It's been more than quite awhile since the last post. Life has a way of moving quickly and before you know it the present is now the past. And so it is that time has marched on and all that can be done now is to share a bit of history with you, primarily in images as they seem to convey much more than words can say.

Enjoy.

First off we had a new visitor to the ranch last Saturday. The way he was lying around and relaxing makes us pretty sure that he is related to Yogi and Boo Boo. The bear appeared mid-Saturday morning just across the way from our place. When first seen he was at the base of a Ponderosa pine and he appeared to be a black cow lying down. But once the dogs approached he stood up, looked around and then scrambled up the tree where he proceeded to take refugee. It is amazing how fast a bear can climb a tree. He covered twenty feet of that Ponderosa in just seconds. Then he proceeded to sit in the tree for several hours. No doubt he took a nice nap as he sat there nice and relaxed draped over those branches.

Another visit in the late afternoon revealed that he was down and had disappeared. A check of the area showed that he had been eating berries off of some bushes about 50 feet from the Ponderosa he climbed into.

Apparently he didn't go to far as the next morning we could see that he visited us during the night as he left some fresh scat on the roadway to the house. It looks like the dogs chased him away and he has not re-appeared but we're keeping a close eye out for him.


We've had some pretty good Monsoon rains this year. We haven't had any "gully washers" like we had several times last year. The rains we have had have been regular and they have been good "soaker" rains so things have turned green and everything looks refreshed and lush. The rains of course are always accompanied by thunder and lightening and this year it seems to have upset the animals more so than usual.

And speaking of animals I need to get the images of the chickens up for the chicken fans.


One of the "cute" Polish hens showing off her fancy feathered headdress.

Some of our variety of hens relaxing in the coop working on their next egg.


A Bard Rock strutting around.


Busy looking for bugs - oh so yummy.
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That's it for this evening. We have more images yet to post and hopefully we'll get things caught up by the end of this coming week.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I thought I would share this with everyone that has an adventurous spirit for something out of the ordinary.

This is something that I've worked up for a class at China Phoenix II. Please go to China Phoenix II and check it out. You can definitely tell that it's true - people only buy Altoids for the mints!

Here is something else that I've worked up for my October visit to China Phoenix II. Please come and check it out, we'll have a "Howling Great Time"!


And of course this is what all stylish Ravens wear to a Wicked Tea Party!!!

Wow! It's been over 20 days since my last post. Where have I been and what have I been doing!

I've been here at the ranch dealing with thunder, lightening, hail, rain, and mud and more mud! And I've been taking care of all my "babies". It has been a constant struggle with the rains. It's only this past week that the rains have finally slowed down and I can actually see some dry ground and dust. Yes dust - the thing I thought I hated the most until the rains came and turned it all into mud. Now I hate the mud and am looking forward to some dust. Life sure has it's twists and turns.

Now for the "babies" I've been taking care of. We have a whole new bunch of baby chicks and some geese! Here they are.


These are are two new geese enjoying a nice swim in their new pool. And they get to nibble on their alfalfa. The geese are fun to watch as they waddle around together eating weeds. After their waddling they both nestle into the loose hay and take a nap!
What a life!


And these are some of my new "chicks". I have three Polish - their the little white chicks. The dark colored chicks are Langshan. At the moment they don't look too impressive but as they get older the Polish will have feathery crests on their heads and the Langshan will have feathery legs. I'll be taking more images as they get older so you can see how they mature. I also have another seven Araucana "peeps" or tiny little chicks that I have to watch very closely and keep them warm at a certain temperature until they can tolerate the outside temperature and weather.

In the mean while my little Bantam hen is dutifully sitting on her eggs and hopefully within the next two weeks we'll see some little Bantam peeps peck their way out of their shells. My Guinea fowl hen is also sitting on her eggs. She doesn't seem as dutiful about sitting on her eggs but she is trying. We'll have to wait to see what happens with her eggs, hopefully some little guineas.

The sheep and goats are all doing fine and for the most part staying out of trouble.

The dogs are all fine but they don't like the thunder and lightening. For several days the lightening was striking so much around here that we had all three dogs lying on the bedroom floor. They were so scared they didn't want to move.

The rain has continued to wash away the driveway around the house. We had to haul rock to fill in the eroded portions. So far we have hauled 4 loads of rock and we still have more to do. Here is some of the rock we have hauled to fill in the eroded driveway.

This is what it looks like with the rock unloaded.


As for my art - oh yes that is what this blog is suppose to be about. Well.... I guess I've been busy with other things at the moment. Since it has been raining so much I was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe I should spend some time and build myself an ark to save myself and all my critters - Hubby is on his own - he's insured!

Anyway, while Hubby is busy trying to save the ranch I spent my time working on my own ark. Well really my ship - my very own pirate ship! Just in case the waters start rising. I built it on as part of my studio porch. This is what I've got done so far. I will be adding some more clothes onto my pirate skeleton as he looks just a bit too "bare" from the waist down.


Here is Pepper, our pack leader as she takes one of her many daily dips in her own private bath tub after her running around. Enjoy!


Now, before I go I must tell you that I did do some art - yes I really did. I made a Gypsy doll. The pattern is my own and I used some extremely luxurious fabric that I got from Pamela of Treasures of the Gypsy Fabric Club, and of course I used my own Art Fibers. Here she is -



FYI if your interested in knowing more about Pam's Treasure's of the Gypsy Fabric Club you can contact her at gypsytreasures@cs.com

It's been a few days since my first post. It's not that I've been forgetful or lazy, but rather I've been a bit busy here at the ranch dealing with our daily torrential rains! We are in the thick of the yearly monsoon season and this year has been one for the records. This years monsoon rains have brought almost daily flash flooding. The thunderstorms have been dramatic and impressive. It is just awesome to see the storms roll in, and that's exactly how the arrive - the just roll in. One minute the skies are bright and cloudy, then suddenly a rolling, boiling, billowing stretch of black sky that approaches like a tsunami! Skies switch from bright to black in a matter of minutes. This black curtain sweeps with lightening flashes and thunder reverberates through out air. All of a sudden the air cools like our walking into an air conditioned room, then suddenly the rain pours from the skies. Yes, it literally pours water, like someone has hit you with a stream of water from a bucket. There is no quick dancing to shelter like one usually can do when it starts to rain. If you haven't found shelter before it starts you have no chance as your soaked in seconds!

Then the water starts to run and race to the lowest spot it can find and as it goes it gathers together into a small stream and before you know it there is a river before your eyes. It washes away everything in it's path - the soft sand disappears and all of a sudden the earth is cut like someone has gouged it with a plow!

As I started to write this I had planned to tell you that today is the first we've had where it hasn't rained. But now as I write the rains have arrived again. Since writing the first paragraph the power has been on and off three times! It may take me all night to get this written, if the power holds on.

Our days here have been spent on cleaning up the mess and debris that the rains have left behind. Fill in the washed out areas, try not to drive on the saturated and muddy roads, check and clean the animal pens and corrals to make sure the critters are still warm and dry, re-do the tarps that get blown off and around from the storm, and on and on.

This morning we went for a walk to see what the effects of the last storm were and here are some images.

Here is a Ponderosa that was struck by lightening and cut in half.


This is a now filled dry lake bed. Normally our llamas spend the day down there lying under the trees and eating the grasses. Now it's under water.


This is just outside the house. The runoff created this very small arroyo over several days of rain. It was solid ground now it's been cut by the water.


Here is a closer look. It's over a foot deep and goes right under the stack of boards and then on down the slope where it ended up at -


this stock tank. The water in the tank is probably 20 feet deep and stretches for about 300+ feet by 50+ feet. That is a whole lot of water. Also, note how green everything is. Before these rains things were mostly a dull, drab brown. Water is truly a gift from God. And speaking of gifts from God, look at what we were blessed with -


A baby llama - or cria! Mom and baby are just fine. We haven't determined it's sex yet as Mama won't let us get close enough. Mama was kind enough to bring it here to the house for us to see it. It looks like the little one was dipped in chocolate! But wait -


This is what the little cria looks like from the other side! Really amazing.

These images were taken on 19 July. Since the rains started last week we have only seen the llamas from a distance down my the lava lake area. That is until this morning when they came up to the house. No doubt to let us know that they are all fine and weathering the rainy weather just fine.

As for art. Well, that has been on hold these past few days as I help out here in dealing with the results of the rains. The forecast is for the rainy weather to let up by this weekend. Then I'll have a chance to play again! I need to after this past week of dancing and singing in the rain!

As I finish this post the rains have now moved on. It is pitch dark outside - no street lights, no moon, just darkness. And in the distance I can see the bright flashes of jagged lightening perhaps 20 - 30 miles from here. The flashes are so bright that I can see the outline of the Chain of Craters along the great divide.

What a way to end the day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Hi Everyone,

My first post!

This is truly amazing. Since moving out here to the mountainous hinterland of New Mexico it has been a love - hate relationship. I absolutely love it here - the beauty, peacefulness, and freedom. The hatred part - that's in trying to stay in touch with loved ones and friends, which has been difficult. A reminder that life truly is about compromises.

Perhaps blogging will be the way to keep in touch and let everyone know what is going on in my life here in the "wilds" of New Mexico.

With my friend Michelle Newman's permission I'm starting off my blog with her article about her trip her to the ranch. She did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the place. So please enjoy reading her take on what it's like to be marooned.

I'll do my best to keep my posts frequent but out here nature has a way of always coming between what you plan and what actually happens - truly humbling to know that we are not really in control of what occurs in our lives. Certainly keeps me on my toes!

Marooned in the Desert

By

Michelle Newman

on Jun 11, 10 12:05 AM

Maria Teresa Stoa takes crocheting to a whole new level on her ranch in Ramah, New Mexico. Most folks never heard of Ramah and neither did I; it's located half way between Grant and Gallup. It was worth the 2.5 hour drive, crossing the Continental Divide and driving down a dirt road though the high desert to get to Teresa.

As soon as my Southwest Airlines flight landed at the Albuquerque International Airport, I picked up my rental car and was off to see Teresa. I was a woman on a mission, nothing was going to stop me; not even the Continental Divide. Isolated on her Rancho Pinon many miles away from civilization, a grocery store, or Wal-Mart Teresa is inspired by her spectacular surroundings.

Driving down what seemed to be an endless dusty, rocky dirt road, I could appreciate how the raw beauty of this natural landscape continuously inspires Teresa. Mesas with millions of years worth of striated rock layers looking like huge earth tone parfaits, brilliantly colored wild flowers, cactus, tumbleweed, and jagged weathered caves that once provided shelter for indigenous cliff dwellers helped me grasp the connection between this glorious landscape and how it is echoed in Teresa's work.

As I approached the gate to the ranch,I became a bit apprehensive when I noticed rattlesnake warning signs. While I appreciated the head's up I knew I had better watch where I was stepping.

Teresa's corrugated metal studio is a magical space stacked all the way up to the ceiling with treasures collected over the years. Shelves overflowing with fabrics, specialty threads, ribbons, trims, beads, lace, fabric paint, await to be transformed into Teresa's fantasy-like creations.

I was experiencing visual overload in Teresa's packed studio with theatrical vignettes and props set up to create a mood. I was greeted by a gypsy fortune teller bust, next I was invited to sit in the Pirates of the golden throne nestled behind an exotic beaded curtain. Teresa's mermaids and whimsical art dolls are scattered through out her studio blending into the surrounding creative chaos.


Just like most mixed media artists, Teresa admits that she is an obsessive hoarder. As a doll maker, jeweler, and mixed media artist, this translates to Teresa saving nearly everything. I don't know how she finds anything in her cluttered studio, but artists always have their own peculiar system of organizing. Eventually, when the time is right, all of the little odd tchotckeys and scraps will wind up being put to good use in Teresa's creations.

Teresa is a nationally recognized mixed media and doll artist. Her one-of-a kind creations have been featured in countless magazines and her work is found in top galleries nationally. For over 15 years Teresa has been a pioneer in the field of creative crochet work She works intuitively and says she throws a lot of fantasy into the mix. Teresa describes her work as "eclectic, spontaneous, and free-form." Each one of her necklaces is a wearable work of art. Her signature "Cascading Crochet Necklaces" are big and chunky. She creates these dramatic statement necklaces crocheting thin wire, antique beads, buttons, found objects, crystals, fresh water pearls and nearly anything else she can get her hands on.


When Teresa isn't in her studio creating she is tending to her small herd of Jacob Sheep and llamas which she raises for their fleece. Once cleaned and dyed, Teresa spins the fleece into chunky artsy yarn for her fiber necklaces and embellishing her one-of-a-kind art dolls.


GETTING THERE: Southwest Airlines
www.itsatrip.org
Text and photos by Michelle Newman