A Santa Fe Cafe

There is a tiny cafe on the square in the heart of old Santa Fe. Perhaps you know of it: The French Pastry Shop & Creperie. It has an authentic French menu, and is housed in the famous La Fonda Hotel. La Fonda means "the inn" in Spanish, and though the difference between an inn and a hotel may seem slight, the intimate character of an old country lodge here prevails.

There has been food and lodging at this corner for four hundred years, and a bakery with a delectable French twist for the last forty. History has seeped through the weathered brick and the hand formed plaster, the carved vigas, and the beams. It murmurs from each soft corner the echo of long past conversation. You feel it when you enter, and somehow know you will never forget.  

And yet, I don't actually recall when it was that I first came here, as though it was always. After persuading as many visitors as I can to come with me, I still have not had near enough of the timelessness commingled with the Croque Monsieur, the Mocha, or the strawberry jam Sables (lightly browned to utter perfection), let alone sufficient numbers of visits to venture far enough into the savory depths of the menu.

Sometimes the cafe is whisper quiet. Though Christmas always draws a huge crowd, as does summer, curiously we have never had to wait for a table. And at times we have needed more than one, for the sitting areas are very small, cozy, and convivial. (But hefty, made for lingering.)

This painting on the wall captures the scene perfectly.

The last time I visited the cafe on the square I made note that the majority of patrons were older. This is a tourist destination after all, and seniors have more of what it takes for discriminating cafe sitting. 

But locals, merchants, and artists of all stripes around the square also have gathering habits here. The cafe feeds one's inspiration as well as one's gustatory delights. The atmosphere fills as well as the food.

The gleam of copper warms in winter and welcomes in summer. This hearth makes me feel that I have wandered much farther than I have from my New Mexico outpost just an hour away.

I sometimes wonder what it would take to own a sample of the interior, as in another nice painting which hangs in here.

Or this evocative rendering of the storefront from the street.

Because you do want to take a piece of the place with you when you leave. Even if intangible. 

Fannie Flagg once said of her novel that the first character in Fried Green Tomatoes was the cafe. (The Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, GA is another nostalgic cafe that I have visited and that I love.) She thought that a place could be as much a charcter in a story as the people. The French Bakery on the square in Santa Fe would make a good candidate.

Best wishes from the Land of Enchantment.

Wishing you all many inspiring summer days ahead!

Jacqueline

A photo of the Saint Fancis Cathedral in Winter that hangs in the cafe.

An Old Farmhouse and A Closer Look That Old Vintage Coverlet

Life has been so full for me lately, and one of the soulful things I got to do last week was to visit the timeless and beautiful New Mexico farmhouse of my friend Charlie. 

It felt like crossing a threshold through time. 

If you have spent much time in the New Mexico countryside, you can attest to the authenticity of this often austere landscape. The Rio Grande is not far in the distance, and with the arrival of spring a bit of green will soon appear along the riverbanks.

But now, some of you wanted to see more of this fabulous coverlet that I only gave you a peek of in my last post. So this morning I threw it over my bed to have a better look at it myself.

It blends well with my newer vintage-look pillowcases from Ikea.

And has fabulous crochet insets and trim.

A few ivory folds cascade over the end of the bed. . . 

with another lace throw to add a little sumptuousness to my Sunday morning whims.

I also rediscovered some monogrammed initials at the center of the coverlet that I had long forgotten about. I'm often not sure what the letters actually are, but find them beautiful just the same. Is that lower one an "I" ?

If only these lovelies had a farmhouse of their own to lay claim to!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . . .

If only our spring winds would be over for awhile!

There are a few tumbling tumbleweeds still to go before it's over.

Have a great week ahead!

Jacqueline

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Between Naps on the Porch~Metamorphosis Monday

White Sands and the Full Moon

You might be forgiven if you thought at first that you are looking upon a scene from the middle of a snowy winter. But it is actually the spectacular white sands of the national monument in southern New Mexico in the American Desert Southwest.

It's especially dreamy at the end of day as the sun is going down.

On most days the park is emptying out at this hour. But for one gorgeous night a month in the summer the national monument remains open, free of charge, for the thousands of nature lovers streaming in to experience the beautiful dunes lit by a dazzling full moon. 

I have visited the park many times, in different seasons and hours of the day. But this was the first to this special moonlight event.  People from near and far pour in for the hour before dark to watch the sun decline in the western sky and the coming up of a brilliant moon on the opposite horizon. It's tempting to hold back and perform one's own solitary homage at the changing of the light, but there is the live music, congeniality, and the sledding down the steep hills farther in that lures you deeper into the park.

There is nothing else quite like it. The caravans stream in as the sky begins to darken. Later still, comes a surprising quiet and orderly departure of communal strings of moving lights winding for miles out of the vast coolness as the last of the the revelers leave the dunes, the stars, and something of themselves behind in the luminous desert sands. . . . 

Have you visited White Sands?

Maybe you will sometime, and leave enchanted.

Happy Summer Days!

Jacqueline

Weathering The Big Holiday Storm In New Mexico

We are taking the advice of this sign in our neighborhood, and taking it slow and easy. Not much snow, but icy and below freezing. People are staying off of the roads. We are not equipped for a rogue storm like this in Albuquerque, but I have learned that a lot of folks think we have only warm weather year 'round here. We have all four seasons, but without much moisture, so snow is always a treat!

Our snowmen might take on a different appearance too! Here is a prizewinner by one of the Dads. About two feet tall and complete with an acorn cap, pyracantha berries for eyes, and a handlebar mustache!

Everything seems more fanciful in the snow. I never noticed how much my next door neighbor's house looks just like a gingerbread house at Christmas!

It's the frosting that completes the scene I think.

But the ornaments and the strung chili pepper pods (ristras) look for all the world like colorful candy against the gingerbread hued adobe walls. So cheery!

A late afternoon walk to the park supplies a pleasing twiggy centerpiece for the table.

All in all a rather pleasant way to weather the storm. We had different family cancel travel plans both before and after Christmas partially due to road conditions (sad face here). So we are making the best of it. Others have had so much more serious to deal with than we have. Blessings to those suffering hardship this holiday.

I never think of Christmas being over on December 25th. It goes on all week long in my mind as it did when I was a kid. So Happy Holidays again to you! I'm going to keep stretching it out slowly and enjoying every last crumb until the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

 And a Happy New Year!

Jacqueline