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We’ve now lived in our house for over a year, it doesn’t really seem that long to me. One of the things that kind of bugs me is I’ve never gotten to a place where I think, OK, this is about complete. I really do want to have an open house for friends here in Mérida but I’ve never felt it was ready yet. I decided I had to pick something and say ‘enough for now’. We already have a fine coat of salitre on the walls so they look old and like they haven’t been painted in 100 years. Some things, like these salt deposits that appear through paint, sealer and concrete, I’ve decided to get Microsoft about - it’s not a bug, it’s a feature! I decided that people spend millions on old Italian villas with the same stuff on the walls, so I don’t let it bother me.
 Before The garden though, that had to get fixed. It was beautiful with the stone and I think it would have been perfect for someone else, perhaps a snowbird or someone without pets or a yen to plant things. For us though, it really did not work. We have 3 fair sized dogs and they have a steady output of poop. We pick it up but getting it off uneven rock is not easy. Think of an English muffin with all those nooks and crannies. After your best attempt with the bag, you have to hose off the residue and the only place it goes is into the sand the rocks are seated on or down the drain into the dry well. The smell was a bit rank in spots.
 Henry explaining what we want to the head albañil Plus, I’m a gardener. Not always a good one as my previous green thumb seems to have turned brown on the edges down here but I’m an enthusiastic one. There was very little space for anything to be planted in the ground and pots had to be very large - don’t ask how Hombre has killed several of my plants in lower pots - but they also didn’t sit well on the uneven stone. Lounge chairs or tables were out of the question too, unless you wanted to wobble around on them. Mimi and I have both turned our ankles walking out there and the number of times I’ve almost fallen out of my chanclas is high. As these things piled up, we really started to hate those rocks. Mimi even got out there and dug up about a dozen of them to allow a place for the (ahem) run off from hosing them down. Then she had to go out and turn the sand over every week or so or the smell killed us.
 designing a planter So, yesterday was day 1 of the big yard update. Henry had done some drawings and we’d decided that it was simple enough we could just line out where things went and keep it simple. I thought it great when they showed up with lots of pieces of curved plastic pipe in different lengths. Using those to make lines with cal, the shapes were smoothly curved and organic, you could bend the pipe wider or narrower as you wanted. If you made a mistake, a broom was the eraser.
 it begins They workers cleared all the terrace plants and furniture so there was a straight shot from the front door to the work area for block and cement. Then they started prying up the rocks, the smell when some of them came up wasn’t good. One of the things I was careful to include in the design was a border of plantings that could collect run off. Plants will help to prevent that smell from happening, the bacteria on their roots convert urea to useful and clean smelling dirt.
We are using brushed concrete for the paths and an area for the BBQ and for a lounge chair and table. The rocks are being used to build various height planters in several places, some of them will also serve as seating. Always though, there is at least a strip wide enough for plants between the concrete and the plantar wall.
 the end of day 1 So, day 1 ended with a neat pile of rocks and rebar stakes to mark where the chalk lines had been. This morning the truck came with block and sacks of cement. The neat stack of rock started coming back down as walls were made for the planter beds.
 rock walls go up Our dogs don’t like most workmen, perhaps it is that they sense fear or it could be that we purposely don’t introduce them. So, they are locked up all day while this is going on. They spend the day on the roof and in the bedroom or in the living room and office. Everyone gets really quiet when we bring Cuba the doberman up or down on her leash, she usually makes a show of it barking and growling. The cats stay locked up too, because we don’t want them scared and now also because we have to keep Tita locked up all the time.
The story on that is that last week Mimi saw her run straight up the rock wall to the top. She couldn’t believe it but she did it. Then, she took off to explore the rooftops and stray cats of the neighborhood. We can’t take the fear of something happening to her so once we got her back inside (bless Whiskas) she’s only been out on her harness and leash. Henry has an idea to put a meter high bamboo wall braced with metal on top of our wall and offset it inside the wall so she can’t escape. That has now become part of this garden project. If we can’t keep the brat inside a 16′ wall then I don’t know what we’ll do, try and live with it I guess.
So, that’s the update. I’m waiting now for the plumber/electrician to come by and show us where to put some pvc for future irrigation and cables for lights in the new planters. Here’s the same angle at the end of day 2.
 end of day 2
 Tita helping me navigate Can I just say that it’s been rather busy around here? I forgot that winter is the social season and I get overwhelmed. So, let’s see… Country was here for a week and then we drove her to Akumal for a day and to the airport in Cancun. We took all the animals with us in the truck, Mimi rode in the back with the dogs. It sounds worse than it was, she had cushions and could stretch out and there is a shell on the back of the truck. So, basically she was comfy most of the way until about 3 miles from Akumal when Hombre took a dump near her head and she spent the rest of the time trying to keep everyone else from stepping in it and also trying not to gag from the smell. Hey, it’s just one of the joys of having dogs right?
 RK & Bill at the head of the table Then we had over a week where we were out to dinner with friends every night. Wonderful and fun and exhausting. One of those dinners was a fantastic Chinese New Years banquet hosted by our friends and neighbors RK and Bill, they have a beautifully restored colonial across the street from us. There were all of the foods that are traditional, whole fish, long life noodles and many more. RK explained the traditions for the 20 guests and we all ate way too much and took some home. I counted 4 languages being spoken around the table, it was a marvelous night. RK and Bill live most of the year in Seattle and the whole evening reminded me of other banquets for the New Year when I lived in San Francisco. Very nostalgic and really wonderful to be able to enjoy this here in Mérida. The restaurant owner has another restaurant in Campeche but he came over personally to cook for us - well, really for RK I think.
On the 8th or 9th night we had a night at home and ate breakfast for dinner, our favorite. Scrambled eggs with fresh basil and queso Oaxaca, English muffins with home made (but not by me) naranja agria marmelade, little smokies from Canada - it was another international feast.
 not finished but already stunning On Thursday we drove out to Santa Elena, near Uxmal, to see our friend Sheila’s new house. It’s incredible! She has many acres of land and the house sits on a slight rise with a classic look and wide verandas on two sides. Inside it is tall and cool and stunning. I can’t wait to see it finished.
On the way home I could not get warm, I huddled in our windowless jeep with 2 jackets and a beach towel over me, the heater on and still shivering. When we got home I got my hot water bottle and took to my bed under the comforter for about 2 days. I don’t think I came downstairs at all, I couldn’t get that far from the hot water bottle! I had a low fever, bone aches and the shivers. I slept most of that time but did read a couple books. After that, I was fine. Who knows what I had, just some random virus I guess.
The result of all this is that I didn’t turn my computer on for days and I’m now so seriously backed up on email that I may never get through it all. If you wrote me and I didn’t answer… I’m sorry, I’ll try to get them, but if it is important you might want to send me another email.
So, that’s what I’ve been doing up until today. Today they started on the back garden, tearing up all those rocks we’ve come to hate, but that’s a story for another day.
 All for me??? I had a birthday on Saturday and the whole city celebrated! There were parades and floats and bands on every corner - lots of heart balloons everywhere as well. Sweeeeet!
 La Ruina I didn’t feel like making a party at the house since it was Carnival and so I invited some friends to join us at our favorite botana bar, La Ruina. It was a good time. That sneaky Samuel even got the singer to sing Las Mañanitas to me. I had a wonderful time, enjoyed the music, the food and mainly the friends and then walked home and took a nap. We old ladies party like that.
 me, Alex & Stephen We were also celebrating Stephen ‘The Brit’ Dodwell’s birthday which was yesterday. PLUS, my dearest and oldest friend - who is younger in years, let me make that clear before I get in trouble - Ellen aka Country, was here for a week. She hadn’t yet seen the house more or less finished and I was anxious that she approve.
 Country & Mimi Country flew into Mérida but left from Cancun so we came over to Akumal for a couple days before her departure. It’s at least warm and sunny in the day, still chilly at night but that makes for good sleeping weather.
 Half Moon Bay in the morning So, that’s been this last week. I’m enjoying life and I haven’t had much time to get on the computer. I’ll be back more frequently when we return to Mérida… promise!
First off, I’ve got to tell you that I’m not a big trees and forest gloom kind of girl. I prefer open vistas, lots of sky and sun - lots of sun. I’m not sure why I thought buying a house with a huge banyan tree for a neighbor was a good idea but it was a lot smaller 2 years ago. It has grown and grown and recently I realized that it completely crossed our yard, adding lots of gloom and shade. See how those go together for me? I could never live up under big trees, they give me the creeps at night and the lack of light is depressing. Mimi and I once left Vancouver Island a week early because we couldn’t find anywhere to park the RV that wasn’t up under the gloomy trees.
So, I wanted the part over my yard cut back to the wall. It’s not my tree, it actually lives on the wall between two of the neighbors yards but it covers a good portion of the block. It’s really tall, the area is crowded and I didn’t want anyone getting hurt nor did I want to buy my neighbors a new roof. So, I’ve been on a search for an experienced tree guy to cut it back. I found one, through a friend of a friend, that had good references. He lives on the outskirts of the city and has no phone so I called the lady he works for on Thursdays and she had him call me on her phone. He came over and looked at the tree and said it wasn’t a problem, he’d cut it back.
Yesterday was the big day. First off, the exterminators were here in the morning so all the critters had to be taken away and I had to stand guard on the fish ponds. That went well and then Manuel and two helpers came to do the tree. He went up with just a rope and a machete and by the end of the day there is a quarter of that huge tree missing and sun has returned to my yard. It does look a bit odd with a chunk out of it, kind of like a pie chart. It will leaf out again though and I don’t really care anyway because… I have light again!
I took a bunch of pictures, the one that I didn’t remember to take was a shot of the whole tree before the cutting. Oh well, just fill in the blanks.
 The first cuts with the machete  One down  farther out  a pause to clear up  moving higher  the big one starts to fall  lowering it carefully  Mimi surveys the missing chunk of tree They chopped all the wood into fire sized pieces, loaded all the branches into our truck and Mimi drove it to their pueblo. They dropped off the firewood at Manuel’s grandmother’s house so she can make tamales and dumped the rest near his house. It was a big job and I was very happy with how careful they were and how efficient, plus they cleaned up really well. Total cost? $2500 pesos or a little less than $190US. Not cheap but a job well done.
Work begins on our yard after Carnival, the rock is coming out, more planters are being built and I hope to have a yard I can putter in with more space (and now more light) for plants.
Even the mannequins are checking their junk.
 Liverpool Department Store
 Playa waves next to the ferry dock  looking the other direction down the beach Wonderful day yesterday! Here’s a couple pics from the ferry dock in Playa del Carmen, you can see that the wind and waves were high. It was a wild ride over to Cozumel on the ferry. I don’t get sea sick (loud knocking on wood, never say never) but I heard some odd sounds coming from around the boat. I sat in the front row and just didn’t look back.
 Elaine and Mary Mary and Elaine met me at the dock and we had a wonderful few hours. These are heart friends, those you know will never fade whether you see them or not but it was wonderful to see them in the flesh. We walked and talked and stopped for some food. I haven’t been over to Coz for at least 5 years and the changes there are as large as the changes in Playa in that time… huge. There were 4 or 5 cruise boats in town and the non-stop “hey lady” got a little old. I’m glad to see tourists returning though, we need them and their money.
They walked me back to the ferry dock and caught a cab back to their ship. It said the next ferry was at 3pm so I sat on the dock enjoying the sun. The difference there on the leeward side of the island from the wind and waves in Playa was astounding. Suddenly the ticket guy came out of his booth and told me there was a ferry leaving, to go and get on. It was only 2:15pm but… T.I.M. (this is Mexico) and I was really happy he saw me and came and told me.
 water next to ferry dock on Cozumel, quite a difference! As I was pulling out of the parking lot in Playa, I got a call from Mimi. She had landed, Jaime and Kathy had picked her up and they had a few more stops to make in Cancun. They offered to bring her to Akumal and I headed home.
It is so wonderful to have her home. I can’t tell you. Chica was pretty pleased as well, it seemed to take her a minute to realize how long it had been since she saw her and then she got excited all over again. She pretty much glued herself to Mimi’s side for the rest of the evening.
 She's home! This morning the wind has subsided some and the sun is out and it is perfect sunning weather, cool and breezy enough to not get too hot soaking up the rays. I’m in heaven, my ginger is back, I’m sitting on my deck in the sun getting my dose of vitamin sol and life is very, very good.
 gotta love it!
 sunny and warm inside Because I’m up early this morning and because it’s been a while since I posted pics from inside our condo, I took these. This is my solution to the cold, howling wind outside.
Again all night it howled and screamed and whistled, this time it was more muted because I shut the windows and doors and pulled the curtains. It’s going to be a rough ride to Cozumel on the ferry. My deck looks out at the tip of Cozumel, so all those waves are in my path.
Tropical tip: if you don’t have long pants and it is suddenly cold, put on lotion. It keeps you warmer. The opposite is really important, if it is hot and humid do not, ever, put on any lotion or you will be swimming in sweat instantly. That’s my tip of the day and I’m off to the island.
 our other home
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