A Case of the Mondays?

Is it surprising that I would not want to wake up on a Monday morning, roll out of bed, and head to work?  Not terribly, no, but when all other signs suggest I should go back to bed, why don't I?

 

This morning before I poured the milk onto my cereal (yes, I am back on cow's milk), I took a whiff.  It didn't smell quite right, but it didn't smell sour.  I took the tiniest sip and almost lost it.  Indeed, it was sour.  It should have had a few more days shelf life.  Bummer!  Dumped it down the drain...

 

Then as I approached Monkey Hill above Cattle Headquarters on my way in to work, I realized I don't have office keys.   I pulled over to loot my bag in search of keys and found none.  What a bummer!  I decided to try my luck, but the office was locked.  I knew that turning around to go home for the keys was a waste of time and gas, especially because our secretary would almost be here by the time I returned.  Gratefully, one of our parishioners who is very active has a key and has told me I can call as early as 8 am, as he is an early riser.  And so I got in...

 

I am sure the last hour will fly, but these first hours of the day seem to be dragging and dragging and dragging....

IT'S A BOY!!!

My little sister Miki and husband Marty just gave birth to their first child!!!!Oliver Martin Greenlee came into this world 8 days late (he was supposed to come on my birthday), but he is here now! She started labor about 3 am (PST) this morning and dilated quickly. Surrounded with Marty and her girlfriend Kori who is a midwife, she made it through the morning until about 5:30 am and headed in to the hospital. Mom called about 8:30 am their time to say it was close, and an hour later OMG was born. No longer LG (Little Greenlee), Oliver has a great set of initials! He has lots of dark hair, a long tongue, and evidently a good appetite. He weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and measured 21.25". Looks like he might have Miki's feet (actually, they both wear the same size shoe). I am a very proud tia today!!

Our Garden!

Yes, it is "our" garden, and Thomas has been a great help with watering. We bit off a pretty big space, and we have certainly learned a few things for next year. But this year is still just mid-stride. The season seemed to start so much later here - that extra thousand feet really makes a difference with night temps. Oh, and then it has been the driest year in forty years, or something like that. So we are judging that anything we pull off this year should give us hope for even better years in the future.

The cucumber are starting to get big, but probably won't yield a big pickling crop. The dill never came up - could be the challenge of the dryness and germination.

The chiles are starting to produce, but the plants really never got a chance to get very big. We have just a few roma tomatoes in the mix and one okra that doesn't look any bigger than when we planted it.

This is Pop's squash. I saved seeds from last year's crop. They had a setback when we slowed down watering when it rained. The reality is that the rain was not enough to make a dent in the day's heat. We lost a few, and I think something ate a few. We've got about half a dozen looking good.

These are the pintos that Tom planted. He's quite proud of them and hoping to dry them. Not sure we'll have a big yield, but he enjoys planting and watering (I weed).

The garlic has almost all been harvested. The onions are big on top, but still small down below. Hopefully, they will get bigger, and we'll have a nice supply of red onions. (rows of bean in the background)

We got lots of peas, and they mostly got eaten off the vine. They are sure tasty. Less than half the snow peas took off, but the sugar snap peas did pretty well. I am not sure if we had birds in their helping themselves or if it was the rabbits. The rabbits definitely did some damage in the peas.

The potatoes (left side) have done really well, though it looks like some potato beetles recently helped themselves. I have been finding them on a different plant - tomato family, but they came up on their own. I have been squishing and smashing the eggs and pulling that other plant, but they finally made their way into the potatoes. It will be especially exciting to see what is growing under the dirt. Hopefully lots of little potatoes! In the right top corner are spaghetti squash. They are doing really well. I wanted to plant butternut squash, but I think next year I need to be more strategic about where all these squash are planted, or we might just end up with a Pop's spaghetti-nut!

And I will need to get a picture of the garlic drying under the tin shed. I harvested about 150 heads of garlic last week. Admittedly, we lost a bunch. Better luck next year! And as I weeded tonight, I even found a few carrots that germinated. They were surrounded with bindweed, but I had already long given up on them. Guess there were a few tough seeds left in the row!

It's getting closer...

Okay, this first picture with throw you off for sure, but I thought it was a very great illustration of how it can rain in one little area and leave big puddles, and then a foot further it is completely bone dry. It's raining at the Tooth of Time, and we didn't feel a drop. Nor did anyone else around. I am sure some scouts got soaked, though.

The Tooth of Time gets rain. Still working weather in Miami!

But really what is getting closer is the hole for our basement. We have been digging in earnest. It really was kicked off by Dad's visit six weeks ago, and now we have a ramp. These pictures are all from July 31st. Today Pop actually cleared out most of it.

The ramp will eventually become a steep set of stairs down to the cellar!

We're actually standing where the water heater and furnace will be, but you can see that there is a lot of dirt pile up north of the hole. The north-side of the basement will actually be fully buried, but the south will have room for windows!

Tom is squatting in the family room - downstairs we'll have the TV and computer.

And while this is all well and good, we still need to trench and pour the footer. Walls won't go up until next year. It will be a while before our hole becomes a home...

Birthday party pics

So my sister didn't have her baby on my birthday - nor now, one week past her due date. Guess it wasn't meant to be. And while I may have been blue about not having my grandpa with me anymore to celebrate our birthday together, I am sure blessed to have another birthday boy: Pop celebrates his the day after me! Marie and Dave hosted a party on Wednesday, and it was awesome! Marie made seafood enchiladas that were delicious. I'm sure the beef ones were, too, but I passed on them. Pop had German Chocolate Cake and I had apple/blackberry cobbler. Yep - spoiled rotten!

Maya and Sara were entertaining as box-heads!

Happy with our bellies full of good food!

In fact Thomas was there in balloon form. Thoughtful that they chose an orange balloon to represent him.

Sara caught me about to make out with balloon Thomas (no, I wasn't drunk!), but really he was just thinking about how he'd rather be in Miami than Socorro. Sadly, when Thomas came home with the girls and I the next day, he blew out to the garden and then popped on a cactus. I still haven't found his remains!

And pigs fly...

Well, I guess it is more likely that Auggie will make it all the way to New Mexico than pigs will fly, but it was close. Despite a little car trouble, he made it all the way from Grand Junction (where he traveled for a friend's wedding) to Miami, NM. It was too short a visit, but we'll take what we can get. And now Thomas won't let Nicholas forget it! It's always fun to show your big brother around, but I think he was just relieved to have a bed, hot shower, and computer to research the rest of his journey. He stopped by in early July and talked my ear off...yes, it is true that he is quite a storyteller once he starts!

A shot be the garden..

It really is us!

Brothers don't shake hands... nor did they think my request for a posed hug was amusing.

Fourth of July pics

Yes it is true. These are a month in coming, but here they are! I was delighted to harvest my garlic scapes before the fourth, so I could bring garlic scape pesto to our BBQ. Aren't they so pretty - even prettier when they flower, but I want the garlic more than the flower.

Thomas took me dancing at the Maverick Club Dance on the third. It was a lot of fun, a little stepping on toes, and great music by a friend from his days as a horseman at Philmont. Our boots were pretty dusty when we got home, and our legs were plenty tired! The Fourth of July feast was at Ma & Pop's place. Gratefully, after gorging ourselves this holiday, soccer was not the planned after dinner activity. Bocce ball is a little easier for digestion. Andres seemed to be the master until we made him rotate through the order, giving up the advantage of the last thrower. So there you have it...the fourth of July in photos...