Another busy week.
On Thursday morning, Stanley got a bit of rodeo experience. As you may know, we have quite a problem keeping the horses out of the garden area. The biggest offenders are the colts.
On this particular morning, Stanley got between one of the colts and his parents who seemed to be in the middle of a domestic dispute. Papa wanted sex and Mama didn't. Papa had been trying various tactics to change her mind all morning and she was having none of it.
The colt, understandably, was quite anxious about all the bickering. He was interpreting Mama's efforts to avoid Papa's attention as possible abandonment, and he was making every effort to reinstate his position right next to her. Meanwhile, Papa, suffering from Lover Frustration Syndrome, was ramping up his efforts to get Mama's attention.
In all the resulting confusion, the colt got in the tomato patch, and it was Stanley's effort to move the colt away from the tomatoes that put him in harm's way.
In the end, Stanley took refuge in the arroyo and the horses moved on.
Some tomato plants were damaged in the rodeo, but they can be replaced. Stanley came away from the incident unscathed. Good thing. He would not be nearly so easy to replace.
I know some of my readers worry about us living in Mexico, but I'll bet none of you ever thought our biggest troubles might come at the hands (hoofs) of a colt.
Here is a picture of the offender a few days later in a more mellow mood.
We have contracted with a local business to build a fence to keep the horses out of the area behind the house. Now, we are beginning to think we should have put up a horse fence around the entire area. Oh, well . . . If we didn't have to worry about the horses, we would only have more time to fret over the insects, birds, possums, and gophers.
After ordering the gate for the front entrance, the horses decided they would just enter the garden from the back. The picture above is the very Mexican fence we put together to keep them out.
I have discovered Scrabble on my Kindle and it is amazing how much time I can frit away trying to make up new words that might be found in the Scrabble Dictionary. I am quite disappointed that NONE of my Spanish vocabulary will work.
We spent one entire day cleaning up the winery. It is almost "company clean." All we need is a bar and we could have a real tasting room.
I had a good time researching and writing the blog entry about the water in Parras de la Fuente. It all started with a picture I made of a rose in a wine glass. When I looked at the photograph, I realized more strongly than ever how important the water is to us and to the community. Without abundant water, life here would be very, very different.
For one thing, we can have lots of tomatoes. This one is our first bloomer.
The plants in the garden are not actually big enough to photograph, but we have already harvested lettuce, radishes, and arugula. The beans are setting blooms and the corn is FINALLY coming up. Ramon and his family will enjoy most of the produce while we are away, but I'm sure there will be something left for us to enjoy when we return in June.
We had a great time at Estela's last night. She had received a cabrito as a gift and asked us to share it with her. Delicious!
The gal in the photo with Stanley is Chela, Estela's cousin. Chela is deaf and mute, but she has no problem expressing her affection for us. She is fascinated by Stanley's height and was absolutely tickled when she saw in the photo that his head was in the leaves. With her own personal sign language, she communicated quite clearly that we needed to hold him down so that he didn't grow any more. I think it's a little late for that.
Not everything was pink. Orange and purple made a good show, also.
Our big news from the vineyard this week: The grapes are blooming. Big time!
On Thursday morning, Stanley got a bit of rodeo experience. As you may know, we have quite a problem keeping the horses out of the garden area. The biggest offenders are the colts.
On this particular morning, Stanley got between one of the colts and his parents who seemed to be in the middle of a domestic dispute. Papa wanted sex and Mama didn't. Papa had been trying various tactics to change her mind all morning and she was having none of it.
The colt, understandably, was quite anxious about all the bickering. He was interpreting Mama's efforts to avoid Papa's attention as possible abandonment, and he was making every effort to reinstate his position right next to her. Meanwhile, Papa, suffering from Lover Frustration Syndrome, was ramping up his efforts to get Mama's attention.
In all the resulting confusion, the colt got in the tomato patch, and it was Stanley's effort to move the colt away from the tomatoes that put him in harm's way.
In the end, Stanley took refuge in the arroyo and the horses moved on.
Some tomato plants were damaged in the rodeo, but they can be replaced. Stanley came away from the incident unscathed. Good thing. He would not be nearly so easy to replace.
I know some of my readers worry about us living in Mexico, but I'll bet none of you ever thought our biggest troubles might come at the hands (hoofs) of a colt.
Here is a picture of the offender a few days later in a more mellow mood.
We have contracted with a local business to build a fence to keep the horses out of the area behind the house. Now, we are beginning to think we should have put up a horse fence around the entire area. Oh, well . . . If we didn't have to worry about the horses, we would only have more time to fret over the insects, birds, possums, and gophers.
I have discovered Scrabble on my Kindle and it is amazing how much time I can frit away trying to make up new words that might be found in the Scrabble Dictionary. I am quite disappointed that NONE of my Spanish vocabulary will work.
We spent one entire day cleaning up the winery. It is almost "company clean." All we need is a bar and we could have a real tasting room.
I had a good time researching and writing the blog entry about the water in Parras de la Fuente. It all started with a picture I made of a rose in a wine glass. When I looked at the photograph, I realized more strongly than ever how important the water is to us and to the community. Without abundant water, life here would be very, very different.
For one thing, we can have lots of tomatoes. This one is our first bloomer.
I promised last week to show you what was under the protective shade. And here it is: Five little lavender plants. They are adjusting quickly to the heat. I think they're going to make it.
We had a great time at Estela's last night. She had received a cabrito as a gift and asked us to share it with her. Delicious!
The gal in the photo with Stanley is Chela, Estela's cousin. Chela is deaf and mute, but she has no problem expressing her affection for us. She is fascinated by Stanley's height and was absolutely tickled when she saw in the photo that his head was in the leaves. With her own personal sign language, she communicated quite clearly that we needed to hold him down so that he didn't grow any more. I think it's a little late for that.
This week's color was definitely pink. First the big pink rose exploded with color and then the pink spineless prickly pear, and then the cholla. Pink, pink, pink! Even the clouds got in on the act.
Our big news from the vineyard this week: The grapes are blooming. Big time!
I also got some good bird photos which I will be posting on the new Birds of Perote site. Taking pictures of birds is one of the most time consuming things I've done this spring. Time consuming, but fun!
