DdlM, eve

        The city is getting ready in a big way for the big celebration, putting together altars and special exhibits in every available space.  I caught a few photos yesterday and today...


This one in the entrance of a kindergarten...




















 Some images are built from sand, this one from corn, beans and nuts, on the floor of an artists cooperative.  I held the camera as high as possible over my head to take this "blind" image.












...in the lobby of a bank.  Many altars are built like this one, with flowers, pictures, the favorite food of the dead and lots of candles...


























...the entrance of Las Danzantes restaurant...



















 ..flower venders on the street by the mercado Juarez, after a rain...  


















 ....candy skulls for sale.  These are chocolate, but some are marzipan...

















....the sugarcane is often used as a trellis, and will be completely covered with flowers.  The store behind this street vendor is a pawn shop, where I bought my sewing machine a few months ago!
 

preview of Dia de los Muertos, Oaxaca

            Not actually Dia de los Muertos, day 1, just day one in the city for us! We arrived in Oaxaca late last night, and found our sweet landlady waiting to let us into our apartment.  I got extra hugs and kisses from Maria,  who hugged us goodbye only six months ago.  We found our apartment just like we left it, including the boxes of personal things sitting in the hall. 

If I were blindfolded and somehow transported to Oaxaca, I'd recognize the city from the smell.  There is something deep and sweet, like the taste of something I can't describe, something that smells like marigolds and cooking tortillas.  I wanted to wander the streets last night, to greet my old neighborhood, but was too tired to go back out.  We fell asleep with the window open, and no heavy covers to keep us warm.

Breakfast at Marco Pollo, by the Parque Llano started the day just exactly right!  Fresh squeezed juice, really good coffee and huevos rancheros.  Afterwards, we walked through the center of town, and to the Juarez market to buy coffee from the local dude.  Dan and Tere live behind this man who roasts the coffee in his kitchen, the coffee he sells in his puesto in the mercado.  Of course, a trip to the Chedraui is a must, for basics.  Because it's Sunday, we missed the Saturday produce market, so we buy just a few juice oranges, some beer, gin and tequila, milk and cereal, dish washing soap and a papaya.  I'll go to Paschal Sanchez mercado tomorrow for freshly made yogurt, and then to Pan y Co for bread.  It takes a few days to get stocked!

Late in the day, we joined Jo Ann and Tom for a lovely concert at the San Pablo Museum, a gorgeous renovation project completed last year.  The 300 year old convent buildings occupy almost a city block, and the courtyard and gallery space is a gem in the city.  The concert was music for Day of the Dead.  Yes, the percussionist is playing  clay jug!  And, he played a hand-made box drum later, too. 

Afterwards, we walked up Alcala to catch the costume parade, people from San Pablo Etla.  Jo Ann heard about it earlier, and we caught up with the crowd above the Sto. Domingo.  They were led by a man with a bull whip who could make it sound like fireworks!  He was good for clearing a path through the crowd, too.  His stamina was awesome.

Here are a few pics I snapped of the celebrants.  El Dia de los Muertos festival is only going to get better in the next few days!














This angel's fingers were terrible!


















































NOT a real baby!





















NOT real stitches!





















The Real Whip Dude.

We travel to Oaxaca!

The headline for this blog does not exaggerate:  my life is a fairy tale!  We are on the next leg of an 18 month travel marathon:  tomorrow we fly to Oaxaca, Mexico.  When we left Oaxaca less than 6 months ago, we left a few boxes of clothes, my "new" sewing machine, and assorted household stuff.  This afternoon, we put a few things in a suitcase and printed the itinerary my spanish teacher has assembled for the Dia de los Muertos celebrations.  The second part of of this chapter of the fairy tale has to do with leaving the house with friends.  Again!  May and Mario arrived this week, after having spent the last year working on farms through WWOOF.  (www.wwoof.net)   May is a horse-woman, and Mario is a pig-dude, and both are organic gardeners. They'll be considering options for their next adventure, while they live here.  Perfect for us all!

Next post will have pics, from Oaxaca.

Scale Model Airplanes

      The Bug Dude was here a couple of weeks ago, and went to the attic.  We don't store much up there, except those THIRTY boxes of scale model airplanes. Bug Dude suggested they are bug resorts, and we might store the planes in something other than cardboard boxes with paper packing.  I've been moving those boxes for almost 30 years, and have never seen the contents. Because they've always been in the attic, they've survived three floods!   Building them from scratch or from kits was Stuart's hobby before we met.  Now, I have an ally in my  quest to do something with them.  Stuart and I moved them from the attic, then moved them to his shop this week.  He will unpack them when we return from Oaxaca. 

I couldn't wait, and had to open a couple of the boxes.  Wow!  The details in everyone is pretty awesome. Mostly WW1 and WWII models, the second box I opened was armored vehicles.  He said I can not call them tanks.  We can't possibly display them, there are about 300 specimens, so I don't know what will happen next.  But, I know they won't go back to the attic!


Today, the last of the Oaxaca travel prep, including welcoming May and Atticus, who are going to be staying here while we're gone.

New clothes

      Following www.newdressaday.com has inspired me to look at otherwise unusable clothes with a new eye.  So, when I found a shirt in the Vintage Values donation basket in my own closet, I rescued it.  We bought this linen shirt for my husband while traveling in Merida a few years ago, and we both love the shirt.  But, he's lost weight, and this shirt is no longer good on him.  I cut out the sleeves, removed the collar, cut the neckline to a v-neck shape, took in the side seams by several inches and stitched a new button on the front.  I will wear the new vest with a black t-shirt or turtleneck and black jeans or leggings. 

I love the pintucks and embroider, and couldn't let this shirt get away!












oh, the color is not at all accurate here, but what's an amateur photographer to do?










The back pintucks.  Aren't they pretty?

This is not a remake, but a redo.  I love this Marci Tilton jacket pattern, Vogue 8559. It's just my style, with close fitting sleeves that don't get in the way.  This is the third time I've used this pattern, this time using a batiked, single-knit .  I chose an inappropriate trim, cotton netting, which didn't hold up after several washings.  While I like the white and the net, it just wasn't working!  I picked out the stitching, cut more cotton netting and replaced it.  The difference?  Instead of a raw edged application, I folded it and stitched it on. It gives the same appearance, but will wear much better!

Love the white net...it's been in the stash for a while, and it's time for it to rise to the top of the List.

Now, back to the prep for the trip to Oaxaca.

"What do you do all day?"

        "What do you DO all day?"

I've heard that question often recently, when I decline invitations or mention our plans to travel to Oaxaca soon.  My first visit to Oaxaca lasted 2 days, during a back-packing trip through southern Mexico.  It felt like a good area to explore further, with a reputation for good food and good art, so the next stop in Oaxaca last 2 weeks.  The next trip was open-ended!  We found a hotel, hit the streets to knock on doors, we found an apartment, the one we have been lucky enough to return to.  So, what do I do all day?!?



Eat.  The food here is awesome!  The street food is good and there are many "nice" restaurants.  I love the comida corrida places; those little restaurants that have a fixed lunch menu every day.  Add to the mix the puestos in the daily markets and weekly markets, and the dude who pedals through the streets most mornings selling hot tamales from his pedicart.


All that eating makes me want to cook, to try the methods Oaxacans have been using for centuries.  Much of Oaxacan-style cooking begins with roasting the tomatoes and onions, and finding the specific peppers to deliver the flavor the cook is looking for.  There are dozens of chilies, not necessarily spicy.  Of course, corn is a major component of Oaxacan cooking  .Last winter, I was delighted to be included in the tamale making class at my spanish school, Oaxaca Spanish Magic (OSM).  Of course, it was taught in spanish, making it a very good language lesson, too.



Hiking (finding places that are not closed is easy!) and exploring the beautiful mountains around the Central Valley are on the weekly calendar.  There are plants and animals that only grow or live in this part of the world, including those famous mushrooms!  One morning birding hike netted more than 30 birds to add to my List.



I'm working on my spanish language skills, which takes lots of listening, reading, writing and speaking practice.  After a few years at OSM in a classroom situation, learning the rules and basics, I was ready for a one-on-one tutor.  Friends convinced a very busy teacher, Laura, to find time for me, and I'm making good progress (I think!).




Sewing and drawing takes some time, almost daily, too.  Last year, I bought a used sewing machine at pawn shop.  There are five fabric shops close by, and while I'm NOT building a stash, I do wander through the shops looking for fabrics to stitch into clothes.

I keep a list of books I've read, and I daily spend time with at least one book. Like most of our snowbird friends, we bring books  to pass around, then donate them to the library.  The Oaxaca Lending Library, the english language library, is very well stocked, and we're delighted to buy our annual membership within a couple of days of arriving.  Last year, I discovered the spanish language book collection there, and the Judy Blume books. Love me some spanish-language Fudge!

A lot of time is spent with friends.  We gather in our rooftop garden daily for sunset cocktails; we have lunch; we hike; we explore the wonderful small villages and weekly markets; visit the very good museums in Oaxaca and close by; go the weekly tianguis, those markets that pop-up weekly.  A calendar is a must, to keep up with all the plans!  This picture was taken last winter a the wedding anniversary celebration, held at Gio.