We're #6! We're #6!

I love posting articles written about Taos, wonderful Taos. Money Journal just came out with their "10 most liked US Cities" list and we ranked sixth.  Forgetting the fact that we are actually a town....not a city...this is pretty cool.  Major cities like Seattle, Portland Oregon, Boston and New York City made the list and then there is Taos.  How cool is that?

The magazine wrote:

"6- Taos, New Mexico – This historic Spanish outpost is still one of America’s most popular towns. Long a hub for artists and counterculture types, this small city now hosts a world class music festival and attracts visitors from all over the world. Taos might be America’s most popular small city."

You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.

We were also featured in a Forbes article titled "America's Prettiest Towns".  This time we were third out of twenty.  Forbes said:

"Taos, a stunningly beautiful mountain community located just north of Santa Fe, has earned a reputation for one of the country’s most captivating small towns. Although it is now known as a winter playground for its world-class skiing, and year-round getaway for the rich and famous, Taos retains its small-town feel while increasingly becoming an artistic hub. Santa Fe’s designation as a UNESCO Creative City has no doubt led to some spillover, but Taos’ beauty would attract artists despite outside influences. Majestic mountains, the kind of blue sky you only get at higher elevations (almost 7,000 feet – a good 1,800 or so feet higher than Denver and its “mile-high” moniker), and the desert climate all add to the traditional, Santa-Fe architectural style of the town’s center. The neighboring Taos Pueblo is a popular tourist destination and a designated National Historic Landmark."

You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.

I, of course, agree with every point except that we attract all kinds of people from all walks of life...not just the aforementioned "rich and famous".  If you live here you know how amazing Taos is.  If you have not visited yet, what are you waiting for?

My best,
diane
November 16, 2013

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A Construction Project in Taos

yikes! trenching while saving adobe wall

The long awaited room addition has finally begun.  After a year of planning, easement issues with a neighbor, Planning Department issues with the town, (They required a lot consolidation and then the Town Planner resigned right in the middle of the permit application review and we had to wait until the replacement was hired), and design challenges we are ready to go!

This is a small addition, only about 600 sq ft, but when you own a historic adobe home new construction presents challenges you never could have imagined.  For example, the existing home has, literally, no foundation.  The floor sits on dirt. The addition will have a regular foundation, sub floor, radiant heat...the works. Connecting the new to the old "floor" requires massive expertise in this area.  Happily we have an amazing design/build/contractor with exquisite taste and 30 years of experience with adobe homes.  We got lucky with this one.

shoring up adobe wall

Other examples of the challenges so far....we needed to open up the back adobe wall.  The old adobe "bricks" have become one big adobe mud wall...no more bricks.  The shoring up process was quite the adventure. Then the trenches for the pipes and utilities needed to be dug 8 feet deep to accommodate our weather and the holes went from the front yard, the street, the entire length of the house and around to the back.  Of course, as soon as everything was dug up we had a massive rainstorm that turned to snow.  In early October!  Last year our first snowfall came on December 15th. I think I should take full credit for ending our long drought.

This project is going to be fun, exciting, frustrating, annoying...wonderful.  I plan to post regular updates with photos, stories, learnings and examples of historic building details. I hope you will join me on this journey and share your questions, comments and/or your own construction stories in the comments section at the end of the post.  Wish us luck!

My best,
diane
October 18, 2013

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Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu, New Mexico

It has been raining nonstop for the past 3 days.  Rain is predicted for the next 4 days. This is a normal occurrence for Northern California...in February. This is almost unheard of in Taos. We have been experiencing a severe drought. In fact, the past 3 years have been the driest since 1895.  I am excited to see the final numbers from this rainstorm and the impact on the drought.  I will update you in a future post.

But last week was sunny, warm and glorious.  We decided to take a day trip to Abiquiu, New Mexico and then hike at Ghost Ranch.  What a beautiful day.  You should do this.

Abiquiu is a small unincorporated village located about an hour west of Taos. Best known as the home of the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, now primarily an artist community.  There is an amazing open studios art festival held each year during Columbus Day weekend.  In addition to art, Abiquiu has some of the most beautiful scenery in New Mexico.  We had a picnic at the stunning Abiquiu lake located just a few minutes from the tiny town. Mosey had a terrific time swimming and we soaked up a bit of sun.  Perfect afternoon.

After lunch, we packed up and drove 14 miles north to Ghost Ranch, a 21,000 acre education and conference center known for their retreats, activities, nature, museums and lodging.  If you stay here you can enjoy horseback riding, swimming, tours, camping or stays in cute cottages and white water rafting   It is like summer camp for adults.  But if you come for just the day you can take advantage of the beauty by taking one of the 7 hikes on the property. We only had a few hours so we took the Box Canyon hike.  Check out the Ghost Ranch website for details of the other options.

Box Canyon is a fairly easy hike by New Mexico standards in that the grade only increases by 500 feet. (from 6400 to 6900 feet).  This California living at sea level all her life  girl still gets winded by some of the hikes around here with elevation changes of 3000-4000 ft!! (OK, I don't do those yet).  Box Canyon is about 4 miles round trip and you scramble over huge boulders at the end to take in the view. During the hike you will see a lovely pond, an arroyo, a small stream, beautiful rock formations and blue, blue sky. A perfect way to spend an afternoon. And only an hour from Taos. As always, I am so grateful to call this amazing place home.

My best,
diane
September 14th , 2013

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Summer Flowers

The Taos Garden Club, Los Jardineros, creates dozens of beautiful hanging baskets for the Plaza.  

Wandering around Taos during the months of July and August delivers views of flowers everywhere you look.  Carpets of wildflowers line hillsides, dot roadside lanes and blanket fields & meadows. Cultivated flowers are abundant in home gardens and businesses.  It is all so beautiful I thought I would share some images I have taken in the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

If you have not been here in summer and fall, you may think everything is brown and dusty.  That would be true in early spring, just after snow melt.  But now?  Glorious.  Lots of green...and bright blue skies...and flowers everywhere.  Just gorgeous. We are in the midst of our monsoon season and, while we have not received the usual daily rain, thunder and lightning storms, we have had a few storms a week all summer.  So grass, wildflowers and a bit more water in our rivers. I plan to enjoy every bit of summer possible.  Fall is perfect here...but give me a little more summer please.

Summer is a wonderful time to visit Taos. (but, so is winter, spring and fall).  Come see us...soon.  Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone!

my best,
diane
August 28th , 2013

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Taos Garden & Home Tour 2013

We joined the Garden Club of Taos earlier this year.  Named Los Jardineros (the gardeners), the club is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization which helps beautify Taos and educates its residents on the unique challenges we face gardening in our high desert locale.  Los Jardineros raises funds which are then distributed through grants to local organizations for horticultural projects in the community.  The main fundraiser of the year is the annual garden & home tour.

The tour is traditionally held the first weekend in August.  I had the pleasure of volunteering as a docent this year.  What a wonderful experience.  Four lovely homes were selected...each unique in home design and garden layout.  For a newcomer to Taos, these gardens give such hope as to what is possible regarding plant choices in flowers, vegetables, trees and fruit trees able to survive our short growing season and high altitude.

The homes ranged in style from a LEED certified green home with clean lines and pure spare design to a more traditional adobe with curved walls, beeswax rubbed walls and hand painted murals.  The gardens were spectacular!  My favorite was "my" home...the one where I was a volunteer.

This garden, designed by the homeowner Susie Schwartz was chock full of echinacea, campanula, yarrow, climbing honey suckle, Virginia creepers, creeping thyme, yellow-flowered rue, sedum, Mexican heather, snapdragons. zinnias and veronicas.  Trees such as Persian Hawthorne, Mugo Pine, Blue Spruce, Autumn Blaze Maple and Russian olive to name just a few.  Truly spectacular!

In addition to the tour, there were local artists at each home painting in each garden. What a treat to see these extremely talented individuals working and exhibiting their art in such beautiful settings.

Here is a tip...make plans now to attend this event next year, you will be glad you did.
Oh, and if you are here in Taos and interested in additional information about Los Jardineros, please check out our website here.  Some info from the website:

MEETINGS are held in Taos on the third Thursday of the month between February and October.  At each meeting an invited speaker presents a program on a subject directed to the interests and needs of high desert gardeners. Past topics have included: edible landscapes,permaculture, container gardening, orchid care, selecting the right tree, native and flowering shrubs, raising herbs and vegetables, xeriscape principles, and beneficial insects.

MEMBERSHIP includes admission to the annual Garden & Home Tour held on the first Saturday in August as well as to our Members Only Tour in July.  Members also receive discounts from local businesses.

The hollyhock was selected as the official flower of Los Jardineros in 1949, the first year of the club. Members collected hollyhock seeds for planting along streets, alleyways, and throughout the countryside around Taos.

my best,
diane
August 16th , 2013

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Fiestas de Taos 2013, part 2

So I promised everyone a recap of this year's Fiestas de Taos and started to write a very long blog post. Halfway through I was a bit frustrated because I could not seem to convey the flavor...the pageantry...the colors...the atmosphere.  My solution?  To recap via the photos I took.  Here goes:

Fiestas reminded me of a summer carnival, or street fair, or festival anywhere in the states...with a New Mexican vibe.  Vendor booths line the historic Taos Plaza and many different types of food is sold.  You will find all of the "street fair food" favorites.  You know, those items that we guiltily devour at these type of events...funnel cakes and roasted corn, hamburgers & hot dogs, ribbon fries & fried vegetables, cotton candy & popcorn. Fiestas add traditional Northern New Mexican foods like green chile, fajitas, Indian tacos, burritos, chile rellenos and the only-in-New Mexico...Frito pies.  Many of these dishes have the same name as the more well known Mexican food, but the chiles, beans and spices are different (Check out my blog Red or Green? for additional information)

When I was a child we used to visit San Diego, California for a few weeks each summer. My paternal grandmother lived there and those weeks were filled with visits to the beach, Sea World, the Zoo, baseball games and...always...a trip to Mexico for a day of shopping. My mom loved to walk into each shop, browse the merchandise and then bargain for the best price for anything she found interesting.  The shopping at Fiestas brought me right back to those summer days.  Lots of items...nothing you really need...but watching the people (especially the children) shop, buy and then carry their new treasures around is a wonderful experience.

There is tons of music at Fiestas...a different band every hour...and many of the musicians play for free as a way of supporting the cause.  Fiestas is one of the most important events to the locals here in Taos, especially to the Spanish and Hispanic culture.  I heard a woman describe it as "as important as Thanksgiving and Christmas". Native Taosenos who have moved away make it a point to come back for Fiestas each year and when you wander through the Plaza during the weekend you can see entire families together listening to the music, eating the food, shopping and celebrating just being together.  There is such a sense of tradition...of belonging...of family that I think is the real importance of Fiestas. The theme for this year's Taos Fiestas is "Welcome! Our community is your home".  I think this sums up the "feel"  of Fiestas.

this year's REINA ANGELICA RODRIGUES  (photo fiestas de taos website)

To native Taosenos, nothing may be more important than having a female relative elected to the Royal Court. This court is comprised of a reina (queen) and her princesas (princesses).  The girls are elected after tryouts which include a talent piece, a written essay, answering impromptu questions and submitting a design for their costume among other criteria. Las Fiestas de Taos Royal Court spends the year representing Taos at Fiestas throughout New Mexico.  For most families having a daughter elected to the court is one of the greatest honors in their lifetime.  The Taos News quoted one woman, who had a number of princesas in the family throughout the years and finally had a granddaughter elected reina, as saying "Finally, una reina en la familia!"  (Finally, a queen in the family!)

So...Fiestas de Taos: food, music, shopping, royal court, crowds, loud, tradition, history. Que Vivan las Fiestas de Taos! (Long live the Fiestas de Taos!)

my best,
diane
July 24th , 2013

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