The two women in my life

Olympus E-500
focal length 283 mm
exposure f/4.9
shutter speed 1/40 sec.
ISO 100.
See more of my photos in my flickr portfolio.

Chasing the rabbit

 

Olympus E-500
focal length 150 mm
exposure f/20
shutter speed 1/13 sec.
ISO 100.
See more of my photos in my flickr portfolio.

Drip

 

Olympus E-500
focal length 150mm
exposure f/4.5
shutter speed 1/50 sec.
ISO 100.
See more of my photos in my flickr portfolio.

Self Portrait

Olympus E-500
focal length 40mm
exposure f/3.5
shutter speed 1/160 sec.
ISO 100.
See more of my photos in my flickr portfolio.

Hitching a Ride

Olympus E-500
focal length 150mm
exposure f/4.5
shutter speed 1/800 sec.
ISO 100.
See more of my photos in my flickr portfolio.

Waiting

Olympus E-500
focal length 123mm
exposure f/4.3
shutter speed 1/640 sec.
ISO 100.
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Busy as a Bee

Olympus E-500
focal length 150mm
exposure f/4.5
shutter speed 1/1000 sec.
ISO 100.
See more of my photos in my flickr portfolio.

Guilty

Olympus E-500
focal length 150mm
exposure f/4.5
shutter speed 1/125 sec.
ISO 100.
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Rancho La Luz Sunset

Olympus E-500
focal length 150mm
exposure f/4.5
shutter speed 1/125 sec.
ISO 100.
See more of my photos in my flickr portfolio.

Red Sunflower

Olympus E-500
focal length na, shot with LensBaby 2.0
exposure f/2.0
shutter speed 1/32 sec.
ISO 100.
Comments are always welcome, that is the only way I can improve.

Just Opening

Olympus E-500
focal length 150 mm
exposure f/4.5
shutter speed 1/500 sec.
ISO 100.
Comments are always welcome, that is the only way I can improve.

Field of Sunflowers

Olympus E-500
focal length 81 mm
exposure f/4
shutter speed 1/1000 sec.
ISO 100.
Comments are always welcome, that is the only way I can improve.

At Rest

Olympus E-500, lens 14-45mm focal length 45.00 mm, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/200 sec., ISO 100.
Comments are alwasys welcome, that is the only way I can improve.

Pretty Yellow Flowers

Olympus E-500 shot with the Lens Baby 2.0 with an extension tube, f/2.0, shutter speed 1/800 sec., ISO 100

Cruisin'

Olympus E-500 using Lens Baby 2.0

Texas Two Step

And Then the Heavens Opened

Yesterday we were sitting outside for comida and we commented to each other that it looked like we were going to get a little rain.  The previous day the skies looked ominous and the lightening and thunder were down right scary, but alas no rain.

However as we looked at this approaching storm, we thought maybe we would get some rain and so it would be good to get the burros back in their corral and close down all of the out buildings.  Well this storm moved much quicker than we thought and I was just finishing with the burros when the heavens opened.

The rain was not as hard as some that we have had previously but it was steady and a lot.  After about 30 minutes, I was out on the front poach in my rubber boots having to pump the rain water away from the house as it had flooded the entire front patio but was still a ways from entering the front door, thankfully.

Once the rains started to subside, I got my camera out and took a couple of images, here is one of the roads out of our rancho, as you can see it is fairly flooded, so without a four wheel drive, forget it.

I also looked down at one of the edges of our property that is a lot lower than the house and you can see the water just ponding where it normally will quickly soak into the ground.

After the storm and all the necessary clean up, Jo Ann and I were able to enjoy and nice evening outside, the skies were clear and the air smelled so fresh.

However during the evening we were hit with another major storm, it rained for another couple of hours and I had to get up from sleep to unplug all of my computer equipment as it was lightening and thundering again.

But in the morning I was given a major treat, the sun rise was absolutely magnificent.  As you can see from these three images the brilliant oranges contrasting the blue skies.  Absolutely wonderful.

With my camera in hand, Jo Ann and I then headed off to look at the rancho and see if there was any damage from the storms.  Luckily there was not but there was a number of new and beautiful images.

First we found this wonderful tree that we had not noticed before with these beautiful yellow flowers bursting out this morning.

Then we walked down to our arroyo which is always dry.  Well this morning it was anything but dry, as you can see the water falls were running rapidly.

Then returning to our house we found these wonderful wild flowers that were just bursting this morning.

It was an amazing 24 hours, with the heavy rains and near flooding, followed by a stunning morning.  Mexico is such a wonderful place and provides ample opportunity to take some stunning photos.

Reforestation status

It has been over three weeks since we started our first phase of our reforestation project.  In this phase we are planting over 350 native scrubs and trees and will be planting another 500 or so next year.  The ground that we are planting in is extremely hard and difficult to dig in.

After cleaning out the old brush and a bunch of garbage that had accumulated on the property over the past who knows how many years, we staged all of the plants.

Once we had purchased all of the plants that we wanted for this first stage, we started to create a design for the layout of the area.  This included creating some wind blocks, establishing areas that will have plants that will attract birds and butterflies with their flowers and aroma and finally areas that will create depth with the taller Huizaches and Mesquites.

Here we have laid out a number of the plants in one corner of the rancho that will be both a wind block and have flowers and aroma.

We have a couple of workers on our rancho that are doing the majority of the digging.  It is hard work, even though we have two gas powered augers and an assortment of other tools and aids.

As I showed earlier the ground is very hard and a good day is to get 25 plants in the ground.  There is a lot of work to dig the hole (both wide and deep enough), to properly mix composted material with the desert soil and to stake and water.  This is nothing like planting in California but the net result should be wonderful.

Although the plants are not very tall at this time, we have seen that within four years the plants can be 1 1/2 to 2 meters tall which will provide significant shade and blockage of the wind.  I can't wait to see how they progress.

Part of this project is also to provide additional protection to the newly reforested area.  Even though our property is fully fenced with the aging barbed wire we are providing an additional barrier for the new reforested area as well as moving our burros to a separate area of the rancho so we don't have to worry about them getting lose and eating the new plants.

Last week we were visited by the Directora of INIFAP so she could examine our rancho and ensure that we had acquired the right types of plants for our climate and soil conditions.  Luckily we had, but she had a couple of observations, one that we have some wonderful Huizaches Chicos as you can see below:

However down by our arroyo we also have a couple (not many) Huizaches that have the parasite Paistle in them.  This parasite does not really feed on the tree but blocks the photosynthesis and will starve the tree.

So we are half way, maybe two thirds, but the work is slow and tiring.  We also have to find the time to remove the Paistle from the existing trees before they starve the trees, but that is just one of around two hundred projects that I have on my list. 

Next week we also have a field trip for the San Miguel Down To Earth Garden Club to INIFAP.  Right now we have around 45 people signed up to listen to Directora Rosario Terrones Rincon speak about native plants and shrubs and then lead a tour of their nursery and experimental gardens.  The lecture and tour will take around 2 1/2 hours so if anyone is interested in attending on the 29th of August, just send me a note.

Jo Ann's Garden

As I mentioned last week, Jo Ann is away for another five days and although she has not said anything yet, I know that she is concerned about her garden. When we came to San Miguel de Allende, one of the first things that she wanted to do was to plant a small vegetable garden so that we could start growing our own food again.

The weather here is wonderful for growing most things, but the soils have been very depleted by over farming, so we first spent a lot of time tilling in organic compost (yes that is why we have the four burros and there seems to be a never ending source of this from them). After preparing the soil, we used our old rototiller from California and planted tomatoes, French green beans, basil, carrots, squash and much more.

We are also strong proponents of using drip irrigation and protecting the young plants with a cover cloth that allows about 85 percent of the UV in and most of the rain, but keeps the plants protected from insects and creates a humid greenhouse effect.

So how are things going, well I think pretty good, you be the judge yourself.

But of course, Jo Ann made sure that I would be properly supervised. So she made sure that Hershey and Raider would keep an eye on me and make sure I watered everything as needed!

A Beautiful Sunset

Tonight was a beautiful sunset, the colors so vibrant and brilliant. I could only sit there on our rooftop and watch the sun set. Well I did run down and get my tripod and camera.