I know, I know.... I don't write, I don't call, I don't post... but I'm alive. There's so much to catch up on so get comfortable. This could be another long one.
I thought it would be fun to take a couple of false-started blogs I wrote (one to show you I did try to write and two, to show how shit just keeps changing around here) and add in the updates/changes/OMG's to them. Then we can move on to all the things not covered in those. Previously written parts are in orange.
From sometime in August:
I'm sitting in bed with my cup of coffee on the stand next to me and Blip on my feet listening to the rainfall. Yes! Finally, some rain is falling here. The gutter is finally getting tested and seems to be working catching the rain, for now, in two 5-gallon buckets. The plan is to hook up a bigger, better, more efficient rain catch system but all things take time and money and a constantly fluctuating priority list. For now, I'm content to hear the rain and gather enough water for the next load of laundry. Holy crap folks! We've had so much rain here at MME! On October 2 we had a deluge of rain that pummeled and pounded us. The rain came down so hard and fast, the "yard" became a lake and the small washes became rushing rivers. (This was a preview of things to come but you never know these things at the moment) It washed out the road in several places and sent TONS of water down the washes. The dry wash at the end of the driveway was massively flooded and it changed the course of the wash in multiple places. It went over the little bridge used to get out to civilization washing out chunks of the road and leaving detritus stuck in the railing. The county came out and "closed" the bridge. They also sent a grader out and worked on the washed-out places on the road so it was more passable. There is a drive-around for the bridge that cuts through the wash....hello! but that's only passable when it's normal. I will get to why that's not an option in our current times. The bridge is still closed and in the same condition as right after the deluge but the closed signs have been nudged out of the way and tracks show that the bridge is being used regularly.
I did get the water tank set up to catch the rain (after the big Oct. 2 rain) and it has overflowed on multiple occasions this winter. The gutter has some leaks in it and I have all I need to fix it but it has literally not dried out enough to get up there. The "yard" has been either a sole (or soul depending on the day) sucking mud pit of water or an ice skating rink for all of January.
There are so many things to do and everything seems like a top priority, and they are, but there are some things more "top" than others. Living out here requires one to step back and take stock of one's needs. Life is all about the seasons here and even though summer is still in full swing, we have broken out of the 100-degree days and into the 90s (today 80s!) and so I feel even more of a push to prioritize preparation for the upcoming winter. I've spent most of the summer working on the studio so the upcoming winter is more comfortable than the last one and it has consumed the majority of my time. The photos show the progression. It was a fun, confidence building excercise and it has been pleasantly warm, dry, and comfy inside all winter.
We have visitors coming end of this month and the end of September to stay for a few days so we're getting things ready here. Making sure there's plenty of water, food, toiletries, etc. Trying to set expectations on the toiletries.... it's, hmmm, what to call it.... it's a modern form of primitive? It was wonderful having each of them here and they were good "campers". It's fascinating to watch people's reactions to MME and the desert. I think there's always a bit of "wow, this is REMOTE" in the beginning and ends on a "wow, this is beautiful and so quiet" by the end. Connie and Emily, feel free to elaborate in the comments! It had been a long time since seeing either of them and it was great catching up. It was good to laugh about things with others rather than laughing at myself by myself.
Ordered a propane fridge for the... I'm sure this was cut short due to the fucking absolute CRAZINESS that occurred trying to get that frickin fridge. It was too ridiculous to actually try to put it into words at the time. I will try to give you the short version.... for sure shorter than the process itself took. Obviously, they could not deliver the fridge to my location...so I reached out to friends in a nearby town to see if I could have it delivered to their place which they kindly agreed to. When I ordered it, there was an option to be able to give a day and time for delivery, which I took, so I could be there when it was delivered so my friends wouldn't have to deal with it. It was a long estimated delivery time to begin with, 4 weeks, but as the time grew closer to the estimated delivery date, I was not seeing any movement on the order except it had shipped and at one point changed carriers. This prompted my FIRST call to Amazon. (yes, I ordered it through Amazon for financial reasons that were to my benefit). This call led to multiple calls to the two shipping companies (after talking to multiple people I was convinced the fridge was stuck in Moab, Utah, about an hour from me and 30 minutes from where it was to be delivered) and a follow-up call to Amazon that basically ended with no one knew where the fridge was but it wasn't lost (I'm not making that up)......literally hours of being on the phone for this process (I counted it up and it was around 5 hours over several days) and nobody believing me that it was most likely in Moab, they decided I should just cancel the original order for a refund and order a new one. I was skeptical, to say the least. I had no less than 3 Amazon reps calling me daily to check in and one in particular who went out of her way to give me several discounts and gift cards for all the craziness because she couldn't get any answers either. So, after much trepidation, and specifically asking that the original be canceled and not be delivered should it ever magically be found after not being lost, I canceled the original and ordered a new one. Needless to say, I followed the process of this very closely and saw very few updates...it shipped but that was all. I called and checked the status with Amazon daily, yes, daily, to see what the status was. One day (three days before the estimated delivery date of the second ordered fridge) I happened to check online and the order said it was scheduled for delivery THAT DAY between some this time and that time, I don't recall what exactly it was but it was less than 2 hours from the time I happened to see the update! Remember, this is being delivered to my friend's place and I needed to be there to accept delivery. This meant hooking up my trailer and driving 40 minutes to their place... so I called Amazon and was assured this was just a glitch in the system with the original order and there was no way it would be delivered that day. No way. Uh-huh. No less than an hour later I got a call from my friends asking where I was because, yep, the delivery service was there with the fridge. I knew this had to be the "lost, but not lost, then yes maybe lost, canceled, refunded" original order, and technically I should not accept it but I needed a fridge and there was no way I was letting it go back. So I asked them to just have the guys drop it somewhere out of their way and I would hook up my trailer and be there as soon as I could, apologizing profusely to them for having to deal with this at all. It was an emotional mixture of elation, frustration, and anxiety on an extreme level. (Remember, this is the SHORT version) I got hooked up and drove way faster than I should have over the rocky, rutted, dirt road, trailer, and dolly bouncing like crazy, and arrived about an hour later. they helped me get the fridge on the trailer, I tied it down and drove much more slowly back home. I had another friend who had volunteered to help me get it in the house (bless her!) but she wouldn't be available until later in the day and needed me to meet her halfway to show her where I live...which required me to get the fridge off the trailer so I wouldn't have to bounce it on the road back and forth meeting her. By the time I got it off the trailer I decided that I would just get it in by myself.....so I did. It's only 150 lbs and I move 100 lbs around here all the time so what the hell. Work smarter, not harder. Once I got the fridge all hooked up and running smoothly, I then had to figure out what to do about the second fridge that I KNOW is on its way. Do I call Amazon and let them know? Do I just keep both? I don't need, nor do I have room to run two....I could sell the second one. But that requires dealing with people I don't know and then I would have to deliver it to the person because I don't want them coming here. Also, it just seemed dishonest even though I felt I earned it with all the anxiety it produced. I even called some friends for advice. (They said keep it haha) In the end, (but not quite the end of this saga) I decided I would call Amazon and let them know. Now this part, you would think, would be easy right? I'm doing the right thing, letting them know I received a fridge and to cancel/stop/delete/whatever, the other one (whichever order that might or might not be) so there is no loss to anyone. Well, it was another hour+ long phone call bouncing around from department to department as they tried to figure out how to cancel the second one (which is now paid for) and make right the first one (which was refunded). During this hour+ long phone call, I finally made it to someone with actual power and knowledge at Amazon and they tried in vain to figure out how to make the system right, while at the same time going through what must now be pages of communication regarding my order. In the end, taking pity on my tribulations, the guys said that they would refund the second fridge and I could keep the first one and do whatever I wanted with it.......after a moment of mental calculations on this I said, "do you mean you are refunding my money and I can keep the fridge...for free?!?" He chuckled and said "yes, ma'am. You have been through enough and I want to make this right for you". I literally LOL'd and told him if he were close enough I'd hug him and buy him a drink! So, I ended up with a mighty fine, free fridge which has served MME well all winter. The end. Finally. Thank doG I went for the short version. Oh, not quite the end, after ensuring me the second fridge was canceled and would not be delivered, I got a call from my friends a few days later saying there was another fridge being delivered for me...... I told her to tell them to take it back at which point the delivery guy says "that's probably a good thing because this one apparently got dropped somewhere along the way..." Now the end. Really. Whew! You just can't make this shit up.
Sometime in September
The beginning of September brought more heat to MME. Back into the 100s for a week which, after the cooler days, was a little harder to bare. The garden is still producing a few tomatoes but most have died back. The basil, arugula, chives, and green onion are still going strong. I've decided to not continue the garden through the winter as originally planned. I want to pull out the logs that made the path down the middle and make it one huge garden for next year. I'm planning to fill in more dirt, add a layer of straw, and another layer of dirt and let it sit for the winter. Should make for a bigger, better garden especially now that I know that there are hotter and cooler areas so I can lay things out to capitalize on that. I'm in the process of creating a list of all the things I want to grow and over the winter I can draw up a map of where things will go. There was not a lot of plant planning this season since I was late to get everything in due to the greenhouse still being the building process! Best laid plans.... that didn't happen. The October deluge flooded the greenhouse (not damage but not able to work in it due to mud vs dirt and it didn't dry out until around January at which point the dirt I wanted to add was frozen and the yard was a mud pit. I just got out there a few days ago and cleaned out the old stuff, removed the logs and spread some of the dirt and straw around, but the earth outside is still frozen so I can't add more dirt yet. Still trying to figure out how to keep water out should another "50 year rain" as the locals are calling it, happens sooner than another 50 years from now. I ordered my seeds and will be picking them up today, I've worked up a plan for planting, and the weather app says we hit the 40's starting next week so I'm hoping to get the seeds potted and the dirt filled in by the end of February.
And that ends the entries I tried to get started on over the last several months. If you're still with me, I'll try and update on all the other happening in and around MME. For those not on Facebook, we added a new critter control contingent. I adopted 4 barn cats to help with the vermin that created a condominium out of the shed, ate waaaay too many seeds I planted last year, and continually raided the chicken coop cramming feed into their cheeks until they can't run without bouncing their chins on the ground.
It was originally supposed to be just one cat and I understood her to be feral. (When I filled out the application I explained my past work with casts and said "I will happily take the most unadoptable feline in your program") and so, when they said they had just the cat for me, I pictured this hulking Tom with a missing ear, a map of scars, a huge head, and who walked like a bear ready to fight and eat any living creature who came near. Instead, they show me this petite grey kitty who came up and rubbed my leg, leaned into pets, and allowed us to pick her up and put her in the crate. I asked if this cat was really part of the barn program and the lady just chuckled and said "yep". Off we go back to MME and the comfy shed I set up for her. (After a totally embarrassing 5 minutes that felt like hours of trying to get Blip, who had squeezed past the barricade I had set up, bolted out the back past the cat, me and the shelter lady, to sprint to each and every outdoor run and scream at the canine occupants, safely back into Thelma. Have I mentioned that she can, and is in most situations, dog aggressive? OMG!)
Back at MME, I put the petite, little charmer into the shed leaving her in the crate to avoid an expected mad dash to the door at feeding time and I wanted to give her time to adapt to being here before she ran helter-skelter out into the desert. The plan was to keep her in there for a week or so and then let her out into the shed for a week before adding a pet door for her to come and go at will. Remember, I was under the assumption that she was feral. I went out to the shed a couple of times a day to check in on food, water, and litter and to sit and let her get used to me. Every time I went out she rubbed on the crate, meowed sweetly, and would lean into my petting her through the bars.....I was beginning to question this feral barn cat and after only two days, I just let her out. What a charmer. She would meet me at the shed door and rub against my legs, begging for a pet, and then follow me around the place while I did chores. She would come and watch me do laundry laying in the sun and rolling in the dirt. It turns out Aggi is what I call "an aggressive communicator". If she doesn't want to be touched, she bypasses the subtle communications such as tail switching or hissing and goes straight to swat n bite. Fine by me. I can relate. She's actually very human-oriented on her own terms. She and Blip still have a long way to go but my money is on Aggi for the win.
While at the shelter picking up Aggi they told me about 3 other kitties, younger and definitely feral, who needed a working farm but would need to be caught (they were already in the shelter but still needed to be trapped!) to get spayed/neutered. A few days later they called and said to come get them. So off I went again, this time leaving Blip at home (I CAN learn), to pick up the new guys. These guys are definitely wild and have no desire for human interaction....except for food delivery service. They had been with Aggi previously so everyone got along and they all followed Aggi around (much to her dismay) so I wasn't concerned about them running off and went ahead and installed the pet door. All in all, it took less than a week. They hardly left the shed for close to a week unless Aggi was with them. I named them Mori, Cisco, and Koko and they have all adapted well to life at MME. (there was one encounter with Koko and the jeep I'll have to write about later....nobody died, except maybe me, a little, on the inside) At night I would step out and there would be 4 sets of cat eyes blinking at me, glowing from the light of my headlamp. Never failed to make me chuckle.
With the water, mud, and ice we've had this winter, they have not ventured much out of the shed. Koko and Mori I only see through the pet door I installed. Aggi and Cisco meet me every morning for the ritual ice-breaking, fresh water, and food.... and then Cisco promptly goes out to drink the muddy water or lick the ice instead. Go figure. Right after they got here I saw an extreme drop in the critter activity (there are definitely no more mice in the condominium) but since the mud pond in the yard occurred, the critters at the chicken coop have ramped up their raiding again. I can watch them from my kitchen window....with a slight smile followed by the mumbled words "Where are those fucking cats?!?" I'm afraid I've overfed them this winter and they're all a little on the plump side...but it's cold and an extra layer of fat is a good thing...at least that's what I tell myself regarding my own winter plump.....
Dragon has had a great winter. He has not bromated and has stayed pretty active, from a lazy lizard point of view. He has continued to eat well and has on multiple occasions bumped his nose against the glass of his tank to let me know he wants out. This is almost always on a sunny day and he will chase the sun spots around the studio until they're gone. A couple of times recently he's bumped his nose against the door to go outside. (as least that's my interpretation) Maybe he has cabin fever as well. But it is certainly not warm enough yet to let the cold-blooded creature run in the yard.
The past week has been the coldest so far this winter I think. It's been pretty mild (hence the rain) with only a snow shower here and there. And we had some 20 mph winds which did a great job of drying up the water in the yard. It's still muddy in the afternoon and everything thaws out so I try to get all the outside chores done while it's still frozen. I much prefer the slip-and-slide on ice to the shoe-sucking walk in the mud. It was so bad at one point that if I paused in my stride for any length of time, my foot would actually be stuck and I would have to yank it free.
Blip on the other hand, has had a very boring winter. We hardly got out for weeks at a time except to feed and water all the animals. Any day that had the sun shining we would hike but they were few and far between. She's a trooper though and I have laughed on more than one occasion watching her run through the mud, sinking in over her ankles, to keep up with me. Until that is, we had to back inside and the mud was still caked to her legs, splashed on her belly, and about to be distributed all over the inside of the studio. Not laughing then. Even after wiping her feet with a rag, this mud will not be deterred, little dog paw prints were all over everywhere. Every. Single. Time. We. Went. Outside. Nope. Not laughing then.
So once again the desert has given me a new challenge.... create higher ground paths for future wet seasons. This is not a small feat but not impossible. I do need to obtain a piece of equipment to move all the dirt that I still have in mounds from the greenhouse. The plan is to create elevated pathways to all the locations I need access to regularly...driveway, studio, shed, and compost... the chickens, and the path I already have to the greenhouse are high enough. I had thought about creating a pond near the greenhouse but my friend Mark mentioned creating a mosquito habitat if I did that and after giving it some thought I've decided to avoid that. I hope to be able to create some swales and lower depressions around the perimeter to catch and hold the water in the ground for plants, trees, shrubs, etc. All hopefully food producing as well as a windbreak for the crazy spring winds and shade for some smaller herbs and such. I'm sure somewhere down the line there will be an update on how much that all changed...... But it is constantly giving beautiful views and scenes.
I got the soler system all hooked up and Mark helped me get the panels on the roof back in December before the mud pit happened. Thank doG. I also bought a bigger generator after I sold the RV... oh yea! I sold the RV. I'm sure I've missed a million other things I should have updated you all on! The bigger generator was a life saver since we rarely saw the sun and no sun no solar no power. With more sunshine the solar system seems to be holding up well and I have the power I need for now. Still a few kinks to work on and it should be dry enough to actually use the ladder again soon so I can finish up.
I guess this has turned into quite a long missive on life at MME. Hope your coffee didn't cold or your cocktail didn't get diluted by the melting ice. I didn't even get to the amazing day Mark took me floating on the Colorado River in his kayak, that day included a rattlesnake, two nesting eagles, and a herd of elk! Damn! But, I still need to upload photos for this and it's time for my breakfast so I think I'll stop for now, get the photos uploaded, and hopefully get this out to you all today.
Until next time, so you don't get stuck in the mud, keep Movin' On.