Mexican Independence Day, Patzcuaro and Farewell for now from Mexico

This will be my last blog entry from Mexico for the time being anyway.  I'm not sure yet if I will continue the blog once we return to Chicago on Saturday, nor am I sure when we are returning to Mexico.  The last six months have been wonderful but it's time to go on to some other projects now.  We will reopen the art gallery in late October and we have a lot of work to do to get that going again.   I'm going to open two more Etsy stores and stock the apron shop for Christmas.  I want to reorganize the house in Chicago and set up my own writing/crafts room as well as get rid of tons of junk.  So until I decide what to do with the blog, I'll leave you with our trip to Patzcuaro last weekend with Arturo's Uncle Arturo and Aunt Maria Elena.  Despite the relentless rain we had a great time!

A church had dozens of these hand-embroidered banners.

Uncle Arturo and Aunt Maria Elena on a boat ride through the rain.

The rain stopped long enough for the Independence Day Parade

Citlali enjoying the parade.

The horses were my favorites!

This horse was dancing but the photo doesn't capture it well.  

And one last one - at least for now - from our bedroom window.  Talk to you later!

What I'll miss about Mexico

Tomorrow we leave for Patzcuaro for a few days and when we return on Monday, we will only have four more days here before we go back to Chicago.  I'm not sure when I'll spend another six months at a stretch in Mexico as we have a lot of things to do in Chicago.  Like work for one.  So now I'm becoming more aware of Mexico and what I'll miss while we're gone.  We will be back early next year but it will be different. So here is some of what I'll miss and it is in no particular order:

1.  The view outside our bedroom window.  I've bored you with enough pictures of it, but I never tire of looking out that window.
2.  All the mountains that surround Mexico City.  Chicago is great but it just doesn't have the same landscape as Mexico.
3.  Family and friends that we have here.
4.  Vegetarians beware - I'll miss the terrific meat at the neighborhood butcher's little shop.  I am trying to eat less meat but this butcher shop is the best.
5.  Going to La Lagunilla on Sundays with Arturo and the dogs.  Besides looking at all the vintage goods and antiques, they have the best quesadillas there.  Can you tell that food is a big part of my life?
6.  Walking downtown amongst modern buildings that are side by side with colonial architecture from the 1500s.  I prefer the colonial buildings.  It's a part of history that we don't have in the Midwest and I love all of it.  The churches built hundreds of years ago are spectacular.
7.  Patzcuaro.  Going to the plaza there and sitting with a cup of coffee in one of the little outside restaurants watching the kids and dogs play in the huge plaza.  We walk around the plaza chatting and watching while getting some exercise as it is about a quarter of a mile around.  I never tire of that plaza.
8.  Walking the dogs up and down the hills around our house.  Poukie knows where all the dogs live and he stops to bark at some of them.  I have no idea what his criteria is as to which dogs he chooses to bark at but his routine doesn't vary.
9.  Sitting up in my little "office" working on my book or sewing with Citlali curled up sleeping on top of Diana's and Laura's old crib that we filled with who knows what stuff.
10.  Our house and backyard that Arturo has worked so much on.   If finally feels like a home to me.  And I'll miss the vibrant, beautiful bouganvillea that is everywhere.
11.  Polanco.  I love everything about it.  The park, the restaurants, the architecture, the total "aliveness" of that neighborhood.

There are many other things I'll miss and even more that I want to do next time we come here.  Including having more people visit us!  We loved having Tom and Goya here and we enjoy showing off the city so start making your plans!

Next week I'll post my favorite pictures and places.

Have a great weekend!

The kitchen is done - pretty much anyway!

Before I get to the kitchen, I just want to say that I hope the teachers who are protesting daily here in Mexico City finish and go home before September 21st.  I don't think this has made the news much in the U.S. but the teachers here in Mexico are upset over reforms the federal government is imposing on them.  They will have to take exams every few years to keep their jobs and a few other things that have them very upset.  For the last several weeks a large contingent of them have camped out in the Zocalo and each day they block traffic by marching down the main streets of the City, causing chaos and headaches for those who live and work in the City.  Twice now they have blocked access to the International Airport - yesterday being the second time.  All I'm saying is that they had better not be there at the airport on the 21st!  And of course, I want them to go back to the now empty classrooms where their students are waiting for them.

So, the kitchen.  It started out like this about 30 years ago.  It needed a remake.

Then it looked like this for most of the summer after we tore down the old kitchen:

And now it looks like this!

I'm happy!  We are going for a retro look and there is more to the kitchen but I like this picture the best.  I have to make new curtains - the ones hanging are from 1985 - and one wall that you can't see here is a bright red/pink.  We worked about 10 hours yesterday to finish.  Actually, I suppose that Arturo did most of the work and we used my weight to cut boards - meaning that I would stand on a board while he used a jigsaw and I have to say that thing passed by really too close to my toes.  Happily I still have all ten of them.

Have a great weekend!