You'd have to be there to know what the sagebrush smells like. Mesquite, manzanita, sage, boganvilla, palo verde . . . these are the names and scents I'm familiar with. I'm trying to fall in love with tropical plants here in FL, but it hasn't happened yet.The house used to be a stage stop. After that the ranch was a working cattle ranch. Now it's just Mom, Dad, two horses, two goats, some steers . . .
Oh, and scorpions. Mom has this note on the fridge as a friendly reminder, but she's also keeping track of how many scorpions they find inside the house.
We were there summer of '06. Most of the scorpions were found by us. Did you know they glow bright, florescent green when you shine a black light on them? Each night we'd turn out lights and use the blacklight before going to bed. On the day Mom was taking us back to Albuquerque, I was coming out of the bathroom when there was one on the floor right in front of me. I instantly became 5 years old, jumped onto the toilet and yelled for my Mom as loud as I could. My two daughters flat. Out. Ignored. Me. They were thinking, "Oh, she'll take care of whatever it is." I can't remember if Mom rescued me or if I killed it myself finally (you can easily kill them with a fly swatter). I'm kind of glad we weren't visiting summer of '05!
From the front of the house, we can see the barn and shed. There's corrals that are hard to see in this light. In this picture, I've moved around to the other side of the barn (house hidden by barn). To the right of the barn is the bunkhouse with its own little porch. I know if I were a teen with my cousins, we'd be staying in the bunk house! It has its own bathroom and woodstove, too. I love it!
Look at those colors on the barn. How could I get my front door to look like this? People pay a lot of money for this! Some previous resident had put up the Christmas lights.
Because it's in New Mexico, there has to be a tire on the roof. I'm sure someone could tell you why. Some say it's to keep the wind from blowing the roof off. Some say you put plastic down to keep the heat in and the tires hold the plastic. I say; you're in New Mexico and you have to put a tire on the roof.
The first time we all went out as a family, Himself and the kids had one exciting game of hide-n-seek around the ranch! In the barn, it was so easy to hide in the shadows of the saddles, bridles, blankets, and haybales.
I'm not homesick. I'm not.
Look at those colors on the barn. How could I get my front door to look like this? People pay a lot of money for this! Some previous resident had put up the Christmas lights.
Because it's in New Mexico, there has to be a tire on the roof. I'm sure someone could tell you why. Some say it's to keep the wind from blowing the roof off. Some say you put plastic down to keep the heat in and the tires hold the plastic. I say; you're in New Mexico and you have to put a tire on the roof.
The first time we all went out as a family, Himself and the kids had one exciting game of hide-n-seek around the ranch! In the barn, it was so easy to hide in the shadows of the saddles, bridles, blankets, and haybales.
I'm not homesick. I'm not.
8 comments:
I am sorry you are not homesick.
I have a question....if that was a working cattle ranch, what did the cows eat? I see basically NO vegetation at all.
Hugs.
It's ok to be homesick! I fell in love with that area on our travels and every once in a while get a strong urge to go back NOW :-). Come with me?
BA
Maybe they ate it ALL.
Great pics, J. Concerning scorpions, I might consider adopting those shoes they wore in China, or maybe it was Japan, which were basically a platform strapped to your foot, with two tall crosspieces to elevate you. I bet they have great crushing power.
:-D
I'm sure they would buy or grow their own winter feed, but the gamma grass out there is plentiful. You're just seeing the areas around the ranch.
In fact, the main reasons mom and dad have steers and goats is to eat the weeds! They're practically overrun by them right now.
BT, the only thing I can envision from your description is breaking my neck.
My Mom and I are going to take my computer to her computer class next week and hopefully get this whole blogging thing straightened out. Then I will be able to post again.
And sure thing about Kelly! I've been wanting to spend some time with her; except for my scatter-brainedness, I think we had a good time! :D (You can ask her how our plans were rearranged.)
I think she enjoyed the recital last night. Except maybe for the french horn player dumping her spit out in between measures! Ew! At least the piano was lovely.
I'm not homesick either! It Never happens every September when it gets cool there but not here! I wouldn't go there in a heartbeat if I could and I never had my mom send me a bag of fall leaves just so I could sniff them.
thats 'cuz your homesick for this "desert"
(((Sistah)))
So do you miss New Mexico?
LOL...know the feeling!
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