Chimayo

Well, it has been a couple of long, hot weeks around here. And busy! So very BUSY! Ayesha went to another conference and Howard did a couple of river trips. We have been harvesting tomatoes and eggs like it's going out of fashion. We're still working on the nursery - it's now inhabitable, but there are still a few finishing touches (more about that in a future blog, once it's all finished!). Ayesha is convinced that the swamp cooler is busted and is finding alternative ways to keep cool (this involves lots of fans, lots of damp towels and driving to the supermarket to loiter in the frozen-foods aisle).

Happily, field work has finished for Ayesha and Howard only has a couple more trips left. The big belly was getting kind of awkward, climbing in and out of the truck and running around in the river. The office used to be too cold, but now it is a relief to be in air-conditioned comfort every day!

To celebrate the end of field work for Ayesha, and her 35th birthday, we headed up to Chimayo last weekend. We stayed at the wonderful Casa Escondida and did very little, other than lots of lazing around. Unfortunately, the only restaurant in town was closed for renovation so we headed into Espanola for dinner and found a great place to sit outside with Semilla and watch the lowriders cruise by...


The next morning, we had a beautiful breakfast on our private patio (with our very well-behaved dog!) before heading out to take a peak at El Santuario de Chimayo - wow, what an incredible place! The church is filled with retablos and santos and so much colour! In the back room, there is a 'sand pit' with healing powers - the walls are lined with crutches and photos of people who have been healed by the sand. Amazing.



Oh, and then we popped into the local store to get some santos and popsicles...

(This may look like an innocent country store, but really it was jam-packed with a busload of tourists, all desperate to get their hands on a bag of authentic Chimayo green chile and some silver jewellery. Needless to say, we didn't last very long inside.)

After all that, we high-tailed it back to 'Burque to get on with normal life. (And to go to Colleen's bridal shower - hooray!)

the bump is growing....

It's been the usual hot summer weather down here in the Southwest. I'm developing cankles and the need to nap in the afternoon (especially after a day in the field). Ice cream is my saviour.













Finally, the bump comes in handy. Here I am, looking hot and sweaty, but enjoying some home-made berry ice cream - conveniently balanced on my belly.

[My belly makes an excellent trap for tasty crumbs and spills!]

Howard was out on the San Juan River again last week. Often he brings me home little gifts from his trip - usually an interesting stone, or an unusually-shaped stick, or sometimes something that he has whittled. A couple of days after arriving home, he suddenly remembered that he had a gift for me. I was expecting another little piece of nature to add to the collection. He told me to close my eyes and I felt him lifting up my t-shirt and pressing on my belly. When I opened my eyes, this is what I found:

In case you can't read it, it says "Australia navel".