Time moves differently here in the desert. Hours progress into days and days into months, seemingly in the blink of an eye. The difference from previous experiences of time is that I am aware of all the moments that tie time together and appreciate the changes that time brings here. The desert right now is a canvass of color painted in shades of green and brown grasses with fabulous splashes of white, yellow, purple, pink, and orange flowers. The colors of life in the desert. Life that scrabbles and fights to push forth colors and scents against seemingly impossible odds. There are so many lessons to take from this.
The winds have been beyond crazy lately. As with every season since I've been here, I'm told this is not the norm. Colder than normal winter. Cooler than normal spring. Greener than normal spring. And, the winds, which started earlier and are consistently stronger, than normal. It has blown seemingly non-stop for over a month. Never-ending dust and grit. Constant rocking of the RV. It can make you crazy. I've seen bikers on the Kokopelli, fighting against the wind as they pedal the trail and I wonder how they do it... and more importantly, why? It's insane.
The cows are finally gone. I've seen two cows and a calf wandering a few times but the majority are gone. It's good to not have to worry about them anymore. Just have to get the fencing finished before they are back in the fall. The horses are also gone and I do miss having them around. There are still sheep in the area but they don't come as far as my place. I see them when I make supply runs. They all have babies which are adorable to see and watch... but I'm glad they stay far away from the homestead.
The chickens are doing well. Three more have joined the flock and one went back to Eileen's. Her feathers were trying to come in but the others kept plucking them so we thought it best to isolate her again until her feathers can come in fully. Then she can come back. I love having them here. They don't seem to mind the wind at all... even when it blows their feathers up over their heads! They love running around eating and scratching. They have decimated the ants around here and I'm hoping they will eradicate the huge, black spiders that have shown up. I've only seen two but for anyone who knows me, spiders are the one creature that completely FREAKS ME OUT! And these sons a bitches ARE FUCKING HUGE! And please, spare me the "spiders are good pest control" bullshit. I try hard to live and let live for all creatures but I take exception for the Black Oil Beetles and spiders. (Even the chickens won't touch the beetles so I've had to spend a little karma on killing those whenever I see them)
I've had some nibblers in my greenhouse that eat all of my strawberries before I can and they continue to nibble on my spinach and will dig up my seeds if I don't have them covered. Blip has caught a couple of mice and several Kangaroo rats and I caught a mouse in a bucket totally by accident. The ones that Blip catch don't survive but the one I got in the bucket took a ride down the road a couple of miles and was released. I'm sure he/she is back by now but I just couldn't bring myself to kill it. I've started looking for a "barn cat" that can help with small rodents. Again, I would prefer to live peaceably with them but stealing my food is no Bueno. I also came upon a snake under one of the strawbales when I started building a hoop tunnel. I'm still not sure what kind it was but we moved it to the other side of the driveway in the hopes it will grow to be big enough to catch a nibbler or two. I keep saying "If you build it they will come" since there were very few critters here when I first arrived. With the addition of water and food to the area, more and more critters appear.
Other than what the nibblers have taken, the garden is doing great. Spinach, red lettuce, chives, chamomile, and green onions are being harvested as needed and I have a mix of lettuce from seeds that are getting there. I panted a few potatoes as a test and they have sprouted. Since it's gone so well, I will do a full bed of those, half white and half sweet. The tomato plants are growing and it's time to tie them up. I'm going to try a string method I've seen and see how that goes. I have one tomato "bush" that already has one little tomato on it...at least until the nibblers get it. I have several types of cucumbers at various stages, both from seed and a couple of plants I purchased, and two different types of melons from seed that are not quite ready to put in the ground yet. The melons will go in the new hoop tunnel I recently built and the cucumbers will be split with some in the greenhouse and some in the hoop tunnel garden. I'm on my third try at growing beets from seed. They die as soon as I transplant them. I'll let these go longer and see how it goes. I have lots basil at various stages of growth, thyme coming in, and one gorgeous lemon thyme that's thriving. Still waiting for the onions to come up from seed. I bought three different types of lavender that are still in containers... I'm waiting on a building to be delivered before I put them out so I don't have to worry about them being run over. I've had no luck with peas so far but I'm trying one more time... the nibblers LOVE the pea seeds and small plants. And I have one blackberry and one raspberry still in containers that I'm waiting until the freaking wind stops to put out. All in all, the greenhouse has been a success and it's held up in all the wind. No small accomplishment on so many levels.
Watering here is always a challenge but I was able to park the second water tank right outside the window part of the greenhouse and run a hose down so now I can water the garden via a hose without having to lug buckets. It was a genius idea if I do say so myself.
Over the last couple of weeks I kept hearing turkeys over towards the river. On a hike the other day Blip and I saw two of them. We also scared up a deer... the first I've seen around here. Fortunately, it was at the end of a long hike and Blip was too tired to chase either of them very far. I wasn't able to get a photo of the deer and the turkey photo is pretty blurry but it was a treat to see new species of wildlife that isn't eating out of my garden!
There were campers up the road the other day shooting off guns. I don't have an issue with guns... but my faith in humans is so low that I was sure they were going to fire off random shots in our direction so I was happy to see them leave. Of course, even without the guns, I'm always happy when campers I can see leave the area. lol But I can understand the draw of staying here.
I was recently lucky enough to re-connect with a long-lost cousin. I say long lost because we never really spent any time together when we were younger. We always lived far away from each other. She reached out to connect and then came to camp for a couple of days. It was a good visit and so good to connect and share stories of our lives. Life is so strange.
The rest of this month we have friends coming to the area to visit so I have a feeling the rest of May will fly by and the new building (studio) should arrive in June. The summer has so many projects, finish the inside of the studio, finish the fencing, build a small greywater system, harvest and replant the garden.... I want to put up a real clothesline and build a couple of small-scale swales so I can plant some fruit trees this fall. And I would really love to build a bit of a windbreak on the southwest side before next year's windy season. Seriously, the fucking wind is insane right now.
Right now I'm going to go make some breakfast... Cream of Wheat with honey, blueberries, almonds, a smidge of butter, and cinnamon has been a go-to this winter and spring. Hearty, healthy, and oh so yummy!
Until next time, keep Movin' On and thanks for continuing to follow along. :-)