Yesterday we drove over to the San Simon Cienega which used to be a New Mexico State Conservation area, but since the water table in that valley is being pumped for agriculture the area is dying.  Huge Cottonwood trees are crumpled to the ground, their roots no longer reaching the water level.  A couple of these magnificent trees are clinging to life and after the heavy rains in September, actually look pretty good.  There are also huge Desert Willows that are surviving.  The biggest Desert Willows I've ever seen!
There are always birds when we go there.  Red Tailed Hawks, Meadowlarks, Sparrows, Red Shafted Flickers and even Cardinals.  Last summer there was a family of Great Horned Owls with 3 fledglings!  It's a pleasant location that is easy to reach with our little Tacoma.  Don't even need 4 Wheel Drive.  We kept hearing Sand Hill Cranes honking, but never did see any flying over or feeding in the tall grass, so I guess their sound was carrying from the corn fields south and west of the Cienega.  Besides birds, there were still a lot of Grasshoppers, Butterflies and a few Lizards running around.

It's been a while since I've done an update, so here we go........

First of all, Autumn is here and the days are perfect for hiking and enjoying the outdoors.  The evenings are cool and it's a bit chilly in the mornings.  We even had a thin coating of ice on the bird bath yesterday morning.












Today was beautiful and we watched a gorgeous sunset over Silver Peak.  Our view of sunsets is pretty well blocked by trees at our house, but we got a pretty good shot by just walking out in the back of our property to the north.

Today I hosted  "Sewing", a group that meets every Friday at someone's home and mainly catches up on each others' doings.  Many folks are just arriving back from their summer homes in Northern states and Canada, so it's a good chance to find out what's been happening while they were away.  Some people do actually sew.  I sewed a button on a pair of pants! :)   Some knit, crochet, cross stitch, or embroider.  Today a group made Turkey decorations for folks at a nursing home in Douglas for Thanksgiving.  We had a good turnout of 10 ladies.  All were interested in seeing "Penny's" house with our new touches and were pleased with our new flooring.
We served simple drinks and dessert.  It was a fun afternoon and I thoroughly enjoy the diversity of my neighbors.