Updates: Chicks, Apache and Rain

 

The Summer Chicks are now 1 week old and are growing fast. Their wings are mostly feathered out and they like to stretch them out and practice flying in short bursts.(To turn off the music, click on the circle with two lines in my playlist, on my right side-bar)

 

 

 

 

We started out with 30 chicks and unfortunately lost two within the first two days. The journey of being born and then traveling to our home must have been too stressful for those little sweeties. So we now have 28 chicks. I was worried about another chick that seemed to have sustained an injury to her left foot or was born that way.

She wasn’t able to walk without falling for the first 3-4 days and I had to pick her up and help her to drink and eat several times a day.

But now she has figured out how to work around her disability and gets around just as well as the other chicks. And all that special care I gave her during the first few days has made her a very tame, gentle and friendly chick, too.

 

With the amount of time we spend with the chicks, we’re beginning to learn about most of the chick’s personalities. We’ve discovered which chicks are the most shy, afraid and not as friendly and which are very curious, brave, sweet and tame.

Some chicks calm down the second you pick them up and then promptly fall asleep while you pet their head, while others do everything in their power to figure out how to get free of your hands.

 

So far the Silver-Laced Cochins are the most skittish and shy, while the Speckled Sussex and Ameracaunas are the most curious, calm and friendly.

The chicks are a lot of fun and we are really enjoying them.

Even Dobbie has become very attached to the chicks and wants to stay with them and watch them jump around and peep-peep. Maybe she thinks they are puppies?

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I’ve got some big plans for Apache and I this weekend, but I don’t want to say anything more so I won’t jinx it……

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Tuesday’s rain was the last bit of rain we had this week. Every day the storm clouds gather, but we only get a spattering of raindrops or nothing at all. The real fear is lightning strikes, which are causing more wildfires to burn in New Mexico. Just in the last two day, several more fires have started burning in the Lincoln National Forest and the Santa Fe National Forest. It’s so bad that the Santa Fe National Forest removed it’s partial closure of their lands and moved it up to a full closure. And even the State Parks, like Hyde State Park that my family camped in just a couple months ago, have closed, too. We can still see the smoke from the wildfires burning above Santa Fe and our friends who call Santa Fe home are suffering from the effects of thick smoke.

And the entire city of Los Alamos, where Los Alamos National Laboratories are located, evacuated just the other day, because of the extreme threat from the fast burning wildfire, which is also threatening the impressive cultural, natural and historical gem, Bandelier National Monument as well as one of New Mexico’s most beautiful natural resources, The Valles Caldera. It’s so sad.

Seeing the Arizona Fire from Above ~ Photos

 

Ranchman John has been flying to Phoenix every week in preparation for a job he’ll soon be doing there at the airport. Today (Wednesday) his plane flew right over the forest fires raging out of control in eastern Arizona. The pilot pointed out the fire to the passengers, and the plane went silent, punctuated with gasps of awe and dismay.

The following photos were taken by Ranchman John, with his cell phone.

He was shocked, amazed and humbled by the vast spread of land that the fire has and is devouring at a steady and destructive pace. Surprisingly there have been no serious injuries caused by this fire and so far, no homes have been burned down.

A recent video warns of more evacuations, even in the town of Luna, New Mexico, 10-12 miles across the AZ/NM border.

The latest news report says this: “This year’s wildfire season start is easily the worst in decades.

According to experts in the field, Arizona fire conditions are the worst in years mainly due to a 12 year drought, minimal rainfall throughout the winter, dry vegetation and warmer temperatures.

On top of that, La Nina- a weather phenomenon associated with abnormally cooler Pacific Ocean water water temps normally resulting in less rainfall and drier conditions for southwest states is the strongest it has been since the 70's.

Forecasters predict that fire conditions will only get worse as winds are expected to get as high as 30 mph today as a lower pressure trough moves out of Arizona.”

Yesterday evening the smoke was thick, and when I came back inside from feeding the critters in the barn, my face felt gritty, so I wiped my face with a tissue and was surprised to see it covered with a grey residue.

Ashes from the forest fires 200 miles away.

Today was a nice respite from the smoke-filled skies because the wind changed direction and was blowing in a north westerly direction, pushing the smoke away from us.

Even with the 30-40 mph winds, at least the sky was clear and blue, and I was able to get outside and set up the irrigation system for my raised bed veggie garden.

But by late evening, the wind direction changed back to gusting in a north easterly direction and the air is now filled with the lung burning, eye watering stench of smoke again.

As of now the Wallow Fire is the second biggest forest fire in Arizona history and if the fact that this fire is still zero percent contained is any indication, my prediction is that this fire is going to get a whole lot worse and very well may be the worst forest fire in Arizona history.

(Ranchman John shot this photo with his cell phone while inside the airport)

 

Fiber Fun ~ Alpacas, Camels and Sheep, Oh My!

 

Every year for the past 4 years I make sure to attend the two-day East Mountain Fiber Farm Tour. It’s interesting to visit all the different farms, see their set-ups, visit with the animals and people, learn about the different fiber/fleece/wool. And every year the Fiber Tour has a contest to win a huge basket filled with lots of great items for Fiber Artist. But the only way to get a chance to win is to visit at least 7 farms on the tour. There are usually between 10-12 farms participating, so it’s fun to choose which ones to visit.

You can see photos and the post from my first Fiber Farm Tour in 2008: Fiber Farm Tour

This year I almost forgot the date, but Val of Fantastyk Voyage called me up and said “Let’s Go!” So we piled into her car and headed out. First stop on our tour was Camelot Farm where I always make sure to pick up a skein or two of their super soft, natural camel wool for my upcoming winter knitting projects.

It’s always fun to photograph the odd and unusual looking camels.

The only camels they have now are Dromedary camels, which are one humped.

I was a little sad when I discovered that one my favorite camels, a young male Bactrian (two-humps) camel named Gobi, died last year when he became cast underneath a pipe rail fence trying to reach some grass on the other side. I have a photo of him on my 2008 Fiber Farm post. His owner had given me a puff of his fiber that had blown off onto the ground. I’m glad I still have it now.

Gobi ~ Fiber Farm Tour  

There’s an even better photo of him (taken with my new camera) in this post:

Camel Ride

I’ve always had a soft spot for camels ever since I can remember, after learning about the military’s early interest in creating a Camelry Cavalry for forging new ground across the west in the 1800’s. So, I was sad to discover that the Rio Grande Zoo ended their 25 year contract with Camelot Farm due to budget cuts. The Ro Grande Zoo is the first place I ever had the opportunity to ride a camel.

In fact, I rode a camel even before I got back on a horse after my ACL surgery.

Do you remember my first camel ride? My post is here:

My Camel Ride 

 

They also had some friendly horses, too.

After leaving Camelot Farm we visited 6 more Fiber Farms, seeing animals such as angora rabbits, fiber and dairy goats, sheep, llamas, chickens, and lots of dogs, cats and kittens. Here are some of the photos from the Fiber Farm Tour:

Don’t you like this lady’s pretty hair accessory?

This is a carder, one of the steps to processing fiber.

And adorable cria, a baby alpaca.

This was the friendliest alpaca Val and I have ever met. She purposely wanted to be petted and sought out affection. Awww!

Same friendly alpaca.

This alpaca was in desperate need of a teeth trimming.

By the late afternoon, the winds picked up and the smoke and a few dried up, dark rainclouds blew in. The alpacas and this llama moved inside the barn and viewed the skies with interest.

Looking outside the barn through the doorway, you can see the foreboding skies.

Alpacas have the most inquisitive faces.

I really liked the salt and pepper markings on this Nigerian Dwarf goat.

This sweet Romney lamb was very friendly and soft, too.

This guard llama seemed very interested in me and my camera.

I bought my daughter Jen, The Chicken Girl a special gift at one of the farms.

It’s safe to say that she loves it.

 

After we visited our last farm we registered and entered the gift basket contest at the Yarn and Fiber Store and, because we were famished from all our farm-hopping, Val and I decided to enjoy a relaxing sit-down dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, before heading back home.

All in all, a really great day.

And thankfully the smoke wasn’t too bad on Sunday until late in the afternoon.

Speaking of smoke, one of the weird things I’ve noticed since the smoke from the wildfires arrived last week, is that during the day, it’s eerily quiet around here. Not a bird to be heard…or seen for that matter, except for a few ravens and a hummingbird or two. And the sounds that we do hear seem muffled somehow.

Isn’t that weird?

A resident of the west mesa, just above Albuquerque, saw my You Tube video of our smoky skies here on the other side of the Sandia Mountains, and sent me a link to his video to view. Wow! And I thought the smoke was thick here!

200 Miles Away…Really?!!!

 

The latest report on the Wallow Fire in Eastern Arizona is:
"Area burning: 192,746 Acres, Percent Contained: 0%"

Every morning the day starts sunny and only slightly hazy, but by late afternoon, the thick smoke and fierce winds moves in. Tonight was the worst it’s been since it began last week. The smoke was so thick it burned if we breathed to fast and our eyes were watering when we went outside. The smell of smoke is very strong.

We don’t have an A/C and the Air Quality Agency advises against using Evaporative Coolers –aka- Swamp Coolers because they work by drawing in outside air that moves through wet fibrous pads, and then blows that moist, cool air into our houses.

This photo is SOOC (straight out of camera). I used my zoom for the blood red sun. It was taken about 7:30 pm. The sun hadn’t set yet and was still fairly high in the sky. But the smoke and ash were thick by this time.

Swamp coolers only work if a couple windows are open a few inches for the air to flow. It works great for those of us who live in very low humidity states like Arizona and New Mexico, but they’re not the best when there are forest fires filling the air with smoke.

I wonder if the smoke is bothering all our animals. Poor critters.

I still can’t get over the fact that this thick grey smoke is blowing over 200 miles from Eastern Arizona to reach our mountains. I have to remind myself sometimes that the fires aren’t burning here in our mountains. It’s got to be one of the worst and most far-reaching forest fires in the southwest’s history.

This is the view of the valley just east of us. That ridge is about a mile away from our house, as the crow flies. We usually have a sharp, clear view of that valley. We received this Air Quality Alert tonight:
"As winds diminish and the smoke settles overnight, visibilities under one
mile will be likely, even across the Albuquerque Metro area. As a
reminder, visibilities of three quarters of a mile or less are
associated with hazardous air quality. This means the air quality is
unsafe for all persons. Reduce exposure to the dangerous smoke
conditions."

At 7pm tonight the sun was blood red in the western sky, but the smoke is too thick for any kind of pretty sunset.

I’ve heard from a few photographers saying that smoke tends to enhance sunrises and sunsets. I’ve not seen it here so far. Besides New Mexico has some of the best sunsets in the U.S, without needing smoke from wild fires to enhance them.

The wind kicked up today just before the smoke got thick and it was fierce. At least 30-40 mph, even bending my neighbor’s flag pole.

Then after the smoke blew in, the sky looked spooky and other-worldly from the smoke haze. We felt boxed into our valley because our usual long range vistas were gone. We couldn’t even see South Mountain from our balcony. The mountain is only about 10 miles away, as the crow flies.

The mountain should be seen right in the center of this photo.

It’s just gone, engulfed by smoke that traveled here from over 200 miles away.

As I was preparing to pour some bathwater for my daughter tonight, I looked down into the tub and saw the water washing away a fairly thick layer of grey ash. Apparently it had blown in through the bathroom window. Are we breathing that? What a mess!

Everyone in this area of New Mexico will be very relieved when/if those forest fires in eastern Arizona stop burning.

I shot this video about 7pm tonight. The ending is rather funny…

And just so y’all know that I wasn’t devoured by our GSD Zuni and my Chiweenie, Dobbie: