Dawn of a new day.
Neighborhood children, with grandma, opening bags full of tooth brushes, soap, hair ties, pencils, pens, hot wheels, rings and candy. The bags were donated by Canadian guests staying at a house I manage.
Where have the days of summer gone? The children in Mexico have been in school for four weeks now. Even in paradise the days go so fast it makes me wonder what exactly I accomplished for the day, let alone a week. The rains are coming less frequently. Mother Nature has so far spared the area from hurricanes (knock on wood) as last year we had two close calls; John and Lane. The mountains are absolutely beautiful with their lush green vegetation and large beautifully-colored butterflies are abundant in the backyard and estuary.
Our own tropical gardens grow out of control in these hot humid conditions. Dennis is constantly weeding and power spraying the brick pavers as it doesn't take much for mold to grow. All the potted plants on the third floor veranda require me to regularly weed, water and prune. The mango tree has one large fruit that I'm waiting to pick and several limes growing on the potted tree.
The fresh fruits and vegetables here are amazing. I purchased a crate of mangos; baked mango crisp, made puree and freezer marmalade. I've made two batches of pickled beets, and picked several bags of limes from friends' trees; made key lime pie and juiced several quarts to freeze in ice cube trays for future use. For a refreshing taste I put lime cubes in iced tea, coke light, and, of course, Pacificos.
A crate of mangos: $55 pesos, less than $5.50 USD
For me the summer involved a few trips; the first to Denver to see Krista off to Ireland for her summer internship, second to Patzcuaro and Guanajuato with girlfriends for a week (will do a blog on this trip with spectacular pictures), and a two week trip to meet Krista at the end of her internship in Ireland and on to Italy. Great memories.
A passion of mine is taking care of the animals in our part of Mexico. Two weeks ago I worked at a spay/neuter clinic near Puerto Vallarta and transported Sassy and two stray dogs to get fixed (one was adopted at this clinic). I buy cat/dog food at Sam's for our local animal foster parent and deliver weekly pet food rations to families that can't afford to buy their own. The families are so appreciative. Several more clinics are scheduled this fall and winter.
Puppy and cats for adoption.
One thing Dennis and I are committed to do is learn Spanish. In my opinion, for a person to truly experience and appreciate the culture, the native language must be learned. Our Mexican neighbors are so patient with our limited Spanglish vocabulary and one day look forward to having a real Spanish conversation. That is changing as we are now attending class four days a week. Dennis' eyes glaze over when Manuel talks about grammar structure but he's muddling through. Practice and persistence will get us through. I already notice the difference as I gain more confidence using what I've learned.
The next blog will be about my new company. No idle time for me!
Hasta Luego!
1 comment:
Glad to hear you are finally learning some Spanish! Keep it up, it will be so rewarding when you can get by in Spanish!!! Tell Manuel hello, I hope he is a decent teacher. The photos you put up are great....we are heading into winter. I wish I was in Mexico!!! But, gotta earn some money now.
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