It has been ages since I have had a moment to write anything. What's going on with our life in Mexico could become a book but I'll try to keep it shorter than that. My last post in early September was an outing with Cristian and our two dogs, Angel and Maxine. Since then we adopted a beautiful husky with startling blue eyes that soon became a great teacher of patience and forbearance. We almost didn't keep her because she and Maxine wanted to tear each other apart. Gratefully we accepted the challenge—she and Max are now wolf sisters getting into trouble together.
Sierra, La Loba Loca
We often transmit messages in our cloud, when words are spoken they are often simultaneous, like two old friends who know each other so well that we just stare at each other in amusement. Ideas started forming about building a workshop in the corner front of the property where a ramshackle shed had stood for many years, rain and dust made this make-shift storage corner unfit and a breeding ground for scorpions. So Christine got busy designing a layout and floor plan, yes! a workshop with a smaller room to reinitiate Starfield Creations our orgonite art.
Ground breaking on the workshop and art studio
Having built Casa Serenidad and run the crew I was a bit concerned about finding a good work crew when I remembered Diego, he was a lovely intelligent young Mexican man who sold me a Jeep over a year ago. Having dropped him off at his home when we completed the transaction I commented on how nice his home was and asked who built it. He answered his father had. I sent him a message and he along with his father, uncle and two cousins were available. It took us a month to come to terms on time and finances and we broke ground in October.
From this point forward I did nothing but tend shop during work hours, make continuous decisions, purchase needed material, design doors, windows, etc., etc., etc. Well of course we cooked meals, fed the dogs, took long afternoon walks, enjoyed the blazing fire on the porch during cold winter night—we drank-in life to the fullest.
Evening walk with the tres amigos (actually dow amigas plus one amigo)
Clay fire place blazing on a cold evening
Cristian with Maxine by fire light
A bouquet of wild flowers under candle light
The brick work was amazingly fast and before we knew it we were into finish work. Amazing crew, they were always upbeat and the two young cousins could be seen dancing around the cement mixer! I am sure the beer that Cristian provided every evening augmented their mood and knowing how much we appreciated them.
The day we poured the roof and decided to add a second floor studio apartment
Life in this realm wouldn't be life without some challenges and one presented. I was out by the front gate feeding our newly acquired hens when I heard a crash, turning around quickly I saw that Diego had fallen from the scaffold and was laying on his back with his head next to a big rock. The stunned men just stood and stared, not sure what to do. Of course the nurse in me took over so I squatted next to Diego and checked his heart and started speaking to him, he was conscious but in shock.
Diego on scaffolding doing stucco work a few minutes before he lost his balance and fell flat on his back
Once we got Diego up it was apparent that he had hurt his wrist badly, turned out it was fractured and required surgery. This event put a damper on the guys and set the schedule back as Diego the prime mover was out of work for almost a month. Fortunately his wrist healed and he was able to return to complete the project.
Christmas came and went as did News Years. We embraced the two weeks we had with no workers to take time for ourselves and the growing animal tribe. We discovered the delight of having hens pecking about and finding fresh eggs every day. We rarely speak of it though we both acknowledge that we are preparing for what might come—seems the nefarious world government cartels are determined to create shortages everywhere. Though I must say that here the markets are full of everything and life seems to carry on as always.
Things that happened over this time were not having electricity for a couple of weeks because our underground cable got corrupted, took forever for the electric company to come fix it which prompted us to purchase a generator. Then a friend who left Mexico gave us a solar generator that her "boyfriend" had broken, Cristian was able to fix it after we found the broken parts online.
On our evening walks to the dam that forms a lake we would drive by a house with chickens, dogs, and cats. There were two tiny kittens and so we stopped to see them. We knew but pretended we didn't that we would end up with one. I picked this tiny kitty up, she stared in my eyes and it was love coupled with the fact that she was all skin and bones. I looked at Cristian, he smiled, I asked the rather intoxicated owner and sure enough he was happy for us to take her. She is beyond words the most intriguing cat, we named her Minxie.
Smaller than my hand, meet Minxie after a bath.
Minxie today, such an awesome fearless little girl
Casa Sierra taking its final form, lots of details now finished which I will share in a subsequent post
Last day of the crew over a lunch, some beers and good feelings all around
Diego is more than someone who worked for us, he's a good friend and will be missed
Antonio who is Diego's father, a true introvert, became a friend. He too will be missed
There is so much more to share but if I don't post this now I may never get around to it. Our days now are full to the max tending to all we created so stay tuned for a visit from Cezar, Cristian's truly delightful uncle plus more reflections on life in Mexico. Our animal tribe has grown, we've met many challenging moments head on as life is such a learning journey. I will end this muse with a few photos on reflection.
Perfect reflections of home life
Reflection of Casa Sierra on a full moon night out Casa Serenidad's kitchen window
The lake and peaceful serenity we find on our evening walks
The Secret Garden gate—what's behind it coming later this week .....
