Beat the Heat

Put in a good days work and was done by noon. Poured (4 loads in Walter) the south entrance, showered and clocked out by 11:30AM. Just as well cause it was too hot the rest of the day. Had a brief visit this afternoon from John Soper - he caught the piece on KWES 9 in Midland yesterday and just had to come out to see the spread. Nice guy and he showed me some geometry/astronomy tricks to figure out the latitude and magnetic declination of the Field Lab. Who can't use a good geometry trick....Also worked another loaf of solar bread into the schedule but that was about it.

Deathly Hot'n'Calm Today

Nice cool morning but it heated up quickly without a breath of a breeze to calm the rising temps. Only Beatrice showed up early but the crowds grew quickly as the morning progressed. I strapped on the feed bag at the Grub Shack and came home to find quite the crew around my house. Lured them out to the end of my driveway with treats..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9829dhzjpQ8

Got hot our here quickly so I was only able to gather and sift my aggregate for the final pour. Contemplated doing the pour at the end of the day but lapsed into Terlingua Time and put it off till tomorrow. Banking on a nice hot shower after I finish up in the morning. Ventured up to my neighbor's to photograph the incredible stone retaining wall for his porch he just labored away at over the past couple of days. That's a hellova lot of rocks to move by hand.

Wrapped up the day prepping all the stone, sand and water for tomorrow and pulled the forms off the east entrance pour. Quite pleased with the results....

split shift

Met up with my friends Bill and Karen (and Jack, the ugliest dog in Texas) at the Grub Shack this morning for breakfast. They came out so Karen could get the full tour of the Field Lab. Karen was part of the deluxe tour that included hand feeding Beatice. They headed back NE of me and I got to work. Finished the first half of the pour for the east entrance footing by noon.

Prepped for the next half pour then took a break during the sunny/hot hours. Stopped back at the Grub Shack and chatted with Betty and Chuck for awhile. Uncle Jerry from UPS stopped by because he saw my truck and dropped off the wind turbine blades I ordered. Check out http://www.mikeswindmillshop.com/ I'm tempted to try out one of his wind turbines later this year. Headed out to Bill and Karen's to pick up his scaffolding to borrow for awhile. It will come in handy when I do my cinder block walls.

Got home at 4:30PM and fired up Walter again. Mixed up 3 more batches of concrete and poured the second half of the east entrance. Finished up by 6:30PM and called it a day. A bit hot but nice and breezy during the slave labor portions of the day.

Word has it that my segment on KWES 9 in Midland will air tomorrow night....no promises as usual with the media.

not so much a mystery after all....

High of 105 in the sun today (98 in the shade). Set the blocks into position as shown - level off side to side (front to back is not important). Bolt the 4' sections connecting the back sides and the front sides. Bolt the 3' pieces connecting the front to the back. As most folks figured out...I was building a rack for one of my 123 watt solar panels. Kind of like a heavy duty erector set. I've been pushing my luck - what with a $540 solar panel just laying on the ground propped up on a couple of cinder blocks. Now I have a semi-portable rack to anchor it firmly until I get around to creating a mount that will track the sun. For now, I'm getting plenty of juice as it is. The panel had mounting holes in the underside of the frame that lined up perfectly with the holes in the angle iron. Finished just in time as we have gusty winds tonight.

Baked a loaf of Field Lab Bread for my friends who fed me last night. Dropped it off along with a DVD of some of my recent press. I apologized to their ugly dog for calling him ugly yesterday. Spent a bit of time indoors this afternoon figuring out how to add all my recent press, including my NPR audio interview to a DVD. The Texas Country Reporter episode will be up on YouTube around December. It has to make the local and national rounds before they post it online. Dropped off a DVD to Ronald as well - he's been right in giving me a hard time about slacking off a bit but I am determined not to become a victim of Terlingua Time. Ronald's quote of the day is, " You gotta slow down to catch up to folks in Terlingua." Ronald is the "King of Terlingua Time". but he's happy as a clam so no fault there.

Finished off the day prepping for tomorrows pour. All the tools and materials are lined up and ready to go. Withdrew 50 gallons of water from the bank (my gully washer storage tank ) this evening for the concrete mix. Just hope old Walter fires up without too many pulls or another rope break tomorrow.

mystery project

What could it possible be used for? Assemble materials...four 3' long angle iron, two 4' long angle iron, 2 bags of quickcrete, 4 cinderblocks, twelve 1" galvanized carriage bolts with matching nuts and lock washers, hack saw, tape measure. Total cost - $90. Cut two of the 3' angle iron pieces to render two 12" pieces and two 24" pieces. Set these pieces into the cinder blocks as shown and fill with concrete - about 1 3/4 80lb. bags of concrete mix will fill the blocks. Soak the blocks down good with water before adding the concrete. I use an old 2 liter Gatorade bottle with small holes drilled in the cap to sprinkle the water. Add a coin to each pour....it will keep them guessing some day in the future when someone finds them. Set aside to set up good overnight. To be continued tomorrow.........

Had a great dinner at Bill and Karen's place just a couple of miles NE of me. Bill has been going great guns on the construction but is starting to slack off. I told him I was going to start giving him a hard time on the blog until he gets up to speed so he can rejoin the Ben and David club of quick builders. Had a nice view back toward the Field Lab from the deck while their mutant dog Jack kept an eye out for danger.

Earth Day Alpine

Cleaned and loaded the solar oven and headed up to Alpine this morning for the Earth Day Festival. Cloudy when I arrived so I didn't bother even unloading it. Spent the day just milling around and chatting with folks about life off the grid. Fairly good turnout for the event. Bennett and Eric from Alpine Solar Sales where there in full force and based on my listing in on some conversations - looks like they got a couple of gigs out of the effort. They graciously donated an expensive solar oven as the prize for a contest....the first home made solar oven to melt a block of ice in order to retrieve a plastic egg frozen inside. There were about 7 teams of young kids participating. Not a great day for a solar cook off but nice to see these kids give it a shot. The winners are presented here. It was funny to watch the look on the face of the mother when she heard how much the oven retails for....kind of like when you see someone on Antiques Road Show and they are told their little doo-dad is worth a million bucks.

5% progress toay...

Texas Monthly

Not much to report today other than I did an hour long phone interview with a writer from Texas Monthly this morning. I am to appear in an upcoming issue on their page entitled "The Horses Mouth". (and no, Chuck....it's not called the Horses Ass).

The sun was blister hot this morning...could really feel the UV pouring down. Not even a whisper of wind. Had another batch of thunderstorms and finally some high winds blow in this afternoon. I was ready but only got another couple of drops. Could see smoke from a huge brush fire 50 miles north near Calamity Creek.

Thanks for the comments on my cowboy poem. I just started my second one...extolling the virtues of an alarm clock free lifestyle. Saw my first snake of the year at the Field Lab(that makes 4 sightings in 16 months)...anyone care to identify it?

The West is the Best!

Slow/hot day today. Low of 48 - High of 101. Took a leisurely morning at the Grub Shack. Borrowed a sifter from Aunt Kathy and came home to collect more gravel for the next pours. Picked a nice big yucca bloom and brought it home for the first longhorn to want it. Angelina won. Gathered and sifted the next 4 loads for my concrete mix. Too bloody hot to consider stirin' it up so layed back for the afternoon. Managed to work into the light schedule a minor modification on my solar oven reflectors. Did an adjustment of about 5 degrees to bounce more light into the oven. That little task has been on my mind for months - glad I finally got a round tuit. Had some stormy looking weather blowing in from the SW so I battened down the hatches and tarped all my concrete mix. Alas.....only about two drops of rain.

Went into production mode late this afternoon and shot my cowboy poem. I was a bit disappointed that the Texas Country Reporter segment on the Field Lab only featured half of the piece. Now it's out there in it's entirety for all the world to see. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwDoLYrMRIw

all press and no work

Just a day of organizing things then about 5 hours of entertaining Wyatt (reporter/producer) and Mike (photographer) from KWES 9 in Midland. Gave me an excuse to clean house and show off for a day.

Fresh out of the oven...

Low of 43 - High of 89...another picture perfect day. Same longhorn group in for breakfast early this morning. Walked them out to the end of the driveway for their range feed. They all came back to the house as I was getting to work on the east footing forms. A couple of the cows went crazy and went running off to meet up with the new mom, Carmen. She came strolling in with a brand new calf wobbling after her. Interesting to watch the reaction of the other longhorns to a new calf. Beatrice was bellowing. I named the new calf Bulmer after my dad's middle name. This little guy is really new as mom still had some afterbirth hanging out of her.

The day shot by quickly as I finished up the forms. Made a trip to the mailbox and found some prickly pear cactus starting to bloom. At 4PM I commenced to grounds keeping. Bagged up all my recyclables and trash and stored it away till the next trip to Alpine. Cleared all the horizontal surfaces in my life and ended it all with a nice hot (wind free) shower. Saw Carmen and Bulmer off in the distance alone together late this afternoon, so I drove out to deliver a snack to the new mom. Solar cooked dinner on the veranda for me and all is well - as usual.

yucca chew

Low of 44 - High of 84...not a cloud in the sky, again today. Plugged away at half speed (being that it was Sunday). Got all the re bar set for the south entrance and just about finished the forms for the east entrance. Started clearing the grounds for the next press visit on Tuesday. Heated up leftovers in the solar oven tonight.

Same longhorn group was here again all day. Named as follows: Beatrice, Carmelita, Carmello, Coolata, Amos, and Andy. Did you ever wonder if longhorns actually rest their heads on the ground when they are sleeping? Here is Carmelita and Amos during nap time this afternoon. Coolata has a nice wide spread and is starting to warm up to me. Good thing I got a photo of that yucca bloom yesterday - one of the longhorns ate it today - salad on a stick(stalk).

Knockin' on Heavens Door

Low of 36 - High of 86...not a cloud in the sky. Sequestered at the Field Lab today except for a go kart ride to the mailboxes. Took most of the day to get the forms set for the south entrance...lots of digging rock to get 'er level. Seven longhorns spent the day at the end of my driveway. Beatrice came in to the yard twice for water. Started my dinner at 3:30 - Spanish rice and Cornish Game Hen in the solar oven. Ate outside while listening to one of my favorite Marfa Public Radio shows...Version Quest with DJ JD. This months show was a full hour of versions of Knockin' on Heavens Door...the best one being Adam Sandler doing Axel Rose. The Yuccas are all blooming out here now....this one is down by my dam.

stuff and press

I have to say one of the major perks of this lifestyle is getting at least 9 hours of sleep per night. Even with all the hard work involved out here, I can't say I'm not well rested. First order of business was snacking some longhorns (as usual) then ordering two new sets of wind turbine blades. Had to take down turbine #2 for some routine maintenance. Took a supply inventory and decided to make an Alpine run for goodies. Will have another McCoys delivery next Tuesday. Spent a good hour at Bennett's to discuss some solar stuff for my friend Crusty Ken. I am in charge of weening him from his generator. Bennett recently installed the latest feature of his brilliant alternative energy grid connected home in Alpine - the mini solarium.

Stocked up on enough to keep me back living and building at the Field Lab for another week. Didn't get home till 6PM. Had a brief sunset ceremony to retire my year old cowboy hat and the 5 1/2" saw blade that has cut just about every piece of wood out here since I started in December 2007. Sergio came in alone just as the sun was fading so I gave him a treat. I am happy to oblige him to get on his good side but ain't now way I'm ever gonna try to hand feed him.

Press whore that I am....I responded to 2 emails this evening about more interviews coming up. One for NewsWest 9 KWES-TV and one for Texas Monthly. If I ever end up on Oprah....please just shoot me!

Clean Undies

Low of 46 - High of 93. Not sure which feels better....the end of the day after a job well done - or the morning after. A good nights rest after a long day is the icing on the cake, I reckon. Lately I have been waking up just about the time the sun hits my curtains on the east side. Best alarm clock ever invented.

Stripped the forms off yesterdays pour and all was well. Not perfectly beautiful but should withstand the test of time. One thing folks don't seem to do out here is water down the concrete a couple of times a day after it's been poured. I make a point of doing it as nothing is better for a good hard cure than a little drink a couple of times a day for about a week.

Wasn't quite ready for another long dirty/sweaty day in the sun so I headed down to Study Butte to do 2 loads of much needed laundry and fetch 125 gallons of water for my drinkin' tank. The clothes dried on my solar dryer in about a half hour. Nothing like an interesting photo to top off a rather mundane day.

go fly a kite...

Had 10 for breakfast....not a one of them willing to help me out with the day's pour. They all took off when I tried to get Walter started ( Ben named his cement mixer Walter ). I had everything ready to go but Walter's pull rope broke on about the 10 yank. Drat! I thought for a brief second that I might have to give up....then opened Walter up and took care of the problem. A few more yanks and Walter came to life. Took 8 loads in the mixer to fill my forms. Boy I'm glad that first try worked so well...I was putting off getting started due to the fact that I had to use an unfamiliar machine. Now we are best friends.

Wrapped the day up with and early shower then tossed my dinner into the solar oven. Had an hour or so to kill so I fired up one of the kites that Cousin Holly brought out for me. It's been soaring away for a couple hours now. Dined at a respectable 6:30PM. I will reveal my secret Field Lab concrete mix if it sets up without fail.

early wrap...

Had 12 for breakfast today including Sergio - the BIG black bull. I give him plenty of space (out of fear, respect, and admiration) as his balls are the size of grape fruit. This guy appears to be all horns, balls, and muscle. Reckoned incorrectly that I would be pouring concrete today...apparently I didn't get the memo that there was a bit more form work to do. Took all day to double check and tweak the levels and install the rebar. Now I think I am ready for the concrete.

Checking in and out early tonight as I'm heading over to Crusty Ken's for a spaghetti dinner soon. Had just enough sun today to bake a loaf of Chelada Garlic bread in the solar oven.

Crunch and Tweet

l o n g day today. It all began so long ago with Beatrice and her sister Odet coming in for breakfast. They arrived just after the sun poked its' nose over the mountain. I had just finished putting out bird seed for my winged buddies and it was time to snack the cows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVvgKU3w7RM The desert morning sounds here at the Field Lab are extraordinary...especially when there is no blaring alarm clock to spoil the beginning of the day. Just got the DVD copy of my Texas Country Reporter segment in the mail today....will finally check it out tomorrow.

Temporarily installed one of my new solar panels at the wind turbine battery house to supplement the calm/sunny days. That sucker pumped out 8 amps in direct sun....rated for only 7.2 amps. That's what I like to see! Nice calm day so prepped another loaf of Holly bread for the solar oven.

Aunt Cathy, Cousins Holly and Tod, and Mustang Sally came out for a trip to the swimming hole today with yours truly as their guide. We caravaned out through the new short cut and spent about 6 hours out there. As we were just coming in, we came across some longhorns....the big Bull I just saw yesterday and 3 calves ( including Guillermo! ) I brought more range feed just in case such an opportunity would arise.

We all came back at 5:30 and I showered down while they headed home to start the grill. We had a great dinner of steak and beans and potatoes and Field Lab Holly Bread. I got home way after dark to find a few longhorns at the end of my driveway...hopefully waiting for breakfast tomorrow. Good news is, Angelina and little Buck have found each other and were with the crew. I'll have the morning snack ready when I get up tomorrow.

NOTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE VOICED CONCERN: Despite their appearance from whatever camera angle I have recently chosen, rest assured that the longhorns are all well fed by their owner and what they graze on this time of year and are all doing just fine.

just easter...

Saturday!

Low of 59 - High of 96. Had what used to be known as a real Saturday...a day off from the work week. There was a nice big crew (22) of longhorns in for breakfast. Guillermo was with them so we had a chance to bond a bit more. He is super friendly now - seems to enjoy having his horn yanked (don't we all?). Finally got Angelina to eat out of my hand today as well.

Cleaned up and loaded the solar oven onto my truck and headed down to the Ghost Town for the first annual Terlingua Green Scene. Hung out and chatted with lots of folks about the oven while it was cooking a load of seasoned chicken breast fillets. Nice crowds throughout the day and met a lot of great new friends. Got the pic just after I arrived, before the masses started streaming through. This is the area where the Terligua Community Garden is set up.

Packed up and headed home by 4PM and the wind started to kick in. Still had enough sun to pop in a load of black beans and rice into the solar oven...added the cooked chicken after an hour and had a solar cooked meal to serve to Bill and Porter when they came by tonight for dinner. Forgot to mention the zucchini bread they also gifted me with yesterday....and got a new can opener from them today! Had a great evening hanging out with them - chattin' and watching the stars come out. A bit earlier, little Buck came in looking for his momma - not long after he left, Angelina came in looking for her son. I reckon the longhorns get a bit out of whack when it gets windy and their scents get blown off course.

form that

Quiet/dreary morning today...kind of lonely out here what with the Grub Shack closed till the 20th and the Ranch Supply store now suddenly closed Thurs,Fri, and Sat. Took an early run to visit Aunt Kathy,Chris and Hannah.

Slow going on building the forms for the north enterance. Just kept plodding away and piece by piece I got it built, set, and leveled. Finished up just as some new visitors dropped in.

My new friends Bill and Porter came out for a visit from San Antonio. They saw my segment on Texas Country Reporter and have been catching up on my blog - just got in to explore the Big Bend this weekend. (Note to visitors!) They graciously brought perfect gifts...bird seed, Keystone Light, Budwieser Chelada, Junior Mints, and a tiny solar panel for charging little gizmos. I reckon they are welcome back anytime...

Just missed a killer sunset time lapse tonight....had the camera pointed in the wrong direction. Did manage a still of the peak though.

wind blew me to Alpine

Low 67 - High 91. Max gust 33mph - average 9AM to 9PM...15mph. Wind was howling part of last night at most of today. Tried an experiment with all that wind power I was collecting. Plugged in my little refrigerator to see how long it will take to freeze two quarts of water. Had it cranked up full all day and it drew about 8 amps continuously for 9 hours - the wind was making up for most of that drag during the day. I'd say the water is about half way there. Set the thermostat back a couple of notches to give the compressor a break. Stuck some beer and chicken in the fridge to help hold the cold. While most of the days experiment was happening, I was up in Alpine stocking up. Just odds'n'ends. We have a small chance of rain coming up over the next couple of days so had to get my ducks in a row.

Got home at 6PM just in time to catch the phone....got a dinner invite from Crusty Ken. CK is a true good ol' boy and a great friend to have out here. He was having a little farewell get together for Betty and Diane who are both leaving the ranch for a couple of weeks. NO MORE GRUB SHACK TILL APRIL 20th! Pork chops cooked on a grill, stewed vegetables, and homemade peach cobbler with ice cream. Great end to what I thought would be an uneventful day.

Begin the Beguine

Low 41 - High 96. Switched gears today and did less visitin' and more doin'. Did splurge on a breakfast sandwich this morrning from the Grub Shack though. Got 2 loads of sand and built and set the forms for the front entry to the greenhouse. Allowing for an 8' entry just in case I need to get the truck in there. The other 3 entries will only be 3' - 4'. Kind of tricky setting them up to be squared and leveled with each other but I am way within being close enough.

Just realized today that I am entering prime solar oven cooking season for my evening meals. As soon as these partly cloudy/windy days end...I need to program myself to start prepping dinner at 4PM to pop in the oven and let the setting sun do the rest. Here is today's afternoon view of the Field Lab Living Quarters when not cleaned up for visitors.

piles...

Low 33 - High 86. All about collecting aggregate today...except for breakfast at the Grub Shack, visiting Ronald and getting sucked in to a bit of Terlingua Time, and hanging out with Whitebear at the Ranch Supply Store...at least I added a little over a cubic yard in two grades of gravel and one of sand. The big push is coming...about 10 more loads and I'm good to go.

mostly dirt

Low 49 - High 60. Cold and windy all day. First thing this morning I went and fetched 100 gallons of water to put in Ben's new tank to keep it from blowing away. In 2 1/2 windy days, he got the metal roof on and the catchment system installed. Came back home at noon and made another batch of coffee and even turned the heater on for a little while to warm up.

Had a nice group of longhorns come by for an afternoon snack. Pulled the forms off of yesterdays quick pour then did 2 runs - one for sand and one for gravel. Just as I was cleaning up from the day, a couple of new friends I met last year came out for a quick tour of the new stuff here at the Field Lab.

I followed them out and headed down to the Ghost Town for 241 night at the Starlight. Had dinner with my new friend Zoey Sexton (the New Yorker in me says that name sounds like an early eighties punk rocker chic). She has been the driving force behind the first annual Terlingua Green Scene coming up next Saturday. http://www.terlinguagreenscene.com/ Keep you fingers crossed for a sunny day that day as I plan on participating by doing a solar oven demo.

Day 18,263...

Began the big 5 O by helping Ben pour the slab for his water tank....was just an extra hand to pitch in when needed while 6 loads (5 bags each) of concrete got blended in his cement mixer. Next stop was to visit another builder buddy who I just heard was back at work just north of me. His is the place that (still) has the undies hanging on the clothesline.



Came back home and since the cement bug bit me this morning - I prepped and poured one more item on the checklist. Seems my last footing had quite a bit of gravel in the bottom of the form so I chiseled out the loose stuff and filled in underneath with what amounted to two more bags of concrete.

Went on another gravel search/distraction and decided to check out an even shorter route to the swimming hole that I have been eyeing on GoogleEarth. Drove to the end of a dirt road just south of me then walked about a half mile to check out a go kart route. Followed a longhorn trail so I think I am onto something. The day was getting late so decided to get back to the task at hand...gravel. Found an excellent patch close to home and got the first of what will have to be about 7 loads. Finally discovering the motherload and bringing the first batch home was my present to myself.

No big party tonight (I don't have much patience for parties anymore)...just a nice quiet evening of feeling old and young. Shot off some fireworks to mark the day. Thanks to all the folks that sent birthday greetings. Looking forward to tomorrow - a day with no specific significance.

Snack Delivery

Rather than fret about gettin' nothin' done today....I just took it in stride and whiled away the hours of the last day of my 49th year on this planet. Ever since the last rain, we have had a high pollen warning for the area...luckily I am only allergic to penicillin and only slightly lactose intolerant. Baked a load of bread for Aunt Kathy then went exploring (mindful that I may just find some perfect pea gravel for my upcoming concrete pour). Drove through the new shortcut to the swimming hole. Only slightly soft in some sandy spots but the truck made it through just fine. As luck would have it - I finally met James Jackson on the road. I emailed back and forth with him before I moved out here - now I have a new friend to add to the list. Took some range feed along just in case and found some of my longhorn buddies down in the creek. I think they were rather surprised to get a delivery away from the Field Lab. Spotted two new calves with the group. Got back home at 5:30PM with no gravel or sand...but I was prepared just in case I found some. Had a great dinner over a campfire with Ben at his place including Trevor ( the Vic Damone of Terlingua ) and old Don "the dome builder". Hard to believe that when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be 50!! Boy that half century sure went fast...

shortcut

A very long day of only contemplating the upcoming project. Having a bit of trouble locating a supplier of corrugated metal roofing for a curved roof. Need to settle that issue before I decide on the radius of the trusses I will be building from scratch. Did manage working another loaf of solar bread into the busy schedule today. Took a break from all that thinking to go for a drive - rationalized it would be a good idea to at least hunt down some perfect aggregate for the concrete footings. Not really looking forward to getting my dirt (I need about 8 cubic yards) but it has to be done so will concentrate tonight on trying to trick myself into thinking it will be a blast. Found that someone had recently graded a section of road that had washed out years ago. Now I have a shortcut to Terlingua Creek that I can drive my truck through. That shaves about 6 miles off the old route. Saw some longhorns in the high brush by the creek but didn't recognize any friends.

Field Lab Equinox Sunrise

Low 55 - High 84. Seems I've reached the easterly sunrise equinox here at the Field Lab. Nice sunrise position this morning, shooting right down the middle of the container courtyard. Celebrated with breakfast at the Grub Shack with Chuck'n'Kathy.

Finished off and installed the door to my outdoor shower this morning while waiting for my McCoy's delivery. Now it has that Gilligan's Island feel to it. Pretty much wrapped up both tasks by lunchtime. Since I don't eat lunch...we'll call it mid day. Filled the afternoon with a run down to Study Butte to check in with Carolyn at H2O to Go...Hoping to make it out to her house this weekend to check out their garden for inspiration. Made one last quick run to the other side of 118 to drop off Ben's cement mixer (which I haven't even used yet)....Ben is coming if for a weekend of more blazing construction no doubt. Spent the afternoon contemplating my trusses for the greenhouse. Will most likely do a lot of thinking before I fire up the welder for this project.

Thanks, Neil!

Neil saved the day....followed his advice from yesterdays comments and all is well in photo land again. That little blip really spoiled my evening but I'm back on top again. So far the worst problems I have had with my new life is with my computer. Just added the photos to yesterdays blog entry.

Finally had some longhorn visitors again last night and this morning...Beatrice, Rachel, and 3 unnamed followers. Snacked them at the end of the driveway at sunset last night and indulged them at the house this morning just as I was leaving. Had an early departure for Alpine for coffee at my new friend Emily's house. http://emilyoftexas.wordpress.com/ Note to self: ask for milk and sugar next time as she makes a MEAN cup of espresso (I was warned). Had a great visit and her house has a perfect vibe. Got introduced to an old cat, a loud dog, a little dog, a bunch of chickens, a wild horse, and her 3 giant donkeys. I found that scratching a big ol' donkey's ears really lowers your blood pressure even with all that caffeine surging through my system. Thanks Emily for taking the photo...

Next stop was Marfa to visit my friends at KRTS. Renewed my membership to my favorite local NPR station and dropped off a belated birthday present to staff member Rachel...a loaf of Field Lab Specialty Bread...parmesan cheese, mesquite seasoning, olives, and Budwieser Chelada beer. Baked (of course) in the solar oven with the same west Texas sun that warms my soul every day. If you are so inclined - I would suggest to my blog readers to go online at http://www.marfapublicradio.org/ to make a donation to their spring fund drive to help fund the NPR station that helps me keep my sanity out here. Tell them John Wells from the Field Lab sent you.....

Back in Alpine I ran in to McCoy's to order my supplies for the greenhouse walls and roof trusses, to be delivered tomorrow. Next stop was to pick up my 2 new solar panels from http://www.alpinesolarsales.com/ . They should have new info up on their website soon regarding the PV sales. Stopped by Bennet's house to chat for awhile then headed by the Food Casket (Emily's term for our local grocery store - The Food Basket) to stock up on some more pre-greenhouse grub. Home by 4PM to unload and savor the day.