Thursday, November 3, 2011

Harvesting the Potatoes!

Here are photos of my two recent potato crops.  They are little guys, 'cause they only grew for a couple of months... I found some old sprouting spuds in the back of the fridge when I was moving out of my old house.  I thought, hey, why not stick them in dirt and see what happens, and lo and behold, now I've grown my first potatoes!  

Wonderful fun.  Next year I will do it again, with an earlier planting so they have time to grow to full size.  It is such fun digging them up - like digging for buried treasure!!

The first bunch I dug up, a couple of weeks ago:


And my second harvest, which I dug up yesterday:


Saturday, October 29, 2011

Gorgeous Chester

Here is Chester, photographed yesterday as he perched on top of a fence, framed by a bluer than blue New Mexico sky with a fluffy white cloud in it, and some nearly naked branches from a nearby aspen tree.  Such beauty!




Friday, October 14, 2011

Tarantula Visitor!

A couple of days ago, at I was taking out my trash, I spotted this big, fuzzy, spider in my driveway.   Here is a photo of him (or her?) and also a short video I made.  What an interesting creature.  And while I very much enjoyed watching this spider, I'm glad he (or she) was outside, though, and not inside my house!



Monday, October 3, 2011

Recent Afternoon Rainbows

Two days ago, and again today, it has gotten stormy in the afternoon, with rainbows appearing in the sky towards the Sangre de Cristo ('Blood of Christ') mountains.  Here are photos I got each day, taken standing right in front of my house south of Taos.  The first is of a very high rainbow, a double rainbow, actually, and then the second is of today's low rainbow.





Thursday, July 28, 2011

Griffin & Rexie Snuggling!

These two are very fond of each other. Recently I turned around at my desk and saw them in this adorable configuration. They are SO sweet! Do your pets enjoy sleeping with each other, too?


Friday, July 15, 2011

Magic Moon Over New Mexico

Here are a few minutes I recorded from my driveway of the majestic full moon playing peek-a-boo with clouds in the sky around 11 PM. Such beauty!!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Upside Down Griffin

Here is a photo of Griffin I took the other night.  He really enjoys lying upside down... 
It makes me smile to see him like that!



And here are a couple of kitties I've been boarding recently, 
Cyndie, with the blue eyes, and her younger brother, Gato:


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Griffin & I declare it is now Spring...

The dandelions have bloomed, and here is our official Spring portrait:

Sunday, February 20, 2011

My Childhood Home

I finally was able to find my childhood home on Google Maps! Yay... It made me happy to see it again after 44 years. Earlier, when I couldn't find it, I thought the building must have been torn down. But it's still standing, looking much the way it did when I was a child there, even though now it's a Bank of America building. My older sister Paige, who still lives in the area, says it's her bank and since it used to be her home they've given her a free deposit box for life!

The image below is interactive, so you can move around in it, go further down the road, turn left and right, etc... The driveway across the street, a little before my house, was where my best childhood friend, Andy (Andrea) lived. The best tuna sandwiches I've ever eaten were made in that house. I spent a lot of time over there. In fact her mother taught me how to spell my name, by not letting me enter the house until I spelled it correctly for her. I learned it pretty quickly. I also remember us looking at scary photos in the medical books belonging to Andy's father, who was a doctor.


View Larger Map

Friday, February 4, 2011

New Mexico Natural Gas Outage

It's been an interesting, and cold, few days around here. First we had cold night temperatures that went down past 20 below zero two nights ago. That night I could see my breath as I lay in bed, under a huge pile of blankets.

Then, the next morning, the entire town of Taos, along with many other areas of New Mexico, lost natural gas service. Natural gas is the only, or primary, source of heat for many here, including yours truly. Governor Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency for New Mexico on Thursday. Over 10,000 customers were out of natural gas, just in my area alone.

The local stores immediately sold out of space heaters, electric blankets, etc., yesterday morning. And all the grocery stores and gas stations were also mobbed, as people were concerned about the electric grid failing. There were a few minor power outages last night, but that was all. Shelters were set up for those who needed it, though I heard that not many people took advantage of it.

My personal situation was that I had only one small electric space heater. I went to the stores to try to buy another one, but they were all gone. I fueled up the car, as it was already almost on empty, and then I went home and took a shower with the last of the hot water in my gas water heater. So I was clean, but my house was getting cold. I do have a fireplace, but that is in another part of the house, away from the kitchen and bathroom. My biggest concern was pipes freezing during the night.

In the afternoon, I heard on a local radio station, that the local Ace Hardware store was going to have a truckload of portable heaters delivered. I called them and they told me that the heaters, 1200 of them, were being driven down from Colorado and should be arriving around 9 PM. After closing at their regular time, they would open up again, at 9, to sell the heaters.

I got there a little after 9 PM to a surreal scene of 40 or more cars and trucks sitting out in a dark, icy parking lot in front of the hardware store. There was a police car there also. I was told by the man standing outside the store that the truck had encountered a snow storm up in Colorado, and they were now expecting it to arrive between 10 and 10:30 PM. I drove back home for a little while and returned, with my camera, closer to 10 PM. The scene was the same, except there were now more vehicles parked outside the store. Checking in again, I was told there were further delays and they were expecting the truck to arrive between 11 and 11:30... There were now two or three police cars present.

Shortly afterwards they began to let people inside the store to wait where it was warmer, as the temperatures outside were rapidly dropping.  I was among the first group let into the store.  As we waited in the store for over an hour, we were given periodic updates as to where the truck was... It's in San Luis, Colorado... It's in Costilla, New Mexico... it's in Questa... it's in Arroyo Hondo... it's in Taos! Then the heaters, in various types and price ranges, began being distributed to the happy crowd. The police were in the store with us now, to ensure all stayed calm, and that all the heaters that were being walked out the door had actually been paid for.

I found a heater that I liked very much, happily paid for it, and, after taking some photos, drove home. I got back home a little before midnight. I'd have to say it was the strangest shopping trip I've ever made! The extra heater was just what was needed here at home. With it, I was able to get the heated area of the house warmed up to sixty degrees... warm enough to take off my big fuzzy coat for the first time that night. And warm enough that I no longer needed to worry about my water pipes freezing in the night. My cats like the new heater too. Rexie and Boo have abandoned the basket by the (now cold) furnace to sit and lie next the new heater.

The local news has reported that around 900 heaters were sold at Rio Grande Ace last night, and there was a crowd waiting when they opened up this morning to buy up all the rest of last night's shipment. I was very appreciative to the store and its employees for getting this emergency shipment down here, and putting in those extra hours to see that everyone who showed up so late in the night got the heaters they needed. Below are some photos from last night.

We arrived in the dark of the night, in search of elusive heat...

    The Taos Police were on hand to help... 
                                    
After a long hour standing in the store waiting, the heaters were about to arrive...

Heaters!  Yay!!  And I'm not the only one taking photos of the happy event...

Smiles break out in the weary crowd as heaters get distributed...
And the parade of heaters begins to walk out the door into the cold, cold night...












Saturday, January 22, 2011

Griffin Is Such A Handsome Love Boy!

Here are a couple of recent photos of Griffin. I've had him for around 7 weeks now, since adopting him from the local shelter. He is adjusting to his new home very well. He is slowly but surely learning the number one rule: The Cat Is Always Right! (Unless it's the neighbor's naughty cat, Simba, who is generally wrong.)


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Henry On The Roof

A few weeks ago, on a sunny afternoon, I was enjoying myself sitting out on the back porch, reading a book, when I heard a sound above me. I looked up, and I saw Henry looking down at me from the roof. He looked so handsome, framed against the clear blue sky that I had to get some photos of him:




Friday, January 7, 2011

Fieldsie Watching 'Video Catnip'

I recently ordered 'Video Catnip' DVD, a viewing experience created to entertain cats. It has images of birds and squirrels for cats to watch. My order arrived yesterday and when I got home with it I popped it into the computer. Fieldsie was the first of my cats to notice it, and below is a short video of him watching. I think more of my cats will enjoy this soon, once they discover it. I'm planning on leaving it playing for them when I'm away at work.