An Unusual Perk and Fabric Names

Oh dear, posting from home when I have a new job. I woke up sick and I am never sick with colds! Very odd! I suspect too much stress in a row, or something that is more dust-related than germ-related, because I do always get puny when we have big dust storms. I'm hoping if I rest all day I will be able to go in tomorrow. 

One of the parents at the school where I'm now working does something very nice for the students and staff. Every two weeks, he has a semi drive up to deliver big USDA "Farmers to Families" food boxes. When I interviewed, it was "box day" and they insisted I take one of the boxes home. 

It was so heavy someone carried it to my car for me.

Inside the box was a half-gallon of milk, a bag of apples, a bag of oranges, a sack of potatoes (notice some things we say are in bags and some in sacks and actually it all looks like plastic bags!), four big containers of sour cream, two big onions, a 2-pound brick of American cheese, and a five-pound bag of cooked chicken fajita strips. It all comes frozen solid, so that it will last the day before dismissal.

Well, I'm not proud, so I was happy to get this food box! I have already had a sandwich of the fajita meat and some apples. This is going to save me some  money, always good when one is on a budget. 

And speaking of sacks and bags, I would love to see more foods packaged in actual cloth bags, and see the rise of needlework again! Instead of buying dish towels, the cloth bags could be cut up and made into them. Ditto for coasters, hot pads, soap bags, braided cloth strips for rope, and more! But I think that's just a dream in this modern world. I doubt the tenets of the old home-ec classes or the modern "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra will get much traction in the age of Walmart and Dollar Tree, and the age where homemaking has been made very difficult to choose as a career, not that I don't appreciate those stores. 

While I'm just resting today, I am going to try to make a hot-pad from a cloth sack I saved from some Christmas cookies. The cookies came in a little cloth sack, very nice heavy cotton, almost "cotton duck." Anyone else remember the names of fabrics? Satin, sateen, duck, canvas, gingham, dotted Swiss, batiste, was there hopsack? My memory is going, anyone have more?

Spring Zephers in Weather and Work

First off, I finally finished stitching up a "mirror image" of my "Jumpin' for Joy" cross stitch chart, using  an alternate "colorway," as they say. Of course, I finished it as...another pincushion! I backed it with a woven gingham, in small black and tan checks. I don't think I'll do that again because gingham has too much "give" and it made it cattywampus. 

That sprig of juniper behind the pinkeep is from the church. The new growth froze and dried out, giving it a unique chartreuse color. The other dry sprigs I have are much darker.

Today we had dust storms all day, with winds gusting to 50 mph, and all our warm temps went *poof*, with the low nearly freezing.

But the breeze blew in some changes. I didn't like my new job. At all. I resigned Friday morning, made some calls, had an interview at a nice school at 4:30, and was offered a teaching job on the spot, second grade. But I don't want to teach again. Not this semester, anyway. I had heard the secretary was leaving. I want to be the school secretary. I start on Monday!

Half the pay, but twice the fun! 

We went to Cracker Barrel to celebrate, and since our town just went into the "yellow" zone, we could eat inside. But outside, there are several dozen purple-leafed plums blooming so I took some more photos. I'm afraid the wind is whipping off many of the petals and soon they will be bare.

Hoping all my blog buddies are doing well this weekend.

Quick Like A Bunny: Hello SpRiNg

How quickly it is happening, earlier than last year despite the harsh winter storms most of the country experienced!

Already the iris at the Gadsden Museum in "Old Mesilla" are blooming! 

Just a "quick like a bunny" hello. Oh, full time work is tough on this old bird. Dear, dear. The co-workers (61 of them) are lovely, but the work itself, oh it is awful. The nature of it is awful. They cannot keep anyone in this position, and I can see why. I will just say I have to deal with human misery every moment of the workday. And see terrible, terrible photos of injuries, hear the cries of mothers and grandmothers daily, over Zoom and speakerphones, of all things. Not a single duty is as described. Maybe if they told the nature of the job, no one would take it. 

But, onward. I had a college roommate who would say, "Onward and upward!" She thought it hilarious, I took it at face value. Onward in life, and upward towards Heaven, hopefully! 

Hope to stop by the blogs tonight. I have been coming home, skipping dinner, cleaning up, trying to play with the animals for a few minutes, and then to bed. I am exhausted by 8 p.m.! These old bones.

Kind regards,

Holly, The Merry Olde Dame 

Tales of An Old Adobe

Our city has a little neighboring village to the south, Mesilla, or as we say here, "Old Mesilla." It actually butts up against Las Cruces, but has its own governance, post office, police force, and so on. Mesilla is what I like to call a "mixed" area. It has a few million-dollar homes, many expensive homes, a wonderful tourist square anchored by San Albino Basilica (shown in an earlier post) and then what could be called shacks on a good day.

Now, that has made me think of the song "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads. One line goes, "And you may find youself living in a shotgun shack." Well, I'd LOVE to live in a little shotgun house, but a nicely finished one, thank you, not a shack.

One problem is that since most structures are very old, the place is a historic district, with strict and crazy rules. It's hard to improve homes for those on a budget, so they fall more and more into disrepair as they are passed down generation from generation. As that song then says, "Same as it ever was, same as it ever was."

The building where I worked before COVID hit has been everything from a jail to a tortilla factory and was built in the 1830's. Now it's a snotty "media" company. I had no idea, when I interviewed, that the structure DID NOT CONTAIN A BATHROOM OR ANY RUNNING WATER. Nor did it have cooling or heating, because the systems broke and the owners would not pay to repair them. 

Adobes have thick, thick walls, but thick walls are not enough when it is 105 degrees out or 30 degrees out. It was miserable, winter and summer.

Inside, the ceiling was palm fronds held in by vigas -- big pine beams. The fronds rained down stuff all the time. Dry rot, I guess. And roaches. Cockroaches. The walls were whitewashed adobe, and the floor was bricks, no mortar, just old bricks on dirt. The floor was like a topographical map, with hills and valleys, a couple of cliffs, and was very difficult to walk on. Windows were old glass beginning to sag, etched with the memories of hundreds of strong dust storms. I couldn't find what, but something was eating the adobe inside, by the corners of the windows. They would eat it, and leave tiny round balls of adobe mud. I mean tiny, tiny spheres, like non-pariels you find on candy, but even smaller. Adobe is reinforced mud, if you've forgotten. 

It was haunted, of course. The first thing I felt when I arrived there was that a back portion of the building had an unusual presence, an unhappy presence. And I'll say no more lest someone get scared. Seriously. I will save that tale for autumn. 

Some old, old structures I would love to redo as a home, but not that one. It was just too far gone inside.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of the building. I hung the ristras up when I worked there (long ropes of dried chiles). I so dreaded the outhouse, the second picture. It was just awful. Yet sometimes I would take pity on tourists, ladies of a certain age, who most urgently asked me if they could go in...even an outhouse is better than nothing! They'd often shriek, however, when a denizen of the foul room would scurry out within their line of vision. And the awful windows, very nerve-wracking in a bathroom.

And speaking of jobs, today was the first day of my new job, once again as a legal secretary, and I will say no more at this time! Except that I am grateful to have a job.

Anyone else ever work in a weird or haunted structure?

Kind regards,

Holly, The Merry Olde Dame

The Plants Think It's Spring

The cactus are beginning to bud out, so I think in the desert, Spring is here. Early spring, yes. The mesquite and the pecans probably won't leaf out for six more weeks. They are very cautious trees. But everything else will be decked in new leaves and flowers by then.

I never wanted to live in the desert, yet I have spent the majority of my life in them, first the Sonoran desert, and now the Chihuahuan desert. Two different husbands, and both insisting on the desert! For the past 39 years, only 6 years have not been somewhere in a desert, and each husband was miserable away from it.

But we are to bloom where planted, and I love many aspects of the desert now. I love the tiny pink and white spotted geckos who live behind my outdoor front lantern, venturing out at night to grab the bugs the light attracts and hanging around on my ceilings inside to cool off during the summer days. I love the big "blue belly" lizards who zip around the yard and like to go to the birdbath for water. I love the roadrunners who stop by, as big as chickens but as fast as cheetahs. Too fast for me to get any good photos. And I love the many hummingbirds who nest in one of my mulberry trees, and have racuous "disputes" all summer long. Tiny birds, BIG voices! I love all the agriculture along the river, and our hundreds of little "ditches" you can walk along that carry the water to farms and homes in the valley. Most of all, I love the brightness of the desert. 

I also love the age of the desert cities. There is much old architecture here. Until COVID entered the picture, I was working in an 1847 adobe building -- with no interior bathroom. Yes, it has an outhouse! Can't find my pictures, so I might go by and take a snap later.

A narrow street running though the old part of town is called the Camino Real of the interior lands - "the Royal Road." Spaniards traveled this road from Mexico City to Santa Fe 500 years ago. 

One of my favorite places to view the Adoration is San Albino Basilica, in nearby Mesilla. At night, the interior is lighted up incredibly, and the extremely intricate tall altar is "just heavenly."

 

Autumn is my favorite season, but I think spring is when the desert is at its best! So I'm enjoying the stirrings of spring. We don't have the gorgeous bulbs and beloved flowers like peonies here, but we do have our own type of beauty. 

Kind regards,

The Merry Olde Dame, Holly 

Vaccine Success! And Free Digital Easter Tags from the 1940s and Before

It happened, suddenly! The chance to get the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine for my husband, aged 86 years! I had registered him with the state's Department of Health way back, and watched like a hawk for the chance to snag an appointment time for him, striking out again and again, week after week. Then, another text arrived, I was able to respond within seconds, and secured him a spot. 

There were instructions to go to the local university, to a big parking lot, at 1:30. Everything was tip-top, efficient, with many directing traffic, and even Porta-Potties! We drove up, gave his name, his "confirmation number," birthdate, and then were directed to a waiting queue. We had only been parked a few seconds when we were waved on to the area where they were giving the shots. I had both windows down, because it turned very warm today. A sweet woman came to the passenger side, and was speaking with my husband, getting him confirmed and telling him about possible side effects. He had some questions, and a nurse joined her and was speaking to him, too. I just sat, and reached for my cross stitching I had brought along to do while he got the vaccine and then the waiting period.

On my side, a nurse appeared, too, holding a syringe. She called to the other woman and said, "I'm going to go ahead." I told her, "It's for him, though, right?" She told me no, and to put my arm up, and proceeded to give me the vaccine. It was literally just seconds. 

Seconds later, the nurse gave my husband the vaccine on his side of the car, and they chalked the time we could leave on the windshield and headed for the next car. This was an event for the eldest seniors. I had a mask on and the kind of old-lady sunglasses that cover regular glasses, and I wear bangs. I guess no one could see that I wasn't quite a "senior senior" yet. My hair turned gray at age 19, so I have the right hair!

I have been worried sick that I would catch COVID and be unable to help my husband, or maybe even give him the virus. And worried sick about him, since he didn't see the real danger of COVID at 86 and with serious health problems. Now, SOLVED. 

It's like I can breathe again. I literally cried with happiness. 

I hope and pray my blog friends are innoculated or soon will be. I light a candle at church every day for that intention, that the vaccines be available to all who want them, and to keep the unvaccinated safe.

In other business, here are a few more "shabby" printable Easter tags. Maybe someone can use them! As always, since Google Blogger compresses and shrinks large graphics, use the LINK <--- from Google Drive so that the page will print correctly. I liked the sweet images from the 1940s, so I've included a few. My favorite is the lady bluebird, in her finery!

As always, thank'ee for stopping by.

Kind regards,

The Merry Olde Innoculated Dame, Holly

Giveaway Winner and...Shy Violets Already

Nature is so amazing. Where there was ice-blasted grass and brown soil, there is now new green and a sprinkling of early violets. These are growing near a grotto on the grounds of a former convent. I lived here once, long ago. I think these are the only violets in Las Cruces, and they grow only near the Grotto. I think they grow for Mary, Queen of Heaven. Since I lived there, the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe was removed from the Grotto. They can remove her statue, but the very earth remembers!

And...we have a winner! I did this old-style, with bits of paper that we put in a bag, and my husband drawing the winner. 

Sheri at Red Rose Alley, a delightful blog, congratulations! If you email me your address, I will send off your giveaway items.

This was so fun for me, that I am wondering...any of you interested in a giveaway featuring seeds? I have so many, many unusual seeds, for all climates and all skill levels. Let me know in the comments if anyone is interested in a Spring Seed Giveaway, and please, if you have any thoughts or stories about gardening from seed, tell them in the comments or even in a blog post, as your time permits. I know weekends can be busy.

See you soon, on the blogs...

Kind regards,

The Merry Olde Dame, Holly

 

"Plum" Ready for Spring...

The Bradford pears and the purple-leaf plums have begun blooming in the southern desert area of New Mexico. I saw a single poppy in the rocks of my neighbor's yard, too, so the Mexican poppies, in their millions if we are lucky this year, are about to put on their sunny yellow show along the foothills of the Organ Mountains.

I do not think the finest, most rare blossoms placed in a costly vase can outshine the beauty of a plum branch in a Ball jar in March, although both bouquets would be lovely! 

Now, who is it who has a blog header with a glass "frog" holding all her embroidery scissors? I cannot recall, but I enjoy the blog. But do any of you remember when "frogs" to hold cut flowers were common? I have my mother's frog, and I am thankful for that. It's a simple piece of clear glass, with cone-shaped holes to hold stems in a circular, arched pattern, and hers is chipped here and there. But to me, it is precious. 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway with a comment on this post or the previous post! I remembered I had bought a little packet of funny round carrots as part of the prize, so here is an updated photo.

As always, thank'ee for stopping by! Any signs of spring where you are? I would love to hear.

Kind regards,

The Merry Olde Dame, Holly

Giveaway and Surprise News

Inspired by Cathy's giveaway a few weeks ago over at Acorn Hollow, among several others, I am having a giveaway, too! Yes, I am harkening back to the Glory Days of Blogging and having a little giveaway.

These are not fine things, just little items that I hope will brighten up someone's day as they wait for spring. You will recognize most of them, if you have followed this blog. The eggs are little prim wooden eggs. International bloggie friends are welcome to enter, too. 

Free cat hair with every giveaway! Sorry about that!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. I will pick (random #) and post the winner Friday. 

My surprise news is that I got a full time job. I am not a hale and hearty person, and in fact I have trouble walking and standing, so I applied for a simple half-time positionbut was offered the full time position of senior legal secretary.

I worked for a law firm in the past, sandwiched between two teaching stints. I have taught, but I did many other jobs, too. I moved around a tremendous amount, and when you do that (following hubby's career), you can find yourself in places that don't have "reciprocity" for your teaching certificate from your other states. I will say here that I enjoyed the other jobs much more than teaching, except for teaching adults. That I loved. But I absolutely loved working at the law firm. It was very old, over 100 years old, and old-school in many things. 

The attorneys, male and female, were courtly, somber, and kind. On Fridays, some of the partners would walk through the office, putting $100 on each desk, saying to "buy a treat for yourselves." 

Probably the strangest thing they did was have their version of a "Cuss Jar." A Cuss Jar is where you have to put in a certain amount of money if you curse, or "cuss." In their version, the Cuss Jar required $10, which was a LOT of money to us, if you accidentally used the term "lawyer" in place of "attorney." 

As I type that, I'm wondering...how much of that $100 each week was funded by the staff's inability to stop saying "lawyer"? Hmmmm...

Another tradition was the Jello Diorama. One of the senior partners liked to make scenes out of food items, but also incorporating dollhouse/model train miniatures, and encase them in Jello (usually lemon). Whenever he was so moved artistically, he would bring one in, and unmold it on a special raised platter reverently placed in the biggest conference room, where we would each go admire it. 

If you think any of the above is weird, just wait until I post about working for a young billionaire, with a B! That came after the law firm.

So now, I am no longer a retired "lady of leisure" (and I am guessing whoever made that title up didn't count housework as work!) - but I will still be blogging and loving the blog reading. 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

A Finished Spring Stitchery, At Last

Today and yesterday were busy, for me! But I finally finished the last cross stitch chart of my Spring Bees series. I don't know why I am into such muted palettes lately; I think it might have to do with "watching" somber British mysteries while stitching and charting. I keep them on as some sort of "company" as I stitch. The landscapes are so washed out, not by blazing sun but by lack of it! Come summer here, however, I will be wishing I was in one of those chilly, drab climates. 

I did live in a tiny log cabin on a little island in the Pacific Northwest for a few years. It was beautiful, in its way, and I absolutely loved the unusual plants I was able to grow there (like wintergreen and monkey-puzzle trees) but there wasn't enough sun, not enough warmth, and near-constant light drizzle. For all the years I lived there, there were only two days when I didn't need a fire or the heater (run with stinky heating oil), and I never was able to wear anything lighter than a thick long-sleeved shirt. I grew up not even wearing long pants in winter. I had summer shorts, and winter shorts. 

I finished this stitchery as...a pinkeep sachet! Oh, I'm getting wild, mixing it up here -- to finish not just as yet ANOTHER pinkeep but one with a handful of lavender inside. 

Link to my Etsy listing for the chart: HERE.

Actually, the pinkeeps are pretty versatile. I mainly use them as decor. Some call them "cabinet tucks" when they are used like that. 

I really miss the "open table" days at my local beadshop. Those were times when you could bring whatever you were working on, and just sit around the big table or on the old comfy armchairs and visit and work on your project. COVID ended that! I still do beading, and I like to add beads to my cross stitch, too. But how I miss the company of others who love handwork. It was my absolutely favorite part of each week.

Has anyone else experienced the end to a really fun activity due to the lockdown? 

As always, thank'ee for stopping by. Now I am off to read the blog posts I have been saving as a treat!

Kind regards,

The Merry Olde Dame, Holly

Free Easter Images and Free Thoughts

Warning about free stuff: As the old saying goes, "Free, and worth every penny."

One week ago, the U.S. was gripped by three winter storms in a row. Even here in the desert Southwest, we had snow, graupel, and several days where the high temp was below freezing. My heart goes out to those who were severely affected; two animal rescuers in Texas I know are still in bad shape, and only their lion-hearts are keeping their rescues afloat as they scamble for water and warmth for the animals in their care. 

But what a contrast, here: We have sun, spring-like temperatures, and flowers beginning to bud. I noticed that a winecup plant that last week was ice-encrusted, has today put up two big flower buds. I bought the tiniest size of the winecup at the nursery last year, a weak-looking plant with four leaves, and today it takes up half a fire-ring (fire rings are like stock tanks, but no bottoms). The winecup is in a struggle with an ice-plant as to who will dominate that particular bit of garden. My heart is with the winecup, so I give it a bit of help with judicious pulling and re-homing of the ice-plant. Do not grieve for the ice-plant! It easily roots wherever I place it.

I am greedy for flowers in my yard; flowers and wild grapes. I was able to snag a plot in our community gardens here in the city today, and that's where I will grow vegetables this year. That leaves all of my fire rings here at the house free for flowering plants. The "plot" of land I am assigned has had some improvements made, including PVC pipes arched over the top and secured at the sides of the raised bed. That is going to come in handy for "shade cloth," which helps shield the veggies from the full strength of the sun. Even full-sun plants here do better with some shade. I have the water faucet at the end of my plot, too, so that's a bonus. 

Here are some shabby tags for Easter. Maybe you will find a use for them: Glue them to a can or bottle, tie onto a cabinet pull, place with some greenery. As always, since mean ol' Google compresses files and makes them smaller, use this LINK <--- right here and download the original big size from Google Drive. Don't save the image, as it will print too small or be too fuzzy since it was reduced in size.

But...to get a better view of them, you can right-click them, choose open in another tab or window, then regular-click and use the little magnifying glass to see them better. Sometimes it's hard to make the little magnifying glass appear.

And as always...thank'ee for stopping by.

Kind regards,

The Merry Olde Dame, Holly