House for Sale

For those looking to buy a home, there is a house for sale in Rio Rancho, NM. It is a nice 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with a big addition that could be used as a family room, master bedroom, den, or office. If interested leave a comment with an email and I will get back to you.

Lazy, Dirty People

I have been helping a friend clean one of her rental houses. I have helped before and know the situation. The renters don't want to pay as much as the owner wants, which isn't enough to make a profit after the mortgage on the house is paid each month, plus, the insurance, and taxes. The renters are all so nice and friendly and act like they will be more than glad to keep the place clean, both inside and out. But when they have been there for a few months the owner starts seeing signs of not cleaning and little bits of destruction to the property. This gets worse and worse as well as non-payment of rent until the renters have to be asked to leave. Sometimes they do, sometimes a simple eviction notice is enough, other times it takes a court order and the police to get them out.
My friend though buying a few properites and renting them would be an easy way to make some money. Not so. Every renter is required to pay a large damage deposit and asked to give 30 days notice before they move out. She has never had a renter give notice they were moving. They might call and say their gone, or come give her the keys and say they are out, or as in this case just be gone when she went to collect the rent. The renters cell phone isn't working any more, and she has left her job. None of the renters have ever made an effert to clean when they move out and most make sure to leave lots of holes in the walls, dirt on the floors, carpets, cabinets, and filty bathrooms. They never make any effert to clean the yards at all. I have heard of the city complaining about the weeds in the yards, and the owner having to request renters leave because they won't keep the weeds down, let alone think about keeping a lawn mowed, although it was stated that they would in their contract, and they agreed to it.
It makes me realize just how lazy and dirty the average person is.
Let me say right now that I know there are lots of people who rent and live up to the requirements of their contract. I know I usually left a rental house in better shape that it was when I moved in when I was having to rent. And I agree that a lot of people do the same. But around here it seems to be the normal thing to try to destroy as much of the house as you can or at the very least make it dirty and lots of work for the owner to clean up.
With this house the owner is going to have to have the house repainted again, new carpet put in, new tile in the kitchen and bathroom, one new door that was broken, a new door frame for the front door and around the area where the washer and dryer went. There is a large drawing/picture on the door going into the garage that looks like gang sign. If it can't be painted over the door will have to be replaced and it is one of the heavy metal safety doors. For safety the locks on the door will have to be changed. At least this time there is no sign of drugs yet, just lots of beer cans, and cigerate butts in the back yard. These renters couldn't even put their trash in the trashcan and put it at the curb on trashday even though the home owner paid the garabe bill. We figure there is about $5000 to have the house made livable for someone else again. We will do as much as we can so that other workers don't have to be called in. And this time the house is to be sold. My friend is getting out of the rental business. Everyone that we know that owns rental houses or apartments is doing the same. Where do these kinds of irresponsable people think they are going to live when their credit is shot because they were to lazy and liked living in filt, and all the rental owners get out of the business?

Falling Stars

I love to sit out side after dark and watch for falling stars or meteor. There is supposed to be more than usual this week. The most were to be seen early on the morning of the 12th but I didn't hear about it until today. Should still be more than normal again tonight if you want to watch for them. more information at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/22jul_perseiddawn.htm

Sunflowers

Adopt PMU Foals

For those that want to help the PMU foals there are several sites that offer information on adopting PMU foals. I can't recommend one over another as I have had no direct connection with any as I can't afford another horse. But it is a good way to get a horse that is in desperate need of a home. You can google adopt PMU foal where there is a lot of sites.

Warning about PMU Websites

A warning to those of you that deside to research the PMU mares and horse slaughterhouse websites. They can be very graphic and very destressful. I can't go back to them anymore.

PMU Mares

Do YOU want to take a medicine made from Mare's Urine?
I went to the doctor the other day for a checkup and to get my prescriptions renewed. The doctor seemed very distracted and didn’t seem to be listening to me, and the same with the rest of his staff. For starters I was trying to make them understand that I don’t have medical insurance anymore. When my husband retired, my medical insurance that had been almost free became $400 dollars a month, plus co-pays. There was no way we could afford that. Neither can we afford any other good insurance on the market right now. (He still has full coverage for free.) As I don’t have anything that doctors seem to be able to take care of I just haven’t bothered to get any. The doctor agreed to renew my prescription for my high blood pressure medicine and the pain meds I need to keep my legs, back, and feet from hurting so much. Then I talked to him about my night sweats and hot flashes and mood swings. Yes I am in menopause. It seems that menopause is still a taboo subject even with doctors. Most women and men don’t want to talk about it, or even think about it. My doctor agreed to put me on an estrogen. Now let me say that I have been on estrogen before for several years, and when the scare came out that they might not be good for you I went off and haven’t taken any for about 2 years now. But my hot flashes and night sweats are getting worse and worse. I may be smiling and happy one minute and crying for no reason the next. It becomes a quality of life situation. And I knew that the kind of estrogen I had taken before was one of the $4 dollar meds at Wal-Mart as is my high blood pressure med. So I told the doctor what I had taken before. He mumbled something about giving me something else. I was dumb for not pushing the situation. At the pharmacy I was told the prescription was for Premarin, (or they thought it was, as it took 3 of them to figure out his handwriting), and would cost me about $130 a month. I nearly came unglued at that. Then I thought to ask if it was the stuff that had mare’s urine in it. The answer was yes. I thanked them nicely, said I couldn’t afford it. They gave me a list of what was on the $4 list of estrogen meds. I called the doctors office the next day and asked for something different. Again I explained to the doctor’s nurse why I didn’t want the Premarin. She said she would talk to the doctor. Finally 2 days later she called back and said he didn’t want me to have the other stuff and since I had insurance I wouldn’t be paying anything but the copay. I almost screamed at her, and explained again (for about the tenth time) why I didn’t have insurance and that I wouldn’t take Premarin even if I did have insurance. She will talk to the doctor again.

For those of you that don’t know let me explain. For Premarin mare’s (a female horse) urine is collected and made into the medicine. To collect it a pregnant mare is made to stand in a tiny 8 foot long by 3-foot wide stall for 6 months and never allowed to lay down or move more than a few steps. They have a machine attached to them to collect the urine in that is never completely removed. Mind you they are pregnant and kept overweight, never allowed to exercise for those 6 months and not allowed enough water so that their urine is higher in the estrogen. They are feed well and kept overweight so that when their usefulness is over they can be sent to a slaughterhouse to be killed and eaten as a meat delicacy in other countries. (Japan, France, Belgium) As soon as she gives birth the mare is allowed out in the pasture for a few months to raise her foal that is usually sent to slaughter, also. (about 40,000 PMU foals are born each year) The mare is breed again on her first heat cycle after foaling so the whole cruel process can start again.

Do you want to be taking a medicine that has mare’s urine in it from a mare that is enduring such a cruel, painful life when there are other medicines on the market that don’t have mare’s urine that are just as good and a lot cheaper.

If you think I am making this up as I was once told by a co-worker, please go to a couple of the websites that are trying to get this stopped. I had heard about it a long time ago and though it was on the decrease, but find that the PMU farms are still going and creeping into the United States. Most are in Canada. Canada, on the whole is a good country to visit and see but they don’t advertise about their PMU mares and horse slaughterhouse. Neither does Mexico. Nether does the United States. At least the US did shut down the slaughterhouses but have not stopped the auction buyers from buying horses from auction and sending them across the borders to Canada and Mexico.
Here are some of the websites. You can access others by googlleing PNM mares.
http://www.premarin.com/ http://www.prempro.com/ and this is one of the companies that makes medicines from mare’s urine. www.StopWyeth.org
I found this one very informative.
http://friendsofanimals.org/programs/domestic-feral/horses/pmu.html
And this one is on You Tube and dated for Jan. 2008 I couldn't watch all of it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I-IWYOIx7Ug

Zucchini

My zucchini crop looks to be good this year. I have had a few squarsh bugs but not to many and the couple of heavy rains we have had seem to have washed the few we had away out behind the garden into the open space of desert behind us. I have already pigged out on several plate fulls of fried zucchini which I really love. Now I am looking at making zucchini bread and a cassarole or two.
The tomatos are just starting to turn pink, so should be ripe in a week or so. Now I won't have to worry about buying or not buying tomatoes from the store.
I have 2 pumpkins coming on and 1 watermelon.
do hope the garden does a bit better than that but it is a small garden. I have found that usually I have one type of veggie or fruit that does better than all the others each year. One year was cherries, one year it was plums, one year or maybe a few more than one, we had tons of tomatoes. so it looks as if it will be zucchini this year.

More Fly Control

As I was reminded ants and birds will eat your fly predators if your not careful. Fly predators are noturnal (come our at night) so should be turned loose at dusk. That can help protect them from ants and birds, too.
Now don't get me wrong, ants and birds are good fly control, too. Ants that find fly in the pupa stage will move them to their nest to be eaten by the young ants. Birds will dig through the horse manure and eat the fly pupa. So will different kinds of beatles.
but the flies can usually out breed and out populate all the insects and birds that want to eat them. We have to continue to protect the good insects so they can help destroy the bad.

comments on electronics

thanks for the comments on electronics - yes I know and will pass on the info that it is best to destroy the hard drive in computers you are recycling as some people will pull your personal info out and you have identity thieft . It is best to break up the hard drive. And on a cell phone get rid of all info and phone numbers.

Adoption

I got this poem in an email and thought I would share it with everyone. It is so true, and sad, and wonderful at the same time. You can change the word dog to horse, cat, or other animal that is adopted by those that love and care for them.

> From Susan Renick at Second Chance Animal Rescue What a great poem, dedicated to those who rescue and adopt the little forgotten souls from the pounds. >

> I adopted your dog today
The one you left at the pound
The one you had for seven years
and no longer wanted around.
> I adopted your dog today
Do you know he's lost weight?
Do you know he's scared and depressed
and has lost all faith?
> I adopted your dog today.
he had fleas and a cold,
but don't worry none.
You've unburdened your load.
> I adopted your dog today.
Were you having a baby or moving away?
Did you suddenly develop allergies or was
there no reason he couldn't stay?
> I adopted your dog today.
he doesn't play or eat much
He's very depressed, but
he will learn again to trust.
> I adopted your dog today.
And here he will stay.
He's found his forever home
and a warm bed on which to lay.
> I adopted your dog today.
And I will give him all that he could need.
Patience, love, security, and understanding.
Hopefully he will forget your selfish deed.
> -Author Unknown>

Fly Control

For more information on fly control and fly predators please go to
www.spalding-labs.com
This is another step for me in not using pesticides. I prefer to go organic as much as possible.

Fly Predators

Fly predators are very, very small flying insects that lay their eggs in the pupa of a fly. the pupa of the fly is like a caccoon that the fly, as we know it, will hatch from. The only job of the fly predator is to kill flies. What a wonderful little bug! I had heard of them a long time ago, but like most people was reluctant to order any. But this year with all the rain causing a huge increase in flies I am trying them. I have released my first batch of predators. Of course it will take a couple of weeks before they really get with it and start attaching the hords of flies we have that are torchering me and my horses. I will get another batch soon, and about once a month for a couple of months. I will let you know if they really start doing the job of keeping the fly population down. In the mean time I am using those stinky, smelly fly traps that you can buy at feedstores and walmart. Fly traps work but boy do they smell bad.
I wish I had ordered the fly predators in the spring when I first considered it. Then maybe I wouldn't have the problem I have now. Spalding has been selling fly predators for about 30 years and a lot of people swear by them. I know that ladybugs work on aphads that eat roses and other plants and that most plant nurseries now sell different types of parasite-type insects that eat bad insects. Sometimes they are called hymenotodes or hmenoteran insects. They are the most beneficial insects in the world. Sometimes they are called parasitic wasps but they are not at all like what we consider to be a wasp. They are so tiny you usually won't even see they and they do not sting or bite. When I first saw them in the special bag they come in I was really amazed at how realy tiny they are.
Also if you continue to import in these great little bugs you will increase the number that are breeding in your area and hopefully they will start doing a better and better job.
Fly predators don't just help keep down the flies where people have horses. They can help with other livestock like cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and even with dogs and cats. But of course you need to help, too. It is still necessary for you do clean up after your pets as much as possible and incourage your neighbors to do the same thing. If you clean and use the predators and your neighbor doesn't they might not be able to keep the flies down.
Yes I am pushing the use of these insects even before I have really tried them. I feel that it is really important for everyone to stop useing so many pesticides and insecticides so we can do more to clean up our enviroment.

More Rain

We had another 2 inches of rain on Tuesday evening. That is more in the past few weeks than we have had in the past 5 years. Now the humidity and flies are driving us nuts. I ordered fly predators from www.spalding-labs.com about 10 days ago. the little fly predators were ready to release on Monday. I am sure most of them drowned in the foot of rain we had in our yard on Tuesday. So I ordered more today. I will wait until after this next weeks rain to let them go as we are expecting rain off of Dolly for this weekend.

Heat Safety

It's July 21, 2002 and it's HOT. And where I live it is very humid. We are not used to humidity. It feels as if I am going to pass out when I try to do any work outside during the day. I would like to remind everyone that hot weather can be very dangerous. Especially when it is different from what you are used to. Take a moment to remember this when you are planning those outings or even around your own home. Remember to drink plenty of water and make sure that your children and pets have lots and lots of fresh water available at all times. The last thing we want is a doctor or vet visit because we didn't offer them enough water or make sure that the toys, sand, sidewalk, playground equipement or what ever isn't to hot for children or pets. You may have shoes but your dog doesn't. they can burn their paws so easy, as can your kids if they take their shoes off.
And never, never, never leave anyone - child, adult, dog, cat, or other pet, even a reptile in a car for even a few minutes. Cars heat up so very fast, and death can come very quickly inside. Can you think of the horror of coming back to find a baby or dog dead because it was left in the car. It happens more than we want to think about.
And that pony or horse. He/she is fun to ride but try to do it in the early morning or evening. The humidity seems to bothering my horses as much as it does me. they arn't used to it any more than I am. Again they need lots of fresh water. sometimes I feel that all I do is clean and fill water buckets for the horses, dogs, cats, and the wild birds that have come to depend on me for their water.
If you start watering wild birds you need to keep at it as they can easily die with out it when they are used to you putting it out. they may not have any other sourse of water.
Of course this is just my personal opinions and hope I haven't offended anyone but I see adults that don't seem to have enough sence to hydrate themselves let alone their children or pets. Please keep in mind that water is the essence of life.

Recycle Electrinics?

I have an old computer and printer that I wanted to recycle and keep them out of the landfill. On checking who would take them, I found that my local garbage company and landfill doesn't take them. I did find that several electric stores in Albuquerque do but they charge you $10 for each item, and that would be on top of the gas to go the 50 miles to the store and return home. Althought most do take other things as keyboards, and mice for free. (I wonder if they want my live four legged mice that run around and squeek.) I do have several phone stores near by that will take the old ccell phones I have.
So is it any wonder that so many of the unwanted electrics wind up in the landfill or tossed out on the desert, and some even on the dirt roads near my home?

Complain

We find ourselves complaining about the blowing sand and them begging for a bit of breeze when it is still to try and cool things down some and blow the flies away.

We complain about not having rain and then complain about the humidity when we do get rain.

We complain about the cold in the winter and then complain about the heat in the summer.

Moisture

Finally, some rain. We had about an inch last Saturday night late with a scarey thunder and lighting storm.The flashes of lighting were so bright they were blinding and the thunder was super load. And of course I got caught out in it and soaked. It was just spitting a little bit and I went to move horses around so everyone did have a shelter, Just in case it really did decide to rain. While moving the it surprised me and came very suddenly. the time I was able to move one horse and give up on moving another, I was wet through and through. I decided I was an idiot to be out moving horse in an electrical storm and took shelter in the hay shed with my husband. It slacked for a minute so we dashed for the house, and it came down harder than ever. But with in a half an hour it was all over with.
Since then we have had about another half inch in several days of lighter showers. Again with lots of thunder which is driving the dogs nuts. I can not figure out how my dogs got so afraid of thunder, fireworks, backfiring cars and other load noises like that. Nor can I figure out how to get them not to be afraid anymore. I try to ignore them when they try to crawl under my chair or desk as being nice to them and loving on them seems to make them worse. When it gets really bad I do have tranquilers to give them. I also have learned that keeping a bit of noise going in the house like the TV or music, or the dishwasher helps.
My son who lives about 200 miles south of us said he thought they had about 4 inches of rain in a couple of hours. He was in water almost to his knees in places while he was taking care of his horses. At a nother town in New Mexico there was 7 inches of rain reported in one day. And several other places have had an inch or more. We really need all that moisture so we can't complain.

Cactus

Here is another photo of the cholla cactus. This shows the cactus itself better as well as the flowers.

Cholla Cactus

The cholla cactus (pronounced chaa-ya )are all over the desert where we live. We had to remove several when we moved to our place here to keep the horses, dogs, cats, and, yes, us, too from getting into them. They are sometimes called jumping cactus. It seems like they jump on you when you get close even tho they really don't. They can be anywhere from a few inches tall to 6 - 8 feet tall. When they die the skeleton or wood from the cactus are used for making all kinds of craft items. Especially lamps. The skeleton is hollow up the center and has interestingly shaped holes in them. They can be from a couple of inches around to usually about 6 inches. The other day we decided to ride out across the desert to see if they were blooming. I have added a photo in the right corner of a really nice close up of a blossom. Under it you can see some of the stickers or thorns. To the right side and slightly blured is a piece of a skeleton. The blossoms are such a beautiful, vivid shade of purple. They attract all kinds of insects and bees. There were bees in nearly every blossom we looked at, and they were so loaded with pollen they could barely fly. After the flower fades it makes a yellow fruit that is eaten by many desert rodents and a few birds. It isn't as well liked as the pricklypear cactus fruit, that a lot of people use to make cactus candy and jelly. I have done that but it is very time comsuming to pick the fruit, cook it, until the stickers on the fruit are soft and the fruit is ready to be put through a strainer and makes a juice that can be used for jelly, and candy. Pricklypear cactus have a yellow flower with purple fruit, the opposite of the cholla. I haven't found but a few pricklypear blooming yet.
This year the flowers have been few and far between. The cactus blossoms better and has better fuit when there is better rain. Out drought is keeping a lot of the desert flowers from blooming this year. Still it made for a nice drive and fun to watch the bees making fools of themselves trying to fly with all that pollen. And I have never found a bee hive in the desert. Most are a type of bee that makes a small nest under ground. I would like to know more about them.