Birthday toast...

Well these past months here in KS have flown by and now we are packing, packing, soon the wagons will roll SW. Surely looking forward, but sadly saying goodbyes here. Sigh. This spring has been so punchy, it came early on the heels of an almost non-winter, and now Mid-May the fruit is dangling and the garlic is looking to be ready in a few weeks - not the usual July 4th harvest.  

The Colonels at Replay last Sunday night, they were wonderful; seen here picking a few tunes with The Midday Ramblers, whom we admire. 

Here is how our old house is turning out, floors are amazingly finished,  this a March update - woo hoo. Here we come Socorro...

Late August west of the Rio Grande

It's another Sunday afternoon. Finally more pics of progress as of this late date in August. Spurts of activity followed by down time. In my case, a nasty cold has felled me for a few days. Taking a break, reading and attempting to at least harvest every day the amazing peppers, squash and beans that the garden keeps producing. Haven't rec'd a water bill here in NM yet, but the drip system seems to be working.

The pics...http://www.flickr.com/photos/34068820@N00/sets/72157627414908097/

Gardens change this landscape

Corn is taller than me, watermelons hiding down within, the first beans are coming on, beets are ready - too much basil!

The Padron peppers are loving this weather. Sharing them is a must. (Butch did an outstanding job of raising them for export to NM)

It's too hot or I'd be out there now - the biggest challenge now is the .5 acre of weeds that have sprouted since the monsoon began.

Come visit and have some pesto!

This Socorro Project

Finally, finally finally I am going to post some scenes from recent days here in New Mexico. Phew, it's been a ride, these past weeks. Arrived in NM June 20th (14 hrs, 2 cars, 2 cats, loaded trailer - first night at 904 - pictured) it was crackly dry and hot, as elsewhere we'd been (KS) in May and June. We have been here for seven weeks now and made a world of changes to this old Leroy Place.

Omar had readied a garden spot, enriched the soil and within 48 hours he had swooped down from Magdalena to advise on planting and teach us about this drip system. It was intimidating to

plop those green bushy plants into parched and dusty beds. Padron peppers that Butch had grown, tomatoes I'd been fussing over and all those seeds carried across the plains - it took a leap of faith as all went into the soil. Sally rode the Railrunner down to assist. The drip system began hydrating seeds and roots and 7 weeks later I am harvesting more than I can consume. Basil, Padron's, eggplant, watermelon, green beans, beets - did I mention basil?

How things grow if you add a little water, here is how they started out, we gave them shadecloth for the first couple of weeks. The wind took the covering off after that and it seems they were ready by then...stay tuned for current conditions!

October fun

The month of October was long and every weekend full of family, friends and the best weather. I worked solidly every day to make new work and I wasn't sorry to see the month end, I needed a break to get my artwork hung in Junction City. What a great Opening! I appreciate the turnout from my Manhattan and JC friends, and was delighted to sell a few pieces right out of the chute. Encouraging.







Wanted to share this three minute Salty Dog celebration in honor of Aunt Judy. It would have gone on a lot longer had she been in the room. Visit often and think of her when you play
this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jLAN-r-n9E

The end of the month brought the best weather we'd seen, highs in the 70's and a Halloween to break all records for happy trick'r'treating. Mouse was distributing candy again this year, check out some responses...
















This was 'Pahantus' coming for some treats while keeping a wary eye on Mr Mouse as Graham, who is just walking, is getting his first real glimpse of our large friend.

Celebrating Emily and Jeremy's marriage

What a fine time we had celebrating Emily and Jeremy's marriage on a recent brrrrrrrrr-y October night. Peter's group, the Sunflower Colonels, played and it was a great evening. I am struggling to upload some tunes, but having no luck so far. Maybe I'll make a Picasa album and you can listen there. Maybe?
We pulled the T@B over to the fest, at Jeremy's parents farm just north of Topeka and spent the night, toasty as toads in our little trailer.
Peter's group is getting ready to make their first CD - just in time for the holidays!

Winfield 2009

We had such a blast at Winfield!
The weather was amazing, coolish cloudy days for the most part, but on Sunday we got the promised rain -- one minute during breakfast, just a few drops, nothing measurable.
It was the usual good times, listening to music at Stage 2 and 3 mostly; cooking in camp with our Manhattan camp mates (who live a block away and we almost never see except for Winfield!) and walking all over after dark, making new friends and gawking at the inventive/crazy campsites. This year we discovered The Couch, which provided a nice interlude between the West Campground and the rocky hill up to Pecan Grove, it gave us a relaxing vantage of Stage 2, awfully refreshing. We met old friends and new at the couch and rested our dogs as well.
I went down early in the week, on Tuesday, and snagged our group a spot in the north camping area, way down east - farthest from the stages - where it's quiet at night and there is grass and space between camps. Families (who value sleeping at night) seek out this area; it's a lovely part of the county fairgrounds, but shhh...don't you go telling anyone. I spent a relaxing day by myself on Weds, exploring Salina by bike, reading and knitting - a sweet little vacation before the music began. Our camp began to fill up the next night, Weds, and it was great having friends arrive.
Old friends and new joined us to share a meal or jam at our camp. I wish we had more musicians, but David and Al provided us some nice tunes as did our neighbors from Colorado,a group called Fireweed. The younger members of our group, George and Nissa, well they were armed with swords and roaming the camp. When not eating bacon they were whacking off the windows of our trailer and generally terrorizing the camp - day and night. Hope they learn to play their ukes over the winter.

A highlight - Peter's group, Sunflower Colonels, played on Stage 5! Like WOW! I was proud to witness this --- from the very front row. None other than the Wilders opened for them! It was awesome. Check out the pics of our weekend -
http://picasaweb.google.com/salsamama1950/Winfield2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-F_O_X0bTs3QE&feat=directlink
Back in M, washing clothes, packing up the camping gear, things are a mess around here. Friday it's down to Salina for the Prairie Festival. It will be great to see Sally, who works down there AND Evan is coming from Vermont for the PF again this year. I pick him up in KC tomorrow. We'll have lunch with Peter. It'll be great fun.
Been canning raspberry jam tonight - glad to hear the jars pinging. Hope they all seal. What to do with all the rest of the habaneros - I can only put one or two in each batch of jam, and there are scads of them to deal with. Ideas?
Later gators - hope to hear from you all one of these days.