Cactus Kate

His name makes you think he should be dressed in black leather and chains, and be holding a tiny guitar, but he’s not. What he IS is a cute tiny little wren who lives in the rocks. He’s only about 5 1/2 inches long, tip of beak to tip of tail. This particular rock wren lives in my parents’ back yard. I think he has a nest there. He’s got a beautiful song, and you can always tell when he’s around by his singing. He’s there frequently, and he’s one of the most cooperative photographic subjects I have ever found in a bird. I am sure glad he’s around.

I figured out what the little bird I saw in my outdoor fireplace a week ago was. He was a brown creeper. He has a very unique song, and I heard him one day while I was in the greenhouse. I recognized his song as something new, and ran inside to get my camera. I proceeded to chase him around the trees in my backyard and my next-door neighbor’s yard. He does NOT hold still, and was beyond difficult to photograph. Here is the best I could do:

I have been very busy at work. The tourist season is almost over here in Moab, and I am not sure whether to rejoice or break down and weep. It means a break, a relaxing winter, but it also means an end to about half of our income. Good thing we’ve both been working extra…maybe we actually CAN relax this year.

I kicked off my artsy-craftsy season with that pair of socks I wrote about recently. I finished them, and gave them to my mom, as planned. They fit her very well. I did manage to take a picture or two of them before I passed them along. I loved the colors of the yarn while it was balled up on the skein, but once it became socks, I don’t like how the variegation worked out. Good thing my mom liked them…

It is definitely autumn here. The leaves are all turning pretty colors, and the air is chilly and filled with the aroma of wood smoke, which I love, but my allergies do NOT. I can deal with it. I love the smell. I will leave you with a look skyward through our HUGE sycamore tree in the front yard:

I know I said last winter (HERE) that I was going to knit something other than socks next, yet here are my needles, and it seems the beginnings of another pair of socks has materialized on them.

The yarn color (crappy Red Heart acrylic, by the way) is called ‘Mexicana’. I am not sure what makes this any more Mexican than the next color, but that’s its name. Here is what the skein looks like:

I am not sure what it is about the chillier weather and shorter days, but I always feel that I want to cook, and to knit and/or sew at this time of year. Must be the nesting instinct. Or something.

Happy Autumn!

P.S.  Yea!  LightBox Plus is fixed!  My photos are doing what they are supposed to!

I have been busy lately.  Between the traveling, working, and everything else going on, I haven’t had time to ‘blog!

Rich and I went to southern California for a family gathering.  Rich hadn’t seen his sisters in several years, and Rich’s dad is not doing too well health-wise, so it was a good thing we went.  It was nice to see everyone.  Rich and I had a good time visiting, eating tacos y burritos, and just being away from Moab for a while.  Chris was in school, so he wasn’t able to come with us.  It was kind of a bummer, but I think he enjoys visiting my parents when we are gone.  Here are some photos from the family gathering:

I got out all our polymer clay and paints recently, and cluttered our kitchen table with them.  For some reason, amid all the other things going on, I have been in the mood to make stuff.  I have a number of gourds sitting around, awaiting inspiration.  My recent project, though, has been to paint a pelican skull I found on a beach.  I have been looking at it (sitting atop my clothes dryer) for several years now, trying to make time for it.  I finally found time, and it is now almost finished.  I need to find a nice piece of wood to mount it when it is done, so I can hang it and admire it.  I wish I had taken ‘before’ photos, but I didn’t.  I have a few ‘in progress’ photos, though…

It’s harvest time in my garden right now.  My garden was incredibly sad this year.  My sage plants are the only things that actually really produced anything this season.  I did get lots of tomatoes out of my patio tomato bush, but technically that’s in a pot, not in the garden.  I got one (that’s right, ONE) jalapeño chile.  My thyme looks very sad, and hasn’t really done anything since last year.  I didn’t get a single gourd, and got only one cucumber.  The sage plants, though…they have been producers.  Here is one of about 5 pans like this that I have harvested so far – and there is much, MUCH more.

Moab’s fall tourist season is starting again.  Town is getting a little busier now, and I am working more.  The extra hours and money are nice, but as with every year – I look forward to the end of the season.

Speaking of industry – I can’t think of too many things MORE industrious than these paper wasps.  They have been busy all summer creating or gluing or regurgitating or whatever it is they do to produce their own brand of paper.  This wasp nest is located just above my garden.  They dive-bomb me every day when I water.  As for the size of the nest…a regulation basketball would fit nicely inside.

Thanks for visiting, and for bearing with me in this slight lapse in blogging.