Wordy Wednesday

 

I feel this in my soul this week. 

Adult Arts and Crafts - Seascape

 

I was unable to resist doing this seascape from Andrea Nelson.  It was relaxing way to end my day. I use Crayola watercolors. It is what I have. I am not an artist and I just like being creative. I liked the project so much I gave it a go on watercolor paper.

Andrea does a good job of showing you on how to paint this. Her tutorials are fun. This is part of my summer bucket list series. 

Weekly Roll

Linky Love

These are ethe raptors in your Albuquerque Neighborhood - I am newish to New Mexico so learning what kind of birds are here is cool.

A rare giraffe was born without spots. Nonna suggested naming the new giraffe "Brownie"  

Massive 21 Foot Tall Sculpture of Ancestral Goddess Unveiled in Colorado - I think I need to put this on my Colorado go to visit list.

RushTok - This sucked me right in. It is a trainwreck.  The link was found via Modern Mrs Darcy. 

Inappropriate Thoughts

August 19th was international geocaching day.  We found a geocache at our local cemetery.  Not sure why there is such a security fence around it. We have cut way back on our geocaching, but I still like the hunt. 

DEEP THOUGHTS

6 years ago my best friend and I hiked Cascade Pass. Mrs Epi texted that to me this week. I can't believe it was 6 years ago. It was by far one of the hardest hikes I have hiked. There are a lot of switchbacks something like 30 plus. I am a person of size who at the time was in fairly decent hiking shape, but it was challenging for me. There is a point on that very hike I thought I don't know if I can do this. 

Because I am pretty sure at switchback 16, I really wanted to turn around.  I think as we crossed the last rock field before the top I said to myself, "If the top isn't around the corner I am going to stop here and die." I am a bit dramatic. (blog post quote)

In large part, I completed that hike because of my best friend's encouragement. Hiking will teach you to handle the hills.  We all have hills or steep parts in our lives where we think I am not going to be able to do this thing/situation. This is too much.  Hiking has taught me that if I can get myself off that mountain, I can do this thing whatever that is.  Your friend can encourage you, but your legs are what are going to take you home. 

handling the hills

Cascade Pass Trail

52 Ancestors - Newest Discovery

I have been participating in Amy Johnson Crow's writing about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks.  The prompt was newest discovery.

Well, I had decided on something completely different to share then I intended. I went to a Genealogy program at the library, and we were playing around with the nearest relative feature in the Family Search app. I matched as a 10th cousin once removed with one of the people.  Our common relative was Zaccheus Gould. Zaccheus Gould is my 9th Great Grandfather. I don't know how accurate my family search tree is compared to my ancestry tree which doesn't go back as far.  It was a fun exercise. Below is a little summary of Zaccheus Gould.

Zaccheus Gould was born in 1589 in Hertfordshire England. He married Phebe Deacon in England April 1617. It is unclear exactly when Zaccheus arrived in British Colonial America.  He arrived in America with his wife and 5 children. It is speculated around 1638.  Zaccheus bought land from his brother in 1639. He never became a freeman of the colony because he wouldn't join the Puritan church. However, he did take the oath of fidelity in 1651. His son, John, also became a freeman in 1665. 

By User:Magicpiano - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18777298

Zaccheus Gould House

Zaccheus had some incidents regarding nonattendance at required Sunday worship and creating a disturbance at public worship. He was also fined 3 pounds for entertaining Quakers. Zaccheus was admonished and paid a fine. His nephew, Daniel Gould, was an admitted Quaker who was charged and convicted. He had to depart the colony after receiving 30 lashes.  Zaccheus died in 1688.  He is buried near the town meeting house. At the time of his death, he was one of the largest landholders in the area. He had 3000 acres in the area which was Rowley Village and later Boxford Massachusetts.

some research links

Geni

Zaccheus Gould House Wiki

The Family of Zaccheus Gould of Topsfield - archive.org

Telling Stories -This blogger this is also her 9th great grandfather as well.

How does my Garden Grow Update

This year has been a learning experience as it was the first time, I have had a garden here in New Mexico. Our yard is very unfinished, and I have referred to it as tragic. I have started to add some structure to the yard. I planted some lavender, Texas sage and butterfly bush.  It is a very much a work in progress. Everything I have grown is in containers.

 I moved my container of dahlias, and they really took off. The area I moved them to has afternoon shade and our sprinklers hit them in the early mornings.  I wrote here about growing dahlias in high heat. Below is one of my favorite dahlia pictures.

My teddy bear sunflowers are doing well also.  I love how soft they look.

Below are my Floret Sahara Black Eye Susan's.  I wasn't able to order these seeds this time during Floret's seed sale, but I did order some other varieties. This is a keeper in this location. The vine in the picture is Thunbergia which is a Black-Eyed Susan Vine.  I did like this combo. It was a little wild.

I bought some Zinna starts early in the season for my porch and then sowed some Zinna seeds. They are really leggy. I would like to grow Zinnas again not for my front porch. They got extremely leggy.

I did like geraniums on my porch. Though they did seem to get a bit sunburned.  They were discount ones from Walmart.  I also bought a discount succulent basket. The bear was a thrift find.

I spent talking time talking to my best friend about future garden plans.  I got ideas.  I will grow some more dahlias and will grow them on this side of the shop.  Lots of lessons learned because of the high heat. When I close out the garden I plan on posting on some things I would like to grow next year.

Wordy Wednesday

 I like the saying living in the gray area.  I find myself there frequently. 

Road Trippin

The past 2 years have involved quite a bit of road trippin.  I think it is interesting how everyone has different traditions or activities. My kids are adults now, so these are all things for ADULTS. Some of our scenery on many of our trips hasn't exactly been picturesque so we like to play little games or listen to podcasts.

Podcasts

all our suggestions are in the true crime category

Small Town Murder - two comedians discuss crimes.  These episodes are long. They are funny but the pod can be graphic.  This appeals to everyone in my family. We have listened to a lot of these.

Why can't we talk about Amanda's Mom?  This only 9 episodes. This will leave you with a lot of questions.

The Vanished I especially found Ruth Egonoski episode good. Beau Mann is a 4 parts.  First Part Here. This was an interesting story.  

Hide and Seek - I especially like Season 2 Logan. First episode here. Season 3 about Britany is very good too but not yet completed. There is also a bigger cast of characters aka suspects. 

The License Plate Game - There are many apps now.  Still enjoy doing this.

Google that Place - My youngest likes to google the places we go by to find out what is going on. We have had MANY interesting discussions about things he has looked up.  We had a whole conversation about La Grande Oregon.  My husband has some French ancestry, so I guess this was fascinating to us at the time.

Geocaching - A lot of rest areas have geocaches.  I think if you need a break from driving this is a good way to stretch your legs and possibly have a little adventure. 

Field Trip- Carlsbad Cavern Bats

Adult field trips are a bit weird. Am I right?  We took our family to see the bats to fly out of the cavern at Carlsbad Caverns, except we didn't see that.

It started thundering and lightening so we had to leave.  The bat program is canceled for rain and lightening. The amphitheater is surrounded by metal railings basically. 

We did see a lovely rainbow though. 

Luckily, we brought our dinner and ate it up at the visitor center before all the rain began.  We live an hour away. It was a nice drive. We will try again soon.

Wordy Wednesday

 

What I Read August

 I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit. Check out what everyone else is reading. I took July off not from reading but from posting any book reviews.  

Educated by Tara Westover

I read this again for a book club selection. I am looking forward to the author talk. This is Tara's memoir about growing up in Idaho in a very dysfunctional Mormon fundie household where she wasn't educated and essentially abused and neglected by her parents. She goes on to become incredibly educated. This memoir exposes or shares very difficult topics about her family which is now quite famous now.  I loved discussing this with book club. When I read it for book club, I read it quite differently. I think I got more out of it.  Since I read Educated the first time, Tara's mother has written a book that basically disputes what Tara wrote. I haven't read it. 

Recent news article about Westover family

Previous Blog Post

Weekly Roll

I was in Colorado last weekend to help celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday.  It hailed and rained.  I wish some of that rain would have traveled to our neck of the woods.  

Linky Love

Photo Lab Comparison - She does a good job of comparing various photo lab options.

Inappropriate Thoughts

So I thought it would be funny to get a tattoo for my mom's birthday. A couple of years ago, she called me and said I had a dream you got a tattoo, and you didn't tell me.  So, both my son and I sported tattoos.  Almost zero people believed that we got real tattoos.  It was funny. 

Deep Thoughts

It was wonderful to spend the day with my Aunt and Mom last weekend. I am reminded of how powerful memories are.  It is always interesting to me what we remember and what we don't. I thought to myself how lucky I am to get to spend time with these two people. It has been 10 years since I have seen my aunt in person. She turns 85 this year. These two have weathered the storms.  

Painting Dumpsters and Picking up Trash

My younger son's summer job this summer was working for the city in their Clean and Beautiful project. He helped pick up large items out the alley's such as mattresses and furniture. The first week they picked up over 80 mattresses. They gave up keeping track of the number. He helped with recycling electronic waste.  They also did bulk pickups of furniture, dryers, washers, and refrigerators. He also help paint 3 dumpsters this summer.  

The city has these decorated dumpsters all over the town. He did all the designing on his side of the dumpster and painting.

Adult Arts and Crafts - Watercolor Dandelion Puff

 

This is another Andrea Nelson project.  This was fun. Give it a try.

Welcome to the Jungle

Yes this is a weed and Yes there is a Man behind it

I think I am the patron saint of lost causes. We have been working on our backyard. It doesn't want to be tamed. We have tried growing grass but evidently all we grow is weeds. We grow every weed that New Mexico has to offer. I talked about how I got his and her weeders.  I have been working 30 minutes in the morning pulling weeds. I kept sending proof of life photos to my sister. It is hot here, so it is the only option. We even borrowed Nonna's ladybug wheelbarrow.  Our lawn guy was absent for 4 weeks. This is typical New Mexico.  It was a very tall weed jungle out there.

There is a wheelbarrow under this pile of weeds

It looks better when it is mowed. Don't be deceived by the pretty green. There are literally stumps of weeds in the grass.

These weed remnants are still in the grass

Weekly Roll

 

Dahlia

LINKY LOVE

Podcast recommend - Here is Where It Gets Interesting - Shadow Docket (Supreme Court) I know a bit govnerd nerd, but it was a short, interesting podcast.

Cherry Muffins - These taste to me like McDonald Cherry Pies.  I usually make once a year.  They came out a bit dark this year.

Inappropriate Thoughts

I played with a banned substance this weekend. Get your mind out of the gutter. IT WAS GLITTER!  It has been outlawed from our house since 1998.  I decided to make a cake topper for my mom's birthday. It was a first for me. I used my Cricut. 

August is a whole slew of birthdays in my family. Just this week there were 3 birthdays. 

Happy 25th Birthday

 

We checked out Carlsbad's new mini golf course along the Pecos.  I think we were the first on the course.  It was another hot day.  It was fun to play.  

We also stopped at the epic playground along the Pecos.  We stayed just briefly as the day was heating up.  

We stopped for ice cream snack after the epic golfing.  We ended our day with CAKE!

I'm Proud of Both of You

 I

From my Mom's70th Birthday

Semiahmoo WA

T is a milestone month for my mom and her sister. My Mom turns 80 and my. Aunt turns 85. When my Mom was born my Aunt said to their mother as she was rushed to the hospital, "Have a good time". 

These ladies have stood the test of time. I am proud of both of them.  They both have had a few OLD people adventures in the last couple of years.  Oh my, the places these two have been.  These two are really originals.