garden hightlights 2012

We're moving into spring and I'm always hopeful for the new year. Last year (2012) was difficult because of the massive fire (see previous post) and the following dry summer.  We had problems with the old well (as usual) with the new issue of ash and fine sediments plugging the pump.  As a result, the orchard was without water for most of the summer and fall.  In spite of this, the remaining trees did remarkably well.  Some of them are absolutely thriving.  And then, there are the happy surprises.

I've included a slide-show of some of the highlights of the 2012: 

The young apple and pear trees were full of blossoms a year ago.  Sadly, no bees around the week of bloom.  A few apples bloomed in 2011 and 2012 was the second year for the pears.  The pear trees are still tiny (less than 4') but for their size, they pop with blooms.  Last year we had our first apples.  Tiny, but sweet and with an apple times ten flavor.  Most of the apples are for cider, but these were eating apples and that's just what I did!

One of the happy surprises was an antique rose of unknown vintage growing gangbusters without any water all year.  The original cutting is from the ditchbank at my Mom's house in Los Lunas. This is one of those floppy, hot pink roses and the original plants are about 100 years old. They have a lovely strong rose scent and bloom only once in the spring - Mother's Day week without fail. This plant represents my only successfully rooted rose cutting. The little fellow is planted on the north side of the orchard wall, and having less solar radiation and water loss is probably the key to survival.  I'm very happy that this plant has accepted it's new home.

Along the lines of trees, I've planted various herbs, native wildlflowers and grasses.  My favorite flowers are the red and blue salvias.  The plants were from Plants of the Southwest in Albuquerque and did remarkably well considering they didn't have water during the hottest part of the year.  By accident, I managed to do all the things to plants a desert gardener is not supposed to do!  In spite of this, the salvias keep blooming - I'll be buying more because they are fantastic with the herbs and eyelash grass.

My last image shows the lavender 'hedge' about 3 years in.  Considering that these plants started as 6" cuttings from IL, they look really good.  I have two lines of lavender between lines of trees and once I get rid of the weeds, the orchard will look very nice.  I'm considering planting another line of lavender, but because of the success of the salvias, I may put in a solid line of salvias instead (for the hummingbirds).

An upcoming post will outline the plans for the garden this year.  Stay tuned...

Changes are afoot!

Dear Readers,

Recently, Google decided to drop two of its services, Reader and iGoogle.  The reason boiled down to declining use (and the decision to focus on fewer, high-demand products).  I am one of those busy people who relied on Reader to sort my feeds and save hundreds of tagged posts.  The options do not work as well as Reader and much of my content will not migrate to another service.  I will no longer subscribe to many great blogs (sorry bloggers).  Google seems to not care about its devoted and passionate followers, of which I was one until a few days ago.  The company doesn't seem to realize the impact this move will have on bloggers everywhere.  Or maybe they do and just want to push everyone to use Google+ no matter what.  Not everyone wants to get their updates via Facebook or Google+.

I have three blogs (including this one) on Blogger, another Google product.  I have loved Blogger and I still think it is amazing that the designers were able to so easily and simply make web design available to everyone.  My concern is that, eventually, Google will yank Blogger as well.  There seems to be a pattern, provide a cool (and yes, free) service, get people hooked, then yank it or let it decline into crap.  As Google has become a larger company, I've watched their customer service decline.  I am concerned, not just as a web user, but as a creator of content.

I suspect that this pattern will only continue.  Up until now, I've been happy to allow Google to trawl through my content and do whatever they do with it in return for a fantastic free service.  Well, no longer.  I am going to begin the process of migrating all of my stuff over to a new website. 

For those of you who know me, you know I hate change.  You know I don't work quickly.  You know my personal motto (do the minimum).  You can imagine... I...am...not...pleased.  This strategy will mean a lot more work for me (damn it), but I will have control over my work. 

The process will take time. I will continue to post and when I finally get the move done, most of my content will stay here for a while.  For those of you who subscribe, I don't know what your options will be.  RSS may be a thing of the past.

Thanks for visiting, following and reading.  I hope to have a great new website in the future.  Stay tuned...

Wine Bottles to Windows Part 2

window in progress

Last fall, I finished a few more small windows for the cabin.  My usual modus operandi for special projects is to ship raw materials to Albuquerque, transport down south, then work in peace.  While at the cabin, I have to use what I have on hand because anything I might need is 250 miles and 4 hours away.  As a result, my work is 'unique.'

The goal for this project was to cover the 14" square window in the living room and work on the tiny upper windows of the kitchen.  I've shown my process in a previous post; nothing too different here.

waiting to be installed

I know, I know, the end results shown here are a bit messy, but I'm happy with the result.  I'm especially pleased with the green windows.  They  will be installed near the ceiling and provide a bit of subtle light.    

The main components of these windows are wine bottles (see the previous post on cutting).  I wanted clear glass in the living room and so had to drink a lot of not-so-great wine in clear bottles to get the glass I wanted.  One hint for beginners to stained glass - don't start working with lots of circles.  Fitting pieces to fill the spots between rounds is a hassle (I hate cutting glass), and I usually end up using a huge amount of solder to fit the gaps. Be warned, this is not good technique. 

One more window to go!  Stay tuned...