Household

Category

Aaaaah. I love my family.

Hey!  I’m back!  What a wonderful five days it’s been.  We had been so looking forward to a visit with Adam and Martha – we hadn’t seen them since we visited them in Mexico City in May.  And with a baby on the way, we wanted to get in on the fun of hanging out with a beautiful expectant mother and hearing all their news. So,  Wednesday afternoon they arrived, and can you believe it, they brought the most unexpected...

Old-style Mexican construction…part two

For those of you interested in remodeling and construction in Mexico, here’s an update on the status of our backyard remodeling project.  The first installment is here.  I am keeping a photo gallery on the project here. The previous installment left the project with the wood supports inserted in the wall (for the new roof) and the new slab poured. Since then, there has been a lot of progress.  First they had to raise the salvage wood posts.  These things...

Transitions.

Transitions.  We used to be all about planning our move.  Then making the move.  Then I wrote about everything foreign and strange.  That was then…now I blog about our ordinary life, but our ordinary life in Mexico.  And it’s a good life. Life has been all about the little things, lately. We’re back in Spanish class.  Another couple we know is pretty well matched with us skills-wise, so we now have a four person class twice a week.  It is...

Project update

We’ve had workers in the backyard for a week and a half now, and they have made a lot of progress!  The plan is for a long roofed patio to be constructed next to the house, and grass in the rest.  Sounds simple, but it’s not.  We need to maintain the slope towards the drain, reroute drainage from our other courtyard, and various other tasks. We are using salvaged column bases, columns, and vigas.  New tile will sit on top...

Grab Bag

A little of this and a little of that, today.   Do you like to read news about Mexico? The News is an excellent daily paper in English. Most of the paper is on line, and if you wait until after 3 pm Mexico City time you can download a pdf of the entire edition.   I said I’d give an update on the peace walk in Mazatlan….well, it’s kind of a funny story. People were supposed to gather at...

Rejas or Bars or Protections, whatever you call them

In most of Mexico, bars on the windows are a fact of life. I love them! What a sense of freedom there is to be able to have any and all windows in your house open whenever you want! In the summertime here in Mazatlán, it is hot and muggy. The thing that saves us is air movement. We get some from the ceiling fans but we really count on the breeze we get through our open windows and doors,...

A Slice of Life

  It rained the other night and we just couldn’t stop watching it.   During the first ten days or so of the month we start receiving our utility bills. They don’t come through the mail – they are just dropped through our front gate – usually delivered by someone walking along with a huge stack of bills. We thought it might be interesting to reveal what a few things cost here in Mazatlán. All amounts are in pesos –...

Crazy plants around here….

Our bamboo is growing really well…and has actually sent off a shoot. I first noticed the new shoot on May 16. Here is a what it measured each day: May 16…….4 inches May 17…….8 inches May 19…….11 inches May 20…….13 1/2 inches May 21…….17 1/2 inches May 23…….25 inches May 24…….29 1/2 inches May 25…….33 inches May 26…….39 inches So, you can see from the above that it has been growing from 3″ to 7″ per day! And we haven’t...

What we miss

Paul and I have been asked what we miss from up North by several people who are considering moving to Mexico. At first we said “nothing” and then realized that there are a few things that we miss – in varying amounts… Natural Peanut Butter….you can get small jars of sweetened peanut butter in most grocery stores, and occasionally I’ll see a decent sized jar of Skippy, but that’s it. I should buy some peanuts and grind them in my...

Fan Time

The weather is heating up a little here in Mazatlán, and we have started turning on the ceiling fans. I just love how much cooler you can feel with just a little air movement. Our house has great flow-through ventilation, and there always seems to be a breeze that will whip from the front gate through the house. Last September and October – our first here in Maz – we did pretty well in the heat and humidity. We found...

More on the D.F. trip

I just had to put a picture (above) of the retablo we bought in the Mercado San Juan. To continue, though. Saturday we jumped in their car along with the dogs and headed to Tepotzlán. Adam and Martha have been looking at property there and we wanted to see the town and the property on this trip. John had done a number of posts on the area recently, and with Adam and Martha’s descriptions, we were very intrigued. The drive...

Household chores

When you live in a warm climate like Mazatlán, sandals are the order of the day. I think I have worn shoes maybe five times in the last seven months! The streets are dusty and the dust and dirt gets everywhere, including your sandals! So, when I get into the shower in the morning, most days I have a sandal scrubbing session before I actually shower myself! I have a scrub brush waiting for that purpose, and shampoo does a...

Is it real or….a beautiful mural?

The mural in the sala fresca is complete, and we are so happy with it! It really brings such a nice feeling to the room, and we are not exaggerating when we say it has made the sala fresca our favorite room in the house! The artists are very proud of the work, and this picture shows how happy they are. It was a very interesting experience to watch them work and has given me even more appreciation of the...

Dos Bolsas

Our laundry room is adjacent to the garage. And the garage has been construction central for the past two months. With the garage full of sand and gravel as well as roof tiles and other tools, the laundry room became the lunchroom for the guys working here. They are now gone but the painter is using the garage for his ladders, paint, and tarps. We spent a couple of hours and cleaned it up but it really needs more than...