Dia de los Muertos, 2017

A little late with this post as usual, but we would like to share with you some images of our favorite holiday in Mexico, Dia de los Muertos. (click the pics to enlarge)...

The vivid colors and textures of the culture here never cease to amaze us and Day of the Dead stands out as the ultimate display.
The big day (Nov. 2) culminated in a competition of The Walking Dead themselves.... school kids coming from all around the municipality set up altars in the plaza. They arranged ornate offerings to family and friends who have passed on from this life. A speech was given at each altar explaining the significance of the items presented. things like beer, flowers, palm leaves, even cigarettes, all things that the loved one enjoyed while alive.

Some of the more prominent flowers used are the Moco de pavo (a type of Amaranthus) and Mexican Marigolds...

There was also a competition for the best dressed dead girl.
This one was made of newspaper....

this one was made from corn husks

some more traditional

some more indigenous

as the Old Clock Struck Two...

the winner was announced............ it was Miss Newspaper!
But what a hard one to judge!

For certain, all were a work of art,
but this little dead girl was probably my favorite....

but so many....

Afterwards it was time for handmade flower tacos and memelas at our friends joint where the ladies work long hard days....but enjoy them.....

It was a another great event for the little town with the newly remodeled centre.
The trees and palms growing fast and for sure..... the Dead, Alive and well.....

Hasta luego.....
KnJ

Greetings all!

Just a quick Garden post here....

We've been so impressed with our Kale and collards.  Here's a video of a portion of the garden.

Kale (and Collards), as we've come to find out, grows all year here. I just wonder if it will ever flower so that we could get more seeds?? The large Blue Curled are now a year old.

I help out at my friends jicama and papalo farm. The tall stuff is papalo, a strange tasting herb popular here in sandwiches called cemitas. In exchange, all the jicama I can eat. Should be ready in Nov. ....yum.

Till the next post....
over n out....

Summer in Veracruz

Summer is upon us here and with it brings the cooler weather. Drizzly 60's at night, sunny 80's in the day.
Perfect if you ask me. The garden is growing fast and I'm still surprised to see the Kale and Collards just cranking like winter in Florida.  I guess they'll go all year here and turn into small trees.
Click the images to enlarge.....

The neighbors Haas and our criollo avocados are in full swing with hundreds of fruit each. The criollo is like a creamier Haas with a thin skin, delish!

Another kink of avocado here is another native tree call "El Chinene". I don't know how to describe its flavor except for maybe a smokey light haas. The town is full of these and so we gorge daily on them. Jane has a new recipe for a Alfredo sauce made with avocados, so we'll be trying that real soon.
Here's the chinene...

We also have found the odd melon-tasting fruit called "casabanana" or "Calabaza de Melon" growing around here. I was thrilled to find them here after first seeing one at my buddy Barry's in Fla.
Here they make them into a dessert-like sweet dish. These fruit are great for hanging in the house because they give off a sweet aroma....and they last a long time.

I found them near my buddy Enriques' place here.....

We finally made our way over to the state art museum here in Orizaba a couple miles from the house....

Also made a new Rocket stove a few months ago and have been getting good usage out her......
It's a pretty efficient cooking device for sure....

Till the next post everyone!
Saludos.....
KnJ

Xalapa to the Hill Country (Orizaba to Texas)

Greetings all, glad you could join in the fun.
We just wanted to include a bit more of the sights around Xalapa, Veracruz and then on to good ole Texas.
The following are a few pics of the fantastic gardens found in Xalapa.
This garden is the sister garden of Fairchilds in S. Florida.
I hear they have the largest collection of pine trees in Mexico. (click on pics to enlarge)....

 

 This garden is right in central and is loaded with palms and huge sycamores. 

 

Can you find the zip-liner??

 

From another park on a mountaintop we snapped this photo of Pico de Orizaba looming above all in the far distance.

(Back in the USA) First camp spot in the Hill Country of Texas ....
Garner state park and the Frio River...

The Frio River is lined with huge old cypresses.....

Second spot was sort of a strange place called Utopia along the banks of the Sabinal River.....

And then on to Lost Maples State park.

Lost Maples has some nice hiking along big boulders. We even saw our first porcupine! Didn't know they were such great tree climbers (sorry no picture of the little critter though)

Our pasta diner one night was laced with these fresh pink pine nuts from back in Mexico. Allot of work but yummmmmy!

We had timed our trip through the Hill country just right (Apr-May), as the wildflowers were in full bloom.....

Our 4th spot was at Kerrville-Schreiner Park, just outside the town of Kerrville. One day in Kerrville the ole Vanagator had a big kiss with a telephone pole, which sent the bike rack clear thru the rear window into the bed! We ended up staying here about a month waiting for a new window sent from California. All in all, not a bad place to hang out for awhile.

It's right near the beautiful Guadalupe River. Great day for a swim!

It's a nice town with a round library a few miles from the park.....

The town also has a nice nature center along the river. It has a nice collection of plants and trees and uhhhhhh...

We slowly pulled out of Kerrville on our 25th anniversary with some some fond memories....and a new back window!


Excited to return to Mexico, we went through ole Hondo, Texas where you better slow down.....

The Hill country surprisingly proved to be a very beautiful place. Not the kind of scenery one would expect to find in Texas. Huge cypress trees along some really nice rivers, hills, long horn steer and incredible wild-flowers.
Well, until the next post y'all.....