Welcome to two of our newest tenants! They arrived two months ago, but they're not "Snowbirds" - they belong to the owner's wife. Beautiful, but very noisy, these are youngsters, and can live a very long time. Often they are included in peoples' wills to pass on to the next generation. Macaws can cost as much as several thousand dollars. I mention this as a lead in to the theme of this post: Why use money to maintain the integrity of your property when you can spend it on whatever frivolous project occurs to you at the moment?

For example, the tree they are perched in here is now enclosed in a very spendy cast iron strcture, with a concrete floor and covered with sheets of metal, like a grill - open to the air outside. It was designed by an engineer and is worthy of placement in a zoo. There is a ladder-like, multi level perch included for their entertainment. This aviary could easily house a few more birds. The joke is that it's larger than one of the smallest units here (inhabited by people).

The very OLD trees covered with what I believe is a variety of  Morning Glory was a spectacular sight. They cut them back to look like the ones in the bird enclosure - very bare and ugly. I can imagine it took many years for them to look as they did. In the process of cutting these two trees back, several huge piles of debris and many large chunks of wood, some that probably measured close to 4 ft across sat in one of our neighbor's front lawn and walkway for a week before it was cleared. You may also notice the spindley roses planted in the foreground below. Those were the first of truckloads of rose bushes brought in and planted all over the property, and promptly ignored, many of which are diseased and dying now. None of the staff is trained to maintain roses properly - heck, they can't even water them all there are so many! And all the while this is going on the plumbing in nearly every one of the units here has serious issues and is beginning to fail... We can only hope the owner will take notice sometime in the near future. Mind you, I'm not holding my breath on that one.

This was the "castillo" that was set off at the primary church near the plaza downtown at the height of the San Andres fiesta which took place the week of American Thanksgiving. We had friends visit that week and, to their credit, they were extremely good sports about the noise - especially because they were only blocks away from the source of it all! We went down to the plaza the night of the fireworks just to be a part of it, and it was huge. Many, many people there that night and rides, music and vendors of all kinds that reminded you of a carnival. Castillo, by the way, is one of those words that have two meanings. We have many in English. In Spanish the word means castle, but is used to describe these firework structures that are very intricate and built to order, by hand, for any given event. In the past we have seen people actually climb onto them and spin around on parts of the structure that were not lit. They are fearless here. Another example is the way they drive with total disregard for any other vehicle beside their own. But you don't want to get me started on that one ...

Above is the inner garden at a charming B & B in Chapala that we were able to visit when our friends were here that week. Locals call it "the double Q". It's actually called Quinta Quetzalcoatl. Recently written up in the Guadalajara Reporter, the writer DH Lawrence stayed here in 1923. We also visited the historic former railroad station, now a museum in Chapala, that day. So much to see - so little time.

Correction from a previous post: A catrina I named "La Rueda" is actually "La Rusa" - the legendary Horsewoman in Black who was a wealthy Russian ballerina that relocated to this area. "Rueda" means wheel in Spanish" La Rusa's beautiful home is in Ajijic, and is occasionally available for long-term lease.