More on spiders and a cafe discovery

We didn't get a lot of work done on the house this trip. I spent most of the time cleaning out the "casita," the travel trailer we had been using, which left Gerald on his own to put up some backer board in the guest bathroom shower so we could start tiling.

Meanwhile Bubba seemed to be feeling a little too at home at the land. On Thursday evening, he disappeared after his dinner and was gone for long enough to make us feel uncomfortable, especially given the recent mountain lion sightings in the area and the tracks I found not far from the house. We called and called and he finally came back, looking rather sheepishly like he'd had a fight with a mud puddle and the mud won.

Even the hose couldn't get him clean. The next night after he had his dinner, we erected barricades to keep him in the house or on the porch.

On Friday, Gerald met with a local guy who is liquidating an awesome inventory of reclaimed wood. Meanwhile I had an interview with folks from the Spider Pharm. We'd heard about the Spider Pharm from Siggy, the owner of Rumors restaurant, where we try to eat dinner at least once when we're at the land. A few months ago, Siggy told us Mike Rowe from the Discovery Channel show "Dirty Jobs" had been in to eat with his crew. Apparently, they had been filming a segment on the Spider Pharm, which was located in an unassuming pink house next door to the restaurant.

Turns out, this couple, Chuck and Anita Kristensen, collect and raise spiders and scorpions in this little unmarked house and milk them for their venom. They ship it all over the world for antivenom and medical research. The interview was fascinating. Chuck studied animal behavior, then got a degree in chemistry and put his education to work in this unusual way after he discovered that little was known about venoms because there was no supplier. Since then, research has found many therapeutic uses for substances found in the venoms, including treatments for stoke, diabetes and cardiac arrhythmias.

Anita was packaging up a shipment of scorpions when I got there, transferring them from mini habitats in containers of the type you might get at the deli full of potato salad and transferring them to Ziploc sandwich bags. She was funny. I asked her how she got into this business and she said, "I met my husband." She added drolly, "I had an idea that I wanted to work with animals."

Chuck and Anita recommended the Cafe behind the Kokopelli Antiques Store. Gerald had found it one day and we always wanted to try it, so after my interview we went. I couldn't believe it took us so long to try it. It was charming. I've included pictures here that, unfortunately, don't do the place justice.

The patio was sun dappled with sunflowers and vines everywhere. The tables were covered in oilcloth and shaded by umbrellas or canopies. Each came with a fly swatter, which we understood once our food arrived. An aviary housed finches and mourning doves. Chickens ran around loose. Two cute residences were at the back. It seemed they housed the owners of the antiques store and cafe respectively, and a hair salon.

The cafe has a walk-up counter where Gerald and I ordered a pressed paninni and a hamburger. Both were good. It's not a place to go if you're in a hurry. The food took a while. But it's a lovely place to sit with the paper and a cup of coffee.