Noxious Weeds

It looks like I take the title of the only NOXIOUS WEEDS COORDINATOR on this blogsite! Woohoo for me! Since I am the only NWC, I will explain what I do! First off, weeds are plants that are out of place or unwanted. For example, grass that grows in your rocks and not our yard is a weed. But it wouldn't be a weed if it grows in your yard and not your rocks.

A noxious weed is a plant species that has been designated by state or national agricultural authorities as a plant that is injurious to agricultural and or humans and livestock. HUH? If you grow hay for profit and sell the hay to a horse breeder and then the horse dies, well, you might have sold contaminated hay and are in BIG trouble. There are certain types of weeds that can harm humans and horses.

My job is to find weeds that are detrimental to the agriculture lifestyle. These weeds are not native and over power native/desirable plants. The main weed I have dealt with is Russian Knapweed. It has a chemical that kills off surrounding plants. There can be solid fields of Russian Knapweed and nothing else. You might not think much about it, but if farmers depend on that field for growing, then it can cost them their income. Or maybe they have livestock grazing in this field of Russian Knapweed. This plant will cause a chewing disease in horses that will more than likely kill the horse.

(Below is a field completely taken over by Russian Knapweed)

When I first started this job, I had a rancher come in and tell me he had six cows die from eating Johnson Grass. This weed puts off a chemical when drought stressed and if ingested, it will quickly kill off a cow. Took less than a few hours. The cows cost between $800-$1000. That's about $6000 gone in 2 hours.

I work to help keep our agricultural growers growing. Not that my job will save the agriculture industry, but it is a stepping stone.

People hate the wind, but I look at is a "Pay Day!" For the weeds I haven't found yet, there will be a million seeds waiting to fly through the air to find a nice fertile spot in the soil!

Heaven In A Glass Box

It looks as though Mother Nature decided she had been neglecting New Mexico of snow! So to make up for the past few years, she has decided to dump it all at once, and maybe throw in a blizzard! Bring forth the snow!!! I will frolic with my dogs and throw snow balls at my family!

This past weekend we had our first snow of the year! Woohoo! But I decided that I needed to get my photos more organized. So, I pretty much lived in my pj's all weekend and barely trudged through the snow! As I started pulling up my photos and wondering how certain pictures ended up in bizarre folders, I came across my flowers pictures.

Most of my flower pics came from the Texas Texas Greenhouse and Gardens. I loved working in the greenhouse. The warmth. The smells. The pretty flowers. There's a great feeling of warmth when you walk out of the 20 degree weather and into the humid atmosphere of a greenhouse. Literally, a great feeling of warmth! It's amazing how warm it is inside a box of glass filled with plants.

My favorite thing about the greenhouse was the way the air was filled with the smells of the outdoors and felt like a warm summer morning in Virginia. The greenhouse I took care of, greenhouse 3, was like my own personal jungle. It was home to mostly all indoor plants, so the main color was green. Not just one green though, but variations of greens. I would spend hours in there watering, fertilizing, cleaning, rearranging, and just sitting between the jade plants and ficus trees contemplating life. It was my personal heaven in a glass box.

How To Lose Your Grandmother

I hope everyone has recovered from the turkey comas and have found their way out of their stretchy pants and enjoyed the chaotic day of Black Friday!

I decided I would be like all the crazy people on Black Friday and go shopping in the wee hours of the morning with my dad. First off, I am not a morning person. Secondly, I am not a morning person. So the odds of me being cheery at 5 AM are VERY unlikely! We find our way out to Sam's Club (the least crowded place) and made it through with flying colors. We were in and out in 25 minutes! Luckily, no one was hurt in the making of Black Friday......in the early hours.

Which leads me into round 2 with my grandmother! I am not as grumpy at 9:30AM, but I am still pretty tired. I took Grammie to pick up some things around town and then headed to Super Wal-Mart. My Grammie is a spirited 89 year old woman with Fighting Irish blood! Unfortunately, I have the same blood running through my veins and my temper can flare. As we walked into Wal-Mart, she heads off to the food section and I ran back to find her some window cleaner. She "tells" me she will stay in that section. Well, that should have been a red flag waving in the air! Ten minutes later....no Grammie in sight. I walk through every aisle twice...NO GRAMMIE. I speed walk to the clothing area, medicine area, Christmas area, Electronics..no Grammie. I made my way back to the food section 5 times! The thoughts running through my head were "how can I lose a lady carrying an oxygen tank," "I don't hear sirens, so I hope she's not hurt," and "How am I going to explain losing my grandmother to my mom. She will NOT be happy." As I am making my way to Customer Service to see if she is there (hopefully not hurt) I spot her chatting away at the check-out counter. I was relieved that I wasn't going to have to have Wal-Mart announce " Would Grammie meet her granddaughter at check-out counter 4."

As I reach her, I found myself giving her a lecture my mom would have given me. "Where in the world have you been? I leave you for a few minutes and then you vanish! I have been looking everywhere for you!" When did I become my mother? All I get out of my grandmother is a chuckle and "I never left the food aisle." Since I am smart and wise for my age, I left it at that!

Sitting here writing this entry makes me think of the song, "Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer." Oh if it were that simple! HEY NOW! Just kidding. I love my Grammie very much and even though she might have given me a heartache at a young age, I still enjoy the time I get to spend with her. Like my brother put it..."It's like Driving Miss Daisy!"

The Blonde

The blonde. He is smart. He is funny. He is pretty. He is furry. He is Charlie Dog! He is my loyal companion.
I adopted this fuzz-ball 4 years ago from the dog pound. He had been a runaway and nothing but fur and bones. I am happy to tell you he has beaten hunger with flying colors! In fact, there is absolutely no proof he was ever that skinny.

It's hard to believe that I almost gave him away after I got him. There were many circumstances that pushed me closer to finding somebody to take him. When I finally found someone that would take him, there was something in me that couldn't follow through. Thank goodness for that feeling.
He is a crazy mutt that likes to swim. He loves to roll on his back with a toy in his mouth and play like a cat with the toy. He has a nose for pecans in the deep grass. He loves to wake me up by nudging my hand thats hanging off the side of the bed. He likes to dance with me when a good song is on and enjoys those gentle butt rubs in the morning to get his hips loosened up. He is a poser whenever there is a camera around. Point a camera in his direction and he will stop in a dead run to pose.

What do I get for bragging about this mangy pup? I get an awesome picture of his "far off" look! Except that the intense look you see........sigh......is him gazing towards his best bud........not me, but my dad. I guess the saying is true...."Man's Best Friend!"

Sunflower Fields Forever

Back in August, I was asked to go over to Lubbock, TX and be the DJ/photographer/dance instructor for a Sweet 16 birthday party. I know what you're asking yourself. "Can she really be that talented?" Of course not! If I was an expert at all those, then the party-goers would have danced to the music, the pictures wouldn't have been blurry, and I wouldn't be on YouTube dancing to the Hokey Pokey with Robbie, Sam, and Faith. But the party turned out to be fun and the girl was definitely surprised! Which was the purpose to the whole party. Though the party had been fun, I was excited for the drive back home. Not because I was excited to get home, but because of the scenery!

Living in the desert has its advantages. You can see for miles!! As I was half way home, I caught a glimpse of yellow in the distance. SUNFLOWERS!!! I felt like I was in a picture that I had hanging in my room as a kid. Acres of sunflowers everywhere. So, I pulled over, parked the truck, scrambled to find the camera that I usually have next to me, and bounded out of the truck. WOOHOO! I was in sunflower heaven!



It was a nice change to see yellow, rather than fields of snowy white cotton! The farmer's bad luck at a failed cotton crop was my good fortune. It was a good thing that sunflower seeds were cheap this year!

Photography

This weekend I decided I needed to start posting pictures on this blog, since that is the main reason I started. I have been obsessed with taking photos for a long time now. I can't remember when I got my first camera, I think it was pink, but I can remember when I got my first SLR Canon Rebel camera. It was Christmas '01. I was sooo excited about it! Of course I took family Christmas pics, but I remember going out to the wildlife refuge to take pictures of the birds landing on the water. It was freezing, there weren't any birds, and I really had no clue how to use the camera. I got a few photos, but nothing that were spectacular.

I have advanced now to a digital SLR Nikon D40. I got it for Christmas two years ago! I love it. I take it everywhere with me. It has gone to the beaches of Normandy, the top of the Eiffel Tower, the streets of Vegas, the sandy beaches of Kauai, Hawaii, and everywhere in between. My latest subject has been my nephew. He is a little over a month old and is the most gifted and cutest baby ever! Isn't that what the favorite aunt is supposed to say? So, here's the baby!




My mom wanted a picture with the blue camo outfit. They had a blue camo blanket that matched his clothes! Brilliant, lets put the baby on that. The only downside was that he blended in too well with the blanket.

The First Blog

As I am thinking about what to write for the first blog, my mind starts to lose track of what I was doing. The thought process began with the idea of writing about why I started a blog. Then the thoughts went to wondering if anybody is actually going to read my blogs. That thought produced the other thought that I should email people about the new blog I am starting. When I was thinking about who I should email, I realized I needed to email someone at work....then the phone rings and I forgot entirely what I was thinking. Yet again, I am drawn back to the beginning process of thinking about what to write and why I have a blog. All of a sudden...a light bulb pops into my head with a brilliant thought!!!
I think that I think too much!
I knew if I thought about it hard enough, I would find something to write about! And I did. I wrote about my thoughts! Which is why I started a blog! (and to post pictures that I take)

I could go on all day about how one thought leads to something random and far from the first thought, but I probably have you thinking that I think too much, and don't want you to get caught up in your own thoughts and not read mine!


Something to think about!
Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?