Sailing on Cochiti Lake

Sailing on Cochiti lake this week was wonderful.  We over knighted on our friends big sail boat.  The night skies were beautiful and the morning was cool and calm.  This lake is 30 minutes from our house in Placitas.

Gail McGough-Maduena, Associate Broker

The Yucca - New Mexico's State Flower

This Yucca is now blooming in our front yard; the birds love to nest in this yucca. The yucca was adopted as the State Flower of New Mexico on March 14, 1927. The yucca is a member of the lily family and a symbol of sturdiness as well as beauty. In the early summer, pale ivory flowers bloom at the tips of its long, fibrous stalks. At the base of the plant are broad, sharp-edged leaves that look like stilettos. The yucca sometimes grows to the height of a small tree.

Randall Phillips, Associate Broker

You know it is spring when the bees are bringing several different shades of pollen. I tried to get a picture of them coming back to the hive showing their pollen sacks filled but they don't stop and pose for me. I will have to work on that. The colors range from white to almost a chartreuse green and it is a combination of the elm trees, juniper and wild mustard, I am sure there are other things opening too but these are the ones I know. There are lots of fruit trees that will be opening soon and they will be getting the pollen from those too. That old saying "busy as a bee" is really true!

Julie Denison, Associate Broker

Placitas: No UFO's - just the beauty of wildlife and angels

Some places in New Mexico boast UFO's. We attract wild horses, bears, wildcats and angels. :)

Pepi Strahl, Associate Broker

La Puerta's First Decade Anniversary Open House

La Puerta was very happy to celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary. And how did La Puerta do it? By reaching out to the community and inviting the whole town! Not quite everyone showed up, but we did have a good time and look forward to 10 more years. Pictured are flowers from a new Placitas resident unable to attend, Sandy Poling with Joe and Lea Blaha, Lucy Noyes with Dave Ewing, and Donna Ewing with Julie Dennison.

Jennise Phillips, Associate Broker

Beautiful Mornings and Rainbows

It was a beautiful morning,
Clouds filled the sunny sky overhead,
Soft rain came down,
All was peaceful,
The clouds cleared away,
Topped off with a rainbow.

Gail McGough-Maduena, Associate Broker

Placitas Recycling Association

Our very own Placitas Recycling Association at work in our recycling yard on a beautiful sunny day in January. We take lots of items, including cardboard, newspapers, junk mail, plastics #1 and #2, and aluminum. We all have lots of fun and see our friends and feel like we are doing something to make the world a little better. Join us on Saturday mornings from 8-11 a.m.

Julie Denison, Associate Broker

Julie, Tracy and the Bees

My daughter, Tracy, and I decided last winter that we wanted to keep bees, so we joined the Albuquerque Beekeepers Association and started learning about them and put an order in for 4 lbs.of bees. Apparently, that is about 4,000 bees and we had decided to use a top bar hive so we had a third partner build the hive and we were off and running. (Although you don't want to run around a bee hive!) Since we started this in one of the worst dry spells we have ever had and the bees did not have enough plant life to work with, we were determined to have a healthy hive. I think that comes under "ignorance is bliss", but onward we went. We learned that we needed to supplement their food with sugar water and have drinking water close by. I proceeded to buy plants that the bees really like, (the hive is at my house, not Tracy's house) in hopes that it would make a difference to their survival. It seemed to work; they have flourished and were doing fine. Then the robber bees arrived and took all their honey! Never heard of such a thing, but we made the entrance smaller and the bees were able to fight off the robbers and we are back to enough honey for the winter, just in time. In a couple of weeks we will not be checking on the bees because of the cold and will not open up the hive until March. More on the bees then. Julie Denison, Associate Broker

Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention

Here I am in Anasazi Meadows (I'm on the left), standing with Diane Schuler, my customer from Wisconsin. Diane's husband, Craig, is a professional photographer, and he shot the photo of me and Diane holding some PVC from Home Depot, which we connected and used to determine where a 17-foot high house might be built on the lot next to the one they are buying. It worked! Necessity IS the mother of invention!

Pepi Strahl
Associate Broker

IT’S BALLOON FIESTA TIME AGAIN!

It’s a lovely time of the year in New Mexico – cool mornings and nights, beautiful sunny days and best of all we enjoy seeing hot air balloons flying around us on a daily basis for a couple of weeks in October. When I opened my living room blind, what did I see but a hot air balloon just below my property. When you see these hot air balloons, you just feel happy! Lynn Koch, CRS

The Agave

This agave or commonly called century plant is blooming on my street. There are two of them blooming right now and they are spectacular with the spike rising 30' above the plant. It takes all the plants energy to produce this once in a life time bloom and then it dies. Does the plant really live to be 100 years old before it blooms? I'm afraid not, they are usually in the 10 year old range, but it may happen at anytime. Even though the host plant dies the agave is self spreading and usually has many smaller plants continuing to fill the landscaped space.
~Jennise Phillips, Associate Broker

Spring in Placitas!

Spring in Placitas is a series of stops and go's, warm weather and then a small snow storm, then more warm weather. maybe a freeze or two, I am sure you see what I mean. As a gardener, you learn what will enjoy the erratic weather and still thrive. The picture is one of my pansies that is still smiling even with it's coat of snow. Lettuce, peas, onions and garlic also don't seem to mind the occasional snow storm either.
~Julie Denison, CRS, EcoBroker, Associate Broker

Placitas Winter Play Ground

As a Southern California girl, born and raised, I love our winters here! Just enough snow to have fun with but not enough to have on the ground all the time and become a real pain like in other parts of the country.. There are usually 2 or 3 days each winter when we have enough snow so that I can go snow shoeing right out my front door. Yesterday was one of those days and my dog Annie and I had lots of fun out in the snow while it was still falling and looking really magical. It is always so quiet when it snows and even the birds are hiding. It is such fun to be able to just go out the front door and not get into the car to drive miles in traffic just to be able to enjoy the winter. We are very lucky to be here!
~Julie Denison, CRS, EcoBroker, Associate Broker

Wonderful sunshine streaming through my bathroom windows at home allowing my geranium plant to continue flowering adding cheer during these cold and sometimes dreary days of winter. This is the joy of living in Placitas--- because even if it's cold, the sun still shines most of the time.
~Lynn Koch, CRS, CDPE
Associate Broker

Greetings of the Season!

Greetings of the Season! Paper whites blooming on our dining room table, holiday lights magically transform our cactus into a holiday tree. Tis the season for the spirit of Giving, reminding all of us of family and friends, good times, good memories.... Wishing all Peace and Prosperity for the New Year!
~Mindy Prokos, Associate Broker, ABR

Anonymous Quote: Reputation is for Time – Character is for Eternity

Nandina and Pyricantha

Right when you think there is no more fall color and we're headed for winter, the beautiful Nandina and Pyricantha are really showing off their bright orange and red berries. I don't know if the birds eat them or not, but I'm sure it is very tempting for them with all that saturated color. So tempting if fact I think I'll bring some in for my table decoration.
~Jennise Phillips, Associate Broker

Take Time to Relax

I hope everyone is taking some time out of their busy schedules to relax and perhaps read a good book. I spent last Thursday when it snowed doing just that. I took the day off and sat by a cozy fire and read for a couple of hours. It really helped my energy level the next day.
~Lauren Herman, CRS, GRI, e-PRO, Associate Broker

Happy Thanksgiving!

La Puerta Real Estate Services would like to wish all of Placitas a Happy Thanksgiving! La Puerta is thankful to have had the opportunity to service those customers who purchased or sold a home through our company or referred a customer to us. Best wishes to you and yours and Happy Thanksgiving!

Friends of La Puerta at Placias Library Hoedown

~Photos by Lucy Noyes, 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