Tynan here with this week’s “What’s on the frame” (and the blog).Like last week, she’s still working on the dog bone commission. Has she made one for me? I think we all know the answer to that one. Oh, and BTW, she’s taking some time off.
So, you know how she went on and on last week about how busy she is? As if the whole world isn’t over-scheduled. (Right, I’m not overly busy at all; dogs are smarter than the average human!) Anyway, this week she’s soooo busy that she told me I had to write the post up and get it out. Clearly, she was afraid to tell you that she’s decided, what with everything going on, including a nice vacation on a riverboat in France!!! – no dogs allowed – she’s about to take her annual summertime blog hiatus for a few weeks. Look for her again sometime mid-August. In the meantime, she insists that she can be reached and “seen” through the Facebook page, Instagram, and email.
I want you all to know that I did her bidding, but I’m not happy. 1) I don’t get to hang in Bordeauxon a riverboat eating goat cheese and drinking wine. 2) They wouldn’t let me explore the cave I found yesterday. See, we went hiking on an obscenely easy trail in the Cibola National Forest on the other side of the Sandias. (Okay, the master’s still babying his gouty toe.)
Here’s the mine shaft opening on the Tecolote Trail (No. 264) in the Sandias. Contact me if you’d like to investigate it one day.
As usual, I’m leading the way up the mountain. I’m scanning the trail for the usual suspects: bears, bobcats, mountain lions, geckos. Don’t laugh, those little bastards can sneak up on you and scare the shit out of a dog. Anyway, I take a gander to my left and what do I see – no, not a giant gecko, smart-asses – but a cave. Cool! Who knows what kind of snacks might be hidden in there. I adjust course and head for the opening. Cautiously I enter and next thing I know…someone’s got my tail. Damn, I hate that. “Tynan, get your ass out here!”
Turns out it’s an old mine shaft entrance. But who knows who lives in there now? Not that anyone would let me investigate. Chicken shits! They insisted that we take pictures of the cave, but that’s all. Damn. I just want everyone to know that I was willing and brave enough to find out what was in there. Some others…were not.
Laura here. Just to clarify about that hike. Scaredy Dog really did want to explore the cave, but, yeah, NO! And while it wasn’t the most difficult hike, look who dashed back to his car so that he could rest. Happy summer! Be back after I take some time off.
On that note, I wish you all a good rest of the summer. Like I said, we’ll be back to the blog mid-August. She’ll probably make me write that first one too. I hope that you and your dogs (okay, maybe the cats too) enjoy your vacations even if they’re staycations. And if you’re taking your dogs somewhere cool this summer, PLEASE comment here. It’ll give me more ammunition for next year.
Tynan putting on his best face. Looking good, man! He’s bringing you one of the rugs “on the frame” for this week. “Australian Welcome” is just about done; there are just 12 more little triangles to color in. For some reason this rug seems to have taken forever!
Hey, it’s me Tynan! I’m back again. She couldn’t come up with a good topic for this week’s blog,so she put it on me. Thanks for the favor, Mistress. Not! As if I just have a ready-made post just sitting around my in dog-bed. I’ll take some advance warning next time, sister!
Things haven’t changed much since I last wrote. My fur is still a problem. We live in New Mexico. Sure, it’s high desert, not as bad as Pheonix or Tucson where they close the airports when the tarmac melts. (How is that a real thing???) But Albuquerque is nonetheless in a freaking desert. It’s been in the mid and high 90s for a few weeks, and they still haven’t taken me to the groomers. Again. A long walk that they took me on one morning a week or two ago almost killed me. Thank God for Starbucks! The master, he goes in to buy our refreshments. Leaves me to wait with the mistress. After a l-o-n-g time – do they not see my tongue hanging our of my mouth? – he comes back out with: 1) an iced coffee for himself; 2) a white iced tea for her, and 3) a cup of ice water! What? Not only is it not the iced caramel machiatto that I requested, it’s a cup of water. Just water. No whipped cream, no caramel drizzled on top, no nothing. Poo! Blech! And have you ever seen a dog try to drink from a cup? Not the easiest thing to do. My swollen, over-heated tongue loses half of the liquid while she holds the cup in front of me. At least she went in and had the cup refilled. Thank God for small, miniscule, itty-bitty favors.
Just look at all the fur on me! I wish she’d put the ceiling fan on high. And the AC even higher. This High on Hooking Dog deserves more respect. And a damn haircut!
Not that I want to bore your with my grievances, but they’ve been promising me that we’d go hiking all spring-into-summer. And yet, and yet, we haven’t done any hiking. First there was her big RA flare-up, then he had to one-up her with a big, old gout attack. Both feet. I did kind of feel sorry for him. No walking really for weeks with me and the mistress. But he’s feeling much better now. Finally talked to a doctor, and she’s getting by enough, but are we going hiking, preferably somewhere cooler, like up the Sandiasor to Nambe Falls where we could even get wet? No, not at all. And now that this stupid New Mexico drought had gotten so bad, they’ve closed all the national and state forests and such. Didn’t want to, but people are stupid with campfires and cigarettes, and forest fires are a real thing here. So, we’re sh… out of luck. What’s a dog to do but lie on the bed in the air conditioned air and under the ceiling fan…
I’ll tell you though, there’s a definite bright spot in this hot, summery, New Mexican dog’s life.
Sorry, couldn’t find a pic of my new best friend Darlene, but here’s one of her rugs. Ask her who the designer was. I’m a dog, not a rug hooker.
Vacation’s coming! Yesiree! Yep, the humans are going on vacation in August, the two of them alone on a river cruise. (Can’t wait to hear how they resolve the whole problem of her light sleeping and his industrial snoring. If you have any ideas, write’em down in the comment section below.) Me, I was supposed to go to one of those doggy “resorts” – resort, my ass! – but one of my lovely hooking ladies – Darlene – and Rex her husband have offered to let me bunk at their place. You should see it: Trees and real grass! Not that fake putting green like we have here. I burn my pads on it! Their yard’s bigger than ours too. Lots of places to sniff out geckos and rabbits. And to do my business in private, if you get my drift. Best of all is their liberal offerings of treats. One time I was there and Rex brings me out a big-ass bowl of lunch. Lunch! Mistress up and tells him, Oh, Tynan doesn’t eat lunch, Rex. Bitch queered my action. Still, I got a half of that bowl and some other treats from Mary, another one of my hooking babes. She lives near Darlene and Rex and might take me for a walk or something that week. She has a good house too. Lots of birds; always an excellent thing. I might catch one one day. If I try a little harder. Maybe. When it’s not so warm.
That’s my story. Today. Tune in again to see if she lets me have the laptop again. Hope you’re
No. it’s not too exciting. Yet! Slowly working our way around the perimeter of the “Big Boucherouite.” Hoping to have more time to work on it in the coming month. Remember that it’s got a due date – March 1 – in order to enter it into next year’s Fiber Arts Fiesta here in Albuquerque. Check out the into here. Can enter starting January 1. You don’t have to be local!
cooler than I am. Or at least have good AC and a haircut.
Tynan, the High on Hooking Dog
Notes from Laura:
Tynan has a haircut scheduled for later today. he’s just not aware of it. He’s not usually too excited to go there, though it’s not as bad as going to the V-E-T.
Apparently, Nambe Falls is open, and they allow dogs. We’ll try to get up that way later this week. Don’t tell the High on Hooking Dog, though. It’ll be a surprise.
We finally did it! After like eight hundred LONG years (okay, really it was only eight years, still really LONG), Tom and I were finally able to get away for a few nights of adventure. Our empty-nestedness still holding, last Monday we loaded up the car with bags, snacks, hiking boots, and, of course, Tynan and headed south towards Silver City.
Looking back to the east on our way to Silver City. Just outside of Hillsboro, NM. Make sure to pray for no car trouble because your cell phone is worthless here.
Anyone else see a rug hooking possibility in this photo?It’s spring and the cholla’s blooming!Mixed feelings alert! This pic was taking at the Chino Mine Vista Point. It’s the best place to attempt to take in the immensity of what we read is the third largest open pit mine in the world (!!!). The Chino Mine facilities clearly make a HUGE mess of the natural surroundings. On a scale that boggles the mind. That being said, they’ve been here since the 1800s. More importantly, I surmise that the employment they provide to locals is pretty important. I wish I had an answer…
Driving to Silver City is almost a “you can’t get there form here” experience. It certainly reminds us that we aren’t in New England any more. First you head down Interstate 25 for a few hours. After Truth or Consequences, you bang a right off an exit that puts the Rio Grande River to your backside, and you head east/southeast eventually into the far reaches of the Gila National Forest. You’re on a narrow road with lots of ups and downs and twisty-turnies. And fabulous views. More hours than you think later, you level out, the road straightens, and Silver City is almost within sight. If it weren’t for more mountains, mines, big sky, cows, and sweeping vistas. But you will make it; I promise.
Blistering on tree bark caused by a forest fire slooks like dragon scales. (Karen Miller of Karen D. Miller Studio, I was thinking of you!)
Despite being known as a tourist destination, Silver City is mostly a town filled with friendly working folks, artists, college students, and retirees going about their daily lives. It’s colorful, lots of art – galleries, shops, studios. Very shabby chic and a little on the edge what with a number of empty storefronts along the main drag. One hopes that summer’s activities and tourists
There be more dragons in these hills!
can change that, fill the place up a little more, provide some employment for the locals. There are plenty of restaurants, but be advised that a number are closed on Mondays – at least during shoulder season.
The supercilious attitude of these deer was palpable when I took the shot. “F-ing tourists…”
Mr. (or Mrs.?) Quail didn’t give a crap about me either.
Nope, our trip was about getting away, relaxing – when we weren’t driving, that is. The one full day we stayed in town was spent on a fairly leisurely hike, finding a great lunch, and poking in and out of little shops. I swam in the hotel pool and read my book. Later we headed into the tiny community of Piños Altos for dinner at the Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House. The historic bar was authentic though I doubt that back in the 1860s they were serving goat cheese and aioli with their burgers. Still, very yummy. Excellent fries and a good beverage list.
Somewhere north of Silver City in Big Sky Country. (I think you could fit Rhode Island in just this picture!)
Tynan contemplating the beginning of the Catwalk.
Wednesday we climbed back into the car and headed up north along the Arizona border. It’s a desolate and supremely beautiful ride. Lots of ranch land, not a lot of people or infrastructure. Gas up in Silver City, people! This is Big Valley for real! And big mountains too. We detoured to the Catwalk Recreation Area because I’d seen pictures that looked quite intriguing. (New Englanders, this is the Flume on steroids. With a lot less trees and humidity.) We even got to ford a river. Twice. In a Honda Accord, that can be rather…exciting. We made it, so it was okay. Just like I told Tom it would be. Even though I wasn’t driving…
The Catwalk trail built into the sides of the slot canyon and hanging over the river. Tynan really didn’t like walking on the catwalk. We tried to tell him it was just a name, that they could have just as easily named it the dogwalk.
Now that Tom and I remember how to do the get-away thing, we plan on making it the habit it was a couple of decades ago. And since the snow’s on its way out up north, it’s almost time to go that way. And west; there’s still plenty of west between us and the Pacific. We didn’t move all the way cross country to sit on our butts.
Someone installed this mosaic into the side of a Silver City building. To me it screams this is the southwest, a little rough, but filled with unexpected beauty.
Have any travel ideas for High on Hooking? List’em here in the comments ’cause we’re raring to roam everywhere now!
“Kasha-Katuwe” means “White Cliff” in the native language of the Cochiti pueblo people. The tapered rock formations are called hoodoos (or tents). Some still retain their “boulder caps.”
“Make sure you visit Tent Rocks,” both friends and acquaintances told us. “Go now, before the it gets too hot.” Actually, they said that back in March. We finally made it Sunday even though we couldn’t take Tynan (the dog) which was what made us hesitate earlier. He loves going to new, outdoorsy places. But even without him there, it was easily the BEST, MOST INTERESTING FIELD TRIP since we moved to New Mexico back in August.
Tent Rocks are the products of volcanic eruptions that happened 6 or 7 million years ago.
Technically, the national monument is Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. It’s located about an hour north and west of Albuquerque. There are very cool geologic formations as well as a couple trails with wicked vistas that include views of the Sandia, Sangre de Cristo, and Jemez mountains and the Rio Grande River valley.
Entrance to the slot canyon portion of the Slot Canyon Trail.
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (because why should I re-write the wheel?):
The cone-shaped tent rock formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago and left pumice, ash, and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick. Tremendous explosions from the Jemez volcanic field spewed pyroclasts (rock fragments), while searing hot gases blasted down slopes in an incandescent avalanche called a “pyroclastic flow.”
Precariously perched on many of the tapering hoodoos are boulder caps that protect the softer pumice and tuff below. Some tents have lost their hard, resistant caprocks, and are disintegrating. While fairly uniform in shape, the tent rock formations vary in height from a few feet up to 90 feet.
The view from the top of the mesa. The climb there was quite satisfying. I’m not sure if those are the Sangre de Cristos or the Jemez mountains. Either way, we were jiving on the undulating cliffs.
What are the cool, touristy places you can visit in your area? How do they provide inspiration for your art?
It’s as if the trees grow right out of the rocks! Check out those gorgeous stone curves. They encourage you to wend your way to the right, to keep following the path. And maybe even to create an abstract rug based on them.Unfortunately, I’m not up on my high desert botany yet, so I can’t give you a name, but aren’t these gorgeous? Who says the desert is boring and…brown? I see bright orange flowers in a near-future mat…
Tynan having a grand, old time in the snowy Sandias.
New Mexico is a great place for nature. It was a big reason for moving to Albuquerque; that is, we wanted a more outdoor lifestyle than New England’s winters afforded us. (And I hated being cold for six to eight months straight.) Make no mistake, there is winter here. We’ve had snow a couple of times now, and morning temperatures are usually in the high teens to lower twenties. Makes for cold walks with the dog in the Bosque, the forest along the Rio Grande.
The Sandias as viewed from our neighborhood on Albuquerque’s west side. Winter hiking and skiing are excellent on the other side.
Monday was a big, bodacious day in Albuquerque with lots of sunshine filling the sky. Tom and I packed the dog and some gear in the car and headed around to the other side of the Sandia Mountains. Winter abides more forcefully there. They even have a ski area. One of the last big storms dumped about 21 inches of the white stuff on the slopes. And on the trail we decided to hike.
I had considered bringing my snowshoes, but Tom needs new ones, so they stayed home. No worries. The trail is a popular one. Other “snowshoers” and hikers had blazed the way creating a nice hard-pack. Boots were fine. Of course, if you stepped off the trail, you dropped way down to at least your knees. And your boots filled with snow.
I spy a nature inspired abstract mat here! Check out all the bore holes.
I always take my camera (i.e., phone) with me when we go, hoping to find something nature-ific that might inspire a rug or four. We weren’t disappointed yesterday. Clearly, there’s been a fair amount of evergreen dieback in the forest in the Sandias which is actually part of the Cibola National Forest. But as the trees decay, they make for the most interesting subjects to study, if only aesthetically. I was quite taken with the one in the photos. It might have a future in fiber.
Another view of my tree.
After our most pleasant of snowy, winter hikes (it was about 45 with the slightest breeze), we wound our way up to the Crest of the mountains. By car. Much colder with a wicked wind, from there we could look out over Albuquerque metro area and to other snow-covered mountains to the north, south, and west. Very impressive.
The view from Sandia Crest looking to the southwest. Our house is somewhere to the right.
Then it was goodbye to the snow and the cold. A quick 40- or so minute ride down the mountain and through the pass and we were home, on the city’s warmer west side. Tired, we opened a bottle of red wine and toasted our good fortune. Next week we’re off to the west (by only a couple of miles) to further explore Petroglyph National Monument.
I know that nature inspires many of you when you hook, paint, write, and make other forms of art. Please share some of those marvelous creations.
PS – I’m off this weekend to Tucson to attend the hook-in put on by the Old Pueblo Rug Hookers there. I’m told it’s an eight-hour drive. Four of us from the Adobe Wool Arts guild are going. Hope to have lots of pics for you next week. In the meantime I’m off to the liquor store for a bottle or two of chardonnay to share with the ladies.
