No. 2 grand daughter has a new house, moved in a few weeks ago. No 2 son and no. 3 grandson and I help paint it before they moved in. I had not seen it since the painting was completed. I walked in last night and it was an immediate WOW…..Her decor was awesome….every room is a different color and everything matches. I was really impressed. She and her guy fixed spaghetti, salad, bread and tea and we had cake and ice cream for dessert. What a nice evening. I am so proud of all my children and grand children, they are all so nice…But you know what, that was sweetie and my expectation for our children….we tried to raise them right….doesn’t the bible say “raise a child in the ways of the Lord”  or something like that….It will be passed on down to the next generation….Well, back to No. 2 grand daughter, she is so special…. her Mom and Dad and her Grannie and I loved the attention we recieved last evening…Good Job….

Pollen, pollen everywhere..There is no escaping pollen here is Albuquerque I don’t reckon, at least I have not found any safe place…Just when one thinks things are getting better, another uncaring plant starts spitting out it pollen, polluting the atmosphere with all that sneezy, nose running and itchy throat….and the roof of my mouth of all things, pollen…..miserable, that’s all you can say about it….I’m so tired of blowing my nose and sneezing I could just, well, just curse a little bit, like cursing the dad-blamed, no-good, cotton picking, fit for nothing pollen…but I won’t cause it’s part of the reproductive process…  But, if you are like me, you are ready for spring to be over with and the plant birthing process to go on and get started….know what I mean, Vern…..

The Gila Monster is the largest native lizard and is the only poisonous lizard found in the United States. This orange and black lizard can be found in the Gila River Valley and Peloncillo Mountains of southwestern New Mexico. The Gila Monster lives in desert scrub and rocky canyons  and spends about 90 % of its time underground  in rocky crevices and abandoned burrows. The Gila Monster feeds on nestling rabbits, rodents and bird and reptile eggs. As sluggish as they look,they can move surprisingly fast and should not be handled. New Mexico lists the gila monster as endangered. photo en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_Monster.

It has been a long time and my memory has dimmed somewhat, but as I recall things, my favorite swimming hole on Coalfire Creek was Beards Mill. I hope I got the name right. This hole is south of Coalfire, down on the Mcshan to Carrollton Road, just off the roadway a piece. It had a grassy hillside on the west side of the creek, with a diving board, a big log across the creek and a swing that one could swing all the way across the creek and drop into about six or eight inches of mud, sliding forever seemed like. It had trees on that side, but very little undergrowth, allowing for the long unimpeded slides.  The hole used to be 15 yards wide or so, twenty or thirty yards long and was about six feet deep as I recall. We spent many summer days  down there swimming and playing. I guess some of my fondest memories were made around those days of my life.  Once we wanted to go down there and one of my cousins (which I will not name) borrowed his dad’s panel wagon for a quick trip down to Beards Mill. Well, it was low on gas so we borrowed some from the local grist mill engine but there was not very much in it either. So we were still afraid that we would run out of fuel before we could get down there and back. In those days, that road was graveled. At Union Hill Church, cousin kicks it out of gear to save gas and off we go, free wheeling it down the long hill, saving gas and making good time. We go over a rise and there approaching us, right in the middle of the cotton picking road was an another car, the only other car we met on that trip. Well, the only thing we could do was take the ditch. The passenger side of the tilted panel wagon was plowing dirt from the top of the ditch into the wagon, but other than that we were ok for a short time. Then, low and behold, right in the middle of the ditch was a stump…..I don’t think any of us had ever noticed that old stump before. It gave us a sudden stop, tearing up the front end and the radiator…I don’t know how much damage really, except to say we had to work all that summer for my uncle to pay for the repairs on the truck. In hindsight, he was pretty lenient on us, but he was firm and fair in our repayment process. We may or may not have really earned enough to pay it off, but we learned the value of equipment and hard work from that little excursion. I don’t remember us borrowing the truck or gas ever again. And I don’t remember who all was in the truck that day, other than to say several of us. Will some of you other cousins ‘fess up” if you read this. I am sure you will remember the day……Pete

Coalfire Creek from the bridge over US 82 Highway…Photo by Karrah

 This was sent by a friend from Columbus, MS. We can all agree with what Mr. Harvey said so many years ago. click on the you tube title… about 3 minutes…..Pete

One of the little varmints that reside in our state is the Pine Marten. It is related to the minks and weasels and resides in the spruce and fir forest of the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. Their prefered habitat has lots of large fallen logs and stumps with plenty of canopy cover. They are about the size of a house cat. They are skilled predators feeding on mice, squirrels, rabbits and birds. In early spring, the female marten gives birth to 2 to 4 young , born blind and hairless. The loss of habitat and timber harvesting in the high elevation old growth forest poses the biggest problem for this species. Currently they are listed as a threatened species. I thought you might like to know something about these little fellows….Now we both know….Pete

Let me see….I posted on this topic Oct 4, 2011,  May 2, 2011, March 30, 2011 and July 8, 2010 (feed Kirtland AFB in my search engine)….It’s back in the news again. The State of New Mexico and Kirtland AFB have got to get their heads together to do something. I mean it has only been 13 years since it was discovered they had a leak and we are doing more talking than doing. At the very least they should try to pump up the mixture, remove the jet fuel and pump the good water down into another well….Ok, or something else but something,…One of these days the government is going to announce, “Sorry, we will have to close Kirtland AFB, er, it is to costly to maintain, etc, so on and so forth…” Then where will Albuquerque be with all of our under ground jet juel and water mixture…I fear, the same place we are today. It is my desire to live out my life in Albuquerque. And I prefer to drink water, pure water……Come on guys, it is time for action…turn on the after burners…..get the lead out…. Can you say, sir, Yes Sir?.,,,Right away, sir…..

We have not talked about fishing for a while on this site. Just a reminder that we will all need a new license starting this month. So if you are like me, you need to remember “not to forget”  to buy one before you head out the door on your next fishing trip. You can go to the Dept of Game and Fish, state of New Mexico web site and learn all about the license requirements, etc. I did this morning and while there I read about Edna Harper catching a 38″ lake trout, weighing 17 lb 11 oz. They show a picture of her with that monster. She made the catch at Heron Lake. Wow, what a catch. Edna is from Coyote, NM. And also, Travis Eldridge of Farmington, while fishing at Navajo Lake, caught a 9 lb brown trout, 33 inches long. They have a picture of him with that big baby. If you have some time you might want to take a look at those two fishermen or should I say fisher-person. Anyway, I think all the ice is gone and the weather is right to start thinking about some fishing. Some of our clan is planning a trip to southern Colorado’s high country for some trout fishing and fun over in May. We need to check out our gear and make sure our line is ready to handle some of those big fighting Rainbow’s and Brown’s. We plan on several meals of fresh caught trout for supper…..Well, we will probably take some other food stuff along, just in case…Know what I mean…..Pete

He is Risen. Death and the tomb had no power over our Saviour. He has gone to prepare a place for us so that where he is, there we shall be also. Pilate asked the Jews, “What shall I do with Jesus?” Crucify him, take Him away”,  they said…. And that fulfilled His mission. He died for our sins. Then He arose on the third day and we are waiting for his return. So, repent and believe and ye shall be saved……We await your return Lord…Come, Lord Jesus….

It was a beautiful day here in Albuquerque, NM, warm, but not hot and just enough cloud cover to enjoy the yard…Which we did…We had an Easter Egg hunt and our children and grandchildren, though grown fully participated as several dollars were hidden in three or four plastic eggs. Get this, our family allowed Sweetie and me to hide the eggs and we were allowed to hunt them also. They allowed that by the time the hunt began, we would not remember where we had hidden them and could enjoy the hunt….but we declined that offer pretending that we could too remember, now let me see, what was I talking about, oh yeah, we could too remember we were having a hunt…for rabbits I think….Anyway, all seemed to have a good time, the food was great….I cannot say enough about no. 2 son and his cooking. He smoked a brisket and two hams, made brocilli casserole, sweet potatoes w/marshmallow top, we supplied the beans and hot yeast rolls, macaroni salad,, tea and coffee and no. 2 granddaughter furnished the desert, dump cake and ice cream and we also had snacks galore….Lordy, Lordy, we could not eat all that food in 4 or 5 Holiday weekends. But we tried…… Well, every family took some home with them minus that left here for us.. Mercy…we will not have to cook for a week. I hope your Easter was equally as nice and that God has blessed your family mightily today….Thank you, Lord.