Mr. crocodile...

its a bonus blog! Don't be fooled...i posted another one before this so read past thsi when you're done. Just wanted to show you the lovely terra cotta pots we got ( there's one on each side of the front porch). We bought them at a huge nursery from Mr. Jorge Pina- George pineapple. Thats really his name! Hers tyson out on the dock..this was where i listened to the bird uproar

This plant is a trumpet flower. It will become a small tree that gets enormous, sweet smelling flowers. i had bought several plants at a little nursery( really someones house...) and when i left, i noticed he had a big , beautiful tree of trumpet flowers. i commented on it and he promptly broke off a piece and told me to stick it in the dirt. At first it was a limp, pathetic speciman that was bent over almost in half. with lots of water, I watched it slowly stand upright and now, as you can see, its growing like crazy!

And here is the torpedo with a tail ( and teeth0 , mr. Crocodile. He's only about 4 or 5 feet long....for now.......

Finally some pics...

Finally I have a few photos to share though I must say, i don't think they really do justice. This first one is of our front yard, well, part of it. The newest editions are a couple more oleanders, beach lavender (which smells nothing like its namesake-actually smells a little like vanilla), a palm, and I transplanted some chaya from the back. There are a number of variables that determine plant placement here; sun (blistering sun) , shade, salt content in the air, wind ( an el norte can shred the leaves) and lizards. We have two that live around the house and they LOVE to eat papaya and chaya. My poor plants...they will get 3 or 4 leaves and start to take off...the next morning they are nothing but a stalk, and sometimes, that's broken in two (they're big lizards...). So I finally wised up and transplanted some into the front yard. For some reason this is a lizard free zone. I left the papaya in the back but my friend Peggy turned me onto a mixture of tobacco and some kind of powder she bought. You mix it with water and spray it on the plant. Supposedly insects and lizards will be repelled. More will be revealed on that...... The front yard has lots of succulents due to the wind, etc. but there are also 5 oleanders, palms, coconuts (of course), a hibiscus, an orange tree, bougainvillas (4)so there is more than what you see here....you can see the vacant lot next door. Our lot was once wild like this.

Last week our son and grandson were down for 5 days...they flew into Cancun ( a mistake many people make because they think they can save a few bucks) . Cancun is about a 4 hour drive away. Its easy to catch a bus( it runs every hour) between Cancun and merida but it still takes 4 hrs. So basically, a one week vacation turns into a 5 day visit. As luck would have it (bad luck) an el norte came in and most of the visit was spent indoors due to cold and heavy rain....At least the first day at the house was nice and while we were walking on the beach we found a dead sea turtle.( His shell now resides at our house......)

It was so nice to see Tyler and Tyson. We really love living here and have no regrets but we know its been hard on our kids and of course we miss them like crazy. I guess there really is no perfect world....damn!

Backyard....again, this really isn't a good picture but it gives you an idea. The plant in the foreground was on the front porch in a big terra cotta-barro-pot but it was too windy for it. I was at a beautiful hacienda and these plants were growing up a tree and looked like something from Jurrasic park so thought Id try that out. You see the neighbors house? It is our ONLY neighbor and we've never seen anyone there. The influx of gringos buying up Santa Clara continues...John went to the store the other day and brought back a woman........he brought her over to see our house and introduce her to me. She just bought a 3 bdrm house NOT on the beach, amazingly enough, though she is one lot back from it. She just happens to be the labor commisioner for the state of north carolina. She said they had already purchased a home in merida that they had gutted and redone but she felt she "needed a view' so they bought this house here too. They will still live in N. carolina so im not too sure how much they'll be here in santa clara. I tell you, it's like a little series here...I will not go into too many details of peoples lives but i will say,we do not need TV to be entertained........

This fellow is called a bananaquit...yes, I confess, we do have a bird book and we look these things up. He ( or she) arrived a couplw eeks ago and as of yesterday , I saw three of them hanging out together. Speaking of birds, I was just getting up a couple of days ago, it was one of those still, silent mornings and i was just starting to enjoy my tea when I noticed a cacophony of sound coming from the direction of the manglar. I walked outback and headed to the dock. What a racket! It was like a convention of drunken salesman having poolside cocktails...loud raccous shouts arose along with what sounded like cannonball dives. There must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of birds..pelicans, egrets, herons and a multitude of others i can't name, all engaged in a feeding frenzy. They were screeching and cawing and throwing themselves headfirst into the swamp. Like a bird rave it was! I got in the truck and drove to where I could get a better view. It seems as though there was some sort of a smelt run going on. Oh! That reminds me, while i was watching this show, Mr. Crocodile appeared, well, his eyes anyway. I was going to include that pic for you. Maybe I'll add it in when i'm done here. And last but not least, i will include this shot of my Tue. ladies group ( which is currently on hold). Starting from the left- Peggy ( whose husband, Tom, is johns new pal), next is Linda, who lives 10 miles down the road in Dzilam de Bravo. She has lived down here for 15 years. To my right is carla who lives in Italy, England and Phoenix, throwing in a 2 month stay, give or take, down here. She is a lovely woman who cooks a delicous pasta( she made tuna spaghetti...i know, sounds gross, but it was excellent)and last but not least is Marcie (of Marcie and Will) . These are my beach buddies. I have a few friends in Merida as well but no photos of them yet. We've had so many visitors, i haven't spent much time with these ladies. I think thats how it goes down here.
So there you have it...nothing too interesting or entertaining, just a little snapshot of our life. Hope you liked it. I'll keep you posted on whether or not my tobacco-lizard repellant worked.....

football and decor

OK, OK....what can i say? I'm out of excuses....still no photos for you. I actually got the camera out as we were getting ready to head into town and decided 'what do i take a picture of?" We were invited to a superbowl party and I knew the house would be fabulous so i almost brought it for that. " Hi, Im Jill and I've never been to your house, but would you mind if i just strolled around taking photos so that i can later post them on my blog?"..........see what i mean?
So I will try to paint you a picture with words......
First of all, visualize a city scene. The centro district is the old, colonial part of the city. The buildings remind me a bit of New Orleans or Europe with their high wooden doors and tall windows covered in beautiful ironwork.There is no seperation between homes, they are all connected. Entirely different stories are lived out on opposite sides of the same wall. Yellow, orange, various shades of blues and pinks color the fascades like participants in an Easter parade as you stroll down streets that thunder with the sound of hurtling busses and the clip clop of horse drawn wagons. Bougainvilla drape themselves seductively over walls and rooftops. I love to stroll at night when windows offer glimpses into the secret domains. If a door is ajar to catch a breeze on a hot evening, you can catch sight of the beautiful, antique tile floors or an enormous wooden bookshelf stretching itself from floor to ceiling, ornate chrystal chandeliers light foyers teasingly allowing only a glimpse. Often there are inner courtyards surrounded by high arches that house cooling water fountains or pools. When you are within these courtyards, the sounds of the city are silenced by the thick concrete walls and the gurgling of a fountain and the swishing of a great ceiling fan are all that can be heard beyond the cooing of doves. The tile floors that have supported generations of bare feet, are as cool as stone by a river.
Not every door reveals the same scene. After taking in one of these elaborate homes, the next window you look in could reveal a long, narrow, austere home with only a small wooden table and a hammock. A small kitchen with the bare essentials unseen but emanating the sounds of a meal being prepared.
We've been invited behind the doors of three of these homes. All have been amazing. Last night we were invited to a superbowl party. Now, I'm not a fan, but if i had to choose a team to watch it would be Green Bay because I found out years ago the team is actually owned by the city of Green Bay Wisconsin. In these days of stories of the super rich and corporations, I found the idea quaint. So after accepting the invitation, I was happy to find out that they would be playing. We approached the house with anticipation. Theirs was one door of many on the street. All seemingly the same. When our lovely hostess opened the 10 -12 foot door, a lovely entryway, beautifully tiled in a pink and green pattern, was revealed. The walls were lined with wonderful art-some paintings, some photographs. Lovely embroidered pillows were lounging on a loveseat. Faye, our hostess, took me on a tour. She told me she had brought her art with her, but once she actually settled in, she found it didn't fit. I told her i had experienced the same thing and knew exactly what she meant. It all seems so stuffy and cold here. This is a place of bright colors, simplistic paintings, folk art masks and statues. Its a wonderful mix of beauty and fun. A wooden mask of a jaguar, carved and brightly painted, hangs beneath a chrystal chandelier. A pillow made of crudely woven fabric and embroidered can be sewn onto a border made of plastic coated tablecloth material and placed on an ornately carved chair.
I don't even know how many bedrooms this house had. It seemed to go back forever. In the center was a courtyard surrounded by high arched walls and a large pool was held within. One wall of the pool was covered with a sculpture of palm trees. I couldn't help but wonder what was on the other side of the wall. We had a large , flatscreen Tv that was hooked up to Bose speakers that were mounted on thee wall. chairs were set up in rows so that everyone had a good view. It was like being in an out door theatre. The day had been hot and as the sun began to set, a cool breeze blew in. Snacks and beverages were laid out on long tables, introductions were made and kisses on checks were exchanged, than we all settled in.
Now, I have to tell you, this is the first superbowl I have ever seen the beginning of. Truthfully, its the only one ive ever seen from start to finish. As the preliminary chatter hooplah began, I was struck but the whole "god and country" hoohaw that was going on. It reminded me of back in the stone age when TV actually went off at night. Just before it signed off, you had a playing of the national anthem accompanied by the sight of a flag waving majestically.This was followed by a prayer and when that was over, a "test pattern" came on with a siren like noise and that was all you got until early morning when it came back on like the opening eye of a sleeping giant. I leaned forward to a guy in front of me and asked "do they always have this stuff at the start of the game?". He looked at me uncomprehendingly. 'All this patriotic stuff" i answered his look. "yeah" he answered like i ws a crackpot and turned around. Now, adding to this surreal experience, is the fact we are sitting in a colonial home deep in southern mexico. Here comes the girl from Glee to sing America the beautiful, later Christina Aguilera sings the anthem, the camera pans fans with hands over their hearts, a player is actually tearing up........let the games begin! The refrigerators with arms and legs enter the playing field, the injuries begin, the expensive commercials that make or brake advertising firms jockey for position, the halftime extravaganza plays out and the nail biting over the last quarter winds down as another champion is crowned... gladiators...the superbowl is evidently as american as mom and apple pie.....you know, I never had a fondness for either...........
We are americans but we live in mexico and love it. Our friends and family are in the states but we have new friends and newly developing lives and lifestyles here. Maybe thats why I have such an interest in and affinity for these old colonial houses-entirely different stories are being lived out on opposite sides of the same wall.