Post Card from New Mexico

Post Card from New Mexico

Hi there!
Greetings from America!
The weather’s here, wish you were lovely!
Only kidding….
Remember the postcards quips when you were a kid?
I’m a monkey for buying postcards, even writing them,
 then forgetting to post them! Mostly end up handing them to the recipient when I get back!
One of you called this blog a postcard blog yesterday, 
which I thought was very cool.

Found a corker today at White Sands.
Here’s the road runner, strutting his stuff across the dunes.

Tell you what though: White Sands is a phenomenon too.

Allow me to backtrack to this morning.
We set off from Carlsbad, turned left at Artesia and headed for Cloudcroft, up up up in the mountains. 

What was astounding was how dramatically the terrain changed as we drove just 90 miles from A to B.

It started out as flat as a tack, with nothing, no trees, just the occasional shrub….

In no time,  the grass got greener, 
the hills started to rise up out of the ground…

Very soon there were tall trees and mountains emerging,

and tucked right up in the hills we found Cloudcroft,
a really quaint place.

Evidently, it is hunting season, because the hunters were out in their camouflage and pick-up trucks.
So Steve asked me whether I have ever seen the film Deliverance.
Nope, was the reply, so he proceeded to put the wind right up me and tell me all about it. 
Just as a band of wild looking mountain men strolled across in front of us! Typical brother!

We left town (sharpish!) and headed towards Alamogordo, 
White Sands National Monument.
The scenery en route is unbelievable.
No photos or postcards can do it justice.

And the heat in the white dunes!
Ever seen the film 10 with Dudley Moore, when he hops from towel to towel on the beach because the sand is too hot?

It is so surreal, you could believe that millions of tons of white sand have just been dumped there. 
But not so.
They are actually very rare Gypsum dunefields.
Pretty phenomenal, as I was saying. 

Everywhere you turn here, you see Picture Postcards.
The caverns, the mountains, the boardwalks, the dunes.

Do you know we have a Picture Postcard making Stamp Kit? Yep.
So you can make postcards out of your photos!
Not just holiday snaps – grandchildren, Christmas pics, all sorts!
It is lovely; Jim designed it. 

We have added a pack of 50 A6 cards to get you started!

Here are a couple of very arty cards made using the postcard elements on the front too.

Maybe, when I get home, I will pick out the best photos from the trip, and make a few personal postcards for friends…

Time to tuck in.

Love & Hugs,
Barb
xxx

32 thoughts on “Post Card from New Mexico

  1. Wow! Another fabulous blog Barbara! It's the nearest I'll get to being there so thank you for sharing!
    The road runner postcard would make a brilliant stamp!
    Looking forward to the next installment!
    Love and hugs! Xx

  2. Beautiful photographs Barbara. I am enjoying seeing the lovely New Mexico through your posts. The white sands look stunning and that road runner is making beep beep noises in my head Karen x

  3. Truly is like another planet, are you sure your plane didn't fly you to Mars!!! Thank you for sharing. Aye, I remember the funny postcards. And, sadly, the hats, and t-shirts too!!!! And no, not me, my brother!!! What a great idea to make your own special postcards when you get back. I'm sure your friends will cherish them.

    Me, here – cold, mostly cloudy, frosty nights!!! The only white sand being when I spill the flour!!! But I'm being highly entertained by the goings on at Westminster, and the Scottish Parliament. I find human interactions between normal people, and the way their/your brains work, fascinating. My brain being wired differently, and being on the outside looking in in the normal world. And things like this give me a great opportunity, and don't come along often enough.

    Hope you enjoy your day today, love Brenda xx

    1. Hello Brenda, keep your thermals on there's another cold snap on its way. Emma returns to Aberdeen at the weekend after basking in the warmth down south and we both said today she's going to be in for a shock at the temperature. Sending hugs to you and Daisy xxx

    2. Aye, I had to get my vests back out a few days ago. And I had a big bowl of porridge this evening to warm me up! They're now talking about snow coming! Hugs back xx

  4. Love the Road Runner postcard. That gypsum looks beautiful. I live next to a huge (and I mean miles and mile huge) underground gypsum mine as my partner works for British Gypsum. Apparently it is truly stunning down there. The land above it is pretty spectacular too, being in rural Cumbria. Glad you snd Stdve are having such a good time. Love snd hugs, Jeanette xxx

  5. It looks amazing, the colour of that sky! It's been nothing but grey here! Apparently Gesso is made of gypsum, I hope it doesn't rain there, everything would be whitewashed, Lol!wxx

  6. What lovely pictures love the road runner anthem white sand looks amazing sky is such a lovely blue sky wow cannot wait to see all ictures on your return xxx

  7. You are having a lovely trip! How the other half live 'eh? And, what a beautiful world we live in. It's so funny (not humorous). I was watching you on one of your lovely DVDs today and you were creating the little seaside scene. I'm sure you know the one I mean. At the end you show how to turn it into a postcard with that very stamp! Got to get it now. Thanks Barb, you really are lovely, talented lady who doesn't mind sharing your knowledge. I know you're having a lovely time with your lovely bruvver, but can you come home soon – miss ya! Xxxxxx

  8. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. It uplifting after a tough day at work. I am just home and my Hubbie has made beef olives for my dinner. How fortunate I am.
    I have had the postcard stamp set for years and have used it often, but my favourite was when I used it for the RSVP for a friend's wedding stationary. Everyone loved them.

  9. White Sands — one of my very favorite places in New Mexico! The most spectacular thing I saw there, several years ago, was the hot air balloon rally there, just after it had rained. The park steamrolls parking lots in the sand, and the rain had puddled on those hard spots, and acted like a mirror for the beautiful balloons floating above in the clear blue blue blue sky.

  10. Hi Barbara
    I'm loving the adventure you are taking us on, Clouscroft looks straight out of the western films we used to watch, what a lovely brother you've got extending your film knowledge in this way!! Haha. I've often looked at the postcard stamps but thought I wouldn't use them but you've given me plenty of ideas now. The white sands are stunning, thank you for sharing your holiday with us. Sleep well.
    Love Diane xxx

  11. Hi Barb and Steve! Thanks for letting us join you via your travelblog; what amazing places there are in New Mexico! Yesterday I was asking you to bring us some cactus stamps to go with my lovely Native American stamps I got from you some years ago. Now, I agree with Jane T, we need a roadrunner stamp too please. During the first lovely holiday I had in the States, I was lucky enough to see a roadrunner, in Denny's car park of all places. I couldn't believe it when my husband told me what it was, because I thought they were just cartoon characters! He's never let me forget it of course. As they say in the cartoons, Happy Trails! I wonder where you will take us tomorrow?

    1. Judy, do you know why roadrunners often run around car parking lots? They eat the dead bugs off the bumpers and windshields! I found one on my car hood several years ago, and just stood there, watching my car get cleaned for five minutes until he spotted a vehicle with more snacks.

    2. Kwerkie, no, I didn't know that at all but it completely makes sense! Thanks for telling me that, the next time when/if our health lets us back to the US, I shall take much more notice when we park the car. On a quiz show here in the UK, I learnt that the road runner belongs to the cuckoo family. We're not too keen on cuckoos here because they lay their eggs in other birds' nests and leave them to hatch, push out the original babies and get fed by the unknowing new parents! I'd like to have road runners here though, they look like much more fun! Thanks for the information though, crafters are so nice xxx

    3. I had heard that about cuckoos, Judy — Roadrunners don't do that, fortunately! They don't like to fly, but will for short distances, mostly up into trees or on my roof, where they hunt for bugs and lizards! They nest in scrubby trees, but not on the ground. Very cool birds! I had one that came frequently to my garden, where he speared the lizards from the flower bed, but a couple of years ago I saw him hopping around with only one leg, and that was the last time I saw him. 🙁 But his friends come around occasionally.

  12. What a fabulous trip and wonderful photos Barbara, it looks like a magical place, albeit rather hot and you and Steve are certainly searching out the best bits. This is a place I am very unlikely ever to go so it is wonderful to see it through your eyes, thank you. x

  13. Beautiful photos, what a fantastic trip. It's lovely being able to see your trip through your eyes as we'll never get to see it in person. So enjoyed your trip to Grenada went you went there. Would really like to do that one. You and Steve certainly seem to be getting around and seeing some lovely places. Keep enjoying yourselves, just what you need.xxx

  14. Hi Barb,
    New Mexico looks fantastic, such varied scenery. Thank you for sharing with us. It looks as though you and Steve are really enjoying yourselves which is lovely to see. I'm so pleased that you are chilling out ( even though you're doing so many steps and going through so many saunas!!!) This break will certainly be doing you good. Rosella's show last night was excellent and I'm really pleased that you've put the framer stamps into Groovi form – thank you. Love and hugs Alison xxxx

    1. Morning bloggy friends,
      Hope everyone is ok. Certainly a chill in the air here at the moment. Big day yesterday – kitchen finally finished( apart from the new door which was sent back as it was damaged!!) . Really pleased with it and can't believe how much bigger it seems ( even though it isn't) . It was lovely to finally sit and have a meal at the table instead of balancing a tray on my lap. Scamp is much happier now there are no strangers and bangings in her house! Love and hugs to you all, Alison xxxx

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