First Transmission from The Cottonwood B and B!

Well, I'm off to a rocky start-- I've already managed to write my first post in Hindi-- which may have been more helpful to some than others. Now that I've got the transliteration issue cleared up, I just wanted to start off by thanking one of our recent guests, Robyn from Denver. Robyn suggested that a blog would be a good way to reach all those folks who are interested in the doings of the owners of The Cottonwood Inn (me & Brantly), what's new with our fabulous pets, and what's going on around Taos.

As some of you might know, I recently got 14 Giant Cochin Chicks and started down the road to Chicken-Mania. The Girls, as we call them collectively, arrived at the Arroyo Seco post office when they were less than a day-old. After spending the first three weeks in a large cardboard box, they finally graduated to the small coop in the back yard. They adjusted well and were on their way to establishing a pretty serious pecking order when the neighbor's dog (known to us only as 'Brownie,' the name given him by Anita, our housekeeping WonderWoman) broke into the yard and killed at least one chicken and dispersed another four. Unfortunately, Maud and Christine were among that number. We had hoped, for the first 5 days, that we might get some of our girls back, but we haven't been that lucky.

In any case, there have been serious re-adjustments inside the coop and out. Brantly and I have decided to construct a very large run for the girls in lieu of fencing the entire yard-- a job for a later date, as it is too costly and too big a job for this year. I will post new pictures as they develop (yes, a bad pun).

The weather has been cooling down the last few days, and it is actually raining out as I type. We're hoping for a nice hard rain to spruce up the parts of the yard we've had a hard time keeping watered. We're also hoping it will cool things down and settle the dust for 22nd Taos Po-Wow, which is coming up next weekend (see http://www.taospueblo.com for more information).

Brantly is making another batch of his much sought after watermelon pickles (hey, don't knock 'em 'til you try 'em). I'm still working on a breakfast menu which is complemented by pickles....

We made the mistake of playing cards with some of our guests-- Terry and Peter from OK. In keeping with tradition (viz. the trouncing we took last Christmas from our Belgian guests) Terry and Peter first did the "we haven't played Spades in YEARS!" routine before they thrashed us soundly. Hey, we're starting to get used to it. It makes me wonder what will happen to us the first time we get to play against actual human opponents at a Bridge table....

Even though our gardens are in full and spectacular bloom, there are still weeds popping up all over. Which leads me to mention a new requirement at the Cottonwood Inn-- bring your weeding tools and gloves, beverages will be provided....