Hey Barney, where are ya?

The madness of the Wool Fest is over, but the action just keeps on rollin' at the Cottonwood! Right now I'm watching a "murder" of crows torment my newest pullets. At this age (probably around 5 or 6 months, but I'm not sure as they were a rescue group from ABQ) they are unable to resist challenging everything and everyone in sight. As a result they run around a lot while the crows clean up on their food. Right now Gina and Rita (two buff cochins) and Myrna (a red cap) are almost insane. I thought I should let Barney Sharptalons know there were more babes here than Bernard could handle. Come on Barney, show yourself.... Keep posted for more photos- these actually good ones as they have been taken by an experienced amateur photographer Fred Z., one of our guests this week. He braved the camera pecking emus to get some good action shots. He also managed to sure the camera shy Elvis over for some candid shots.

Weaving workshop and more!!

The first Cottonwood Inn Weaving Weekend was a smashing success and several priceless masterpieces were created!! Well, err, maybe not PRICELESS on the open market but certainly priceless in terms of fun and experience. Julie Cloutman of Taos Fiber Arts is a tireless and enthusiastic teacher of weaving. Julie's 30 plus years of experience at places like Weaving Southwest-- where she wove prior to opening her Taos Fiber Arts workshop and gallery-- showed in both her ability to teach and her excitement for the art of weaving. She will be offering her two-day class every month at her studio/gallery. For more information either contact the Cottonwood Inn or visit her website at: Next on the Cottonwood's workshop and fun calendar is the Murder Mystery weekend, the last weekend in October (sorry, no spaces left for this month's dinner and murder) and Soapmaking with Shantal, which is the last weekend in November and will cover two days in which each participant will get to take away 10 lbs of soap-- 5 lye-based and 5 glycerine. Contact the Cottonwood for more details.

Just a quick post to let any readers know that the Cottonwood Inn is hosting an Introduction to Tapestry Weaving workshop the third weekend in September, and a murder mystery dinner the last weekend in October. Check out our website-- taos-cottonwoo.com, and see if you can fit either of these fun events into your schedule. Spaces are limited in both events-- 4 for the weaving (2 left!) and 10 for the murder mystery dinner (4 left!)

Granola Recipe

A lot of guests have been asking for our granola recipe, which is simply straight out of "The Innkeepers Collection Cookbook" by C. Vincent Shortt. Cafe Marquesa's Granola 3 cups steel-cut rolled oats (or any heavy rolled oats) 1 3/4 almonds 2 1/4 cups sunflower seeds 1 cup pumpkin seeds 1/3 cup honey 1/3 cup pure maple syrup 2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon (or more!) In a large bowl combine the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds and set aside Combine the oil, honey, syrup, both extracts, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan over medium heat until the mixture becomes watery. About 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 325. Pour the warm oil mixture over the reserved oat mixture and stir until the oats are coated well. Spread the mixture in a large baking pan and bake on the center rack until it turns golden, checking every 10 minutes and stirring so it won't burn. Remove and toss until dry and crispy

Barney Sharp Talons

Barney, when are you coming back to the Cottonwood?? We've got a whole new raft of hens and they are dying to meet you. Bernard is overwhelmed with ladies and the time is right to make a move.... Come on Barney, bring it on.

Mr. Snuggles settles in at the Cottonwood Inn

Our new llama, courtesy of our friends over at Wild Earth Llama Adventures, has not only settled in, he seems to have fallen in love with one of the new emus. He also enjoys snuggling up and sleeping with Sparky during the afternoon siesta.

If you ever get the chance, definitely sign on for the "Take a Llama to Lunch" hike that Stuart over at Wild Earth offers. Stuart currently has his hands full with even more rescue llamas-- Mr. Snuggles was just one of over 2 dozen Stuart took in last year.

The weather has been warm and sunny, and all the creatures have been enjoying a respite from the frosty morning temps. Next week were supposed to get one more nice "arctic blast" before the end of the ski season here in Taos. If you haven't hit the slope yet this year, there is still time! Come and ski world-class hills, eat great food, watch beautiful sunsets and snuggle with a llama (or emu. Or chicken, or dog or or ....)

When Chickens Go Bad....

I believe this photo speaks for itself.

Pictures of the new beasties and some great snow

New Snow at the Cottonwood Inn


Wow, what a morning! When it finally got light outside (remember-- daylight savings!) I saw that 6 inches of snow had fallen during the night. Up at the Taos Ski Valley it kept snowing until after noon. Yeehaw!

Anyhow, here are some pictures of the snow, the emus, and our new rescue llama Elvis (or Mr. Snuggles, I can't decide). The emus are Thing One and Thing Two. It's not easy to photograph an emu. As I was taking these photos they were trying to eat the camera and camera strap. Why were they doing this? I'm guessing it was because the bluetooth one of them ate two days ago was so DARNED tasty. Seriously, one of the Things ate my new bluetooth. I haven't come across it in the pasture yet....





Thing Two trying to eat the Camera

New emus at the Cottonwood Inn!

These two guys/girls?? are the neatest critters! They are so playful that they have worn out the two pups. I really need to get them some beach balls and other toys to chase around.

I won't know their gender until they are a bit older-- maybe September. As it is, they are like having two 2 year-olds who have just slammed down a Jolt cola, eaten 10 pounds of candy and woken up on Christmas morning. All the time.

Picture of Lavinia and also photos of my fabulous Red Wiggler farm

Here is the photo of Lavinia I couldn't add to the last post for some weird reason. She's the one about to molest the Christmas tree.



Also, for Christmas I received an earthworm farm from my sister-in-law Teah. It is just the coolest thing ever. This is the deluxe version and has several trays for MANY worms. In fact, it is called La Maison-de-Vers. Nothing but the finest for the red wigglers of the Cottonwood B & B.

I've been feeding them and they seem to be very happy. They are not too picky-- leaves, shredded cardboard, and a few veggie scraps.

Here are some pictures of the new Cottonwood Inn pets:


happy wigglers



Hank/Henrietta reclining in comfort in my hand

A tale of two chickens

Of course it's a post about chickens. I may have mentioned that I adopted several young hens (and 2 roosters) last fall. At first they were terrified of humans and ran for cover whenever I went into the henway with snacks. Now they are absolutely the biggest beggars on the planet.

They're all pretty bad, but the two who tie-break for the Number One position are Lavinia and Betty. (Photos to follow) Now I just walk out the door and these two chickens are up on the 6 ft fence and over, running up to me and standing on my feet. NO kidding. A couple of weeks ago one of our guests was packing to leave and left his truck door open. When he went to put in another piece of baggage he found Lavinia in the front seat searching for items to steal. Luckily the guest was delighted and sprinted off to get his camera.

Betty, the second hen gone bad, has also been climbing into vehicles. She jumped into the back of my truck and took a brief ride down to the feed store-- unbeknownst to me until I opened the tailgate to throw in some straw.

Maybe I can get some money out of Ford if I send them photos of my Ford-obsessed wild girls.

In any case, I've started to hid my truck keys and will advise guests to do likewise....

oh, and a cute older picture of Shmoo, too.



Betty