country life

Summer Market

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We acquired twelve new ladies — a couple Rhode Island Reds, some Americanas, and some Sextants.  They are out of the house and now outside.  They are not yet laying, but they sure are having fun.  The older ladies were not sure about the additions at first, but now are laying frantically.

So what do we do with our abundance?  Why the Farmers’ Market, of course!  We are having fun letting people pick out their own eggs.  The eggs are white, green, tan and brown, and stacked in bowls.  The kids especially love getting their empty egg carton to gently load their selection of eggs.DSCN0365

Some people like picking out just one color, but most made their carton a mix of all the colors.  How often can you offer your family “green eggs and ham”?  All the eggs taste the same, it’s just the shell color that’s different.

DSCN0368 DSCN0369 DSCN0370Although its still early in the season, we ended up spending our profits rather quickly with fresh herbs and greens, not to mention honey and baked goods.  We didn’t quite have enough for some of the handcrafted items, but maybe next trip…

DSCN0372 DSCN0371 The musician that came out this time was really good and all the vendors tried to drop a little into his hat.  It was amazing to see what artist had.  They have beautiful drawings of bugs!  I confess to not having paid much attention to those pesky things before, but the detailed drawings presented how pretty some of them can be.

If you haven’t been to a Farmers’ Market, you really should give it a try!  It is so fun to see the wide variety available (it’s all fresh) and so much fun to chat and hear all the stories.

Night Time Adventure

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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.

Bobcat DamageThe 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….

 

 

 

 

In the Beginning

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Not sure who, if anyone, would be interested in the ramblings of a widowed Hispanic/Native American woman in a New Mexico rural community.  Nonetheless, several friends have suggested I start a daily blog because they are curious how someone can survive on about $400 a month, yet eat well and be relatively comfortable.  First off, let me say that country life is not for wimps or the lazy.  The day normally begins at or just before sunrise and ends about 9-9:30 at night — when most folks join the party.  So, here goes!

Today is going to be somewhat lazy — with only laundry to do, patching the carpeting in the bedroom and getting this blog started.  Tomorrow should prove more interesting!  If nothing else, I’ll get a picture of the ranch house I’m living in to post for tomorrow.