New Beginnings!

So much has been happening. By an act of life’s Creator, a new beginning has emerged. Not only has my life’s goal of having an organic homestead continued to develop, but I’ve found a partner with a similar goal. Neither of us has much to work with, but together we foresee the very real probability of accomplishing the goal.

In short, I recently met and married a gentle giant. Jim complements my abilities and shortcomings beautifully, we share similar ideals and hopes, and we both love our families.

Our wedding was a simple affair. We married at the library where we met and rather than a catered affair, we asked everyone invited to share in the festivities by contributing to an after-wedding potluck. Instead of a “gift list,” we told everyone that wanted to provide a gift to make it a dish to share at the wedding and/or a gift certificate for materials to build with (like Home Depot, etc.)

It was wonderful — and my Mom was here to share the joy!

Magic Paper Toweling Rolls

Its amazing the number of toys and trinkets I have purchased in the hope of an enthusiastic response from Chamako and Squeak. The usual reaction is to watch them sniff the treat and then get a baleful look of impatience from Chamako and a dismissive sniff from Squeak. How was I to know that I had been harboring a rare and exotic treasure the whole time?

As I was cleaning the kitchen, wiping the counters and washing dishes, I had to replace the empty roll on the wall with new paper toweling. Squeak was eagerly laying nearby with a careful eye for anything that might drop. In the middle of a sunny ray, Chamako was dozing. Nice peaceful home, right? Well, the empty roll rolled off the counter and onto the floor and before I could retrieve it to throw away, Squeak darted and snatched it firmly in her tiny jaws.

With the roll being so long, it obviously had one end dragging and bumping along as she dashed past Chamako, giving him a noisy slap as Squeak darted by. I, of course, laughed – boy, was that a mistake! After giving me the equivalent of a feline optic deathray, Chamako went off in hot pursuit of the creature bearing the offending device. The chase was on.

I watched in amusement as first one, then the other, gained possession of that roll. They wrestled, tugged, rolled, darted, chased, scooted under furniture, and caused general mayhem. The tantalizing cardboard roll eventually looked like a bedraggled string of brown paper.

They finally settled down, curling around each other for a well-deserved nap, each bearing a piece of shredded brown roll, and both content over their conquest.

Where is the camera when I need it?

A New Best Friend

I was convinced that my poor kitty, Chamako, needed a friend to play with while I’m at work. It was obvious he missed his old friend who died a few months ago. So, I found him a new friend — a chihuahua a neighbor was giving away.

Not sure how clear the picture may appear to you, but here is the new family addition. The handsome fellow is my oldest grandson (Sam) holding the 3 month old bundle. I named her Mary Agnes/Squeak (after the character from the movie “Color Purple”) because her bark sounds like a squeak toy.

Well, the first few days had Squeak screaming and shaking whenever Chamako came near (he’s only about three times bigger), which would panic my poor cat and send him running for cover. Not sure whether the high pitched squeak hurt his ears or whether Squeak’s squeaking hurt Chamako’s feelings.

Anyway, after a week, they’ve become fast friends and play all day long, sleep together, get into trouble together, and just generally prove very entertaining.

Now for the point of this post. Have you ever seen these cat tubes? It’s a perfect toy for my Chamako. He loves going into it and attacking anything that strolls by — whether my legs, Squeak, or unsuspecting guests.

The other day Chamako lay inside and fell asleep while waiting for his next victim, with his tail poking out one end. Squeak awoke from a nap, searched for her pal and saw the fuzzy tail sticking out one end of the tube. So, she snuck into the tube, carefully placing her feet on each side of Chamako’s tail and without warning, Squeak starting barking. Poor Chamako. I think the tube elevated 12 inches off the floor before my shocked cat shot out the other end of the tube with his fur standing on end and Squeak in hot pursuit, barking happily.

I think the perfect new pal was found for Chamako. Now if I can just convince them to terrorize each other and not me!

Whirlwind Activity

Life has been crazy this summer. My oldest daughter (April) and her family moved to New Mexico and have finally found a house. I’ve learned a whole new level of respect for her — she is awesome. This grandma is also thrilled with her three grandsons, who happen to be handsome, intelligent, talented and fun.

My youngest daughter (Carol) continues to make me smile in countless ways. A few weeks ago she treated me to a trip to the hair salon, so I’m now a pretty old lady. When it was her turn to have her tresses pampered, I couldn’t resist taking this picture.

She has threatened me with a slow and painful death if I let anyone see this, but I couldn’t resist!

Later today I’ll be tramping through the area to get to the now-wild peach trees. The luscious fruits are not as big as the Frankenfruit in stores, but wow — they are so juicy and the peachy taste almost seems artificially accented. I love the fact these peaches have no sprays, no commercials enhancements and from heirloom trees. Then the fun of canning… It’s a good thing I live alone. By the time I’m done, I’ll be a sweaty, stinky mess, but I’ll be smiling!

Finally Together

My oldest daughter, April, and her family have arrived! They decided that last winter’s harsh cold in the Midwest was too much to possibly face again, plus they missed family, so they’ve made a lizard-leap of faith, packed up everything, and are now in New Mexico.

We had a fun Sunday with eating out for a late breakfast and then going to a new Farmer’s Market in Albuquerque called the Railway Station Market. It’s amazing. Everything there is GMO-free and organic. It was so much fun and such great stuff. Everything from food, crafts, herbal healers and some great music. Everything was housed inside the old railway station/warehouse and each booth was so different from the other. Without a doubt, I’d love to go again.

Life is a Bowl of Cherries

In my free time I’ve been scouring the countryside for fruit trees. There are huge tracts of land that once held farms and orchards, but the residents are no longer there. The trees, however, are still there and continue to produce!

Last week a friend called up to let me know about an abandoned apricot and cherry tree. Wow. After we both collected a five-gallon bucket of apricots we moved to the cherry tree. Oh my goodness — this cherry tree had to be the biggest one I’ve ever seen. And the cherries!! I’ve gone back for more cherries twice and am hoping there are some left this weekend.

I think they are Rainier cherries, but I’m not sure. One five-gallon bucket of cherries was sold at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday so I could have gas money. The second one was used for making cherry syrup. Oh yum. If there are any left to pick this weekend I am not sure what to make with those, but I’m always open for suggestions. Maybe I’ll make some jars of pie filling. Hmm….

Transcribing an Internal Movie

It never fails to amaze me how enjoyable writing can be. I’ve been working on another fiction, not sure if it would be called a sci-fi or fantasy, but I’m having so much fun. This new one I’ve been working on has about one seed of truth for every pound of “tall tale.”

The one I’m working on right now is based on a Native American girl learning about her role in a secret medicine society that has her developing traditional skills with instruction from some older Natives, some Star People and some “Old Ones” aka vampires. Like I said, one seed of truth mixed with one pound of *@$t. Having had traditional Native training I’m able to “fictionize” some things in the traditional system of learning and have dreamed up some interesting characters.

One of the things I’m fascinated by is how my fingers twitch over the keyboard, trying to keep up with the “movie” that is playing in my head as I try to capture every word they utter and describe what they are doing. It’s almost like transcribing what I see, but it’s all in my head. And it’s so much fun!

Someone please tell me that I’m not some kind of non-lethal psychotic! LOL

Night Time Adventure

Had a minor adventure the other night that still has my poor cat on edge!

I and my fuzzball normally are in bed and asleep about 9:30 every night, so the other night when Chamako began hissing and growling at 3 in the morning, my eyes more than popped open. I sat up straight in bed and heard growling from the huge kitchen window, so I jumped out of bed. Chamako ran to the middle of the kitchen and as seen in the moonlight, he puffed up three times his size. I think his tail was as big around as my thigh! And since when does a house cat’s fangs grow to twice its size?

Anyway, like any self-respecting, half-asleep bimbo, I didn’t turn on any lights, but ran to the window to try to see in the dark. I could hear the screen ripping and a low growl coming from the other side, so in a panic, I forced the window shut and slammed across the critter’s paws (which it clearly did not appreciate). I watched the animal jump away from the window and its shadow looked bigger than my cat but smaller than a dog. It wasn’t til after the critter darted away did it occur to me that I should have turned on the lights.

The next morning I found some huge rips in the screen (see the tape I’m temporarily using). I’ve talked to a few folks in town about it. Turns out there’s a bobcat in the area that’s munching on local dogs and chickens. Guess it thought my baby kitty smelled like that night’s dinner! Ah, the joys of living in the country….

VA Battles

When my poor husband passed away in 2012, the VA pretty much gave me the boot. Since his illness covered a span of 10 years, the costs ended up wiping out everything — savings, retirement, everything. In retrospect I find it interesting to look back and see how society’s vultures can so easily victimize someone in this position. But, I digress….

Today the V.A. is facing some rather difficult issues. The one I’m curious about is the “death list” they seemed to have maintained. In poor Roger’s case, they insisted to the day he died, that he had a 15% chance of being able to return to the workforce. They failed to advise that he was sick on the day of his discharge, failed to advise either of us in subsequent years, and every time he got sick or injured (both legs snapped in half as a side-affect of cancer treatment), they would immediately have hospice assigned. If we had not agreed to hospice, they threatened complete termination of services, so hospice it was.

Roger and his buddy, "Little Man," about 1 year before he passed away.

Roger and his buddy, “Little Man,” about 1 year before Roger passed away.

Re-evaluation requests could take as much as 18 months before being scheduled for medical review and usually took 6-10 months after the medical review before a decision was made. Looking back, it was such a nightmare.

Today there’s a new nightmare, but this one has a little light at the end of the tunnel. My appointment to meet with the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) is in a week. I’ll be carting all of Roger’s documents (three file boxes full) to prove that perhaps the VA screwed up in this case as well. Oh boy, am I ever crossing my fingers!

If they find in my favor, I might even be able to collect a pension on widow’s benefits — which is only about $500-600 per month, but to me that sounds like winning the jackpot! I’ve been surviving on $400-500 a month since my husband’s death. Oh Lordie — hear my prayer!

It’s Monday and the Running Begins

Busy weekend, but I like to think that great and magnificent feats are being accomplished.

On Saturday I popped into the local volunteer fire department. They were hosting a workshop/meet-&-greet regarding the drought and fire danger. As most of you know, we in the Great Southwest love our sun and warm weather, but with a shortage of rain, we are ready to explode with fires. So, our fire department hosted a FireWise workshop which was so much fun. They filled up a small pool for folks to jump into (obviously the kids didn’t resist!), gave great advice, fed all of us, and we had souvenirs to go home with. Local politicians can always be counted on to come to these events, and we got the chance to catch up on the community gossip. Such fun!

Sunday was peaceful. I cleaned my house, tormented my cat and worked for several hours on another story. Its amazing how therapeutic writing can be. I’m even considering how to include this fellow in town in my book. This individual is a real worm and would make a perfect villain — I guess I should change the name “to protect the innocent”….

Today I’m getting ready to head over to the Food Bank. Although I qualify, I don’t really take much of anything because I insist on organics. Most Food Bank stuff is GMO, processed and instant, but I am more than happy to help out. We get these huge cases of stuff and have to break things down into smaller portions for distribution. Lots of work, but gratifying to see about 100 families being provided for. One thing for sure. If I worked out like this every day I would probably end up looking like a toothpick!

LeeFran Homestead

Surviving & Thriving in the Country