New House

You usually can tell when new neighbors are moving in when you see the moving van coming up the road, or the line of pick up trucks of friends to help haul and unload your belongings. Saturday I had finished changing the oil and filter on the Hyundai and was about to change the oil in the Honda when I noticed my neighbor Ruby walking up the road. She had just gone to check the mail, so we visited over the fence. Not long after I had to warn it that she might get hit by a house! I offered to let her through the fence if she needed, but she moved on up the road before the house could catch her. I ran inside to grab my camera, but the second half of the house was already around the corner.

Our neighbors up the road bought a modular house delivered in two pieces (technically different than a double wide). Gratefully the truck stopped where it did, so an extra hand aboard could hold up the phone wire to our house. I, of course, appreciate that he hadn't driven any further!

Watching the house drive up the road.

I asked Thomas if he was sad that we are going the slow route of building our own place bit by bit. But that is what we can afford to do!

Status update: we are getting rebar delivered this week for our footer. With our trip to Portland coming up, we hope to pour the footer the week after we get back.

Li'l Sofia

It's true that I have grown up around children. Having babysat most of the neighborhood growing up, I got to care for a lot of babies, change a lot of diapers, and watch them grow up. It floors me that most of the caring and changing happened before I was 18. I nannied summers during college, but I really haven't had the pleasure of spending a lot of time around little kids, particularly babies, for a good 16 years. It has been fun living in Miami for the past year+ near my nieces and nephew, who are certainly no babies, but fun to watch grow up! (Literally watching them grow up and up and up - I'm afraid it might not be so long before the girls pass me up, too!) Sometimes it is tough not living closer to my siblings and their little boys. Cole has already grown up so much. At close to 22 months, I have missed watching him grow from a little baby to a little man. And now Oliver, at 8 weeks old already, is probably going to do the same. I am looking forward to holding him for the first time next week! Those baby years are just so precious. I know it wasn't for my sake, but I sure am glad Marie & Dave have a new baby, as I am loving getting to see a baby around. I met with Marie last week about work stuff, and how it warmed my heart to get to hold Sofia as we talked. She is such a little squirt and so quiet when I am around. I think her big brother and beautiful sisters just adore her, too.

Sofia Cecilia Salas

I can't wait till she figures out how to use her little monkey toes. I laughed, as it is very much like my dad for me to zoom in on the toes. I enjoyed tickling and rubbing those feet and watching her react. Precious toes! I think Sofia had an opinion to share, too. Actually, I think she was trying to tell me to knock it off and quit taking her picture. Despite the impression of the picture, she wasn't making any noise. I think this is the "oh great, that's my tia" face.

Thanks, God, for babies! I am so glad to get to see another one grow up - up close...

In a pickle...

Yesterday I canned for the first time in two year.  For the weenie amount that I did, it was totally worth it.  Last summer with the move and the wedding and all the other projects, we didn't have a garden, and I hadn't learned where to get the things I need to can.  I also canned baout 50 quarts of pickles in 2009, so I wasn't worried about running out. 

 

This year we planted a big garden, but it's been an interesting year so far.  It's been hot and dry - good for drying laundry and not as good for keeping a garden damp and thriving.  With the recent rains, I am starting to see a few things finally germinating that should have come up eons ago.  The cucumbers and squash have been funny, too, as they not been very fruitful.  Of about six Miami pumpkin plants that are strong and healthy (a green variety of "native" pumpkin), i have one pumpkin growing.  And about 20 of the spaghetti squash made it (the area got flooded), but there are probably only 6 squash coming on.  Crazy! 

 

So the cucumbers have been slow, but somewhat fruitful.  I have been collecting the cukes to pickle, but on Tom's and my trip to Santa Fe, I couldn't find dill anywhere.  And my dill didn't germinate.  Bummer!  I was talking about it with Marie, and she suggested to throw it out on facebook.  So I did, and I scored a handful of dill heads from a friend in Cimarron!  She dropped them by the office yesterday, so I went home and made pickles.  Really cool to use cucumbers from the garden, garlic from the garden, grape leaves from Ma & Pop's vine - ours had a really late and slow start this year, and dill from a friend's garden in Cimarron.  Local pickles...

 

I did find myself in a pickle as I used up the last of the salt for the brine - really had just enough.  And then as I got ready to can, I realized that I had no idea where all my supplies are.  I know where they used to be in Denver, but they aren't in the locker anymore.  And I know where all the jars are and the rings, but I couldn't find the lids!  I did find some unwritten on lids - which suggest they haven't been used - all mine get written on.  I boiled them for a good long time, making sure the rubber in the seal was sterile and soft for sealing. 

 

All the fuss - I only canned about 5 quarts of pickles.  I had a few dill heads left, so I will hold onto them and see if I cannot get a few more cukes off the vine for one more quart.  Better luck next year!

Sick & Tired...

That's my baby....home again sick in bed. The crud, a cold, and a sinus infection seem to be on "re-circulate" mode in Miami and Cimarron, or maybe just for all of Colfax County. After staying home sick a week and a half ago, I think I have upped my garlic intake and have been mostly feeling better these past few days. Unfortunately, Thomas has been pacing himself from the tummy to the cold to the crud. Work has been so intense for him the past couple of weeks with recent deadlines that his body is just finally getting to melt down. Poor boy! On the contrary for me, I have been full-steam ahead with work and then some. I am taking on bookkeeping for the office now, too, which means I am simultaneously doing multiple jobs and still trying to learn the software, policies, and procedures. I cannot wait for October 6th...it cannot come fast enough. Thomas and I will head to Portland for Oliver's baptism, and I am ready for time off!

What We're Missing in Portland...

What a treat from my sister-in-law, Jen! She sent about 20 pictures from the gathering of Fords and Greenlees at the Bear Hut over Labor Day weekend. It looks like they weren't laboring over their weekend like the logging Vigils and Salases. Here are a few favorites....

Ollie hanging out with Jen, showing off his big feet!

Cole, having the time of his life in the pool with his Uncle Auggie (and Grandpa and Uncle Marty, too!) - funny how his expressions went from "this is okay" when his hair was dry to "allright, this is fun!" once he was soaked from head to toe. And there's a cute shot of Grandma warming him up once he got and realized that it's not so warm when you get out into the brisk mountain air!

And Daddy, the weenie who didn't get in the pool, played with Cole on the playground.

Clearly, Cole enjoyed it, too!

An unexpected day...

This morning I had the honor of singing with two wonderful musicians. It reminded me of concert choir in high school because the woman on the "piano", we just have a keyboard at church, sang harmony. The songs we sang, many unfamiliar to me, before the funeral began were so beautiful - both in tone and lyrics. One was called "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry". The lyrics brought tears to my eyes. The service was for a 91 year old woman, one I never met. Tonight, after a day of work and play, I took some brownies over to Marie and Dave's. I traded a plate of brownies for a little bundle of love. Sofia had just eaten and was content stretching and sleeping and wiggling around. What a precious little girl! I think I could have held her for a couple more hours, but it was getting late. I started my day celebrating the long life of a woman well-loved and who loved many. I ended my day celebrating the new life of a little girl well-loved, who I can only hope will love many, too!

A day to remember...

Admittedly, September 11th was memorable. Not entirely for all the reasons it should be. Thomas and I both felt like crap. We worked hard on Saturday, but still didn't sweat it out of our systems. There was no way we could go to Cimarron, where the bug supposedly had originated and worked its way through our family, and behave anything less than we felt - tired stuffy, achy. But we also couldn't handle staying in the house another day. Knowing I would be working the next two weekends, we decided to go to Santa Fe. The anniversary coincided with Fiestas - a little more than a weekend of parades and art stands in the plaza and "fiestas". I'd never been, so there was that, too. We made our way first to the Plaza. We arrived in time for the service. Traffic was light getting in as those not in the plaza were staking out prime real estate for the parade that would follow. There were speeches and marching and the color guard. Roses were laid in front of a folded set of bunker gear. There were bag pipes. It was a beautiful service, though I was amused at the "gentle"man who grumbled loudly at me when I stood up on the metal barricade to get a better view for a moment. We decided to find a different spot to watch. The day was also filled with traffic and chaos. Many places were closed because of Fiestas and at one point it took us an hour to move the equivalent of about eight blocks. We came home with a few groceries and a new printer. We didn't come home with chiles, but Thomas got a couple bushels on Monday. I won't quickly forget 9/11/11, nor where I was ten years before...

Most beautiful!!

Not me, nor the hunk standing next to me..... It's SOFIA CECILIA SALAS!!! She's our new niece, born to David and Marie on September 14th! I had the privilege of driving to Raton after work on Wednesday, so we could meet her right away. Thomas and I joined the family for dinner out at K-Bob's, which was entertaining as ever. I took the girls in my car - Julie, Maya and Sara. Daniel took Thomas, David, and Andres. As were getting out of the car at the restaurant, Sara says, "Tor-tia (sounds like tortilla - it's Aunt Tori backwards), I have Sophia's first nickname: Sophia Tortilla!" Awesome! Dinner was entertaining, or more like ordering. I love that Julie had to tell the girls that if all they wanted was bacon bits from the Salad Wagon, then they should order the chicken strips or quesadilla and she'd make sure to load up on bacon bits for them. No, they both insisted on the Salad Wagon for dinner. And both were pinching up bacon bits to nibble at their dinner. Too funny! This week has also been beautiful for all the rain. I saw rainbows nearly every days. This is the rainbow I drove towards through the rain on Thursday. It was a full rainbow, and you could see it all the way to the ground. This is the same rainbow Thursday morning, but there was a nice double rainbow coming home from work on Thursday. It looked like I might actually drive under it, but it faded away as I passed the misty rain into the sunshine. This picture, ordinarily, would all be filled with earth. The hills were back lit from an arc of sunshine coming down west of where I was under the clouds. But the clouds were so low that it appeared as though an angel had just lifted up the edge of a white woolly blanket to peak under and see if people were moving yet. It was sure beautiful. As I was driving by, I tried to capture the way the hill was illuminated. And today another full rainbow! It has been good to get the moisture, as we are sorely in need of it. It has been prematurely cool, and I have managed to get away with not moving the houseplants off the wood-burning stove by baking. Today I just left the blinds open, and the sun toasted the house up real nice for us! It's supposed to warm again this weekend. Let's hope so - Sophia came home today, and we want her to see what a wonderfully beautiful place she lives in!

Two loads!

Last weekend we got three loads of wood, and this weekend I got two loads of goat poop!  It's not really as exciting as it sounds, but it is going to make some great organic matter to till into the garden over the winter.  I hope to get a couple more truck loads before it is time for tilling.

This past week Thomas and I have both been a bit of zombies.  I stayed home from work Thursday and slept all day, but the poor boy is in crunch time and can't take a break until the end of next week after the protest hearings at work.  Feeling miserable together has its ups and downs - we're both content to stay home and do nothing, but we both want to be comforted, me especially.  Thomas has been taking good care of me and made some good soup.  I crack his back and leave him be.

Anyway, despite our stuffy heads and achy bodies, today we put ourselves to work.  I dropped him off to do a bit of welding for his Pop and then went on to the neighbors to scoop poop.  It wasn't as easy as I remember, and I was huffing and puffing as I swung the forks of straw and pellets into the bed of the truck.  I was quickly worn out, but was more stubborn about getting my two loads.  Thomas patiently waited for me to come back and pick him up, but I was at the end of my rope - thirsty, hot, sweaty, and feeling gross!  A quick shower, a quart of rehydration, and some tuna fish sandwiches revived us both.

This afternoon Thomas split wood, showered and is napping.  I have been goofing off, composting, cleaning both bathrooms (yuck!!), and doing laundry.  Oh what a day!  I have a feeling it is all down hill from here tonight.

Not much, but we'll take it!

When we were camping this weekend, I enjoyed falling asleep Saturday night to the sound of rain on the tent.  I wish I could have stayed asleep, but then the sound of the rain in the morning was soothing, too. 

 

Yesterday I spoke with someone in Cimarron before I left work, as the rain was pouring down.  He told me that he overheard a couple in the morning say how the rain was coming down so hard in Miami that you could only see 5 feet in front of you.  It got me so excited that I might go home to a full rain barrel and that I might not need to water the garden.  I was beaming.  I couldn't wait to get home!

 

Evidently, the couple must have recently arrived from Miami, Florida, where the tropical storms and hurricanes might have deluged that Miami.  As I drove closer and closer to home, there was no sign that there had been any rain at all during the day.  What a let-down!

 

Then last night as I lay waiting for Thomas to come to bed, the rain started.  It wasn't much, but the soothing sound of rain on a metal roof, plinking, plunking, twanging...I just savored the harmony of water coming down on this parched little patch.  It didn't last long, and it couldn't possibly be enough, but it sounded like a balm.  Then around 7 am the rain started again.  I wished to stay in bed and let it lull me back to sleep, but it was wonderful enough just to listen. 

 

I know summer is not over, but this morning I pulled on pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweater for the first time in a long while.  And I traded in my sandals for socks for this first time, too.  It won't be long before the seasons change, but I can only imagine that by this afternoon, I will be ready for shorts and a t-shirt and my sandals again!

A forgotten story...

As Thomas joked at dinner, the memory is the second thing to go!  For me it sometimes feels a little too close to home!

I forgot a great story from Day One of the camping/logging trip.  I mentioned that when we first showed up, we set about settling in.  We unpacked coolers into the fridge and boxes onto the shelves of the kitchen area.  I was unpacking a box by the sink, and a bird flew by.  I was thinking we let a bird in from the door being left open.  I swung at it to "Shoo, little birdie!"  As I missed, I realized that not all little flying objects are birds.  It was a BAT!!!  Oh, I squealed.  We all ran outside.  There was a long-handled shovel suitable for poking at it from a distance, so I dared go grab it.  I got it flying, but it wouldn't move towards the open door.  Marie was trying to get Andres away from the door, knowing how freaked he'd be if the bat actually flew out the door at him. 

Our progress was slow.  Swinging the shovel and watching it land elsewhere in the kitchen, I had help from Daniel who picked up a trash bag to catch it in.  There was lots of squealing and whatever the more bass, guttural sound that I might call male squealing.  I guessed that a nocturnal animal might not be inclined to fly toward the bright light of the door, and indeed we decided it wouldn't go out that way. 

Thomas showed up, always ready to be a hero.  He took the shovel from me and made his own attempts.  The bat flew into the other room, and I swung at it over there to go back into the kitchen where Daniel and Thomas were ready to pounce.  Eventually, Thomas took the bag and just reached through with the bag to pluck it off the wall.  I guess it was getting as tired as we were at coaxing it out the door.  Thomas let it go outside, and it flew. 

And so far I haven't seen any vampiric symptoms...

Camping or logging? Pt II

Sunday morning we awoke slowly, at least in our tent. I am sure those kids were up at first light, but I was grateful for a good sleep once I made it back to the tent. The day was gray and damp, but a mug of hot tea and Tom's breakfast burritos fortified me for some more work. It wasn't long before we heard Ma & Pop coming up the hill, calling for help. Pop had a heck of a time through the soupy mud, and that last hill got him just inches from the top. They roped the truck and pulled in the little bit he had left to go, and then we were set to work. I layered my sweatshirt on over my t-shirt and followed the guys back to finish the tree from Saturday afternoon. Thomas worked his way up the trunk, David and Daniel worked their way down from the top. This tree had so many thick branches - Pop just kept saying, "That's a lot of wood!" I had made myself busy splitting the blocked wood with Pop's wedge and hammer. The base of the tree was so wide, the pieces were too heavy to handle. Then once we hit the rotty stuff, splitting the blocked wood made it easy to leave a pile of the rotten stuff behind. The wood was piling up, and then Tom hit the vein of ants. They were of the little biting/stinging variety. I discovered this once my wrists were under attack. Then I realized they had made it up my boots. I was wearing knee-high wool socks in the cold, so they had to make it to my knees to bite. Then, surveying the work we had accomplished, I felt the sting of a bite on my butt. I yelped and grabbed and squished, hoping to have done that darn ant in. Then I felt another. I high-tailed it up the hill so fast, too proud to drop by overalls in front of the guys. Oh! I was done with ants! We broke for lunch and finished up that pile afterward and started in on some more trees. Once all the trucks were loaded, we started packing up what we could. Marie and the girls and Julie would not return with us Sunday night. They thought I was crazy to stay, but I really enjoy the hard physical work. It is a good kind of tired to be! The road back down wasn't so bad. We unloaded and showered once again. I remembered to grab my headlamp, found my yogurt covered pretzels in the fridge, and decided there wasn't much use for the overnight bag that hadn't left the truck. What with coming down everyday, it was hardly the camping of living out of a backpack for a few days as the smell of nature overtook any efforts for cleanliness. Daniel pulled a good one on me, suggesting that he had changed his mind and wasn't going back up. Alas, just a joke - Dave and Andres, Daniel, and Tom & I made a run for the gate to Urraca once more. The road was even drier than a couple hours earlier, so we didn't have to back down and reattempt any of the hills. Once there, we set to work right away loading up the trucks. We got all three filled with relative ease - we were cleaning up piles of blocked wood, so we didn't have to bring the chain saws back out. I actually sat on the porch swing and read a bit. It was a good feeling to have the wood already loaded! We polished off the leftovers from the night before and sat around telling stories into the night. It was a lot colder without cloud cover, but it was good to see stars. After a cup of water and a trip to the bathroom, I hoped I could avert another sleepless night. This morning we awoke to clear sunny skies and slowly set to work breaking camp. Andres asked me who was going to wake up Thomas, but we all agreed it was better to let Thomas wake up Thomas. After a breakfast of quesadillas, we set to work a little more urgently to pack up. We were down the mountain pretty quickly, and sadly, I have no pictures of Sunday or Monday. The first load of laundry came out with lots of bark and wood shavings in the lint trap. The cooler is unloaded and stowed away. The tent dried out in the sun and has been folded and put away. Probably not tent camping for a little while, but it sure was fun! And we brought home a lot of wood!

Camping or Logging?

Two weekends ago Thomas and I noted that we had not made it camping this summer. Then Daniel shared that he reserved the cabins at Urraca for family camping and logging Labor Day weekend - looked like we were going to be camping! When the scouts and staff have all left after a busy summer, permanent staff, like Daniel, can cut wood and camp as long as it isn't a weekend of hunting. This is a great perk for the family, and we all are so fortunate to be able to stock up firewood in this way, since that is the primary source of heat for all of us. We gathered last Wednesday for a family meeting to figure out who would be bringing what, and then Saturday morning we haphazardly met up and made our way to camp. Friday afternoon Urraca had a hard rain, so we were hoping we would be able to get up the roads. They weren't bad, and we arrived at camp eager to look around, set up, and start loading firewood. After we more or less unloaded, I joined the guys in felling and loading the first tree. It was uphill from the camp, so we enjoyed rolling very large cuts down to the truck. It was pretty amusing that I had one roll all the way down and almost into the bed of the truck, but it bounced off the tail gate a little funny. Another roll was less amusing as it got away to the right and rolled all the way down and into the truck, adding a dent to the bottom of the passenger door on Tom's truck. Ooops! We filled the truck, started on the next, and then broke for lunch. We enjoyed sandwiches and chips sitting outside. It was warm enough for t-shirts and quite pleasant. We moved down the road for the next tree and set about felling it and blocking it. Suddenly the wind turned to rain and and the rain to hail. We made a break for the trucks.

The window started fogging up pretty quickly, though there was nothing steamy going on inside! The hail is just starting to accumulate on the windshield, and Thomas swiped them away a few times with the wipers.

Looking across Tom's lap to the hail accumulating outside.

My book was in the car, so I read a bit. It was too loud to talk with each other, though I didn't realize how loud until I opened my mouth and couldn't even hear myself.

After the hail stopped, we slowly emerged from the trucks. The hail was the size of a moth ball and piled up a few inches thick. The road and trails had quickly turned into currents of muddy water, carving their way through the hail. And it was still warm enough to be in a t-shirt. After the last of the four trucks was loaded, we switched gears to heading back down to Miami with the wood. Ma and Pop weren't camping, so they were both heading down to stay down. Marie and the girls were concerned that we might make it down the mountain with the wood, but not back up. This was not an unfounded fear, as the road is quite steep in spots, and the mud makes it impassable, at least for our truck without four-wheel-drive. They loaded all the food into the fridge and locked down the place in case we didn't make it back up. And away we went.

Tom & I went first. As we blazed a trail down through the mud, we slipped and slid a little, but when we came to this particular diversion for water run-off, the truck decided to "run-off". We were not going to right ourselves back onto the road, so we followed the run-off into the pasture and then hopped back on the road. Soupy, soupy mud!

We fully expected to follow the rain home, but Miami was dry. We unloaded our truck, took care of a couple little things, showered and changed into dry, clean clothes. We met back up again a little later, this time with Julie in tow, minus Ma & Pop. Daniel led the way, but found the first steep section to be too much for Blackie in two-wheel-drive. He and David could both flip into 4WD, so we were the decision maker for getting up to camp. Thomas gunned it and climbed the turns with speed and force. We made it! The others followed behind, but there were still a few more challenges on the course ahead. We must have run up and down the next steep, muddy incline four or five times before we crested the summit. We continued on and managed to bog through the mud. Then came a challenge that nearly got us. We rounded a corner that sucked away our speed, preventing us from getting far up the hill. When Thomas backed straight back into the pasture, we found ourselves mired in mud. Thomas got down in that mud and trapped on the chains, which made all the difference. Daniel was ready with rope in hand to tow us out, but Thomas had never been more determined. We made our way up, though the chains didn't hold together well. The last incline took a few passes, but by this time Tom couldn't let anything stop him from getting there. We all made it to camp and set to work setting up tents and sleeping arrangements, starting dinner, and generally unwinding. Thomas & I set up on one platform, which makes for comfortable camping when you have a relatively level flat space. We were able to bungee the tent and fly to the edges and, thanks to Daniel, had some nice foam pads to line the bottom. We laid out our sleeping bag and headed back down to the cabin. (Did I mention that "camp" included a cabin with a fridge and stove and running water? Not roughing it entirely...)

After dinner and cleaning up, the kids enjoyed marshmallows and happily scorched them for anyone interested. We wound down after an exciting day, and after Marie took Andres and the girls to bed, David and Thomas entertained us with a mini jam session. I can't enough live music, so I even got up and danced in the shadows. What a superb way to end the night!

Really, that wasn't the end for me. The rain on the tent put me to sleep, but I was up later feeling too hot and gassy to lay still. I had to go to the bathroom; I was thirsty; and I just couldn't leave it all behind for dreamland. Despite my best efforts for stealth, I noisily dressed and snuck out of the tent. I read in the truck until I got too cold, and then sleep was easy!

Still hoping for rain!

The rainbow is a reminder of promise and God's love, but really it came to remind God's people that there wouldn't be another flood. Sadly, the flooding this past week on the East Coast still came. And the rains have been heavy all around us, but Miami continues to be the little speck of blue sky on the weather map surrounded by dark rain clouds. This shot was from on my way home last Wednesday. A really lovely rainbow hanging over Miami. And Thursday and Friday I saw less photogenic rainbows. And it continued to rain Saturday and Sunday, just not at home. So we keep praying our lake fills up and our parched grounds stop cracking open with thirst...