More Bread and More Lazy Daze

It seems like we're having a mini convention here at Rockhound, we're now up to five Lazy Daze! We we're joined yesterday by Dave and Nola in yet another mid bath! What a great time we're having.

It has become my habit to make a batch of bread around 3:00 in the afternoon, then set it by the kitchen window to rise for the next mornings baking. I LOVE getting up early in the in the morning and watching the sun rise over the valley. This morning I looked out the window and saw this.


I quickly threw on my clothes and got the camera and went outside. The air was crisp and clean and the birds were just beginning to stir, it was magic. I took one more shot and caught this tiny bird sitting in the ocotillo in our campsite.

You might want to click it to enlarge, the bird is pretty small.


After the sun rose, I came back inside and baked today's loaf, which came out beautifully.

Every day it seems like I'm learning more about baking bread, especially how to do it in the motorhome oven. This whole bread thing is certainly an adventure I'm enjoying.

And I just have to mention this. You all know hat I love silly toys, as does my friend Andy. Yesterday in town I found a set of play gold teeth and knew that they would be perfect for him. He was a good enough sport to let me take this picture.


We are silly, but we do have a good time.

And I can't close this post without wishing our friend Norm a Happy Birthday. I'm SO sorry we can't come to the party, but know that we are with you in spirit.

Life is good.

Bird Rocks, More Bread and More Lazy Daze!

We have discovered some unusual rocks here at Rockhound that have us a bit puzzled. Our friend John Coxon found the first one and gave it to me. So what's so unusual about these rocks?

For one thing, when you put them in your hand and close your fist around them, they fit perfectly. I mean PERFECTLY, like they had been made when someone took wet clay and squeezed it in their fist and then fired it in a kiln. It doesn't seem to matter who puts them in their hand, they seem to fit everyone's fist.

The other thing that's kind of cool is that they look like birds! We have found quite a few of these and no one seems to know what they are. But we like them a lot.

We have a little family of three of them that we now have as part of the decorations in Cholula Red. Here's a photo.


Pretty cool, huh?

It's been delightful here in Deming. We now have four Lazy Daze here at Rockhound. In addition to us, there's Andy (in Skylark a 2003 Mid Bath), Debbie (In her brand new 2007 Rear Kitchen) and Ron and Jan in a 1996 Mid Bath. What fun to have all these rigs in one spot and be able to compare notes and see what everyone has done to personalize their rigs.

And what else are we up to? Well, my bread making is continuing, and to my surprise, every loaf is better than the last.

Regular readers will remember that I recently discovered No Knead Bread (you can read about it here), and every day I've been making a new loaf. I've been playing with several variations on the two basic recipes, adding different ingredients and varying the rising and cooking times.

So far, I have to say my very favorite addition is 1/4 to 1/2 cup of steel cut oats. Just this little bit of whole grain adds something so special, I now add it to all my breads. I'm thinking of playing around with other grains and will let you know the results (all suggestions welcome).

Another change is I've been adding a bit of yogurt to the liquid, looking for a somewhat more sour flavor. To that end, I'm also working on a sourdough starter so I can make sourdough bread.

I found a great site where you can get a starter that has been going since 1847 (no kidding!) and will play with that, but I have high hopes for my own starter. I'll let you know how that turns out. I did have a home made sourdough starter years ago, but haven't used it in so long I feel like a beginner.

I can tell you that I made French Toast this morning with homemade bread and it was sublime. Tonight we're trying pizza with homemade crust. I'm going to try it with a white sauce, garlic, chicken and smokey provolone. Yum!

Andy decided to try some of the No Knead Bread, but he's going to bake it in a closed container (like the instructions suggest). This way, we'll be able to see the difference between actually following the instructions and my work around method (water in a pie pan in the bottom of the oven, cooking the bread on an open pan).

Retirement is grand, giving all of us enough time to play with such foolishness.

Okay, enough food talk.

Yesterday I promised some bird pictures, so here they are. These were all taken, by Terry from inside the rig (through our darkly tinted windows) so I apologize if they're not as sharp and bright as I would hope (my Photoshop skills are somewhat limited).

Here's one of our House Finches. We have dozens of these little red birds. They are really colorful and active. Terry puts a bit of bird seed on the retaining wall outside our rig, so we have a perfect spot from which to observe them without scaring the little guys.

This guy is considering taking a bath. We had to put this rock in the dish so it doesn't blow away, but the birds seem to love it. It's like the community swimming hole.

This guy starts by just dipping the tiniest bit of his toe in the water,

then decides the temperature is just perfect for a bath.


This is one of a flock of Scaled Quail that liver here at Rockhound. We have never seen these birds here before, but they seem quite proud of the flock at the Visitors Center.

These guys are unlike any quails we've ever seen. I particularly like their little white top knots. Remember you can always click on any photo to see a larger version.

And here's a Pyrrhuloxia or Silver Cardinal. There are lots of these guys here at Rockhound, but we still get excited every time we see one.


Ah yes, Life is Good.

Hooray!

We're back at Rockhound, and we're in our favorite spot!

We have a wonderful view of the Little Floridas (pronounced flow-REED-ahs) and all our birds are back. I swear, we have hundreds of birds at our site, a testament to the power of black sunflower seeds.

In fact, we didn't plan properly and it looks like we'll have to go into town to get more bird food. I'll try to take pictures later today and post them here.

I do love my life.

Dust and Wind (Part 2)

Today we spent most of the day trying to clean up from the hellacious dust storm we experienced yesterday, WHEW!

We were really surprised when we finally got outside and saw how totally filthy the motorhome was. This storm carried such fine dirt, it was almost like talcum powder. In the two and one half years we've had Cholula, she has never been as dirty as she was today!

Everyone in the park was out trying to clean their rigs. Most were using water, but we decided to try something else.

A while back out friend Andy recommended a California Duster which we've been carrying around, but only used sparingly. So today we decided to put it to the test, and I'll tell you right now, this is a blatant plug for this product, it REALLY works.

We were just blown away by how well this little puppy worked. To show you, I've included some pictures.

Believe me, our rig has never been this dirty before, so please don't judge us, In this picture, I've already cleaned the bright red on the top and half of the maroon on the bottom.


Pretty impressive huh? Remember this was done with NO water.

Here's one more shot, with the dirt removed on both sides, but the dust still present in the middle. Can you believe how much dust there is on the rig?


In case you've never heard of this product, here's a picture of the Duster.


Okay, the advertisement is over, the dust is gone and Cholula Red is once again here bright and shiny self.

Tomorrow, we'll be moving back up to Rockhound State Park, where we will have a lovely view.

Life is good!

Happy Saint Patricks Day

Apologies in advance, but I just couldn't resist . . .

I try REALLY hard not to link to YouTube videos on this blog, but I felt this was exceptional.

Just a note, if you're not a Muppets fan, don't bother, but I just love Beaker (I'm so so with Professor Bunson). Along with Camilla and Janis, Beaker my favorite Muppet.

Of course there will be Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner.

Life is Good.

Wind and Dust !!!!

WOW, is it ever windy and dusty today!

The roads are closed and they say the visibility is near zero. I've taken several pictures from the same vantage point so you can see what I'm talking about.

This was around 9:00AM

Around noon, it hadn't improved one tiny bit. The rig was rockin and rollin and dust seemed to be everywhere. When we walked across the linoleum the grit was palpable, and every surface seemed to have a fine layer of dust.

Finally, around 6;00 it finally started to subside. It was still quite windy, but at least the dust had died down a bit.

When I walked into the bedroom, I took a look at one of our window sills and was surprised to find this!

Motorhome windows have weep holes to allow condensation to escape, but apparently they can also allow this incredibly fine grit into the rig!

Here's a photo of a somewhat clean sill so you can compare.

And finally, here's a photo of the mesh boot we put over our windshield. Like everything else, this was just serving as a trap for the dust. Usually we can see right through it, but not today!

Pretty awesome, huh?

So what did I do to pass the time today while we were inside during this storm?

Well, of course, I cooked!

I'm still on the homemade bread kick, we may never buy store made bread again, this is so easy. I've been playing with different ingredients, adding steel cut oats to one recipe and flax seed to another. I've also got one recipe that needs to be baked the day you make it and another that lasts up to two weeks in the fridge.

All are a bit different, but they're all super easy and extra yummy.

I also made a batch of Chicken Picata, YUM!

So even with the terrible dust storms, we had a great day, and we continue to be thankful that Life is Good.

38 and Counting . . .

Wow, today is Terry and my 38th anniversary!

Well, technically the 11th was our 8th anniversary but, who's counting!

I just wanted to share with all of you how fortunate and lucky I feel to have this wonderful man in my life.

He supports me no matter what hare brained scheme I come up with (and over the years there have been many). He loves me as I am, warts and all. He rarely complains (I say rarely because, after all, no one is perfect, but he comes dang close). I just really can't imagine my life without him.

He is just one amazing guy.

That said, I guess I should try to take a better picture of him!

While this doesn't show him off to the best physically, it captures a part of his spirit that makes me love him all the more.
It had just started raining and he took his good friend Hunter (who is 3 years old) out to catch raindrops in their mouths. Is this a great guy or what? I will try hard to get a picture that shows his face a bit more, Promise!

And now we're off to the fabulous Adobe Deli for our Anniversary Dinner.

Boy, life is really, really good.

What a Swell Day!

Today, went for a LONG drive. We decided it was time to go and look at some campgrounds that we've been hearing about,

First, we went up to City of Rocks, where we camped last year. It was a gorgeous day, and we felt we needed a refresher, just to see if we wanted to return (and we probably will).

Then we headed up towards Lake Roberts. Several friends have recommended this campground and while it was indeed lovely, it was a bit remote. We may camp there, but we'll just have to see.

A bit farther on this road are the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We visited them last year and loved the area, so if we decide to camp somewhere in the area, it will probably be at the dwellings.

The drive we were following is known as the Trail of the Mountain Spirits and it is truly magical.

One of the things I love about New Mexico is the constant change. Today, we went from the sparse desert into rolling hills that had me singing cowboy songs. I've got to tell you, I wouldn't have been surprised to see Roy and Trigger come galloping over one of the many rolling hills. In a matter of minutes we found ourselves in towering pines, WOW!

This area is known as the Mimbres Valley, for the ancient people who lived here ages ago and made the astounding Mimbres Pottery. We see mention of this everywhere we go here, and this area is the heart of the Mimbres culture.

Just a few miles down the road, we came up on this (and remember you can click on the photo for a larger version).


While I am perfectly aware that waterfalls abound in the west, we haven't seen all that many, and to come on this, right by the side of the road was an unexpected and delightful treat.

We then proceeded on to an incredibly windy road (Highway 15)
that led to Silver City.

Silver City has a reputation as a real up and coming city. An artistic community in the hills, sort of waiting to be discovered. While many folks in this area really love it, we find it to be a bit large and citified (or maybe we've just spent too long in small towns?).

On the way back to Deming, we stopped at a rest area and I had to take a picture of their topiary.


Last but not least, I wanted to share something I shot a few days ago.

While perusing the internet (again!) I found a site where a fellow had taken a collection of shots of the New York sky.

The idea intrigued me so I stepped outside and shot a series of sky shots in a matter of five minutes.

Then I put them together in what I like to call the New Mexico Sky Quilt.

Life is good.

Fresh Bread

Oh My Gawd . . .

Cruising through the internet I came across a recipe for No Knead Bread. Now I used to bake bread all the time, but haven't even tried it since we've been in the rig. I know several folks who travel with bread machines and get excellent results, but I never could seem to get the loaf I really wanted with a machine.

So we've been on store bought for quite a while, but that just might change.

Suffice it to say that we had bread for dinner.

So here's the basics.

6 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 Tblsp quick yeast
1 1/2 Tblsp salt (I like kosher)
3 cups of lukewarm water

Never being happy to leave well enough alone, I substituted about 1/2 cup of beer and a bit of white vinegar for some of the water, but that's a personal decision you'll have to make. Feel free to try the original recipe.

Basically you just mix everything together till you have a big sticky goopy ball. This should only take a minute or two, no need to over mix. Then cover it loosely (a clean towel or some loose plastic wrap (not air tight) will do). Then you just let it sit for anywhere from two to five hours.

Being my usual patient self, I barely made two hours, but the good news is that this makes such a lot that I put half of it in the fridge for tomorrow. The various recipes swear this is all right, so I'll let you know.

If you've ever made bread, you'll see that this is a LOT of water, and I believe this is part of the secret to this method. The other difference is in the cooking.

The original recipe calls for this.

About thirty minutes before you're ready to bake, heat the oven to 450 degrees. You'll need a heavy covered pot, cast iron is recommended, and you'll want to heat this along with your oven.

I had to improvise here because I certainly don't have any cast iron in the motor home. With a little research, I learned that the original method calls for a heated, covered cast iron pot so you can trap the moisture and give the bread a wonderful crust like you find at your favorite bakery.

Since I had no cast iron, I put my air bake cookie sheet in the oven and let it get nice and hot. Then I took a silicone muffin tin and filled the 6 cups with water and carefully slid it in the oven under the burner. Remember I'm making allowances for a smaller oven here. This was to provide a nice steamy atmosphere for my bread

After the dough had risen and my oven was heated, I lightly shaped the dough into a loaf, and because I wanted it to look nice, I made a few slashes in the top. Then into the hot oven it went for thirty minutes.

Boy Howdy, was this bread wonderful! The crust was nice and crusty, almost hard to the knife, but when you cut into it, the inside was steamy and light, lots of nice yeasty holes surrounded by this amazing crust.

I just had to share this with all of you, and if you try it, I'd sure like to hear the results. If you Google No Knead Bread, you'll get a lot of hits, but the one I've provided here is a simple start. Next time, I might try a few additions, but at least I have the basics down

Next time I see some of you at a potluck, I just might bring fresh bread.

Life is good.

The Bost Family Tradition

Longtime readers of this blog might remember last year about this time, we went into Deming and saw a WONDERFUL show presented by the Bost Family.

And for those of you who haven't been with me this long, you can read about it here.

Today we had the pleasure of attending another concert by these fine folks, and once again, we were just blown away. These people are HOT, a great band and a wonderful afternoon. If you ever get the chance to hear them perform, run don't walk!

It was such a beautiful afternoon, I wanted to share my joy with all of you.

Life is good.

Life is What You Make It (and Life is Good)

I've spent the morning reading a blog about a couple who joined an Adventure Caravans trip down to Central America. We've looked at these caravans, and would probably join one if we ever won the lottery.

Our good friends Mimi and Jonna have long been trying to get us down to Mexico, and we have that thought in our future plans, but back to that blog . . .

While down in Guatemala, the engine on these folks diesel pusher died, and they were left stranded. A nightmare scenario, no?

Well, just to prove that attitude is EVERYTHING, read this blog and see what a once in a lifetime experience these lucky folks got to enjoy; a journey only available to those with an open heart and an open mind.

The blog can be found here. I started at the very beginning, and for me, it was interesting to note that as the troubles began, it felt much more personal. At that point, their trip became more of a life altering phenomenon rather than the "tour" they had been enjoying previously.

Life is good, and I hope I get to meet these fine folks on the road sometime.

Cows & Birds & Sunsets

Did you miss me?

Well, I guess I should apologize, but all I can say is that I don't post for a couple of days, and before I know it weeks have gone by!

We left the Bosque and went down to Oliver Lee State Park, where you may remember I got all excited about the Lunar Eclipse. Unfortunately, we had a huge cloud invasion the afternoon of the eclipse and we couldn't see a thing!

What we have been seeing is a LOT of cows, which for some reason, fascinate me. Maybe it's because in many spots here in New Mexico, they are allowed to roam around free (also known as a free range area). So one day, we were coming back to Oliver Lee and there were all these cows! I liked this one in particular.

As we got closer, she seemed to show some slight interest in us (or maybe it was the car?)


And when we stopped the car, she just looked at us, as if to say "Yeah What do you want?

I liked this photo so much I played around with it in Photoshop, sort of pretending it was an old time hand colored print. Here's the result. Remember you can click on any image to see a larger version.


After we moved down to Rockhound State Park, outside Deming, we went up to Truth or Consequences to visit some friends. On the way back, we decided to try a new road. It seems that whenever we do this, we find something wonderful, and this day was no exception.

Somewhere between T or C and Hatch, we took an exit and found a delightful town named Hillsboro. A tiny burg, like so many here, it's a lovely mixture of ghost town and artist's colony, nestled far away from the beaten path, but maintaining a unique charm. We have decided we will look into places to park Cholula in the area and try to return.

As we continued down the road, the landscape changed from rolling desert into pure cowboy country. I just love this state, the geology changes constantly, an ongoing surprise.

And as we were rolling up and down the gently rolling hills, we came upon this sight. Once again, cows, just hanging by the side of the road. I wish I could say why they interest me so, I just know I can't seem to pass one up without getting off a few shots with the camera.

As we came closer to the main road, we were treated to this . . .

Unfortunately, it was closed, or we would have stopped to visit. I guess there just isn't a whole lot of traffic out in the Middle of Nowhere.

A bit farther down the road, we came upon a real ghost town, named Lake Valley. Home a a large silver strike in the 1800s, it was the home of the Bridal Chamber, a cave of almost pure silver. The ore from this strike was so pure that they built a railroad spur right to the strike and shipped the ore directly to the mint, no smelting necessary. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's a shot of Lizard Rock, which sits right outside Lake Valley. It really does look like a lizard climbing up the mountain, don't you think?

And here's the remains of what was the towns only gas station.

We had a delightful day and decided we are going to try even more back roads to see what we can discover.

Meanwhile, back at Rockhound, we decided to set out the birdfeeders, just t see what we could attract. There are tons of house finches, most a beautiful rosy pink. All of these shots were taken right outside our bedroom window.

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I really love this park. Out of all the State Parks in New Mexico, it may be my favorite. It has all these wonderful birds (including a flock of scaled quail, adorable with their little white hats). And then there are the sweeping vistas taht are particular to this park.

But best of all are the sunsets . . .

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And last of all, one evening, we saw this, which I like to think of a a sunbow.

Life is good.

Mark Your Calendar!

Okay, I admit it, I spend WAY too much time on the internet, but I do enjoy poking around online.

This morning, I found something that I wanted to share with all of you. It seems that we are going to have a total lunar eclipse and it will be visible from most of North America! Be sure to mark your calendars!

The eclipse will take place on February 20th starting around 6:30pm here in New Mexico. This will be one of the few times I'm actually awake for an astronomical event, so I'm looking forward to it. Viewing cosmic events seem to tap into some primeval part of me, it makes me feel very connected. Now I'm not sure exactly what it makes me feel connected to, but I like the feeling!

The weather continues to be mild and smooth. It feels wonderful on my skin and in my head. I love how the weather affects my moods. While I'm generally a pretty happy person I feel like I'm blooming when the weather turns mild.

Life is good

Spring

Today is the first day where I believe Spring might be just around the corner.

I know in my heart it's too early, but it is glorious.

The desert has a beauty that just doesn't translate in photos.

There really is something about this New Mexico light that has to be seen and felt to truly appreciate.

The rig is wide open, the air smells sweet and I'm rediscovering Ian and Sylvia and Gordon Lightfoot, flashbacks to an earlier time in my journey.

I love my life.

A Little of This and a Little of That . . .

Well, I still haven't completed the Cholula Red site, but I figured I'd better catch up here or who knows how long I could go on not posting?

We moved down to Oliver Lee State Park a week or so ago and have we ever been busy since we got here!

We knew that we would be meeting our good friend Andy here, and also Dave and Marlene, the camp hosts we met last year. So you can imagine our surprise when we got here to find our friends Kae and Cokie and their wonderful yellow Lab Bo were also staying here. And to add to everything, there was another Lazy Daze, which it turns out is owned by a great fellow named John Coxon! Have we been having fun or what?

As always when we get together with Andy, rig improvements just seem to happen. And now, John has joined our group and, boy howdy have we been busy! The other day we all went trooping into Alamogordo to vist Lowes and Home Depot. For us, this is a day on the town, we ALWAYS find something wonderful.

On this day, we discovered some great solar lights. They were created as fence post lights, but they work wonderfully well as a porch light for the rigs. They have a good size solar collector and two amber LED lights which provide a perfect amount of light for the doorway. At just $10.00 each, they were a real find.

And now a bit about our new friend John. He is a truly talented leather artist and cabinet maker, so of course we had to take some time and look at the improvements he's made to his rig (a 1992 mid bath). He has a great website that you might want to check out.

I was immediately taken with his curtains, which were unlike anything I had ever seen. Lots of folks change their window coverings but John has come up with a unique way to hang his curtains.

He manufactured curtain rods from aluminum tubing (with little brass balls for the ends, really attractive). Then he hung these from the bottoms of the cabinets with leather hangers that he manufactured himself. For the curtains, he measured where to put the rod holes so that the curtains would hang perfectly and also be super easy to slide open or closed. When he had the measurements perfect, he cut holes in the curtains with a leather punch. While I'm not describing this well, they are really classy looking. In fact, they were so nice I asked him to make me a set for my kitchen and bathroom curtains.

And he did! What a great improvement!

Besides working on the rigs, we've been enjoying the beautiful vistas of White Sands (which I'm embarrassed to say I haven't photographed in the week plus we've been here).

And cooking, of course. I have a wonderful meatloaf recipe I will be posting soon, but just today, I discovered an exceptional new dish. While shopping locally, I found a bag of "Toasted Dried Sweet Corn", manufactured by John Cope's Food Products. It's 100% dried toasted corn, nothing added, just a blend of different strains of sweet corn. On the back are three recipes, and I decided to make the stewed corn, a really simple recipe.

You take the dried corn, add water, a bit of salt, some butter and milk. Then you stir it all together and microwave it for ten minutes. Then let it sit for fifteen minutes, then cook it again for another fifteen minutes. I really had no idea what to expect from this concoction, but I have to tell you, this is one yummy dish, extra sweet and tasty!

Tomorrow I'm going into town to get more and start experimenting with other ways to use this wondreful product. If I come up with something extra special, Ill share it here.

And I will REALLY try to get some pictures and continue to post here on a regular basis.

Life is Good.

In Between . . .

While I'm still working on the CholulaRed site, I don't want to get too far behind, so I decided I'd better post!

This is a set of photos from one of our last days in Socorro. We took a drive and found even more areas to discover. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time taking pictures.

One of the great views around the bosque is the cranes that seem to be everywhere at once. Since this is an agricultural area, you'll often see these wonderful birds mixed in with livestock.

I particularly liked this picture of cranes hanging around with this small cow (calf?). Remember that you can click obn any of these photos to see a larger version, which really looks better than these thumbnails!


I liked this photo since it shows both cranes, the lovely fields around Socorro and the mountains we've learned to love while staying here.

This is basically the same shot as above, just zoomed in a bit on the cranes.


The trains run pretty much along the length of the Rio Grande. I'm not sure what appealed to me about this picture, perhaps the clouds?


While I used to think that the desert was all brown, I've learned to look for the myriad colors that abound. These small yellow berries are all over on the ground, but I never saw them on bushes, so maybe they just fell from the sky? In any case, I liked their very bright color.


While San Antonio is now just a wide spot in the road, it was once a booming community. The train station was the center of town and while it has fallen into disrepair, it has been moved to an empty lot and continues to stand duty.


A close up of this lovely old building. Can't you just feel the history?


Here's a shot of our little Tracker, parked by the side of the road while we went exploring. I love this little car, it has taken us to so many places we would have otherwise missed. While many RVers travel with no toad, we wouldn't be without one.

As we traveled the countryside, we discovered fields full of bright red chili. While they had already been picked, I still found the fields bright and lively.


In this photo, you can see a closeup of one of the plants. Aren't they something?


If you drive along the Rio Grande for any period, you'll see these trees. I believe they're cottonwood, but I'm not sure. I do know that they are quite majestic. Each one is worthy of it's own photo.


I still have one more set of photos from Socorro, but we have now moved on to Oliver Lee State Park, outside Alamogordo. This is a lovely park, one of our favorites.

Our good friend Andy is also here, as well as several other friends we've met over the years. It's just like old home week!

Life is good.