UNA NOCHE CON NUESTROS VECINOS

We live in a very convivial neighborhood.  We've been taking turns (well, this is our first turn, since the house has been under construction) eating at each other's houses.

Here are Hugo and Silvia, who have a bakery down the street from us:

El sr J made pulled pork barbecue, potato salad, cole slaw, and baked beans, a menu not seen in these parts.  I made red and green salsa and lemon merengue pie.  The food was much admired by Oscar, who lives across the street:

Oscar's wife, Rosa María, with some tapas:

Two Rosa Marías:

Rosa María on the left above is the wife of Franco: 

They live across the street too.

The conversation was animated, fueled by Tío Pepe:

And for the foot fetishist, some lovely shoes were worn:

LAS POLILLAS Y LOS MOSQUITOS

It's mosquito and moth season in Qro.  Actually, it's been mosquito season for several months.

Here's a big moth:

Here are some little ones alive and well around the mosquito-killing light outside the back door:

The light kills mosquitoes and attracts moths.  Better get some moth balls for my woolens...oh, I don't have any cold weather clothes.

LA MALVA, LA HAMACA Y EL SR J

 El sr J loves mallows.  We bought one in WV that promptly died.  Let's hope this "bicolor" lives.  Can you see the deep rose flower below and the white one above?

He also likes lying in his hammock, affording him a view of the mallow:

Looks like I need to do some weeding.

MUSICA

Hope you can read this, Jubal:

We thought is was good, especially the Rorem.

EL ALACRAN Y LAS HORMIGAS SOCIALISTAS

Or, THE SCORPION AND THE SOCIALIST ANTS.

El sr J spotted a dead scorpion surrounded by ants outside our back door:

Dozens of ants were working together to carry the scorpion up the wall:

Just think, if ants were individualistic instead of socialistic, they would have to invent antsy assault weapons to keep the other ants away, contrive to misinterpret their Constitution in order to keep their deadly weapons, and learn to read so they could peruse bad novels by Ayn Rand:

And they would have to hoard their scorpions in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands to avoid sharing them with others, and pass them on to their children who would then claim that they became wealthy in scorpions through their own individual efforts.

Observe:  the imminent victory of the working class, which through communal struggle has elevated the prized scorpion nearly to the roof and will eventually share freely the fruit of their labor with their fellows:

For my mother:  Of the 1000+ known species of scorpion, only 25 have venom that is deadly to humans; most of those belong to the family Buthidae.

UNA SOMBRILLA GIGANTE

Too much sunlight came in the back dining room doors.  Also, we wanted to eat out on our patio as much as possible, but in the shade.  We discussed building a pergola with the architect and he told us where to go to order one.  We also found a place nearby that constructs made-to-order awnings attached to your house in any size you want.  Both those options would involve more men in the house.  And muchos pesos.

When we went to Liverpool to look at sofa/camas we turned a corner and saw this whopper of an umbrella, which now graces our patio:

As you might guess, the Liverpudlians were very anxious to get rid of it.  It had a big descuento.  So we bought it.  Much cheaper than the other two options and no men in the house.

The base is filled with water precluding, we hope, a tipover:

It contorts into various positions:

Last night's dinner on the patio:

Pasta with Argentine sausage and salad.  And wine.

NUESTRA CASA ES SU CASA

Y'all can come on down for a visit now.  We've got a sofa/cama in the "technology room:"

Another identical one in the dining room:

A few pictures on the walls.  This is one of Alain's:

Here it is in context in the dining room:

And a new "bar" in the kitchen:

The door opens to reveal a space for glasses, etc.:

We've also got two single beds in the front room, but I can't show them yet because they're full of clippings of Mel Lyman and Avatar from the 1960s that I hope to make into a collage.

MUSICA Y SOPA

We heard some good music Wednesday night.  Check it out, Jubal:

El sr J's gazpacho for lunch today.  Totally unrelated to music, but it was so pretty I had to take a photo.  That's avocado and a swirl of balsamic on top:

CINE

We're in the middle of another international film festival.  Yesterday, we saw a Greek film, La vida según Attenberg starring Ariane Lebed:

directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari:

A very touching film.  I forgot to bring my tissues.

DE AFUERA

From the outside:

#51

The window:

I hope I don't forget that the men aren't coming tomorrow.  ¡Orale!

EL FIN

The men are gone (except for el sr J, of course).  The front room, which visitors ask what we're going to do with and we reply we don't know, is finished.

The window:

The door:

We decided to reduce the visual effect of the room with a ledge, a change of paint, and lights:

On three sides:

The open door:

Tomorrow, the outside.  I can't express how happy I am that the men are gone.  Six months of work and it's beautiful, but. . . .   As my son's song goes, "I like space, but not to share.  I like being left alone."