A Little Change in Plans

Hola!

I just spent the morning moving everything out of what will be the master bathroom into the plaster finished laundry room.

It took three hours. 

I am pooped.

And Senor is perplexed and cranky with me.

Seven years ago when he put in the plumbing and electrical in this room he wanted to put the bathroom sink here, under this window.

I said.............no, i have to have a mirror over the sink.

 So all of his designs have been for an L shaped counter here in the corner with a sink and a mirror.

But, see, I have been thinking about this.

I think I want it under the window and today, after I cleared out the entire room so it can be plastered, I decided I definitely want it under the window.

So, first, he was a little annoyed when I interrupted his work.

Then when I told him why I was interrupting him he just stared at me.

Then he got up and walked off......................into the room where I could see he was noticing that he is going to have to re do all of the plumbing and the electrical in order to have that.

Well, I just stayed away from him for awhile and finally he came to me and said.........well, good, just how i told you it should be in the first place seven years ago.

He sure likes to be right, even if it takes seven years......

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 So instead of having the sink to the right of the door and an L shaped counter top, it will now go under the window.

Below you can just see in to the laundry room which is completely plastered now. It and the master bath and bedroom had been plastered once, but it wasn't done correctly and it all peeled off in layers.

 So now we are getting it done right.

A room full of stuff. I do not know where this stuff came from.

Senor's new electrical panels he just completed. Before this I could not have the toaster oven and the hot plate on at the same time.

 Now, poof, it's all good. 

I am a happy cooker.

I am also happy to get all this plastering done. And soon, the floor. When? Don't ask me!!

Okay, so gotta go.

Adios!

Linda Lou

The Quinceanera

Buenas tardes!

I thought I would take a moment to explain who the beautiful young girl on our profile page is.

Her name is Kathya and she is the daughter of a friend of mine.

And we were so lucky to share a beautiful tradition with her.

Her quinceanera, or fiesta de quince anos, a celebration a young girl may have when she turns fifteen.

It can be and often is a huge celebration for the young girl as she passes from childhood to womanhood.

In the old traditions of Latin American countries at this time a fifteen year old girl needed to be prepared to marry immediately or become a nun.

Luckily things have changed and Kathya, like most other fifteen year old girls, continues her school work and hanging out with her friends and family. 

It was just so special to be asked to attend her party, which began at the church at the Plaza de Armas, because she is from a Catholic family, and continued later at a party event place in town.

Outside, before the mass, she is already celebrating with her entourage of handsome young men.

Inside the church, the priest is giving mass for her.

These boys were with her practically everywhere she went, all handsome, all well behaved and all wanting to be right by her side.

Below, at the event, where there was lots of food and drink and music and dancing, she is still with the boys.

Each boy stood around her in a circle, with a flower behind his back and then when it became his turn to dance with her he gave her the flower. They danced to the theme song from the 'Titanic', a beautiful Spanish version. When they were done she had a beautiful bouquet.

 After she danced with the boys, she danced with each of the older male family members.

 She also led a long procession that went around in a circle so we could see everyone.

This was pretty awesome for us, but we didn't last long, our bedtime in Mexico comes just about the time the party kicks into high gear.

As we were leaving I noticed that she had removed the lower portion of the gown and was wearing only the top frilly flouncy section. 

It was so cute and I had no idea that she could take that gown apart.

And by then I was out of batteries and grumpy with Senor who forgot to put the other batteries in his pocket.

So, it was a good departure time for us!

Okay, just seems like I am interested in sharing traditions for a few days. 

The farioses are in town and you know how I can go on and on about those handsome men.

So stay tuned for an update on that.

I need to go and feed the birds. We have a family of orioles coming in for oranges and the hummingbirds are back and so are the bees!!!

Que tengas un buen noche!!!

Linda Lou

New Baby in Town

Buenas dias~! What a beautiful day it is here.

I am still up around 4:30am and leaving for my walk around 5am. As it gets lighter I will go even earlier.

 January was a very cold month here and I was getting pretty tired of bundling up in cold weather gear just for an hour walk. So, it is warmer now and more enjoyable.

In January, on the 6th, we were excited to be asked to the El Chalaton Barrio, to our friend Modesto's house for a Dia de los Reyes fiesta. This is Kings Day, when the wise men brought their gifts to baby Jesus. In the photo above Modesto, surrounded by children, is making certain they understand the significance of the day. The children are most likely thinking about the toys they will be getting.

 But they were polite and very respectful and they listened to what he said.

After a meal of sandwiches and salad, the parents are beginning the drawing for the toys. Every child's name gets written down and each child is promised a gift.

 The parents read each child's name and a gift in the box was given to that child.

 Modesto told me each gift was hand picked for each child. He knows these children well.

After the gifts we ate tres leche cakes and suddenly Senor said................oh, look what i got..................he got the baby Jesus in his cake.

And that means that he has to host the party on Dia de Candelario, which is February 2nd.

Of course, I am really the one who hosted this party. I did all of the work, the preparation, the cooking, and the research about the day.

 Not being Catholic I did not have a clue.

This is the day that you are supposed to take down your nativity scene, so I immediately put mine back up. 

You are also supposed to have a new born baby laying around to represent baby Jesus and since we did not have one of those handy I went to the Mercado and bought a baby doll for the occasion. 

I dressed it up in white and as you can see, I put it on display.

You are also supposed to walk to the church and take the baby with you to get it blessed, but I figured we could skip all that stuff and no one would be too upset.

 I consulted Modesto on a lot of this and he basically told me the party is more about food than messing around with the baby,

So, he and his friends made guacamole, 

We did not have the traditional Dia de Candelario tamales, (they are so expensive when you are making them for sixty people). Instead we had potted meat mixed with salsa and mayonaise. This is a favorite treat for Mexicans in Sonora, but is just like spam, if you ask me. 

Below you can see how I set up the baby and the nativity. Each parent had their child come and take a look at the baby and I heard a lot of children giggling, so probably there was something not quite right, maybe just the fact that it was a doll and not real.

I don't know. I asked Modesto and his favorites sentence is.....oh, don't you worry about it.

So, I didn't.

Below people are starting to settle in for the potted meat, but the big crowd was out around Senor's raised garden beds. I did not get a photo, but I think the garden was much more popular than the baby doll and the nativity.

I decided to give the children candy even thought Modesto told me that is not important on this day. Well, sometimes traditions just have to be changed.

We had the children decorate small brown paper bags and then loaded them up with candy.

Below is one of the tables where the children colored their bags.

This was a very unique experience for us. 

Not only a Mexican day of celebration, but a religious day as well, it put a new meaning on the word fiesta for me.

Of course, it is not always about the tecate and the loud music and the dancing. 

There are so many wonderful celebrations in Mexico and at the end of the day, we were very happy Senor got that baby in his cake.

Adios!!!

Que tengas un buen dia!!!