School update

This is the middle of the semester... the time when I realize that there isn't much time left, but there is so much to get done. I took a few midterms last week. I've been studying lots of disparate things for the comprehensive exams and finding some time to learn about Chinese restaurant processes.

Of course, I still find time to do some hiking with the dogs, racquetball, running, yoga, etc... I also went to the climbing gym last week for the first time in over a year. And I've had a little bit of time left over for knitting and cross-stitch. I'll post pictures of my latest project soon.

But I haven't found much time for blogging.

Frost

Sadly, tomato season ended suddenly this week thanks to very cold night temperatures. Here's some photos of frostbitten plants with bajillions of green tomatoes languishing on them.

Fortunately, I harvested this 3 1/2 pound pile of tomatoes (and one jalapeno) on Wednesday before the frost hit. Combined with what I already had, it's enough to make another batch of salsa!

Random meme

I got this one from GutsyMom.

Six random things about me:

1. I used to pronounce "meme" like "mimi" until I looked up the word last week. I used to think it simply reflected how bloggers (including me) always write about themselves, as in "me, me, me..." I still think that my first impression of the word meme is more correct than this definition.
2. I never earned a medal for any sport until I was in my 20's. Now I have several.
   
3. My ape-index is 0.
4. I'm addicted to coffee, diet coke and chocolate and do not intend to do anything about these addictions.
5. I'm not afraid to call myself a feminist.
6. I like doing meme's when I can't think of things to write... but this "write 6 random things" is like telling somebody with writer's block, "Just write something random". Where's the inspiration??
   

If at this point you're saying "I'm so inspired to write 6 random things about myself" then you're tagged. Go to your blog and write those things, and you can leave a comment here that you did so.

Fall colors

We do get fall colors in New Mexico. The cottonwoods all along the valley turn bright gold, as do the aspen in the mountains. Red leaves are a little harder to find. Fortunately, the Fourth of July Canyon in the Manzano mountains was spared the forest fires this summer. On Saturday, Hubbers, Kristal and three dogs went for a hike to enjoy the chilly, wet, red forest.

Amazing... I always thought that black dogs (like Wiley) never show up well in photos. But now we have a dog that is nearly perfectly camouflaged in the forest.

Special Shapes

If you get to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta early in the morning, this is what you get to see:
A little later, all the cool shapes start inflating, and then eventually they take off and fly away. Here are some of our favorite shapes from this morning.




And this scene of the normal-shaped balloons convinced us that next year we really need to go to a mass-ascension to see the entire field filled with these balloons.

Taos Wool Festival

I went to the Taos Wool Festival last weekend and this is all I have to show for it:
I didn't take any photos during the weekend, so all you get to see is the stuff that I brought back with me. It was a beautiful fall weekend in Taos. It was chilly. It was wet. The leaves were turning golden. The sky was gray. Absolutely perfect!

Hubbers and I drove up with the two dogs and camped out on Saturday with a friend and her son. We went for a couple of short hikes and spent the rest of the time at the festival and the park.

The festival is really all about the wool... You can get beautifully dyed wool yarn, or wool for felting, or undyed yarn, or a whole fleece or even a living, breathing angora rabbit. I already had enough yarn at home to keep me busy for another year. So I bought yarn for the three months after that. Which means I won't need to buy any more until next year's festival.

Cosmos

Behind me are the monster cosmos that I grew from seed this year... and in front of me is a monster basil. What's my gardening secret? Brag about the one good gardening year I've ever had and don't tell you about the previous years :)

Okay, I put 2 cubic feet of compost in this little garden in the spring. Plus, if you look closely at the lower-left corner of the photo, you'll see the timer for my watering system. The timer is much better at watering than I am. And to make it even better, this particular spot in my yard gets plenty of extra water that drips off the roof and plenty of afternoon shade. I tripled the size of this flower bed when I noticed that the weeds and grass do so well in this spot.

Vixen

After watching all her shenanigans yesterday, I had to name her Vixen. It came down to a decision between Cherry and Vixen. I also realized that nearly every dog in the neighborhood has a 2-syllable name ending in "y": Wiley, Daisy, Sparky, Rocky, Baby, Candy, Holly... and Boo (I said Nearly every dog). Enough's enough! So she's Vixen. Besides, I have a fondness for reindeer names since one of my best dog-friends ever, Dasher, had a reindeer name.

Honestly, I call Wiley "Doggers" more often than I call him Wiley. So once Vixen learns her real name, I can also give her a nickname... maybe Cherry :)

Next week I'll have to think of something other than dogs to write about. That shouldn't be too hard since I'm headed up to the Taos Wool Festival this weekend, yay!

The naming continues...

I forgot to include these two names which are also top contenders:
Ginger - ala Ginger Rogers
Vixen - she looks very much like a fox and according to Hubbers a vixen is a female fox (I didn't know that). It's also a reindeer name like the name Dancer which the shelter gave her.

I just discovered that she can hop over a 4-ft adobe wall like it's not there. She looked rather cat-like while doing it. And she had a great time rolling around in our neighbor's yarrow, which makes her smell like she just had an herbal treatment at the spa. We're working on training her to stay in the yard, just like Wiley, since the walls won't keep her in. Fortunately, our neighbors are quite friendly about that sort of thing.

Wiley seems to be smiling more often now that he has a playmate. She's actually quite mellow and she's smaller than Wiley so he's not intimidated by her. She doesn't disturb him while he's napping and she never invades his space. But she is tearing apart his toys which he no longer plays with. She's still getting over her shyness with us (she is a few years old and has had at least two previous homes), so I don't think we've seen her full personality yet.