This flag is being carried on horseback by a member of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Posse at the New Mexico State Fair rodeo.

Did you know?

Much of modern-day rodeo evolved from the working cowboy and his duties on the range. After months of moving cattle across the country, cowboys celebrated the end of their grind by roping more cattle and riding wild broncs for fun and friendly competition. It was from those informal, friendly competitions that on July 4, 1869, two groups of cowboys met to settle an argument over who was best at performing everyday ranch duties. This first competition was how the sport of rodeo evolved.

 

Look at what we received in the mail yesterday. Postcards from France. The boys were absolutely thrilled to know that someone across the pond was thinking of them. Thank you Vicki!

Vicki from I Need Orange recently returned from an amazing trip to France with her daughter. Be sure to check out Vicki’s blog to get the inside scoop.

Vicki found this postcard in Bayonne. It says, “You have cousins in Basque country?”  Vicki was sure she knew four guys in Albuquerque who did.

Then she got to La Rochelle, and there were donkeys everywhere. Donkeys everywhere – in pajamas! Sea salt is a major product of the area and donkeys help haul the salt. The “culottes” (typically described as stockings, leggings or knee-high boots) help to protect donkeys there from mosquito bites.

The postcard says the donkeys in culottes are one of the main folkloric elements of Ile de Ré – right by La Rochelle.

Needless to say, Bernard might be in a bit of a bind. I’m thinking Bernard would look adorable in a couple of pairs of culottes. We just happen to know someone who knits… Hi Cathy!

And then, goodness! Vicki said she saw this brochure and picked it up, but only as she was mailing it to us did she read it. They are keeping donkeys for their milk!  The brochure says that visitors can taste the milk, and that they make skin-care products, including soap, from the milk. As Vicki said, “Who knew??”

We’re surprised too! Vicki said that she ate lots of goat yogurt and sheep yogurt while she was in France… and just think, maybe she could have had donkey yogurt!!! ♥

Isn’t nature amazing?

I once read that the leaf bug’s camouflage is occasionally a detriment. Because of their remarkable disguise, they’ve been known to now and then mistake each other for real leaves and have been seen nibbling on one another.

Apparently there are quite a few species of leaf bugs. In some species, the edge of the leaf insect’s body even has the appearance of bite marks. And, to further confuse predators, when some leaf insects walk, they rock back and forth to mimic a real leaf being blown by the wind.

Now, really… how cool is that? ♥

One of my favorite pastimes is walking around the garden to admire our plants and flowers. Another reason I love having a blog: It’s allowing me to document our slowly expanding Albuquerque garden. ♥

Aster… planted this year. By the way, we’re gradually eliminating the gravel from our flower beds and can’t wait until it’s gone.

Basil… it smells so wonderful. Yum.

Sage. I’m not sure what variety… it was here when we moved to Albuquerque. The bees and butterflies love it.

Goldenrod… also planted this year.

A volunteer morning glory in last year’s pot. One of my very favorites.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’…  look at how much it has colored up. I don’t recall my sedum in Maryland being so colorful.

We’re having some serious technical difficulties here. For goodness’ sake, all I’ve wanted for the last few days is to show you my tomatoes.

Thanks to Danni at On the Way to Critter Farm, her support, and her tomato seeds, this is the very first tomato I’ve ever grown from seed. And I’ve been so excited to share it with you.

Instead, as I’ve downloaded pictures from my cameras these last few days, I’ve been getting this:

And, instead of this:

I’ve downloaded this:

Because I was able to download photos successfully onto another computer, here’s what I do know about this issue:

  1. It’s happening to about two-thirds of my photos; not all
  2. It’s not my cameras
  3. It’s not my lenses
  4. It’s not the USB cable
  5. It’s not the USB ports 
  6. Photos that I already have stored on the computer are not affected; only new photos that I download onto the computer are

There’s something going on with our computer and we can’t figure out what it is. Does anyone out there have any ideas?

By the way, the tomatoes are delish. Thank you, Danni! ♥

Don and I were sitting out in the corral relaxing and enjoying the company of the donkey boys and burro brothers on Sunday afternoon.

Watch what happened to Don’s chair when he got up and went into the house for just a few short minutes. Heathens, I tell ‘ya. ♥

I used one word repeatedly to describe where I was the last couple of days… gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.

Abiquiu. Georgia O’Keeffe lived here from 1949 until her death in 1986 at 98 years of age.

The landscape. The colors. The light. Gorgeous.

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for. 

                                                                                                                       – Georgia O’Keeffe

 

What a goober…

Work is taking me away for a couple of days to what is meant to be one of the most beautiful places in New Mexico… Georgia O’Keeffe country. I hope I’ll be able to bring back even an ounce of its beauty to share with you upon my return. ♥

CeeCee‘s comment about squirrels eating her sunflowers prompted me to do some Lenny research over the weekend.

Turns out, Lenny’s a rock squirrel. Apparently, they’re considered a nuisance to many folks here… so much so that the New Mexico State University College of Agriculture published this: Controlling Rock Squirrel Damage in New Mexico.

Yikes. Poor Lenny.

Hmm… makes me wonder… have I been blaming the wrong four-leggeds for eating my flowers?

It finally happened yesterday. We really touched Nigel for the first time.

Thanks to Sam’s mom, Linda, we ordered a DVD from Longhopes Donkey Shelter called Matching Wits with Donkeys. By following the techniques demonstrated in the video – all towards building trust and confidence – Don was able to touch and hug Nigel after working with him for several hours yesterday morning.

More or less, the technique involved putting Nigel into an enclosed area by himself, then approaching Nigel on his terms. Don walked with Nigel when Nigel walked, and stopped when Nigel stopped… getting a little closer each time… backing off when Nigel flinched. Finally, Don was able to touch him. Don discovered Nigel’s “safe spot” over by the shed (a.k.a. future chicken coop), where Nigel would allow Don to pet him… and when Nigel backed off, Don would let him go. Don spent all morning building Nigel’s trust, and in the end, every second was worth it.

For me, coming home from my riding lesson and being able to really touch Nigel for the first time was quite surreal.

And then, of course, I had to brush him.

There’s still a lot more work for us to do with Nigel, but we’re finally over the bump in the road. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥