Under the Paint Brush: Hondo River Barn Quilt Trail

There hasn't been much going on under the needle lately, but there has been an awful lot happening under the paint brush and it's quilt related.

Our Quilt Squad group (we're a county extension club) has taken on a challenging project these past 5 months or so. We have taken on a Quilt Barn Trail and we're nearing it's completion. It's going to be so nice, but Lord have mercy! I don't think anyone realized how much work was involved. In fact, when we were delivering the quilt blocks the other day, one of our band said, "It's a good thing we didn't think this through or we probably never would have taken it on!" Another common phrase that has often been heard is, "Who's idea WAS this?!" And if I ever have to choose another paint swatch sample, it'll be too soon. Just kidding, but good gravy...my head was spinning every time we walked out of the paint store.

There was the research. The purchasing of lumber and paint.  The selection of the name and logo.The building of the blocks. The drawing of each design. The priming of the blocks.  The endless painting of the blocks.

And the miles of taping with each color change.

The sealing of the blocks. The selling of the blocks. The photos of the blocks.The designing of the flyer - beautifully done by LaDonna and her sister, Connie, painted this block with our Barn Quilt Trail name. I'm telling you, these are a talented bunch of gals:

The delivering of the blocks:

It was a group effort:

                            

 Everyone pitched in where and when they were able. It really was a lot of work, but these ladies are truly extraordinary and it's always a hoot to spend time with them. We painted in the Ice Cream Parlor at the fair grounds. We happened to be there during the county fair and our extension agent mentioned that the Governor was visiting so we grabbed her (we were actually more polite than that!) and asked whether she minded contributing to our project:

Thank you so much, Governor Martinez! And soon, blocks began to appear around town:

There are 11 blocks at the Fair Grounds and 20 more were purchased by businesses around town. I'm not a Facebook user but the Barn Quilt Trail is there (Click on link):

Hondo River Barn Quilt Trail

We'll be posting photos as the blocks go up, but everyone's hard work is about to pay off! Such a fun group of ladies! I'm grateful to be a part of their tribe.Well done girls!

Green Chile Season

This arid desert is not a friendly environment for growing flower gardens or bringing home lush bedding plants from the nursery and expecting them to flourish. But pecans and green chile are abundantly grown and prolific producers here and September is 'fill your deep freeze with chile' season. New Mexico is synonymous with green chile and everywhere you look, there are stands set up for roasting this New Mexico staple.

                         

The canned variety pales in comparison. While our girl was home, she sent out a post letting co-workers know that she was in the green chile capitol if someone wanted her to bring some back. And to say they took her up on her offer was an understatement.

 Yep. That's 7 bushels of roasted green chile in my kitchen. 7 bushels equals 140#. Some folks wanted 1/3. Some wanted 1/2. And some wanted a whole bushel. So we commenced to divvying up the orders and setting the bags of hot green chile on the kitchen counter:

                           

filling the other side:

                            

Continuing onto the island:

                            

And the stove:

                            

And spilling into the laundry room.

                             

The house smelled heavenly. There is a very distinct aroma to good green chile. We let the bags cool before sealing them and loading them into the deep freeze. The next morning we packed them into a humongous cooler and sent our girl on her way to bring green chile happiness to her coworkers.

Now I need to go back for my bushel!

                                   

Lately

We always spend a lot of time outside. It's just the nature of what we do, but lately it's been much more enjoyable since the weather has been showing signs of turning towards fall...fall may be a little presumptuous, but temps under 90° are a start.

DH has been spending a lot of time working with a couple of his green horses before we begin our fall cow works in a few weeks and working them on cattle is  part of that:

                      

So I've been spending a lot of time manning the chute:

                      

And funneling cattle through the alley:

                                     

Our girl took over chute duties one day last week and I videoed a few of his runs so that he could critic them and I snapped a few photos in between:

                      

It takes a lot of time to make a good horse:

                       

Some days we're in the arena first thing in the morning so my walking gets shuffled to the evenings. Skeet and I don't mind:

                       

But he does seem to be searching for his partners in crime:

                       

However, I think he was a little tuckered out after they left because he's been enjoying his prolonged siestas:

                        

And I've been a little relieved to see the sun set a little earlier these days too:

                        

Hound Dog Invasion

Last week our girl blew through here on Wednesday. She dropped off her 2 hound puppies, spent the night and headed to the mountains for a 2 day national symposium on Applied Reproduction Strategies in Beef Cattle. She spent Thursday night with her grandparents, drove south 2 hours to tend to the final details in getting her Masters Thesis published, spent 2 nights there, and then headed back to the ranch for a few days before heading 7 hours back East, dropping off her pups, attending a meeting, and driving another 4 hours west for an overnight farm visit. Good thing she's young! And loves her job! She posted this the other day:

I get a lot of folks asking me some variant of the same question: "So what exactly do you do at *****?" Which is fair, because my job isn't run-of-the-mill. I actually can't do what I get to do, anywhere else in the country. And the answer can be long-winded because I do, and get to do, a very wide array of things. But the primary focus of my job, and the BEST part of my job is consulting with producers face to face. I get to go out and meet landowners, ranch managers, and aspiring cattlemen and women, learn about their families, their goals, their struggles, and their livelihoods. I get to drive around and admire gullies and creeks, cattle and quail, native grass and cottonwoods. I get to help people become better stewards of their land and their animals, and perhaps most importantly, I get to learn from them...their mistakes, their experiences, their successes. I get to hear their STORY, and perhaps become a part of it. Sometimes I have a big impact, often I can have a small impact, and occasionally I'm really not needed at all. But I'm thankful for a company that allows me to spend some of my days like I did today, with coworkers I respect and enjoy, doing something as rewarding as this.

And while she was traipsing around the country, Skeet and I hosted Harvey and Huckleberry:

                          

Skeet's been walking me about 5 miles every morning - that means he runs at least 10 miles:

                           

We had good company last week:

                           

It's hard to fuss about walking out the door at 6 a.m. when you are soon thereafter greeted by views like this:

                            

The pups begin chomping at the bit the moment they sense a walk is imminent. Skeet pretty much has the run of the place - he runs wild and free although he sticks close to wherever we are, but he still goes ballistic when he knows a walk is forthcoming.

                                                     

And 'walk' isn't really in his vocabulary. I walk. He BOUNDS.

                         

and flies everywhere when we're on our walk-a-bouts. He's a very chill and laid-back dog until he sees my hiking boots come out. So, Skeet's the rocket:

                         

Huck's the otter of the bunch:

                         

And Harvey's the lovable comedian:

                          

On Monday evening, storms danced all around us and our girl captured this glorious shot as we soaked in the cool air and refreshing scent of rain in the desert:

                        

It's a pretty good way to close out a day. Just ask a hound dog: