Fallen Fronds

 Hola. Buenas tardes.

 In the aftermath of a heavy wind the other day, some of the fronds came down from the big palm. I'm sorry I missed the fall, it must have been something of a slide, right down the trunk. We checked for bird's nests, but didn't find any.

We were worried that the fall might have disorganized the bats, but they were out in full wing last night,  spilling from the palm like hundreds of indigo ink dots.  

Below you can see the big Mexican Palm and several of the other palms in the yard, Kings, and Triangles, also known as Pyramid Palms. There are also Dates and Mediterranean and Acacia and Pygmy Palms, all doing well. In fact they are thriving in this heat and humidity and rain.

And above, take a look back to the house.

 If you didn't know what we're up to, well, it might look deceivingly finished.

And I say, it will be, by next summer.

 Okay, gotta skedaddle. It's an Etsy workday for me!

Que le vaya bien!

Linda Lou

Rain

 Hola, Buenas tardes.

You may recall how smart Senor is.

Long ago he put PVC pipe inside these last columns of the portal.

We are happy to say they work great. 

The water runs straight through and down the pipes and out in to the neighboring field.

Some day, when we get around to it, we will put in another cistern to collect all of that water. 

For now, I am just happy it works.

Of course, Senor never doubted it.

 

Yesterday's storm was worth the wait.

 The only problem was it came up from the south and the wind was strong and everything got flooded.

 Even with the sala roof over the far end of the portal, we still got a tremendous amount of water everywhere.

Tonight we are waiting for the 80% projected rain storm to get here. 

But, it is so quiet out there, not a breath of air, very still, no birds, no dogs, no cars, no kids skateboarding down the street...... too quiet for a storm.

We Live on a Nice Street

Hola, we are good, but we are lazy.

I don't think I posted at all in July, but that's okay.

 I don't have much to say. 

I think it is just the heat.

 We have had lots of rain and it's pretty green around here.

Things always slow down in the summer at our house. The piles of books and DVD's grow, naps get longer, walks get shorter, and projects get swept along with the dust into the corner.

We originally had some grandiose plans for May and June, preparations that would take us closer to beginning work on the inside of the house. We had hoped to remove the big L shaped wall prior to the rainy season and start working on the indoor floors and walls.  Remember those concrete tiles I was acid staining?

Instead, in May, we had to let our worker go.

 I won't go into details, but after five years with us he decided he had more privileges than he really did. 

Then it became obvious that staining tiles out in the hot sun was not going to happen. Then we took a look around and decided it just felt good to not have anyone else hanging around here. So, we are going to keep taking the summer off.

After the rains and the heat have diminished we will start back on major  house projects.

 Instead we are doing little things that will lay the ground for bigger stuff later.

Senor has already started his tomato plants and topped off the garden beds with a good mix of manure and soil. This year we will actually trim our tomatoes which got so out of control last year.

 He is also getting us ready for when that wall does come down. The fake kitchen is that room will be moved into this room, the game room. He has installed a sink and counter tops, all temporary, but ready to become the new fake kitchen.

I have moved the kiln outside and am working on glass projects.

These are the front panels of the wall sconces for the game room. Eventually I will add copper wire designs to them. But I am not having luck finding copper wire down here, so it may be something I will add after ordering the right gauge from the states.

Each front piece is 7 1/2 inches and there will be two panels on the sides of each front, 4 1/2 inches wide. Perfect for the game room. I'll show them to you again after I get some copper wire.

I like summer here, even though I often bottom out at the end of the day when the heat is suffocating. 

I like the clouds as they billow and roll into magnificent domes, the wind as it charges through the yard, ringing the wind chimes and scattering the cardinals and doves, the rain as it drives in sheets, flooding, but cleaning the concrete.

 Alamos continues to be a good place for us.

After six years we can still say we are happy here and...........don't we live on a nice street?

Last Night's Storm

Buenas tardes!

Lots of clouds have been brewing around this place every day, and while we have had 1.7 inches in our barrio, spread out over a 3 day non consecutive period, and a little rain and a little thunder and a little wind and a little lightning here and there, 

last night's midnight storm was a humdinger and since the contest began on the 24th this year, it is the biggest storm closest to that date.

And since I am the boss of the contest, I pick last night's storm to really begin our rainy season, as far as our contest goes. Please realize that I am not smart enough to be the boss of the rainy season itself.

 

Alamos resident, Gail Morden, came closest.

Guessing June 29, 5:30pm, put her 6.4 hours and minutes from the start of the storm here at our house.

Felicidades, Gail! You get the earrings!

I am certain those lightning bolts were right outside our window and I lost track of the power outages we had. But I guarantee that when there is a power outage in our bedroom, during a rain storm, in the summer, there is no air to breathe.

We only received 1 inch here in our rain gauge, but it happened fast as the storm lasted less than an hour, moved out, but returned around 2:30am to add more electricity and wind.

I am sure there were a lot of unprepared people out there.

 I know I was unprepared and have spent the better part of the day sweeping rain out of the open air sala, that is of course, the unfinished living room.

But it is good to have watering the yard out of the question.

There could be more rain this afternoon. I just hope it comes before dark so people have a chance to gather their belongings, put their bikes and donkeys under cover, put up a blue tarp where needed, and close the windows, which is what Senor was running around doing at 1am.

Congratulations, Gail! See you soon with delivery and can I pick up my basil plant then, too?

Mil gracias to everyone who joined in the fun!

Linda Lou

Our Sweet Cookies

 Hola.

 We have lost our sweet cat, Cookies, or 'Dawg' as Senor and I so frequently and fondly referred to him.

 He died very peacefully in his sleep, and he had been sick for awhile.

Normally I would probably not share something like this, but he was a popular cat. A lot of people knew him in Carnation, and people came to know him on the road during our travels south to Mexico.

 Here in Alamos, he had a lot of friends, and we think he made a lot of friends through the blog, too.

 More people asked about Cookies, the cat, than about us.

In general, he was not the most outgoing cat to visitors to the house.

 Often when we had guests he preferred to watch from a distance, although with certain people he would be very friendly, rubbing against them and practically begging for attention.

He loved catching and eating lizards almost more than he loved laying completely still on the asador with the fake doves, secretly waiting to attack when the real ones came around to eat. 

His day time sleeping arrangements were made under the coolest palms, in the dirtiest dirt, or on his back on the cool cement tile floor, and at night I often found him on top of Senor's stomach, rising up and down as Senor snored away peacefully.

He spent his night time hours in and out, in and out, and he required much more attention than a newborn baby. All twenty-three pounds of him kept our cupboards full of Whiskas, his favorite food next to chips and  cheese licks.

His regular cleaning and washing schedule always occurred, on the bed where Senor and I sleep, at promptly two am and included a thorough licking of our faces and hair.

Cookies had many accomplishments: 'Lizard Slayer', Hummingbird Chaser', Keeper of the Asador', and 'Flower Crusher' are only a few, but his greatest accomplishment will always warm our hearts when we think of him.

 We arrived in Alamos, in June, 2008, with loads of belongings and the two cats, Cookies and Ashes. After we had been here for around a week or two Ashes was suddenly missing.

 For days we called her, we walked the streets looking for her, we had the announcer truck travel through the barrios letting people know that we had lost our white and gray cat who had a tail that curled up high over her back. We were so sad, but Cookies was even sadder.

 He would not eat, he was listless, it was obvious he was heart broken.

Then late one afternoon Cookies was missing.

 We did not see him through the night and through the next day. We didn't know what to think.

  I sat in a chair in the yard and cried. 

We had not been able to part with these two cats that belonged to our kids who had both just gone off to college, we could not have left these cats behind in Carnation, nor could we have given them away, we brought them so far and now, they were both gone.

Late the next evening, Cookies came back.

 He was panting heavily, his eyes were cloudy, his fur was matted, he was drenched from a rain storm. He collapsed at our feet and we rushed to give him bowl after bowl of water. 

We had no idea where he had been or what had happened. We were just happy to have him back.

Around fifteen minutes or so, after Cookies had returned, Senor heard a squeak and looked up and there was Ashes, sitting right on the concrete at his feet.

Cookies went to get Ashes and bring her back home.

Sweet Cookies! August 1993-June 22 2014

The Big Cattle Drive

Hola.
I thought you might enjoy this afternoon's cattle drive. It may not look that big, eighteen cattle ,one a two week old calf, but it is on our street and that makes us special.

So, I had been told the cattle would be moved sometime this afternoon and while we watched the USA play Portugal, I kept listening for the bells and hooves. Well, they must have been watching the game, too and as soon as the five minute over time ended and I recovered from Portugal's tying goal, I looked down the street and saw Jose and Carlos' truck and knew they would move the cattle soon. They move them twice a year and I have shown you before, but this time I decided to take a movie of it.

Real quick I put the car inside the gate so it would not be in the video and I stood in the opening of the gate as they came up the street. As I was watching them it occurred to me that they could come inside the open gate, right where I was standing and so when you see the camera start shaking and jerking around a little you will know that I am starting to get a little nervous about my position. I was thinking how stupid am I......... especially when they did use to run right into the yard long before we put up the gate and then we would become part of the big cattle drive, running around like idiots trying to chase big horned bulls out of our yard.

Overall, you'll get the idea. Our street. Our claim to fame, 'The Big Cattle Drive'.

Rain is rain

 Buenas dias to summertime.

 It has been feeling like summer here in Alamos for quite some time now. 

 The pool is open on the main street, and families are under the huge cottonwoods, carne asada is on the grills, litres of coca cola on the picnic tables.

People are avoiding the Plaza by noon, some wandering inside the church where the big fans are blowing, and shifting the thick hot air from one pew to the next.

Over on the more shaded Alameda, people sit on the park benches all day to escape the heat in their homes, while teachers send students back home to get out of non air-conditioned rooms.

 The street sweepers are out at 4:30, in the early dawn and I wave to them as I take my walk to the arches. The gardeners are already fast at work by 5am, cutting back thick vines of bouganvilla.

 The 'Monkey Man' is up early trimming palm fronds.

The two rains we have had cooled us down momentarily but now the humidity is way up there. 

Still I can't think of any place I would rather be.

While guesses for the rain contest have ended now, the fun is just beginning as we wait for the 24th to arrive, which is when this year's contest begins.

 We had a good storm on the 20th, with over 1 inch of rain here in our barrio. It was a relief for the garden and the water shortage we always feel this time of the year.

 Last night we also had a wonderful show of bolt lightning. 

It was very close, to the east, and went on for over an hour, with rolling thunder and rain that accumulated here to only .1 of an inch. 

Still........... rain is rain.

feliz summertime to you wherever you are...........

Linda Lou