Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Preparing for La Navidad




For the past week we’ve been noticing people all over town working to tidy and fix up their homes.  People are weeding their gardens, painting their gates and washing their courtyards. Many painters are busy repainting houses.  This is in addition to the placing of Christmas lights and decorations.  Snowmen and Santas seem to be the favourites.
We asked Cintia, a young woman whom we met today about this.  She says that many Mexicans get bonuses at this time of year so they have the money to do a little fix-up to their homes in time for La Navidad. 
Not to be outdone, we’ve spent a couple of days fixing up our back patio.  We visited a plant nursery the other day to see how much it would cost to buy a few plants to fill in some of the blank walls outside.  It turns out that plants are quite inexpensive.  We bought $36 worth the other day and then yesterday we went back for more.  Now we’ve bought palms, bougainvillea, and many other tropical plants that I don’t know the names of.  In all we’ve spent just under $100 on plants, pots, and soil, and the results are astounding.


plain Jane patio is now a delightful garden space.  Or it will be when I finish planting.  This is our Christmas splurge, instead of a Christmas tree or presents.  And it’s something that we’ll enjoy every day from now until the end of March.  When we leave we can give the plants away so they’ll continue to be enjoyed.


We also have some lovely Poinsettias in white painted buckets in our front courtyard—a welcome look along with our mini-lights in the front window. 


It doesn’t feel that much like Christmas here (in spite of the canned Christmas music in Soriana) but we’re doing our part to prepare. Today we go to the airport to pick up Jamie, who will be with us for nine days.  It will be so wonderful to be able to spend some fun and relaxing times together.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Joanna!
    Keep up the great blog work and stunning photography! I'm SO enjoying it.
    Things here aren't quite as bleak weatherwise as last year - Andrew and I walked Morbid in more than gentle sunshine yesterday and I actually had to remove an outer layer. There is no snow forecasted for the next few days. Hoping you, Harry, Jamie, Maggie and Geordie have a very very Christmas and New Year. Looking forward to reading more of your adventures next year. Hugs from Sue, Andrew and Morbid

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  2. Your patio will be so inviting. It already looks Christmassy. Poinsettias are instant Christmas to me.
    I do like the dragonflies on the table cover.

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  3. joanna - i've often wonderted about what visual signs i lean on to help "make it" christmas. snow i sone for sure and of course in mexico that's a tad sketchy. but then i remember as a little boy reading about the colonists dwn in australia on christmas day and they seem alright. i think i could get used to it!!!! i love the plants you picked up. nice work. steven

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  4. Hey Morbid--and family. Nice to hear that it's not too cold in Victoria. Happy Christmas to all.

    Stephanie, yes those pointsettias really set the scene. The dragonfly fabric is actually wrap I bought on the beach but it will get much more use on the little table.

    Hi Steven, thanks for your comments. It was hard to pick out plants because there were so many of them but it's looking good. For us Christmas is having our boy Jamie here with us. And it's just wonderful.

    Best wishes to all for the happiest of Christmases and all good things to come in the new year.

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  5. Hi Joanna & Harry,

    Thanks so much for sharing your Mexican adventures with us! One of the highlights of my day is to check your blog for the wonderful photos and thoughtful observations. Happy Christmas to you both and to Jamie!

    TTFN
    Karen

    PS - Alix and Karma are making great progress!

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  6. Hey Karen, thanks for your note. Hope you and your family (both two-footed and four-footed) have a lovely Christmas. Can't wait to see Karma do flyball when we return.

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I really appreciate your comments.