Darlings,

Here's a "save the date" you won't want to miss. Mark July 25th on your calendar, and get yourself over to Garcia Street Books that afternoon for a special event. Reed Stevens, a former Santa Fe Realtor who worked at various offices, including Barker Realty, French & French, and Town & Ranch, has written a delightful novel, Santa Fe Dreamhouse: Encounters in the Land of Enchantment. Reed and her husband, Jim Tirjan, now live near San Jose, Calif., but she'll be in Santa Fe that last weekend in July. She'll be at Garcia Street Books to talk about her book, as well as personally sign one for you.

Possums, Santa Fe Dreamhouse is kind of a love story about a gal from Philly who moves west with a guy who she already loves, and then they fall in love with the land of enchantment, and in the midst of this glorious lovefest, they remodel an old adobe on Canyon Road, get involved in local poliltics, ride horses over the mountains, grow big tomatoes, sell real estate, build a spec house, go broke, and in the end still love each other and all the wonderful characters they've met along the way.

But that's just my interpretation, Dear Hearts. Whatever your interpretation is, I think you'll find it great reading: entertaining, well-written, funny, and it describes perfectly that newcomer's initial awe and intrigue (and frustrations) when experiencing Santa Fe for the first time.

Moving could be the theme for today's column, Gumdrops. Cissy Moore (formerly with Interface Mortgage) is now moved into her new office in the mortgage-loan department at New Mexico Bank & Trust. Recent changes in lending regulations helped Cissy make her decision to move. (I suppose these new government regulations will make some people throw up their hands and leave the lending business altogether!) Now, at NMB&T, she can order appraisals from local appraisers (who've been approved by NMB&T), and then the loans and appraisals are underwritten by the Santa Fe branch of NMB&T.

What will this do for Cissy, you might ask? The answer: a lot. But, Sweetpeas, I know the real reason she moved - she missed hanging out with her old friend and former boss Clare Easterwood (former owner of now-defunct The Mortgage Company), who moved over to NMB&T a couple of years ago. That's a good enough reason for me.

Kurt Hill (formerly with Dougherty Real Estate) had a vision one night while lying in bed peacefully sleeping. (This kind of thing happens in Santa Fe more than you think, Creampuffs). He saw himself sitting in his own real-estate office, making appointments, going over contracts, and making plans to take his children to Chaco Canyon for the weekend.

When he awakened, his wife asked him, "What are you thinking about, Kurt?"

"Adobes and dirt," he replied sleepily. Adobes and dirt! "Eureka, that's it," he thought to himself. A few months later, he was sitting in his own real-estate office, doing just what he'd envisioned. And the name of his new real estate company: Adobes & Dirt. How clever. When next year's Real Estate Academy Awards roll around, his office will be up for Best Name of a Real Estate Company.

The vision of Bob Dunn and Pam Wickiser (former broker/owners of Robert Dunn Real Estate) went more like this: Bob woke up one morning and Pam asked him, "What are you thinking about, Bob?"

"Sotheby's International Realty!" Bob said enthusiastically.

"Bob," she said lovingly, "Not only are you a smart cookie, but you're my smart cookie." (He loves it when she talks to him like that.)

A few weeks later, they said goodbye to Robert Dunn Real Estate Co. and took their 55 combined years of real-estate expertise and moved into the Grant Avenue location of Sotheby's. And that's where you can find them, Dumplings, as happy and professional as ever. This made Darci Burson (manager, Sotheby's International Realty) as happy as ever, too.

The real-estate community pays homage to an outstanding Realtor and stellar human being, Dwight Hume (Santa Fe Properties), who died last month on his 62nd birthday. As many of you recall, Dwight was in the hospital, deathly ill, and not expected to live in January of 2008. But he defied the odds. He came home from the hospital and spent almost a year and a half enjoying quality time with his wife, Jane, their son, Dwight D., working on his sculptures in his art studio next to the house, and seeing good friends. (He has many).

In spite of the fact that Dwight had to have his intestines removed and would never be able to eat again (he was nourished through intravenous feedings), he got his greatest joy in cooking dinners for his friends. The evening he died, he had just finished preparing his birthday dinner - a brisket - for 12 guests. He felt tired, so he excused himself and went to lie down in the bedroom. Shortly thereafter, with Jane and Dwight D. at his bedside, he said goodbye to this life.

There's an old saying that goes something like "...the soul returns home at the first rain." Jane said it started pouring within seconds after Dwight took his last breath. Dwight was a blessing to all who knew him.

So long, Sweetpeas. Until next time... Oakley.

(Editor's note: Oakley Talbott moonlights as Realtor Merrily Pierson and can be reached at merrilypierson@cox.net)