Christmas is coming....

Haven't posted any pictures for awhile as I have been having too much fun with a new video camera and editing software, so haven't taken many photos....but here are a few from the past few weeks. Here's our Christmas Tumbleweed, all decorated with red chiles we grew in our yard, mistletoe we picked down by the Rio Grande, and assorted gummy-worms, candy canes, etc. I spray pained the Tumbleweed to use as a money tree at our friends, Terry and Brian's wedding. Annie was Matron of Honor. She and I helped decorate, cater and generally organize things. Brian, Annie and I are playing music together now. We bought a keyboard and small PA system, so Annie is able to play keyboard-drum machine and backup chords. We played downtown the other night for Christmas in Truth or Consequences. We also played at the wedding for Brian and Terry's first dance. Annie also knit Terry's snood (at least that's what she calls the thing Terry is wearing on her head.) Brian ordered his shirt from some western wear company and is very proud of it.
Yesterday we drove down by the Rio Grande and picked some mistletoe for our tree. (did I mention that already?) Anyway, here' some mistletoe, still fresh from its host tree.We took a ride up into the Caballo Mountains this afternoon and had a wonderful time picking rocks and exploring the back roads. I took some videos and may post those on YouTube at some point. I did post a video of our picnic yesterday. You can go to YouTube.com and search for homerhorns or go directly to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0W7cPQ-BsY Guess that's all for now. Time to watch some NetFlix and head to bed.

Picnic on the Rio Grande

Here's a video I did with some new audio recording/editing software I just downloaded (Its FREE! Hooray!) Look for "The Further Adventures of David and Annie in the Great Southwest."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0W7cPQ-BsY

SNOW

Woke up yesterday to snow on the ground. It was mostly gone by mid-afternoon, but it was a bit of a shock. Temperatures have been dipping into the teens at night and in the 40's during the day, but the forecast is for warmer weather over the next few days. We made a trip to Albuquerque earlier this week, and the mountains to the west were snow covered, but this is our first snowfall here in the lowlands (4100 feet).
Our friends Brian and Terry are getting married tomorrow, and we're expecting temp's in the mid-50's. It's kind of an indoor-outdoor thing, so keep your fingers crossed. Annie is the Matron of Honor and she and I are playing music after. (Brian's my trumpet player friend. About a week ago we took a trip to Las Cruces and bought a used keyboard to replace the piano lost in the fire. I also got a small PA system. The keyboard has some pretty sophisticated rhythm and accompaniment features and Annie is playing with Brian and I. She's all excited to be in a band and Brian and I are thankfull we don't have to play with some of the less-than-stellar drummers/bass players/guitarists we've tried over the last few months. Most of the good musicians we've found don't want to actually play more than occassionally and we're looking for semi-steady work. Brian plays Trumpet and Trombone. I do Sax and Guitar. This gives us quite a bit of flexability and we do Western Swing, Jazz, Dixieland (B is from New Orleans), Standards and straight Country. This lineup is small enough to work cheap but have a pretty full sound for a trio. We're playing for the Chamber of Commerce's "Christmas in T or C" on the 11th and also have a tentative New Year's Eve job. That's it for now from the Sunny/Snowy Southwest.

Fall in T or C

Haven't updated the blog for quite some time. Annie and I were talked into joining facebook and have been putting a few pictures up there but have had a few requests to post here. So, here's what we've been up to. (never end a sentence with a preposition! Here's the stuff up to which we've been)

Here's a picture Susannah sent of Bea's Halloween costume. (Matt and Bea LOVE ketchup) Batman is Bea's friend Caspar and my sister Dotty is in the middle. We didn't have any trick or treaters here as we're on an alley off the main drag and nobody finds us here, which is fine by us. We had a frost for a couple of nights around the first of November and had to pick all our tomatoes. With so many green tomatoes, we decided to do some canning and things sort of got out of hand. We met a man who has a roadside produce stand, and he's been giving us produce and taking relish, marmalade, pickles etc to sell. We won't make much money, but it helps pay for the jars. So far we've made ketchup, relish, green tomato pickles, oragnge marmalade, green tomato marmalade (don't knock it till you've tried it), pickled peppers and apple butter. We've also been roasting mild green chili's and keeping them in olive oil in the refridgerator. They're great on sandwiches. After roasting, I peel and de-seed them. They're labor intensive, but one of our new favorite foods. After I had done about 10 pounds under the broiler, Ed, our produce guy, said he would roast 40 pounds for us in exchange for some pickled peppers to sell. Processing those took me two days, but now we've got frozen peppers, canned peppers, marinated peppers, and feel quite wealthy looking at our laden shelves. The weather has definitely turned to fall here. The cottonwoods are yellow and dropping their leaves. There was ice on the birdbath this morning and even in the middle of the afternoon, there's a chill in the air. Annie is sitting out in the sun, where the temperature is in the high 50's, which feels cold to our thinned New Mexican blood. She's also taming the local wildlife.

We took a drive yesterday up to the base of Turtle Mountain. We need new shocks for our van, which isn't really built for the back roads we're exploring, but these places are way too cool to miss. We found devil's claw seed pods, which are now snagging everything in the van's back seat, and brought home a couple of hundred pounds of rock to decorate the garden. Turtleback Mountain, which we see from our door, is a 6,000 foot knob just across the Rio Grande. In the proper light it really does look like a turtle, complete with legs, tail and head.

Hatch, Deming, Kingston and home

We went for a great drive today. Headed south to Hatch to do some banking decided to keep going and see where we'd end up. Made a loop west to Deming, then north toward Silver City. Saw this Huge open pit copper mine that goes on for miles. Mountains ripped up and crushed, with the tailings deposited alongside the original mountain. This is in the mountains just east of Silver City, next to the Gila National Forest. From there we drove east to Kingston (at one time the largest town in NM, now a ghost town) through some absolutely beautiful country. The road is well paved, but twists around like a snake with epilepsy. Here's the straightest, most level stretch we saw. I kept expecting to see my own tail lights up ahead of me. The color of the rocks changes every few hundred yards from red to green to gold to iridescent grey. Was too busy watching the road to take many pictures, but take my word for it, it was spectacular. This is only an hour from home and I can't believe it took us so long to make this trip. Pine and Cedar mixed with Cactus and Agave... then a bunch of cattle and rock outcroppings that look like human figures standing sentinal on ridges high above the road. I now know why they call this the Land of Enchantment.

Had a few pictures I didn't post the other day. We picked tomatoes and basil for sauce. Made a couple of quarts to freeze. We've still got lots of tomatoes to pick, so will have to make salsa in a day or two.

Today, we took a drive south of town, looking for side roads that would take us down to the river. After half an hour on a marginal dirt track, through scrub desert of sand and salt cedar, we came out at the river. At this point, it's right at the base of the Caballo Mountains. Cattle were bunched up in the shallows and we saw several pairs of great blue herons. They always stayed just out of camera range, flying off ahead of us as we drove along through the brush beside the river. I did manage to get a couple of shots, but they don't do justice to these magnificent birds. We also saw what I think were egrets. Same size and build as the herons, but white. Annie got out and poked about a little, but thought every rustle of the wind in the bushes was a rattle snake so didn't venture too far from the car.

It's the middle of October! Got to make some tomato sauce to put in the freezer this week. The nights are getting cool, but it's still in the 70's to mid 80's during the day. We planted peas and lettuce last week and there are already little green shoots sticking their heads up. We might have to cover them for a bit if we get a frost towards the end of November. We've still got zuccini and I'm drying peppers. These things are lethally hot, so we've got enough to last us all winter.

We've been buying the milder chille peppers to use for home made enchilada sauce.

Took a trip to Albuquerque on Sunday to play with the Curio Cowboys, a Western Swing Jam Band. ( www.curiocowboys.com ) Brian hooked me up with them and we drove up together. Annie came too and we met Carrie Spates (a former 3rd floor Homer Triplex tenant) and her daughter Vivian. Brian and I are playing this weekend at the golf course for some sort of convention dinner.

Home Again

Despite nasty bouts with the flu, Annie and I are back at home resting up after a busy couple of weeks. Susannah, Dotty and Bea were here September 8 through the 16th (see slide show in previous post) and we had a great, if tiring, visit. We dropped them off at the Albuquerque Airport last Wednesday, spent the night in a motel, and then had Annie's first appointment with the Rheumatologist in ABQ. Dr. Nunez was wonderful, and put Annie on some new medication, as well as ordering all sorts of X-Rays and Blood Work. There's a possibility that Annie has Lupus, not (or along with) RA. The blood tests should tell us more. Monday we drove to Las Cruces to be with our friend Terry, who is undergoing extensive spinal surgery. While there, we took a couple of drives up into the Organ Mountains. What amazing country. Terry's husband Brian came with us and the two of us hiked around a little while Annie basked in the sun in the parking lot. We saw barrel cactus everywhere. Here in the mountains, it was still in bloom. I had assumed that the desert bloom was over now that fall is upon us, but there are still flowers everywhere, including these huge white, lily-like flowers that I'm told are a kind of gourd. On the way home, I got some pictures of the cotton fields outside of Hatch, almost ready to pick. The red in the background is a field of chile peppers. Most of the chiles are already picked, but a few fields are still being harvested. Don't know if they've mechanized the cotton harvest, but peppers are still picked by hand.

AK2NM - the second generation

Here's a slideshow of our September Visitors

http://picasaweb.google.com/homerhorns/VisitorToNewMexico#

How Cute is This?

Bea, Herbie and Tubby, at home in Homer.

Las Cruces

I mentioned yesterday that we were on our way to Las Cruces for the afternoon. These are the Organ Mountains, seen from town. Cruces, aside from the adobe architecture, could be Anytown, USA: Home Depot, Target, Village Inn and Chili's. We did stop at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum and listened to a lecture on Dowsing. Bought some lumber at HD for bookshelves and also bought a bench grinder for shaping rocks. The weather has started to cool a little. It still gets up to close to 100F, but for a shorter period of time in the afternoon. With a breeze and low humidity, anything in the mid-90's or lower seems quite balmy and pleasant.

Here's a pot we bought down in Hatch a couple of days ago at a great Mexican Import shop. It's got some little tiny vines planted inside. We've been collecting seeds wherever we go and starting them to see what comes up. These are some kind of locusty looking vines that will eventually spill out the mouth of the pot and climb the fence.

How Does Your Garden Grow

Haven't posted for awhile, so here are some garden pictures. The news from our insurance company is good. We have already received a check for 3 months lost rent to enable us to pay the mortgage while renovation is taking place. Ken Swisher has pretty much torn out the interior of the third floor and we're waiting for final numbers on how much they will allow for rebuilding. It should be sufficient to completely gut the building to the studs, re-insulate, wire and plumb everything.
Meanwhile, we continue our life in the sun. We picked our first zuccini a few days ago. Peppers and tomatoes are almost ready, and we've been making pesto from our basil for a month now. (That's basil with the purple flowers.) We went into the desert a couple of days ago and brought back a bag of clay/sand that's perfect for making adobe. I made a little ball and let it dry in the sun. Now I have a perfect little clay marble. Can't wait to try a pot. Not quite ready to set up an adobe brickworks for a house yet, but that may be in our future. Who knows?
We plan on taking a trip to Las Cruces this afternoon. It's about 30-45 minutes south of TorC, and is the nearest big shopping center, with about 80,000 people. It's also near of the Organ Mountains, which we have only seen from a distance, but they are impressive. It's in a lush agricultural area. Can't wait to see what's growing down there.
I'll try to rememer to take the camera and post some photos of that area.
Susannah, Bea and Dotty arrive September 8th for a weeks visit. Can't wait to show them the sights.

Need a New Home for our Fuzzy Boys!

OK, all my friends out there. I need your help. I need a new home for Herbie-the-Bad-Cat and his partner in crime, Tubby. These wonderful companions kept me safe and sane all last winter when I was confined to a recliner 24-7 and would make me laugh with their two tricks, Cat Wrestling and Cat Races. We had asked Dots (their vet) about bringing them with us in the car, and she advised absolutely not, unless they had been riding in cars since they were kittens, which they haven't. We then thought that we could fly them down, but the trip will be gruelling, we are unsure about the dosage and longevity of the kitty-downers we'd have to administer, there would be layovers in Seattle and SLC and then car rides--it's too much to ask of 7-8 year old country cats. So they need new homes. Matt and Susannah and Bea have been caring for them, but they have a little-bitty house and two 18-pound cats are just too much for them. They are good buddies, but both would be fine if they were adopted separately. It breaks my heart, but I also just couldn't inflict that trip on them. Herbie has the longest legs, tail and canines I've ever seen on a cat. He's a clutz; don't scratch his hind end--he doesn't like it. When he sits on you he's so heavy (18 pounds, as I said) you can't get up. Tubby is short and squat and looks like a doorstop when he sits. He has a tail like a cruller. He always lets you know when there's a present in the catbox and when there's not enough dry food in his dish. He weighs 18 pounds too. Both these boys prefer to be outside to do their business but they'll use a box. They like to be outside, except when it's raining and then they'll whine at you. They're funny and frisky and in good health--have had all their shots, etc. You can call Susannah at 299-4317 or 235-2310 to see them. I really hope someone out there will find it in their hearts to share their home with them. Thanks! Love to you ALL.

Insurance and Back Again

After realizing that our tenants in Homer are out of luck because our home-owner/landlord policy doesn't cover renters belongings, we decided to get renters insurance of our own here in TorC. Went to the local Allstate office and spent half an hour getting all the details straightened out and then she sent off the info online to the Big Computer in the Sky and we were declined, most likely because of our pending claim for the Homer fire. So Annie came home and went online herself, found a policy (for about $100/year more) and so now our belongings are insured for $25,000. IF YOU RENT, GET INSURED! It is normally around $10-$15/month. Think about replacing your clothes, dishes, furniture, music, motel while looking for another rental, etc. It's worth it.

End of Rant

On a more positive note, Annie had her first appointment with her new Primary Care Physician this morning, a very nice woman, Haruhauni Spruce, who is about our age and recently went to medical school and opened her first practice here in T or C. We're looking forward to getting to know her better (she lives a few blocks away). Annie is going to start reducing the dosage of Prednisone to see how that works now that we're in the heat. She sees a rheumatologist in Albuquerque next month. She's been feeling well enough to paint some shelves we bought at a yard sale and the other day painted the kitchen cabinet knobs. (It kind of takes the curse off the insipid, lime green cabinet doors.) I found some fittings at the hardware store this afternoon to attach a grinding wheel to a yard-sale electric motor and have been polishing the rough edges of rock slabs all evening. Amazing how easily entertained we are in our dotage.

Just Another Day in the Sun

Basking in New Mexico.

Keeping On Keeping On

Not much news today about the triplex. Susannah was there yesterday with Ken Swisher going through the things that we had stored in our back room. Fire consumed all our Christmas ornaments (lots of gifts from over the years and things that the kids made when they were little). That made me a little sad, but most of our photos are OK we think and most of our artwork. David's instruments are waterlogged but can be recovered and revived, we've lost books but some may get remediated. The piano can be professionally revived. Some furniture is toast, but that's fine. All in all, the two of us were fortunate, I think. Ken thinks that the house can be skun down to the "bones" and then rebuilt. Hoping that the insurance adjuster agrees...Will write more later when I know more. Love to all our friends. Those of you who rent, GET RENTER'S INSURANCE !!!

Triplex Fire

We got a call from Susannah this morning around 7 our time to let us know our Triplex in Homer was on fire. It apparantly started in some wiring and spread up the wall between the shed and the house, eventually burning the roof on the third floor. Some of our tenant's friends were on the deck around midnight and saw a glow from inside the shed. They saw flames and called 911 and got everyone out. One of our third floor tenants ran around the back of the house and stepped on a bed-frame leaning against the wall. It smacked him in the face and broke a couple of teeth. He had to have his lip stitched up at the ER. Annie and I have been on the phone all day talking to the insurance company and arranging for Kenny Swisher (KAS Construction) to go over this afternoon and tarp the roof and board up broken windows etc to prevent further damage.

The fire apparantly traveled up the wall between the shed and the house, getting into the third floor roof. As I understand it, the shed is pretty much gone and the roof has gaping holes with sheetrock torn down on the third floor to provide access to put the fire out. First and second floors have extensive smoke and water damage. We don't know how much of our stuff (photos, artwork, books etc.) survived.

The good news is, it's just stuff. Annie and I are fine and in New Mexico. The bad news is that our tenants have lost all their stuff and have nowhere to live. Raspberry Lane Pre-School was scheduled to open there next month and already had supplies there. Jeremy Youngblood (Fiddlehead Salon) was on the second floor. His friend, Rene Blanton, had her things stored in the shed (former shed.) Bogdon Baciu and Wayne Wormington rented the third floor, and it appears they lost everything. We just heard that Bogdon has a terminally ill family member in the mid-west and he has no money to travel back there. Susannah has opened an account at Wells Fargo to help the tenants out and if any of our friends can contribute, we would be grateful. Just tell them it's the East Hill House Fire Fund. We always tell our tenants that they should really get renters insurance as our policy won't cover their belongings, but most people don't ever do that, I know we never did when we were renting. I'll pass along more details later.

Birdlife of New Mexico

I haven't written anything for a while, so thought I should post an update. We've been having a great time sitting in the shade for a good part of the day while my rock-saw buzzes away at the piles of rocks we keep bringing home. We read and watch the birds, which flock to our feeder in huge numbers. I finally got a couple of good pictures of these rosy finches. I haven't bothered to take photos of the numerous other finches, barn swallows, and sparrows, as they all look alike to me. The white winged dove juveniles sit on our fence and wait for a willing adult to feed them... very comical. We've also been on several great drives out of town. The other day we went to Montecello, an almost Ghost Town about half an hour northwest of TorC. It's a charming little village in a large valley smack dab in the middle of the flattest desert you can imagine. We found a dirt county road that circled back to the highway and found some great rock picking along the way. We also came upon a buzzard enjoying lunch at the expense of a recently flattened jack rabbit. DO NOT click on this picture to enlarge it if you are a) squeamish or b) a bunny hugger... but everybody's got to eat, right? We also took another drive up Mud Mountain, where we got some beautiful chunks of candy rock (rhiolite) that I've been sawing up. So little time, so many rocks! Annie is knitting up a storm. I continue to play a little music and do a little maintenance here at the house we're renting. The other day the swamp cooler went on the fritz and I had to tinker with the pump to get it running again. The cooler recirculates the water which evaporates to cool the air. There is so much disolved calcium that it plugs everything up. The filters look like there's snow on them and the pump gets filled with sediment. Today, I had to fix a ceiling fan that was rattling around threatening to take off like an upside-down helicopter. This is much nicer than trying to fix a heater when the weather is below zero!!! The humidity ranges from 45-50% at 6am to 13% during the hottest part of the afternoon. It is quite pleasant most of the day, with only a few hours when standing in the sun is like sticking your head in the oven. It still makes my jaw drop to see someone walking down the street wearing a jacket and long pants when the temperature is hovering around 100 degrees. I'm assuming those people are suffering from being dropped on their heads in infancy. But in the words of my favorite recent country song "God is Great, Beer is Good, and People are Crazy." (Actually, that's my second favorite recent country song. My #1 is: "I gave up drinkin', smokin' and women last night, and it was the worst 15 minutes of my life."