Old Lincoln Days in Lincoln, New Mexico

Continued.........

Hopper and Katy Shannon from Hatch, New Mexico had arrived and began setting up their blacksmith camp.  Hopper is a historic blacksmith who researches old smithing methods and also seeks out old photographs showing old implements and markings that he replicates. I had asked him about a month ago to make me a meat fork about 18" long.

  Fantastic!  His work is unequaled.  This is the fork he made me with a ram skull added at my request.  Katy is fantastic and they make a great team selling all of the various things he makes to offer to the public.  They have been to many mountain men rendezvous camps where all the people who attend eat, sleep, dress, etc in the period of 1845-1860.  Re-enactors if you will.  They are special friends!

Next morning (Friday),  as we were relaxing, having a cup of coffee, across the street a buck, doe and two fawns were having their morning chomp of dew covered grass.  And then we were treated with the daily (we found out later) jackass bray...same time every morning that we were there...regular as clock work.  There was also a morning dove, obviously very young, because he/she had not learned the normal repertoire learned by doves during their early schooling.

Steve had brought some homemade sausage that we cooked up and had on a tortilla.  Yum, yum!  We had been looking forward to the early morning sounds and just sitting and having a cup of coffee before the town awakened.  It was as nice as we remembered it two years ago.  

Quentin Waterhouse, Tim, Lucy, Hopper discussing the price of wheat in China

The festivities around town were just getting going on Friday with everyone setting up their stuff for the public, although there were a number of people milling around such as the young couple, Tim & Lucy who live in Southwest London who were camping nearby.  We asked them to join us for breakfast on Saturday.

Steve and I spent the early morning driving the truck around to the various historic sites and took pictures in front of the buildings before anyone was really stirring.  Quite an odd feeling......early in the morning in Lincoln.....there seems to be spirits of the days gone by that still hang around.  Stories abound about what happened here during the Lincoln County Wars.  There too are stories about what wasn't written that run freely from Lincoln residents if you catch them at the right time.

...at the Lincoln County Jail

...at the Wortley Hotel

...at the Tunstall Store

After getting back to the camp and opening up the "kitchen" I decided it was time to make up a batch of camp made Kahlua.  I even rounded up some antique bottles in which to save the "coffee sweetener". I got the recipe from Rex Wailes from Colorado when we were out at an Arizona gathering and then modified it to fit our surroundings.

Steve pouring up the Kahlua

...the batch of Kahlua cooling

 

KAHLUA RECIPE:

6 cups of campfire coffee

1lb. light brown sugar

3 1/2 TBS vanilla extract

1/2 liter of Vodka (2.1 cups)

Whilst coffee is hot, mix in

brown sugar and let cool.

Mix in vanilla and vodka and

serve as a Black Russian or as

a sweetener for your coffee.

Ahhhhh, the sweetener is ready for the coffee