Smallest Minature Horse Foal

It is all over the news about the smallest mini horse foal. From the photos he is a cutie. Nice color and shape. This one is not a dwarf. A real horse. Check out photos on this site http://www.tonic.com/article/worlds-smalles
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Pueblo Montano Trailhead

There is a small park at the Pueblo Montano Trailhead that I went to this past week. I had been meaning to go for about a year or so and no one wanted to go with me so I went by myself. I found that a firefighter had made these wonderful chainsaw sculptures out the dead cottonwood tree trunks that were left from a fire that went throught this area in 2003. I had to take lots of photos of the sculptures and now I want to share them. I hope everyone appreciates this artwork as I do. My thanks to the artest for for doing the scuptures.

Firefighter

The firefighter is probably the largest of the wooden sculptures in the little park at the Pueblo Montano Trailhead. The sculptures were made byMark Chavez, who was one of the firefighters who fought the Albuquerque Bosque Fire of 2003. I have seen a lot of things made from wood using chainsaws (mostly bears) but the sculptures in the park are really unique. The tell the story of the fire, and the wildlife that live in the Bosque. The Bosque is the nature trails and native lands that border the Rio Grande River where it runs through Albuquerque, NM.

During the fire many of the beautiful cottonwood trees along this section of the river were killed. Instead of cutting down the dead trees to use them as firewood or hauling them to the dump Mark Chavez turned these tree stumps into fanstatic sculptures. More information at http://www.examiner.com/x-1972-Albuquerque-Travel-Examiner~y2009m9d10-Hidden-Albuquerque-Pueblo-Montano-park-and-the-wood-carvings-of-Mark-Chavez

Firefighter & Dragon

The firefighter has his foot on the dragons head.

Dragon

The dragon that the firefighter is standing on represents the forest fire that the firefighters fought.

Eagle

This is the sculpture of the bald eagle.

Sandhill Crane

Dead Trees

Here is a shot of two of the cottonwood trees that were killed by the fire but haven't been carved into figures yet. The sandhill crane on it's tree trunk can be seen in front. If you look close you can see Coors Blvd behind the park with the housing develpment that is to the west of Coors Blvd. The parking lot for the park can also be seen along with a distant view of the eagle.

Cottonwood Tree

This is the biggest cottonwood tree that survived the fire in this little area. Paseo del Norte highway is to the left of it. The pathway runs to the right of it. You can see the dead cottonwood trunk that has the sandhill crane on top of it. The Rio Grande River is farther on beyond the tree and park.

Owl & Birds

This owl can be seen from Paseo Del Norte highway that runs right beside the small park where all the wooden sculptures are. It was because I had seen the owl that I finally decided to stop and see what was at the park. I was amazed at how many wooden animal sculptures there were and that I had never heard about them on the TV news or anywhere else.

Owl

A big hoot owl and to the side is a bird.

Double Coyotes

If you look close at the coyote on the left; under the coyote is a dark spot which is a prairie dog looking out of it's hole.

Coyote

Beavers

Horned Toad

I adore real horned toads so this one really intrigued me.

Roadrunner & Horned Toad

This is the full view of the roadrunner with the horned toad climbing up the tree truck.

Squirrel

Spring Flowers

More Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

My 2 year old apple trees have been really pretty this year. Wonder if I will get any apples off of them?

Close Up of Redbud Blossoms

Redbud Tree

We had a rain shower the other day. As it went over and headed for Albuquerque there was a dark sky to the east with a bright sun to the west highlighting our prettiest redbud tree.

Cottontail Rabbit

I finally got a photo of the cottontail rabbit in our little patch of grass. I think this is the same rabbit wat that was in the other photo when it was hiding in the sand. I frequently see it eating grass but usually it hops away to go under the hay shed where I can't see it. It knows where it is safe. The grassy spot is right beside the hay shed. I think this may be a female rabbit as we always have a female that has her babies under the shed each summer. It couldn't have been the same rabbit all these years but I would think it might be a daughter or granddaughter. What I would really like to get is a photo of a rabbit eating hay with one of the horses. Again I see them doing it but I'm never close enought to get a photo or just don't have the camera with me.

Sand Rabbit

One of our resident cottontail rabbits showing how they can hide when they sit still in an open area just because they are so close to being the color of the sand and dirt.

Finally Paint

This is the brown paint we put on 3 sides of the house or should I say Lee painted it. I didn't do much to help. It is a bit darker than I had figured it would be but still looks so much better than the old dirty gray that it had been.

New Paint

The paint on the siding on the house had been sand blasted until it was back to the orginal gray color so we painted it.

Apple Blossoms

I really like to watch the little red balls that open into pale pink apple blossoms

Apple Tree

We have two small apple trees. So far we have never had any apples of of them. But we have lots of blossoms this year. Here is a close up of a blossom that just opened. Notice some sort of insect on the leaf under the blossom.

Tartarian Cherry Tree

I love cherries. They are my favorite fruit. And I love fruit. There are lots of kinds of cherry trees. The Bing is the most common but my favorite is the Black Tartarian. I have two of them and usually only get a few of the cherries as the birds get most of them.

Weeping Cherry Tree

This is my little weeping ornimental cherry tree, (no fruit) that keeps trying to die each year but struggles on and has nice blossoms this year.

Peach Tree

This is close up of peach tree blossoms on my peach tree. Maybe we will get at least a few peaches this year. This tree has the most perfect, sweet, tasty peaches but we have never got more that about 3 in one tree.

Purple Leaves

Here you can see a close up of the blossoms of the purple leaf plum tree and the tiny little purple leaves just starting to grow.

Purple Leaf Plum Tree

This is called a purple leaf plum. It is an ornimental tree with no fruit. I don't have any like this. I found some beauties downtown so stopped to take some photos.

My Bradford Pear

this is my little Bradford pear tree that is only about 5 years old. It had more blossoms this year than it had last year. I have another one by the front door. It only has a few blossoms but is a much bigger tree.

Blossoms

Close up of Bradford pear tree blossoms.

Bradford Pear Tree

Bradford Pear Trees at the local library. These are an ornamental pear tree that doesn't produce fruit. These are very mature trees and just beautiful. Mine are only 5 years old and very small yet. Maybe someday.

Cow Rubbed Tree Knot

This is my favorite knot of those on the trunk of the old juniper tree that I like so much and tell the story of in the following photos, and posts.

Old Juniper Tree

I have been admiring this old juniper tree out on the desert to the northwest of where I live for about 25 years. At first it was all by it's self out in the middle of nowhere with a narrow dirt trail running just to the east of it. Over the years I have stopped many times and taken photos of it. It's hard to take a good photo of because it it big enough that it shades it's trunk which is the most interesting part of the tree. Looking at it's size I am making a guess that this old juniper tree might be in the range of at least 300 years old. Juniper trees grow very slowly and on our desert that can be slowed down even more, but these are very hardy trees that need little water so nature is not apt to cause one to die. I have found many of them on the desert that I estimate to be several hundred years old but this one has always been my favorite. Man can cause them to die and more than I like to think about have been destroyed so that housing developments can build more and more houses on the desert. I chose the builder of my house with care, liking the fact that he never cut down the juniper trees that were in the areas where he builds house, preferring to build the house so the tree can live. Now the old tree I have photographed so many times is on the edge of a housing development and I am concerned for it's welfare. Actually I am surprised it hasn't already been cut down. In this photo I am standing beneath the tree looking out over the desert. The following photos show the uniqueness of the trunk that had has had branches broken off by cows and then the cows have rubbed on the branch ends making unusual twist and nobs that look polished by the rubbing by the cows while they stood under the tree for shade. The last photo shows just how close the house are to the tree.

Desert View

From this side of the tree you can look west across the desert. You can see several cholla cactus through the tree fork. The other side of the tree looks at the dirt road that goes by the tree and the houses that are in the developement that started about five years ago. It makes me wonder just how long this tree looked upon desert and distant mountains until progress now makes it look at houses.

Juniper Tree Knot

The bottom part of this old juniper tree is allotted and twisted. When I first saw it there were cows around it trying to stand in the shade of the tree. When I was able to get a good look at the truck I could see where the cows had rubbed and rubbed against the bottom 3 or 4 feet of the truck. They had apparently broken off some of the bottom branches in previous years and all the rubbing on the branch ends had made rounded nubs that almost had a polished look from all that cow hair and musle rubbing on the branch ends for who knows how many years. Now the cows aren't allowed in the area where the tree is and the rounded branch nub ends don't look as polished as they were. Now they are just sand blasted by our constand wind which also keeps a wind swept area around the base of the tree. Still it is unique looking as I am sure there used to be cows in and around the tree for an estamated 200 years.

The Tree Knot

Different view of the odd knot on the juniper tree.

Monster Knot

Part of the twisted knot on the juniper tree. Kind of looks like a monster of some sort.

Tree & Houses

In this photo you can see the old juniper tree with a dirt road behind it and the houses in the housing development that is near it. It is such a shame to see this ancint piece of history being threatened by development. There is a dirt trail on this side of the tree where I found the tracks of motercycles and ATV's, and I saw lots of trash; mostly beer cans and bottles; in the area right around it, which I picked up. The tree is surviving but it doesn't look as healthy as it did 25 years ago when I first saw it. Every time I go by there I am afraid I will find that progress has destroyed this beautiful, and still living conifer.

Wind & Flowers

It's been very windy here in the Land of Enchantment. Spring is always windy. A trip to downtown Rio Rancho last week showed that the trees and flowers are all blooming despite the wind. But here on the west mesa I still have to see the first blossom on a flowering trees. They are trying but the wind is sucking the moisture and life right out of them. We keep thinking it is over but then it will come again.

Be sure to check out Cindy's Snaps ( see the list at right for the link) as she has some beautiful flower photos of spring in England.

Free Manure

Having horses and ponies we always have to much manure as any one that has equines knows. The past couple of months our medical problems have got worse. Bad backs, bad feet, bad legs, and migraine headaches, with nerve damage to parts of our bodies (or that is what the doctors call it). So with all these medical problems and an excess of horse manure I put several adds on Craig's List to see if people would want any for their gardens this spring. (most springs we have enough friends and strangers stop by for the manure that we don't have to place an ad).
Here is a sample of my ad.

FREE * Horse Manure for Fertilizer * FREE
Have several pickup loads of Horse Manure good for using in your garden or Compost Pile.
Bring Your Truck and Shovel and a Strong Back----- You Have To Load It!

I learned a long time ago that there are a lot of people that are a bit dumb, stupid, and unable to read. But the calls I have received about my FREE Horse Manure really goes over the top.
I will start by saying there there were 3 very nice young men that came and took most of the manure. Here's hoping they get good gardens with it. I use it on my garden, trees, and flowers with good sucess.
But it was the other calls. I go several asking how much the manure cost. (I will remind you it says Free in the ad)
One woman called and asked how much our COW manure cost (I will remind you it says Horse in the ad and Free)
One wanted to know what manure was. (dahhh I explained it was recycled hay but that wasn't good enough so I added it was what came out the back end of the horse but I still don't think she understood)
Several people called and ask how much I would charge to load it for them (I will remind you it say You Have To Load It! so I added that I Can Not Load It to the ad)
The last and best was the woman who called on Easter Morning asking why she had to bring her truck, and shovel and why didn't we have a tractor to load it with. (after yelling at her I couldn't afford one I hung up before I said something worse).

Moral of this story - Think and I mean really THINK before you respond to ads on Craig's List.

Kitty in a Case

Willey cat crawled into Lee's guitar case the other day while lee was practicing.