If summer comes, can fall be far behind?

Ah, the garden has finally yielded nectar of the Gods, or in simple language, I finally got a tomato!  Let me show you my little garden of Eden here.  At first glance it may appear to be a patch of weeds.  That would be the untrained eye! 

See, if you just look way down here you can see a squash.  I planted two full packets of squash so the geese would have lots.  One packet was yellow summer squash and the other was zucchini which is there favorite.  I have 26 squash plants and only 2 of them are zucchini.  Big thank you to Monsato for that one, I am sure.

 

Here is the beginning of a yellow squash.  It is about 2 inches long.

And here is a bunch of them getting ready to be made into goose food.  See, if I pick them when they are 5-6 inches long and slice and sauté them with a little garlic and maybe a green onion....oh they are so good.  But then the skin is no longer smooth they are almost impossible to chop let alone eat.  The geese do not know the difference.  Stupid geese!

Now if you look real close here you can spot a little watermelon.  It is about 3 inches across and is going to have to do some growing if it wants me to eat it, and better yet, if it does not want to get frozen and have wasted all the summer trying to grow for nothing!  Geese don't even like green watermelons!

Some where over there on the west side are some potato vines, but I have learned that I need to wait until the vines dry up or I will have no potatoes.  I do not know why the call them "vines" because they grow straight up like a tomato plant.  Well, come to think of it, they call those "vines" also.  Here is one of them and if you can see a tomato, more power to you.

But, while I was rooting around there, I did find a big red tomato.  Hell, I almost jumped out of my skin!  What you see here was lunch yesterday.  Sorry you missed it, but there was only enough for one, and what can I say?

Oh, look!  Here is the angel Lyn set in my garden to make it produce and keep it safe.  I am thinking this little chickadee is falling down on the job!  But then again, I did get that tomato.

Now,  look what is right over the fence!  This is my New Mexico Sunflower taking over the area between the Choke Cherry Bush and the actual garden area.  That is where I bury all my pets, so it is some very fertile ground.  This is the first time I have had blooms for a while, because if you remember, the Llama's were over there for several years and they liked to eat them and they had very long necks and really big teeth!

 

Remember this?

So there you have my garden.  I have been telling myself for 40 years that next year I will do better and nothing has changed;  I grow weeds and occasionally God will toss me out a little something to eat.  But, you know what?  It has worked pretty good so far, so why mess with something that works?  Like momma always said..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun to have with a carrot on a snowy day.

Well, a bag of carrots, a couple Llama's, lot of snow, and a vegetarian dog makes for a fun slide show.  No animals were harmed in the making of this slide show.

I went to Safeway's and got a bag of carrots along with a lot of other stuff and when I got home and opened the carrots I found they had roots and greenery.  Sorry, not my idea of fresh.  I will not buy a bag next time that I can not see through.  So I figured this was my fault.  Since I live in the County it would have taken more gas to return them then they cost.  Once more, one of the lessons I have learned.

So I took my bag of carrots and my trusty camera and went to the side fence and called to the Llama's.  Of course they came.  I stuck the carrots in the fence to free my hands and then we talked.  Yes, they do like carrots and they do not mind that they are not crisp and crunchy.  They were most agreeable to have their pictures taken and I do think they posed for me a little bit.  Now I have heard and actually seen Llama's that spit, but these do not seem to have that habit.  For that I am grateful.

When I turned to come back to the house, the Daisy dog shot past me.  Seems she thought she would like a carrot.  She also knew she was not supposed to have it.  That is why I got very good pictures of the Llama's and Daisy ran from me.  Hope she enjoyed her carrot.  And I hope you enjoy the slide show.

The Llama's will trick you if you do not watch out for them.

 

There you see the Llama next door.  Ah, the picture of innocence. Just gazing over the fence at me while below is the New Mexico Sunflower in full bloom.  It is exceptionally colorful this fall as the nights are very cool and the days very hot, which combined, makes brilliant colors!

 

Here is another shot of the dear Llama.  I see it is a little closer now and continuing to make eye contact.  I feel so special to be able to bond with plants and animals this way.  People in the cities do not have this opportunity.  I will just stand here a while and gaze at the picture before me.

Do you see that!  The Llama is eating my flowers!  Caught in the act, no less.  Caught by me as I stand gazing in admiration.  This is the same Llama that ate my asparagus last Spring.  The same one who has topped out my Lilacs and Red bud tree.  Seems he snacked on a Clematis Vine also.  So much for serenity in the country!

Now the fun part I have to tell you.  If you click on any of my pictures they will get big and you can actually see the detail, like Llama Lips curling around the sunflower!  I just love this Google Blog of mine!

Words of wisdom for this day
Good fences make good neighbors!

Today at my house with the Choke Cherries and Llama's!

Here you see my lovely Choke Cherry Bush! I am afraid the Choke Cherry is about to take my back yard.  It is hard to believe that this started out as one little twig about the size of a healthy piece of bindweed.  On the right you can see my house and look right in my bedroom window.  Don't strain your eyes, cause I am not in there sleeping in the middle of the day!  It does give you some idea of how high the Choke Cherry has grown!

And here are the Llama's trying to carry on a conversation with me.  The Choke Cherry bush is on my right as I talk to the kids here.  Actually they just finished eating 2 carrots and are waiting to see if I will run back in the house and get any more.  Alas, they will be disappointed.  No more carrots.

If you could see the ground at the bottom of this fence you would see where Asparagus should be growing for me to pick.  If you look closely at these innocent looking creatures you may see Asparagus on their teeth!

I ask you, though, who can stay mad at a Llama? They have the biggest, brownest eyes, and the prettiest eyelashes.  They have not spit on me yet.  I expect if they do that I may be a little angry.

So this is my tale for today. Choke Cherry bushes are loaded with blooms, but I will not get a berry off the bush because the birds are way to fast for me. The only way we get Choke Cherry Jelly around here is to go to the Farmers Market and buy the cherries.  Asparagus plants that flourish and I can not get a piece for my table, because I am not as fast as a Llama. Got lots of bindweed coming and I am sure I will get to take care of that!  The Bindweed and the stickers are all mine.  The ducks and geese will not touch the stickers, I don't care what you have heard! 

The Llama's are eating my Asparagus!!

Do you see those two innocent looking Llama's there?   Well, do not let them fool you!  They are evil.  They lean their very long necks over the fence and eat my Asparagus.  Now I love Asparagus and getting a crop of it is usually iffy to say the very least.  First there is the problem of freezing and then as soon as I think it may actually have a chance to grow it gets too hot and it bolts.   Now this new wrinkle has me pretty much perplexed!

I do not go to their field and eat their stuff, so why do they think they can just hang their shaggy little heads over the fence and eat my food?  I was happy to see that they seem to be kind of housebroken.  I seen a big pile of stuff over there and seen the brown and white one contribute to the height of the pile.  So that is a good thing.  I do wish they would move the pile away from my bedroom window.  For the most part they are pretty neat animals, but woe unto the animal who comes between me and my vittles!

See I don't know if you realize how long it takes to get an Asparagus bed established.  This one has been there for about 5 years and is just now showing signs of being able to produce enough for a "mess".  A few of the remains of the stalks I seen were as big as my thumb!  Yummers!!  At least I hope that is what the furry creatures are saying.

See, I also wanted to plant a few gourds along that fence.  I suppose they eat gourds also.  As I set here contemplating this latest dilemma I just thought of something.  I never get a garden anyway, so why am I so worried?  The hail always comes and wipes me out and I wind up eating out of the farmers market, so why fight it?  If those little Llama's want to eat my stuff, I say let them!  At least this way, something got something out of my garden.

Life is Good!!

Where exactly is the pink Llama?

I had Kiadan over the other day. He is 5 years old. Very impressionable age, I might add. I took him out to see the Llama's in the field by my house. He commented that they were very furry, but he did not want to get close enough to be spit on by them.  I saw a learning experience here!

I took him inside and down to the weaving room where I also have a spinning wheel  (exactly like the one in the link over there!) and raw wool. I showed him the wheel and then explained to him how it was made into spun thread after combing and that. He wanted to know what it looked like when it was done, so I showed him a cone of pink wool since that is what I had out. He was facinated!

But then he wanted to go back out and look at the Llama's some more because he wanted to see the pink one! Makes me wonder if we ever actually get kids taught all they need to know before they enter the world of video games and Mountain Dew?

Our Weavers Guild does a thing at El Pueblo Museum covers all of the process from shearing, dyeing, spinning and then weaving on little wooden looms. Kids are fascinated with this process. Want to know what else? We do the drop spindle and the boys catch on to that much quicker than the girls! Boys do a very good job. That surprised me!

Poor old Llama!

Last night I was having a little trouble sleeping. I call it my random insomnia. I looked out the bedroom window and there was this Llama all hunkered down sleeping in the field. It was a lonely looking sight, but I guess that is how it is.  I somehow took solace knowing the Llama was out there, also alone, and drifted back off to sleep.

Of course, I am now thinking about the sight of the Llama all alone out there. I know it is not alone, because there are 2 of them, but still each one is alone. Now I make the jump to my life. I am alone. Even if there are people all around me, I am still alone. And so are you!  One time I told a friend of mine "Gee, I thought I knew him better than that!" He replied "You never really know anyone, you only know of them." I thought that was the most profound statement I had ever heard!

Now, I know in life there are many profound statements and today I am going to think up some of them and perhaps blow your mind tomorrow. But for now, I am going to scuttle off into the kitchen and do the things that need doing in there.  Sister Mary will only be here for 3 more days, so I need to do something memorable with her today. Perhaps we will go walk around Union. There are a lot of antique shops there and that should amuse her.

Have a good one!

The Llama might be getting ready to be sheared, or not!

The Llama's over in the field are getting very hairy! I'm thinking it might be getting close to shearing time, but think about that! It is just now the first week in February and some of our biggest snows are ahead of us. I remember one May we got 18 inches on like the 4th and then 4 days later we got 14 inches. Course it was warm enough between them to melt or we would still be digging out.
The point here is this: I would hate to have someone rip my fur coat off and leave me outside this time of year. It is still freezing at night and the daytime temperature hasn't had me breaking a sweat yet! Any way, I have one friend who makes her sheep wear coats to keep the fleece cleaner. I think that might be a good idea, but the fellows/girls in the field don't look all that bad. Well, yeh, they have longer legs than a sheep! DUH!!
Seeing them makes me remember, I bought some dyed wool from Joanne Caldwell and I need to get it washed and dried. If it was just a matter of throwing it in the washer that would be simple. Ever throw wool in the washer? This is loose fleece so I expect it would wind up a very tight ball. I know how to do this, I think.
I need to fill something with cool water and add Dawn dishwashing soap to it. Then very gently work it around and then drain it and rinse it. I need to do that several times until the rinse water is clear. Then I have to lay it out to dry. Then I will need to hand card it. That is work!! Then I need to spin it on the spinning wheel.  All this is assuming it has not got moths in it while waiting for me.
Hey, you spinners out there! If this is not how to do it, you better get ahold of me because I will be doing this surely in the next few years.
You know, I go back and read my posts and have I ever finished one that matches my title with the title? Seems I am a clear definition of the saying "Her mind has taken a turn!" My mind is probably what is known as a Whirling Dervish!
But you gotta' love me!!

The Baby Llama is holding still for me!

This is the baby llama I been telling you about. This thing is the most beautiful chocolate color I have ever seen. If I could just catch it and get that wool I could spin it and weave it into something and all my weaving friends would be so jealous! That is the mother in the background and I think she may be stomping over this way to spit on me! I have heard they do that, and in fact, seen it happen one time years ago. Have pretty well given them a very wide birth since than.

This is mother and Llamette approaching the chocolate adult. Hey! Maybe that is the daddy! "Hello, Father, may I come into your area of the field?" In order to establish paternity here I am going to need to get a lot closer then I am willing to do. Oh, but I just remembered, I am the writer here and I can tell you anything and unless one of you calls me to task, if it is true in my mind, it will be true in yours. Let me see; do I want to compromise my immortal soul over the sex of a Llama that I barely know? I am thinking that is a big "NO". (Well, I see my picture is now miraculously over there on the left. This blog is way smarter than I am!) This is the whole herd. This chain link fence is 4 feet high so that gives you some idea of how big they are. I love the tail on that baby!

I just wanted to show you the pictures of the baby Llama. Please do not look at the area near the camera where the remenants of last years garden are awaiting my able hand. Lord, I am glad it is below zero and there is nothing I can do about that mess. Those wretched geese and ducks are supposed to help me out on this.

Ok, you have seen the herd next door, the mess in my garden area and listened to my ramblings, so now we can both go get busy. I have 33 shirts to embroider for the Kearny County Library and laundry piled over my head. Also today the new dog gets beautiful and I see nap time will come early today!

Take care and God Bless. Oh, that made me think of Red Skelton! Remember him?