Dearest followers of Plant Whatever Brings You Joy, when I wrote my last post from Northern California in all honesty there was nowhere on my conscious Bingo card that imagined my next post would be written from my new home in the high desert of New Mexico. But here we are! Border Collie Nana, tortie Coco and I made the journey down the entire length of California, crossing Arizona into northern New Mexico and headed south. And here we are in our new home. This post is to give you a visual overview of some of what we have seen and experienced.

Incredibly, the first part of our journey here, south of Albuquerque, unexpectedly included days spent at lodging where every morning more than fifty sandhill cranes flew in and spent the daylight hours nearby. They were absolutely Buddha like and their presence marked a memorable entry into high desert country.

Nana and I took early morning walks together into landscapes heretofore never seen. Nana always insisted we walk far enough to visit a family of five cows. Temps were freezing, but they were always outside near the fence where we walked.

Our walks meant we were seeing plants that were completely new to us. Here’s a beauty, whose name I still do not know.

After weeks of searching for a new home, giving us the opportunity to explore the area, ever refining what felt right, I at last found a home I knew we could settle into in New Mexico.

I could not imagine an environment more different from our years in Northern California. And certainly I did not anticipate last week’s dumping of snow, which Nana was thrilled to play in! And, yes, that is pampas grass just over the fence!

Here’s the view out my new office window:

One more amazing New Mexico sunset. The sky here is open and available and continually magically offering unlimited configurations to enjoy and appreciate.

From here it would appear that the scope of Plant Whatever Brings You Joy blog will expand. I am meeting fascinating people who are doing research into land erosion control and water preservation whom I want to interview. I also met a woman who helped two different communities create community gardens whom I want to showcase as inspiration. And my explorations have led me to a lovely man and his wife who have a honey apple farm! He has over 150 bee hives and numerous kinds of apples he sells on his property. I will introduce you to all these new people in my life and will share my learning curve and adventures. I am looking forward to sharing the journey with you! Please feel free to share any special New Mexico stories!

Love and gardening adventures,
Kathryn xoxo

This is called coyote fencing. I love it.

Posted on February 14th, 2022 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Life