Traveling Shoes....Vieux Carré

This month we found ourselves in New Orleans on a business/pleasure trip. It is "Photo" month in The Big Easy for Photo Nola. We have been to New Orleans a few times, but this was the first time since Katrina. In the Vieux Carré, not much had changed, a few empty shops and some of the restaurants we have previously gone to were no longer there. It was a bit cold and rainy the entire time, but there was still plenty to see and do.
Jackson Square and the French Quarter...............................................






While there is a great deal of shopping that can be done in New Orleans, only one place held my attention. "Antiques de Provence" owned by the very elegant Cynthia W. Nunez, who has impeccable taste in French Interiurs and Jardins.


Her three stores are filled with beautiful French antiques, mirrors, lighting, olive jars and garden furniture.


Where to stay? We have stayed at a few different hotels in New Orleans. My only request this time when Jim made the reservations was: "I don't want a room with floral linens!" That's what I look for these days in a hotel. White sheets and a duvet that is washed daily. This proved a little challenging but Jim came up with a great hotel at a great rate. The Omni hotel is in the center of the French Quarter on Royal Street.

The lobby was elegant and tasteful..............................................
With terrific views in all directions................................................
Our room - small, but charming with 10 foot ceilings and tall windows that opened up to the courtyard below.
And for Princess and the Pea here - a comfortable bed and white linens.

Where to eat? You can't go to New Orleans without stopping in at Cafe du Monde for beignets and coffee.
A standout place for lunch was "Chochon Butcher" where Chef Donald Link and partners Chef Stephen Stryjewski and Chef Warren Stephens specialize in house made artisan meats and sausages made on premise. Located in the Warehouse District they also offer up an eclectic list of wines selected by wine buyer Joe Briand.
We had a couple of glasses of a Sparkling Thevenet Blanc de Blancs, Burgundy, France, to go along with some of the best sandwiches we have ever tasted. I highly recommend this restaurant.



I also liked "Stanley" on Jackson Square for breakfast.

And the Napoleon Bar, located just across the street from the Omni Hotel.
What to do? There is plenty to do at night with all the great venues for music. I like to wander around the Garden District during the day and admire the architecture..........................

There was a Christmas house tour in the Garden District that I would loved to have gone to, just didn't have the time.



Oh, to get behind those garden gates! Maybe next time.
Photography By: Ryannan Bryer de Hickman

Sotto Il Monte Vineyards

MODERN MEXICAN

A few of you sent emails after my October post on Santa Fe, requesting that I do a post on the house that we had there. Well we had a few. Le Husband (below) is a Designer-Builder and built custom homes in Santa Fe for over 20 years. Most of the houses that he designed and built were in the traditional style of Pueblo, Territorial or Northern New Mexican. The first house that we built together was Pueblo Style. Both being big fans of Modern Mexican Architects, Ricardo Legorreta and Luis Barragan, we decided to build our last two houses there in the Modern Mexican style.
Double adobe walls and radiant heat in the concrete floors throughout. These houses were very comfortable in winter or summer. Hand troweled plaster tinted with pigments from Italy gave a beautiful finish to the walls. I really didn't want to hang anything on them.

This house was built in the Hacienda style. All of the rooms opened up into a central enclosed courtyard. We dined outside most of the time.
The entry worked well as a mini gallery. Jim is somewhat of a purist and would have like to have kept both of these houses minimally furnished. I, on the other hand, much to his dismay, kept bringing in more stuff! But still, compared to our house now, this seems austere.


This next house was our last house in Santa Fe. The kids had all left home so we built a small house with a detached guest house. We had intended to add on at a future date, but ended up selling the house as it was and moving to California.
Tired of the traditional brown that is everywhere in Santa Fe - we went with bolder colors on the exterior. This house sat on twelve acres next to a tree lined arroyo off Tano Road.
The property had a small old adobe one room house on it when we bought it. I turned it into a little art studio.
Never had a chance to really establish a garden there - just a few California Poppies and some Siberian Iris.
As you can see - this house was similar to the previous one. Very clean lines.A great kitchen to cook in - Thermador Range, Sub Zero fridge and two islands.
If you click on the photo to enlarge - you can see a stream of water coming out of the ceiling to fill the tub in the bathroom. I loved the idea of it and it solved the problem of where to put the spigot - but was really not very practical - as water splashed everywhere!
Concrete sinks in the bathroom............................
The adobe ruin had one wall of exposed adobes, which I left as they were and white plaster on the other walls and interior. I color washed the plaster with Italian pigment and painted the door blue.
I also added these doors from Mexico on one side.................
Jim acquired this painting in Zihuantanejo, Mexico - she moves with us from house to house...........
As do the terra cotta planters I bought at an estate sale............................

Photography by: Ryannan Bryer de Hickman

Sotto Il Monte Vineyards

TRAVELING SHOES.... PRETTY HORSES

I've been absent from my blog for a while. Got a little lost in transition. Winter was on it's way and it was time for me to head North and spend time with my family before the snow started to fly. Time to celebrate another trip around the sun for my Mom, catch up with my brother and my Dad.My youngest brother Brett, is a Petroleum Engineer by day and a cowboy, well, all the time. Born in Texas, he came of age in Montana, graduated from high school there and attended the University of Montana in Missoula. I have five brothers and all of them have horses. "When was the last time you sat a horse?" Brett asked. "Well let's see...........I think the last time I was on a horse was in Tucson a few years back." He put me on his tamest horse - the one he lets his girls ride.
Brett out on the range........................................

Daughters - Lakyn Jasmine and Kaydence.
Horses were always around when we were growing up. My parents with my sister and me on our first ponies in Colorado.
My brother Richard at the ranch. Our teenage neighbor took this photo.
My sister with the same horse.
My Grandmother, as a child riding bareback with one of her brothers. The kids on the slide are her other brothers and sister.

The horses were curious as to which ones would be saddled up.


The cow dog is a recent arrival. They stopped at a welding shop in Chama, New Mexico on their way to Colorado a couple of months ago. She had been hanging around this shop for a couple of weeks. Homeless - poor little thing. She jumped in the truck and is now the happiest of cow dogs. They named her Chama.
They also have Bull Mastiffs - sweet dogs - but huge!
And a few cats...............................
We went over to The Flying W Ranch where they have their own faithful cow dog.

We talked four year old Lakyn into riding the mechanical bull.
They put it on the slowest speed - perfect for little cowgirls.
The all important boot. I loved my brother's orange boots...........................And Kadence's pink ones..........
On my way back South, I met up with my good friend Susie near the Four Sixes Ranch where they run hundreds and hundreds of pretty horses.
Now - back to the city........................................