Welcome to all.  Here are a few pictures from 2008.  Most of the first group is from a professional photographer who took pictures of the house for magazine articles.  So far we have been in The Wall Street Journal and The Santa Fean; we will be in Su Casa in early 2009; and we have won a Responsible Development Award in Mountain Living's annual contest.  We really love our house but it's even more amazing what a pro can make your home look like.  The rest is a small glimpse of our lives out here in paradise.  To see any picture full-size, click on it.  Then use page back to return.

The year in review:

Brianne - Graduated Hampshire College last spring. Did a senior project (called a Division 3) in installation art (choreography, music, film and spoken word) which included her setting type and using an old letterpress to print the programs, which she loved.  Managed to find a job in Manhattan working a letterpress (modern version) and is now living in Harlem with a college friend. We are so proud of her accomplishments and her '"just go out and do it" attitude.  She's been out to NM three times over the past year and the energy she brings is always a welcome presence.

Maura - Junior in high school, working really hard and doing well.  Does soccer (defense) and track (4x100 relay).  Maura spent one month last summer doing social service in Tanzania so will talk to you in Swahili if you want.  She's a great amateur photographer, enjoying her photo courses and lab work at school.  One of her photos was accepted into an educational exhibit of high school art put on by the Georgia O'Keefe Museum here in town.  She's starting the college hunt process and is intent on going to a small liberal arts school back in the northeast.  Anyone have any highly placed contacts?  For those of you who didn't realize it, we live about 25 miles from her school (Santa Fe Prep) and she's been driving herself back and forth since she was 15.  We start 'em early here.

Fred - Spending a good amount of time on his music.  Plays in a Cuban salsa quartet named Cohiba (a brand of Cuban cigar).  Also plays occasionally in a jazz big band called Swing Shift.  Spends more time on maintenance of the house and its infrastructure that planned.  Living off grid isn't quite ready for prime time yet, which is the explanation for the next point.  Fred is starting a solar heating company to mainstream what is now beyond the capabilities of the average heating contractor.  He's in the fundraising mode at the moment in case you know anyone who might want to invest.  Also, Fred wanted to be able to fit in with and absorb more of the Spanish culture here, so he and JJ take Spanish lessons.  JJ took Spanish in high school, but this is Fred's first foray.  Federico aprendia espanol despacio pero lo le gusta mucho.

JJ - Spends a lot of time on the Buckaroo Ball charity where she is making a real impact in modernizing the organization, its focus, and effectiveness.  The BB is all about raising money and then granting to agencies supporting kids at risk in the Santa Fe area, of which there are many.  She does lots of dance and aerobics, and keeps the home social life going.  JJ is the mainstay of caring for the horses (one of which has a cold at the moment) and the barn and the corral are her favorite places around the house.  She also makes the courtyard and back of the house come alive during growing season - vegetables, roses, grasses, and hopefully fruit next year.  Both JJ & Fred takes Rueda dance lessons (sort of salsa square dancing), which we were introduced to by Brianne, and spend about 5 hours each week dancing around town or in classes. 

Guest room vacancies are still available for 2009.  Come visit anytime!

The library entrance. Here's where we eat outside in the summer.	Portal in front of the girls' bedrooms. (Brianne lives in Manhattan now but we still think of one of them as her room.)	What looks like a putting green is Fred's nod to missing New England. (Taken from the deck outside the office.)	It's a great house for parties in the evening. No drinking and diving allowed.
And looking the other way (i.e., out from the courtyard), we see this everyday.	Everyone loves the chandelier made from the wine glasses. Yes we use them regularly.	The library is the cocoon, particularly in the summer when it's hot.	The master bedroom is still Asian, like in Brookline.
The guest room faces south and gets wonderful sun in the AM. You can also see why Skye Stone (6 yrs old) asked "Do they live in a house or a village?"	After swimming or early in the morning, JJ and Fred can shower outside of our bathroom. The girls and guests have one on their side of the house too.	The aqueduct, as it is fondly called. You drive under it to go around the drive circle in the front of the house.	We grow water plants in the trough out front. Down by the pond, they grow by themselves. We can't figure out where the seeds came from?
JJ did a great job of feeding us with fresh produce all summer. Arugula grows like a weed in case you didn't know.	And boy, do the plants love the recycled waste water (black, not grey).	The presence and preservation of water is a theme throughout the house.	This is the only hallway in the house (in front of the girls' bedrooms). For everything else, to go from area to area, you need to go outside.
The gardener is a wonderful artist, replanted here from Germany. Her husband does remarkable things with wood, as you can see.	The Vasios family visited in June. We went to the Buckaroo Ball, a charity that JJ works for quite hard all year long.	Bill and Marsha visited in the summer. Marsha (in back) is on Lexy. Bill is on Sheba and smiled the whole time!	When it rains in the late summer, it really does rain. This arroyo is completely dry most of the year.
And when it rains, the horses love to roll in the mud.	Both of them.	And the rain also brings out the snakes, looking for somewhere to get dried out. This Bull snake is comfy in a windowsill at the front of the house.	We also get some significant hail in the summer.
Romeo (adopted stray) has learned to pose for pictures and to be happy and content. He's a great watchdog and keeps the coyotes away from the house.	Amber finds all sorts of animal bones and body parts around the land. Here she is guarding her latest find -a bobcat skull, as best we can tell.	De and Carol were the Boston friends for Thanksgiving. The other guests were Brianne, nearest neighbors (2 mi away), and new friends from Montana.	It doesn't get better than this. What else is there to say?