Tag Archives: Tres Piedras

I LOVED My First Season Living in New Mexico!

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It’s almost November, and as I’ve done for the past fifteen years, I’ll be packing my van and begin my winter wanderings soon. Like always, my route will be throughout the various southwestern states, staying warm in the sunshine and enjoying the incredible beauty of the land. The difference is that….I’m already there!

In late April, instead of going back to my cabin in the woods of New York, I headed south and purchased land in Tres Piedras, New Mexico, a small unincorporated town about thirty miles northeast of Taos. Not so many years ago(okay, more like one hundred years ago), Tres Piedras was an important stop on the Chili Line Railroad, but now about all that’s left is the water tank and a few old timers that still remember when the town back in the day, or had ancestors that told them how it was. For my purposes, there is a decent internet signal and a post office, so that’s okay by me. I head into Taos once or twice a week for supplies and “peopling.”

My lot has a clear view east to the Sangres de Cristo Mountains, with no visible structures in the way to obstruct its beauty. Sunsets can be pretty spectacular.

Here’s my little workshop, a pre-built shed that does the trick. I customized just a bit, to have larger and more secure windows on all four sides, and a back door to make things easier.

I have a dream – to build an authentic adobe for my home. With two acres, I have the room. Money to do it is a different story, but I guess we’ll just have to see what the future brings.

Did I mention the famous New Mexico clouds? They’re incredible, and to be honest, I just had no idea how good they can be. Who needs a television when you can watch the cloudscape for hours!

And when it rains, there’s almost always a rainbow. Usually a double.

Those are views from my yard – I can prove it! (That’s the back door I mentioned.)

I feel pretty lucky. I wake up feeling joyful, and unbelievably, my blood pressure has gone from dangerously high(with medication) to being consistently within a healthy, normal range. Who could think that a move like the one I made could make such a difference?

One thing I didn’t know about before moving here was….these:

Yes, it’s a tarantula. But it’s not like they’re everywhere, or even around all year. In September & October, the males will migrate, in search of a mate. This one was one of only two I’ve seen on my land this year, which was fine by me.

People told me I’d see them everywhere, and I was imagining exactly that. Because people also had seemed to have placed bets on how long I’d last in such a rugged area(every time I mentioned where I lived, they’d slowly ask “Sooo, how you liking it?”) there was no way I was going to admit(out loud) that the tarantulas just might be too much for me to bear. Luckily, they really were hardly anywhere, though I would see a good number on the road as I drove to the post office or to town. The locals actually call the tarantula migration period “swerving season,” as that is exactly what you will see as you drive the highways. See some car that went off the side of the road during migration and you know they swerved to avoid smooshing a tarantula just a little bit too much.

I tried some plantings, and the bunnies and grasshoppers ate my Hollyhocks. Plus, I didn’t prepare the soil properly. It’s very much a clay soil, which needs amending to improve drainage. Which, I didn’t realize until too late. My Hollyhocks did sprout, but they grew practically in geological time, and after the third sets of leaves – just as I was getting excited – they got nibbled down to nubs. However, they weren’t fully dead, and I’m hoping next spring they’ll be back. I added gypsum to the soil and blanketed them under mulch for winter. How to keep the grasshoppers off them, I need to research.

I also planted three pine trees, and they have been thriving. They were the second round of planting, after the Hollyhocks, Sunflowers, a Lilac bush, and another type of flower that never sprouted.

Besides proper soil work, the key is water. More water than you think, when you think you’ve watered enough. And, since I have no well on my land, I need to haul water. Luckily, we have a community well, only half a mile away. Just like the cabin in New York had the underground spring. Kind of. Nonetheless, when each tree wants more than two gallons a day, in summer, that’s a lot of water hauling. Especially when you have only five gallon jugs and no trailer.

Still, I persevered, and a garden expert told me I had done a great job at establishing the pines. Now, with my leaving for winter, I have asked my neighbors if they can water for me during the dormant season. They will still need water, but only every three weeks or so. My neighbors are really great, and I appreciate their help.

My lilac has gotten buds, so as long as it survives the winter(needs watering!) I’ll see new growth next spring. I watered as instructed, but damned if I could tell if it was too much, or not enough. Now I’m pretty sure that I could have given it twice the amount. Or, maybe it was the damned grasshoppers munching away at the leaves. Probably both….

My sunfloweres did okay. They only grew to about three to four feet, but they flowered! Next year, I’ll properly prepare the soil, plus start them indoors a few weeks earlier.

I also planted three tomato plants in containers. I did get some small tomatoes, but I didn’t know I needed to feed the plants, so…next year I’ll…. hahaha

Along with getting my land cleared, my shed base ready(the delivery guy didn’t have to level the building AT ALL – I was so proud of myself!), my shed delivered, and the planting, I did do quite a bit of silversmithing and rock cutting. Here’s a few of the things I made. You can click on the pictures to see them listed in my Etsy shop.

Sterling Silver Earrings

I have another few weeks before I pack the van up and hit the road. I’m staying until November 20th, which ought to be a bit trying on my “I hate the cold” perspective. Middle of the days should be okay, but it’s already getting below freezing at night. Which is fine, for a night or two. But I know it’s just going to keep on going, and getting out of bed in the morning requires real commitment! But, my family in Wisconsin will have a Thanksgiving celebration, and so instead of heading toward the warmth, I’ll be going further into the cold. Brrrr!

Guess What? I’m Making a BIG Move!

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After almost forty years in New York, I’m readying to set new roots in the southwest!

In 1986, I left the region I’d grown up in (near Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) by getting on a plane headed to New York City. I’d visited the city only once, on a college trip, but had made my decision. I had no job, no contacts or industry resources, and the only reason I had a place to stay was because my oldest sister demanded I have one. That place was a Single Room Occupancy hotel; The Allerton Hotel for Women, on 57th Street near Lexington Avenue.

I got lucky, working my way up in the accessories design field until reaching the pinnacle of my dreams, only to find out that the brass ring I’d grabbed for was really more like cheap plastic. After over a dozen years as a handbag designer, I left the industry. Starting my own business, Talisman Studios, I designed and created decorative arts in stained glass. To support my fledgling business, I almost simultaneously began a second business named Premier Pet Care & Exercise Service, which was fairly successful, but became all-consuming. I didn’t have time to pursue the creative venture it was intended to support!

In 2009, I left NYC to live about 100 miles further north, to become a caretaker at an historic site on the Mohonk Preserve. I lived on site, in a rustic cabin with no electricity, plumbing, or insulation. Quite a contrast with the rent-stablized studio in Chelsea that I was lucky to have. Interestingly, I made the transition without difficulty; the only issue I originally had was anxiety with the fact that “the new place” would not have a bathtub or shower. Understand that this was a very big deal to me, and I was unsure as to how I would cope.

I still know of no bigger luxury than a long soak in a tub, but I managed to survive without that convenience that many of us take for granted. One thing I knew that I couldn’t survive, though, was living in that cabin(not much more than a garden shed) during winter. In 2010, I bought an old camper van and since then, each winter I would drive cross country to spend the colder months wandering around the southwest.

Here’s the updated version of my van, which I bought in 2020. There were two before Ramses, who you see here.

Each year, as I visited new cities and towns, I wondered if they might be a suitable place for me to relocate to, once I was ready to leave my little cabin in the woods. Some of the towns I felt good about were Joshua Tree(CA), Flagstaff(AZ), Sedona(AZ), Moab(UT), and Silver City(NM). Unfortunately, each of those places had some fatal flaw, although in truth the issue was simply that I couldn’t afford to by or rent there.

Taos was also one of those “I could live here” places for me. I felt it immediately upon arriving, and as I strolled the main street, enjoying the dozens of galleries and boutiques, the sensation of a warmth in my belly began to glow. There was just something about the creative energy in Taos that resonated with me. I loved the abobe buildings, the centuries long history of the Taos Pueblo, and the quiet hm of activity.

Of course, Taos itself was also not within my budget(my budget is almost nonexistent). Then I learned, though I cannot recall how, that there was nearby acreage to be had, in an area with next to nothing in the way of zoning and building code enforcement, for unbelievably low prices. That area was Tres PIedras, situated about thirty miles northwest of Taos.

With a bit of research, I soon learned that this was an interesting little dot on the map….. But even so, I wasn’t truly deterred.

I’ll leave the details for another time, but long story short, I’m about two weeks away from putting my signature on the dotted lines, to own my first ever piece of real estate, in Tres Piedras. It won’t be one of the sub-$1000 quarter acre lots that initially caught me eye like a magician’s shiny coin, but it will be near that area.

Once I start to get settled in, my plan is to begin adding to my blog with updates on this new chapter in my life. I’ve said that before; let’s see if it happens… I intend to work at including some show venues for both my jewelry(which can be seen here, in my Talisman Studios shop on Etsy) and my cabochons(at TalismanToo), and placing my goods in one or more of the local Taos shops. I’ll still wander in winter, as this new place is as cold, or colder, than anywhere I’ve lived before. But May through October, I’ll be out on the mesa in Tres Piedras, spending my days working creatively, both at my craft and construction of my homesite.

As I said – whether this blog gets updated more frequently remains to be seen, but I actually have been good about staying current on my Instagram feed. So, if you want to keep a vicarious eye on the development of this next stage, add Talisman Too on Instagram to your Favorites!