You've Got Mail

In the 21st century, it is hard to imagine that some things are still old school, but it's true. 

This is my main mail/parcel delivery "box."

 

It is an updated model from our first one. The first model was a stump and we ended up taking that in to get a wee bit fancy. I know you can tell that we have upgraded this model with that fancy rock, yep it's true. The rock does what rocks do~and holds down any light items. 

 

 

We do have an actual mailbox. It is not on our road and it is often opened and perhaps searched for any valuable contents. Not much ends up there aside from Miguel.Miguel has a beautiful web and it will remain until Miguel decides. I will not infringe on his home!

 *Important to note, we do have a PO Box way far away in town. 

Content

I have a well worn little piece of paper on the computer that has a very simple thought. It says "Contentment is not getting what we want, but being satisfied with what we have."

It is very easy to be content when I look beyond the house and see the mountains and see the hands of the Creator.

 

Gate view

 

Dusk gate view facing the farmhouse but boy oh boy the skies!!

 

Crazy to see this and then remember to snap a photo! I love how this looks a bit like a volcano erupting.

 

Even the skies take my breath away. I pause in gratitude many times a day.

  

Don't forget that you can be content too...it is a mindset, that with time can become a lifestyle.

 

Sweeties

 

Grand #9 on the left, and grand #8 on the right. These cuties are 14 months apart!

 

This is grand # 5 and she is 5.

 

These three are my daughter's wee ones. Amazing news today is that they will have another sweet sister added to the family! Makes Papa and I so happy!!

Thinking About Winter

 

I've checked my pantry shelves to make sure we are prepared for the upcoming months and

 

I think about our critters as they watch the flames of our only heat source. Winter in southern New Mexico is not as warm as many surmise as it is the desert and it does not preserve heat. We haven't had a bad winter in several years and that makes me think we are due. Of course, prepared not worried is our mindset. 

We have to prep the outside as well. It is a time to reflect upon the summer and really dig in to hard work outside as the temps are finally nice enough to be outside and not feel that you are on the surface of the sun.

We are always in project mode and of course dreaming this and that about our place as that is what makes things grand, dreams, whether big dreams or small dreams.

2023 has been a hard year as we lost two of our livestock guardians. One was totally unexpected and one gave us 13 amazing years and was the most loyal of friends. We brought a new livestock guardian into the fold last September and he is truly a keeper and was well worth a long drive deep into Texas. 

Mind you, it is not even fall yet, and our temps are still super-day-duper HOT, but I do look ahead as one should always be prepared. 

• Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8

 

My Hands are Always

Busy! If I am not doing actual housework, farmwork, or helping Bill in one of our many side hustles, I am creating. I cannot seem to stop.

 

We love pistachios and of course that means a good deal of shells are left. It bothers me to waste the shells so I often come up with some art piece using them. Here is a heart. 

 

And a simple menorah.

 

I love horses. I had an entire year where I had a long-legged season of artwork. I think it is because I love my Bill and he is one good lookin' long-legged fella!

 

One of my oil paintings. If you ask me which football team I like, I always say The Bill's. I like the Buffalo Bill's because I am a cheesy kid at heart and I love Bill. Why not love a team that is Bill's?

 

Here is a small corner of pieces that are filled with salvaged wood, chicken feathers and bristles from a paint brush!

 

An earlier piece. 

 

This is a mobile I made for one of the grands, and that cutie will soon turn 8! 

 

This piece is made of a piece of a business sign that was destined for the dumpster. 

 

Another piece from the repurposed business sign.

 

I also designed the summer 2019 NMSU-A catalog. This was my prototype!

 

I also had a giraffe season. The long legs of those critters amazes me!

 

I am a rockhound as well and I painted a good deal to hide about for the children to discover, 100 for the local museum to give out, as well as this box, which was raffled off for $200.00 for a local fundraiser.

 

Here is Mr. and Mrs. Double Nickel made with dried gourds for the head, and old pieces of Bill's and my clothes. The wire is the form which is something we use often out and about on the farm. 

 

Here is a hummingbird that I painted one afternoon on a rock. In the past several years, I think I have painted over 300 rocks and placed them about the community to be discovered by someone. It is kind of a place of happiness I create when I paint the rocks, and then knowing someone may have a moment of joy finding the rock makes my day. 

 

This is just a teeny tiny window of my world and it is the part where my brain must create. I am thankful that I can and hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

 

 

The Legacy One Leaves Behind

I have been thinking a good deal about my father-in-law.  He passed away in 2020 and is missed.

 

This is a photo of my father-in-law with my kiddos and Bill about 13 years ago. My father-in-law shared much about his childhood and parents and told me about wishing to have his name carry on. We ended up with three sons to pass his name on and we actually named our second son after him.  

When I think about my father-in-law, it is often because of things I see Bill doing and we are the age that my father-in-law was when I first met him. I see all the hard work that Bill does and know it was all taught to him by his dad. The work ethic, the jack of all knowledge, I mean I could go on and on.

And this is something that makes me think even more of my father-in-law than just about his last name. You see, he instilled so much into my Bill that it truly was part of who he became all because. Bill, in turn, has done the same with our sons. It is a legacy or inheritance of zero cash value but is worth far more than all the money in the world. A man with honor, integrity, and good character that walks with the LORD, is a man worth all.

 

 

Now we have 4 grands that carry on the name and also are being trained by their Papa and father's to become men of honor, with integrity, and good character...

and I smile because the fear of not leaving a legacy behind by my father-in-law is unfounded. He has a tremendous legacy all because.

 

Oh and for the record my father-in-law was the father of 7, grandfather of 20 and the great-grandfather of 18+. Quite and impressive legacy!

 

 

Three Month Stock Up

On our anniversary, Bill and I drove 5.5 hours to Odessa/Midland Texas for a three month grocery haul. The day is long and usually is a 14 hour day, depending on our stops, picnic time, and overall traffic. 

We put money away for the HEB grocery trips as they proved themselves to be loyal, even during the tested times that the past three years have presented. The prices are very reasonable with not as much increases as we see in New Mexico. I thought I would share what a 3 to 4 month grocery stock up looks like for us.

Here is the haul:

 

Laundry soap mix (Borax, Washing Soda and Zote soap), dish soap, a scrub brush, freezer bags, a pack of plastic food containers, wooden utensils, witch hazel, straws, 4 jars of castor oil, and a few flower seed packs, and water colors for projects with the grands!

 

The snack aisle. Bill is a sweets guy and I am a crispy chips gal. I will supplement this with homemade desserts and popcorn! By the way HEB brands are superb!!!

 

 

I found a few extra produce items I missed in the produce pic(coming up), and added them here. Garlic, a red onion, 2 cans of baked beans, tortillas, fideo, elbow noodles, 2 ranch dressings, 2 lbs of butter, and basmati rice. 

 

The luxury drinks. Some mineral water, orange juice, coffee and a cute addition, the little storage containers. 

 

The meat. Only one pack of chicken-boneless skinless thighs, as well we have those itty bitty critters about the property to fill that need. 7 roasts, a brisket, stew meat and ten lbs of ground chuck.

 

For context, each roast is about 4 to 5 meals for us. I use a portion to make machaca con huevos for breakfast burritos as well. The roasts are a massive meal possibility for us, with so many ways to prepare it and enjoy! The ground chuck I used to make beef chorizo as we do not eat pork. I also made up several already seasoned hamburger patties to just take out and put on the grill. I canned 7 pints of albondigas soup with the ground chuck as well. I divided the brisket into 3 portions and we will enjoy each portion for a few meals! The chicken thighs are going to be grilled in some fashion.  

 

The fruits, avocados- a morning staple, limes for pico and salsa, lemon for tea, Bill loves cantaloupe, and bananas well for a quick snack! 

 

The produce: cabbage as it keeps so long in fridge, corn on cob for grilling, soups, and sides, celery for bases of almost all, Brussels Sprouts as they are my second favorite food of all(onions #1), cilantro which we use on everything, tomatoes again in everything, poblanos, zucchini, cucumbers, serranos, jalapenos, sweet peppers and broccoli. I freeze snack size baggies of the peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes to toss in breakfast burritos. I  boiled the broccoli with carrots and onions that I already had to freeze a creamy sauce to use in a recipe for later this month. We eat the cucumbers daily with lime juice salt and NM chili powder on them. They are a refreshing snack in these hot burning oven days.

 

The onions are an addition to most meals in the prep stage. I love onions and incorporate them into almost everything. I only got 5 lbs of Idaho potatoes because I had an Azure pickup, and the itty potatoes I already cooked for us with Brussels Sprouts...yum!

Not pictured was my Azure standard haul of wheat berries as I use them to make bread, tortillas and sweets, 50 lbs of potatoes to store as it is getting cooler (well kind of not really), yogurt, cottage cheese, 

and a pickup from Sams and Costco of toilet paper, dog food, 4 lbs of butter, v-8, foil, and famous Amos cookies. 

This is an interesting post as it wove in and out of the times we are in.  I cannot express enough thanks to those in this great country that still believe in the Constitution. Seriously, the value Bill and I place on that is why we are willing to drive so far, deep in Texas for this commonality. A simple grocery haul becomes so much more.

So a post sharing the food and junk an old couple will live off for the next few months resonates in an entirely different fashion. 

By the way: Be ready. Call upon His Name. The time is now.