A Schizophrenic Day in Mora, NM

Early this am the skies were clear and blue. I took a picture of a pot with California poppies that had just bloomed this week. It sits on the front porch with some tender garden items, namely a lonely string bean bush plant just starting out and a tomato plant and raspberry ground cover plant. I keep them up there because there is protection from the wind.

About 3PM we had a hail and rain storm that blew through. Remember, this is high mountain terrain and anything can happen. Hail in the summer is not uncommon It dumped a few inches of rain and hail with lots of thunder and lightening and went off. Hope the garden survived the hail part.

Ah, another storm coming through now at 3:3-PM. Sure going to be wet for awhile. :)

March Storms

I'm always taking pictures but never seem to get them up here. We had snow last night again which fell on old patches still around from a week ago. this is good snowball snow, too. You don't want to be walking under the trees when they let go of some of that snow.

This snow should melt faster since the overall temp is higher than back in the new year so it should melt faster than before.

Three of the four dogs enjoy it and the old dog, Nipper, stays inside where it's warm and comfortable. The little border collie is waiting for me to pick up her kong to throw it for her. She's paying zero attention to the other two. That kong defines her existence. She very carefully drops it in front of me and then points her nose to it so I don't miss it.

Early this am I shoveled the walk before the dogs made it into an ice rink. At least I'll be able to get the car later on. If they pack it down by walking all over it there, it can get very slippery.

Catchin' Up!

The was little in the garden this past summer to wonder over. The whole summer was cool days and cold nights. Not a very conducive environment for growing. It would help if I had a greenhouse. About half the corn crop came in, the rest did nothing. Each squash vine could only manage to support 1 or 2 [at the most] squashes. Beets, carrots and kale did ok. Very strange weather for a summer. I do hear the earth is in a cooling trend. Even the global warming enthusiasts can't change God's patterns. So they renamed the issue to climate change. Only fools the people who don't research it.

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Nipper, the wily old Pom mix at 14 years, needed some aspirin for her aching hip bone problem. I put it into her bowl of food but she was smarter than I. Notice the bowl is spotless except for that aspirin. Sure gave me a laugh.

NM Monsoon Season

Every summer around here in the northern mountains comes what the locals call the "monsoons" - daily, afternoon thunder storms. Normally they start in late June or early July. People plant with with these things in mind. This year they are three weeks late but seem to be finally here.

Today I have towering thunderheads right to the east of me and heavy clouds coming over the mountain to the west of me. I feel like I'm in the fishbowl of storms here. Although there are thunderheads to the north and south, the highest are just to the east. NOAA says we're under severe tstorm warnings for 1/2 inch hail and flash floods. From a drought to lots of rain. Well the trees will survive it but the gardens are in delcate stages of growth. So I hope the hail today misses me.

Sometimes it's a bit heavy and last Friday I had a heavy dose of hail with mine. It was a half hour of hail and heavy rains. This did not do the cabbages, lettuce and spinach any good at all.

RAIN! finally!

We finally got some rain last night and more this afternoon. When I got up this am early, I had these beautiful mountain mists around the area while the sun was just coming over the mountain across the valley. The first shot is looking up the valley and the second shot shows the garden area out in the front field. The flower is from a wildflower patch I planted in the middle of the garden between the corn and some cabbage plants. The seeds were for butterfly and hummingbird flowers.

Even with showers now and then there hasn't been enough rain. We've also had a few dry lightening strikes that have started fires up on the mountain behind me. Too close for comfort. This rain will help some. The good news is that El Nino in is back in the Pacific which means we will be getting some moisture this fall and winter.

The gardens are growing slowly this year. The nights are too cool and the ground doesn't stay warm enough to aid in the vegetables growing. There is no 'global warming' up here.

A Dry Winter so Far

Well, it is still very dry here. No snows, no rain, no moisture. The western slopes are getting much more snow than the eastern side. This picture shows how far away the moisture is.

This is not a good sign and will make the fire season a dangerous one. Our trees and forests are way too dry even now. There have been some fires already and it isn't even the season yet.

This morning we had another beautiful sunrise. When I came out to the kitchen the house was glowing with the hues of the skies.




The Lord is good!

Not Enough Snow Yet

Everyone here about has been hoping and praying for moisture of any kind. The fields are dry again, the trees and fields need the water. There is a storm coming through New Mexico tonight and the western slopes will get the brunt of it. Our side is supposed to get some also. The last storm didn't crest the peaks there and spent itself on the far side. It was cold but not enough snow to make a difference in the water table. Melts as soon as it hits.

While the neighbors are away, I'm feeding the horses and cats. They are Quarter horses, mother and daughter. Brandy the mother has never been ridden. Star the filly is 11 months old. Her picture is the top one and you can see the star that led to her name. Brandy is at the bottom. They are both quite gentle and love company.

Another glorious sunrise! Praise God!

What alerts me to the wonders of the sunrise are the colors inside the trailer. Everything is tinted inside red, rose, pink etc.

So I grab my camera to get those first startling colors coming over the mountain to the east. Today the colors were everywhere even way up at the north end of the valley. This picture is looking northeast up the valley.

A New Year dawns

This morning's sunrise was another glorious one.


I've also posted pictures from the Angel Fire trip last Monday on this link:

http://www.rten.org

First menu item. It also was a glorious day up there.

Winter has arrived!

This is my fourth winter. It's the wettest, snowiest and coldest since I moved here in the fall of 2005. So much for global warming around these mountains.

Snowy is looking for her favorite bones. Tuffy wants to know where the ball she's so fond of chasing went.

Keep them busy

The dogs do not think cows and calves belong in the field next door!

The cows ignore the noise for the most part. This cow was more careful since she had her calf with her so she paid some attention to the dogs. It certainly didn't phase the calf when it was time for lunch!

Grass was greener over here

One day I walked out to see some neighboring cows grazing in the field right next to my garage. They had broken out of their own fields and came visiting to see what was over by me. This pretty lady was curious about me standing a few feet away and snapping pictures. This is not an uncommon experience around here. The field where they were is some 222 acres of mostly forest but has one good meadow right next to me. There are no structures on it. It's for sale again. I always hope that whoever purchases it will build way up on that mountain you can see behind the cows or off to the south toward town. I like the empty fields and forests on either side of me.

Thanksgiving Week 2008

Thanksgiving week, 2009

The skies were glorious that week. I did take photos but just didn't get them up here.

I did snow later that day so we did have a white Thanksgiving day.

Garden Update

We've had rains most every day now for the past few weeks. The garden is thriving.

Last year's onions have blossoms that the bees love. I left them there last fall wondering what would happen come springtime. Quite a group seed pods there.

The rest of the updated garden pictures are here: http://www.rten.org/ first menu item.

Clean Air & July Rains

At 7500 feet the air is so clean it sparkles in the trees when it rains. July around here means planting rains. The gardens [and the weeds, wildflowers and grasses] are doing wonderfully.


With more moisture in the air we get glorious sunrises like this one.

Summer Garden - 2008

Summer rains have greatly helped the growing here this summer. The garden is flourishing after a week of rains.

This is an organic garden. I use fertilizers from Gardens Alive on the crops. I use naturally composted sheep manure from a friend that runs sheep to get wool for her weaving. Her site is Three Bags Full.



High country gardening is always a challenge. Just when you think the last frost is overwith, it hails. I took the picture from within my office. There was some good sized hail and it's not fun to get caught out in it. This storm was June 28th.


I've put up a gallery of the picture from this morning on my web site. Click here. Top entry in menu.

Spring is here with a whimper

The blog is missing posts. I've been remiss in posting.

There is little rain this spring. The grass is slow to come but it's trying. The choke cherry bushes are struggling to leaf and hopefully this year there won't be a late frost to strangle the cherries. There were no cherries last year to harvest. So no jam.

The aspen trees are also not showing much leaf. We really are missing the moisture up here. It seems to be falling all around the valley but little in it. It's very dusty out there and the winds dry things up even more. We pray for rain.

I am starting to see some bees which is a good thing. They, too, have been scarce this spring. Every morning I awake to meadowlarks singing outside. It's a glorious sound. I imagine they also wish for rain. The gardens go in about now until early June. It's not too late for us at this altitude to have a late frost. Last year it was around the 18th of May there was a frost which spoiled some early corn crops up valley. I didn't start mine until May 31st last year and will probably wait until then this year.

At least the inside plants are thriving. The new ones below are marigolds to be transplanted to the garden in another month. They bring the bees and add beauty to the garden as well.

Christmas Snowfall

Snow fell yesterday late in the afternoon into the early evening. We got about 6-7 inches of fresh snow. With a moon just off full, it was beautiful out last night.

I shoveled a path to the heated water bowl so the dogs would have non iced water when I let them out during the night. Once the dogs start using the path, it will get pretty icy and slippery. Their feet are warm and create ice slicks for their human to slip on.




The dogs don't seem to mind the snow. They eat it for the moisture and enjoy running around in it. Even during the storm, the snow sits on top of their fur so they don't feel it like we humans do.


Today, the day after Christmas, the sun is shining and the day dawned beautiful. One view is up the valley [looking north] and the other is up the mountain [to the west] I live on.




Hope everyone's holidays are happy and safe!

Winter Fun - December 2007

The snows are here, not too deep yet, and the days are beautiful.

The dogs enjoy it and don't seem to be bothered by the cold at all. The puppy was 4 months old on Dec 14th. Tuffy.

Here are a few shots from this month's storms. We are to expect another storm on Christmas day. The winter pictures

High Country Aspens

I took a trip to Taos yesterday along Hwy 518 which crosses the Sangre de Christos. The color up in the high valleys and peaks is beautiful this time of year. Last night was the first really cold night this fall, so this will aid the changing of the leaves.

There should be another few weeks of full color. It's obvious that some of the trees, like some cottonwoods are just starting to change. Also from great distances, you can see the peaks covered in yellow swatches. Until you get closer, it's hard to tell they are groves of aspens.

I have jsut a few more here: http://www.rten.org/taos1007.htm