the most exciting thing is about to happen !

i found someone to give me accordion lessons!

YES! finally!

no more trying to figure out what all the punch buttons are. no more worrying about how to open it up to clean it. it's all happening, with my granny's antique Pasquale Soprani.

eeeeeeeek, i'm so excited!

what's growing in the Dragoons

first, some history:
just north of Toombstone, the famous mountain range, Dragoons, juts out rocky cliff faces, peering boulders, and chimney spires. a rock climbers go-to in these parts, although anyone can scramble across, around, and above.
this section named the Cochise Stronghold, a major historical event spanning nearly 15 years of Apache Indian Chief's, Cochise, rebel against the US Army. a perfect fortress, Cochise and his tribe of 1000, 250 being warriors, successfully warded off repeated attempted attacks by white men, including dozens of stage coach massacres, from the towering pinnacles from which point the entire valley below can be seen. an epic event in history favoring native indians of this land, Cochise died peacefully in his fortress, and buried in what is now known as the Chiricahua Rerservation.

from these views, everything is left behind...worries, concerns, stress...it's so magnificent that nothing else matters.

onward to what's growing...

...the lovely, sweet smelling, intoxicating, aromatically rejuvinating...

SWEET EVERLASTING, rabbit tobacco, Gnaphalium obtusifolium

consisting of a chemical called "tepenes" which, as a smoke aid (the dried, silvery leaf parts), helps to release phlegm in the chest and lungs and soothes coughs, pretty much instantly (and combined with mullein and horehound, the perfect cold remedy). a major medicine for viral infections, it has an incredibly potent affect on killing cases of influenza, pneumonia, and fevers, as well as certain cancers. old folklore claims that the juice can be used as an aphrodisiac, while others claim it to have the opposite affect. 

sometimes called LIFE EVERLASTING, the name is due to it's lively appearance when in a dried, stagnant state after it's blooming season. 

as a side note, i must say that it is also in the Asteracea family, for which i named my sweet precious golden love dog, Aster. 

i hit a gold mine of this plant in the Dragoons...fields of golden grasses laden with white Everlasting!!!

i couldn't contain my excitement...i was in picking heaven.

 

HOREHOUND, Marrubio,  Marrubium Vulgare (mint family)

"a distinctive, common, easily rememberred memeber of the min family, horehound's most distinguishing features are the white, woolly, square stems, the downy oval and crenelated leaves, and the sagelike puffs of spiny flowers at the top of the stems" (michael moore's medicinal plants of the mountain west).

when the name horehound is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is "throat lozenge". until the evil FDA got a hold of the medicinal properties of horehound, it was a prominent ingredient in most cold care remedies. but, as we all know the FDA is in our best interest, so they deemed it medicinally null, and so it was taken out of all store bought medicines, though herbalist and scientists the whole world around still acknowledge it's beneficial properties. so, just to put this so called theory to rest, horehound contains these chemical compounds...

* Flavonoids - an antioxidant

* Diterpenes - antimicrobial, antiinflammatory  

*  Saponins - agent used to expel immune toxins (can also be toxic in certain cases, so it is debatable, although still widely used as so). also used as a foaming agent in soap !

* Alkaloids - a stimulant 

according to michael moore, and he doesn't exactly know why, only wildcrafted horehound works. maybe it's due to the way commercially grown horehound is cultivated that strips it of it's medicinal properties? no one yet knows. but, if wildcrafted, tea is the most common usage. because of it's incredibly bitter, acrid taste, lots of honey and lemon is necessary.

also, used as ale in europe!!

 some additional footage:

 moon

clematis seed (?)

sumac

amazing tree fungii !!

shadows:

devil's claw

 aster

 trail

 

grassy knoll for a lantana nap

orionids meteor shower tonight !!!

i'm afraid i might have missed it. chances are it can still be seen tonight. i remember seeing it last year, laying in the grass on the chilliest of nights down in southwest texas.
look for meteors between the hours of midnight and dawn. the meteors of orionid are rock, dust and ice debris from the famous comet Halley, which graces our planetary viewers every year about this time in october. it's estimated that 10-15 meteors per hour can be seen, which isn't the most spectacular show by far, but still amazing when you think about what's going on, and that we have been given the gift of witnessing it.
happy sky watching!

(http://earthsky.org/tonight/orionid-meteors-are-debris-from-famous-comet-halley)

indian dinner night

once a week a group of women get together to cook fabulous dinners, complete with desert and drink that suit the theme. my dear friend rose started it all when she stayed with us for a few days and then decided as a thank you to cook us dinner. what evolved was a weekly dinner night, alternating responsibility for coming up with a dinner theme. so last week it was my turn and i invited my other dear friend suzanne to help.

i love indian food, and can't find a good place anywhere near here without driving all the way to tuscon. suzanne, though, has actually traveled to india and knows all the special sauces and spices. she was in charge of :
- cilantro and coconut chutney
- some kind of sauteed green bean dish with a very high temp
- riata, which is a cold cucumber, coriander, yogurt sauce

suzanne, indian food goddess

 me, the leek chopper

i made a curry filo tart to go with the green beans that ended up being more like a pot pie. 

 the final spread

also, being the desert baker that i am, i went for a traditional sweet rice desert called Kheer. a basic sweetened, milk, rice, pistachio and cardamom dish. so simple, anyone can do it

Kesar Kheer
1/2 c. rice
4 c. milk
8 T sugar
6 cardamoms (i didn't have have whole cardamoms to grind, but 1 teaspoon of already ground cardamom seemed to be the right amount)
1/2 t saffron
1/4 c. pistachios

-soak pistachios in water for 3 hours (this is only if you're using raw nuts. i bought roasted unshelled pistachios and didn't have to soak them, but of course shelled them).
- cook rice in 2 cups of milk until soft
- add saffron, cardamom, sugar, and remaining 2 cups of milk
- simmer 10 minutes or until thick ( i simmered for about 25 minutes, but i'm also at a higher altitude. just as long as it isn't super watery and it seems thicker, you're good to go)

to accompany the kheer i also made:
Cardamom Butter Cookies from the chopra center cookbook
1/2 c. cold butter, cubes
1/2 c. turbinado sugar
1 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cardamom
2 T lemon juice

- in mixer combine butter and sugar until creamy
- in separate bowl combine flour, salt, nutmeg and cardamom
- slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 1/2 cup at a time (for some reason, this is very important. do not just dump in all the flour)
- continue mixing at low speed and slowly add lemon juice until a stiff dough forms
- make quarter round sized dough balls and place on cookie sheet covered with parchment about 1 inch apart. press your thumb on each dough ball to flattened out a bit
- bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees

rose has an insatiable sweet tooth, and when she took her first bite of kheer she confessed her undying love for my food stating that i've never made something she didn't like. thanks rose!! also, thanks for all the pictures!

the bumble bee that could

as usual, when i'm resting on the couch after a day of work that started at 4 a.m., i tend to just zone out and listen to everything around me...wind chimes, breeze zipping by the loose ends of tin roof, rooster up on the hill top, kila the cat mewing from the bathroom window, aster snoring, and on this day the occasional bumble bee made it's way into the living room. i followed it with my eyes as my stare was directed towards the ceiling. it buzzed around only for a short while before the buzzing become hastened and intensified...i knew it had been caught in one of our house-pet daddy long legged spider webs.

side note: these spiders are very interesting to watch. i've seen one sac of eggs hatch and currently observing a second located in the corner of the shower. they are such itsy bitsy little airy things, bouncing up and down like on a trampoline. they are a human's best friend during fly and mosquito season.

i found the web where the bee was caught, and the web spinner who inhabited that space was just going at it with every ounce of urgency it could muster.

 and then....and then...and then that little bee's struggles finally paid off. he had freed himself enough from the the little cocoon that was starting to develop around his hind legs and wings.

 as soon as the spider realized what was happening, he high tailed it back to the corner where he was initially perched.

 and he sat there and watched from the shadows as that little bee continued to free himself. 

here, a wing is still entwined in web and the bee is actually spinning around in circles.

 struggling to liberate his sticky little legs

 ...almost there...

 at last! only a single thread of web was his attachment. at this point i felt it ok to help a little. the bee was obviously going to make it, and the spider obviously losing a meal. otherwise, spiders have to eat too!

so i lifted him to stable ground where he promptly flew into the lamp, perched on the warm tiffany glass, and cleaned himself. when it appeared he was done and resting, i scooped him into a jar and sent him on his little worker bee way.

the end.

coral bean

back in july when the falls were first running after several torrential rains....

...i noticed all over the rocky cliffs a bright, bluish-green leafy bush. it was the first plant that quickly showed it's appreciation for the moisture, with everything else closely following suit.

not knowing what it was, i took a picture with the intention of finding out. i knew it had to be something special...i could feel it.

my inquisition served me well, and it's only been recently that i've had the opportunity to sit and visit with it. there is a healthy stand located on the southeastern side of the Mule mnts.
now that the lush greeny season is over, it's about the only thing in the desert that turns yellow, gold, brown, then sheds.

it is called coral bean, or erythrina herbacea. the shrub gets it's name from the bright red beans that burst out of the pods. due to the extreme and extended cold season last winter, in combination with the extreme and dry season this summer, many desert plants just barely came into bloom. most, not even giving to fruit. the coral bean pods we found had light tan colored beans still attached, possibly last year's seeds that have faded in the weather, OR this year's seeds that are malnurished.

scattered on the ground i was able to collect a handful of red beans. again, due to the weather conditions and the endangerment it has on plants, over collecting would be unethical and possibly detrimental to wild species. so be a steward to the plant kingdom and only collect where plentiful and ethical. furthermore, if you do attunements with plants, the best way to know is to just ask. introduce yourself to the plant as you would a human being. sit. listen. and they will speak to you.

t

unfortunately, i did not get to see coral bean in bloom personally. but you can see pictures at Southeastern Arizona Wildflowers.

medicinal uses among various native american peoples; "Creek women used an infusion of the root for bowel pain; the Choctaw used a decoction of the leaves as a general tonic; the Seminole used an extract of the roots for digestive problems". also consisting of toxic alkaloids, the beans are used as rat poison in mexico.(wikipedia)
in chinese medicine, coral bean bark is called hai tong pi is and is used to scatter wind-dampness by unblocking particular wind related channels; stimulates urination, reduces edema, treats itchy skin ailments.

from my field notes:
" i giggled, and peaked out of the corner of one eye at the coral bean plant, like an aunt does from across the dinner table to her nieces during the blessing."
~ feelings of lightness...lightens up a serious mood...don't take things so seriously...playful...light spirit lifts a heavy soul...rain drops falling on broad leaves sounds like a cluster of umbrellas catching droplets...blue-green leaves turn to golden yellow - simulates the contrast between serious and playful...mood elevator...essence for a heavy and sad heart...tender innocence like a child...a no nonsense focus ~ 

afternoon silhouette 

 

navajo tea

a few weeks ago my vending neighbor at the farmer's market, petey mosquitey, gave me a baby plant called Navajo Tea. aptly named because the navajo people for generations harvested this flowering plant for tea which they served to guests, and drank on a daily basis. in these parts another familiar, spanish name is cota. being newly introduced to this plant, i did some research and found that the Hopi also widely used this plant for tea. so in some regions the familiar name is Hopi Tea, or Navajo-Hopi tea.  like most plants there are several names given depending on region and culture, in addition to the scientific name. in this case, the most commonly used name is Greenthread, due to it's thread thin green leaves, and the species i have is thelesperma megapotamicum. 

this plant as tea is more commonly used than i had thought. there are several online sites where you can order organic, sustainably grown and harvested Navajo Tea. one company i particularly like is Yanabah, a local company located in mesa, arizona, where the granddaughter of a Navajo woman named Yanabah sells this traditional healing tea in the spirit of her grandmother.

another great company is High Desert Farmers, located in gallup, new mexico. LA weekly interviewed the owner, steve heil, an elementary school teacher who, when he discovered greenthread, decided it was such an important part of culture that it must shared (buy Plateau Tea). never having farmed in his life, heil acquired a Western Sustainable Agriculture Research Grant to aid in his efforts.

now the good stuff! greenthread is medicinally used for the kidney due to it's mild diuretic effects. as a stomach tonic, it alleviates digestive problems and is also used as a blood purifier. constituents found are flavonoids - vitamin P and citrin combined - which is a class of antioxidant metabolites lending it's yellow pigmented flowers, and so it can also be used as a dye for textiles.

lots of great information can be found here, including pictures when in flower (which i don't have), a growing map, other species and their properties.

the trixie chicken

on my off days i tend to let the ladies out of the coop so they can scratch around the yard. living right in town and not having much of a yard to speak of, in addition to dogs roaming the neighborhood and the occasional javelina pack that ventures down the hillsides, free roam chickens is not safe. trixie, the lightest brown colored chicken of the four, and the friendliest, likes to sneak inside the house for a visit....no one ever seems to mind, and so she fits right in with the rest of the animal crew.