I collect the photos and memes from the internet that interest me

every month to my desktop...

I use to post the good ones at the end of the month

I feel inspired to do this again

- my own little pinterest

so here is December 2016

xxoo

We're Decking New Halls

Dear Friends and Family,

Never been a big fan of the end of the year letter but as most of you know this has been a cray cray year for us and I want to bring you up to date……and let you know we're all fine

Willi's and my divorce was final in February 

and I moved to New Mexico in March

  

William had a stroke in April and I came back to Florida

(note - he is very good now)

and again in June for the girls' dance recital 

it was Emily's first year on toe

she rocked it...

and Lucy's first year in Ballet 

she's a natural

  they were adorable as you can see   

we are so proud of them!

William drove back to New Mexico with me after the recital, and stayed a month - he liked it.  He went back to Florida, sold his house and moved his stuff to New Mexico. 

The kids came out in July, Arlo and Lucy had never seen mountains 

 and so many rocks!

in September Willi bought us a wonderful house that suited both of us better than my house in Ojo Caliente did

the new house is in El Rito, a small town up against

the mountains of the Carson National Forest off the main roads of Ojo and Abiquiu

our sweet ranch in the shadow of Cerro Pedernal

a sacred mountain of the ancients

quiet and peaceful, it's a small wonderfully friendly community 

we moved in October, the Ojo house is for sale

the new house is awesome - 

it has 3 sunrooms to the south and south west

 since the sun is almost always shinning in New Mexico

 they heat up the house!

and we have petunias blooming in December....

adobe houses stay really warm too

it is 18 degrees out right now at 3 am

and 65 in the house

and the fire has been out for hours......

  we think we found that place we can stay for a while…. 

(you laugh)

one of the sweetest things to happen this year 

is our new grandbaby on the Michel side of the family!

  

Quinn-Cameron Jr. was born November 30th!

 we can't wait to meet him! 

  

good job Sadie and Quinn!

the best of Holidays and the happiest of New Year's from our family to yours

xxoo

the Thanksgiving pig

we were invited to the neighbors for a fresh pig dinner

the day after Thanksgiving.....

who could resist?

it was the first outing since I sprained both my ankles

first they shave the pig - it's a lot of work

I was surprised by how many men it took

the pig was 300 pounds and not easy to move

this is Leroy - I would not have made it in New Mexico

without him

he has helped every step of the way

he can do anything

fix anything and is the happiest person I know

this is Leroy's mother in law

she raised her kids on that land

and now brothers and sisters come home and bring their families

for the event

Leroy and his wife live in the house she grew up in across the road

after the pig is shaved, the organs and blood are taken out

and they skin it

the pieces of skin are hung in the barn to freeze overnight

the next morning the fat is cut off and fried

Chicharrones!!

(note - I did not make it back the next morning for the chicharones, 

I had of course

overdone it and my ankles were not so good the next day...)

after they skin it, they take off the head and legs....

it was hard work with a big saw

when the pig was skinned it was lifted up with this tractor

and hung to freeze overnight and taken to the butcher tomorrow

and the meat shared by the family

I was surprised how much work it was and

how many men it took

they started at 5 AM ( it was 25 degrees out)

it was only about 40 when I got there

but with the sun out it was very comfortable

I like the long shadows of the morning sun

of course much meat was cut off and cooked

right there

it was excellent in handmade tortillas!

I am very grateful to have been invited to share

with this wonderful and generous family

such an age old tradition

it was not gross - it was real - ancient

and human scale

xxoo

Chaco Canyon

home of the ancients

Chaco Canyon is about 150 miles due east of us

an easy scenic drive

except for the last 25 miles which was one of the worst 

dirt roads I have ever seen

10 miles an hour lets you really see the scenery going by though

over a thousand years ago this high desert valley

was the home to the ancestors of the pueblo people

the canyon in itself was striking

it is hard to show the scale of these giant rock walls that 

line the canyon

 the canyon is huge

with lots of ruins

 we got a new tent for the occasion

I call it the old people tent

'cause you can stand up in it and it has a hinged door

it was so comfortable!!

never going back to the crawl in and unzip kind!!

this is one of the darkest places in the US

the first night was clear

and I forgot there were so many stars......

sunrise over the campground first morning

 we had this ruin all to ourselves

 hanging out with the ancient energy

their stone work was amazing and impeccable

they had at least 5 different styles

over the 300 years of construction

 they used 250,000 trees for roof supports

brought from almost 60 miles away

no one is sure how they did it....

no roofs still exists

 the ruins consist of small rooms and kivas -

round deep holes in the round

this is an aerial of Pueblo Bonito 

the photo I took above is of the large kiva to the middle and front

of this aerial photo

the rocks from the canyon have fallen in on some of the ruins

this is the back of Pueblo Bonito

inside

I especially like this 

it was a hallway on a floor that is gone now

and it is on an angle and serves what would have been

several rooms above

a major feature in the landscape was Fajada Butte

on the cliff face these 3 slabs stand in front of 

2 carved spiral petroglyphs

as the sun passes through these on the equinoxes and solstices

beams of light show up on the spiral

this was their calendar

 of course human impact has caused the slabs to shift

and now access is restricted....

we left the day before the equinox

as people from all over the world were convening

at Chaco to see this celestial event

PBS had a film crew there

(we are not big on crowds)

 also the weather had changed and was cold and rainy

so no stars and no sunrise

so no dagger of light......bummer

on the way home

 we stopped to take in

the idea of the continental divide

our '94 Ford Ranger made the trip without a hiccup

 and of course - cows in the road on the way home

hey it's the west!

xxoo