Jewelry and a castle. Meet the Sister’s latest patron saint.

Ava and I are in Albuquerque again for the week. This trip has actually been quite fun. My uncle took us around to dinner and showed us more of this cute little town. I could actually totally live there.

And then I saw this.

Oh. My. God.

The instant I saw it I wanted to move it, brick by brick, home with me so I could sit in a turret and write gothic stories forever.

Isn’t this the coolest house ever? Yes, house. Gertrude Zachary built this fabulous house to put a collection of antiques she spent a lifetime gathering. There’s an elevator. She’s brought entire walls from NYC mansions, hundreds year old religious icons, and chandeliers all over the place.

It took everything in our power not to bang on her gate and beg her to let us in. What’s a little restraining order? Besides,

classic turquoise with a great setting

she might have found us charming. Well, she might have. Don’t look so skeptical. Sometimes, when we try really hard, we can be quite charming.

Besides being a mad collector of antiques, Ms. Zachary is famous for restyling traditional indian and southwestern jewelry. Look at a couple of her outstanding pieces.

 If you’re interested in seeing the inside with her treasures, I’ve linked the YouTube video.

Well, we’re due back to Albuquerque in November. Maybe we’ll get enough time to stalk Ms. Zachary properly.

Not that any of you needs to tip her off or anything.

Who is your patront saint? Who are you willing to risk a restraining order to chat up? Will you send us bail money if we set up a PayPal account? Hey, we’re just trying to plan ahead.