Frosty the little llama, roads, mud, pallets and earthbags

Today I'm fasting, and the urge to eat is incredible. Richard and I decided we would begin this fasting/detox regiment at the beginning of each month, for at least three days to begin the new month with clean systems. But it's hard. Haven't gotten past three days in my fasting attempts, which is when everyone claims the hunger subsides. I'd like to make it to that point.

Frosty the new llama boy.

Yesterday we picked up another llama. His name is Frosty and he's seven or eight years old. I found him on Craigslist for free. He's a little llama, like my two boys. Today, he's standing out in his yard humming, nonstop. I think he's pretty upset about the whole arrangement. We have him separated from Turbo and Vader, but in connected yards so they have time to adjust. Frosty is a gelded male, like my two llamas, but still, they will probably challenge each other and try to decide who gets to be the new boss. My money is on Turbo...he's been strutting around like the king of the playground, showing us his "crazy" eyes, ever since we brought the new llama home.

Turbo and Vader looking on at the new llama.

I enjoyed our ride into the mountains to pick up Frosty. It was green and there were lots of trees. Lately I have been missing the trees, in a bad way. But as we drove the scenic mountain roads yesterday, and I looked at the huge Ponderosa Pines, I knew with the fires hitting the southwest, it is far better for us to be in a more defensible space right now. Still, it was so nice and cool up there... and there were little creeks running next to the roads. I miss standing in mountain streams on hot summer days.

Pallet coop.

Also at home, Richard has been busy on a pallet chicken coop for the Jersey Giants. It's finished now and the chickens have been moved to their new yard. Still too many roosters crowing in the early morning hours though. They are twelve weeks old now. Another month until they can be processed for the freezer.

Richard is getting pretty good with building out of pallets. This time he cut the pallets and then infilled with other pieces of pallets to make solid walls. There is a hinged roof and three nest boxes inside. The space underneath the coop allows the chickens to find shade when they need it. Pretty cool. I will post a more detailed blog about this later.

Out on the land, we have been repairing the road in front of our place...the spot where we got stuck, hoping to prevent a similar situation in the future. We brought in two trailers full of base course, which is sand mixed with gravel, and filled the ruts we left  the day we planted the Kia and trailer in the mud. Hopefully this will keep others from getting stuck too.

Next weekend we are planning the beginning of the ongoing workshop to build the Earthbag cistern, and we want people to be able to get there. They will still need high clearance vehicles to clear the mound of grass and sand that fills the center of the tiny dirt track we like to call a road.

Richard also finished the shade structure, which is the most wonderful thing! And we even hung up a hummingbird feeder for the little bird that has been buzzing us the last few times we have been out there working.

Classroom space cleared.

While Richard put the finishing touches on the shade building, and finished up the walls of the pallet shed, I cleared more sage. I got the 30 x 50 foot space cleared for our classroom/temporary house, and a space cleared for a pallet hay barn. I'd like to stock up on hay for the winter...before it hits $18 a bale like it did last year.

Pallet shed, west side.

Front of Aly's Earthbag house.

I haven't been posting much, and so much is going on. We made it over to Aly's house a couple of weeks ago to help her plaster the inside of her house. That was fun. David and Simone were there too, and they left a few days later to head back home to Maryland. We sure did appreciate their help while they were here. Thanks guys!

Mixing up the mud plaster at Aly's house.

And...the ducks started laying eggs! Well, at least one of them. I saw some rather suspicious mating behavior yesterday, so one of them might be male. Maybe we will have Pekin Ducklings next spring. That's be fun.

And on a side note, but very exciting for me, I got accepted into my first Taos art show, which is pretty darn cool, considering this is a REAL art town.This event, Arte de Descartes XII (sponsered by Wholly Rags) is about art made from recycled stuff, which is right up my alley, but since all of my recycled wood masks were done so long ago, I had to come up with something new. I asked for wood scraps on Facebook, and a wonderful lady in town has been supplying all the wood scraps I need for many art projects to come. After I get the piece hung up in the gallery--August 23, I will post a picture of it. Still making art for the young at heart!

Having fun in Northern New Mexico!

Stay tuned for the Earthbag Cistern news and directions on how to build a pallet chicken coop (for up to six hens).

Rain and a whole lot of mud.

The monsoons have arrived, which means it rains nearly every afternoon, and sometimes well into the evening. Lots of lightening, which always scares me (too many extended family members struck..you'd think it ran in the family...I do my best to avoid the lightening!), and thunder, which scares my dogs. Last night was a mighty powerful storm that even got my Great Pyrenees, Honey, sticking to my side like glue, while the Chihuahua shook and tried to jump in my arms. The lightening was so close, I thought for sure it hit nearby, but we never saw anything on fire.

We were rather involved with our cistern problem while the thunder boomed and the rain came down. You'd think with so much rain, our cisterns would be quite full, but not the case at all. Our daily use cistern was apparently close to empty and the water was sputtering at the kitchen sink as the pump tried to pull in more water. So as it rained, Richard ran the generator, hooked up the portable pump and transferred the stash of water from the non working cistern to the cistern that lets water into the house. Unfortunately, it seems the pump in the house managed to pull some sediment into the pipes, clogging them somewhere, which meant we had no water coming in, even with water in the cisterns! So, while I paced frantically, wondering who to call at 8pm, Richard tried to blow out the pipes with his compressor. When that didn't work, he hooked up the shop vac, alternating between blowing air through, and sucking water back. Eventually something gave, the filters were full of gunk and after cleaning out the filters and working the shop vac, we had a trickle of water coming in at 10pm. Hey, some water is better than no water!

Today Richard is up at Cerro Vista Farm doing his volunteer day, and when he comes home, it's back to cleaning the filters and trying to get the water flowing again.

Tesuque Pueblo Seedbank

So, our evening was full of cistern fun, but our day was full of mud plastering at the seedbank on Tesuque Pueblo. That was a lot of fun and we learned how to mix the mud for the outside walls (clay, sand, straw, water) and Amy Lin (the natural builder in charge of the project) taught us how to apply the plaster. This was the second or third coat, so it was pretty painless, and rather therapeutic...smearing the mud with bare hands, although after a couple of hours, I was developing a blister on the heal of my hand from the tiny rocks in the mixture.

Richard putting on the mud.

Everyone working on the seedbank project was very friendly and Emigdio Ballon, the man in charge of the farm project, gave us a tour of the inside and the basement, where the seeds will be stored. The basement foundation is made of bailed tires, the sidewalls of the building are strawbale, with some adobe block in front. Insulation downstairs was straw and clay--very cool. We learned a lot and also got to see the farm project and orchards at the Pueblo. Very nice.

Even the kids can help with this job!

On the way home, we encountered  a rainstorm that caused flooding and left piles of hail on the side of the roads. Where? About 6 miles down the road from our land in Carson. While it was tempting, since we missed a workday out at our place, we decided not to venture down the muddy road and went home instead.

Yeah, it's stuck.

While we didn't get out to the land much this past week, we did make it out last Saturday for a bit. We took a load of gravel for the Earthbag cistern.

Rain. Did I mention how much rain we have been getting?

We got the car and trailer stuck in the mud in the road trying to get to our property. Luckily it was only a few hundred feet from our driveway, which made it easier, but not pleasant, to carry the tools and buckets of gravel to our building project.

As we were ferrying equipment, our volunteer friends showed up, walking down the road. Their little car only makes it so far down the road, thankfully, and they didn't get stuck in the mud. Our road is a high vehicle clearance sort of road, and four wheel drive is helpful, although, not so much in the case of a ton of gravel in a trailer planted at least six inches in soft mud.

We opted to leave the car in the road (not much traffic here) and work on our shade structure for a while, hoping to give the mud a chance to dry a bit.

We only had enough funds to buy half the metal roofing this time, but when its up, one half of the shade structure will be done and provide shade and water runoff. Hopefully next payday, we can finish the roof.

Due to more clouds building, we quit early and focused our energy on getting the car and trailer out before the next rain came and the car became a permanent fixture in the Taos mud.

With a bit of arguing about the best plan of action, Richard decided to empty the trailer, while I focused on building a gravel road under the tires of the car to give the four by four some traction. My plan was to run strips of gravel out of the ruts to allow the car to drive up onto the high parts of the roads and avoid more deep mud. With the trailer almost empty, and the rain bearing down on us, Richard, David, Simone and I shoveled gravel furiously into the road and under the tires, and you know, with all of our combined ideas and efforts, it worked, we got the car and trailer out before the storm rolled in!

Leveling the cistern trench.

After so much fun, David and Simone decided to head back to their car before the rain came. One day of hailstorms in their tent was enough for them. Richard and I stayed while it rained gently for about a half hour. Richard got the roof metal on the shed structure and my son and I leveled the cistern trench and filled it with the gravel Richard and David had carried from the trailer.

Gravel in the cistern trench.

With the rain every day, I'm not sure when we will be able to get back out to our land. I hope David and Simone are not stuck out there. (They have our number.) Most likely, they are enjoying some in town time.

Trailer full of pallets.

We did pick up another load of pallets from the local lumbar/hardware store. After the pallet shed gets done, I want to try and make a hay barn and pick up some hay for the winter before the prices go back up to $18 a bale!

The old truck is missing its gas tank as Richard tries to clean the sediment and corrosion out with white vinegar ( a tip from the local machine shop).
Otherwise we could be hauling gravel and pallets in the truck...assuming it didn't just die on the side of the road.

That old truck, broken down again.

Everyday is an adventure here in Northern New Mexico, but I wouldn't have it any other way. gives life some excitement and meaning! This next weekend we are planning on going to another mud plaster party at another Earthbagger's,  house on the mesa. Should be fun, and now we even have some experience!

Building shade in the hot NM sun

Richard and Simone make trusses

We have been working hard on building our shade structure out on our land. The hot desert sun is brutal when you spend so many hours in it. Luckily we have some volunteers that have come all the way from Maryland to help us build some sustainable buildings on our land. David and Simone have set up camp out at our place, and on the days we get out there, they have been an enormous help with our projects. They are looking for volunteer opportunities in the area, projects they can learn earth building techniques. They are former Wwoofers and even taught English in Korea for a while. We are lucky they came out to visit us in New Mexico.

putting the trusses up on the shade structure

trusses up

While everyone else was working on the trusses, I was building a lattilla fence out of recycled Christmas trees we got from Native Scents, who also gave us pallets and earthbags. Simone helped me lay out the fence and measure where it should go, and we all spent time cutting the nubs off the lattillas so they would fit closer together. This is my first attempt at a Coyote fence, and I think it turned out rather well. It should serve its purpose of blocking the wind from our shade structure. Hopefully the kids will be able to eat lunch without their sandwiches blowing away!

 

David, trimming lattillas

 

Coyote Fence/windblock

Busy days indeed. The pallet shed was also started and I am hopeful it will turn out well. We are planning on putting one of the free windows we picked up in the south wall of the shed. This building will serve as a makeshift bathroom and storage for materials for projects. After we get the walls up and the roof on, we are planning to cob the outside. Should be fun!

The beginning of the pallet shed.

That wall is almost done.

And since the shade structure is about done, no time was lost on beginning the trench for the Earthbag Cistern project. We should have metal roof on the shade structure this weekend, which means...we can catch rain! So, the Earthbag Cistern project is underway. Richard plans on having folks come out on Saturdays to help out and learn the skills of Earthbag building.

Digging the Earthbag cistern trench.

Also on our fun filled fourth of July, the kids found a new "bug" on our land. "Is this bug okay Mom?" No, definitely not okay.

 

Scorpion crawling

Didn't know New Mexico had scorpions. This high? At 7500 feet? Scary. This is the first scorpion I have ever seen. Welcome to the desert!

Inside Taos Mesa Brewing Co.

We also had a fun filled previous two weeks. We attended the opening of Taos Mesa Brewing, which was awkward because we didn't know a single person there, but the building was very cool. They used many recycled materials in the construction of this wonderful space. Should be a great place to have live music.  They even have a labyrinth in front, and I may have to go back when there isn't a crowd or kids to chase after and try it again. Another road to the inner self.

Quonset hut style building. Taos Mesa Brewing Co.

labyrinth at Taos Meas Brewing Co

My son, climbing into the dome/greenhouse.

We also attended a Thrive Taos meeting at a member's house, which was more fun than I expected to have. We brought dirt/compost in our trailer from a ranch another member is living on, and with other Thrive members, we began construction of a greenhouse inside of a small geodesic dome. It was a potluck with great food and awesome company, and I can't wait to do it again...Richard called off work so we could go to this one and take our out of town volunteers to meet some of the locals.

Bo, teaching the kids some archery.

We also attended a barbeque out on the mesa at our friend and fellow Earthbagger, Susan's bus. Another piece of the local Taos scene. Gotta love it.  If you open yourself to the experiences, life is never dull, especially in the wonderful, wacky world that is Taos.

On a side note, and also a very important part of the past two weeks...my hometown of Colorado Springs was in danger of burning in the Waldo Canyon Fire. Very bad. 346 houses lost on the westside of town. Friends and family were evacuated, but thankfully no one close to me was hurt or lost their home. Unfortunately, many families did lose their homes, and my heart goes out to them. So, while I was running about in my desert, mountain town, I was spending every free moment monitoring the fire and checking in with my daughter and mother and friends who were way to close to the fire for comfort. The West is burning. The Waldo Canyon Fire is 90% contained as I write this, but numerous other fires are still burning in the west, including in NM. The temperatures are above normal, setting new records. We are in the beginnings of a new world environment...welcome to global warming. Are we going to be able to make it through this? As I cried over the mountains in my hometown burning, I thought...we aren't ready for this yet. So many people are still unaware, in denial and completely unprepared for the changes that are coming.

At least here in Taos, we have found a community that practices survival and is learning to become more sustainable. Everywhere, around the world, we must come together and teach each other what we know and how to get by, as the world becomes more chaotic and frightening. We can still turn this thing around...if we believe we can. 100 monkeys. Get on the path to enlightenment...find your inner self, connect with the Universe and be the change.

Putting up fence, gardens, chickens and snakes at home, and one old, old truck

parking area

Another weekend out on the land, clearing sage for the parking area and finally getting a roll of fence up. That was complicated without a winch and our old friend Mark and his ATV. We had an umbrella casualty when a dust devil blew through and tore the umbrella pole in half, and took the poor umbrella for a ride through the sage, basically turning it inside out. The cloth was ripped from its frame. No more temporary shade. Now, the permanent shade structure has become a major priority with temperatures reaching 90 F in this desert, mountain town.

Fencing layed out.

Pulling the fence tight with a come-along and our car.

Fencing on northwest side is up!

That's about all we got accomplished out on the land this past Sunday, but we did take another load of pallets over there yesterday, courtesy of Native Scents, who also donated a bunch of polypropylene bags to our building cause. We are going to make a shed/composting toilet structure out of the pallets and then stucco the whole thing. We also picked up some free windows down in Santa Fe from Gaia Gardens, a cool little community garden project. Although the windows are not in the best shape, we should be able to use them for sheds and barns. Way cool! Thank you all!

Tomato plants in the front window planters.

And at home, we got some tomatoes out in the front planters, finally, although this week, they are not fairing well. I think we need to replant, make water trenches and mulch like crazy. This heat is incredible and very hard on the plants. In the other beds, the garlic and onions are doing great, the peas are starting to flower and we have lettuce, radishes and carrots poking up through the soil.

Chicken Infirmary

Our baby chickens are getting big and are out of control. Too many roosters in the mix, I'm afraid. I've never had babies peck each other, but these guys are, so I separated every pecked bird and for a while our living room was the bird hospital, utilizing every available cage and Rubbermaid container. Good thing I have travel cages for my parrot and parakeets. But still, we had to search the thrift stores to find more, and Pieces delivered with a small kennel and a large wire dog crate.

Now, we have most of the flock outside. The Jersey Giants, which ironically are the meanest (everything I've read claims they are the one of the friendliest chicken breeds) are in one yard with the Chicken Barn and chicken tractor, and the Cuckoo Marans are in another yard inside the big chicken yard, with their own housing. It has been a chicken nightmare to say the least. Now I only have five plucked babies I have to keep separated in individual cages, but I'm keeping my eyes on those rooster babies, and watching for more abuse in the chick houses.

Back end of baby rattle snake.

Other excitement: killed a baby rattler with my handy sage clearing axe when my son and I went out to check on Richard making a delivery of water to our cisterns. Sorry, politically correct community I live in, but I'm not going to catch and release any rattlers. This one was five feet from our fenced yard, and heading for the house berm, where I know there are plenty of holes for little snakes to get in. No deal. Don't threaten an axe wielding mama and her baby, not to mention a whole lot of chickens, my dogs and my llamas. I think it was, what two years ago that Vador got bit in the face by a rattler. His chin swelled up like crazy and we had to give him shots for a week. That was fun. Not to mention a huge vet bill. Here in Taos, there don't appear to be any large animal vets, or not any who treat camelids, so we have to take the boys to Espanola to get to the nearest vet in an emergency. Crazy.

The truck has been acting up, stalling out here and there. I end up going to rescue Richard and the truck in some interesting places, pulling it home behind the Kia. That Kia has been a remarkable SUV, I have to say.

Rainbow truck and the water trailer.

We did have the truck towed to town to visit a mechanic, who explained that the old gas tank is corroded and full of sediment, which clogs up the fuel line. Now Richard takes the fuel line apart and blows it out with his compressor, which keeps the truck running until we go over a lot of bumps. Ha ha. This is Taos. How many days between tows? About three, if we work the truck hard. We are trying to find a replacement gas tank.

Still having fun in the sage, and lots more to come!

Fencing, shade, gardens and Nature

Catching up. Gardens getting planted, more sage being cleared and lots more to do.

shade in the sage

The past two weeks out on our new land have been about clearing more sage and trying to get ready to put up the fence on the west border. I'm getting accustomed to wielding the heavy axe. It didn't take long for us to realize how incredibly hot it is out there in the unforgiving sun, so we have decided to make a shade structure one of our priorities, although the umbrella works in a pinch. It blows away on occasion and looks like a rainbow kite skimming across the sage. Richard has devised a great way to tie it down, weighted with the post pounders and tied to a sage bush.

cleared for shade structure

After we put up our shade structure, we can build a cistern to catch the water off the roof! In this desert place, any water we can get and store is a wonderful thing, so every single structure we build will have a water catchment system of some variety.

northwest corner h-brace

Richard finished the corner H-brace on the northwest side of the property and finally we even got the fence posts up. Next is the unrolling and hanging of the fence. Great fun to come.

strawbale compost bin

Our compost bin is growing quickly and with a neighbor's added horse and goat poop, by the time we finally move out there, we should have the beginning of some kind of useable compost.





We found and bought a generator online (free delivery) to give us power to work. Bonus: now we can use the generator to boost the batteries at our off grid rental house when the cloudy days build up.We are thinking of holding off on installing our wind generator and just putting it up on the new land.

prickly pear

not a rattler....bull snake maybe

Even though we only get out to the land once a week, our work is fulfilling and we seem to accomplish a lot in a short time, considering. This last week I was rewarded with a little bit of nature on the way home...a pretty cactus in bloom and a snake crossing the road.

Little ones plant potatoes

And at home, at the other end of the valley, we have been getting the gardens in. Richard and the kids planted potatoes, and this week we hope to get our tomatoes out...sooner rather than later.

nest with baby peeking out

There is also some wildlife around the homestead...this morning a huge raven woke us. He was on the roof and we thought for sure some kind of four-legged creature was running across the Earthship roof. And, the nest of baby birds above one of the outside lights has been taking flight. They leave early in the mornings and return at dusk. There were five at first, but now I only see three babies, when I see them. I hope they are out there finding their freedom and didn't become prey for some critters.

Cicada

Also the Cicadas are singing, crazy loud, and scary thing, they sound like the rattle snake I saw on an early morning walk with Honey. Or the snake sounded like them. Who knows. I don't walk the tracks through the sage anymore. I stick to the wide gravel road that gives me room to see and avoid any snakes!

So this next week is about fencing and shade out on the land and planting tomatoes and peppers here at home. Still so much to do in so many places.

We are so thankful for the work share of produce Richard gets every week form Cerro Vista Farm, seeing how our gardens are slow going in, and much smaller than we had hoped they would be.

We anticipate the space we will have to put in greenhouses and huge gardens at our new place, and look forward to the days when we can hold classes on homesteading on our own land.