Retiring to the Frontier Part 3 and a Fond Adios

Liza Jane

I wanted to finish this three part post by talking about Northern New Mexico culture, but I've realized that there are multiple cultures here and many of us have picked up ways of living from all of them.

It's an appreciation of heritage, of having a connection to this place for hundreds of years. Our friend Ernest Martinez' family goes back to the 1800's. We live on a ranch that was once owned by his grandparents.

Ernesto Martinez

It's a reverence for spirituality, be it organized Catholic religion or a celebration of just being part of This Earth.

Santa Rita Catholic Church, Lucero, NM

Good Friday Pilgrims

It's a sense of community, whether it's making a quilt together, voting, or celebrating Summer Solstice.

It's doing it yourself, self reliance, and an appreciation for the animals that sustain you.

Tom staking the bridge after a flood

Bridget doing something rare: Feeding the stock

It's growing your own food, but also relying on a little help from our friends, trading this for that, sharing seedlings, and seeds, and know-how.

It's about water: What sustains our animals, our crops, and us.

And it's about querencia: The way we are connected to a particular place and its landscape. It's home. And when you're away from it, you want to be there. And this is now our home.

I hope you've enjoyed following our lives for the past 10 years, watching us adjust to a new community, a different landscape, and a new way of life. 

But we are not disappearing. If you'd like to follow us on Instagram, look for @bridgetNM510 where we will still be posting about life here at The Nickel and Dime Ranch as well as any quilting shenanigans I might be getting into. Love, and cheers, and thanks for reading, 

Bridget and Tom

Quilty Pleasures-Russell by Carolyn Friedlander

Well, this blog has been asleep since December, but really, I haven't been sleeping. I've been busy starting quilts and finishing too few of them. But my plan is to finish one quilt a month, and I'm ahead of schedule since Russell is finished.

I started it in 2018, so finishing in 2019 isn't too bad, for this ADHD quilter!

Russell is throw sized (there are other size options with the pattern), 40" by 47" or thereabouts. The fabrics are from my stash and my local quilt store, ThreadBear. Quilting was also done there, by Michael Siewert, my local go-to long armed quilter.

Thanks to TJB for being the quilt holder.

Backing is also from ThreadBear,  an early Art Gallery print in total harmony with the quilt's colors.

I asked Michael to quilt with two layers of batting because I want to display this quilt above the door to our bedroom, which, as you can see, is way up high.

Here's a close up of the quilting, an all-over panto.

This was a challenging quilt to make, and many thanks to Ann Siewert at ThreadBear, who made the quilt first and was able to explain the nuances and pitfalls as I paper pieced it.

I'm thinking of re-launching the blog, but still in the thinking stages. Let me know what you think.