She's immersed in a ritual that each year brings together the entire community of Ranchos de Taos to replaster with fresh mud every square inch of the exterior of this old Spanish church.
Similar events occur regularly at many of the adobe Spanish churches across northern New Mexico.
Families apply mud side by side, three generations deep, working the way earlier generations taught them, the way they will pass on to those who come later. Writer Les Daly joins this year's mudding event and finds that there's much more involved than meets the eye. Loy, tells the mixer how much clay, sand and straw goes into making the adobe. The method of applying the finishing coat that gives the building its texture is a tradition that many believe goes back to the Moors. At St. Francis, a thin mixture of mostly sand and water is hand-brushed with woolly sheepskins over every outside surface of the structure.