Driving thru History…

One of the things Mrsfabp and I really enjoy is driving through the neighborhoods in Las Cruces to see the different areas, home styles and get a feel for the place. We did it when we visited twice before and have continued to do so since we moved.

As I will talk about in a new post soon, we went to a history of the area series of lectures and became fascinated with the process of change that New Mexico has gone through, especially Las Cruces. Well, while returning from breakfast at Nellie’s one Saturday (our first NM tradition), we took a detour through the neighborhood often called “The Alameda”, and while driving around came to the realization that you can actually see the history of the area through the home styles and set up of the neighborhood.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. While driving, we see a large original adobe home, just beautiful looking, but it is surrounded by several homes of different styles, especially craftsman homes. You can just imagine that adobe having been surrounded by a large tract of land that was sold off to a developer who put up the craftsman homes in a tract, probably sometime in the 20’s or 30’s. Another thing we saw was a pair of craftsman homes separated by a rather nondescript brick home. It is not too hard to see that the craftsman’s homes were there on a larger chunk of land and part of it was sold off and developed, possibly in the 50’s, after the war.

But my absolute favorite was a very large adobe on a corner with the traditional adobe wall surrounding it. There was an irrigation gate in its back yard, But there is no farm there, no land at all around it. What surrounds it is a series of smaller, newer adobe homes on one side and several craftsman homes on the other. You can just picture a large, beautiful farm, overlooking the mountains, with fields of vegetables and fruits. Then some land was sold off and developed with the other nearby adobes and then later on, more land was sold and developed and a bunch of craftsman style homes was built.

It is this patchwork of homes and neighborhoods that makes Las Cruces so interesting and a great place to live.

Cha-cha-cha-changes!

You may have noticed several changes in my blog over the past few weeks (and noticed I haven’t been writing as often /cheers from the family!) so I thought a quick update is in order.

First of all, I have been busy. I know - retirement is when you’re supposed to have some extra time on your hands. Well I have learned a little chemistry and physics recently – retirement is like a gas, it expands to fill a container. I used to think retirement was a time to sit back and relax but instead I am busier than ever. The things I do with my days have expanded to fill my days up. I will fill you in on some of the things I have done in some subsequent posts, but just realize I have been pretty busy and have not had time for this blog stuff.

Secondly, I am in the process of getting geared up to work on some photograph and jewelry projects and again, this just fills up any free time I have.

Finally, I am sort of upgrading my blog site. It has been the same for well over a year and CollegeBoy pointed out how much it hurt his eyes to look at so some changes were made and more are planned. Again, more on that in the coming weeks.

Thanks for your patience, thanks for your support and thanks for only harassing me a little bit. Talk with you again soon!

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON A RANDOM DAY

(Thanks to the NY Red Bulls and Google images for this one)

-We went to the Main Post Office on Thursday and they have a FedEx box for drop-offs in front right by the Post Office door. This seems a bit weird to me. I mean, does McDonalds sell Burger King Kids Meals? Just another reason why the Post Office is going down. Someday I will tell you about our forwarding debacle.

-We stopped off at Caliche’s while out running errands and we found out that they have a “Poochie Cone” for dogs. Skippy heartily approves of this. TFabP also approves because this will mean more frequent stops at Caliche’s “for the dog”.

-We also have discovered Skippy’s favorite restaurant – Sonic. We have been there a “few times” with him in the car and he has sampled tater tots, onion rings, chicken and a vanilla shake. How do we know it’s his favorite dining establishment? While on a road trip, we passed one and he sat up excitedly and started sniffing the air. When we had passed, he laid back down, with a forlorn look on his face.

-Another Post Office story. We stopped to pick up some mail (that they claim is our fault because we had mail forwarded to General Delivery, but most of the mail has our current address on the label. Don’t get me started…) and have an envelope weighed for proper postage. Mrsfabp was told she owed 20 cents that we paid. They gave her a receipt 16 inches long. Do you think they could find some way there to save some money and thus save the post office?

-While traveling to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, we passed a home with several bunches of Daffodils growing in their front yard. DAFFODILS! We only saw them in MA after most of the snow had melted, usually around the beginning of April. I was not ready to see them but am doing the happy dance for the arrival of spring here in New Mexico.

-What is the difference between Skippy and a toddler you ask? One is an egocentric, eating and pooping machine, who uses up all your free time and who ultimately will cost you thousands of dollars. The other one is a baby…

-So, one of the newest Internet rave is a web site called Pinterest. Our friend Clair got us interested and no I come to find that perhaps its major purpose on the internet is to suck you dry of free time. It is difficult to go there for just a short while. You end up spending way too much time there at the cost of other things you need to do, a real time sink. Thanks Clair?

-Now, the kind of time sink I also enjoy is going to the Spirit Winds Coffee Shop. Especially when you run into a couple of friends (yes that is you Fred and Jeff) who turn it from a place to get a simple cup of coffee and bagel into a 2 hour long discussion about the weather, golf and politics. Thanks Fred and Jeff?

Restaurant Review, St. Clair’s Winery and Bistro, Mesilla, NM

I haven’t done a review for a while, at least since we moved tro NM, so I thought I would do one now. I am going to talk about the St. Clair’s Winery and Bistro in Mesilla.

Mrsfabp and I went out with a couple of friends for my birthday and after debating for awhile (favorite restaurant vs. something new) we opted to try the St. Clair’s Winery and Bistro. They had just opened within a couple of weeks and we thought it would be fun.

We arrived without reservations and found the place very, very busy. We were told we probably could not be seated as they had a number of reservations. It was not below my dignity level to “mention” it was my birthday. A call was made, someone else arrived and we were seated! A real plus for a review. Our seat was overlooking their covered patio, which will be opening in about a month.

Our waitress was very friendly, very knowledgeable about the food and wine, and offered us a sample of one of the wines made by St. Clair’s. It was a very good sweet red wine with some fruit flavors added. Mentally I made a note to pick up a bottle when we left.

Wine and beer was delivered in a snap and we set about to study the menu. We ordered an appetizer, the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. It was delivered quickly, it was hot and delicious, served with hearty, crisp tortilla chips. There was a lot of vegetable in it, better than a lot of filler.

For the main course, we all ordered different things. A Southwest Burger, Chicken Pot Pie, a Wine Steak and Pasta New Mexico. For the next 20 minutes or so, there was very little chatting going on as we really savored each and every bite. All four meals were prepared correctly with the steak and Burger grilled to perfection. We were all satisfied.

When our waitress returned at the end of the meal, she made a big deal about my birthday and offered a dessert on the house. I took the Chocolate Port Brownie, served with a topping of ice cream. I reluctantly shared with the others at the table but kept a close eye on them to make sure they didn’t take too much. As with everything else, delicious

Overall I was very impressed with the night out. The décor is understated but very comfortable. The staff, friendly and knowledgeable. Maybe the best part was the discovery of some good New Mexican wine at affordable prices. I had been to other wineries and a good bottle of something I like was about $15. At St. Clair’s the equivalent bottle was $7, a price good enough to by several bottles.

Overall, for the dining experience, I give it 4 Penguins…