have had so much rain the ground is still too wet for drywashing which is primarily our system for recovery.  This time we are trying out a new sluice box and testing out a wet system. Lots to do tomorrow and explore.

-please excuse the grammatical errors. I am typing those on a cell phone ...