Jumped the Gun

It's been so beautiful lately that I forgot how New Mexico is in the spring. Last week I was wearing a tank top and working in the yard and today the sky is steel gray and it is frigid! My neighbor Ahmed saw me planting a tomato plant and told me to wait two weeks but I got carried away with the smell of wet grass and the siren song of the new buds on the rose bush and planted it anyway. Now it is a pile of brown mush. Why must nature toy with me so!

Introducing Lieutenant Mustache

Well of course everything has changed. I needed a break. A little time for reflection. I got a miniature schnauzer puppy we named Sebastian and he's been keeping me busy. He is a complete goofball but also very snuggly and lovable and has proven to be my best therapy. Life rolls along. Work, knit, felt, friends, work. I'm getting the yard ready for our first summer here and having a great time finding all the new things I can hopefully coax out of the earth. I started a bunch of pepper and tomato plants and hope to have them ready to venture outside in a couple of weeks. More biopsies on Monday. I get to thinking about things and get too worked up. I sat down with a rum and coke and a jar of Spanish olives and a fork and decided it was time to get back on this horse.

A Good Omen

After a string of unfortunate events (car repairs, health issues, plumbing problems) yesterday I came across a new inhabitant of my little porch garden. This preying mantis has apparently moved in among my tomatoes. Surely a sign of good luck. I think I'll call him Jeeves.

Simple Pleasures

Nothing in the world like homegrown tomatoes! My first little crop went into a great salad with wonton strips, sesame seeds, and radichio. I was away for a few days and thought that my house sitter (Thanks Dale!) would eat the tomatoes that ripened but I got back to all these just waiting to be plucked. What a great little treat- especially not having to worry about the salmonella!