Only in New Mexico?

I followed this truck down the road today. I wondered if it was an only in New Mexico kind of thing.

I've never seen anything like it, but neither have I ever thought about how one would gently move a bunch of red chile ristras.  It seemed pretty ingenious to me.

I was on my way to the Farmer's market at the Rail Yard.  I thought maybe he was, too, but soon after I took this photo, he headed in another direction.

Here's a better look at what he was towing behind him.

Despite a chilly 50-degree morning and the diminished numbers of tourists around town, the market was probably more crowded than ever. Although there was lots of wonderful produce, baked goods, jams, cheeses, etc., New Mexico chiles were the stars of the day. You could smell them being roasted all over the market. I realized that I need to up my chile education–I saw varieties I didn't recognize and heard people using names I don't know ... yet.

I plan to buy a my own big 25 pound bag, have them roasted when I have time to peel them, seed them and freeze them, but in the meantime, I bought a small bag of some that are ready to use.

Here are some photos from my morning:

After I filled my tote with heirloom tomatoes, leeks, broccolini, plums, basil,  summer squash, zucchini, rutabagas, eggs, 2 kinds of locally made goat cheese, walnut bread (perfect for one of the cheeses) and the best balm/lotion I've found since moving to the high desert.  When my shopping was done, I had a late breakfast at the nearby Flying Star Cafe... then came home to start re-arranging my new studio space (again.)

How I celebrated

After wrapping up at the casita where I lived all summer and finishing up my contract, I came home and enjoyed breakfast as late lunch (or early dinner?) on the terrace of my new home and sat and read a bit closer to the end of a one of those books you enjoy and don't want to end.

Look who decided to join me. 

I left the door from the bedroom open to see what would happen.  Grace was first to discover it, wander out, and walk around, meowing loudly, until her brother came to join her.

They wandered out and then back in and then out again to chase a bug (unfortunately a wasp) and then in and then out . . .

I hoped it would be a while before they jumped onto the wall (and possibly beyond to the roof) ... but I knew that whenever the inevitable happened,  Grace Hopper would be the first . . .  and Johnny Be Good would soon follow her ... and as I was typing this, guess which brave kitty was first to leap without knowing what she'd fid on the other side?

First on this wall (an inside wall with roof on the other side ... then on the outside wall (with nothing but the ground far below) and then, followed by Johnny.  

Monkey see, monkey do.

Changing Gears

Today is my last day of my contract at the job that brought me here--as you can tell from my calendar I finished a week early. .



The last day of my lease at the adobe casita is also today. I've turned in my keys and I am ready to begin whatever is next for me.

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Sopaipillas

Lunch at Tia Sophia's is always good ... and it comes with the best sopaipillas–light, puffy squares of deep-fried dough.

Some people eat it along with their meal–there's even a stuffed one on the menu–but I save it for desert, drizzle some honey over it and enjoy--usually half is enough ... and I didn't think to take a photo until my half was already gone.

I'm not usually much of a fan of deep-fried anything, but this may be the exception.  Savory or sweet, the sopaipillas at Tia Sophia's are the best I've had since moving to Santa Fe.

Yum!

Happy Birthday Julia Child

I wonder what Julia would think of this Julia Child Remix, Keep On Cooking.



See more videos and recipes and more Julia goodness on the PBS site at PBS.org/food

Bon appetit!

Lunch with Jane

A couple of weeks ago I won a copy of Jane Sassaman's new book, Patchwork Sassaman Style.

Today, during lunch, I walked to the PO and picked up my mail, including this fabulous book.  Then I walked over to a nearby restaurant for lunch with Jane('s book.) 

Both lunch and the book could be described as VERY TASTY ... and that glass of Pinot Grigio was quite tasty, too :-)

Jane inspires and gives the reader a lot of insight into her design process.  She educates with great "recipes" for 20 quilts with clear instructions.  I also love that she references the traditional blocks that inform the design and layout of her quilts ... I am not a fan of designers who rename well known traditional blocks in their patterns. And she further illuminates her designs by presenting (and explaining) variations on her recipes--one of them features the same Potato Vine fabric as my Prairie Gothic wing chairs.

Thank you, Dragon Threads, for sponsoring this giveaway.

Thank you, Anita Grossman Solomon, for hosting the give-away on your Make It Simpler blog and choosing my name.

Thank you, Jane Sassaman,  for creating another brilliant book for quilters.  I'm thrilled to add it to my resource library.

Fish Out of Water?

This wonderful fish sculpture is on the bank of the Santa Fe River.


These days he really is a fish way out of water ... Because the nearby river is dry.



There was thunder as I walked to Tia Sophia's for lunch. I hope there is rain to follow ... even if I get wet walking back to the office.

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Revisiting the Cotton Robin

Earlier this year, I participated in a Round Robin, organized by Julie.  Everyone in the group made a center and sent it, with some fabric and guidelines to Julie, who figured out which other people would add the borders (twice) and back, quilt and bind the quilts to finish them and send them home.

Exactly who made the quilts was a big mystery until the big reveal. I really felt challenged and had a blast.

This was the center I received first.  I loved everything about it ... except that–before I had read the enclosed notes– I wanted to do with it the thing the quilter explicitly said she didn't really like.

And so I decided to add three different borders and add a bit of whimsey to the design ... and some of the bright color she said she did like.  I also changed the proportions and made it a rectangle.  I wanted to leave a lot of room for whomever followed me with the second round of borders.

Below are photos of the quilt-in-progress that I sent on and the finished quilt with second borders by Julie and finished by Gwen.


The quilt went home to Laurina.  I know that everyone doesn't like words on quilts and I was taking a bit of a design risk, so it made me happy to notice that Laurina had also added words in a border for another quilt in the group.

The second quilt-in-progress had such a great and intricate first border, I wasn't sure how to follow it. 

Andrew designed and pieced that incredible paper-pieced wonder.  As I was considering possible border designs, at times I wasn't sure if I should praise him or curse him. 

I decided that because the piece had such a formal feeling, that I would add classic, framing borders with mitered corners, letting all that work that Andrew did shine, extending his blue outer edge to emphasize all those precise points (surprisingly with a completely different fabric from my stash that was a good color match)  and leaving some space for some pretty quilting. 

Here is Andra's quilt, with borders added by Andrew and me, finished by Laurina.

 

The last quilt-in-progress I received was a stunning finished top. Begun by Tami, with borders added by Julie and Jay.  I had so much fun finishing it ...  and discovered a trick that I know I'll use again. 

 
 

I wasn't sure how to quilt the polka dot circle in the center of the quilt. I liked the idea of cross-hatching but knew that if my lines weren't perfectly straight, because of those polka dots, it would be painfully obvious.

Here's what I learned: by USING those dots as a guide for my lines, I was able to sew perfectly straight and evenly spaced lines WITHOUT marking.

This was so easy and seemed so cool to me that I imagine myself using polka dot fabric with the intention of quilting it like this.

Another interesting thing about those polka dots.  The fabric in in the center is different than the polka dot fabric in the skinny border and they are both different than the polka dot fabric I chose for the backing ... but even when you are holding the quilt in your hands, you really can't tell.

And then there was my quilt.  I had this crazy idea that was somewhat squashed by two job changes and a long-distance move over the course of the robin.

Because I had TWO sets of these fabric samples, I thought it would be interesting to make two starter blocks and make a nesting robin quilt of my own to see what would happen to my twin quilts, separated at birth.

Here are the blocks I made.



I knew I wanted to do stars with fussy cut diamonds cut from that crazy, not exactly striped fabric you can see at the bottom of the samples ... but I guess because it's been a while, they really didn't turn out as perfect (and flat) as I wanted.

But you honestly cannot tell in the quilt that was made from the star on the right by Laurina, Nan and Andra.  I am calling it, A Star is Born.

 

It's twin is still waiting to be "born."   I'll be sure to post them both when I'm done.

You can see more of my in-progress photos in my Flickr photoset, Cotton Robin and photos of all the Cotton Robin quilts on the Big Reveal post of the Cotton Robin group blog.

I'm a Sucker ...

I am a sucker for good graphic design ... and I love this train.

 

The New Mexico Rail Runner travels between Santa Fe and Albuquerque ... and looks good doing it.

There may be some artifacts from my windshield, but that storm rolling in when I took this photo Monday afternoon was real and much appreciated.  The little adobe casita oven has even cooled down a bit.

Fourth of July on the Plaza

Independence Day in Santa Fe begin with Pancakes on the Plaza, an event that combines food, live music, art and classic cars.

I didn't have much of a plan for today, except I knew I'd walk to the plaza and check out the pancakes and art.

Although I arrived soon after things officially began, the pancake line was impressively long, those people below are at the head of the line that was ...

 

 ... so long that it started on one side of the plaza and continuing across the Plaza to the other side and into the row of artist's booths, making for quite the pedestrian traffic snarl. 

I decided I didn't need pancakes and would check out the art instead. 

That's where I discovered Ginger, the coolest cat I've ever met, calm and oblivious to the chaos around him.

I bought a lovely mixing bowl with a spout and handle in a style similar to these pieces from Ginger's owner, Sandra Garcia.  It will be perfect for making ... my own pancakes.

I am not nearly as cool as Ginger the cat when it comes to big crowds in close quarters, so, after I finished my tour of the artist's booths, I headed away from the Plaza in search of coffee.

The line in the coffee shop was also pretty impressively long, but at least I could see from beginning to end.

I left the house not knowing if I would decide to spend the day as a tourist or come back and work on some quilt blocks, but at the coffee shop, I decided that a cool calm museum environment would be perfect, so I walked over to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.  Even though I had checked their website, I wasn't really 100% confident that I'd find them open on the holiday ... but I did.

There are no cameras (nor large purses or bags, day packs, knapsacks, totes or shopping bags) allowed and so I cannot visually share anything beyond this image (from their web site) of an oil painting from the exhibit, Georgia O'Keeffe and the Faraway, Nature and Image. It is called, Part of the Cliff.  Along with all of the fabulous art at the Museum, it was fun to see her camping gear, jeans and tennies from the 1940's as part of this exhibit.

I did bring home some images–on a handful of postcards of some of the NM paintings and the book, Wideness and Wonder, The Life and Art of Georgia O'Keeffe. It was an impulse buy, I didn't look too closely at the words in the gift shop and was pleasantly surprised by the first paragraph:

Georgia O'Keeffe's first visual memory was of the patchwork quilt she used to sit on when she was eight or nine months old.  She vividly remembered two patterns: white with small red stars and black with a red and white flower.

During a docent's talk in the courtyard, she described the 1930's Model A station wagon that O'Keeffe drove on her faraway adventures.  Another museum visitor in the group mentioned that there was one similar to it, though not a station wagon, in the classic car show, so on my walk back home and back through the celebration on the plaza, I went looking for and found it.

The range of cars (and at least one motorcycle) was amazing.

Here are a few more that caught my eye--click for a larger image if they catch yours.

 

I'm not sure what the status is on public fireworks in Santa Fe tonight, since there's a ban in place for the state ... but maybe I'll spend the evening celebrating my independence with a little sewing.  I haven't done nearly enough of that since I moved to Santa Fe and I think a little bit of creativity today would do me a lot of good.

How did you celebrate the day? Did you have fireworks?  BBQ? Some other local tradition? A parade?  

Waiting for Godot the Mover

I arrived at my storage place just after 11 AM and then proceeded to have a series of phone conversations with a U-Haul-recommended mover in which I described where the self-storage was located and he just couldn't seem to figure out where I was.


During the last call, I handed the phone to the Manager of the place, then listened to him say all the same things I had said ... but I guess it finally clicked (or maybe he just needed to hear it from a man to believe that there really was a storage place where I was telling him) and the mover found his way here and the UNloading started at 1PM.

When they finish, I plan to return the truck at a U-Haul dealer that's close enough to walk back to my car and then I am going to pick up something for a late lunch and go hang out with the kitties.

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Location:Santa Fe, New Mexico

Note to Self

The big truck is not only taller than I used to and longer than I am used to, it is also a bit wider--as I was reminded at my last pit stop when I walked around the truck to gas up. Yikes, that was close.


Believe it or not, I was able to squeeze between the truck and the pump enough to see the screen and tap through the options and pump my gas.

As the sun set tonight, I crossed the New Mexico border at Texico, New Mexico--a town whose name always makes me smile as I pass through it. I like the symmetry with Texarkana, too. I wonder if there is a town with a Texas + Oklahoma name somewhere along their shared border? I also gained an hour as I entered Mountain Time which made the day in the truck seem not so long ;-)

I am settled in a hotel room with a to-go salad and a plan for a hot bath and a good sleep ... and another stress-free day tomorrow.

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Location:Clovis,United States

On the road again

According to the AAA TripTik ap and Bing, I am here ...




... doing this. I admit to a bit of fear of finding gas stations along the route that will accommodate the height and length (and turning radius) of the truck. The mechanic scared me with the tale of another driver in a UHaul truck like mine who had a quarter of a tank but "ran out of gas" when going up a hill in North Austin and was forced by the police to back down the road in neutral with no power steering ... I don't want that to be me on this trip.
Here's one more Texas scene from this pit stop ... and now I am on the road again.




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Location:County Road 281,Zephyr,United States

Progress Report

An interesting thing happened when the movers came to load my belongings into the big truck. They wanted to move it to position it a bit better for loading and ... it wouldn't start--no gas.


For the 90 minutes that it took them to load the truck, I was on the phone, mostly on hold, with U-Haul making the argument that it was really bad customer service to give me a truck with enough gas to travel something less than 10 miles-especially when they claimed that the 50 gallon tank was a quarter full.



Two hours later (3 1/2 after my call to U-Haul road service, the mechanic showed up, with his wife riding along, confirmed that I was, indeed, out of gas and put 10 gallons in my tank.

The ordeal has worn me out ... Tomorrow is another day and I think I'm going to have some dinner delivered (too bad I cleaned out all the take out menus earlier today), try to get some sleep in the empty apartment and get an early start tomorrow.

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Are YOU Going to Drive the Truck?

This morning, when I dropped off the van--a local rental--and picked up the truck--a one-way to Santa Fe rental, the manager asked, "are YOU going to drive the truck?"

It is a little daunting ... but I did manage to drive it back to the apartment and park it in the space between two carports and miss the tree out front.

I was reminded of my first U-Haul adventure, when I drove a truck-full of my belongings 2400 miles from Sonoma, California to Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I stayed with quilter friends in Utah and Nebraska and the husband of one of the friends was out of town, but told his wife that he would like to have met a woman that would drive a U-Haul across the country.

This morning I assured the manager that although I wasn't sure if I had driven a truck quite this big, I did manage to drive a truck towing my vehicle through snow and ice for 1200 miles. I blogged about that trip, here.

This is a very big truck--I actually reserved a smaller one, but when U-Haul offered a larger truck at the same price, I took them up on their offer ... remembering how, despite assurances from the movers in Michigan that all my belongings would fit in the truck I had rented, ultimately they didn't.  I'm not looking forward to driving this beast across Texas, but, at least, I know that all my belongings will fit.

When I drove from California to Michigan, the truck broke down in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming and I waited for almost 5 hours for help.  When I drove from Michigan to Texas, the trailer (with my car on it) had a flat and I was on the side of the road, dodging snow plows, after only about 5 minutes on the road.  This truck was supposed to have a 1/4 tank of gas in it, but the fuel gage is resting at less than empty--cross your fingers for me that after it is loaded and I'm on my way, I make it to gas station in time ... and that there are no vehicle problems.

One more time ...

One more time with feeling? I have come back to Texas and am hoping that the third time IS a charm and my plans to complete the move out of my apartment go a lot better than my last trip ... which was supposed to be the last trip.


I started before dawn this morning, so I could drive across town to my storage place before the morning commute turned the highway into a parking lot. After everything was in the van, I made a quick stop at HEB for a couple pounds of their store brand coffee beans, the "Houston" Taste of Texas which has pecan and praline flavoring and coconut flakes.


Then it was time for a breakfast taco at Taco Deli--not an especially appetizing photo, but my "Otto" (with puréed black beans, avocado and bacon) was yummy.


Then on to drop off my DVR at the cable company and back home to finish packing.

While in Santa Fe, I have not missed Austin traffic nor the sticky hot summer weather, but I really DO miss all the great regional products and produce at HEB (and Central Market), the inventive tacos at Taco Deli, the always great service from Time-Warner ... and the strong 4G cell signal in Austin that is non-existent in central Santa Fe (grumble grumble AT&T).

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Location:Austin,United State