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".

Bugalugs growing up...

It's been a while since we updated the Bugalugs photos. A lot can happen in a couple of months....

This is a couple of months ago, back in the good ol' days when I could still fit into my normal clothes.












A couple of weeks later, and a new skirt (hooray!). The bump is growing but I still look like I'm just chunky, not pregnant.























Now I'm really starting to look the real deal. Semilla might be starting to wonder what's going on (that's her nose that I'm looking at).
















Oddly, Howard's belly isn't getting any bigger. He has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to get to my size!

Even though his waist is still the same circumference, he's complaining of other pregnancy symptoms - wants to nap all the time, gets really hungry and has an aversion to yoghurt. But I guess that's nothing new....

WHB: I don't want to nap all the time!!


And here is a cute photo of Semilla, just for fun.

Pecos wilderness (Holy Ghost Creek trail)

One weekend, late in June, we headed off to the Pecos Wilderness with our good friends Aaron and Leslie. It was wonderful to see some green forest and to walk in the cool mountain air....







It was Bugalugs' first backpacking adventure - 6.5 miles to camp and five months pregnant! Here I am in some very attractive Grandpa Pants - my usual attire no longer fits.










Semilla had a wonderful time on the trip. She loved adventuring and running backwards and forwards. She never goes too far out of sight - she always runs back to check that the humans are coming along as well.














Here she is at Stewart Lake, admiring the view and wondering if she should swim across and see if Howard is catching any fish. (Howard did indeed catch a trout - Ayesha and Bugalugs got to eat it that night for dinner because we forgot to pack the garbanzo beans that had been on the menu.)
















Here's the happy camping crew, coming down the mountain the next day.

We saw a billion wildflowers that weekend - wild orchids, roses, lots of things that we didn't know how to identify...


Finally, here is a must-watch video. Semilla is part otter and part beaver. And part clown.

She was a very tired puppy the next day....

If you want to see more silly dog videos, leave a comment and we'll stick some more up here!

Here I sit in a darkened office, my first solo entry on "THE BLOG". It is stormy outside and we have had several small showers pass over head. Ayesha is busy in the kitchen making homemade yogurt. A very precise chemistry experiment! I might have to give it a taste when she is done even though I am not a big fan of yogurt... We have had several days of rain now and our garden seems to be responding well to the moisture. We have big plans for the garden this year, as we do every year it seems....I will walk you through it.

As you walk past Semilla's torn up, hole ridden, and pooped upon landscape you come to the fence that keeps our little beast at bay from our tender little plants.


Here Semilla and her pal Bravo
wonder why they can't come in the garden too.
"it looks so nice" they say...... "Oh, do I hear chickens??"


The dogs focus on the clucks and peeps of the chickens as Ayesha picks the multitude of tickweed from the tiger beans. We are attempting potatoes in the bags behind her.

Here is where we planted our onion, garlic and radishes, under our little apricot tree.






This picture shows our other two beds. In them lots of beans and peas. I am kind of fascinated by beans this year. Lettuce, garlic, lots of carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, basil, beets, chile and more. "What then hell are we going to do with all this produce you ask?"


There's more...



This is our "orchard". We tore down an old shed that stood here, amended the soil and planted three apple trees. This is the first year we have little apples on them. Beneath them are bush pole beans, squash, onion, carrots, fava beans from the Burdett farm (shhh don't tell customs), two grape vines and lots of wild flowers.





Lastly, here is the chicken coop. This years set up is hopefully more Semilla proof than last years. Inside you will find:
Ms. Universe,
Spinderella,
and the Thompson Twins; Thompson and Thomsom. See if you can figure out which one is which.



Here they are in the coop, soon to lay eggs, we hope. They are still young little girls.

Ok then, Thanks for checking out "THE BLOG". Come over in the fall to try out some of our veggies. Putting pictures into this thing is a pain in the ass!! I think Ayesha has much more patience than I do. Stay tuned to see if I venture to undertake a blog post again....

Bun in the oven

Wowee!!! Bugalugs is on the way - arriving October 18th (or thereabouts). You can see her/his/it's cute little button nose, the left ear and the spine...


...and this is what I now look like. This was taken about two weeks ago (sixteen weeks). I know it's only a little bump, but remember I used to be much more concave. My convexity continues to develop, but we don't have any newer photos tonight.


Howard is really excited about Bugalugs - he can't wait to take him/her/it camping. He rushed out and bought this camping chair, and then the carseat came later... (I bought the teddy bear - cute, hey?)

Australia #5 - Outback adventure - Tibooburra to Sydney via Balranald

Onward ho! It was time to leave Tibooburra and head towards Balranald for Rach and Paul's wedding.

We got up early to drive out of Tibooburra.








Howard was fascinated by these yardsticks. The one on the left is at a little creek somewhere between Tibooburra and Broken Hill. It reads 2m (~7ft). The one on the right is on the Darling River in Pooncarie, and it's big. When it rains out here, it really rains out here...





The Darling River - note the complete lack of flow. The Menindee Lakes were pretty empty too.







But the flies were bad. There was only one solution for nap-time...








Some friends we met along the way...

Shingleback lizard (cute!)








Shingleback lizard (scary!)










Central bearded dragon











And look! There are some exciting invertebrates to find (brine shrimp, water boatmen, beetles, mosquitoes...)







Rachael and Paul's wedding at Paika (Balranald)
Suddenly, we were back to spending time with people! It was lovely to see Rach, Paul, Deana and Matt again - and catch up with a few more people. And what a beautiful couple!

Hooray! Congratulations Rach and Paul Alderuccio!!










Hello Sydney and farewell Australia
We were back in the big city again. {Well, after a monstrous drive up from Balranald, that didn't actually seem too bad after a couple of weeks on the road.}

We left the worn-out campervan behind, and went into Circular Quay to check out the local sites...

The Harbour Bridge










The Opera House








See you next year Australia!! Thanks for a wonderful honeymoon!