Tropical Flora
The plants here are NOT what I’m used to. I have spent most of my life in temperate zones, so living in a hot climate brings new challenges, adventures, and beauty. Many of my plant photos are from walks – along the Malecon, around the neighborhood, etc. These were in the yard at our previous rental house: Who knew there were so many beautiful types of HIBISCUS? And BOUGAINVILLEA? And the other things, that I really don’t know what they…
More Malecon sights
Many Mexican cities have a “malecon”. In English it would be called the “boardwalk” (although here it is concrete, not boards), or the “seaside promenade”, or the “paseo”. Regardless of the translation, all malecons are the same – a lovely place to walk along the water in a beautiful Mexican city. The malecon is the center of social life – morning walkers/joggers, pet walkers, see-and-be-seen folks, evening post-prandial – everyone visits the malecon. Other than people, there are many public…
Sealions!
We recently had the opportunity to visit a sealion colony. A huge bonus was that the fees we paid would be used to help the local, volunteer paramedic corps buy their own ambulance. Why do they need to buy an ambulance? Good question! The health care system here is … different. The hospitals have private ambulances that they will (sometimes) send out to pick people up. But only if the patient has $$$ to pay. No dinero (money), no ambulance.…
Things I see…
I think most of us snap pics on our phones, thinking that we will share them. I know I do, and yet I rarely get around to sharing. I’ve been going thru my phone pics and here are some fun ones: HOUSE – there have been lots of changes, and some stable periods. We are finally settling in and feeling like it is HOME. CAUGHT MY EYE – sometimes you say, I’ve gotta take a picture of that otherwise no-one…
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Haven’t even finished getting ALL the construction photos up, I’ll get there eventually. Today we had a new, might I say refined (?), addition to the house. For those of you that have been here, you will easily see the magnitude of the changes. We ordered drapes and outdoor cushions for the house. Some windows have not had any covering since we moved in. Others were “the best we could do with what we had”. Living Room The drapes make…
Tourist Adventures in Guadalajara – pt. 2: Architecture & More Art
The Orozco murals were AMAZING, however those were not all we had to feast our eyes on. More art: MUSA at the University of Guadalajara. A small but lovely museum. We really liked the art of Hector Navarro – and he was there talking with military cadets – we got to meet him!!! Architecture and beautiful things around Guadalajara Day trip to Tlaquepaque (say it out loud – it is FUN to say) We had an AMAZING time in Guadalajara.…
Tourist Adventures in Guadalajara – pt. 1: Jose Clemente Orozco
I’ve been gone. Things have been happening. One was a trip to Guadalajara. This is Basha’s & my first adventure in Mexico outside of our new “home town”. Flights are inexpensive and easy. Our time in GDL was split between playing TOURIST with friends and shopping for FURNITURE at the International Furniture Expo. You can guess which was more fun! We stayed at a lovely little hotel in the historical centro called Hotel Mendoza. Our room looked out over a…
Some days don’t go to plan…
We bought the house in October. We started renovating in November. This has been far more stressful than I’d expected. The house is large, but we have been squeezed down into a small amount of space because multiple renovation jobs are going on at one time. We knew the palapa/roof construction was going to be disruptive. The palapa and pergola are DONE!!! The counter/bar is in, the stairs from ground to roof are done. YAY. We are paused on the…
Construction begins – Week 1
We’d only had the keys for the house for 2 weeks when the first load of construction materials arrived. Our FIRST priority with the new place – making the roof accessible, and having a comfortable place to hang out and watch the sun go down over the water. That is going to involve a lot of demolition and construction. This is going to be fun, right? 😉 Watching construction has always fascinated me. The calculus of what happens when, how…
Backfilling: October 21st
The last (nearly) three weeks have been a combination of spectacular highs – excitement, joy, disbelief – combined with exhaustion, chaos, and endless decisions. A potent cocktail!! In addition, we are STILL waiting for internet service at the new place – so all internet needs require a trip back to the rental house. Thank goodness we have the place until the end of the year!!! So… we closed on the house on October 21st. It was a thrilling and draining…