Noon at the Alameda

Hola! There are clouds over the top of Mt Alamos today. That means rain soon. We can only hope. I am watering the yard everyday now and once the rains come, I can stop.Let's go for a quick walk. We will hurry so we can get back before it gets to hot to be out walking.
I have a couple of errands to do and maybe we will get a treat or lunch.


First I need to go to the Post Office, Oficina de Correo. I have shown you this before, but the office has moved and is no longer in the busy, noisy Palacio. It is now on a quiet street off the church, next to the library.

Now we need to pay the phone bill, so we are going over to Polo's Restaurant. There are three places in town where one can pay Telmex, but I like Polo's, so we are going there. It, too, is right off the Church Plaza.

Now, most of our errands are done, not too bad. We are going to claim the spot below in the Alameda and have a snack.

Papaya, mango, watermelon, coconut, oranges, cucumbers and jicama, this is a fruit and vegetable 'mixto'.

Now we'll top that off with a limonada from La Delicia de Michoacan, across the street from the Alameda.

We will have lunch here as well, a slice of Sonoran pizza. This one is cheese, ham, bacon and chilis.

We'll go light on the ketchup and ketchup/mayonaise mixtures in the yellow and red bottles. You do not eat a slice of pizza without adding the condiments.

Now we need to go to one of the markets and get some chicken for Senor to put on the grill tonight. We are going to Bachoco, across from the Alameda.

Chicken and other meats are presented for purchase in these tubs. The chicken we get is still partially frozen and should stay that way while we walk home.

Before we leave town, let's stop one more time at the Alameda and see what's going on at the noon hour.

New Kid in Town

buenas dias.

I feel like I have been gone for a week. It has been extremely hot here during the daytime. On Thursday, I put myself in the truck with the a/c full blast and drove to Navajoa. It was 106 there, so I drove back to Alamos, where it was only 100.

Yesterday began with a promise for rain. The sky was full of marshmallows very early, and then they fluffed up into one big cotton ball and by 10am, the sky was cloudless and the air was stiffling.

I thought my next post would show some roof.................but it has not happened. I did not realize how much prep work is involved before putting on a roof. Senor has been spending much of his time on this work and only comes inside when he can no longer stand the heat.

Umberto has been plastering the wall in the back yard.

I have been venturing out, during the heat of the day, just long enough to get a few photos of hummingbirds and brown throated magpie jays. They don't appear to mind the heat at all.

Mornings have cooled down quite a bit and work time is good until around 9am. I love these mornings, they are very cool and comfortable. They are good mornings for rides on new old bike. The evenings are very cool and pleasant and a good time for watering the plants and sweeping the day's dust off the floor.

I said, last year, that September was the hottest month. Senor did not agree with me until September came this year.

On my drive I noticed fall colors are popping up on the mountain sides and there is a little yellow glow in the sky. It is getting dark now around 6:30.

We are definitely into fall.......

I have fired the kiln several times this week during the night and have come up with some beautiful tiles for the bathroom. I will turn a few into Mexican Window pendants and I think I will have a giveaway. I will let you know how and when we will do it.

The Mexico Etsy Team had a great giveaway for Independence Day and an artist from Estonia won one of my mariposa bracelets. You can see the mariposa bracelets at my etsy shop http://glasspondstudio.etsy.com/ and you can visit Silja's shop at http://5erg.etsy.com/

There is a new kid in town......................he has actually been around for several months now, but he is very elusive. Just when I think he is coming up our street, I run out for a picture and find he is not there. The wind is only carrying his tune here from the other side of town. One day I got very lucky. I thought he was several streets over and went out with my camera only to find he was right in front of the house.


(Senor just came in and said it is the perfect time for him to read college football on the computer. I said it is a perfect time for me to take a siesta......................)

Play the video to hear the new kid who delivers propane casa to casa. I hope it makes your day..........................linda lou

Off to Texas en la Manana

Hola!
We are going away for about ten days, to a family reunion in Texas. I am thrilled to get to see my parents and sister and one of my brothers. I am also very excited because our children, KD and Ian, are also going to be able to fly in from Denver and Seattle.

However, I must admit that each time we leave our new old town, I feel a little pang of emptiness. So, I usually take my camera and go for a walk. I know I will not forget what my new home looks like while I am gone, but getting photos just gives me a good feeling and makes it easier to leave.

The photo opportunity also gives me the chance to talk to the mail lady for awhile, to sit at the Plaza, to go in as many of the stores as possible, to get a limonada, or a latte in the Teracotta and to just simply soak it all in before we go.

So, yesterday I did that. Then I went and did it again today.
And these are some of the photos I took on yesterday's walk. The Oaxacans are having a street market around the Plaza. They have been here for a week now. On Sunday night we drove around part of the Plaza and it was very festive, alot of people walking around and the lights at the plaza were beautiful and bright. There was alot of promenading going on, although it is generally all in one direction now, and girls and boys hold hands.

I sat at the Plaza yesterday and since I had no mail, I just people watched.

I saw a tree growing out of the church tower.

I saw alot of Mexicanos I know. I saw a few foreigners that I don't know. There was a big bus parked on one side of the plaza and alot of college aged students walking around, buying ice cream and chips and taking pictures of each other in front of the church.

I went into one of my favorite stores, Bochoco.

The refrigerated and frozen food cases were bright and shiny. The bins on the floor contain chicken thighs, chicken breasts and pork products. To the right are all kinds of vegetables and fruits in bins on the floor.

I buy all my chicken this way. You insert your hand into a plastic baggie and search around in the bin for what you want, pull it out, put it into another baggie, get it weighed and you are good to go to the check out girl.

Eggs are not refrigerated in any Mexico stores I have been in, with the exception of Wal Mart in Obregon. Bochoco sells gigantic brown eggs and white eggs as well. I asked today to buy the brown ones, but they were already sold out.

More shiny food cases in the front of the store, where the room is only about twenty feet wide.

Today, I have chosen frozen chicken so I can take the long way home. The check out lady takes my 23 pesos for three frozen chicken breasts, bags it in pink plastic and I am on my way.

Next stop, the Alameda, where they have put some finishing touches on the walkway and added new benches and alot of cottonwood trees, (alamos means cottonwood), grass and bouganvilla. The fountain is full of rainwater, but one of these days I think it will be gurgling away.

On the way home, I stop and take a picture of this beautiful date palm and suddenly I am back at my own gate.

We will be gone a long time.

I can not wait to see my family, but I will most likely think about my home every day and wonder what is going on.....................does Alma have in the new orange and pink oilcloth I asked about..................she said it might come Friday.................the fabric store just got in a new batch of paints.................... some new colors this time...................new little shiny regalos boxes will come in over the weekend........................Rosie, a lady I worked with at DIF during Hurricane Norbert, wants to stop by week after next when we get back........................a friend and I are planning to put together a Christmas Bazaar in November at the Plaza and she wants to get together............she speaks not a word of English, but so far we are communicating anyway.......is it hot......is it raining......................how tall will the grass be..................adios, we are off to Texas en la manana.......see you when we return.................linda lou