Meltdown

When I stepped outside the gate of our yard last night, this is what I saw. I love being able to see both sunrises and sunsets from our casa. Eventually this turned a brilliant pink.
There was no wind yesterday. There were no clouds in the sky.

But, there was no humidity........ I won't lie.................. it's hot, but it could be worse.
I sure hope the monsoon season has not already come and gone with the one big storm we had the other week..............June 24th, remember that date, that is when it is supposed to begin.

When I was out at the airport the other day, on my new old bike, I should have taken photos of the airport. I was so excited about my bike!

So yesterday, around 5:15am, I hopped on new old bike and first, I went to the track and walked around it five times and then, I rode back to the airport.

Alamos Airport is now an international airport.

The airport runway is 5,000 paved feet.

Below is the entrance to the airport.

The tower..............

the hangar...................



the front of the hangar....................notice in the tower photo you can see there is a fence that seperates the hangar and the runway from the.............HORSES.

and a very handsome young colt...............

I rode new old bike a few miles farther on down the road toward San Bernardo. I didn't make it to San Bernardo, I am not exactly sure how far it is, but the dirt road I traveled became busy with trucks, their beds filled with school kids in uniforms on the way to COBASH (High school).

I do think I went two or three miles beyond Rancho Palomar, a very popular hunting ranch and bed and breakfast. I eventually turned around in the dust and headed home.

I really never felt hot while riding. I was riding fairly fast, so the wind was nice, and there were a lot of morning people out, watering the dirt in front of their casas, cooling down the street, the dust and heat. The taco man on Hidalgo almost threw his bucket of water on me again, he didn't see me coming.

Once I pulled into the gate and stopped, the heat hit me. I went to look at the thermometer.

My candles had a meltdown while I was gone. Senor said he would not last much longer.

It was only 9:30am. That was a long bike ride.

I tried to revive myself with a very cold bottle of Starbucks Frappuccino that we buy in Navajoa at Ley or Sorianna.

But eventually I had a meltdown and really did nothing for the rest of the day. I laid in bed and read, studied my spanish books and tried to think up new creative art projects to do. I think I will make a papier mache cake cover. I rarely bake a cake, but it sounds like something to do and then, I will need a cake cover for it. I will let you know how that goes.

adios.

What I did Yesterday and Today

Hola, I am on the west side of the casa, at 5:30am, to paint the ironwork over the windows because we have yet to get the beam paint and I have not decided if I am going to paint those beams anyway..............so senor said I can paint the ironwork. It is nice and shady here until 9am. This is my second day on the job.

Below is the before photo of one window.

Below is the after photo. The iron was very rusty and dull. After applying the nasty oily black paint the ironwork is shiny and bright. You can barely see the difference in the photos but you can see the pretty ironwork that is over many of our windows. There are about 10 ironworkers in Alamos. Many of them are related, but have thriving businesses as this type of work is very popular.

So, that's it, Just thought you might want to know what I did yesterday and today between 5:30am and 9am. Adios, going to town!

Restoration of the Church

Hola, here is the morning light just before the sun crested the hilltop. I want to update you on the restoration of Iglesia Parroquia de Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion or as most people call it, the church.



As I have mentioned before, Alamos is a Pueblo Magico and is hoping to become a World Heritage Site. Money for restoration projects are given to towns lucky enough to be chosen Pueblo Magicos and more money will be available when it becomes the heritage site.



I have shown you the alameda and where some of the Pueblo Magico money is going. It is so exciting to see all the work. The lamp posts are now lit at night and if you are lucky enough to walk the alameda during the evening you can really feel the Pueblo Magico. Today I was down at the alameda and the old stone fountain has been retiled and the pipes, refitted for water flow. There's no water in it yet, but it certainly draws a big crowd to view the tile work.


The church is where a great deal of the money is going, but it is not just government money that is funding the church restoration. Several groups within the Alamos community, both mexican and foreign, have spent long hours fundraising dollars to assist in the projects.



In the photo above you can see the single church tower. If you recall, originally a second tower was planned but the construction was interrupted for unknown reasons, and as a result, incompleted churches with only one tower do not pay taxes on the structure and land.



Below you can see restoration of one dome has been completed and the larger dome above is now being worked on. The stone wall below has been reinforced with Pueblo Magico funds.




The cupola on the tallest dome has been painted white and you can see the weathervane that is below the iron cross.

Below the painters are beginning to work on the largest dome.

The original construction of this baroque designed church began in 1786 and was completed in 1804. Below you can see the fine china plates that were donated by women of society. Many of the plates were destroyed by Pancho Villa and his troops in the early 1900's. The two arches above the plates are the bell towers.

The church clock was brought to Alamos from Rome and runs by ropes around wheels and not by cogs.

Below, to each side of the bell tower, you can see initials of families that contributed silver and money to the original construction in the late 1700's.

And below, the iron cross above the cupola of the largest dome.

As the restoration moves forward, I will continue to update you and when they do turn on the water fountain at the alameda, I will get you a picture. In the meantime, there is just a tiny little cloud over the top of Mt. Alamos. It is very, very windy and it doesn't feel like there is any humidity. And it is time for my siesta. adios....linda lou

Hey! That's My Bike!

Hola!
An enormous pink cloud came up in the east last night, over the Mirador. The wind roared and we thought something big would happen. The wind kept up, but the pink cloud stayed where it was and there was no storm. There was not really a sunset either. All the color was in this big pink cloud.
There was however, a rather large fiesta several blocks over: great bongos, tubas, clarinets, guitars...very nice stuff, but it when it stopped, the birds started chirping and the sun came up. So, at 5:15am, I got on my new old bike and left the building. I rode for an hour and forty-five minutes. I should have ridden for forty-five minutes. My legs are jello'd.

Below, I am parked alongside the barbed wire fence that surrounds the airport. The runway is directly behind the fence.

Last February, we had our garage sale back in the Snoqualmie Valley. I put my bike in the house, so I would not be tempted to sell it. I really liked that bike. It was very similar to the one above, but a twenty-two speed, big fat tires, a nice soft seat and I rode it all over the valley, stopping to pick blackberries, walk along the river, visit friends at the organic farm. I really wanted to take it to Mexico.

Day Two of the sale, it was slow and I started thinking about the six by twelve U-Haul we would be getting. We were giving up alot of things to make our move and by the end of the day I decided that the bike had to go. I would get a new one in Mexico.

It was almost dark when a Mexican family stopped by to see what we had left. We told them to take anything they wanted.............gratis. They said they could not do that....what did we want for the little table................nothing, take it........................no, please, a dollar.......................no, no, it is gratis.......................it is all gratis!....................call your friends..............

In the dark, we watched several familes load their trucks; the little table went, so did the big one covered with magic marker and easter egg dye, the odd sized leaded glass door went, the old computer went, the stereo with broken knobs went, the pingpong table that was never level went, a sturdy wood frame for a bed went, a few lamp shades followed, a good work bench was loaded up as was the big freezer, stocked full of food.

The mothers went downstairs with me and the rest of the size one prom dresses were packed in the front seat of several trucks, curtains and bedsheets were loaded. We let the men unscrew and load the shelves from the playroom wall, which we were planning to do ourselves, but toss in the junk pile. Pots and pans and dishes were placed along with detergents and half full cans of motor oil into the trucks. Finally they were ready to leave, in the dark, around ten o'clock, no tarps, no ropes holding anything in place and there, on the blue truck, was the cherry on top, my bike.

Those families could not stop saying................thank you, thank you, muchas gracias.........over and over again. They could hardly believe we had given them so many of our belongings for free. Of course, they also could not understand why in the world we wanted to move to Mexico...........

The biggest dilemna during this morning's ride was.................do I ride over the topes or try to go through the space between them. I almost crashed the first time I tried to go through and not over. I did not have my tires straight and the back one caught the tope and almost flipped me over.

I discovered that the topes are different in each barrio I rode through this morning. Some topes are a solid concrete line with no spaces between them, others are cobblestone. Some have spaces between them that not even a tricycle could get through. They are not always level. Sometimes they are cobblestone and concrete. Once in awhile there is a double tope. If the road is curving, the tope is curving.

In my barrio the topes are about four inches high and the spaces are about three inches wide. So, I decided to continue going over. But in Barrio de La Capilla, the topes are about six inches high and the cracks between them are about five inches wide. After going over a few of those, I chose the spaces. There are alot more topes over in La Capilla, too.

Fortunately topes do not come as a surprise, they are easy to see from a distance and after awhile, going over, in between them and even around them got easier.

Below, I am heading into Alexis's to look at bikes. The other day he only had guy bikes and as promised, Saturday, he had one for me. A quick test ride up to the soccer field and back and Hey! That's My Bike!

Alexis's is a huge complex of rooms. All kinds of bikes and tubes and wheels and frames hang from the walls and ceiling. It is nice and cool back here and I can tell it doubles as a good spot for a siesta. You can see the Sonoran cot on the right side of the photo below, folded up against a post. Many Mexicans do not sleep on beds, they sleep on the cot, which is generally covered with a fibre mulch and a blanket.

Farther back is the taller (workshop). Here I saw they not only work on bikes, they have a few remote airplanes and trucks and even farther back are some bigger trucks and ATV's and motorbikes.

So, it is Sunday afternoon now and time for my siesta. The weather underground says we will have a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. I am watching, but have yet to see a cloud over Mt. Alamos......que tengas buen dia! linda lou

Will the Real Mr. Dove Please Stand up?

Bill has a little thing about doves. He loves them. He has a few fake ones, dove decoys.

After loading the truck in Tucson, for the first border crossing, I became frantic when I looked through the truck canopy and there, pressed up against the dirty, bug-smudged glass was one of the fake doves.

I just knew we would be stopped and probably detained or even put in jail. I was already mad at him for taking all my shoes out of their bag in Tucson and shoving them far back into the canopy. I could not change shoes for days and had to go shoe shopping.

But the dove............ I tried sticking the end of a long pole inside there to either shove the dove farther back or to pull out something to cover it. That dove crossed the border in full view.

Now, as I have previously mentioned, Bill has placed those little fake doves securely on different branches throughout the yard. It is interesting conversation when guests are over.

Now it is mating season and the real doves just love the fake doves. They are always landing and skipping over to check out the fake ones. Sometimes, after a few nudges the real doves snuggle in and just sit there, against the fake doves. They will sit forever, or at least until one of the cats decides they have been there too long........

Senor Has a Good Book

Buen dia! Here is a photo looking north.

The tall, bare tree in the center is an Amapa. The bare branches on the right are our huge crimson bouganvilla which we are pretty sure is not coming back. We will take most of it down after the portal is finished. Its thick trunks are wrapped around the big mesquite tree.

You can get an idea of how huge our yard is. I am thinking squash or pickle ball court someday. I am sure Senor would know how to make one of those. Dig hole, pour in cement..........can't be difficult. Outside the present portal the concrete work is being done for the extension of the floor.

See the large PVC pipe inside the rebar to the left? That will take rain water runoff to the cistern that we will build below. Senor looks like a crew boss.......this is one of the few times I have ever seen him standing still on the job. You can also see in this photo there is a large empty field next to our property.

Inside, four rooms without roofs. We are getting good breezes from all this open air. Small aircraft seem to get their thrills by buzzing us once in awhile. If you are one of the folks flying overhead on Saturday morning to see the progress, would you just go ahead and take a photo and bring it over so we can see what you are looking at?

Below, I am headed to the ladder to climb up and take some photos of the roof.

This little area is beginning to look nice. On the left is a trumpet vine that is starting to trail over the wall onto the street side. Bouganvilla and leggy poinsettias are also here. The tall lush trees are fuego (fire) trees. Many of the fuegos in town are bursting with huge fiery orange-red blossoms, but I think ours are still too young to bloom. (Thanks Glenn Ian, for commenting last fall that these plants might look good here). They do.

There is something about this ladder that bugs me. First, it does not look real inviting. It is rickety. It moves a little when you first put your foot on it. It is made of pine. It is a little warped. It has splinters all over it.

I just cannot go to the top of this ladder. I can only get my feet to go to the sixth rung. I have to be able to hold onto the top rung with one hand and then I can hold the camera up higher with the other hand and snap a photo. So, I have not officially really seen how it looks up there lately. If you recall I tried going up for photos once before to show you the parapet roof. Senor had to help, but we did get some good photos.

Don't ask me how I will climb the other ladder to paint the beams. At least it is a traditional two-sided ladder made of aluminum. I will figure it out.

I didn't realize how high up these beams are until I just posted this photo. I will need to paint the sides and the bottom.

I just went and looked at the beams. There is no way I can paint those beams while standing on the ladder!

The portal beams are over the ground. The ground is not level, so the ladder will not be level. They are at least eight feet high. I agreed to do this. But I think I need a roller and a long extension pole. I can't do that standing on a ladder, holding a paint brush. Nope. That will not work for me.

Okay, I have to go. I need to have a discussion with Senor. It is almost early afternoon and he has already called it quits for the hot hours of the day. He and the cats are in the bedroom, a/c is going, he has a good book.........he will not want to be bothered with this silliness of the ladder and rollers and extensions..........but I feel this may be critical.
adios..................... linda lou

Last Glass

Hola, these are the latest and last tiles turned pendants. I am closing the shower door on the kilns for awhile.
These are from my collection: Las Puertas de Santa Fe. They are all for sale on the website http://www.glasspondstudio.com/

It is amazing how many I have sold to people who read the blog, so if you are interested, you can see them there. Thank you.
I expect these to be the last I will make for awhile. Once we are closer to even constructing the bathroom and needing the tiles we will use there, I will make a few more and I will make the sconces for the wall.


BUT, I am soon going to begin painting the concrete beams that will hold the roof. I will keep you up to date on that. Acrylic or oil seems to be the question?

Tonight I plan to climb the ladder and get some photos of the roofless rooms from the top.

The weather forces us inside around 1pm, so things are slow going here.
We have not had any more rain so I'm not sure if the monsoon season actually started or not. Some people say it has while others still say...........no, not till June 24th. Okay.

This morning I skipped the track and walked up to the mirador. What a hike, all uphill and over cobblestoned streets. I could not take my eyes off the road. From there, I can see all of the little roads I plan to ride and explore once I get a bicycle. There is a bike shop, Alexis's, in town, but a quick look inside showed me they only have guy bikes. He said he will find a girl bike for me and to return Saturday.

Manana, back to posting on the house. adios.