geraniums & aspens

geraniums & aspens

our backyard is lush compared to the desert mesa we drive by as we go into town.

tall aspens. green grass. and a bubbling creek nearby.

my geraniums are quite happy back there too.

little coop garden

our new landlord mentioned that the old chicken coop spot would probably be a good place for our garden.

d. dug it all up. we mixed in some compost & good soil. put in a tall fence to prevent the deer from snacking away our plants. the gate is an old one we found thrown behind the shed.

we dug deep furrows, so we can irrigate the bed by occasionally flooding it. we are allowed to pipe water out of the acequia that runs by the house.

the acequia looks like a stream but is in reality a ditch. dug long ago to pull off from the rio hondo, which brings melted snow down from the mountains. it starts running in the spring, and it lasts until the water runs out (we've been told into the fall). northern new mexico is a web of acequias, small to large. around here, if you are lucky this is how you can water your garden, fields or just your flowers. the word is spanish. the technique is pueblo.   

we'll be growing roma tomatoes & basil, for pizza sauce. cherry tomatoes for my summer salads. cilantro in case we feel like having fresh salsa. enough basil for pesto to freeze for winter months. bell peppers, green beans & cucumbers for summer snacks. we opted out of growing corn, as I had a man on the pueblo tell me that last year, with the bad drought, the hungry bears came down and raided the corn in everyone's fields. we decided not to risk finding a bear in the garden.

from here, we grow. and pray most of the growing is done before the acequia runs dry.

tomorrow's day in may

tomorrow is my birthday.
yesterday d bought me chocolates and took me to dinner.
both were delicious.

last year at this time I was going through a chosen upheaval. and finding my focal point since that move has been difficult.
for both me and the person closest to me.

even just in this last move, from a city house to a country one, my emotions battled themselves. i think the lesson is that change, even change that I choose and that is for good, throws me.

but this is just me. i'm not meant to move my focal point too often. i need stable footing or the rest of myself just goes kinda haywire.

in all of this, I've neglected this little blog, and my small audience of readers. I hope to remedy that and find myself back in this space again.

but tomorrow, I'll wake up with a new birthday. and my sweet boyfriend has a garden plot all dug & fenced & irrigated for me. so I get to plant our garden (tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, herbs & flowers). and that will be me, putting my hands in the ground, creating a place for roots, and finding more sure footing.

evening colors at home.

west window

we've moved.
now down to just a few boxes & some odds & ends. and all the books that need alphabetizing.
but the settling in has begun.

and our nights without street lights are very dark.
and we warm up the house with a fire in the evening.
and our western windows show us the most amazing sunsets.

may day

our new front yard 

busy with all the packing and all the anxiety around packing. and today we got to start moving in.
just 15 minutes away. but still, with all of our stuff.

at some point I get stressed out because something doesn't go in the right box. and I tell myself to breathe. because when it comes out of the box in the new place, it will be put away correctly.

by friday we'll be sleeping in the new house. by sunday we'll have locked up the old one for good.