Black eyed peas

Got these beauties at the Farmer's Market last week. It seems one pound yields a little over one cup of shelled peas.

Goodbye Gypsy Wagon

Tristan and Libby stayed here looking after the kitties with their kitty and gypsy wagon. Then they took off on their cross country trip. They totally made this by hand from the ground up for the trip. Good bye gypsy wagon and good luck!

Midsummer Night's Eve

Tonight is Midsummer Night's Eve, also called St. John's Eve. St.
John is the patron saint of beekeepers. It's a time when the hives are full of honey. The full moon that occurs this month was called the Mead Moon, because honey was fermented to make mead. That's where the word "honeymoon" comes from, because it's also a time for lovers. An old Swedish proverb says, "Midsummer Night is not long but it sets many cradles rocking." Midsummer dew was said to have special healing powers. In Mexico, people decorate wells and fountains with flowers, candles, and paper garlands. They go out at midnight and bathe in the lakes and streams. Midsummer Eve is also known as Herb Evening. Legend says that this is the best night for gathering magical herbs. Supposedly, a special plant flowers only on this night, and the person who picks it can understand the language of the trees. Flowers were placed under a pillow with the hope of important dreams about future lovers.

(Shamelessly reposted from the very lovely Susan Christie without permission)

(oops - this is from Garrison Keillor)

Desiree Rumbaugh! Wow!

What a rich experience it was to study Anusara yoga with Desiree Rumbaugh this weekend in Albuquerque at the lovely Bhava Yoga Studio. She is a truly divine yogi and her lessons came in a subtle way from inside and outside the studio. Many blessings to Desiree, Bea and Donna for making this transformative weekend. What very special people you are. Om.

Early Tues Morning

Clinic

I had my first community clinic this past weekend. Rose, my
receptionist, is in the Teen Outreach Program and she volunteered to
meet patients and schedule them an appointment. Rose, you ruled the front end, thank you!

I will be hosting the low cost clinic about every six weeks. Our Health Council recently lost all of our state funding and we are really winging it in Sierra County. We are the poorest county in one of the poorest states in the union.

Parking Ticket

I got my first parking ticket in over a year and a half up in
Albuquerque last week. At first I was sort of annoyed when I thought
it was $30 but then I saw if I paid it on time it was only $10. Sorry
New York, you don't own me anymore.

First Kayak Trip

Today was the first day for me to go kayaking this year. We did a
short trip (2hrs) down the Rio Grande and then went for breakfast.

Swim & Float

The mercury is rising quickly down here in southern New Mexico so I

started the day out at our public swimming pool for some laps. My

friends go every day in the summer and I think I'll be going often

too. I loved it! Then after a hard day's work Davey and Paula put all

the rafts together and we took our first float of the summer down the Rio Grande.

Artichokes at the Community Garden

These have been growing since last year and finally threw some gorgeous fruit out. Some will be allowed to flower, which is breathtaking, and then collect the seed. I'm hoping to saute a few.

Santa Fe

First Farmer's Market - Red Hot Pokers

From Lilynn and Josh in Monticello.

Fragrant

Wildflowers from the Darland's.

Bouquet

Sage, mint and marjoram from OM NM.

40's

It's almost summer and summer is all about 40's in New Mexico.

Plant score

I went over to a friend's the other day and she hooked me up with 2 gorgeous tomato plants and several aloe babies.

Napping in Springtime Canyon

Tomato seedlings!

Monsoons coming in

Some crazy rain came in on Sunday. Two and a half inches in half an hour. WHen the sky broke there was a double rainbow but this was all I could catch on camera.

Healing hands

Cats have no idea what crutches are. They're as scary as aliens in their little kitty world. When I lay down Pinkie goes into instant prayer position hoping those damn crutches will disappear soon.

Knee Surgery

A torn meniscus is putting a dent in my spring activities. The doc told me I had a pothole on my femur(?). I'll be on crutches for three weeks. The doctor initials the leg when they are prepping you for surgery to make sure they cut the right one!

First BBQ of the season

I had a friend visiting from out of town so Davey loaned me his BBQ and we made buffalo burgers and sweet potato fries. Davey puts the oil in a cast iron skillet right on the coals to cook the fries. Delish!

Espalier

This is a semi-dwarf Gala apple tree I planted in the front yard. I plan to espalier it against this garden wall. As the new shoots take off I'll train them to the plane of the wall in tiers.

No Slow Food?

Almost a new moon

Although the new moon is almost here and I am looking forward to planting some seeds I love this picture from the full moon a few weeks ago.

Nourishing Traditions

I've thought a lot about food and worked on eating what is best for me but I took an amazing workshop this weekend that fed me some great new information. Cathy Hope, an herbalist from Questa, NM, bases her philosophy on Weston Price and Sally Fallon. Sally wrote a book called Nourishing Traditions which explains where we all went wrong with thinking about what we eat. Anyway, check it out. Here we made some tinctures, salves and and liniments and also some fermented food. It's essential!

4-legged Desert Animal

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

The Gem and Mineral Show in Tucson was a mindblower. It would almost be impossible to see all of the exhibits during this two week event. The exhibitors are literally from all over the world. The USA spelled out in Calcite is from some Moroccans. We saw some amazing rocks and had a great time in the Sonoran desert.

Owl Feathers

A trip out to Palomas Gap to collect rocks for our community herb garden yielded the gift of some owl feathers from the roadside.

Palomas Gap

Uh Oh

Recycled Lotion Bottles

For months I've had the intention of refilling my lotion bottles at the local food coop an hour away. They have a bulk area for cosmetics but many times they were either completely out of my lotion or I forgot the bottles. I was skeptical about getting a good price because this "coop" is ridiculously expensive and I'm a known bargain shopper. I laboriously pumped the lotion in one stroke at a time and was delighted to find out it was indeed a good deal, even compared to the deals I've gotten on this product at more mainstream retailers. I'm softening up on my criticism of these "food coops" since I've lived here realizing they really do help the surrounding communities score decent food. I was just used to the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn which is truly a "working members only" food coop and a model of sheer idealism at work.

Seed Shopping

Even though I have tons of seeds from last years garden and there are many seed swaps planned in the next month or so it's still exciting to read through all the seed catalogs and chase that elusive bean or tomato I want to grow. I placed a few small orders and hope to swap some of the things I got with other growers in my town.

Wild watercress at Monticello Box

New Year's eve I went into the Monticello Box and found it filled with wild watercress. I harvested quite a but and found out after I shared it with friends that you need to be really really careful eating this wild because of parasites. Yikes.

Local Improvised Entertainment

Full Moon New Year