Tag: herb garden

Living overseas, Mexico, Retirement

Landscaping, Part 2

Thank you for your comments about the new landscaping in the back of our house. Leslie and I are really enjoying the bright colors. If you saw the video, you may remember there’s also an herb garden. We’ve finished the green leaf lettuce Enrique planted there, and we’ve enjoyed several great zucchinis! It’s really nice to have fresh parsley, thyme and rosemary. And I love making pico de gallo (known as Salsa Méxicana here) with fresh cilantro and limes from our own tree.

But we both noticed that the front of the house had very few plants and was, frankly, boring. Then one day, Leslie went up the street to visit our Méxican neighbors, Norberto and Monica. She liked what she saw along the driveway leading up to their house and asked who did the plantings. Norberto, one of the most helpful people I know, arranged for their gardener, Francisco, to take a look at our front garden space. Francisco speaks very little English, so Norberto translated for us and we explained what we wanted done.

We were a little surprised when we came home the next afternoon and found Francisco had already started working on the soil! We didn’t expect such a quick response. Normally, things take time here in México! But he got to work and got the job done in just a few days. Here’s a video:

The new look for the front of our home. Turn the sound on — there is a narrative!

We’ve heard lots of compliments from neighbors who walk past the house on their morning constitutional or walking their dogs. In time, of course, everything will grow and fill in so that you won’t see the dirt. Again, lots of color but some different kinds of flowers. We’re very pleased with how it turned out.

What’s the next project? Stay tuned!

Here’s an amazing photo. On the morning of Aug. 9, Leslie and I were enjoying a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper on our iPads when I looked up and saw a water spout over the lake! These are rare but they do happen. This one apparently lasted about half an hour, but I just caught the end of it. I was able to get a couple of photos from our terraza before it faded away.

A rare phenomenon — a water spout, or culebra, over Lake Chapala.

It’s called a culebra in Spanish, and they can move onto land. If that happens it becomes a tromba, which can do a lot of damage. The local paper noted that in 1973, a tromba hit the east end of the lake’s north shore, killing 32 people and destroying many homes. Glad this one stayed over water!

Life is gradually getting back to normal here in Ajijic. Mask-wearing is mandatory only in health care settings and on public transportation. It’s optional everywhere else, and many people choose not to wear a mask. But we have two neighbors who recently tested positive for COVID, so we remain vigilant. We hope to be traveling again soon. One of our neighbors is suggesting a trip to Aguascalientes to visit a few wineries! And we definitely plan to be on the beach for Leslie’s birthday in October!

More to come. Until then — hasta luego!

Living overseas, Mexico, Retirement

Gardens finished just before rainy season

Yes, we’re still here and going strong. You just haven’t heard anything from Mexico since January, and there are some good reasons. The biggest is health issues — first for Leslie, then for me. I won’t bore you with details but we both spent some time in a hospital. Leslie was very sick in January and February. In mid-March — about the time she got significantly better — I got sicker than I’ve been in my life, and that lasted until early June. Now we’re both doing very well. We have some terrific doctors. Some are not-so-terrific, but you get that in the States too.

The other big reason I haven’t posted anything is because there was nothing to report! Nothing happened in the first few months because we were dealing with other issues. Now, however, I can show you our new landscaping, which includes a super little herb garden.

We hired Enrique and his crew to renovate the gardens, front and back. They put in a variety of flowering plants that should provide color all year ’round. He also reworked our front courtyard and it looks great. We wanted to replace the fountain in front because it was directly in front of the door and a few people almost fell into it when walking away from the door. Plus, it didn’t work anymore.

We thought about moving it and replacing all the tiles in the courtyard. Enrique had a better idea. His crew removed the fountain and replaced it with a tile medallion that gives the courtyard a whole new look while retaining the original tile and saving a lot of money. Enrique also moved a palm tree from the back yard to the front courtyard and added lots of color in the two north corners.

The herb garden includes rosemary, basil, thyme, parsley and tons of cilantro. There’s also some green leaf lettuce and two zucchini plants. I plan to add some jalapeño plants soon.

Here are some videos to show you what the new landscaping looks like. Turn your sound on because I’ve tried to provide some explanation, although I don’t know the names of all the plants. First is the front courtyard:

The new front courtyard. We hope to put some planters on the low walls on either side of the gate.

Next, here are two videos of the back yard. First is the new plantings, and second is a look at the new herb garden and our three fruit trees.

The back yard, including the newly painted fountain that looks MUCH better.
The herb garden and fruit trees.

Leslie and I are enjoying all the color. We’re especially excited that we’ll probably never have to buy cilantro again! We tried to grow it when we lived in San Antonio — too hot. We also tried when we lived in Illinois. No luck there either. It’s going great guns here — but you would expect that, wouldn’t you?

Our timing was excellent on this installation. Enrique’s crew finished just a few weeks before the rainy season began. We get rain here at Lakeside generally from mid-June through the end of October. Most of the time the rains come at night, but this past week we’ve had a few days when it rained all morning. Highly unusual. I actually turned our sprinklers off because we don’t need them right now. It may not rain every night, but there’s rarely a gap of three days between storms.

Some of the big rains come from feeder bands of Pacific hurricanes. Most hurricanes make landfall farther south or they stay out in the Pacific. Some drift north and hit the Baja peninsula. I’m very happy that Fabian and his crew finished sealing the roof before the rains came. We won’t have to do that work again for at least eight to 10 years.

And finally, a picture of Ziggy and Marley:

They’re all grown up now. Just hitting their first birthdays and they can’t share the kitty bed anymore!

I’ll close with some “before” photos of the landscaping so you can see the difference. I hope it won’t be six more months before a new post!

Hasta luego!

The front courtyard as it used to look, with a non-working fountain that was in the way.
You can’t see the old fountain. It had horses on it, and didn’t look Mexican at all. Enrique’s guys painted it and now it looks great. Many of the plantings were overgrown and well over 10 years old.