LIfe in the Desert - The Middle of Nowhere!

Photos by Jenny Lisignoli

The little blip of a human in the top photo is yours truly, taken just yesterday when coworker, Jenny, and I were conducting avian surveys at a geologic site in McKinley County, New Mexico. Immediately adjacent to our worksite, we found an abandoned open pit mine that just begged for a photo using a human to demonstrate scale.

During our surveys, we observed many different species of birds, but the most interesting of all were the Turkey Vultures. We observed a few vultures during the morning soaring overhead, and I began to get curious when they all seemed to disappear into one particular canyon. It was as if we were being teased and tested by the big black birds. On one of the final transects, located in the canyon where the birds had disappeared, at the dead end of box canyon, five vultures simultaneously took flight from a cave high in the cliffs.

Below the entrance, which was coated with whitewash, a lone vulture sat perched on a rock. He/she seemed unconcerned with our presence, for how could we possibly have gotten close enough to threaten her. It was as if she were the watch sentinel, standing guard over precious objects hidden out of view? The bird graciously posed for photos, taken by Jenny with a long zoom, as she preened, then stretched, then preened again. Finally, when it was apparent that she was not interested in leaving her lofty perch, we turned our backs and headed out of the canyon. After about thirty feet, I turned back to see only a rock where the bird had been. If it weren't for the photos, I might have thought it was a mirage.

LIfe in the Desert - Ojito Wilderness Area

Memorial Day 2008 was memorable in many ways, mostly for the good friends that share their world with me, and the wonderful places that we explore. On this day, we investigated Ojito Wilderness Area, northwest of Albuquerque. Here, we found fantastical geologic shapes, dinosaur bones, petrified wood, and great photo opportunities. For more fabulous photos, check out my friend, Steve Elkins', website. Once there, click on Ojito Wilderness Area. It was an incredible day. Many thanks to Jan Cummings, geologist, for arranging and leading this trip to a seldom seen jewel of the southwest.

Empty Spools Seminar - 2008

It was a week in Paradise, or more specifically, Quilter's Heaven. the As a teaching experience, the Empty Spools Seminars, held at the Asilomar Conference Center on the spectacular Monterrey Peninsula in California, cannot be topped. My students and I worked together for five consecutive days. This gave me time to present new information in a way that could be more easily absorbed and retained, rather than trying to cram as much teaching as possible into one six-hour class. Students were able to take the time to develop their designs, as well as time to stitch. As the projects progressed, we were able to trouble-shoot technical stitching problems relative to individual designs, and everyone learned from this experience.

Plus, I got to meet and get to know eleven new quilting friends. We often dined together, and sometimes I even went back to the classroom after dinner to chat with them while they sewed. It was an incredible experience, and the three women, Diana McClun, Gayle Wells, and Suzanne Cox, that run these seminars are organized, take care of every detail, and are remarkably gracious. I can't even think of a better teaching venue. As a student, the ability to study with one teacher for five days must create a wonderful, interactive learning medium, one in which the teacher actually has enough time to give individual attention to each student.

The above photos show the view from the beach, a curvaceous strand of kelp washed up on the beach, my classroom, and two student projects, "Olivia Octopus" by Marsha Cardwell, and a sunset in progress by Mary McLaughlin.

Check out the Empty Spools website! The 2009 teachers will be posted on May 21, 2008.

Owl Nights

An owl came to stay the night. Not just any owl, mind you, but the female Great Horned Owl that is one of the Hawks Aloft educational ambassadors. Our educators had taken her to the Festival of the Cranes in Monte Vista, CO, for the weekend. Since the owl lives at a facility in the mountains east of Albuquerque, we decided that it would be best if she spent the night with me, so I could return her this morning.

She arrived late afternoon, looking innocent, and a little sleepy. She's a big girl with a badly damaged wing, but very mellow for a formerly wild bird. She was hit by a car in Aztec, NM in 1996, and has been with Hawks Aloft since then.

As the evening wore on, she began to perk up a little, first exploring horizontal surfaces within easy reach of her leather lead. I shortened the lead to reduce the potential for paper avalanches. I positioned her perch right in the middle of the kitchen with bed sheets, a.k.a. diapers, surrounding her perch. I retired for the evening.

The first of the thunking sounds began about 5 seconds after my head hit the pillow. Worried, I came out to investigate. All was well. She had dragged her perch over to the counter and was sitting on the edge of the sink. Seems the slick, saltillo tile floor is the perfect substrate for sliding perches. Next to go were the papers and candlesticks on the kitchen table. A sound night's rest was not to be as the owl was quite awake and bent on investigating all nooks and crannies. Putting her outside into one of the flights wasn't an option either, as all were full with peacefully slumbering, diurnal hawks and falcons.

And so it went: Bump, crash, jump out of bed, check out the scenario. By dawn, when I was now fully awake, her eyes grew heavy and her actions somnolent, an owl bent on sleep. Her only obstacle was the human busily scurrying around, picking up after the late night owl festivities.

Next time, I'll be sure the owl is in an outdoor flight so I can share the house with a diurnal hawk. Unlike owls, they go to sleep when the lights are switched off.

Bare Bones!

Ever wonder just how much a roll of toilet paper can weigh? I thought that this had been rescued in time, but I was wrong, as were my hand-knotted bathroom and hall rugs. Three days later and musty smell is still here.

All the wet fabric has been washed and is in a giant stack in the living room (my new sewing studio) waiting to be ironed. It goes quickly when accompanied by a good movie.

Stay tuned as the reconstruction begins!

Absorbency Test

Many sincere thanks to Donna and Dick for all their help in cleaning up this mess. The smell remained on Saturday, leading us to discover more wetness in the closets, one of which contained a soaked stack of all my old Quilter's Newsletter Magazines. All gone now!

Change of Plans

Home remodeling gone wrong! Notice the cereal boxes in photo number one.
Then look carefully behind the table toward the pantry and notice the two guys standing there. One is my plumber; the other his assistant. This sad little tale of woe began some 23 years ago when I purchased a home from AMREP, a local developer. Well, seems that this company was known for affordable pricing, which they achieved through the use of substandard materials! In this case, plumbing constructed from polybutylene pipes. As the house aged, first one leak and then another appeared, first in the walls, then beneath the floors, and finally in an area that wasn't accessible. My plumber, Earl (who is fabulous beyond belief!), had already installed a flow restricter to ease the pressure on my woefully inadequate pipes, but the leaks continued unabated. After the last adventure, Earl replaced the faulty pipes with copper, from beneath the slab to up through the ceiling to service the kitchen and laundry, hence photo number one.

Moving on to photo number two, however, what didn't get done last time was to change the pipes in the bathrooms at the other end of the house. Well, this week, while I was conducting raptor surveys at the Armendaris Ranch, my new housesitter and his father called to leave a message! Hmmm! I knew that didn't mean good news. Yep! It happened again, this time the cold water pipe into the bathroom, behind the wall, behind the vanity, and behind the sink. It was a fast leak this time, and by the time it was discovered some 50-100 gallons of water oozed from between the walls into my hallway, seeping into my bedroom, the guest bedroom, and soaking my sewing room. The best news about all of this is that Earl, being the most wonderful plumber in the world, answered when I called from T or C, New Mexico, trucked on over to my house, removed the hidden key because he already knew where it lived, and he fixed the leak before I ever got home! He left his bill on the counter. Now, how many plumbers to you know that would do that for you?

So, leak fixed and all is well. Except, what I didn't notice when I arrived home about 10 p.m. was that the sewing room was thoroughly drenched. In fact, the carpet was still squishy this afternoon. So, my partner in quilting, and instigator of good ideas, Donna, suggested that she and I just remove all that carpeting -- today! And sew we did, most of it by noon. Being of the creative sort, our minds were as busy as our hands as we worked hard removing carpet, carpet tacking strips, and ruining our cuticles. Check out the fabric stash carefully tossed anon into the guest bedroom. It didn't look so big when it was all stacked, color coordinated, on the shelves.

Have you heard of creative concrete floor painting? Well, we looked it up on Google today, and decided that it will be just the thing for our remodel job. Donna's daughter, Katy, also of an artistic bent, is going to make the sewing room her final art project for her senior class. I aspire to lower heights, and plan to paint the hallway floor.

What began as an aquatic atrocity will, we hope, become a delightful decor! Katy is even going to teach me to splatter paint. Stay tuned for the final photos!

The Hawks Aloft 2008 Raffle Quilt

'Twas a dedicated crew of eleven that met at Ed and Mary's for our 15th annual Hawks Aloft quilt retreat. This is probably the most traditional of all the quilts we have made to date. The quilt design was inspired by the center motif. I made it during the Japanese Katazome stencil dyeing class that I took from Karen Miller in October. It is a traditional Japanese crest with three cranes. The center was pre-stitched before the big day, so we would have a better chance of finishing, and finish we did - - in record time. Anita stitched the last border on just before dinner.

Thanks to Ed and Mary Chappelle for letting us use their lovely home with the wonderful view of Sandia Peak. Thanks too, to all the quilters who stitched throughout the day (from L to R):
Allison Schacht, Joan Hellquist, Sam Sanborn, Patty Phillips, Ed Chappelle, Steve Elkins, Mary Chappelle, Ruth Burstrom, Yours Truly, and Anita McSorley. Not shown is Pat Folsom, who had to leave early.

I am always amazed at how well these quilts come together. All are stitched on paper foundations that are prepared ahead of time. Now, the interesting part comes. This coming weekend, Patty and I will layer the quilt and she will take it home to do the anchor quilting, the outer border, and the binding. After that, Anita, Mary and I will take turns with the free-motion quilting. My good friend, and partner in quilting, Donna, has some strong views on how the quilting should be done, so I hope that she will volunteer to stitch her idea into place.

Raffle tickets should be available in March 2008. The quilt will debut at Festival of the Cranes in Monte Vista, Colorado, March 7-9, 2008. Join us there for a wonderful weekend. Hawks Aloft will have a large booth with many of our non-releasable educational raptors, and I, along with our biologists, will be leading raptor tours! Besides, there is the fabulous restaurant that simply is too good to pass up, Hunan Chinese Restaurant.

Ice Flow

Photograph by Steve Elkins

This year, my friend, Steve, resolved to take one photograph each day of the year. He has been publishing them on his website
each day, even on days when he has been sick in bed. Check them out. I think you will find inspiration, and a very talented photographer.