Commencing another project

Am I glutton for punishment or do I just like to have too much too do?  This is a question that I need to ask myself often and most times I don't know the answer.

If you have been following my previous posts you will be familiar with  our reforestation project but we have now decided to expand this.  I have been referred to an organization  called Grupo de Acción Interdisciplinaria Ambienta A.C. (GAIA) that is working to improve the watershed management of the lands in Guanajuato.  This referral came from the el Charco del Ingenio jardín botánico and has continued to open my eyes to the groups that are working to enhance the lands, waters and plants around San Miguel de Allende.

I met with Ata who is one of the leaders of this group about how they can help me address some of my erosion problems as well as to enhance the arroyo that runs along the east side of my rancho.  They have started to identify a plan that I will be able to implement that uses simple techniques to reduce the erosion and to ensure the sanctuary of the arroyos.  I am sure that this project will also take several years to implement do to time and money issues, but it is amazing that there are so many organizations like GAIA and INIFAP around here that are trying to do great things but are restricted due to the lack of funding.

However this is not the only part of this new project that I am looking at.  As Ata and I talked it seems like there is a real need to try to educate and provide eco-friendly landscaping tools and supplies, such as drip irrigation and compost producing tools.  Thus we are investigating the potential of starting an import business to bring these products into Mexico and to try to educate the residence of the benefit of organic gardening and the use of drip irrigation.  I am investigating the various hassles that this will require to set up and to try to estimate what the investment that will be required.  And here I thought I was only going to be working on our rancho, boy was I mistaken.

What do you do in Mexico?

I probably hear this question at least twice a week from my friends who live north of the border.  Many of them just have a hard time understanding how we can be so happy living in Mexico and how we fill our days with personally rewarding activities and events.

So to try to address this question collectively, I have prepared this post with a summary of the past week, which I would say is generally representative of a normal week for us at Rancho La Luz.

Monday

• Spanish language class from 8 to 10a.
• Work in the rancho pruning the existing native trees and with our new additions that are part of our reforestation project.
• Meeting in San Miguel with a craftsman who will repair the seat cushions for our outdoor furniture.
• Meeting at the offices of Patronato pro Ninós, which is an organization that we volunteer.  Patronato pro Ninós works with rural schools to identify children that need medical attention and provides the funding for these services.  Today we were dropping off the names of the children we had identified the prior week so that the children could get referred to the proper medical specialist.
• Work on some photos that I took over the weekend and Jo Ann worked in her vegetable garden.

Tuesday

• Spanish language class from 8 to 10a.
• Had the vet out to look at Keisha, our cat, and to update the rabies shots for the dogs.
• Work in the rancho on the native trees and shrubs.
• Drive to the Hacienda Las Trancas for a wonderful tour and lecture lead by the two owners of the hacienda, Kelley and Stephen Wilkinson.  This tour was part of the SMA Down to Earth garden club.  I still hope to have a posting on this wonderful tour with some additional photos beyond the ones that I posted on my photo of the day blog which you can see here, here, here and here.
• Work on some of the photos that I took at the hacienda and Jo Ann worked with her gardens.

Wednesday

• Spanish language class from 8 to 10a.
• Worked with one of our contractors in finishing the new cabinets for our kitchen.
• Meeting with one of the landscape architects that we are interviewing for the work to be done to re-grade the yard surrounding the house and the different ideas for the design that he was planning.
• Visit to the school at Terra Blanca for Patronato pro Ninós where we identified about 25 children who need medical attention.
• Meeting with our principal contractor about finishing up the work on installing our propane heater for the main living room and his estimates for building a carport for the rancho. Ouch, I thought everything was cheaper in Mexico, that is always not the case.

Thursday

• Bike ten miles over to Rancho Jaguar for a lecture and tour of their gardens, lead by the assistant director of el Charco Botanical Jardin.   I do hope to have a posting on this tour and lecture later this week, but I do have some photos here and here.
• On our way to the lecture and tour we found Frida, which you can read in a previous posting here and here. 
• In the afternoon I had to take my truck in to the Ford dealer for replacement of the brake pads and needed to do some shopping at the local mercado and bakery.  The truck was not going to be done until the next morning so I had to bum a ride home that day.

Friday

• Spanish language class from 8 to 10a.
• On the way back into town to get my truck we found Frida's sibling, so I had to chase after it to get it so we could bring it into the San Miguel SPA.
• After picking up my truck I had a meeting with the Patronato pro Ninós organization again so we could deliver our listing of recommendations for medical attention and to request that the dental truck make a visit to the school at Terra Blanco.
• I then had a meeting with a very interesting individual who is working with several family members to save the local arroyos.  We discussed how we could work together as he was familiar with my reforestation project.  He thought that it would be beneficial for both of us to research how we can reduce the erosion on our property and help retain the local arroyo that borders my rancho.
• I also had a meeting to discuss how to resolve one of the last issues associated with the purchase of our rancho.  It is basically extortion but it will help resolve this final open issue and we can move forward with completing all of the legal issues associated with our purchase of the rancho.
• I did get some time to shoot some photos of the preparations for the Grito which is given every year on the 15th of September celebrating Mexico's cry for independence.  This event which does not take place until very late in the evening of the 15th, is way too late for us to attend given that we live in the campo so this was my only chance to get in and see the preparations.

Saturday

• We worked the entire day in the rancho, this time transplanting some of the roses into pots as they were not doing well in the ground and other general (and always continuing) tasks around the rancho.

Sunday

• We got a very long bike ride in, this time heading out to La Gruella, which was about a 25 mile ride.  It was a beautiful ride on a beautiful day and I got a number of good shots that I still need to process before I can share them.

So if you are still wondering if all we do down here is drink cerveza and eat tacos, I hope you are relieved that our lives are fuller than that.  Although talking about cerveza and tacos is making me hungry so I guess I am off to the local tienda for some comida.

Hasta luego!

An Update on Frida

It has now been three days since we rescued Frida and I can't believe how much she has improved since we brought her into our pet family.  The puppy that I brought home on Thursday was quiet, non-responsive, covered with fleas and lice and seemed very sickly.  Well Frida is now a very active and inquisitive puppy, who is taking food and water on a regular basis.

Here is an updated photo of Frida.

We had the vet over on Friday morning and as she was leaving the rancho she called us to tell us that she had seen a sibling of Frida on the same road that I found Frida.  She was unable to catch him/her but armed with this information, I went out there and found her sibling.  Since we already have four dogs (including Frida) I took her to the San Miguel SPA where I sure hope that he/she will be adopted by a loving family.  As you probably have noted, I did not check to see if it was Frida's brother or sister.

The only problem that we have had since inviting Frida to join our clan is that the three big dogs are keeping their distance from her.  I am sure that this will pass, but both Jo Ann and I would like to get everyone into one happy family as soon as possible.

Welcome to Frida

This morning we headed out to the lecture and tour of Bob Haas' garden that was sponsored by el Charco.  Since it was less than ten miles away, we decided we should bike to the event and not drive.  On the way out there we saw this small but very cute black and white puppy, however since we were late we could not stop, even though we knew it was wild.

On the ride to the lecture we decided that we would try to rescue the puppy, but it would have to wait until later.  So upon our return we went back to the spot we saw her and put out some dog food.  Later in the day we went back there to see if the puppy had eaten any, or if we could find it.

Alas the food was not touched but we kept looking and after about an hour we spotted her.  I followed her for quite a while as she was very scared.  Finally I found her curled up under a cactus in the fetal position and shaking.

I had brought a long some cooked chicken and dog food and got her to eat some of the food so that I was finally able to pick her up.  Once we got her home Jo Ann and I gave her a good bath (she has lots of fleas and other bugs), some food and water.  It was at time that we decided that she was probably going to join the Erickson clan and we named her Frida.  So please welcome our newest addition Frida.

Mucha Lluvia

This past Thursday evening we got a long steady rain, it started around 8 in the evening and continued all night.  It was not a hard rain, but one that was steady and continuous.  Also there was lots of lighting and thunder, so the dogs were sleeping on the bed as they were scared.

The next result of this storm is that everything is very wet right now, we have a lot of rain over the past couple of weeks so the ground is very saturated resulting in lots of standing water.

So today we headed out on a long bike ride.  Since most of our rides are off road we soon discovered that most of our trails were just impassible.  We quickly were covered in mud and decided that it just wasn't a good day to enjoy a long ride.

Thus we returned home and decided to walk the dogs to the Rio Carman which borders our rancho and is usually dry.  Along the walk we saw this interesting bird nest in the middle of this large cactus.

A little later we came upon these beautiful butterflies flying around in the pasture.

As we neared the Rio Carman, we came upon these bright yellow flowers that I have mentioned before.  The flowers are so rich in color but never seem to open any further than they are shown below.

Finally we came down to the Rio and we could not believe that the Rio was still running at a fairly strong rate.  As you can see below the water fall was running fairly strong even though the last rain was a couple of days ago.

An as you look south you can see that the river is running very well.

So as I write this update on Saturday afternoon, we are in the middle of another strong rain storm.  It sure looks like there will be no off road bike riding for at least another couple of days.

Burro's Day of Beauty

So this morning we had an appointment with our veterinarian to clip and file the hoofs of our four burros.  Well you may laugh but this is really a hard job, as Jo Ann may enjoy a pampered day at the spa, but the burros really do not like to have this procedure done.

Geraldo, who is an outstanding veterinarian, comes out to our rancho as it really is not feasible for us to just load them up in the truck and drive to his office.

So the total procedure for the four burros takes about an hour and a half and at the end, I am exhausted.  This is hard work for an old man, but someone's got to do it.

So below is a number of other photos of our burros on their day of beauty for your enjoyment.  Oh by the way, I clearly did not take these photos as I was more than a little bit distracted.

Introducing something new

I have always worked best with deadlines and commitments however in working with this blog, my postings have been sporadic and not always timely.  Thus to improve  my commitment to working on my photography and sharing my photos, I have decided to separate this blog into two separate ones.  This one will continue to be photos and commentary about living in Mexico and what is happening down here in San Miguel de Allende.  These postings will continue to be made as events dictate and will also contain photos that enhance the commentary.

The second one will be dedicated to presenting a daily image from my photography collection, hopefully taken that day, but if not it will be from a recent shooting.  This blog is located at sanmiguelphotooftheday.blogspot.com.  I hope you will continue to enjoy this rambling commentary as well as my commitment to share one photo a day at my other site.

This morning Jo Ann and Analle were out walking the rancho and picked this beautiful bouquet of wild flowers and I just had to share them with you.

No Share the Road Signs Needed

Today was the longest ride that we took since my accident.  We headed out to Las Cañas and then went on some very old roads, more like burro trails.  We went almost 20 miles today so I think we are back in the saddle so to say.

While we were riding we came upon this road that looked just like some of the roads that we use to travel in California.

So what did we see:

2 pick-up trucks

1 car

2 wagons pulled by burros

3 shepherds watching over their flocks

Many beautiful trees, shrubs and plants

This wonderful looking old building that just made me ask when was it built and what happened to it?

 

After shooting this image, I turned and looked at Jo Ann, it also made me ask, what was she looking at?

So we did not quite get to Rancho Nuevo (it is funny we live near Rancho Viejo, which means the old rancho, but we were trying to get to the new ranch).

While we were returning we came upon this family that was going to the circus in Terra Blanco and we stopped and talked with them for quite a while.  The families out here in the campo always seem so happy to stop and talk about anything.  We asked where the road went, where they were going, did they enjoy the circus, and more.  After some time we offered the children some candies that I always carry in my back pack and then one of the older girls said "Thank you" yes she new English but was happy to see that we could talk more than a little in Spanish.

One the ride back we did come across another shepard with a flock of goats.  This one just was so cute.

 

Finally we came back to Terra Blanca and saw the circus that the family was riding to.  This circus has been moving around our little universe of happiness for the past month.  It must be a tough life, move week to week from one small town to another.