Green is a lovely color

Written by karen on August 9th, 2010

The monsoons continue here, and things are really greening up. Every day that it rains, we hope it is not the end. It is beautiful and looks so different from how the land looked just a month or so ago.

Back across the septic field...bare dirt just a few months ago!

toward the Peloncillos

toward the Peloncillos

Toward our front gate and the Chiricahuas

Other miscellanea for this week…. We have eaten some unusual, truly native food. First, we ate some seeds from  acorns. They were really good, something between a pine nut and a pumpkin seed. I’m thinking of making pesto from some of them. (We have far too many to plant them all.) We also harvested some prickly pears and made lemonade and cocktails from them. For those unfamiliar, prickly pears are the dark red fruits that grow atop a certain type of cactus. We have lots here. They are not only exquisitely colored but delicious.

We had a very nice hike down “our” Horseshoe Canyon Friday.

The garden is doing great. The cucumbers finally have fruit. We have one tomato ready to harvest and several more on the way. We’ve been eating beans and green onions, and they are delicious. The eggplants look very healthy, but no blooms yet.  I’ve transplanted a few watermelon plants outside. They are very spindly and small, but we’ll see.

(Also for anyone interested, here is a post I did for the farm this week on freezing food that has some good tips in it. This week, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and freezing for the farm. I am officially sick of zucchini! I know we’ll all enjoy it in the winter though.)

Wildlife sightings this week include our bobcat (who we haven’t seen for a couple weeks), a horned lizard, a few desert turtles, and lots and lots of bats in the evenings. They must love all the bugs that are around right now.

On the house, I’ve been working on the bathroom door. Brad’s been doing several miscellaneous catch-up projects while we wait for the consultation on framing for the next house so we can begin on that. I am hoping to get the much-requested  “walk-through” video of the house done this week.

And my big project for work is done! Yay!

 

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New kitchen counters

Written by karen on August 5th, 2010

I like the tile part of our interior work. I just do the design, pick the materials, and watch while the work is done. It’ s how I imagine other people “build their own house.” Ha ha.

Seriously, I am in the final stages of a big project for work, and so the timing was good for Brad to tile the kitchen counters.

Here is the work in progress.

Ick!

Ick!

And the final results.

 

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KB acornseed

Written by karen on July 31st, 2010

We are lucky to have several large oak trees on our property here. They are native emory oaks. We have tried to care for these oaks, especially a few of the smaller ones.

Despite the fact that we have read that they produce acorns every year, we have been told by locals that the ones here only produce every 4 or 5 years. Folks were hoping this would be the year, and indeed it is.

Last week, we collected a bunch of acorns with the hopes of planting some new trees. We’ve read up on how to do this and are optimistic.

IMG_0267

Today we planted some. We planted two areas in a ravine where water collects when it rains and where our other oaks are growing. We’ve marked the planting areas with circles of rocks so we can watch how they go.

We also planted a few in washed out 5-gallon buckets. Once they sprout and are doing well, we’ll transplant.

Most of what I read seems to indicate that red oaks (which is the family the emories belong to) do not germinate until the following spring. Other things I’ve read say that the germination is tied to the rainy season, which we are definitely in. We’ll see.

 

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House #1 is done

Written by karen on July 28th, 2010

Not that there aren’t a thousand things still to do, but with the final stucco on, I’m calling it done.

We finished the final coat on the house today.

We also got the battery house done. Now my beautiful door has a proper backdrop!

While we were working on this, I noticed that some of the varnish on the frame is peeling a bit. Probably a result of being taped several times and the hot sun. (It’s been almost 8 months.) I’ll need to put another coat on.

This was my first real encounter with the dreaded “maintenance” issue of home ownership. I mentioned this to Brad, and he told me that the Golden Gate Bridge is continually being painted. It takes about 2 years to paint it, and by the time they finish, it’s time to start again. Hmmm.

 

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We’re out!

Written by karen on July 26th, 2010

We have apparently beaten the odds and become one of the few in America to actually vacate temporary storage. (The statistics on this are incredible. Once you put stuff in a temporary storage facility, it’s likely to stay there forever. I’m trying to put my hands on the article I read on this but haven’t found it yet.) We’re out of our Willcox storage. Yay!

 

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Looking like a real house now

Written by karen on July 24th, 2010

So we have two and a half walls done now and one and a half more to go.

The final coat of stucco is going on *much* easier than the first coat. (Good thing too, since it’s hotter than hell right now. We’ve been getting up early to start around 6 and be done for the day by noon to try to beat the heat. I’m sure appreciating our lovely onsite shower this week.)

We’re using an acrylic stucco (El Rey Perma-flex) that is supposed to flex and not crack as much in the extreme heat. It is very smooth to put on and the seems don’t really show at all (unlike the first coat). The only bad part is that the stuff really sticks to everything. Our hands and arms are coated in it, and I have scrubbed my skin with a brush until I feel like I have no skin left.

One thing that is very nice about this product is that it comes premixed. No adding sand; no cement mixer; no shoveling or hauling loads of it. (I especially appreciate this since this was my job on the basecoat.) Our division of labor on this coat is that Brad trowels it on and I do the finish.

Putting the tile on has been interesting. I had this idea to put tile accents on the outside and found some beautiful dark blue Japanese tile to use. I wanted to put some small 1″ tiles inside our arched doorway and  a row of larger tiles along the top edge. I thought the arch would be really hard but the top edge would be easy. It was actually the opposite. The problem with the tile at the top is that it is relatively heavy and wants to pull off until it dries a bit. (After it dries, I don’t think it’s ever coming off.) We have had several strips fall off, whereupon they fall 12 feet and break, ruining the tile. We have extra though, and we’re getting better at it.

The results look really great, I think.

 

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Low power bug zapper

Written by karen on July 20th, 2010

We’ve been really getting a lot of rain.  Last night, it poured buckets for several hours with dramatic thunder and lightning all around.

With the rain, of course, comes bugs. And after dark, thousands of them gather around our windows and doors, seeking the light. It’s kind of gross.

But now we’ve gotten a new way to combat this. They seem to arrive every evening to sit on our stoop and enjoy the buffet.

frogs

 

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A surreal adventure

Written by karen on July 18th, 2010

Before starting on our final stucco coat on Sunday, we had planned to take a rare day off and go explore a place we’ve been wanting to go. Rucker Canyon is about 10 miles south of us, and like most of the canyons that run to the west, it ends up in the Chiricahua Mountains, transitioning through many botanical zones along the way.

We left the house a little before 9. It was sunny, but cool and breezy after rain yesterday. (We are getting nearly nightly rain now during the monsoons. It’s wonderful.)

After driving a ways into the canyon, we stopped at Camp Rucker (later known as Fort Rucker, an outpost for fighting the Indians), an old Army supply camp from the late 1800s. It has several old adobe structures and corrals. As we walked to one end of the encampment, we found a huge wide open pasture. It was sunny with big white puffy clouds, and we decided to hike to the other end.

About half way back, it started to rain. Quickly, the pleasant light rain turned to big wet drops. We rapidly got soaked to the skin and sought shelter under one of the big oak trees. Lightning and loud claps of thunder ensued. (Brad mentioned that being under a tree is not the recommended course of action in this situation.) We stood there for a while, and when the rain let up a bit, we headed back to the truck.

The rain let up, and we explored an old ranch house. Then on the way back to the truck, the sky opened up again.

By the time, we got to the truck, we were really soaked through, but rain here is always a joyous event, so we were happy.

We drove down the canyon for a while, and the rain got heavier. It rained and rained and rained. Rivers were forming on the sides and sometimes across the gravel road. I was a little worried, but Brad always tells me our truck is good in this kind of driving.

This is from the truck, crossing a stream flowing through the road.

This is from the truck, crossing a stream flowing through the road.

Then it started to hail. Really, I swear, 3/8″ diameter hailstones in 80 plus degree weather. So bizarre.

We drove for a while and around noon had our picnic lunch (in the truck). Eventually, it cleared off so we could enjoy the spectacular mountain views.

It really was a magnificent day. We look forward to more exploration and camping and hiking in this area.

 

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Back to basics

Written by karen on July 14th, 2010

After baking pies the last week, I had the inevitable burnt-on pie drips on the bottom of my new oven. I put oven cleaner on the shopping list, but then thought about pouring that nasty caustic stuff down the drain and into our land. So I looked up tips for natural homemade oven cleaners.

I tried one that had baking soda, vinegar, and a few drops of dish soap. I was surprised to find that it worked just as well as the more expensive spray-on kinds you buy and with none of the nasty smell or chemicals. Next time you clean your oven, you might want to try it.

 

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Wildlife

Written by karen on July 13th, 2010

The monsoons seem to be bringing out the animals. Yesterday, Brad saw mule deer, the bobcat, and a coyote. Then this morning I saw this beautiful coyote. They are very shy and normally not to be seen, though we sure do hear them yipping at night! It’s lovely.

coyote

 

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