Happy Fall Y'all!

Sights and Smells of Fall

I was born in New Mexico and have spent most of my adult life in Texas. This time of the year, though, my heart and senses go back to New Mexico. There are autumn sights and smells that are uniquely New Mexican and even though I love my Texas, I miss these things:

Chile-red or green, roasted or hung in ristras.  The smell of roasting green chile signals the beginning of green chile harvest and the end of summer. Several years ago, we visited New Mexico and bought 90 lbs. of green chile. We roasted it ourselves and froze it. It's given us a taste of home and I'm just now using the last of it. Still good and delicious!

These are called ristras-an old method of drying chiles by stringing them together and hanging them up. Many New Mexico kitchens have one hanging up. 

Apples! There are a number of apple orchards in the mountains of New Mexico. When we returned to live there for an 8 year period 30 years ago, we went to pick apples in the fall. They smell and taste so good because they are tree ripened. The town of Velarde, NM was established in 1598. (That's right, 1598!) The Velarde family still farms there and grows many things, among them fastastic apples! My husband worked with a member of the family and we enjoyed visiting Velarde to buy apples.

Hmmm. I think I want an apple now, and maybe I'll make something with green chile for dinner!

9-11

Trying to Catch Up With September!

I'm late in rejoicing over September finally arriving. It heralds the start of my favorite time of year, albeit my most emotionally challenging time of year. Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of my amazing dad taking up residence in Heaven. I usually dream about him this time of year and am dragging a bit emotionally, but I'm better today. He was 91 and happy and ready to go and that's a lot more than many people get to be.  Next month marks the 20th anniversary of my mom's move to Heaven. Happy to know they are together in the presence of God, but miss them-especially this time of year.

From the Kindergarten front lines: our grandson did really well his first week after a rocky start. However, he assumed that because he didn't go to school this past Monday, (Labor Day holiday) that Kindergarten was over. He was not a happy camper yesterday morning. He refused to do the work and was a real pill yesterday. After a long talk with his mom and dad and doing all his school work that was sent home, he was cheerful and ready to go this morning. Hoping that will continue!

We're having real fall weather this week-cool temperatures and the beginnings of what will be autumn leaves. If only it wasn't (seemingly) ideal weather for hurricanes and wildfires. Lots of people to pray for right now. Well, enough of my ramblings-guess I'd better go and see where the hens have hidden their eggs today! (Another post for another day!)

5 fast years

This sweet boy turned 5 yesterday. Seems like he was just born yesterday. He is bright, funny, loving and extremely stubborn!

August 27, 2012

May 2017

First Day of Kindergarten 2017

I'm afraid this sweet smile belies what really happened. He didn't want to go to school and his mom had a hard time getting him to settle down and go to class. He finally did and we're hoping that he will have a good day. He is young, but he's very bright and academically is ready. We were advised both to let him go and hold him back, but decided another year in Pre-K or at home really wouldn't be any benefit. We'll see how things go. Personally, I think he'll be fine.

Keeping everyone on the Gulf Coast in our prayers. Our sister, nieces and family are stranded in their homes, but they are dry and have plenty of food and water. They also have power which will hopefully continue. The flooding is unbelievable and they still have several days to go before the storm moves on completely.

Hurricane

Keeping everyone on the Texas gulf coast in our thoughts and prayers-especially my sister-in-law and nieces in the Houston area.

Update: Everyone is safe, but conditions are going to be bad for a while. Even up here in Ft. Worth, we are starting to see showers from the outermost bands of Harvey!

Eclipse!

Well, it definitely got a little cooler and darker, but at 75% I wasn't expecting a lot from the eclipse. No special glasses or anything. But I went outside anyway and got a cool surprise. Everywhere the sun was shining through the trees, I saw this! Hundreds of tiny eclipses!

I guess I should have known this would happen, but it never occurred to me. We watched the total eclipse on television and our daughter and her family are in Missouri to watch it. She said the clouds and rain cleared out just in time.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." -Psalm 19:1