Monday, April 20, 2020

Still socially apart


We're still practicing social distancing and Sam got out his tape measure to keep the correct space between he and Mom. Looks like he's aiming for more than 10 feet.


Sam often cooks for us and the other morning he made "quiche-adillas," a recipe he invented years ago. He starts with a tortilla in a large skillet and pipes a perimeter of mashed potatoes or refried beans around the edge.


He makes a flavorful egg mixture and spoons it into the middle of the tortilla. I think this was eggs, cream, mushrooms and a bit of leftover bacon and sausage.


Sprinkle on grated swiss cheese.


Top with another tortilla and cook until the eggs are solid.


Cut into wedges and enjoy! They make a yummy breakfast.


The spring weather has been really nice (in spite of windy afternoons), so we've been working on a lot of outdoor projects. I got all the garden buckets cleaned out, keeping the dirt in a separate pile from the compost and native soil.


It's one more step toward getting our plant starts into the garden. We have 80 or 90 baby plants now.


On a side note, Jake the snake is back! We only see him early morning, so he's probably spending the night in the greenhouse.


I repotted the flowers Sam bought for Mom Virginia. There's geraniums, gerber daisies and vinca.


They look really nice on Mom's deck.


We've trimmed a few trees . . .


And painted a new sheet of plywood for a work table.


It hasn't been all work. Last week our friends Linda and Mike came over from their home off Sonoita Highway. We've been friends since before Sam and I got married, through Mexico mission trips, motorcycle group rides, and church.


They bought their property not long after Sam and I bought our ranch. We really enjoyed catching up with them.


Some of the recent sights and sounds on my morning walk are a fairly rare sighting of the train almost a mile away. We often hear them in the distance, but I've never seen them from this part of the road.


I'm evidently not very good at video because I don't think I moved at all in this one!, but I wanted you to hear the bird song. All the critters, including birds, are waking up.



Sam regularly supplies me with pretty photos of flowers.  These white ones are fairly large, but they only last one day.


These blooms are tiny, less than 1/16" across, but nice when the photo is enlarged.


These are all over and are such a delicate color.


And I just liked the color and shape of this plant.


You've seen my photos of Rincon Peak to the north. This is what it looks like on an average sunny day, and we love it.


Every so often, things change. Sometimes clouds make shadows in interesting places. Or the sun moves further north as we head towards summer, and bam! There are peaks and ridges in places we never saw before. So much more interesting.


I'll leave you tonight with last week's full moon. Several of you had better shots on your Facebook page. Wasn't it beautiful?

Blessings to you all tonight.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

All things alive


Greetings, friends and family! We continue to do well at Pumpkin Patch Ranch. Sam's school district is closed until July, so he is hanging around doing projects and keeping Mom entertained during meals and TV programs.


Today, after a couple weeks of staying home, we took off on a little adventure in the car.


Mom usually rides shotgun because the front passenger seat is easier for her to get in and out of. We explored a road near Benson that we hadn't driven yet.


It was great to be outdoors with the windows open to the fresh air, looking at a different view.



We saw wildflowers, but I couldn't photograph many of them.


We stopped for takeout at lunch, then headed back. Sam had to get home for a continuing education class online with his school district.


Back at the ranch, we're seeing more critters and plants as the weather warms up. Bugs, birds . . .


Butterflies . . .


Lizards . . .


And this beautiful guy that Sam's sister Faye named Jake the Snake. He showed up in our greenhouse about a week ago.


Sam's research shows he's a Western Coachwhip, a type of racer, probably a juvenile but over 4 feet long. He eats mice and other rodents and is non-venomous, so we encouraged him to stay, but it's looking like he moved on a few days ago.


Too bad; we could have used him this week. We've trapped 3 rats near Mom's house and found a mouse in the 5th wheel and rodent damage inside Sam's car. Not fun!


Speaking of new plants, our first harvest was radishes planted 6 weeks ago.


We picked about a dozen so far, and then popped new seeds in the dirt for an ongoing harvest.


I'll close with recent photos of native flowers right here on PPR. This pink fluffy one is fairy duster.






So many varieties when you slow down and look at the details.

Thanks for hanging out with us today. I pray you are staying sane as we wait and watch and do what needs to be done. God bless you all.

(Many photos courtesy of Sam.)