Hey! Hi! Hello there!
Thank you for being here!
I’m enjoying black tea with milk and honey (per usual), but we have coffee and a variety of herbal teas I can happily brew for you, if you’d prefer. What would you like?
How you’ve been? Your family? Work? Done anything fun recently?
If we were having coffee, I’d ask how your season is shaping up?
We’re a month into Spring here and finding this liminal weather space a bit intense in a different way than we normally do.
Spring here typically sees wild weather patterns with warm days and cold nights. We see periods of warmth that try to trick us into pushing seeds into the soil too early and threats of winter weather sometimes as late as mid-to-late May.
It’s not unheard of to lose the orchard fruit in May due to a cold snap.
The last few weeks, however, have brought extraordinarily warm temperatures (up into the 80sF) and insane winds (sustained winds at 30mph, gusts anywhere from 40-80mph). Add this to our continued extreme drought conditions and we’re seeing a massive uptick in wildfires across the state.
The wind and smoke (let alone allergies) are making it nearly impossible to get anything of substance done outside and so I’m spending time making plans for when things improve, upping our EDC, bug out bags, and fire plans, and wondering about the true sustainability of staying here and farming in the high desert in the long run.
I’ve written about the threat of drought in the past and how one can best steward the land we’re on but in the face of climate catastrophe, our best efforts are being challenged in massive ways. I believe we’re all going to need to make some serious changes, quickly.
Listening to Indigenous voices is a good first step, but it can’t be the only step. We’re all in this together.
In the meantime, the potatoes have been planted (as well as some onions and leeks), there are cherry blossoms scenting the air and the harvests of eggs, asparagus, and herbs to brighten our table! The promise of rhubarb and lemon balm will fall into the mix in the next week or so.
No need to get stuck in Climate Doom mode, there is always hope… and, if we make it through the next few weeks, there will be an abundance of fruit! <3
Life is good, so good, even when it’s hard/uncertain.
If we were having coffee, I’d ask if you’ve done anything fun since we last met?
While still being COVID-safe, we’re using the warm weather as an excuse to get out more often and enjoy the world around us that we’ve been missing.
Ember and I are now taking weekly fieldtrips as part of our Homeschool activities and have enjoyed trips to the NM Wildlife Center in Espanola as well as the NM Natural History Museum in Albuquerque.
We also visited a friend’s small farm in Abiquiu on Easter where we got to see thee of our doelings living their best life and a chicken who is raising up four ducklings.
We also celebrated an amazing evening in honor of the non-profit organization my wife is the CEO of. This was an amazing night filled with community, love, and respect for our youth where funds were raised to help support future programs.
It also felt very big as it was the first/largest event many of us had been to in years.
I’ll be traveling to see my best friend in a couple of weeks and that feels big, too, but I am so.very.excited to have some one-on-one time with her!
Yesterday my wife left for her first work trip in three years so Ember and I are holding down the farm, working on a new chicken area, practicing some self care, and enjoying some one-on-one time of our own.
If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you it’s time to get outside for a bit and tackle some chores! The sky has cleared and the winds are calm right now so I better strike while the iron is hot 🙂
I thank you for spending a bit of time with me today! I know that we’re all juggling many balls and our time is precious, so know that I appreciate you.
I hope you have a glorious week ahead, filled with all of the things that challenge your mind, warm your heart, and give you comfort.
Let’s do this again soon, OK?
Until then, please pop over to Natalie the Explorer’s space, where she hosts this lovely virtual get-together and you can find many other, similar sharings.
XOXO,
Melis
I love honey and sometimes I put a bit into my coffee.
Wildfire season in my area runs March till October. We still have snow though and it is calling for rain (with the possibility of snow) so I hope we are still damp enough.
Great coffee post. Your pictures are all a lovely addition to the post.
Thank you for popping by and for your kind words! I’m so glad to hear you have some moisture there! I hope it keeps everything at bay for you!
Wow the photos of the smoke are crazy. I bet fresh asparagus is sooo amazing. I always love your updates. Glad you got to get out and about!
Fresh asparagus is truly a diving treat 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! I hope your week is unfolding fabulously!
We are still waiting for our weather to warm up here; we had a few frost warnings over the weekend and it looks like it’s going to be a chilly week so I just keep thinking of various things I’d like to try growing in some pots on our patio this year but haven’t been outside much at all to tend to my plants that are only slowly waking up from winter.
It will be a strange spring indeed if we don’t get at least one more frost warning, but the year has been so wild we just break another record in the warmth department! I hope you’re able to get some seeds into your pots soon and that you thoroughly enjoy watching them sprout (my favorite)! Have a lovely week, Joanne!
We’ve enjoyed a few warm days recently and then wondered whether we should be worrying about them instead, before the weather turned cold and grey again. Here, near the Northumberland coast, we’re fortunate not to have extremes of heat or cold but the winter gave us a taste of 80 mph winds that we don’t want to repeat in a hurry. Yes, we need to plan for adaptation while doing all we can to reduce our carbon footprints but, as you remind us so well, the seasonal round of sowing and harvesting is always a source of hope.
I do love my high desert home but a milder climate is sounding more and more appealing to my wife and I, both as we age and as we long to continue our farming journey. Time will tell where we land (or when) but ideas are brewing 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by! Wishing you a lovely week ahead!
Hi Melissa – those wildfires look extreme and the weather sounds a bit wild too. We’re easing into Autumn (at LONG last – after a very hot, dry summer) and it’s lovely experiencing the cooler days and evenings. We could do with some more rain, but I’m sure I’ll be complaining about how wet it is before I know it (the year is just rushing by!) Glad you had some one on one mother/daughter time and the chicken pic was very cute.
Oh how I’m hoping for rain for you and us alike! Not too much too fast, just enough…and slowly 🙂 And yes, time has felt sped up recently, hasn’t it? Wild times we’re living through! Thank you for your kind words, Leanne, I hope your week is off to a marvelous start!
Despite drought and fires, it sounds like you’ve had a good or so since I last “saw” you. I’m sure it is important to have your daughter get out and about in the Covid free (we hope!) world to socialize more. And places like the natural history museum and nature centers are always important (as I kid I LOVED going to natural history museums!) Your wife’s first business trip in three years – yeah, Covid certainly put a stop to that for a while! You haven’t really mentioned it since you have started joining us for coffee again (or I missed it), but if I remember correctly, one of you is an artist. Anything new in that area lately? Have a wonderful week!
Hi Trent! Yes, being out and about is so important for our mental health. We’re still practicing COVID safety, but it doesn’t feel burdensome at all. My wife’s trip feel very big, being on a plane and all. Fingers crossed she’s not exposed or, if she is, her mask will do it’s job despite others not wearing theirs.
Thank you for asking about my art! Things have been rather quiet on that front as the house we live in is quite small with limited storage so there’s no space to set up a little art area. That coupled with time invested in other areas of our life has left my supplies in their bins for a few years now. I *do feel the itch though and hope that as soon as we find ourselves in a larger space I’ll be able to create again in that way. For now I write, do ancestry work, crochet, build my apothecary, and take photographs for creative expression.
Hope your week is off to an awesome start!
Thank you Melissa for your weekend coffee share. Your fruit, vegetables and chicken all look so good. I’m glad you and Ember have been out and about, too. I read about the fires in NM, and the drought in many parts in the USA; Quite worrisome. You’re wise to prepare your EDC and fire plans. I hope the weather improves in your area and you have a great week ahead.
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Thanks for popping over, Natalie and for your well wishes! Hope you have an amazing week ahead!
Hi Melissa, I really like how you don’t get stuck in the climate doom! I’m so, so sick of all these scare-mongering headlines about climate change. Yes, it is serious, but it doesn’t help to just spread fear! If they could give some hands-on ideas on what to do instead, I would be much more interested in the discussion…
Anyway, I’m sorry to hear about the fires and odd weather where you are, honestly I haven’t followed much news lately so I have almost no idea what is going on outside my little world (or two, Ireland and Sweden). We’re doing quite good here. The weather isn’t too our liking but at least somewhat warmer. We play music in pubs again and I just started a new guitar course. My tomato plants are doing well – except some grow slowly and probably need to be moved to another window.
I hope your upcoming trip will be enjoyable!
I definitely have my moments of sadness and flashes of despair, but I do much better when I have actionable items I can work on instead of staying stuck! No matter how small, each step matters.
I am so glad to hear about music in the pubs again. Live music is one of my greatest joys 🙂 Oh, how I hope you enjoy your guitar lessons and that your tomatoes thrive!
Hope you have a great week ahead!
Oh, those wildfires sound bad! We’re facing drought here too and I just heard there was a forest fire about 20 minutes from where I live earlier today. I do agree climate change is really scary. Hope you do manage to keep on farming. I’m glad you, your wife and the community enjoyed the event for your wife’s organization.
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Thank you for your kind words. It’s a scary season indeed. I hope you are able to stay safe and out of harms way! Cheers to a lovely week ahead 🙂