Meet the Locals: Summer 2011

aka Darkling Beetle

Tenebrionid Beetle

Ahhhh, the ubiquitous NM stink bug.... these guys are truly everywhere, and yes, I know they are not bugs.  Darkling Beetles (their real name) have a distinctive gait, tromping purposefully from place to place with legs akimbo. When disturbed, they do a headstand and puff out a blast of stinkiness - I'm one of the few who can't smell it, so I pick them up all the time. Even though they are small, they are strong!  It's difficult to hold them because they push back firmly and it's like holding a bundle of wire. 

Gibbifer californiatus

I know how Pleasing Fungus Beetles got their name; I'm always highly pleased when I find one trekking through the yard.  These are handsome beetles and, for such an obvious insect, they are quite common.  They are found throughout the southwest, but I've only every seen them in NM, lots here in the Gila and quite a few up north in the mountains around Santa Fe.  They emerge during summer and plink around looking for fungus to eat; there must be plenty of it because there are a lot of these beetles around.  The intensity of blue on the elytra varies from locale to locale, but all are strikingly visible from the natural tones of vegetation and soil. 

unidentified sphingidae

This is a sphinx moth caterpillar chomping away on one of the native nightshades in the yard.  If this individual resembles the nasty tomato hornworm you know and probably don't love, it's because it is a relative (the nightshade is related to your tomato as well).  When this caterpillar emerges as a moth, it will be large and probably very beautiful.  Hawkmoths, Hummingbird Moths, and Sphinx Moths are gorgeous and appreciated so much more than their younger selves. My favorites are the Hummingbird Moths which from a short distance are indistinguishable from the eponymous birds.

Agrius cingulata (?)

When harvesting aged wood from my mom's house, I found this Hawkmoth lounging on a fencepost.  It's difficult to tell from the photo, but there is a lot of pink on this individual - I think it is a Pink Spotted Hawkmoth.  These moths are in the same family as the caterpillar above.

Myrmelo sp.

New Mexico has been given two great gifts - dust in a mind-boggling array of varieties and a similarly stunning diversity of ants.  Antlions take advantage of these plentiful resources and can be found just about anywhere ants and dust are found.  The larva sits at the bottom of of the pit and flings sand up to catch an ant.  As the larva grows, so does the pit.  The adults are pale green, delicate and quite lovely.  They flutter around lights at night, vaguely resembling damselflies

Pogonomyrmex rugosus

Seed harvester ants are literally the queens of the desert. Colonies can live for decades and have a profound influence on everything around them.  This colony is new in the yard, and I'm happy to see it thriving, even though it in the middle of a path (why do they always do that?).  The property has been without a colony for a few years and I've been a bit sad about it.  The previous colony was well over 35 years (I remember playing with it as a little girl) and had multiple exits covering an acre or so. Even after five years, the gravel clearing is still there and will probably remain for a few more years.

Argemone sp.

The pricklepoppy has a lovely flower, but the rest of the plant is not as nice.  Lots of spines, toxic leaves, and when the plant dies and desiccates, it sticks to you like glue.  Still, the flowers are nice and the bees love them, so I let them bloom, then cut the whole thing down.  These flowers are seen everywhere in arid, mountainous areas, but not as much in full blown dessert.  One of the few flowers that will bloom in drought conditions.

The Ghost Dog in the Kitchen - part 2, installation

The ghost dog mosaic (see previous post for details on it's construction) was installed in the kitchen earlier this summer.  The entire mosaic was cut into sections about 8" long for transport to NM.  The bondbeam was spritzed with water, covered with thinset and the sections of mosaic installed one at a time.  I'm always nervous about fitting everything correctly because I construct the mosaics 1200 miles away and can't check as I go along.  In this case, the fit was dead-on; whew!  The mosaic was then grouted with a sanded, reddish grout to match the wall.

In the photo here you can see the final mosaic.  I had to use a flash to take the photo (the kitchen is a very dark room) so the mosaic is actually more visible than it is in reality; the colors of the wall and woodwork are also washed out.  The final result is quite subtle (the colors match the wall well), the tiny mirror stars twinkle as you walk through the room and the ghost dog (good ole' Darwin) looks great.  It will look even better after the burnt adobe wall is scrubbed and sealed, a process that will reveal more of the natural colors in the wall (now covered with lots of dust and bits of concrete).

The next project for this wall will be a shallow shelf unit to hold canning jars of non-perishables (pastas, beans, cereals, etc.).  Perhaps I'll have enough of my Mom's aged wood to make the shelves.  We'll see!

Pretty Little Windows..... maybe

See the website of artist Daniel Maher for info about his work.

Paul and I have been fascinated for years by cutting up old bottles.  It seems everyone has a method, and those methods work... for those people.  We have never been able to succesfully cut bottles.  Oh, we can cut them up and have lots of jagged edges and cracks, but nothing you would be able to safely use.  Recently, I've seen a few examples of people making stained glass out of recycled wine bottles and glassware and I wanted to give it a try for a small window in the cabin.  I ran across a new method (for me) of cutting bottles and, after watching a few YouTube videos, was determined to give it a try.  Of course, it didn't work (lots of jagged edges!).  But Paul was determined.... and he found a way.

The premise is based on a cutting around the bottle with a glass cutter.  Here, the bottle is rolling on some old wheels we found, bottom against a straight edge, and the cutter is mounted upside down on the piece of wood (attached to the table with a hinge).  Note the mini propane torch and container of icewater.  Don't forget the gloves and safetly glasses!

First, while holding the bottle firmly against the straight edge, turn it while pressing down with the cutter.

Second, quickly turn the bottle while heating with a little propane torch (the kind everyone has for their creme brules).  The key here is turing quickly and having the tip of the flame only on the cut.  You may see videos with candles instead - we never got that to work, never.

Immediately, plunge the bottle into ice water.  You may hear a crack and have the bottom fall off; more likely you will have to remove the bottle and tap gently to separate the two pieces.

And there it is... the bottom of a bottle cut cleanly and evenly.  Very nice!  The next step is making the stained glass window - that's a post for another day.

The first apparatus was cobbled together with items from the shed and after some trial and error with the process, we made a few adjustments.  We replaced old wheels with some casters that didn't wobble- important in keeping the bottle straight.  We also aligned both the bottom of the bottle and cutter to the straight edge. 

If you give this a try yourself, the important thing is to have a single clean cut around the bottle.  If the begining and ending of the cut don't meet perfectly, you will have a jagged edge.  The bottle and cutter must be kept aligned during the cutting. Of course, you can buy a device that does all this for you, but why?  Once you figure out how to do this (and it does take a bit of practice), you will have success 95% of the time.  I'm leery of using this process to make drinking glasses, but for stained glass, I think it works fine.  The edges are quite sharp and still must be filed.  

Stay tuned for future posts on the window making.