I have not written a blog post in a couple of months. There are multiple reasons, i.e. excuses, that I could give.... I've been busy. It's been hot. The wind continues to muddle my mind. All of these are true to some extent. But the truth is that the world is moving into ever darker stages and places. And so, every time I sit to write, this is where my mind goes. I think I need to swear off of news altogether and stick to my own small little world.
Projects are still in progress at MME.... the garden is doing well. Tomatoes are coming in fast now and I am able to eat some every day. The grape tomatoes have ended up being my snack while I water so they very rarely make it out of the greenhouse before being eaten. I have lots of basil and I love to wrap a piece of it around one of the tomatoes, both still warm from the heat of the day, and eat it while I water. The carrots will be ready soon although I confess to having eaten one or two while they were still small. I'm holding off on the potatoes until the green part dies off based on information from those who know much more than me. The arugula is doing great. Enough for me and Dragon (and even Blip!) to share so far. The lettuce struggles. Just too hot for it. But I will grow more in the fall and hopefully over the winter. The cucumber plants have also struggled and I've lost more than have made it but are growing now and I even have two flowers! Very excited to see if they make it. I think I'll have to chalk this season up as a learning curve and lay things out differently next summer now that I've learned how the sun hits and heats certain areas and how some plants do better in certain spots. Everything is a learning curve out here.
I have a project going that has consumed much of my time over the last two months in research and implementation. I have chosen to not share this project for various reasons and I only mention it here as another "excuse" for not having blogged recently. It has consumed the majority of my days in one way or another and I'm happy to say that it's coming along really well.
I'm sad to report that we had to put Roosti down last month. He had a wound open up on his chest that wouldn't heal which turned out to be a tumor. He was old and he lived a good life his last few years. He was a rescue many years back and was in bad shape but he had a wonderful life with his rescuer and, I hope anyway, the last few months at MME. So we are down to 4 hens, 3 of which lay more eggs than I can eat on my own. One hen, Sammy, is old too and is living out her retirement years with me. She turned one of my pots (which had been growing chamomile) into her own private dirt bath and she has kind of become the leader since Roosti left.
I have hummingbirds every day now and experienced a magical moment when one flew into the greenhouse and couldn't get back out. I was using a small shovel I have in there to try to move the little guy towards the door and after several times of getting him to the end with the door but NOT down and out the door, I held the shovel up and still in front of him and, to my utter astonishment, he landed on the shovel and sat there while I moved him over to and then out the door where he looked around and then flew off. Such an amazing and magical moment. I still get goose bumps thinking about it.
Vermin is still an ongoing battle and we have added Pack Rats to the enemy combatant list. These guys are regulars at the chicken feeder inside the coop overnight and I actually caught one in a mouse trap in the garden. Since the demise of that unlucky creature, there has been no more destruction of the vegetation. They seem to be fearless and do not scurry and run away when I walk out to check on the chickens overnight. Buggers. Motion lights would probably help but I hate to add light pollution to my star gazing. The chicken feed has also attracted more birds which I'm enjoying... I have not yet identified them but I promise to try to do that in the near future and update everyone.
The sunrises and sunsets have been amazing lately. I haven't been as good about getting photos as I'm usually deep into the new project that I started and I catch the view as I work. It's so f'ing hot that I can only concentrate on one task at a time so adding in a "photo shoot" just isn't happening. I've watched several thunderstorms off in the distance but sadly, we've only received one good rain and one small drizzle. The day after the good rain I had confirmation that I am no longer physically able to live anywhere east of NM when the humidity hit 50%. (It's typically around 15 to 20%) I felt like I was sitting in a sauna. I wonder how I ever lived in the Mid West or North East. (since writing this we had a major rain storm here and actually got enough water in the barrel from the chicken coop to water them)
Needless to say, with only the barest of rain here, it is dry, dry, dry, and seeing the lightning off in the distance is a bit nerve-wracking. Dry cheat grass, super winds, and lightning seem like a good recipe for a wild fire.... but so far so good. (the rain storm we did get dried up in 24 hours so it's still dry, dry, dry)
On the hot, hot days Blip and I will head to the river and spend the afternoon sitting on the bank and dipping in the cold Colorado River. I've watched so much wildlife hunting the river section... birds of all kinds have made their home on the banks and I watched two cranes fly from one bank to the other to sit and hunt. They were spectacular. Although I did take photos with my phone it was impossible to get a good shot of them. I was not aware that cranes were in this area and at first thought they were herons but the miraculous Google, knower of all things, confirmed they were cranes.
I found this dude just outside the RV one day. I had no idea what it was but my friend Jess informed me it was a Goldsmith Beetle which is relatively uncommon. That having been said, this is the only one I saw and it was already dead. I can see why the Egyptians were so enamored with the scarabs.
I found another water tank that I'm going to pick up this week. This will bring us up to a total of about 900 gallons of water storage. My plan is to have one tank for the garden which will also be the tank I use to transport water, one for washing, drinking, cooking, etc, and one for catching rain (should it actually rain enough here to fill one tank) that will be used for chickens, plants that are not in the garden and other non-potable water needs. This plan, like all other plans here at MME, is subject to change due to lessons from the universe.
We've found multiple scorpions this summer, a couple of snakes, and the newest addition to the "Oh My Fucking God" list is Black Widow spiders. These, of course, scare the bejesus out of me and you can forget ever seeing a photo of one because there is no way in hell I'm getting close enough to take a photo. I've only had one near the RV and through some miracle, I was able to actually kill it (no, I do not feel guilty or have any remorse) and the others are in the greenhouse (bitches!) and come out when I water. I am now on constant high alert when I'm in there. Dr. Google says:
"Frequently, treat the surroundings of your home with good pesticide. Use sticky traps in darker areas to catch the spiders. Use organic pesticides and insecticides for gardens and surroundings. If you spot a black widow spider, try not to disturb it, but do not leave the process of killing it unfinished."
Can that be any more UNHELPFUL??? Any tips or tricks you might have would be appreciated. I have already considered shooting them but feel that would be detrimental to the plastic sheeting.... however, it is not off the table of reasonable solutions. Pesticides (I'm skeptical of organic pesticides doing more than pissing these obnoxious ladies off) and sticky traps are not reasonable options. You can judge what I consider reasonable as you see fit.
Dragon is doing very well and has shed his skin once again. One google search said that they shed only when they grow but further research has "shed" light on the fact that they stop growing around 18 months and shed only once or twice a year. I also found information that senior dragons take about 3 weeks to fully shed so we can now confirm that he is in his senior years. We believe he's around 9 or 10 (?) and they live 10 to 15 years (according to Dr. Google) so that would seem accurate. He is living the retired senior dragon's dream and still loves his walks and sunning himself in the cool mornings and loves his arugula and blueberry salads. He's also decided he likes cantaloupe which is great because it has very high water content. He also likes scrambled eggs which we have an abundance of and is good for protein and is much better than crickets which do not last in this heat and I hate to have around. We do supplement with mealworms which are much easier to keep and don't smell or make noises or escape and freak out the human. Too bad he can't catch and eat spiders.....
Blip is also doing great. She keeps busy during the cooler hours chasing bunnies (she even caught, killed and ate most of one before I saw her for which I do feel some remorse). I have a scrap wood pile that has homed at least one litter of rabbits (and probably a million f'cking Black Widows!) which I had planned to move but they had babies before I could so it will stay there at least until the middle of winter when all bunnies are gone and spiders are dead. Again, judge as you see fit but I am not touching that pile until it's frozen solid and I have to dig it out of the snow with a pick ax.
(be sure to click on the picture of Blip's ears)
Well, I think this brings us up to date so far. Hope everyone is surviving whatever weather catastrophe global warming is bringing to you this year and I encourage all of you to binge-watch The Handmaid's Tale so you are prepared for the religiously run political system to come.
Until next time it's in your best interest to keep Movin' On.