Noted: July (Over a Cuppa)

Hi, Hey, Hello!

Thank you for joining me this weekend! How the heck are you?

Somehow, an entire two weeks have sped past me since I last wrote in the space (or even opened up my computer)!

Apologies for falling off like that but life has been full and I’m sure you understand 🙂

While I’ve been keeping up with the farm and garden this summer, my wife’s work schedule has been bananas, and our tween has been balancing being in the teen group at Summer Camp and just existing.

#IYKYK

It’s been a lot and it’s been very different from past summers, but it’s also offered up some unique opportunities, like reconnecting with old friends over beverages and meals, which has been such a blessing!

While there is lots to catch up on, in the interest of attempted brevity, I’ll stick to the top three happenings over the past month 🙂

Farm + Garden

High Summer is in full swing and the garden has finally gotten her roots under her after so many extreme temperatures and moisture zapping winds. I’ll be honest with you and say that I wasn’t so sure she’d make it for a while, there. But we both remained diligent and make it she has!

We’re not quite on the other side of wicked high temps yet, and Barley is well and truly over it all (aren’t we all?), but the afternoon clouds and occasional rain have offered a bit of respite and we humans are ever-grateful for AC inside. The first, small harvests are helpful, too 😉

el Dia de Santiago

The third Saturday in July marks our local Fiesta here in our little valley and is always such a joy to participate in but this year was extra special! 2026 marks the 50th Anniversary of an amazing community project, the Villanueva Tapestry, which shows the history of the area through vibrant embroidery. Living participants gave tours of the tapestry and were honored during the celebrations.

Chicharones, elote, music, and community made for a perfectly lovely (if hot) day 🙂

The tapestry is divided into 41 panels, 32 of them measuring 21” high have a central portion carrying the main theme and framed by 2” border containing diverse motifs, religious symbols, tools, animals, flowers. The tapestries in the sanctuary and the lower edge of the choir are 13” high and have a lower border. Titles of the diverse scenes, signatures of the embroiderer, dates and particularly traditional Spanish sayings are very prominently part of the design. Embroidered strips with a variety of motifs are placed between each panel to cover the space between them.

Cornerstones, an organization out of Santa Fe, helped to clean the tapestry by hand during the COVID lockdown and wrote extensively about the history of the tapestry on their website. You can read all about the project here.

20 years

Last, but certainly not least, I want to share that my wife and I just celebrated our 20th Anniversary on the 28th!

We were gifted a stay at a wonderful friend’s home in the Taos Ski Valley for a long weekend and took the opportunity to enjoy some quiet time together away from home while loved ones cared for our daughter and the farm.

We enjoyed copious amounts of hot tub time, an amazing dinner at Lambert’s of Taos (she had Filet Mignon, I had the Pork Chop a la Plancha), massages, scrabble, a couple of movies, the babbling brook behind the house, the many wildflowers and massive mountain views, and the privilege of not being responsible for anyone but ourselves for a few glorious days.

I also harvested a tiny bouquet for pressing to remember the weekend by.

As a queer couple, we celebrate our relationship anniversary grander than our wedding anniversary (which is in September). Because we didn’t always have the option to marry legally, our commitment came way before the legal contract.

As a reflection of that commitment, I commissioned new rings for us to wear, stacked on our wedding bands, to mark our 20th. The artist is a friend and talented metal smith and we’re so pleased with our custom rings.

Thanks All Folx

Thanks for sharing a cuppa with me while I reflected on the bigger happenings of July!

As always, thanks to Natalie for continuing to host us for the #weekendcoffeeshare and monthly wrap up.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Onward,

Melissa

P.S.

Our daughter finished up Summer Camp last week so we have the month of August before we start our Home School year. However, with her permission, I wanted to share how proud I am of her and her perseverance through a challenging summer of growth and adventure! Teambuilding, long hikes, high and low ropes courses, rock climbing, lots of skill and communication building, a multi-day camping trip, and a climb up the Courage Pole (yep, that’s her way up there!) rounded out a phenomenal two months of growth. She inspires me every day 🙂