Petalz and Beans Blog of Awesomeness

As you know, I like to walk along the trails in Berg Park  here in Farmington…right along the Animas river.   Just makes me feel good to get out in the sunshine and enjoy nature.  Yesterday was a nice day so I made the trek down to the park.

I was about halfway through my walk when I discovered some activity in the Rocky Reach area of the river.  This is the whitewater park.  Seems that they had the river actually blocked off and diverted into the irrigation channels.

As I got a little closer I saw what they were doing.

ACK!  My river!  It’s dry!

This is a good time of year for the city to block the river, move some rocks, add some new boulders and clear out the dead trees and debris from flooding in years past.

It’s also a good time of year for me to go stand in the middle of the river..(where I of course have never been before)….and take pictures.

Had Petalz been with me she would have tried to carry all these rocks back to Oklahoma.

I did not try to carry any of the rocks anywhere.

A little further downstream the water feeds back into the river….to the delight of the ducks and geese.   I can’t wait for spring to see the river in all it’s glory and if I can tell a difference in the whitewater park.

has never been my favorite time of the year.  I don’t enjoy the cold.  I’m not a winter sport kind of person and all my flowers have gone away.   Even in the winter though…..beauty is where you find it.

I guess that’s just the way it is in life.  You never know when you’ll see the beauty.

Who would have thought, I, in Oklahoma would need a earthquake prediction system. I took this picture, because, by now, all the fish hiding in one corner of the aquarium is unusual. About an hour later, a 5.6 earthquake with the epicenter about 85 miles away arrived at my house. We  had had a 4.2 early Saturday morning,  but, I was asleep.   I can now say officially say, I do NOT like earthquakes.  We made the national news and our friend. Rob, in Australia even heard about it.  No more fracking !!!!

are lovely this time of the year, don’t you think so?

The reds and golds….

He has spent a good part of the summer living in my maple tree in the front yard.

He likes to hang out on the hummingbird feeder.

Here is Zorak pretending he doesn’t recognize me.  He does that sometimes.  He doesn’t like to admit how very close we actually are.  He would get grief from the grasshopppers if he did.

Hey Zorak!  Want to come live in the house with me during the winter?

“Can I watch tv and eat aphid cookies?”

Sure you can Zorak.

These pictures are taken from the car during the trip, except … well, you’ll see, the Valley of Fires, obviously not.

If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, how much is a bird in the house worth ?

He made me dizzy trying to shoo him out, then he found the skylight, I thought I was going to have to go get a ladder, but he finally came out. By then he was exhausted, headed towards a window and we got a sack around him and got him outside. He fly off without any obvious  deficiencies.

  Mycatbean and I try to walk most mornings.  This is where I walk, it’s a little park with a pond.

 This particular morning,                                    there was a little fog. In the Summer, I walk in the dark, one of the earlier posts talks about it.

 This is where Mycatbean gets to walk.

 Along a pretty flowing river.

 Pretty rocks, moving water and little humidity.

       There’s even an herb garden !

The only thing missing from Mycatbean’s lovely walk is Gail, Doris, Floyd, Missy, Ronnie and all the other regulars.

we took a drive yesterday to take pictures of the turning leaves up in the mountains.  It was a beautiful day!

The higher up we went the more gold we saw in the aspens.

Yesterday was a great day.

Here is my husband and son’s favorite green chili recipe.   I got this recipe from my dear friend Janice.  It’s the simplest thing ever and it’s the one they always ask for.   It’s full of fat I’m sure, but they love it.  Probably because it’s full of fat.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Chopped cooked chicken  (boil up some chicken, open a can of chicken, pull chicken off a roasted chicken, whatever floats your boat)

Green Chili (for those of you who dont have it in the freezer, a can of chopped green chili should suffice)

Cream of Chicken Soup – Family Size -

Half & Half – 1 quart- see…I told you there was a lot fat involved.  I have used just plain milk in it though  (Don’t tell Janice).

Mix it all up in a pot.

Stir and heat it up on med/low heat until it’s heated through.

It’s pretty nummy.