Life's Been Good these Past Seven Years!

Today is my eldest daughter’s seventh anniversary. I remember that day of running around preparing for her wedding and reception happening at our house. We expected to accommodate 200 guests and staff. We live in the far northeast end of Placitas on top of a narrow ridge on a dirt road, so we arranged for our guests to park at the Post Office and shuttle over via 3 rented vans. We had fancy outhouses and scattered lots of cedar and lavender from Clear Light Cedar Co. to keep things smelling festive. We erected two large rental tents in our parking area for dinner and dancing. It all ran smoothly except for the band getting lost and starting late, but we danced until 3 AM and it was a glorious evening. Now Camian and Erik have a six-month old son, Kaden, who brings tremendous joy to us all. Life is Good!

~Sandy Poling, Associate Broker

You can grow way too much zucchini in Placitas!

Photos by Lucy Noyes, CRS, CRB, Associate Broker

RAINBOW GLORY!

To live in New Mexico is to live with the sky. The sky is an ever changing kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, of constant movement. You never get tired of waking up and looking to see what the day will bring. In Placitas, we protect our night skies with minimal artificial lighting so we can gaze at the stars.

After a torrential downpour yesterday evening, we were rewarded with breathtakingly beautiful rainbows. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was the gift that nature bestowed – the rainbow itself.

~Lynn Koch, CRS, Associate Broker

Blade's Bistro Dinner

On Friday night, we sat on the patio at Blade’s Bistro enjoying the live jazz band and the sunset. There were 6 of us and we all decided on a variety of different foods. We ordered their special spinach salad with roasted beets and goat cheese, gazpacho with watermelon and grilled artichokes ---- and those were only the starters! We had a lovely leisurely meal with nice wine and fabulous company --- a beautiful evening spent under the stars in Placitas.

~ Lynn Koch, CRS, Associate Broker

Baby Coyotes

What a nice surprise to open my email and see the exceptional picture of baby coyotes that my friend Julie Brown sent to me. The baby coyotes were in her back yard and unaware of her presence. I am sure the coyotes parents were close by to protect them. Coyotes have always intrigued me and I admire them from a distance. It is just one of the wonders of living in New Mexico.

~Lauren Herman, CRS, GRI, e-Pro®, Associate Broker

Placitas Summer Mountains

About every month throughout every season, I try to take a picture of the amazing view from my home in Placitas. Here are a few of the best from this summer. Wait till you see this view with snow… simply stunning!
Happy Friday everyone, enjoy the weekend.
~Marisa Johnson, Associate Broker

Bees on Russian Sage

What a beautiful morning it is in Placitas. I’m looking outside my window and watching the bees working away at the Russian Sage. Every day they go to work gathering up pollen. There must be 20 to 30 of them in the bush outside my office window. Once in awhile a bird or two will land on a branch and sing. It doesn’t bother the bees at all. They just continue to press on with their purpose in life.

~Rhonda Leonard, Qualifying Broker

La Sombra

La Sombra. Shade, hammock, mountain--just waiting to be enjoyed on a lazy summer day in Placitas.

Lucy Noyes, CRS, CRB, Associate Broker

A Spring Bath in Placitas

I’m sitting here in our living room, looking at the waterfalls, stream and fishpond in our “backyard”. The roses are beginning to bloom and the cattails and pussy-willow tree are greening up, trying to match the rich colors of the junipers and cedars. Suddenly, a robin swoops down and perches on a piece of reed lodged near the lower waterfall. He looks around and (at least in my imagination) realizes there are no predators around. (He’s oblivious to the gawking, though harmless, voyeur - me - watching his every move in awe.) He begins to preen (Picture 1), deciding that water slowly moving in a cool-looking stream is terribly inviting. He begins to splash the water all over his golden-orange breast and body (Pictures 2-3), until he’s again the ambassador bird (Picture 4), ready to roam, spreading charm throughout. I’m reminded that one should take the time to “smell the roses” and enjoy the wondrous thrill of a miraculous creature taking a solitary bath – another of the many splendors of our beautiful Placitas!

Eva Marie Renninger, Transaction Coordinator

Ice Cream Social

On Saturday La Puerta Real Estate held an old-fashioned ice cream social to obtain food donations for Placitas’ local food bank–Casa Rosa. It was a typically beautiful Placitas day with white fluffy clouds, blue skies & that wonderful crisp smell that people associate with New Mexico. What can be better than getting together with friends & neighbors enjoying an ice cream cone or sundae on a warm 87 degree afternoon & helping those in need?

Without question, the top preferred ice cream flavors for Placitans are 1) coffee and 2) chocolate. Now I guessed that chocolate would have been a favorite, but coffee? That was a surprise!

In chatting with the Casa Rosa folks they said they recycle plastic water bottles & plastic shopping bags, those pesky plastics that seem to spontaneously reproduce. So now instead of feeling guilty, we can feel good about passing them on to Casa Rosa.

Lynn Koch, CRS, Associate Broker

Chamisa and the Monarch Butterfly

I sit at my sunny desk and watch through my window at what looks to be Monarch butterflies (It could be the North American Viceroy, I suppose, but I don’t choose to think so) flitting here and there landing on the chamisa which is glowing in the sunlight, still beautifully golden—this clump not yet having reached the silvery going-to-seed stage. It’s such a lovely sight, and I saw the same phenomenon yesterday when I stopped to talk with the pinon wood salesman stationed between a bank of blossoming and gently blowing chamisa. Yes, I did buy wood as it is getting to be time for nightly fires in the kiva fireplace. It’s a treat to watch the fire while cooking and a cozy and warm atmosphere for eating dinner—celebrating the sunset and the end of another day on the high desert in New Mexico. ~ Lucy Noyes, CRS, CRB, Associate Broker