On the Homefront: So What Have I Been Doing All of this Time?

 

 

Our dining room before the big move...

 

 

...and our dining room after the big move!

Happy first day of fall, everyone!  I have been very remiss when it comes to new posts, but there was a good reason for that.  Ever since my husband got here to our Santa Fe house at the end of 2021, most of the rooms in the house as well as our RV garage have been full of moving boxes (yes, our house came with a huge RV garage/car garage combination but we do not have nor will we ever get an RV!).  I was able to unpack the bedroom and bathroom boxes pretty quickly, and my husband was in charge of dealing with all of the boxes in his study, but the very large room that was supposed to be our dining room was packed with boxes full of living room, dining room, and kitchen items.  I have been slowly working to unpack these boxes, but as there were dozens of boxes, mostly large and/or heavy ones, it was difficult to make much progress.

This past March, I had two dear friends come to visit, and thanks to their help I was finally motivated to get serious about unpacking all of the boxes.  They helped me finish setting up a large china hutch for storing my overly large collection of dinnerware, and we managed to get about half a dozen boxes unpacked before they left.  For the next two months I worked diligently pretty much every day to empty out boxes, find a place for the contents, and dispose of packing materials.

Like most big projects, things always seem to get worse before they get better - items were scattered everywhere as I tried to sort things out and decide where to put them, to the point where I was running out of room to stack stuff!  Finally, however, everything started to fall into place - I got rid of some items, managed to put dishware sets together and figure out where to store them, and started cleaning up the accumulated dust and debris that filled the room. By the end of May the room looked like this:

A usable and almost finished dining room - this is a huge space so we will use it as a library as well as the dining room.

We finally have a dining room!  What you can't see in the far lower right corner is the small stack of several boxes that are open but still not completely unpacked, but these are mostly food items that will eventually get used or stored in our small pantry when space becomes available.  There are also some things that I would like to get rid of but as yet have been unable to find some missing parts.  Remember that RV garage I mentioned earlier?  It is still full of boxes and I am hoping the missing parts are in there somewhere.  I plan to tackle that project some time this fall or winter when the weather cools off, as it has been far too hot to work in the garage over the summer.  I wonder if I can get my friends back for another visit then? 😜  Probably not, as they are very good friends and I would prefer not to lose them! 😊  Anyway, it is a relief to finally be able to use the dining room.

In addition to this major unpacking effort, my husband caught a respiratory virus in May which then led to pneumonia.  He spent three days in the hospital on oxygen and IV antibiotics and even now is still on oxygen at night, although he has been able to wean himself off of daytime oxygen.  He also recently found out that he has severe sleep apnea, which means he may be on nighttime oxygen permanently.  He has an overnight sleep test at the hospital this week to determine exactly how severe the problem is and how it should be treated.  Until recently I have had to deal with all of the maintenance and repair projects we have going on right now since my husband was not up to it, and we have had a lot going on this summer.  However, when I do finally get to start on the garage I will try to post before and after pictures of that project as well.  The situation in the RV garage is even worse than the dining room (just wait until you see the before photos).  Wish me luck!  Hopefully once my husband's situation is resolved I can start posting more regularly, especially now that my favorite season has arrived! 🍁🍄🍂

On the Homefront: Meet Mae(ve), Our Newest Canine Family Member

I think it is high time I introduced the most recent addition to our little family - meet Mae, a rescued stray we initially intended just to foster, but quickly realized that she needed to stay!  Mae was a stray at the Taos Pueblo, only two years old when rescued but already raising her second litter of puppies.  The pueblo is attempting to reduce their number of stray dogs so last September they agreed to let a rescue group take Mae and her puppies along with another female dog with a litter.  The other female and all of the puppies were rounded up and adopted out fairly quickly, but the group had a hard time capturing Mae and could not get her until two weeks after the rest of the dogs had left.

Although the original rescuers were from Colorado, they let another group based in Santa Fe take Mae in to find her a foster home.  This new group temporarily boarded her at a vet clinic while they advertised on NextDoor, a local social networking platform, for a foster home willing to take Mae in.  This is where I found her, and as soon as I saw her picture I decided we would give it a try.  I had never fostered before, but I was starting to think about getting another dog after losing my beloved Ruby last March.  Since I am getting older I initially I thought that I would like to get an older dog who was not too big, possibly a Dalmatian as we had owned Dalmatians in the past and they are my favorite breed.  I tried to find an adoptable Dalmatian in our area but had no luck, so when I saw Mae's picture I thought that while I looked for my next dog I could at least help out other dogs in need of a home by fostering.

While Mae's bio mentioned that she was easy to handle and got along well with other dogs, she was very young and about fifteen pounds heavier than I thought I could handle easily, so I did not really think she would suit us as a permanent addition.  Nevertheless, I got in touch with the rescue group and set up a meeting at our house so that they could inspect our premises to make sure we were suitable and I could decide if I could handle Mae.  The meeting went very well, Mae got along fine with our dog Madison, and I decided that I could do a foster.

Initially Mae was rather anxious and kept looking for a way out of the house (as a stray, she had never lived in a house before) but after a week she settled in and calmed down a lot.  Best of all, she seemed very happy to be living with us and proved to be very easy to train.  That was when I decided that she was after all a dog we could adopt.  We signed the papers, officially kept the name "Maeve" that she was given by the rescue group but shortened it to Mae for everyday use, and she is now a permanent member of our family.  She has been with us since early October 2023, and while we are still working on a few issues, she has settled in very well.

Mae is a very happy and playful dog, just a big bumbling puppy really, who enjoys her daily morning walks as well as lying around in the yard all day when the weather is nice.  We do not even have to worry about our driveway gate being open as she has no desire to leave the property and does not chase cars.  Even though she is an athletic and strong dog who weighs about 60 pounds who could easily pull me over when I have her on the leash, she never pulls and seems fine with being on a leash (although I know she would love to run free).  She gets along well with our dog Madison as well as the neighbor's small dogs that walk with us in the morning, and best of all she is big enough to protect Madison and the neighbor's dogs from any coyotes who may be thinking of going after these smaller dogs (she has already chased away one coyote that bit Madison, who never watches where she is going and tends to walk right into coyotes when following a scent!).  This girl is a keeper, and I am so glad that I took a chance and decided to invite her into our home!

An adorable photo of Mae hugging a tiny stuffed squirrel toy.

On the Homefront: Traveling by Train from Lamy, NM, to Pittsburgh, PA, and Back - Is It Worth It? Part 3

At the end of my last post, I had settled in for the night in my roomette and slept surprisingly well.  In the morning, I woke up to the view shown above, a view that would pretty much dominate the landscape once we left Colorado and until the train reached its final destination at Chicago's Union Station - miles and miles of endless cornfields!  I got myself ready for the day and headed to the dining car for an early breakfast.

The breakfast menu had a decent number of choices, freshly prepared of course.  I opted for the simple scrambled eggs with cheese and fried potatoes, and enjoyed my tasty and well-cooked breakfast.  My only objection was that, as a tea drinker, I only had the option of Lipton tea, which I do not like.  Fortunately I always bring my own teabags when I travel, so I asked for hot water and milk and brewed my own cup of Twinings English Breakfast tea.  After breakfast I headed back to my room, which the car attendant had set up for the day by folding up the bed, removing the sheets, and setting up the seating areas again.  I was still feeling a bit queasy, but I was able to do a few stretches in my roomette by bracing my feet against the opposing seats to keep from falling over on the moving train!  Then I sat down to read and watch the cornfields go by, getting out at the few stops where we had time to disembark to walk around and get some fresh air.

We were due to arrive in Chicago in the early afternoon and luckily our train was on time.  After spending about 24 hours on the train, I was ready for a break on solid ground!  I received a message from Amtrak before arriving at the station which let me know that, because I was a passenger in a sleeping car, I had the privilege of waiting for my connecting train to Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Lounge.  Having never been to this station before I was not quite sure where to find the lounge, but I asked a couple of security guards for directions and found it pretty easily.  I showed my ticket to the attendant at the counter in the entrance to the lounge, where I was given a ticket for use of the lounge and waved through to the seating area.

The lounge is not fancy, but it is clean and has plenty of comfortable seating as well as outlets for recharging any devices such as phones.  There are also snacks and beverages available (I think they are free but I did not get any so I am not sure), as well as several televisions set on a couple of not very exciting stations (game shows or old TV shows).  I only had a few hours to wait for my train, and I was fortunate enough to sit near a couple of women who were friendly and chatty, so I passed the time pleasantly until my train to Pittsburgh arrived right on time.  One of the women unfortunately had to wait hours for her long-delayed train to San Francisco, and another train passenger mentioned that the station had pretty much shut down the night before because of an unexpected loss of power, so I was very lucky to have arrived when I did!  When my train arrived a porter escorted all passengers from the lounge to the boarding platform so that we would not have to wander around trying to find it ourselves, which was very convenient.

The train trip to Pittsburgh was about 12 hours and pretty much mostly overnight.  We boarded in time to have dinner, so after I dropped my belongings in my roomette I went to the dining car.  I shared a table with another woman passenger and we both ordered the salmon from the menu.  There was no chef on this train, so unfortunately the meals were pretty much the same as prepackaged airplane food, edible but not especially good.  My poor fellow passenger was on her way to South Carolina, and the approaching Hurricane Idalia meant that her train from Washington DC to her final destination had been cancelled.  She would be stuck in DC until Amtrak could reschedule her train, and because the cancellation was weather-related she was responsible for finding a place to stay until then.  She planned to spend her time waiting in the train station lounge instead of trying to find a hotel, which sounded ghastly to me.  Apparently if a cancellation is due to some sort of man-made snafu, such as the power outage in Chicago, Amtrak is responsible for accommodating passengers, but if cancellations are weather-related then Amtrak is off the hook.  So my tip number five when traveling by train is to try to avoid destinations and/or times of year when inclement weather may lead to train cancellations!

My train was scheduled to arrive at Pittsburgh's Union Station at 5 o'clock in the morning, and my brother who still lives in the area was coming to pick me up.  For some reason, even though we were traveling at night, the train ended up being an hour late.  I texted this information to my brother so that he would not have to wait at the station for an hour.  The train station in Pittsburgh is undergoing renovations so it is not looking at its best right now, but thankfully my brother was there to meet me so I did not have to wait in the station.  It was actually a good thing that the train arrived so early in the morning, as the station is right in the middle of the downtown area and later in the day traffic would be horrendous.

I finally arrived at my destination for my family's little Labor Day reunion, still a bit queasy, in need of a shower because I was not willing to take my chances on falling in the train shower on a moving train, hungry because I disembarked so early in the morning that breakfast was not available, and desperate for a chance to take a good walk for some exercise after spending so much time sitting or lying down on the train.  But at least I made it!

In the next post and hopefully final post in this series, I will give a quick summary of my visit and then describe my return trip by train.  And you will finally find out if I considered this mode of travel worth it!  See you in the next post for my trip back home.

On the Homefront: Traveling by Train from Lamy, NM, to Pittsburgh, PA, and Back - Is It Worth It? Part 2

As I mentioned in my first post, boarding the train at the Lamy Train Depot was a hurried affair as we only had a couple of minutes before the train pulled out again.  Once we were all on the train and it began to move, our car attendant began showing us to our rooms.  I was on the second level, so I was directed to the very narrow and steep staircase that went up to this level.  I had two small but heavy suitcases plus a large tote bag-type purse.  Two of these I could carry on my shoulders, but the small spinner bag had to be hoisted up the stairs step by step, which took a while but, with the help of fellow travelers, I eventually made it to the top.  I found my room and placed all my bags inside, and the car attendant showed up to explain how everything worked.  A roomette has two beds, one that folds down from the ceiling and another that is created by folding out the two seats that face each other so that they meet in the middle.  The attendant comes around in the evening to set the bed(s) up for each passenger.  The space is quite adequate for one person, but for two people the larger rooms would be a more comfortable option.  There are controls for the lights, and a call button for the attendant should the need arise.  The fixed windows facing the outside have curtains, as do the doors and windows facing the inside aisle.  The door to the roomette can be locked from the inside, but not from the outside, so my tip number two for train travel is not to bring any valuables that you cannot carry with you if you leave your room (tip number one was in my first post).

One thing I should have anticipated but did not was the fact that motion sickness was going to be a problem.  For some reason I thought train travel would be similar to flying or going on a car trip, which means I cannot read but otherwise I feel fine.  Being on a train, however, is more like being on a boat - there is a lot of side-to-side movement, which really brings on the nausea for me.  Tip number three for train travel is remember to bring Dramamine if you are prone to motion sickness!  Unfortunately, I did not have any, but luckily I did have one thing that really saved my stomach, which was a bag of almond butter pretzel bites that I brought as a snack for the trip.  Apparently salty carbohydrates and nuts can reduce nausea, and these little snacks did the trick for me.

I never did get used to the rolling motion of the train, and had a hard time staying on my feet in the moving train, but luckily the aisles are narrow and I could brace myself on the walls when necessary.  I even found that I could read if I stayed in a semi-prone position, which was easy to do in a roomette (yet another reason I was grateful I did not travel in coach!).  I decided to skip lunch and stay in my roomette until dinnertime, hoping that my stomach would be settled enough to handle an evening meal.  I managed to take a short nap but woke up when it started to rain.  We had had pretty much no rain all summer in New Mexico so it was good to see the precipitation, but it began to rain so hard I could not even see out of the window.  And then the train got hit by lightning!  The power blinked off for a few seconds and an alarm went off briefly, but fortunately there was no damage and we continued on our way.

Needless to say I was wide awake now, but the conductor told us that this stretch of the trip was a good opportunity to see wildlife, and I did get to see a pronghorn antelope before my dinner reservation time was called.  The train stopped in the little town of Raton in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and we were permitted to get off of the train for a few minutes before dinner in Raton.  I jumped at the chance to walk without being thrown from side to side in the train!  I have always liked Raton, as it is such a cute little town and is situated in an area of stunning scenery, but for some reason the economy has always been depressed and that does not seem to have changed in the decades since I was there last. 

After I got back on the train I made my way to the dining car which was the one just in front of my sleeper car (my stomach seemed to have settled sufficiently to handle eating a meal).  As it was a weekday there were not many people on the train and most opted for the later dinner service, so only a few of the tables were occupied.  I sat by myself and ordered quite a good meal from the impressive three course dinner menu - mixed green salad, oven roasted salmon, and a chocolate toffee mousse.  Best of all, as I was waiting for my dinner, I saw a huge herd of elk at the base of the mountains off to one side of the tracks, including a huge bull elk with an impressive rack!

My meal was served and it was excellent!  I highly recommend the trip from New Mexico to Chicago just for the dining experience, as this trip has a chef on board and the food is as good as any you would get in a restaurant.  The salmon shown above was freshly prepared, and if you are a chocolate lover you will swoon over the chocolate mousse pie (the portion is huge - I wished I had someone to share it with as I could not finish the whole serving).

As we sat in the dining car the outside world suddenly went dark - we were passing through the Raton Tunnel, the highest point on the Old Santa Fe Trail.  I managed to get a picture of this sign on my return trip:

After dinner I returned to my roomette and waited for the attendant to prepare the bed for the night.  After he was done I brushed my teeth in the tiny little bathroom and got ready for bed.  The disadvantage of a roomette is that you must share a bathroom with fellow roomette passengers on your sleeper car, and there is only one bathroom on the second level.  There are three bathrooms and one shower on the first level and you can use those as well, but as my balance was so bad on the moving train I decided it was not safe for me to attempt to use the shower.  The bathrooms, unfortunately, are just like airplane bathrooms, utilitarian but not especially pleasant.  This would be another reason to opt for a room if you want to spend the extra money and especially if you are traveling with another person, because at least you would not have to share the tiny bathroom with strangers!  Oh, and tip number four for train travel is try not to wear long pants into the bathrooms - it is almost impossible to keep water from splashing from the tiny sink to the floor in a moving train, so wear pants that will not drag on the floor (if your pants are long, roll up the hems).

Luckily I found that the same rocking motion that made me nauseous was actually soothing when I was trying to sleep, like being rocked in a cradle, so I had no trouble sleeping on the train.  The bed was actually pretty comfortable, and the only problem I had was that the heating and air conditioning system in our car did not seem to be working properly - it alternated between being too warm and too cold.  Since the weather was still very warm (and stayed that way for the duration of my trip, except for a brief cool spell in Chicago on my return) it took a while before the temperature in my roomette was comfortable, but I still managed to get a good night's sleep.

Okay, let's end this travel saga here and pick up again in the morning in the next post!

On the Homefront: Traveling by Train from Lamy, NM, to Pittsburgh, PA, and Back - Is It Worth It?

My husband standing in front of the cute little Lamy Train Depot on a beautiful late summer day.

I moved to New Mexico in November 2019, and have not been away from the Santa Fe/Albuquerque area until just recently, mostly due to the pandemic.  This year I decided it was finally time to travel back east to visit my family, whom I had not seen for at least five years!  My siblings and I chose Labor Day for our little reunion.  However, I am still reluctant to travel by plane as I find airports less and less appealing as I get older, so I decided to give train travel a try.  I had never been on an overnight train trip before but have always been intrigued by the idea, so I figured it was finally time.  And what did I think of the experience?  Read on and find out!

The closest train station to Santa Fe is in Lamy, New Mexico, which is a tiny little town with a tiny little station.  My trip would take me from Lamy to Chicago's Union Station, where I would get a connector train from Chicago to Pittsburgh's Union Station, the closest train station to the town where I grew up.  Amtrak has a website where you can create your own travel schedule and pay online, so I gave it a try.  Our neighbors, who had just traveled by train to Chicago to visit family and had a positive experience, told me to make my reservations as soon as possible if I wanted to get a roomette like they did (small room with two fold-out beds and no bathroom, as opposed to coach, which is just a seat on the train, or a room, which has at least two beds plus a bathroom).  I tried to make my reservations six months in advance but the website would not let me make round-trip reservations from Lamy to Pittsburgh, only from Albuquerque to Pittsburgh, so I waited another month and tried again.  I kept running into this problem until two months before my trip, when suddenly I could make the reservations I wanted.

It took me about half a day to arrange a schedule because by this time roomettes were in short supply.  I originally planned to spend five days with my family and had to extend it to ten just to get a roomette for each of the four legs of my trip (Lamy to Chicago, Chicago the Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh to Chicago, Chicago to Lamy).  Fortunately my time was flexible enough to allow for this.  When I finally had a schedule that worked for me, I went to checkout to pay for my tickets.  I was asked if I wanted trip insurance and chose to buy it as I had never traveled by train and did not know how reliable it would be.  Unfortunately, when I went to finish and pay, my credit card would not work.  Concerned that my card was somehow compromised, I called the credit card company, only to be told that the transaction had never even come through at their end.

My next step was to call Amtrak, which took forever as with most customer service calls.  After almost an hour I finally got a representative.  She also could not get my transaction to go through, so she started over and was successful in getting the tickets I wanted, but she had to omit the trip insurance, telling me that I had to call their insurance company and set that up as a separate payment.  This was luckily relatively easy to do, but apparently it was because of trying to add the trip insurance when paying online that my transaction was unsuccessful.  So tip number one - if you try to buy a ticket with trip insurance online and it does not work, try omitting the trip insurance and buying the ticket only.  If you still want trip insurance you will have to call customer service for the number of the insurance company, so be prepared to wait on the phone until the Amtrak representative can get to you.

The great thing about train travel is that there is no long wait through security to get on the train, but if you are at a small station like I was be prepared to board very quickly as you will literally only have a couple of minutes before the train pulls out again.  Another great thing is that the luggage limit on trains is very generous - two bags weighing 50 pounds each plus two bags weighing 25 pounds each per person! - but be aware that you may have to lug all of these bags up a very steep and narrow flight of stairs if you have a second level room.  The car attendant will help you if they can, but that climb is still a challenge with a bulky bag.

The day finally arrived for my trip and my husband drove me to the Lamy Train Depot.  I loved the cute little station, but Amtrak recently decided to change the full-time station master to a part-time one.  Since I was leaving on a weekday, this meant that the station waiting room was closed, so everyone was forced to sit outside with no access to a restroom, except for some port-a-johns in a nearby little park (the weather was hot and sunny, but there is a shady covered seating area).  Also, there are two restaurants in the town, but both are closed on weekdays until the holidays (we did know that so we ate before we left).  I returned on a Saturday and the very nice waiting room was open, so I think more people travel by train on the weekends (at least one of the restaurants was open as well, and my husband had lunch there as he waited for my train to arrive).

The daily train to Chicago pulling into the Lamy Train Depot (our knowledgeable little friend and my fellow passenger in the lower right foreground).

The station master and his wife arrived briefly about half an hour before the train arrived and the wife asked if we needed to use the rest room (we did not but it was nice of her to ask).  She also told us to check the train status on the Amtrak website to make sure the train was on time (there is free Wi-Fi at the station), because there had been times when the train was up to three hours late!  Thankfully my train was on time.  As we waited a few more passengers arrived - I was beginning to think I was the only one getting on at this station!  A cute little boy and his father, both seasoned train travelers, were among our fellow passengers, and the boy kept us entertained with his knowledge about trains.  The train finally arrived, all of the passengers quickly boarded after telling loved ones a hurried goodbye, and I was finally off on my first train trip.  As this post is getting a bit long, I will end here and continue my tale in an upcoming post.  See you on board next time!

On the Homefront: Happy Autumn!

Happy autumn, everyone!  Today our pineapple sage started blooming, which for me is the most reliable sign that summer is officially over, and that the growing season is rapidly coming to a close.  After our prolonged hot, dry summer I am so ready for cooler temperatures, and fall is my favorite season.  It is also probably the most beautiful time of the year in New Mexico (everyone told me when I first arrived that October is the best month here).  I look forward to enjoying the season!

On the Homefront: My Strawberry Patch

Two years ago I added a 4-foot square raised bed to the small enclosed courtyard at the front of our house and decided to turn it into a strawberry patch.  I purchased nine strawberry plants, of a variety called Quinault which I had never heard of but decided to try anyway.  I had never had much luck growing strawberries in the past and was not even sure they would grow well in New Mexico, but I decided I had nothing to lose by trying - the pandemic had just started and I wanted to do some experimental gardening just to keep myself occupied.

Fast forward to the present day and to my surprise this small strawberry patch is flourishing!  The plants produced some fruit last year, but only enough for me to harvest a handful almost every day in the summer for a small snack.  However, each plant spread numerous runners which also grew quite well, so much so that I have had to pull excess plants out several times so that they don't overrun their raised bed as well as the surrounding area.  The plants overwinter well and come back vigorously in the spring.

This year my strawberry harvest was so abundant that I was able to gather about two pints of small but sweet berries recently.  I decided to macerate the berries in about two tablespoons of coconut sugar and then serve them as strawberry shortcake using a limoncello loaf cake I found on sale at Walmart.  The combination of sweet strawberries, slightly tart lemon cake, and a generous amount of whipped cream is my idea of the perfect dessert.  And since today is National Strawberry Parfait Day, I think I will layer these ingredients in a glass to make a parfait in celebration - what a great dessert for a summer day!  I am so glad I decided on a whim to start a strawberry patch, and look forward to years of harvesting my own sweet strawberries.

I added a generous topping of whipped cream after taking this photo because I wanted to showcase the berries.

On the Homefront: Two of Our Favorite Places to Visit in Santa Fe

If you ever get to visit downtown Santa Fe, the two places that my husband and I recommend are the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the nearby restaurant Fiesta Oaxaca.  We have been fans of the museum since it first opened in 1997.  We got to visit the first week it opened, and it was then that I discovered my favorite artwork by O'Keeffe, her painting entitled "Rust Red Hills" (1930).  Exhibits change on a regular basis, and the artist's works from other museums as well as objects from her Abiquiu house are often displayed in addition to the museum's own collection.  We went to see the recent exhibit "Georgia O'Keeffe: Making a Life" and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I just adore the colorful interior! (from the restaurant website)

The restaurant patio open to the outdoors on a lovely warm day.

Just a short walk away from the museum is one of our favorite restaurants, Fiesta Oaxaca, which features moles, one of my husband's favorite foods.  He loves to order their Mole de Oaxaca, a chicken dish smothered in a dark mole sauce which is rich and deeply flavorful.  My favorites include their Enchiladas de Mole de Oaxaca and Chilpachole de Mariscos, a tasty seafood soup that is so satisfying on a cold day.  Be sure to order their mole tasting appetizer, which includes the five different moles they serve.  (I look forward to trying their mole de verde the next time we dine there!)  The restaurant has a wonderfully colorful interior as well as a patio that is completely enclosed and heated during the cold months but open to the outdoors when it warms up.

Across the street from both the restaurant and the museum is the Santa Fe County John Gaw Meem Historic Building,  designed by Santa Fe's most acclaimed architect and recently restored to its original glory.  It is worthwhile stopping by to visit the beautiful courtyard (shown above) and to admire the wonderful southwestern architecture.

"Homage to the Burro" by Charles Southard (1988)

From the restaurant it is an easy walk to the downtown plaza via historic Burro Alley, which is my favorite street of course (I described it previously here).  As you head to the plaza, be sure to stop by my husband's favorite place, Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery, which has an amazing collection of beautiful southwest Native American pottery, including the works of Maria Martinez.

Right now is a lovely time to visit Santa Fe, as we had a relatively wet spring and wildflowers are blooming everywhere.  The landscape is very green and the mild temperatures are so comfortable for exploring the city.  Oh, and one more activity you may enjoy while on the plaza is a visit to the rooftop bar at the famous La Fonda on the Plaza for a drink, appetizers, and a spectacular overview of the city and surrounding mountains.  The rooftop bar is only open during the warmer months, so if this appeals to you plan your trip accordingly!

On the Homefront: Meet Minnie and Pearl!

Minnie the mother donkey is on the left, and Pearl her daughter is on the right.

I have been meaning to introduce the latest addition to our animal family, but I adopted Minnie and Pearl just a week before my dog Ruby's health began to decline so it has taken me a while to get to this post.  I got this mother-daughter bonded pair of spotted donkeys from a donkey rescue called The Longears Safehouse, which is near the small town of Estancia to the east of Albuquerque.  After my horse Nick passed away in December, I knew that I would most likely not be riding any longer because of joint issues, so I had no need for a riding horse.  I had been thinking about getting donkeys but wanted to make sure they would have a place to go if something happened to me, as I am getting on in years.  The donkey rescue will take donkeys back if you can no longer care for them - in fact, it is in the contract you sign when you adopt from them.  Even though Minnie is twenty years old and Pearl is about sixteen, donkeys can live a long time, even into their forties, so it is a relief to me to know they will always have a home even if they outlive me.  I also feel good about the fact that I can provide loving care to two donkeys that have been shuffled around to various owners over the years and really needed a more secure environment where they will hopefully be able to live for most if not all of their lives.

It has been fun getting to know these girls - Minnie, the mother donkey, is the more outgoing of the two and settled in quite quickly.  Pearl is a bit more aloof and it took her a while to get used to me, but she finally seems to trust me and is becoming much easier to approach and handle.  They are both good about being groomed and letting me clean their feet, and did well in the trailer ride over to our property.  They will be getting a visit from my farrier soon, and I was told that they are used to getting their feet trimmed so should be good with the farrier as well.  Other than being a bit pushy at feeding time they are very easy to handle, and I think we will get on well together.

By the way, if you know of anyone in the New Mexico area who would like to adopt donkeys and has adequate facilities to do so, I highly recommend The Longears Safehouse as the place to go.  The donkeys are not adopted out until they receive proper veterinary and hoof care, and have also undergone basic training for handling and any behavior issues.  Maybe the new owners of the HGTV Smart Home 2023 would like to welcome a couple of rescue donkeys into their lives as well (if they are properly zoned, that is)!

On the Homefront: Remembering Ruby (2007-2023)

Ruby when she was four years old.

I think this is the hardest post I have ever had to write.  All of my animals have been special, but Ruby was the dog that chose us, and she showed her gratitude to us for taking her in all of her life.  She first came in to our lives early one morning when I was out walking the two rescue Dalmatians, Diamond and Gia, that we had adopted the previous year.  Ruby came out of nowhere and started to follow us.  The two Dalmatians were not happy and Ruby kept her distance, but she stayed with us for the whole walk, even though I kept encouraging her to go home.  When we got to our property and she followed us down the driveway, I finally turned to her and said "Okay girl, I will take care of you."  As if she understood, Ruby came up to the house and settled on the outside door mat as if relieved to finally have a place where she was welcomed.  I gave her food and water, and later took her to the vet where she was treated for ectoparasites and given a thorough examination.

Initially she was found to be underweight but healthy, and they were not sure if she was spayed.  About a week later we found out she was not, and scheduled her for the operation.  The day before that date, her right eye began to swell shut.  A quick return trip to the vet revealed a cracked back molar that was so infected the right side of her face was beginning to swell.  She was started on antibiotics and the next day in addition to being spayed she had the broken tooth removed.

Ruby with her Dalmatian sisters, Gia (left) and Diamond (right), and my husband.

From that day forward she began to thrive.  She gained weight and her lackluster coat became softer and shinier.  I initially thought she was a low-energy dog, but her lack of energy was obviously due to the tooth infection, because as soon as that healed her high-energy terrier nature emerged.  We decided she was a mix of the two most common dog breeds in rural Georgia, the pit bull terrier and the "feist", the local name for a rat terrier.  It was a joy to watch this dog run - she had the rat terrier ability to bound into the air and literally hang there for a while to look around before landing again.  While she was overly energetic around other dogs and could be a bit quarrelsome with them when she became older, Ruby loved every person she ever met.  I have never known a dog to be so trusting of people, and this despite the fact that she was probably not treated well by people before she found us.

Ruby with Madison.

Ruby was very attached to me and never forgot that I was the one who rescued her.  She would do anything for me, and rarely did anything that I did not approve of.  She loved riding in the car with me, even if it was only to the vet.  She was 12 years old when we moved from Georgia to New Mexico and had never been on a cross-country car ride before, but she and our other dog Madison did surprisingly well.  I waited until October to move, assuming that the weather would be cooler and make travel easier, only to end up driving for over four days in the hottest October I have ever endured (over 100 degrees for the first three days) in a car with very inefficient air conditioning.  I was so proud of my girls - they traveled so well, and even rode an elevator for the first time without a problem!

 

 

 

Ruby in her favorite room in our New Mexico house - the kitchen!

Once we arrived in New Mexico, both dogs had to learn to adapt to the very different environment, learning to avoid walking on spiny plants and confronting coyotes, getting used to all of the unpacking and rearrangement of belongings, and then enduring life during the pandemic.  Ruby had a few health issues after we got here, including having a malignant tumor successfully removed from her elbow and getting her digestive issues under control (she had picked up Clostridium perfringens in Georgia, which infects the intestinal tract and cannot be eliminated, only kept under control by lifelong low-dose antibiotics).  Even so, she was remarkably healthy for an old dog, although eventually her arthritic elbow got so bad that she could no longer go for long walks.  I had her on a daily routine that she loved and tried never to vary it, which really helped her live a stress-free and comfortable life that she loved.

My husband took this photo in 2021 - just two old gals snoozing on the sofa together.

Only recently did her health begin to decline significantly.  The last few months she had several bouts of pancreatitis due to a compromised liver, and she was not able to recover from the last bout.  Letting her go was so hard, but I knew it was time, and the vet hospital did an excellent job making her last moments comfortable.  My husband and I were there to support her, and we made sure she knew she was loved and was resting peacefully before we let her go.

One of the last photos I took of my beloved girl.

It has taken me days to write this rather rambling tribute to my wonderful, beautiful, beloved Ruby.  I still miss her so much, and even now cannot stop grieving every day.  There is a big hole in my life without my Ruby to fill it, but I will be forever grateful to have had her with me for 15 of her 16 years.  I will never forget you, my sweetest girl, and I hope that one day I will be with you again.

 

I love this photo of my Ruby - it is one of the few that I have showing her in alert mode with her tail up and ears perked.

On the Homefront: Ruby (2007-2023)

Today, on the first day of spring, I had to say goodbye to my beloved dog Ruby.  She had a compromised liver for many years, probably the result being hit by a car before we found her as a stray when she was only a year old.  We successfully managed her liver values with various supplements and a careful diet, but this year things took a turn for the worse.  She was hospitalized twice at the end of last year for pancreatitis, and while she did manage to recover her liver values were gradually getting higher and higher.  She was put on medication in addition to the supplements and special diet, and, tough old fighter that she was, for a few months she managed quite well.

Recently, however, I noticed that her appetite was not as good has it had been (she had always been an enthusiastic eater).  She went to the vet for a previously scheduled blood test, and sure enough her values were so high that she developed pancreatitis yet again.  This time supportive care did not work.  Her values continued to rise, and after a week on IV fluids and pain medications she still did not show signs of recovery.  Today we found out that her liver was failing.  There was nothing more we could do for her, and she no longer had any fight left in her.  She would not eat or drink, and no longer wanted to get up - all she wanted to do was sleep.  She was not a good candidate for surgery at her age (she was 16) or for steroid treatment to reduce the inflammation.  We reluctantly decided that it was time to let her go.

I will post a better tribute to my girl later.  Right now I am just too heartbroken to continue.  This dog meant the world to me, and I cannot do justice to her life at the moment in this post.  Goodbye, my sweet, loving, wonderful Ruby - the world is a sadder place without you in it.

On the Homefront: Remembering Nick (2000-2022)

Nick in his pasture in Georgia.

This post has been a long time in coming, but it has taken me a while to process the fact that my horse Nick passed away so suddenly.  I first met Nick when he was seven years old.  He was being boarded at a barn near where a friend I used to ride with lived.  His owner had not been able to ride him in over a year because she had been in a car accident, and he was the only horse at the barn.  He was a big, beautiful Tennessee Walking Horse, over 16 hands tall but very laid back and easy to handle.  Nick was a color known as rusty or sooty black, not a true black, because his color faded to almost bay in the summer sun (as you can tell from the two photos at the top and bottom of the post).  He had apparently been bred as a show horse, and was left as a stallion until he was five, but because of his easy-going personality he probably was not showy enough for competition.  This was a good thing, as the TWH show circuit is notorious for the cruel practices used to encourage a flashy gait, so he was able to avoid such treatment.  I liked him because he had a long, easy stride and just enough spirit to make him a fun ride, although his long stride did make him a bit clumsy on some of the more rugged trails we occasionally took.  We lived very close to a state park with some of the best riding trails in the state, and we were able to go for some good fun rides on a regular basis.

Of all the horses I have owned, I was able to ride Nick the most, and even bought and learned to pull a horse trailer short distances to get to the local parks with horse trails.  Nick was very easy to trailer, and was good with the vet and the farrier.  He was always easy to handle and got along well with most other horses, although because he had been left as a stallion for so long he could be unpredictable with other geldings (he always loved mares, though!).  Gaited horse are popular in Georgia, but I had never owned a gaited horse before and was not the best rider on them.  However, Nick and I managed well enough.  The one thing I always regretted was not taking a few lessons with someone who specialized in gaited horses - I think Nick and I could have done even better together if I had done so.

I was still caring for my old horse Bugs when I first got Nick, so I had to board him rather than have him on our property because I did not want him to bully Bugs, who was a rather submissive horse.  When Bugs passed away I was able to bring him to our place in Georgia, where he kept my little donkey Daisy company until she passed away.  I moved Nick out to New Mexico with me when we bought our house here, and I did intend to ride him here but the pandemic intervened and then I started to have joint issues so we never got to trail ride here.  I also wanted to get him a companion, either a donkey or another horse, but again the pandemic interfered with those plans, so once again he ended up being an only horse.  There were other horses in the neighborhood that he could hear and sometimes see and he did not seem to mind being alone, but I do wish I could have gotten him a companion.  He seemed to be doing fine here, but I sometimes wonder if he had some digestive issues all along, because he did have some problems adjusting to the hay available here in New Mexico, which was very different from the hay grown in the southeast.  Otherwise he was perfectly healthy, - he had only ever colicked once before the whole time I owned him, and that was only because he was slightly dehydrated.  Even the vet was surprised when Nick developed such a serious colic, and despite everything we tried, including surgery, we could not save my poor boy.

I was lucky to have Nick for fifteen years, and I hope he had a good life with me.  I doubt that I will ever have another riding horse, as my joints have reached the point where I can no longer ride comfortably, but I will always have fond memories of the times I got to trail ride with my wonderful Nick.  Even now I still can't quite believe he is gone, and I miss my sweet boy every day.

Nick in his barn in New Mexico.

On the Homefront: Nick (2000-2022)

Sad news on the homefront today - my wonderful horse Nick passed away very early yesterday morning.  He began colicking on Tuesday and I had the vet out, but Nick was still not well by the next morning so he was taken to the vet hospital.  They treated him and monitored him closely, but he took a turn for the worse late Wednesday night.  He was rushed into emergency surgery but he did not survive.  I will post a better memorial to Nick in a few days, but I am still a bit stunned by his sudden passing as he had been doing quite well with no obvious signs of poor health.  I will miss my beloved boy so much.

On the Homefront: Be Careful if You Give Your Dog Fish Oil Supplements

Ruby seems comfortable now - her belly was shaved for an ultrasound.

Once again I have been MIA on by blog, but again it was for a good reason.  My old dog Ruby had a health issue relapse, and I have been working hard to get her back to good health.  Fortunately she does seem to be recovering, and I thought this would be a good time to let everyone know what has been happening and how I think we have finally figured out why she was getting sick.

In early October Ruby had a bout of severe pancreatitis, which required several days on IV fluids at the vet hospital.  She also developed a secondary abdominal infection which prolonged her stay and meant she had to be on two different types of antibiotics.  She has had slightly elevated liver values for a few years and is on a prescription low-fat diet, but the pancreatitis sent those values soaring and it took a while to get them to start coming down.

I brought her home and for a few weeks she seemed to be doing well, but in early November she had a relapse.  Of course this happened on a Sunday when her regular vet office is closed, so I had to rush her to an emergency vet 45 minutes away.  She spent the night there and they were afraid her gall bladder might rupture but fortunately she made it through the night and I transferred her to her regular vet.  There they did an ultrasound and decided that her gall bladder was not in danger of rupturing, but several of her blood values (liver, pancreas, and gall bladder) were even higher than the first time.  Once again she spent several days on IV fluids (the only treatment for pancreatitis is supportive care which cannot be given at home).  She finally came home the week before Thanksgiving, and she has been slowly but surely improving ever since.  In fact, she is pretty much back to normal now, although her blood values need to be checked again in a few days to see if they have come down more.

So why did she have the initial attack of pancreatitis, and why did it recur?  The vets could find no significant problems - they even did a liver biopsy to rule out cancer and the result was negative.  As I mentioned above, Ruby's liver values have been slightly elevated for a few years.  We found her as a stray and I am not sure but I think she may have been hit by a car before we found her - not a direct hit but a glancing blow.  She had a cracked molar on the right side which had to be removed, and has developed significant arthritis in her right elbow as she has aged.  The liver is on the right side of the body and any trauma to the liver is known to affect its function, which may be why her liver does not function completely normally.

With no obvious cause for the pancreatitis, I started to double check everything that Ruby ingests in a normal day - all foods, treats, medications, and supplements - and I began to suspect her fish oil supplement.  This was the most recent addition to her diet (she has only been on it for a few months), and was recommended by the vet as the omega-3 fatty acids are thought to be beneficial in reducing her arthritis pain as well as for her liver issues.  What they did not tell me, however, was that too much fish oil is actually harmful and can cause pancreatitis in dogs with compromised liver function.  A few days after I started her back on her fish oil supplement after the first bout of pancreatitis she had her second attack - nothing else new had been added to her diet in over a week, so that in itself was suspect.

The more I read about fish oil supplements for dogs the more I became convinced that the dosage recommended for a dog her size was actually too much for her, especially since her prescription food also contains fish oil.  I walk my younger dog with a neighbor and her dogs, and when I mentioned my suspicions about Ruby's fish oil supplement to her, she told me that she had tried to give fish oil supplements to her two older dogs, both of whom had normal liver function, and both of them subsequently developed high blood liver values which went back to normal when she took them off of the supplement.

Needless to say, I will no longer be giving Ruby any more fish oil!  I mentioned my suspicions to her vet and they were non-commital as they had never encountered such a problem before, but Ruby is doing so well right now minus the fish oil in her daily diet that I am convinced this was the main culprit.  Usually when I start Ruby on a new medication or supplement I research it carefully and try to start her out on a half dose rather than the full dose, but for some reason I did not do this with the fish oil - how I wish I had!

My recommendation to anyone who is thinking of putting their dog on a fish oil supplement is to be sure that your dog really needs it.  Also, remember that some pet foods have added fish oil, so you may want to lower the dosage you use.  If you want to try it, make sure your dog's liver function is normal, and try starting with a half dose (I believe that most dosage recommendations for supplements are on the high side - after all, the makers of these products would like you to use as much as possible).

If you see no improvement in your dog's health and/or if their liver values start to increase, take them off of this supplement.  My neighbor tried switching to an omega-3 supplement that was not fish oil-based for her dogs, and they are doing fine on that.  I am certainly no expert, so do your research before making a decision for your own dog - you know your pup better than anyone, so when it comes to supplements in particular you are in the best position to make any decisions.

Hopefully with careful attention to her diet Ruby will have no more problems with pancreatitis - it is a very painful condition and can lead to complications, so I will be doing my best to make sure it does not happen again.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I hope that December will be a better month for Ruby so that I can get some more posts done before the end of the year!

On the Homefront: Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Christmas day, whether you celebrate the holiday or not.  Even though I am spending the day by myself, with only my dogs for company, I still felt the need to get in the holiday spirit by doing a bit of decorating.  I brought the 3-foot tabletop tree in the photo above with me when I arrived here in Santa Fe last year, and bought just a few decorations for it recently since the majority of my holiday décor is still in Georgia (pre-pandemic, I had no idea that the rest of our move would be postponed until 2021!).  The lovely dog ornaments that I purchased from Pottery Barn are well complemented by inexpensive red ornaments and fairy lights from Walmart:

I also set a holiday table, and featured the Holiday Pups plates, mugs, and serving platter I bought from Pier 1 last year.  The company is trying to make a comeback online after they had to close all of their brick and mortar stores earlier this year, but so far they are not offering the delightful dishware they used to carry - I hope this situation will change, as I really miss their unique and fun tableware for every season.  I added the Christmas pudding teapot and the paulownia wood votive tray I purchased this year to my table setting as well:

For Christmas Eve dinner I had store-bought tamales (chicken and green chile-cheese, one of each), with a gingerbread pig for dessert.  I was at a loss as to what to have for a side dish, until I remembered that I had a microwaveable bag of cauliflower florets and a container of hatch chile con queso dip in the fridge.  Warm queso dip served over steamed cauliflower went quite well with salsa-topped tamales (consider this my Foodie Fridays recipe post for the week!):

I bought another wreath from Lynch Creek Farm to replace the autumn wreath I got from them in November.  This one features pinecones and magnolia leaves (a nod to our Georgia home where we have several magnolia trees in the yard), and I added the bow that adorned the autumn wreath to my new one.  Despite the tremendous Christmas rush this year and all of the resultant delivery delays, Lynch Creek Farm came through and got the wreath to me well before Christmas day:

All in all, I can't complain too much about my solitary Christmas.  The dogs and I had a nice long walk this morning with a neighbor and her dogs.  I talked to my husband and sister later in the morning, and received text replies from both of my brothers (who are not the most reliable communicators).  I have spent the day doing leisurely activities, and may even start a new jigsaw puzzle later this evening.  Christmas music is softly playing on the radio in the bedroom, and "A Christmas Story" has been on the living room television all day.  I have a slice of pecan pie (a gift from another neighbor) with a cup of decaffeinated tea to look forward to after dinner.  My horse is blanketed and well fed for the night, and the dogs are sleeping soundly after their short evening walk and dinner.  And now I am warm and comfortable for the night in my new Christmas sweatshirt and favorite old L.L. Bean puffin slippers.  The strings of fairy lights on the tree, mantel, and foyer table are gleaming, as are some fragrant candles scattered about the house.

Could I ask for more?  Of course it would be wonderful if I were with my husband for the holidays, could travel to visit my siblings, and could invite neighbors over for dinner or a party.  And if I must quibble, it would be nice if one of the New Mexico television stations featured a Christmas Yule log video (I love watching the Yule log when I tire of holiday movies), and I wish we subscribed to the Sundance Channel because they are showing "White Christmas", my absolute favorite seasonal movie, all day.  But since when do we ever get everything we want?  When I talked to my husband this morning, we discussed all the things we will do next Christmas, and I realized that one of the best things about the holidays is looking forward to what we will do next time.  That is the way life goes and what keeps it interesting, and I really would not have it any other way!  Enjoy the holiday you are celebrating this year, everyone, and keep dreaming about the holiday celebrations to come!

Season's greetings from Jack o' Claus (a new holiday tradition here at our Santa Fe home)!