Salida, CO

A few weekends ago, we were lucky enough to spend the weekend with my parents in Salida, at a lovely little house with a fantastic porch. We were there for Aaron to play with DK and the Affordables at a great downtown bar with an outside patio right next to the river. If we can afford it, we'd love to go back in the fall, too!

Hungry Birdies

The few weeks these little birds were in my hanging basket were quite fun. They finally fledged- one took her first flight into Rhys's forehead but managed to recover and go on her way- last week. I can't imagine trying to keep up with feeding these hungry little mouths!

Happy 7th Birthday, Rhys!

Our baby...

...turned 7 today!

We had a Lego birthday party yesterday,

complete with Lego brownies...

...and mini-figure head jars for party favors (my favorite).

Happy, happy birthday!

Starting the summer harvest!

We got home from a week in Colorado yesterday afternoon, but I didn't want to go to the store to get food for dinner. I went to the garden instead (that's what it's there for after all!). We had beets, onions, baby carrots, lettuce, spinach, dandelion greens, purslane and peas. For dessert (and breakfast this morning) we had rhubarb apple crisp. Delicious!

Okee Dokee Brothers Rock!!!

I've decided that I am a bigger Okee Dokee fan than my kids are, but what the heck, I have to bring them along to get into a kids' concert so I don't look like a weirdo. I clapped and danced and sang all the lyrics (yes, I knew them all) because dang it, I'm a FAN. Hi-ho! Haul away Joe! The boatman rows up on to the dancing floor!

Scootering

The kids got scooters a while ago and I must say they've been one of the best purchases we've made for them. This week, Alanna had dance camp (so cool!), so one day we scootered over there. I pushed the jogging stroller just in case my little 4 year old couldn't make it all the way. Turns out I've got a big 4 year old, and I pushed the stroller merely for my own delight and exercise. I was so proud of both kids!

Silly Little Birds

Those silly little house finches – a couple built a nest in my hanging basket.

Mullein

I'm pretty much a modern hippie, as I've mentioned before. Frying up some extremely delicious dandelion fritters for dinner last week (seriously, they were sooooo good) certainly qualifies me for true hippiedom, especially since they were wild crafted by hand while my children ran around unsupervised, though I did insist on shoes and sunscreen. But anyway. I just wanted an excuse to talk about those fritters again because they were exceptional nuggets of delectable delight. Like totally.

But I'm also an amateur herbalist (which ties right in to my original point about hippieness). I've recently learned about mullein, a plant I was familiar with as a mountain girl with an interest in botany and wildflower identification, but it turns out this large, prolific plant is also a heavyweight in the herbal world, with helpful properties such as promoting lung health, healing coughs and respiratory infections, and fighting ear infections. I enjoyed wildcrafting the dandelions so much I've been on the lookout for more herbs I might be able to collect on my own... And mullein fit the bill. It grows beautifully between 7,000 and 8,000 feet, although I think it's even more widespread. It was easy to find many wild areas with mullein growing around Los Alamos.

They like sandy, disturbed soils, and the Las Conchas fire burned though here just a couple of years ago.

Ladybugs like mullein, too.

And I harvested plenty. 

And, as I learned from Wikipedia, mullein wards off curses and evil spirits... So it's even more useful than I thought!

Ski Hill

For our nature hike this week, we spent a couple of gorgeous hours at the ski hill. We all enjoyed it immensely, and we may go back there again next week. I found several patches of wild strawberries that are just now blooming or starting to set fruit, so we'll have to go back to take advantage of the yumminess in the next couple of weeks!

I believe this is a seed pod from the aspens. They were covered in purple flowers

Piles of pika (marmot?) poo covered this rock. A lovely place to poo, I guess!

Alann requested a photo of herself looking exactly like is. She described it beforehand, climbed up to this spot on the poo rock, and posed, just like she said she was going to.

I harvested scads of dandelion heads, and the bees were busy too. We had dandelion fritters for dinner, and oh my goodness!!! They were sooooo good!

We saw lots of tent caterpillars crawling around, but couldn't find any of their tents.

Flower Press

A million years ago, my darling daddy made me a flower press, which I have utilized off and on for... dear lord... probably 25 years (jeez.... Since when can I talk about anything I terms of multiple decades?). Anyway, the kids are really getting into collecting things on our hikes, so I dug the press out yet again for use in preserving leaves and flowers. There were some dried aspen leaves in it that must have been at least a few years old, but since I vaguely remember putting them in there, they must not be 10 or more years old. Even though they're a bit faded, I can see why I saved them: they have a remarkable mixture of green and red that rarely seen in a single leaf, even aspen.

So- we've got some leaves and flowers, squashed away in the press, up in Rhys's closet. I read not long ago that the best and proper way to press flowers is to put them in a press, or a big dictionary (which I've also done), stash it somewhere "safe" and promptly forget about the whole thing. Then when you find them after a while, it's a pleasant, unexpected surprise, which brings back memories and provides a good afternoon of entertainment. Any other method for pressing is absolutely

unsatisfactory. 

Works for me.

Rhys was pretty excited about it, so we sent this photo to my dad, along with Father's Day wishes, since after all, he was the one who enabled me to save so many memories starting so many years ago.

Venus Fly Trap

Rhys has been wanting a Venus Fly Trap, and we finally had the opportunity to purchase one. And it caught a fly and is slowly digesting it!

 

Mumford and Sons Last Night!

We joined some friends in Taos last night for an awesome concert: Mumford and Sons. Had a GREAT time!!

 Katie and Marie

The line to get in was at least 1/4 mile long.

 Opening Acts

 Proof we were there!

 Well, they're up there somewhere...

Really, I know you can't see them, but that's Mumford and Sons putting on an awesome show...

First Nature Day of the Summer

In order to make the most of our summer, the kids and I (mostly me) have put together a calendar that includes all the things we'll be doing, including art camps, dance camp, visits from grandparents, and music we'll be seeing. We've loosely given a theme to the days of the week to help us plan our activities so that we don't drive each other crazy for the next 10 weeks. Tuesday is now Nature Day! There aren't any hard and fast rules, but in general, we're going to get outside, hike, examine, observe, and enjoy nature on Tuesdays. Of course if the week's schedule doesn't allow for nature on Tuesday, it can happen any other day that's convenient, but this at least will help us focus. 

Our hike today was at Gate 7 off the highway toward Bandelier, also known as Sunset Canyon between me and Aaron, because of the lovely oranges of the rocks at the top of the canyon. I was reminded how s-l-o-w the kids sometimes hike, but we were not out to set any land speed or distance records, so we trudged along and enjoyed the now.

Heading down the trail...

  Rhys insisted we go off trail for a bit...

So they scrambled up by the cliffs.

The view across the valley.

Alanna's primary goal in hiking is to get to a snack spot..

And here it is- about 6 minutes from the trailhead.

Rhys is following along, too.

About 8 minutes after we started hiking again, we reached our 2nd snack spot.

Everyone spent time observing and collecting. Rhys filled up a container.

Before heading out we stopped by the hardware store to pick up two magnifying glasses for $1.

We saw lichen...

And cactus...

And sunlight through scrub oak leaves.

And a quite a few signs that this drought is slowly killing everything.

Despite the dustiness, and learning that we need to start earlier than 9:30 to beat the heat, we still had a lovely hike. Yay Nature Day!