Life on the Mountain

Catching up...

Wow!  It's already FALL....

Have I been lazy or what?  I obviously haven't posted anything since we got back from Alaska in June. Sorry about that...this summer has FLOWN by.  Let me see if I can give you a quick synopsis: 

GARLAND CAMP:   We flew Kate, Sara Paige and Jenna out here for a week of fun in the mountains, and we certainly had that!  The girls did really well (Never once said "I want my mommy!") and we stayed really busy fishing, swinging, playing, riding ATV's, sliding, making s'mores, seeing alpacas and more.  Jenna was a huge help in keeping up with them and we had a blast!

MIMI IN McKINNEY:  I flew back with them to Dallas and spent a week at THEIR house in McKinney! I managed to squeeze in visiting with family and friends and catching up on shopping! Fun trip! 

SHOOT AGAIN:  Henry and I spent some time shooting sporting clays, prairie dogs and targets in my effort to become a marks-woman (?) in several different firearms.  We've made a couple of trips out to the NRA Whittington Center near Raton, NM and enjoyed the heck out of it! 

 

GARDENING:  We have been inundated with tomatoes ripening faster than we can eat them (from the greenhouse).  Went through all the onions (Texas 1015's) pretty fast, have lots of herbs, and a few peppers.  Gardening at this altitude (9400 ft) and this climate (dry, wet, cold, hot) has been challenging...but we've had pretty flowers on the decks, and lots of veggies in the greenhouse. 

Here's my little flower cart (done HDR style, which I am learning) that sits in front of the greenhouse:

We've also stayed busy doing things with friends, playing CSI:Taos Pines (turning in poachers and suspicious vehicles), hauling slash and cleaning up the lot, doing Chipper Days, and trying to be outside as much as possible to enjoy the great summer weather! 

Here's a picture at Eagle Nest Lake:

And the most recent news and the saddest, is we lost our awesome boxer Allie yesterday.  She had been sick for a while and the vet was amazed that she lasted as long as she did, but she went to doggie heaven yesterday.  She was a great friend and companion, and really---a family member.  It won't be the same around here without her.  We love and will miss you, Allie!  We'll go snowshoeing on clouds one day! 

Been lazy...Distracted...Side-Tracked

Sorry I haven't been great about posting regularly.  This winter has proved to be a little unpredictable and although my intentions are good, I don't always seem to get a chance to follow through.  

Today is the first day of March, 2011.  It's been a weak winter this year, at best....we have gotten about 75% of the normal snowpack.  There's been a couple of good storms, and then a couple of weeks of warmer than normal days -- like in the 50's!  So the snow has come and gone, melted a bit, gotten slushy, and then a new storm brings a little more powder.   Been a little strange.  

Have spent some fun time snowshoeing, shoveling, Zumba-ing with my friend Terri and Diana, traveling and more.  I am guessing Spring is upon us bringing lots of mud on the roads...just look at our vehicles!  More brown than gray!   We're hoping to get in a little more snowshoeing and maybe some skiing, if the resort can make it that long!  

Spending a lot of time in my greenhouse...Henry has done an amazing job, and I am already having fun growing herbs and some veggies.  Can't wait to get more stuff planted and growing!  I managed to kill off about 15 expensive goldfish, but oh well, I ditched the water tank and put a raised bed there instead!  

Guess we shall see!  Oh, and if you haven't tried snowshoeing or XC skiing at The Enchanted Forest near Bobcat Pass.....you should. It's a great place to spend a few hours!!!

 

Dust in the Wind

Living on this mountain and in this great climate has it's up and downs...mostly ups.  One of the few downs is the fact that a) it's windy fairly often  b) it's a very DRY climate  and c) there's a lot of dirt up here!  All that comes together to create that protective covering on everything called DUST.   Add to that the fact that we don't have air conditioning (except the natural kind when you open windows) and you can imagine the layers of that protective coating we call dust on everything. 

That's one reason I have dedicated so much time to trying to grow grass around our house. I figure that makes it less dusty, but with the wind blowing and Henry tooling up and down the driveway (which is not paved...it's dirt) with every vehicle we own, it's a no-brainer....you just learn to live with dust in the house. 

What brought this topic up, you ask?  I was in the process of wiping a layer off the dining room table, and the next thing I know is I was dusting the entire main level of the house.  One thing leads to another.  So an hour or so later, I am back at my computer and trying to get some work done...

Wait, there's some dust on my keyboard....and the monitor....and my notebook.....EGADS, here I go again!

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1.03.01

Feels like the end...

The end of summer anxiety has hit me!  Several projects are still in the works and need to be completed before that cold, white stuff starts falling...and that's only about 8-10 weeks off!   At least I got all the wood trim, logs and railings on the house stained before the weather changes, thanks to help from The Stain Monkeys.

Henry is working on my greenhouse...right now it's a big hole in the ground, waiting for concrete footers to be poured--maybe today!?!?!  This week's forecast is predicting a few mornings that will be BELOW freezing...like 28 degrees, etc.  So, do I drag my potted plants all into the garage temporarily, or take a change on getting frozen geraniums and mint?  Plan was, to over-winter all that stuff in the greenhouse, but that ain't happening for a while yet!

I love the fall, and like cooler temps (good thing...we get a lot of it up here!) and even though I desperately want to get back to Dallas to see kids and grandbabies, the idea of sweating in that heat (even in the 80's) makes me feel like a mountain weenie!  And, we could use a little rain up here, too! Please send some.  This dry climate sure creates a ton of dust when you get little rain for a couple of weeks!  Or at least that's MY excuse for a dusty house.  With no A/C, we keep windows open all day and all night, pretty much.  All that stirred up dust from the wind and from Henry zipping around on the Polaris has to go somewhere, right?  But why on my dining room table?    Oh well, everyone up here is used to seeing that protective coating called dust on everything!

Gotta get busy...always something to do, that's for sure!  Will post more pics of fall color as it arrives!  Check back next week!

Getting those gardening urges...

It's been a while since I officially posted something on here...been busy, traveling some, and just lazy at other times.  Actually, we have just experienced mud season for the last month and that's enough to depress ANYONE!  The roads are now about 90% dry, the temps are up and warmer, a LOT of snow has melted so it is finally feeling like spring. 

In Texas I would have been gardening by now.  Out here, nothing gets planted until at least early to mid June.  I would really like a greenhouse this year to see if I can actually grow decent tomatoes and peppers and over-winter my potted deck flowers I have to rebuy every year.  The temps at night are just too cold for tomatoes/peppers and many other veggies/herbs that I like to grow...and the growing season MUCH shorter.  I tried big pots on the deck last summer, but they just didn't get enough sun, I think, and it was too cold at night. Wimpish plants...wimpish fruit.

Oh my gosh! While sitting here writing this just now, I just heard the first hummingbird buzzing around the house!  That makes it official...spring is REALLY here!  Need to fill those feeders and hope the bears stay away!  Last year I basically planted a salad bar for the elk.  Even though the beds were right next to the house, they managed to eat everything and leave elk prints everywhere.  The main two beds are still covered by about 3 ft of snow, so I will have to wait for a while yet.  This year is going to be about less pretty flowers and more native plants, even though they managed to eat some of those too, last year.

Anyway-- it's feeling like spring and this week's projects consist of restacking the rock borders around my wildflower beds that Henry managed to knock down while pushing and blowing snow. Maybe sow a few wildflower seeds here and there...Also will be picking up the odd things that have materialized under the snow pack... Don't have a clue where some of them came from?!?!?  Actually, believe it or not, snow flurries are predicted this weekend, so I can't do TOO much ahead of time!

But spring fever and warmer weather (even if it is raining a bit) FEELS GOOD for a change!  Will keep you posted on the gardening woes!  I am joining the Angel Fire Gardening Club this month so I can learn what else to NOT do!