Cousins Visit The Nickel and Dime

Fall is a great time to visit Northern New Mexico because the air is fresher, it still rains, but not as much, and the leaves are turning colors, especially the aspens at the higher elevations. The altitude at The Nickel and Dime is a little too low for aspens, but as we drove north toward Taos, the aspen leaves shimmered like gold against the green pines. Wouldn't these colors make a gorgeous quilt?

Last week was fun because Tom's Wisconsin cousins, Donna, Richard and Tanya, came for a visit.

At Taos, we saw assorted folk wandering about in interesting outfits and made a visit to Taos Pueblo where people have lived for at least 1000 years. The pueblo is  the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States, according to their website. Donna, Tanya and I explored the pueblo's shops and galleries while Tom and Richard sat by the incredibly clear river and eavesdropped on the extremely knowledgeable tour guide.

The ladies and I also made a short visit to Las Vegas and its plaza.

Santa Fe's Plaza was the place for some power shopping while the guys chilled on some benches listening to electronic harp music while watching a tweaker make balloon animals. That's why Santa Fe is called The City Different.

At home we ate too much, laughed a lot, and talked about family history.

Here are Tanya and Richard, ready for our Santa Fe visit.

Miss Bonnie came from her royal room upstairs to say hello to the guests. Richard even had a lap cat for awhile.

The guys got in a little hunting, but be assured that no animals were harmed. There was more sitting and looking at the view than anything else.

It was a golden time, visiting with the family, and the house feels empty without them.

Happy First Day of Fall!

We spent the last days of summer in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, shopping, doing errands, and generally just bustling about town. It takes a little getting used to, the traffic, noise and people, but we adapt and I try to remember to drive with purpose while in town so no one honks at me to get the heck going.

Here's a shot of Albuquerque in October during the balloon festival.

Coming back home is a relief, though. This is how it looks on our way home. Breathing is easier and my face loses that squinchiness it gets when I am stressed.

That's not our home, but it's pretty, isn't it?

At our place fall is making its presence known. The maple tree is losing its leaves.

The three loaded apple trees are An Event, since we only get apples every three or four years around here. Late frosts kill the blossoms.

 I am trying to wrap my head around preserving them all. Drying, making apple pie filling, applesauce, and storing the very best ones seem like the way to go.

The grapes surprised me. I did what I thought was a klutz job pruning the vines and wondered if they'd even live. Here are the grapes from just one third of a grapevine.

Two baskets full of grapes made three and a half quarts of concord grape juice. I did the whole canning thing, crushing the grapes, extracting the juice in a big pot, and bottling and canning the juice. I wondered if it was worth all that work for three and a half quarts of juice. Then I looked at how much a quart of organic grape juice was at the supermarket. Dang! I made $24 worth of grape juice! 

This winter I will climb the stairs to our bedroom closet, the coolest place in the house, and select a jar of grape juice. In the the kitchen I will open the jar and pour the summer of 2012 into my glass. Then I will inhale its essence and say, "Yep, it was worth it."

Happy First Day of Autumn!