fun guests, lovely hostess gift,
great lunch, best baby pix

Carolyn and Beto arrived yesterday noon for an overnight visit. I haven't seen them since they moved from the beach to Tepotzlán, a town north of Mexico City. They bought an old falling-down house, completely rebuilt it, and now have a gorgeous two-story casa with a nice casita for guests (ahem!). We went out to lunch, sent Beto and the Patient back to the apartment, and Carolyn and I strolled through San Miguel for four languid hours. We must have gone into every shop and tienda on our route. She found a gorgeous pair of doors for her house. The only drawback was how to get them from here to there. Since it's only 2 hours' driving time, she'll be back. The fellows had stopped at the local polloria for chicken, which we had as a late-nite supper, along with a salad and a nice bottle of Chilean white.

This morning the two muscle men wrangled the big olive pot out of our car and into theirs for the trip to Carolyn and Beto's house and garden. She had left it behind at the beach when she moved; couldn't get it into her then-car. But it fit ~ barely ~ into the newer, bigger car. So off they went after a really great visit. As a hostess gift, she brought me a little piece of intriguing artwork. This little picture (11 X 15 cm) by an artist in her town Alfredo Hernandez Morales, is made of tiny little wooden sticks, dyed and pasted into scenes of local life. This is a scene of Lago de Patzcuaro. Initially it looks like very fine needlework done in single strand silk. But when you look carefully at the materials used, it's even more astounding. You can even see the tiny boats on the lake. (I tried several different settings on the camera and could not get a really clear shot.)
Our guests pulled away about 10 AM this morning. I got myself settled to listed to the opera at 11 AM ~ the best bel canto opera ever, in my relatively untutored opinion. Full of bright, colorful, tuneful music for all the characters. At about 4 PM we headed out for comida and the aforementioned Ole! Ole! A 30 peso ride delivered us to the front door of this way out of the way place.

It is a shrine to bullfighting. The walls are covered with posters dating far back into the 70-'s and 80's. There is a huge stuffed bull at the front door and another bull head mounted on the wall.



The specialty of the house are fajitas ~ chicken, beef or shrimp, or a mix. I ordered the mix of beef and chicken, the Patient ordered a veggie brochette that came with beautifully roasted squash, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and peppers.
We both did our best to do justice to these beautifully prepared and presented dishes but it was the old "eyes and stomach" thing, so we brought at least half of it back to the apartment for tomorrow's lunch or dinner. We had a lovely stroll (all downhill) back to the apartment. When you finally get to San Miguel, don't miss this delightful spot.

As for the above mentioned "Best Baby Pix" I received this from my dear friend Patty who lives in Maryland. Her son, Jason, and his wife Nerija, produced this beautiful little boy, Vacarus Titus, some three weeks ago. They have titled this "The Sleeping Thinker." I might go with "The Thinking Sleeper." Whichever you like, I think this is one of the best baby pictures I've ever seen.