heritage

Los Poblanos Ranch


This weekend, I went to the Los Poblanos Ranch with a couple friends. I have never been there before.... wow... what a shame. This is the kind of place that you could spend years at, and never get tired of. ((http://www.lospoblanos.com/)) While there, we saw the poultry area, the lavendar fields, a gorgeous sitting area amidst the cottonwoods, the farm shop... there was even a plein air class going on.(http://painting.about.com/od/landscapes/a/plein_air_paint.htm). Words cannot adequately express how beautiful the place is... so I will leave you with some photos. I will show more photos over the course of the next few days.




*photos by Elaine A. Russell

Heritage farms



photos by Elaine A. Russell

These are all photos from the Heritage Farm at the Rio Grande Botanical Gardens. Wandering through there is not very much unlike alot of the farm scenes I grew up around. Now, we didn't have a whole lot of grapes growing in PA... but... the orchards.. yes.

It is a truly beautiful section of the parks, and I encourage you to visit if you can.

More info here: www.cabq.gove/biopark
*click on photos to see them bigger :)

at the gardens



photos by Elaine A. Russell


So -- yesterday, the hubby and I decided to take a stroll at the Rio Grande Botanical Gardens (http://www.cabq.gov/biopark/garden/). We haven't been to it in years, and it seemed like a "weekend" thing to do. Seeing as I overslept, we ended up going mid-afternoon... and only had a couple of hours at the park. I had intended to see the aquariums, but we ended up spending our alotted time exclusively in the gardens.

There is alot more garden area than I remember, and alot of it seems relatively new. It is fabulous. We strolled through the Children's Fantasy gardens (led by 2 very enthusiastic young boys), through the Sasebo Japanese gardens, the Mediteranean gardens, the rose gardens (my mother-in-law would've loved this), the Heritage Farm and gardens (my parent's would've loved this), and the cactus gardens of the southwest.

Having just a simple Kodak camera now... I was a little worried about getting the kind of shots I would like. However, my little "koda" surprised me. Of course, it won't take the macro shots that I would like.. but it is turning out to be a really nice little camera. As I get them re-sized into more accessable pics, I will load them onto my FlickR link to the side --->

We stayed until closing (5pm) ... then we went for supper at El Patio. The hubby and I have eaten lunch there many times... and it is a nice dependable place to get quality New Mexican faire. I had the huervos, and he had the chicken burrito plate. yuuuuuuuuuuuuuum. http://elpatiodealbuquerque.com/