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Can you believe we had our first frost last night?  It was one heck of a windy day then temperature dropped like a rock come evening.  We watched the 10 o’clock news and the weatherman did say there was a freeze warning for the Albuquerque and surrounding areas but, seriously?  You are kidding right? We have been in the 70′s.  Plus, it was still waaaaay windy and not to mention already waaaaay dark. 

My sweet husband asked if we should go out and cover the gardens… I said “I was not ready for frost already! I don’t know where all my frost blankets or tarps are and it is so windy out there I think we would blow away with the tarps in our hands like parachutes!” 

 Luckily, I had plucked a yellow squash, a red, a green and a yellow bell pepper, a few tomatoes and some fresh basil that I used in our pasta sauce for dinner.  Yep, you guessed it… the weatherman was actually right.  There was frost this morning.  My poor bell pepper plants, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, jalapeno bush, green beans, potatoes and the basil plant are all wilted and looking awful.  A few of my flowers didn’t fair well either. 

Today we were back up to 62 degrees and tonight? A low of 33 (which means more like 30 or so for us along the river).

Moral: What the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away too!

As some of you know my mom has been battling some major medical issues since August 17th.  It has been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, the ride started with a Sub-arachnoid Hemorrhage(a bleed in her brain) she was in ICU for 4 weeks with many complications and plenty of scary moments.  She was finally moved to a Rehab Facility and did not seem to do very well, her physical functions were improving but her mental state was way down in the pits.  She was very depressed and frustrated, it was hard to get her motivated to do much in the way of therapy or even want to get better.  I felt as if we were going thru the 5 stages of grieving.  There were other set backs during her stay there.  A bed sore, a concern of lack of timely care from staff, plus medical issues such as major headaches, dizziness and memory loss.  My sister Mary is an amazing caring woman that gave so much of her time and energy to make sure mom was getting everything she needed.  (In other words she went all “red-head” on them, kicked some butt and took down names!)  This also included many doctor visits and tests.  After some changes in meds, mom started feeling better mentally which started her working harder to improve so she could go home someday soon.  And work hard she did!  It was a complete turn around!  We were actually thinking mom might be home for possibly Thanksgiving!  Which was a really big accomplishment as Mary and I had discussed that mom might never be able to come home as she would not be able to be alone during the day while Mary had to be at work.  Then I got a call from Mary, mom had been rushed to the ER, they thought she was having another stroke.  Sure enough after many more tests showed she had had another brain bleed.  Her speech was gone but physically she was okay.  We were all devastated by the news.  But my mom persevered once more and worked hard with a speech therapist and just would not quit. Her speech is now pretty much back to normal!  After 5 days at the hospital we lost the room at the original Rehab Facility, so Mary was on the hunt again for a good Facility.  And she found a good one.  Mom says it looks like a fancy hotel!  She is there now and is doing great! In fact seems she is quite the social butterfly now. She goes down to the dinning hall for her meals and chats… and even got a bag of popcorn from some handsome man that shares her table!  She has played bingo several times and has won a few books and candy bars.  She seems in terrific spirits and is getting around wonderfully with the help of a walker.  She still has a few blanks in the memory but she is working on that. 

Which brings me to last night… I received a text from Mary that she just found out they are releasing mom to go home this coming Saturday!  I called her back to get filled in.  Apparently mom is doing so well they feel she is ready to go home.  Mary has made a few changes at her house to help mom get around better.  And we discussed new “House Rules” that mom will have to follow. Such as no going outside to mow the yard, shovel snow, scrape ice, trim tree branches, run heavy equipment etc… unless Mary or Ron is there with her!  (trust me my mom is VERY stubborn and thinks she can still do all the things she used to do on the farm when she was 30 something!) 

I plan on heading up there soon to spend a week or so with her to help enforce those rules and hopefully spend some quality time with her… like getting my butt beat in cards!

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” 

—George Carlin

What a beautiful sight when I went out to feed the horses this past Wednesday morning.  The ol’ saying held true by the way… “Red sky at night, sailors delight, Red sky in morning, sailors take warning!”  It rained from about 11 am until late night.  We had 2.25 inches of rain in the rain gauge by the next morning!

Sunrise Sept 22 2010

On Monday June 28th we laid our brave little man to rest.  He had fought a long hard fight, but in the end his body gave out before his spirit.  As I write this today, three days later, it is still difficult to think of not seeing him again.  He came to us a skinny, abused, neglected, sick and fearful Jack Russell.  When we took him to the vet he told us to not get too attached to the poor old guy, he didn’t think he would be around for long… 3.5 years later! We did get weight on him although that was a tough task as his system would shut down every once in a while and tell him not to eat… boy that was a chore, going thru everything in the house that a dog can eat and trying to get his system “jump started”.  We had lots of issues of getting the right pain medicines so he would not throw up all the food I finally got down him.  There were many bouts with “poopy-pants”.  With all his back issues he had a hard time staying up during his ‘business’ and would sometimes fall down while going… thus the “poopy-pants”, I am afraid he did not think the cleaning up process was very dignified but he let me do it.  I was the only one that he would let pet or hold and even sometimes that was not the case.  Forget trying to get medicine down without hiding it inhis food!  And the long going love affair with our BOY black lab mix Ozzy.  Poor Ozzy was literally hounded by this love sick little Jack, not to mention getting peed on frequently too!  (yes, Concho was a full blown boy as the vets did not think he could survive the surgery.)  Oh and all the ‘marking’ in the house when the neighbor dog, Marla would come to visit.  And trying to eat the cat when Concho could still see.  Yep, always under my feet, wanting in my lap, a constant battle to get him to eat, making sure he didn’t fall off the furniture, going and getting him when he got lost, washing off “poopy-pants”, carrying him everywhere when he got completely blind, holding him up so he could ‘do his business’, putting his squeaky tennis ball in his mouth because he couldn’t find it, watching him joyfully squeak away… man, I miss the little pain in the butt!  Seriously, I do.  This is got to be the hardest loss of a pet I have ever had.  But I know in my heart it was time, he told me.  On Sunday June 27th we sat on the living room floor, him in my lap, me crying uncontrollably, I just wanted to make him better, but I just couldn’t anymore.  And he told me he was ready to go.  He laid in my lap, rubbed his face on me, snuggled into my arms and let me know it was okay.  I had done what I could and he had lived a much better life in the last 3.5 years than he probably ever had. He had many warm soft beds to sleep in, he never went without his choice of food and treats, he had more toys than most children, he was never cold and never in pain.  He had given us many laughs, memories to last a lifetime and all the love he was capable of giving.  He let my husband know it was time too… near the end Concho would still try to nip at John when he came close to me or if he tried to pet him.  When Concho would get lost somewhere and I was busy John would pick him up and carry him to where I was, with Concho snarling and snapping the whole time.  The day we drove to the vet I held Concho in my lap and John drove, when we got there John came over to my side to help me out, John asked to carry Concho in to the vets… this was John’s time to say good-bye and Concho must have known.  He settled into John’s arms and did not growl, snarl or snap.  He sat there quietly, as we sat waiting for the vet John was saying his goodbyes and Concho rubbed against Johns shoulder, as John kissed him on the head.  It was just what they both needed. 

I can see him now, running with all the other Jacks, playing with his squeaky ball and chasing a few cats all pain-free.  We were blessed he came into our lives and he will be deeply missed.   

Concho June 27th 2010

I can not just say “so sorry for no new updates lately”… I mean SHEEESH!!! Do you see the last post date!  Oh my goodness, I do not even want to try and give an explanation why… there is no excuse except how incredibly busy I have been in the last few months.  I guess even that is no real excuse… because everyone that knows John and I know we are ALWAYS BUSY!!!!  A quick run down would be:  my mom came to stay with us from Oct 16th until Feb 17th.  We all worked together on MANY projects while she was here (dog house, mounting block, trotting poles, garden shed, garden boxes, a temporary greenhouse, workbenches and shelves for shop, made a potting bench and lots more smaller projects) plus painting, crafts, sewing and mom’s favorite… shopping!  I continued to work at the Hippotherapy Program, ride my horses when I could, decorate for the holidays, take stuff down from the holidays, plan the 2010 Garden Extraordinaire, etc, etc, etc….   So maybe you get the idea?  Of course everyone that I know has very busy lives as well.  How do we do it all?  Why does time seem to go by so much faster now than when we were younger?  Does anyone else feel that we will never get everything accomplished in our lifetimes that we want too???  I have so many things I want to tell all of you about!  The business partners at Hippotherapy Program I work for are dividing and conquering!  I will soon be working for “Four Point Equestrian Center”, basically I am going to go work for Debbie, who along with her husband, is starting their very own Hippotherapy Center!  It has been so exciting to see the great things happening in their lives right now.  I am thrilled to be a part of it all.  My horses are doing great and I am loving every minute of my ride time, especially now that the weather is getting so NICE!  (except for the New Mexico Spring winds, YUCK!)  I am finally able to advance my own Dressage Training with lessons from a local trainer, Chief is looking and feeling great!  I have some painting projects on the studio table, and have signed on as a vendor for this years Hammers and Hooves Horse Fair June 12th and 13th in Edgewood!  (more info to come on that, I am honored to be able to participate and look forward to it.)  And I have been working extra hard at a bigger and better garden this year!  So far I have several varieties of lettuce, spinach, radishes, beets, three types of onions, sugar snap peas, sweet peas, three types of potatoes, carrots, basil, thyme, cilantro, tarragon, oregano, curled parsley, Italian parsley, rosemary, two types of strawberries, jalapeno and two types of sunflowers in the garden and growing.  It has been a tremendous amount of work but WOW is it cool to see the new sprouts poking thru the moist earth!  I love to sit out there and just be still, try to take in all the smells, sounds and sights.  I think I am getting pretty addicted to gardening! 

Well, speaking of time, it is getting late and I still have some things to get done before heading to bed and it is an early day at work tomorrow. 

I know better than to say I promise to update soon… so I will say I promise to try and be better with my “time management” so that I am able to keep current updates on our adventures here at the farm! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Me and my two shadows!

Well we delivered the dog house to Carolyn’s on Sunday Nov 8th.  It was a hit!  It might take Tucson a few days to adjust to hanging out in his new house, but I bet pretty soon it will be hard to get him out of there!

Loading up the dog house for delivery

Here is the dog house all settled into Carolyn’s backyard.   The older dog, Zion, went on in right away and checked out the new digs.  Tucson was a bit unsure but Carolyn says she has been feeding him some treats inside the dog house and he is getting used to the fancy accommodations.

Our friend Carolyn recently adopted a wonderful dog from Best Friends Sanctuary out in Utah named Tucson.  She asked if John could whip together a simple dog house for him… she had found these dog house plans on the Internet and since John had bought her dads table saw from her a few months back she could not put it together herself as she had no way to cut it out easily…  Plus, my mom is here visiting us for three months and it sounded like a great project for her to help out with.  So, John and Mom got to work on October 24th 2009… We have plans of finishing the ‘simple dog house’ this week and delivering it to her on Saturday night.  But it is looking so great that I can no longer keep it from all of you!  But don’t tell Carolyn the pics are up, we want the ‘simple little dog house’ to be a big surprise for her and Tucson!

It has insulated floor, walls and roof!  (insulated and lined with an inner plywood wall even!) Oh and the roof can be easily taken off for cleaning inside or more likely to add that wall to wall bedding that I bet will be going in!

Yeah the look on my face pretty much explains why I am not being asked to really help out on this project… Sheesh, can a person not even ask if it’s level? square? big enough? 

Ozzy was the official model for test fits.

Two Jacks and a Lab wide!  That should be big enough for Tucson.

ALMOST FINISHED!   here it is as it sets in the garage right now… porch is on just needs a few final touches and a paint job and it is ready to be delivered!

I will update with completed pictures and hopefully the delivery by this coming Sunday!  Gee sure hope Tucson likes his new home… I think Zion (Carolyn’s other dog) may decide to move in to the new house himself!

WOW was it really that long ago??  Hard to believe it has been nearly three months since our whirlwind tour trip out to New York.   We had a fun call from John’s dad and step mom (Jack and Nancy) this evening that reminded us of our trip.  I found a few pictures I would like to share with you…

Jack has this wonderful old trusty 1958 Model 440 John Deere sitting back in the woods that John could hardly wait to test drive!  Yep, runs like brand new!

I of course found this handy phone that Jack had installed way back in the woods… you never know when you need to catch up on the latest gossip back home.

Home Sweet NY Home!  Can’t wait to come back and visit!!! Absolutely beautiful!

The two Mowins Brothers watching over the grub… (John and Jeffery)

This family picture just says it all doesn’t it?  Is it obvious we were at a party??? Notice the size of her drinkin’ glass? A girl after my own heart.

(Jack, Jeffery, John and Jeanne)

On Sept 23rd 2009 we left Yellowstone and headed east across Wyoming to the top north-east corner for a stop at the RV park right below Devils Tower… For those of you who think it looks a bit familiar, it was the tower in the movie “Close Encounters”, remember he was making it in the mashed potatoes??  Anyway it was pretty spectacular and we set up the RV for the night in a beautiful spot with a great view of the Tower.  (Unfortunately we did not see any UFO’s) We did see LOTS of stars!  The night sky was just breathtaking!  From there on Sept 24th 2009, we headed into South Dakota to check out “the dead guys on the mountain” as Jody called it… better known to most of us as Mount Rushmore.  All in all the trip was a long one but certainly well worth it.  We are thankful to our friends Jody and Charlie for inviting us along on this cross country adventure.  And Jody, don’t worry we won’t make you go on any more long drives  (more than 4 hours) especially to see nature, National Parks or Historical Monuments. 

And when we stopped for a drink and dinner at the “Red Garter Saloon” near Mt Rushmore I even managed to get in a quick horse ride!!

On our second full day (Sept 22 2009) in Yellowstone we headed around the Grand Loop road over to Old Faithful.  As you pull in the parking area you are reminded by all the vehicles that this is the main attraction at Yellowstone!  There is the Ski Lodge, the Old Faithful Lodge and the Old Faithful Inn, each with gift shops and places to eat… and they are constructing a new visitor center right smack in the middle of the other three areas… As you come into the Old Faithful park area you are greeted by a large walkway lined with benches surrounding the grand geyser…

We of course took some time to document that we were really there… 

John and Amy

Charlie and Jody

We had some time to kill as Old Faithful is somewhat predictable with approximately 92 minutes (give or take 10 min) between eruptions.  So we did the natural thing and headed off in search of the local bar.  And wouldn’t you know it, we found one! A cozy little place in the Old Faithful Inn.  The building itself is something to behold, it was constructed of local Lodge Pine and stone, when you walk in the lobby you are drawn with the rest of the crowd to look up… 7 stories up!  Just magnificent…

After a few refreshing cocktails, a light lunch and some shopping we headed back out to the park area, a mass of crowds had now gathered all around Old Faithful, most everyone was sitting on the benches and some standing along the edges, or back by the Inn for a further perspective (or my guess to stay closer to the bar).  I of course could not get close enough! I was so excited to finally see this incredible natural wonder… Even though Old Faithful is somewhat predictable the wait seems like forever, with each mass roll of steam I would ready my camera, then a spurt of hot water would come out a few feet… you would hear in the crowd “Here it goes!” then “aaahhhh” as it went back down and little puffs of steam would rise.  Apparently the Old Geyser is like a pan of hot water… it will start to boil down at the bottom with little bits making it to the top a few at a time, then as the water temperature in the pan (or in this case the earth) begins to rise so does the water level and amount of bubbles and steam, until it has reached a max temperature all the way thru and then the whole thing boils over.  So a few spurts of water, more steam, more “it’s starting” and “oh! not yet!”  It was also very interesting to me to notice that as we all waited expectantly for Old Faithful, many conversations were started with the person standing or sitting nearby… I heard many different stories in the little area around me, from”where are you from?”, “Oh I have heard that’s a beautiful country, I hope to visit someday”, “well, we got let go from our company so we are on vacation for a while”, “How long have you been married?”, “My grandma grew up there!”, “wow, you drove how far?”… perfect strangers having personal conversations…  until finally… the crowd went silent…  I actually felt the earth below my feet start to rumble, then heard something like a herd of horses running, I started taking pictures in case this was it… and WHAM up it went, higher and higher!  I was just so cool I can not even explain it!  The eruption lasted only a minute or two but it will last a lifetime in my mind…

The crowd cheered, some applauded and as we all watched it slowly go back down to the depths of our planet some began to walk away, perhaps to the gift shop, to go eat, to the bar, or to walk around the rest  of the Geyser fields, me? I stood for a few minutes and took it all in, I gave my thanks to Him who created this peculiar oddity of natural beauty that draws millions of people from all walks of life, all areas of the world, all religions, together, all in peace and wonder, all happy to be watching the same thing, appreciating the same thing…

Just think of it… even if it is for only a minute or two every 92 minutes somewhere in Yellowstone there is a mix of completely different people all sharing an amazing site.  What if it could last longer than a minute or two?