Today I Saw a Hoopoe Bird!

I took a walk in Barbadelo and saw a beautiful flash of color along the fence line. It was two gorgeous crested birds. One was pecking the ground for bugs and feeding the other. I came back to the Internet and looked it up and it is a Hoopoe Bird!  I found these photos

 On the Internet. Aren’t they wonderful?

Summer's End and Welcome Autumn!

It's been a very busy Summer.  Last year when we put in 4 new garden boxes and a drip system, I had no idea how it would bless us! And the harvest is STILL coming!  Joe canned more green beans and tomatoes today, and made a big pot of vegetable spaghetti sauce, and there's another pile of tomatoes waiting. I think we'll just pop those into the freezer.

We're heading out to celebrate Autumn Equinox with my youngest son and friends starting Thursday. A friend of ours owns a large piece of property and puts on a fantastic Festival for Fall. This year we decided to vend again. We used to go to festivals and vend some years ago, but since MCS, Cancer, Mom's fall and death, life just got in the way. We have boxes and boxes of stock to sell - so we finally dug it out and signed up to vend at the Fall Equinox Festival. 

I had a deer skull I found in the desert one winter - I decided to paint it and try to sell it.  I saw one at an art show this year and thought, "Hmmmm.... maybe I could do that!"  So I did. Not a great photo, but it's basically painted and decorated with flowers. It's a little creepy, but it IS almost Halloween! Hoping someone will buy it.

I nearly finished up the last of the stone mandalas today - put the shine on them.  I made a few mushroom mandalas. They're cute, like fairy houses.

Tomorrow I put on their felt bottoms and get them packed up. Besides these things, we'll have lots of quartz, citrine, amethyst, flags, and just tons of "stuff" I'd like to get rid of. I'll take a photo of our tables once they're set up.

I washed the van today and tomorrow will be packing day. We'll take a lot of food we've freeze-dried which will make it an easy camping trip.

I got my Autumn garlic in the mail this week from Territorial Seed. I can't plant it until mid-October, so I put it in the cool-house until then.  When we return from our camping trip, it'll be time to start cleaning out the garden beds for the winter.  

I will be leaving mid March to volunteer on the Camino. I had accepted a post on the Primitivo at Grado, but had a change of heart and requested one on the Camino Frances at Najera. I'll go wherever they need me in the end, but hoping to get Najera. It's a larger albergue with 48 beds but it's right on the section of Meseta I want to walk.

I'll volunteer for 2 weeks, then walk the Meseta before picking up my group end of April to walk from St. Jean Pied de Port. I think both Joe and I have wonderful pilgrims in our groups this year, and I'm really looking forward to walking with them and getting to know them.

Health-wise, I'm doing ok. My torn rotator cuffs still hurt, some days more than others. I'm looking forward to a shot of cortisone in October to hopefully calm down the inflammation. If I'm still in pain after the Camino, I'll look into surgery. 

My beautiful Norway Maple is dropping her leaves - I can't believe it. Wasn't it yesterday she was budding? The wild turkeys have decided she's a good roosting place. I enjoy watching their antics, as long as they stay away from my blackberries!  lol!

I guess that's all the news.

I hope you all have a Blessed Autumn Equinox.

Stay safe and happy and warm and loved!

Annie

Hospitalera at San Anton 2016

I'm at San Anton Albergue volunteering until June 12. We have no electricity, no hot water and no wifi and I LOVE IT!!!   I will catch up on blog and photos once I am home after June 15.    Until then, the greatest excitement has been watching this young owl fledge. He has jumped from the nest to the roof on day 1. From the roof to a lower roof day 2. And last night to the ground. We assume mom is feeling him because he looks very strong and healthy and is not crying.  A few photos b

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Finishing Up Summer and Planning A Camino

 

Well, the garden has been producing like mad! 

Joe has been busy fermenting pickles 

and canning tomatoes and beans almost every day! 

The blackberries are giving me
a giant bowl every two days. 

The golden raspberries just keep coming. 

I popped a canteloupe seed
on top of a compost pile just for fun
and it grew 8 giant, sugar-sweet melons! 

Joe's sunflowers are huuuuuuuge!

It's been a VERY productive year.

Vegetable Beef Soup

Awesome canteloupes!

These were volunteer purple potatoes

Green Beans

Every day is a jeweled surprise!

Things are slowing down now.

I pulled up all but one squash plant this week.

I'm getting the bed ready to plant
my garlic, onions, and kale. 

Soon it will be time to prune
the raspberries and blackberries

and then comes time to rest. 

We're going to vend at a Festival over Autumn Equinox.

I've been busy painting mandala stones:

Maybe I can make a little cash for my winter trip. 

I'm hoping to go to the desert in my van this year either after Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

Michael's sister will housesit for me,
which makes it easier.

Then I'm leaving for Spain in March.
I'm hoping to be somewhere for Holy Week -
 haven't decided where yet.
Then I plan on walking the Meseta for about a month
to train.
Covid really kicked my butt last year
and then I took a fall in December
and tore both rotator cuffs.
So on the Meseta I can walk short stages
and build up distance slowly.
I can also book pack transport if I need it.
So for now, that's my plan. 

April 28, I will pick up my group of 7 pilgrims
and take them on the Best of Both 24 day trip -
 looking forward to a nice group this Spring!

I'd like to fit in a 2 week hospitalera volunteer position
if I can find one.
I contacted Rebekah today and hope to hear back.
It will be nice to be back on the Camino.

Soooo... that's all the news for now. 

Take care everyone! 

Love,

Annie

Late Summer in the Garden

 After my cross country trip in April/May I thought it might be too late to plant my garden, but I took a chance and boy, did it pay off! We've been harvesting all month!

Here are some photos of how the garden is doing now...

Today I picked my first cantaloupe of the 7 or 8 that are on the vine. It just fell off in my hands and smells very sweet. Cantaloupe for breakfast tomorrow!

Joe also harvested two of the sunflowers today after he caught Mr. BlueJay stealing seeds!

This garden has fed us all summer. 

Here are just some photos I've taken:

First artichoke of the season!

My sage is VERY happy!

Still have some carrots coming on.

The green beans are going nuts!

Joe has been canning them every few days.

My strawberries have been nice this year.

This week, I cut and rooted the runners for next season.

Zucchini, Yellow Crookneck, and Patty Pan Squash

The asparagus finished and I've tied it up.

The tomatoes are so heavy, they've imploded.

We just started harvesting them this week.

Loving my Dahlias!

This is the first year my fig trees bore fruit. 

I waited and waited and was watching the first fig ripen.

I thought, "I'll pick it tomorrow..."

Next morning I went out and there was 

a big old chunk chewed out of it. 

A RAT!

And it was war!

We set rat traps and caught 6 rats over the week.

I think we got them all!

Soon we'll be canning tomatoes.

These were started from heirloom tomato seeds saved from last year.

Not sure what we'll get.

So far, I've picked two and they were pretty good.

7 more cantaloupe waiting to get ripe!

My spearmint is about done, but it sure did bring in the bees!

I mainly use it for Portuguese Cueves.

Golden Raspberries put on a HUGE Spring crop

and are now putting on their late Summer crop.

They are SO sweet!

We freeze them and use them in cereal for breakfast,

when we don't just eat them off the bushes!

The bell peppers are really putting on a lot of fruit...

We have tons of volunteer cherry tomatoes 

as well as some little yellow pear tomatoes. 

No photos - I ate them!

The cucumbers are about done.

Joe has been fermenting pickles for a couple of weeks.

This is Delicata winter squash just getting started.

My thornless blackberries are going NUTS!

The turkeys got after them and I had to put in

a motion controlled sprinkler.

So far it has worked.

These are REALLY nice and fat and sweet

if I wait long enough to pick them.

I've been putting them in bags in the freezer for cereal.

We actually had a nice little volunteer potato harvest.

We ate a lot of them.

This is what is left.

These purple potatoes were volunteers.

They're REALLY good and I hope more come up next season.

What is left of my Autumn garlic.

I have more coming to plant in September for next Spring.

I had a nice little onion harvest;

here is what is left.

Next year I'm planting more.

Love my dahlias!

This was a surprise!

My kitchen counter always looks so pretty

with all the colors of the harvest.

I LOVE my garden!