Saturday encore ~ And it only took 16 years to figure this out

It's been almost a year since I finally uncovered the secret to making a good cup of coffee in New Mexico. I wrote about this life-changing discovery in two posts last summer, which I've combined for this encore.

I love my morning coffee. My day does not begin officially until I've had an entire pot. But here's the rub – the coffee I make has always tasted pretty bad compared to that you will find in other kitchens, and it's never hot enough. I've tried different coffee makers, different coffee beans, different coffee cups, now I even make it with bottled water. Still, my coffee never makes the grade. It's drinkable, it kick-starts my day, but it doesn't ever make me smile and say, "ahhhh, now that's a great cup of coffee."

I was bemoaning my coffee conundrum one recent morning while on vacation, as I sat at the breakfast table sipping the perfect cup of steaming hot java, fresh from a bottom-of-the-line Mr. Coffee maker. "Why doesn't my coffee ever taste this good or get this hot?" I whined. After much deliberation by a group of knowledgable adults, we decided to blame the altitude. The altitude?

The 7MSN sits over a mile above sea level - 6,253 feet to be exact. Water boils at a lower temperature up here, hence the water inside my coffee maker never reaches the proper temperature for making the perfect cup of coffee...or something like that. Clearly, science was never my best subject or I might have figured this out 16 years ago when I moved to Albuquerque (altitude 5,280 feet).

So what's a high-altitude-living rancher-woman to do? Google "high altitude coffee maker," that's what. And lo and behold, there really is such a thing! Have I mentioned lately how much I love the internet? In fact, Bunn makes several high-altitude models. Who knew and why didn't they tell me? Just when I thought life couldn't get any better, now I'll be able to get a decent cup of coffee around here. It won't be like having a Starbucks on the corner...it will be better.


The long-anticipated moment of truth

Seems like whenever I have to head out to pick up a critically important package, it rains, the dirt road turns to slop, and the trip turns into a minor adventure. I suppose this is nature's way of making me appreciate that which I am about to receive.

Smooch faithfully accompanies me on these package pick-up trips. She gets just as excited as I do about big brown boxes.


But no trip is so important that we can't pause for a moment to share our news with our neighbors.

We're on the way to the post office! The package is here!

Leave it to a blasé bovine to burst my bubble.

Smooch's excitement turns to caution when she realizes the package is bigger than she is.


I have been awaiting this delivery for 19 days, but really for 16 years...since I moved to New Mexico...where the altitude is high and the coffee is bad.

The moment of truth occurred at 6:00 this morning. In a side-by-side taste test where I pitted my $35 Mr. Coffee against the $100 Bunn GRX-B High-Altitude brewer, the results are in...


The new machine is worth every penny. The coffee comes out the perfect temperature and tastes like ... well, like coffee! Stop on by for a cup if you're ever in the neighborhood.

FAQ Friday, but not really

Post processing: 1. MCP's High Definition Sharpening action 2. PW's Boost action at 35% 3. Clone tool to remove the distracting bell next to Alan's eye.

Welcome to FAQ Friday, my weekly attempt to answer the questions you've left in the comments.

Q. Why is this post so short?
A. Because I don't feel like talking about it. That's just how I am. And I'm pretty sure most of you are at a loss as to what to say, so I'm taking you off the hook and turning off the comments for this post. We'll work our way back to normal next week.

The countdown begins

When will one of the chickens lay the inaugural 7MSN Ranch egg?

You don't have to guess which came first, the chicken or the egg –
(somebody just figured that out) (it was the chicken) –

You just have to guess which day and at what time I will find the first egg.
Guess correctly and you could win a $125 gift certificate to csn|stores, sponsor of this giveaway
and purveyor of the coolest muck boots I've seen in a long time.

Post processing: 1. Crop; 2. MCP's High Def Sharpening at 75% except on the striped cushion and gravel; 3. PW's Boost action at 42%; 4. PW's Quick Edge Burn at 35%; 5. Patch tool to remove sensor-dust specks in the sky.

Go here for all the details. The contest closes at 7 pm Mountain time tonight.

Ringside seats at the Indy 500

When I showed you one of Smooch's microbursts the other day, I was relieved to learn that she was not alone in her spontaneous lunacy. Your comments about your dogs doing wild and crazy laps around the yard cracked me up, especially because we all have a unique name for the behavior, like: "FRAP: Frenetic Random Acts of Play" and "fly-bys" or "Indy 500" and "Nascar puppy."

George and Alan happened to be in the vicinity when Smooch had another of her recent microbursts. They can't figure her out either.













Post processing: 1. PW's Warmer action at 50%; 2. MCP's High Def Sharpening at 40% on burros; 3. crop and rotate to straighten; 4. PW's Boost action at 45%; 5. PW's Quick Edge Burn action at 20%

* * *

No news to report on Deets. Your concern for him overwhelms me. Thank you.

Something to do while we wait

Many of you have been following the twitter feed below and have learned that Deets has gone missing. Yes, I'm beside myself with worry, but I do believe he will find his way home...eventually. While we're all waiting for him to return from his great adventure, let's busy ourselves with a contest. We'll call this one: When will the chickens lay an egg?

Clara, Lorena and Peach turned 21 weeks old two days ago. They could start laying any day...or it might take another couple of weeks. The person who comes closest to guessing the day and time that I find the first egg laid by one of the ladies of Lonesome Dove wins the grand prize, a $125 gift certificate at online retailer csn|stores.

This is the third giveaway that csn|stores has sponsored here, and they keep getting more generous. Gotta love that. I went window shopping over there and quickly came up with a few things I would buy if I ever win one of their gift certificates...

What barn couldn't use a little mood lighting? Call me a product of the sixties, but I found this neon mustang sculpture on the table lamps page. How cool is that? It's practically tattoo-worthy.












And look at all the chicken stuff they've got – there are chicken rugs, chicken art, chicken serving platters, even pots to cook chickens...not that my girls would ever end up in there.

















If you haven't visited csn|stores yet, here's a little incentive. Earn yourself an extra guess in this contest by strolling over to csn|stores and telling us what you would buy if you won the $125 gift certificate.

Everything you need to know about this contest

The prize: A $125 gift certificate at online retailer csn|stores.

To enter: Guess the day and time that I will find the first egg laid by one of my chickens and leave your answer in the comments. If no one guesses correctly, she or he who comes the closest wins. In the event of a tie, the winner will be selected in a random drawing. One entry per person. Earn a second entry by telling us what you might buy with your gift certificate if you win.

Contest closes: Thursday, July 29, 7:00 pm Mountain time. The winner will be announced as soon as I find that first egg.

Number of winners: One.

Meanwhile, I'm a firm believer in the power of positive thinking. Let's wish this missing cat home. I'll update the twitter feed as soon as he shows his curly tail at my door.

Faster than a speeding bullet

Maybe Smooch is part greyhound.

At least once a day, she erupts in a spontaneous moment of joy, which I've come to call a microburst.

We'll be hanging out on the back porch when some spirit grabs hold of her and forces her to run laps around the yard.

Round and round she goes, when she'll stop, nobody knows.

It's part of her charm.

Post processing: 1. Rotate 1.26 degrees counterclockwise; 2. Crop; 3. PW's Warmer action at 75%; 4. PW's Boost action at 60%; 5. MCP's High Definition Sharpening action @ 52% on Smooch; 6. MCP's Touch of Lightness action on Smooch, Touch of Darkness action on left and right edges.

Saturday encore ~ A New Mexico sunset–special no matter how you slice it

I used to participate in a weekly blog thing called Skywatch Friday, wherein I posted pictures of the New Mexico sky once a week. I don't remember why I stopped – it certainly wasn't for lack of material. I'm missing those pretty sunset pictures, so I've decided to repeat this post from July 2009 just for old time's sake.

Sunsets and dinnertime are usually simultaneous around here. More often than not, the cooking gets interrupted when I look out the front window, gasp, try to remember where I've put the camera this time, then dash out to the porch to watch the show. I stand in about the same place every time, so invariably, these shots end up looking the same sunset after sunset after sunset ... except for the colors and the clouds and the light.

FAQ Friday, episode 13

Let's kick off this edition of FAQ Friday with my new favorite photo of Hank.
If this light doesn't make you love New Mexico, I don't know what will.



From JaneK:
Q. Since I am relatively new to your blog, I am not as familiar with your indoor cats. What are their names, etc. And do they get along with Deets?
A. The little flowers in my indoor bouquet are Rosebud, Daffodil, and Snapdragon (Snapper). Rosebud is the eldest, at 14; Daffodil is 13; and Snapper is 11. Until I adopted Rosebud, I was a diehard dog person and wanted nothing to do with cats. My, how things change. I adopted Rosebud to keep the then-piglet Wynonna company. Then I adopted Daffodil to keep Rosebud company. Then I needed a barn cat, so Snapper came along...and promptly became a house cat. They are all strictly indoor cats now. Last summer, I experimented with letting Snapper decide if he wanted to be an indoor/outdoor cat. My rationale for that is posted here. Once he got comfortable roaming the ranch, he started picking fights with Deets, so that was the end of the experiment. Now when he's looking for a little adventure, I let him patrol the garage.

From A New England Life:
Q. Seriously? You eat this [Hungry Rancher-Woman Chicken] almost every night? Wow, you're a consistent lady!
A. You say consistent, I say boring. Yes, I do make this recipe or some close variation of it almost every day. When you're cooking for one, life is too short to spend it planning meals. I will say this – there's something about eating chicken every day that does wonders for one's fingernails. I can haul and stack a hundred bales of hay without breaking one.

From Breathe:
Q. How does Hank's knee do after such big play?
A. So far, so good. He seems to know that his knee isn't as sound as it used to be and respects its limits. He'll continue to have episodes of lameness, and the vet thinks his knee joint might fuse with his leg bones eventually - which will be ok. He will be peg-legged but have less pain. Until then, the pain medication is working, and he has a very good life.

From JaneK:
Q. Would you put the picture with Hank rearing up on "for you"?
A. Done.

From Wade:
Q. Does the monsoon season green the countryside up? Or is the desert too set in its ways?
A. A little bit of rain goes a long way in this desert. We haven't had enough rain this summer for the grass to go crazy yet, but I'm hopeful. The grass in this picture, from August 2006, was literally knee high...if you're 5'4".

From Tina:
Q. Seems like you are taking more pictures of George than your sweet Alan...is he more cooperative than Alan?
A. Both burros are cooperative, but George would rather hang out with me than eat. So he's always right there, waiting to have his picture taken ... or his butt scratched.

By the way, thank you all for helping me choose your favorite picture of George. You're helping me make the selections for the 2011 calendar.

From deejbrown:
Q. What was your vote?
A. The 3/4 head shot. Even though I LOVED the navy-blue sky in the other shots, the light, the twinkle in his eye, the color palette and the negative space sealed the deal for me on this one.

From Marianne:
Q. I hope you're going to label all these posts that you manipulate the pictures in with the Photoshop label. Someday I'm going to splurge and buy PS, and then I'm going to spend time going back through all your pictures that you've "improved" for helpful hints and tricks!
A. My plan is to include one before/after photo in almost every post. I started using the mouseover thing on July 15, so every post after that should contain one mini Photoshop lesson. Except this one. Because I forgot to write down what I did to make Hank's picture perfect.

I will try to keep the number of snake posts down to a dull roar, but it's going to be tough - Smooch alerted me to two ginormous bullsnakes just since the rattlesnake episode, and we're all on high alert.

From Morning Bray Farm:
Q. Umm... were you laying down taking that last picture [of the rattlesnake]?
A. No - my devotion to this blog has its limits. I was kneeling and used a long lens.

From CeeCee:
Q. I wear shoes in the house all the time because of scorpions. Maybe your indoor kitties keep yours all cleared out?
A. New Mexico's hockey team is called the Scorpions, and that's the closest I've come to seeing one. Having said that, I'll probably step on one tomorrow. But the indoor kitties do seem to keep the house bug free.

Hope y'all have a great weekend. Lots of rain in the forecast here. I wonder if that will bring out more snakes or make them go away...

Rattlesnake wranglin'

We can't let the summer pass without at least one rattlesnake post, can we? (Ophidiophobes, turn back now.)

It was 7:00 last night. I was at my desk. Smooch was napping in the next room when all of a sudden she let out one of her five-alarm barks. I joined her at the back door, where we watched at least a hundred swallows swooping and diving around the back porch, squawking like nothing I've ever heard. Hmmmm, we wondered. We couldn't figure out what had them all riled up, so Smooch and I stepped outside. Silly us. There was no mistaking the telltale sound we heard now, even through the din of the swallow squawking – it was a rattler.

Smooch spotted him before I did, coiled up between the garage and the grill. I grabbed the snake pole and used it to block Smooch from getting any closer, then ordered her to move back. She didn't. It took a few more tries, but she finally sat down, then I scooped her up and took her in the house.

I gathered my wits and my stuff – shoes, phone, camera – and went back outside. All the recent practice I've had relocating bull snakes served me well. I was able to lasso the rattler and dump him in the nearby ash can without incident ... or photographs. So allow me to recreate the scene.

Thanks to Shadowhouse Creations for the bird brush!

When we Smooch spotted the rattlesnake at Point A, he was directly below a nest, to which the swallows took great exception. They wanted that bad boy out of their territory, as did I.

With the rattlesnake secured inside Point B, the question became what to do with him. I decided to load him up and take him for a long drive. Erring on the side of caution, I strapped down the can.


As we headed out the gate, I started imagining the conversation I might have if I happened upon my neighbors.

Q. Whatcha got in the can?
A. Ashes. And a rattlesnake. Wanna see?

Down the road we went, me and my snake, just out for a drive. I pulled over at the bottom of Rock Hill and unloaded the can. I found a long stick and used it to pop off the lid. Then I held the camera at arm's length and aimed it into the can, because I knew most many a few one or two of you would want to see him.

So then I kicked over the can. Much to my dismay, the snake did not rise from the ashes and slither off into the weeds. Apparently, I had buried him. Worried that he was suffocating, I tipped the can all the way over.


Great. Now how can I get my can back, not get bit, and take a picture at the same time? Very carefully, I sidled up to the can, tipped it upright, and ran like hell.

That silly snake just rose up and rattled. I would have thought that he'd have run slithered for his life. Shows you how much I don't know about rattlesnakes.

In any event, I reclaimed my can and headed for home.

As from all ranch adventures, there are many lessons to be learned:
1. The creatures with whom I share this place are very, very smart. All I have to do is listen to what they're saying.
2. I need to start wearing shoes when I'm in the house.
3. Until snake season is over, whenever I leave the ranch, Smooch stays indoors.
4. 1/60 of a second is too slow to freeze the motion of a rattling tail. Next time, use a higher shutter speed.

The dog days of summer ~ 2010

How dare this oppressive summer heat interfere with our daily routine. The nerve. It was so hot last evening that Smooch and I were forced to cancel our walk. Instead, we hung out in my room, where the light was picture-perfect.

Even indoors, Smooch takes her role as ranch security very seriously.

Heaven forbid something should happen outside without her knowing about it.

Smooch, it's okay to relax once in awhile, really it is.

That's better. We'll work on getting you to close your eyes another time.

Post processing: 1. PW's Boost action at 47%; 2. MCP's High Definition Sharpening action at 75%

America's next top model

George asked me to update his picture for his portfolio, but we can't agree on a favorite. Please help us decide – cast your vote at the bottom of this post.

#1 The 3/4 head shot:

#2 The full body shot:

#3: Looking at camera:

#4: Profile:Post processing: 1. PW's Cooler action; 2. Crop 3. Remove reflective paint from t-posts using Spot Healing Brush; 4. MCP's High Def Sharpening action at 54%

My favorite picture of George is:

• 3/4 head shot
• full body shot
• looking at camera
• profile

Created on Jul 19, 2010

View Results

poll by twiigs.com

Alan and George meet for drinks at the local watering hole

Post-processing: 1. PW's Boost action at 40%, flatten 2. PW's Boost action at 100% on reflection 3. MCP's Touch of Lightness on reflection highlights 4. MCP's Touch of Darkness on left edge

By the light of the monsoon

It rained Friday evening – one of those Amazon jungle kind of rains where it pours and pours and pours straight down for about an hour, the storm moves on, then the sun comes out.Post processing: 1. Crop; 2. Remove wires with healing brush; 3. PW's Boost at 25% 4. PW's Sharpen This on reflection; 5. PW's Quick Edge Burn at 21%


This weather pattern should repeat itself many times between now and the end of August. We call it our monsoon season, and it's my favorite time of year ... despite the heat, the humidity, and the muddy road out to the highway.



Because really, when else are you going to see this kind of light?



Hank loves monsoon season, too. The quick drop in temperature as a storm moves through makes him feisty.



I cringe when I see him doing his airs above the ground, thinking he might slip on the landing, but I'm smiling all the while, too, because it makes me happy to see him play like this.

So between the light,

Hank's healthy happiness...

...and having a little water to photograph...

I'm loving monsoon season.