Family Matters,  Shop Talk,  The Desert,  the sticks

My Own Private Super Bloom

desert-buttercup

Bug and I drove off into the night to The Sticks this last weekend to attend a maker’s faire in my old stomping grounds. Friday was a busy day for me, rushing around gathering up art, packing my car, picking up prints from the printer and finishing up last minute jobs so we didn’t get on the road until well after 9pm. This was not a good thing for me, the cursed morning person. But we made it and that meant I got to get up with my dad at the crack of dawn and walk with him on his dog walk with Spreckles the next morning.

desert-buttercup-field

Bug stayed snuggled up with the cats and opted not to come with me and boy did she miss out! The desert is SO pretty early in the morning!  Pull on some ugg boots over your pajamas and brace yourself for that chilly air (says the Southern Californian with extremely thin blood) because the beauty of the morning is breath-taking!

prickly

We didn’t even stick around long enough for golden hour and it was this pretty! Of course we could have stayed out there for hours letting Spreckles sniff coyote tracks and me taking a zillion photos but we had big things to do aka the maker’s faire.

not-so-wild-flowers

Boom! Flowers everywhere! I don’t think these are wild but they are still pretty nonetheless. Whoever planted them had an eye for color.

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Sometimes I feel like my parents live in a postcard.

get-closer

My mom prefers roses and manicured English tea gardens but I will take cacti and succulents over them any day. Maybe it’s just because I was born in California and they will always be sentimental for me. She was born in Pennsylvania.

spreckles-walking

Over hills and vales to Grandmother’s house we go!

spring-sunrise-in-the-desert

The sun barely peaked through the winter clouds trying to warm us up.

spreckles-of-the-desert

What’s that Spreckles? Finally found that perfect pooping spot? No? Should we go a little further?

toms-truck-shop-walking-dog

Anyway, it was nice. It always is. I wish I lived closer to my parents so we could go on walks like this every morning.

desert-morning

I feel like I’m in Ireland with all this green. Wouldn’t it be fun to bring the dogs and let Whiskey (the Irish Soft-coated Wheaten) run and run and run forever? He would be so happy.

But I didn’t bring the dogs because my parent’s don’t have a gated yard anymore and the coyotes are thick. AND they are my dogs are way too rambunctious to stay inside my mom’s house while we went to the Maker’s Faire all day. So they stayed home with Payam.

Old-and-flavorful

The Maker’s Faire was okay. I sold exactly three books and it was freezing. We shivered and sketched in our bullet journals. I talked to a lot of people though and it was good practice for me. I’ve never really had a SAJ booth before. Now I’m ready. As you can see the vector wall has been put to good use.

SAJ-at-MSJC-makers-faire-1

Every single person who stopped by our booth picked up the pink Hey Kitty Kitty book. I’m wondering if pink is a new theme I should explore…

SAJ-Makers-Faire-Booth

Bug was a good little booth watcher. She didn’t complain at all being stuck there for hours. In fact I think she had fun.

the-vector-wall-is-back

It wasn’t a huge success but I’m counting it as a win because I got to hang out with my parents, Bug and my old elementary school friend, Tamie. Sadly she is not pictured because she was busy running her own booth!

5 Comments

  • gingermog

    Hi, such a joy this morning to check your website and see a new post. Yup, I’m your stalker. I think your parents are so fortunate to be surrounded by such beauty & hope they feel settled in their new place. Does your Mother miss her yard? Can she plant fruit trees at the new place?

    I think its a great idea your are getting into “makers” fairs, I’ve attended a few sharing a table with friends. Its a learning process though, finding out what sells. At the moment I seem to spend a ton in advance printing cards etc but now I feel I have a good stock If I get into selling stuff regularly I will buy a card reader gadget as so many people now don’t have cash, but it depends on the internet signal in the area too. I hope you make more at the next one. “Nothing ventured nothing gained”, as my old art teacher once said to me. xx

    • SAJ

      Awwww… thanks, you! I didn’t promote this post on Facebook and wondered if anybody would see it. I should know I can count on you! I always feel like a phony promoting posts. This way I’ll just write for me and not worry too much about the filters.

      My mom does miss her yard a little. Her dog misses it a lot but thankfully my dad is very good about walking Spreckles around the property around their new mobile home. They have a few small plots and they are actually thankful for less of a water bill and less weeds to pull. :P

      I wish I could share a maker’s booth with you! Now that would be fun. I might do a little here and there but my publisher tells me these things don’t really sell books. It’s more just for fun.

  • Kaz A

    I had no idea you wrote books! I’ve been reading your blog off and on since your daughter was born. I can’t believe how grown up she looks!

  • Cathy

    I always check in on your blog when it’s been several days and I wonder what SAJ and Bug are up to. I find your blog and IG somewhat comforting since I’ve read you through some of my growing up years (divorce, mostly!) I think one day when Bug is grown and if you quit blogging I’ll be at a loss ;) Keep on keeping on!

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