Casa Nueva

When we look at a place to live, very often the most important thing is location. Everything else is cosmetics, and we have made many a silk purse out of sow's ears. I remember when Nexar first showed me this apartment the biggest downside was that it was under a LOT of concrete...but Mike said if another earthquake hit...bring it on, he wasnt living in fear. 

(Nexars chicken, lives upstairs now, Maria must have said No)

Since we spend so much time outside, it made sense to get the yard space pretty first, so that is where we will start. I will do another post soon on the state of affairs inside. First job for Javier was to undo the shade structure, he took half of it to the new courtyard, we asked Vecino if he wanted a small shade for his house, and he said no, so Javier took the leftover material home to his house. Next was taking down the fence at the old house, we weren't sure we would take it, but decided it was alot of wood. The guys made a fence in the front of the  "house" to keep chihuahuas from running in the street, and with the rest Javier made me raised plant beds.

He brought us bags of dirt, a new banana plant, and a small coco palm. Mike started painting a mural, so we waited a couple days to plant. I didnt want him to have to tiptoe thru the flower bed to get his mural finished. I thought we had a lot of potted plants at the other place, but seeing them here I realized not a lot liked the other location, a trip to the "plant store" was needed!

We got some Christmas money (thanks Mom) and headed to Sosote on the bus. We had quite a list, but knew things were very cheap, and a little goes a long way. The family remembered us, and were, as always very willing to answer questions, make suggestions and make deals. We asked for delivery, for us as well, if possible, and it was done. All it took was a phonecall and her son with a truck would be there shortly, now all we had to do was shop.   We went slightly crazy, spent more then ever before, but the results are stunning! We are far enough from the salty sea, that hopefully everything does well. We need some more planters, and pots for the house. The palm trees can be seperated, and we will have nice size houseplants.

More paintings, decorations and little by little this courtyard area will a wonderful secret garden in the middle of town. The breeze is just enough, not like the unrelenting wind at the beach house, looking forward to many a hot day or cool night sitting under our shade structure. Back to working inside, need to get some more organization, then it will be ready for pictures, so...stay tuned, the adventure continues!