Summer's End at Mandala Gardens

By mid August, I am all too aware that summer is on its' way out. Three things dominated my life toward the end of last month and still remain the foci of my days. I am a good kind of tired when I lay my head on my pillow each night.


I begin a new school year every August...and I still so enjoy teaching and learning with the nurses of tomorrow. It's exciting to meet another cohort of 30. 'Not so exciting to realize my table will look like this most of the time for nine months. I do stash the piles away when I'm having visitors, though. 

 

And of course harvest is in full swing come late summer! My freezers are full and I'm needing to build a pantry closet for the canned goods! If they say "Put up or shut up" I guess I get to keep talking for now. I love sharing this bounty with my kids and having Christmas gifts ready to go.

 

I was determined to make significant headway on goat head eradication this year. I really let them get out of hand 5-6 years ago and have regretted it ever since. Maybe eradication is an impossible word when it comes to these wily weeds, but I want  to be able to walk barefoot again, and to watch my dogs run around without getting stickers in their paws. Over the past month I've spent hours and hours patrolling for goat heads. I do believe I've nabbed a 100,000 of them! And it's paying off! I have to look harder to find them each day. Maybe next year it won't be so bad.

 

End of Summer Visits

In early August, I realized that the last days of summer (meaning I would be back to full-time teaching soon) were upon me. I decided to get a quick visit in with each of my kids and grandchildren. I'm so glad I did!

 

First I drove to Albuquerque to spend a little time with Skye, Mark, Jesse, and Matt. We went school clothes shopping, had a great dinner together, got Matt ready for his first year of high school and Jesse ready for his first night of a college EMT program. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Skye or Mark, but look at my boys! At 19 and almost 15, they are smart, handsome, kind, and still love their Gram. Who could ask for more? 

 

From Albuquerque I flew to Dallas to spend a couple of days with Paho, Leigh, Roma, and Ed. They really have a sweet set-up in their half of a duplex house, with a small garden, two large dogs, and evidence of their creativity on the walls and in the kitchen. They are both teaching photography full-time this year (Paho still at University of North Texas and Leigh just starting at Texas A&M in Commerce). I'm so proud of both of them!

 

 

Roma is on duty while Paho works at the computer. She mostly stares at the screen as if to catch any errors he might make. But every time she saw the camera move, she turned toward me. She is so cute (almost as cute as Paho).

 



I was glad to meet Ed. What a lovable guy! It's good to know Leigh has a running partner on those early morning excursions.

 

 

 





 A highlight of the trip was being there for Pizza Night. Paho and Leigh have this down to a science.

 

 

Beautiful, delicious, and nutritious!!! Yum!

I can't wait to get back to see them again. It was a wonderful visit.

 

 

 I was home about a week before heading up to Flagstaff to visit with Moriah and the boys (Gary was away for the weekend). Canyon and I dug out a miniature pond which we lined with plastic and filled with clear water. Trek loved letting his plastic tigers take a swim.

On an impulse, Moriah, Canyon, Trek, and a neighbor friend decided to turn the stinky unused mosquito hatchery pond lining off their porch into a functioning goldfish pond. The water pump which sat in muck and ice for two years worked perfectly! The boys and I let some tiny swimmers into their new home and everybody was happy with the outcome.

Okay, it's not a glamour shot, but this is the only picture I got that shows Moriah's face. We really did enjoy making the yard look nice; it was kind of the inspiration for the pond re-do.

 

In the evening we each made a truffula tree (from The Lorax) with these great fuzzy balls that Moriah found.

 

 

 I brought an ice chest full of veggies and two boxes of peaches from my gardens. Moriah and I canned 14 quarts of peaches to put in their larder.

 

We roasted and peeled green chilies to freeze (have I said how much I love this smell?).

 

And we made a couple of batches of fresh walnut basil pesto. Most of it went in the freezer, but Moriah and I enjoyed some on pasta for lunch (the boys politely declined).

 

It was a good visit. I sure love my kids!