Today we lost another part of our family, another friend on the farm....the sweetest, most sensitive,handsome Murphy.

However short, we're so thankful for the time we had with him.We've been taking a bit of comfort by thinking of him having a reunion with Musashi, our other pup we lost his year. Life without him won't be even close to the same and while items at tail height might be a bit safer, we'll miss him everyday.

 Horseradish! Put it a really good sized pot and let it grow! "They" always say mint grows like crazy but I never felt like it was really out of control by any means, horseradish either but as a precaution i stuck some in a pot some time ago to test it out. In our high desert climate I welcome plants that grow happily. We dug it up and scrubbed it and threw it in some vodka with whole black peppercorns(more on that later).

Gifts

An epic fall is pretty much on the way out the door.This September marked our 10th anniversary and the blissful autumn felt like an extra special gift. We harvested beautiful pumpkins, planted nearly 150 cloves of garlic and a few more welcomed trees, took daily walks with our two dogs, got one of our giant horses to a trainer AND speaking of gifts my parents sent Kev and I to Crete to celebrate our decade of being Mr.and Mrs. The 10+ years have flown by but to say they have been easy wouldn't be true. Deployments....I even hate the word, made periods of separation nearly unbearable. Although I am thankful and proud of his career everyday, thinking back...well I'd rather close my eyes and not think about it. This trip to Crete,with its long soaks in the Med, bottles of local wine and late night jet lagged talks like two high school kids at a sleepover, about dreams of our future is just what we needed. A Raki(local handmade booze that seems to magically appear at your table nearly every time you sit down to eat) induced chill out, a Cretan influenced, EXHALE. You wouldn't believe how long it takes you to get a check(your bill) after eating by the way. Slow it down is the take home message here. Thankfully we heard that message loud and clear(another gift!).

Someone got a new tattoo!

                                                            Go if you get the chance.

The best news of all is that Kevin won't be deploying anymore, retirement is on the near horizon

 and with any luck, many more trips like this!

Spring!

We've been waiting! Lots of chores around the ranch,it's a busy but welcomed time for us. Trying to find some time for more art and desert adventuring.

New Art Going On Around Here!

From The Hubs (I always knew he was creative)....With the help of a great friend and yin and yang buddy-Gil Martin. No formal art training...and they crank these out with a shotgun for a paintbrush!Bottom photo is some of the finished work photographed by the super talented Robert Petersen.

10 Years Ago Today....

Engaged!Under Orion, on the beach at Sunnyside in North Lake Tahoe, this handsome man asked me to marry him. Talk about a Happy Thanksgiving, nothing in my life has made me more thankful!

Fall around the farm

Just a couple pictures before all the leaves form a knee high sea on the lawn!

       I'm crazy about the crabapple Tree "Brandywine." NOT just because the name has the word wine in it,although how do you not love that? Spring finds it covered in pink and white bubblegum shaped blossoms. Fall finds it covered in pretty crabs of decent size that are followed by orange, orangey orange, leaves.

Pretty "new" garden gate Kev put up that leads to our  orchard we planted this year with Black Arkansas apples, D'Anjou pears,Reliance peaches, several types of raspberries and two mystery mulberries the birds "planted" for us . Had to include my small, sweet, slow growing gingko. 

I figure the birds must be eating well since there is still quite a few clusters of now uber sweet Chardonnay grapes left on the vines. I imagine the robins will make short work of them soon.