What's Goin' On

Buen dia. That possible storm became a nothing. We went to the barbeque and except for a few raindrops, everyone stayed relatively dry.



There was a wonderful mix of the summer foreign population, the Alamos Mexicano community and some very talented young musicians from the states of Michoacan and Sinaloa and Sonora. These young men are here in Alamos to sell their art in a new shop on the main street of town and they just happen to all be excellent musicians as well. So a full blown jam session lasted well into the early morning hours and we all had a great time. The mayor and his wife attended and we were even surprised with some outstanding Mexican opera which was performed by two members of the mayor's party.

I love to sing and got in my Donovan, Marshall Tucker and Arlo Guthrie jam time along with everyone else. There were beautiful Mexican love songs, current Mexican hits, great old American folk songs, moving mandolin and violin performances, solos from many, and even our good friend, Steve, let loose with a moving rendition of House of the Rising Sun and played his harp as well.


We went home at two am.....................



These brothers are from Michoacan, they all play instruments, they all sing and they are all talented woodworkers, maskmakers, oil painters and sculptors.



Below is Jorge, a talented scupture and musician. He plays a type of bass instrument constructed from a five gallon comex paint bucket, a broom handle and a thick string. It is amazing how he knows what note will be played on every part of that broom handle and it is right on pitch. There was a young man there with his large bass as well and you could not tell the sound of the two instruments apart.

Yesterday we did have a good storm in the afternoon. Although brief, it gave us a good idea of how the four completed roofs are holding up, and we are pleased to say...............great!

In the photo below the impermeable has been spread just in time to dry and then the rain came. It is a rubbery white paint mix that coats the roof top and is the last thing to go on a completed roof. It is what Senor covered the current bedroom and kitchen tool room with in November 2008 before Norbert hit us.

I am thrilled the four rooms got coated before yesterday's rain and everything went as planned. It is just putting us that much closer to getting walls plastered and floor in and being able to have more covered space.

The portal roof below is not completed and you can see the mortar between the placas. The rain comes through here.

We still do not have the doors up, but the iron gates for the windows have been made. It has been difficult to varnish the doors, the humidity makes the varnish goop up like glue almost as soon as it goes on.

So I am being patient and we are spending a lot of time locking and unlocking doors, just being smart about we leave out in the open. A new timer light outside the kitchen tool room door brightens the outdoors at night and we feel more secure. I guess we are really on Mexican time and when the doors go up, well, they go up.

The museum has been offering a few classes that I am attending. The first is a clay sculpture class. There have been five gringas and about thirty five ninos and it has been very interesting.

The gringas hopped in a car yesterday and drove to the museum curator's home in Uvalama, a small village west of here, well known for its red clay and native artists who sculpt and fire it in adobe ovens. We dug more clay, sifted it, added water and prepared it for the morning class.

Below is Jorge, one of several clay sculptors and one of the teachers of our class. He is also the musician who played the comex bass at the barbeque.

Back at the museum we have each sculpted something different every day, a fish or a frog, a mask or a round lamp, an elephant or a plaque. On Saturday, everything will be transported to Uvalama where it will be fired. Drying below are some of the things made by the ninos and gringas.

Here is my contribution to the 'make what you want day', a candle holder and pieces for a wind chime. It took me over an hour to decide what to make, so the teacher told me to take it home and finish it. Today I made a wall plaque with our street name and number.

Then in the afternoons I have been going to a fabric painting class. This class is a little different. There are about thirty Mexicano senoras in the class and I don't quite feel comfortable yet. Only two of them have spoken to me. But yesterday a little girl about eight came and sat next to me and she was very chatty. Mostly she enjoyed telling me how to paint, but I felt better. So at the end of class, the instructor ripped off about three meters of muslin and told me to go home and wash it.

I am not sure if that means I have been accepted or not. Here is my painted fabric. I guess I could make a pillow out of it or a napkin.

So that's my week. Later this afternoon, after class, we are going out to a corral to see some quarterhorses being trained and manana I will go out to Uvalama to see all the clay get fired.

It is cloudy out, but very little breeze, so I am not planning on getting excited about any possibilities of rain. But I will let you know if it happens.

adios, linda lou