of course I did

and you should too!

say what?

the jolt of yellow

Beautiful, but the forsythia bloomed far too early this year...

so scary yet so foxy

Sunday morning I walked Max & Cozy in the dark and we heard the most horrible scream coming from the woods.  It struck fear into all of us - Cozy and I reacted with the "flight" response of running for the house, while Max barked, digging and scratching his feet into the ground like a bull.  I thought it might have been a screech owl, but it was a female fox, just like the video here.  

I lost two chickens to probably that very fox, on their first day of warm weather free-ranging.  I am learning that I can't free range them at all, and feel as bad as always about losing more of my animals, especially Buffy, one of my favorite hens.

RIP Buffy

RIP Butter

sky study #62

Sunrise over the East pasture March 21, 2012

Cowgirl Creamery: Mt. Tam

My boss gave me a small wheel of Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam cheese - a white mould ripened triple cream cheese, which means they add lots of cream to the milk when making it.  It's like a super creamy, buttery mild Brie, best at melty room temperature.  Perfect!

oh, deer

Deer skeleton, corner of Dell & Gleaner Hall Roads, Kingsley, Michigan.  When Cozy discovered this, she  laid down beside it and rolled around on her back.  

Max & Cozy update

Max and Cozy are settling into their new lives at the farm.  They are fascinated by everything, and are two of the friendliest, sweetest dogs you'll ever meet.  They are learning their new routine and have only made a couple of messes so far:  ripped up the recycling, and tore up a pair of slippers.  I got them matching tartan collars.  It's so nice to have some furry doggie faces at home again.

thick red delicious

There are strings of red chiles everywhere in New Mexico, called ristras, which are used for decoration as well as making into red chili sauce

I brought home a large bag full of the dried peppers.  These are widely available at Latino grocery stores, and I wanted authentic New Mexican ones, but you can use any variety

I ground the dried chilis into powder, then made a delicious, traditional sauce - it's really easy and is done in about 15 minutes:

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pot or pan - stir in 2 Tablespoons of flour to make a roux - make sure it has no lumps.  Add ½ cup of chili powder, then 2 cups of either water of tomato juice.  Simmer the sauce and add ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, oregano, and 1 teaspoon of salt.  The sauce thickens as it cooks.  I ate some with eggs and tortillas, tofu, potatoes - anything at all.  It is super thick, rich and deeply chili-flavored.  It isn't spicy unless you use hot chilis or add some other type of heat.

Like a sturgeon

I visited the Bonneville Fish Hatchery in Oregon, where they breed trout and sturgeon

Sturgeon are enormous, prehistoric fish that can live for hundreds of years

They look kind of like sharks, but are peaceful bottom-feeders.  They had a great observation "house" at the hatchery that had one wall facing the outdoor sturgeon pond.

birthday spice

Super sister Courtney sent me a bunch of beautiful spices from the DeKalb Farmers Market in Georgia.  From top: ground ginger, lavender flowers, turmeric, whole cardamon, black mustard seed, and pink peppercorn. Wow!

sky study #61

Sunday afternoon, March 18 over the East pasture - 81 degrees

Irish dog spirit

Megan brought over some St. Patrick's Day dog treats!

Pretty Megan and pretty Cozy

New Mexico street art

there are strings of big, dried red chilies everywhere used purely as decoration

sky study #60

Over the East pasture March 12, 2012

Multnomah Falls

I hiked to the top of beautiful Multomah Falls on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge 

It was a mile hike up a series of twelve increasingly steep switchback trails

The landscape there was really lush, green and and ferny

Big tree with a passageway through its trunk

Moss covered everything - hobbits everywhere

the Forest Moon of Endor

Lunch at Full Sail Brewery in Hood River

sculpture garden

I visited the Shidoni Sculpture Garden in Tesuque, New Mexico

Gigantic bronze spanish goat scull

shooting star

I made out with a bronze bear

Yurt, or slice taken out of a bundt cake?

I heart vintage Mercedes' - this one was in the parking lot

Scenes from the Southwest

Flying into Albuquerque

Tile work on the streets of Santa Fe

Typical Southwest adobe architecture with strings of peppers

Transgender host cat Rito 

Caution: mountain may poop on you - on the road to Taos

The stunning Taos Ski Valley 

Desert ape handlin' 

Sky study #59: Santa Fe

Santa Fe, New Mexico sunset

there's a run called Sir Arnold Lunn

I'm snowboarding in Taos and will write when I get back!

Dear March

Dear March, Come In!

by Emily Dickinson (1924)

Dear March, Come in!  How glad I am!

I looked for you before

Put down your hat

You must have walked

How out of breath you are!

Dear March, how are you?

And the rest?

Did you leave Nature well?

Oh March, come right upstairs with me

I have so much to tell!

The Building of Boss Mouse, Part 14: the suggestive language of plumbing