New Colours Outside, Too

I had paint left over after doing the interior walls, so Eduardo did some painting on the outer walls of Casa Que Sera.  

This is what our casa used to look like before the Padre built his house. As you can see, it was a very light, neutral colour.  Over the years we've enjoyed the light, almost white colour, but it was time for a change.

I had the back carport wall painted light orange, the walls street-side, dark orange and the upper trim repainted a rusty clay colour. 

By the time Eduardo did this job, we were really tired of having workers around, but later on I may get him back to do a bit more painting.

As you can see, the Padre's high wall to the left, is stark white and we can't touch it.  But the lower wall to the left is ours, so I might get it and the pillars painted the same dark orange as the exterior walls. 

Did you notice how much taller the palms on the right side of our lot have grown over the years.   In the previous photo, taken before the Padre built, the palms barely made it to the top of our wrought iron fence.   These palms have given us the privacy around the pool that we were looking for.

So Adorable

A couple of years ago my daughter, Carla, adopted a rescue dog from Puerto Vallarta.

He'd already been named, so Carla decided to keep the name "Spud". Because poor little Spud had been abused and was already very skittish, the last thing he needed was a new name.   Carla was trying her best to do everything possible to make Spud's life easier rather than harder.

In the Spring, Carla and Spud came to Casa Que Sera for a visit, and I must say, I fell in love with the little mutt. 

We had lots of fun with him while they were here.  Maria, who is a real animal lover, also fell for Spud.  You can see that she was more anxious to get friendly than Spud was.  At this point, Spud was still being really cautious with newcomers.

This morning I received this photo of Spud.

I think Carla must be anticipating some really bad weather or a dump of snow back home, because she has outfitted Spud in some pretty warm duds.  She and Spud take very long walks every day, and it's minus 3°C in Nanaimo, so she's dressed him for the weather.   

This is what it looked like in Carla's back yard last year. 

Spud is so tiny, he gets cold very easily.  When the temperatures are low in Canada, I'm sure he'd rather be back in Mexico where it's warm.   

Carla and Spud, I hope you both enjoy your walk today.  Hugs, mom.

Lightning Struck Again

Last week we had Victor back to prune our four palms plus the Padre's three palms.  We have the Padre's palms trimmed every year to improve our view. Because he's rarely here, he's not at all concerned about paying to have his palms done.  

Once again Victor worked in his bare feet.

It took him a whole day to prune all seven trees and another day to get rid of all the rubbish.

We also hired Victor to take down a dead palm near us, because it had been struck by lightning while we were away and didn't look so good.   Another palm, very close to this one, got struck by lightning two years ago so we also had that one removed back then.

Victor definitely doesn't have access to anything as high-tech as a power saw, so a small hatchet would have to do.

For a little guy, Victor is very strong so was able to cut through the trunk and fall the tree with his sharp, little hatchet.  Soon there was nothing but the stump standing.

After Victor dragged the dry, dead fronds to the road, he chopped the long trunk into several smaller pieces to lighten the load.  But the chunks were still too heavy to pack on his own, so good old Bruce came to his rescue and helped him haul the wood away.

Another day, another job done !

Sweet Potato Salad

It rained hard all night, which made for a better sleep.  I woke up a few times to the sound of heavy rain dancing on the courtyard floor tiles and pool, but the soothing sound of the splashes lulled me back to "Never Never Land" before too long.

Bruce just mentioned to me that the hurricane site is showing Hurricane Sandra moving more towards Mazatlan now rather than Cabo.

Mornings come early around here, because 6 am is  the time Maria arrives to clean three mornings a week.   It has become a routine, and now I can't seem to sleep any later than about 5:30.
     
I've already done my chores for the day and it's only 7:08 am.      

Recently I made a delicious Potato Salad using sweet potatoes rather than regular ones.  I boiled my potatoes with the skin on, and when they were cooked and cooled, I removed the skins. I also boiled a couple of eggs while the potatoes were cooking.

In the meantime, I chopped some celery, sweet onion and red pepper.

Then I cut the potatoes and eggs into 3/4" cubes and tossed them with the other veggies.

I made a yummy dressing using sweet, smoked paprika and cumin and gently tossed the dressing with the salad ingredients to coat.

I served the salad on Romaine lettuce leaves for a bit of added crunch.

I think this was one of the best potato salads I've ever made. 

This is the recipe if you' like to make it.  It was a nice change and really, really tasty.  

Sweet Potato Salad

2 pounds sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cooked

2 eggs, boiled and peeled

1/2 Vidalia onion or 3 green onions, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 red pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/3 cup mayonnaise (I use Miracle Whip)

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain and peel the potatoes and let cool in a colander along with the peeled eggs.  Once they are cool, transfer to a large serving bowl and add the onion, red pepper, and celery.  In a separate bowl, add the mayonnaise, orange juice, smoked paprika, cumin and salt and pepper, to taste. Whisk to combine.  Pour over the potatoes & eggs and gently mix. Serve immediately or refrigerate for 1 an hour or so to allow the flavours to meld.

Rain, Precious Rain

Hallelujah  ! 

I was at the tianguis bright and early this morning and there was lots of thunder and lightening happening.   I didn't quite make it home before the skies opened up,  and it has been raining ever since.

  



























The huge rain drops falling into the pool make very interesting patterns and sounds.

I didn't think rain could feel this good.  It feels absolutely wonderful. Today is the first day it hasn't been in the 90's since we arrived.

Normally it has cooled down a bit by November, but not this year. The really bad humidity also usually subsides by the end of October, but it hasn't dropped, either.

It is still very humid today, but the rain makes everything feel so much cooler and fresher.

It's very difficult to skinny dip when there are workers coming and going all day, every day, so most days we've struggled through the hot days without a dip 'til evening. 

Today Maria left mid morning and we've had no other workers since then. Consequently, I've made up for lost time and have been in and out of the water many times.  Nothing feels quite as refreshing as skinny dipping in the rain, and today it has felt just as invigorating each and every time.   

It doesn't take long before I feel sticky again, so I'm sure I'll be in the pool a few times more before we say goodnight.

Bruce just told me it's raining because there's another hurricane out there. He says Hurricane "Sandra" is heading towards Cabo San Lucas.   Let's hope it doesn't hit !

Naranja - Brand New Colour

Last week Eduardo started painting a couple of the walls in Casa Que Sera.  The new colours are different shades of orange or "Naranja" in Spanish.

The wall in the entrance and part of the kitchen got painted a deep, rich orange.

And the walls in the kitchen and large window wall became a lighter, more soothing orange.

This is what the rooms used to look like.   I loved the vivid old fuchsia and lime colours, but the fuchsia wall got a couple of dings in it and I couldn't match the paint.  So I went for the gusto and changed the colours.

This is what Casa Que Sera looks like now.

All my Televera pottery looks really good against the orange walls.

And these three beautiful Talavera plates look especially good against the orange.

Some of my other pottery pieces have some orange in them.  They sit against  aqua walls, but because there's orange in the room, it really brings out the orange in the jugs.

You have to be a true professional to paint perfectly straight lines, and Eduardo never messes up.   Because these scenes are not pained on canvas, but rather right on the walls, it takes a pretty steady hand to paint around them.  

The border around the alcove needed some help, and I definitely think it looks better now. 

The colours in the big Mexican scene in the entrance have really popped since painting the wall orange.

Everything seems to jump out a little more now.

The aqua walls and lime beams near the ceiling, remain the same colour.  I think they complement the new orange tones very well.

Now that the interior painting is finished, I'm a very happy camper!!   No more disruptions or messes inside.   

This morning Eduardo is back to start on all the exterior painting .