One of our mini reno projects

Mexican Easter Bunny? The Tehuantepec Jackrabbit

Well, we are coming up on Semana Santa or Easter week here in Progreso so I thought it would be a good time to repost this little Mexican Easter Bunny.

lulu and the moon

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is the most endangered hare species in the world ^(2)(5) (6), and, like other hares (Lepus spp.), is recognised by its long legs, large hind feet and huge ears ^{(2) (7) (8)}, which can measure up to 12 centimetres in length ⁽²⁾. The hair is coarse ⁽²⁾, and the feet are well furred ⁽⁷⁾. The upperparts of the body are a rich ochraceous buff, washed through with black, and the back of the neck bears a buffy stripe, which separates two narrow, black stripes that extend backwards from the base of each ear. The ears are buff coloured, with whitish tips, while the throat is yellowish and the underparts and flanks are white. The legs and rump are pale whitish to grey, and the tail is grey below and black above ^(2) (5). In spring…

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So this is Progreso.

They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. So what would my first impression of Progreso be? Love at first sight? Horror?  Mixed? Here are just a few pictures taken during our first week after arriving on Sept. 2, 2013. What is your first impression?

So what’s not to like? Beautiful flowers that grow like weeds, beach stretching for miles, and a perfect sunrise.

Yikes! What have we done?

Lulu and the Moon Soundtrack

My husband Ken just produced this demo of his original song “Lulu and the Moon”. Every blog needs a soundtrack and this is mine. A little happy, a little sad, filled with longing and a just a touch of whimsy. I am thrilled with it. Ken on piano, vocal and harmony, Miles Littman on upright bass, Matt Moskalyk on drums and Darrell Sandmoen acoustic guitar. Brilliant!

http://

What a Huge Compliment!

As a newbie blogger I have been muddling along trying to write a mixture of interesting posts never sure if I was connecting with anyone so imagine my surprise when today I discovered I had been nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! What a huge compliment! I was nominated by my most favourite blogger Rose at http://howdoyousaytacoinspanish.wordpress.com. Rose has been helping me learn Spanish by posting wonderfully funny Tecate Beer commercials and she even offered an entire tutorial on how to cuss in Spanish which I  have already found numerous occasions to put into practice. You really must check out her blog about her time spent in Mexico.

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award is a way of creating community amongst bloggers.

The rules of accepting the Very Inspiring Blogger Award are:

1. Display the Award Certificate on your website.
2. Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented you with the award.
3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers.
4. Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have linked them in the post.
5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

So here are 7 interesting things about me.

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada which is one of the most beautiful but also one of the coldest cities on earth.

I will officially retire May 31, 2013 after 30 years in health care. I am so proud to be able to say I have helped save lives!

My husband and I bought a house in Progreso, Mexico this winter and will be heading down there for our first extended visit in September.

I love to garden!

I love to read!

I love to knit and crochet.

I am a proud mother/stepmother of six children, proud grandma of eight grandchildren (with one more on the way) and one cat.

I Hereby award the Very Inspiring Blogger Award to the following blogs which engage my interest in expat living, travel, all things Mexico, and people who are living the simple  life. Cheers to them and I would highly recommend them all to you.

The Artist’s Road
Costa Rica Travel Blog .com
Imagine Mérida
FindingMySelfinPanama
Howdoyousaytacoinspanish
Applecore
The Panama Adventure
Yucatan Bird Club
The Official How To Blog
Aerocretos De Mexico
GALLIVANCE
Kristen Lamb’s Blog
Brown Paper Belle
Belle Grove Plantation Bed And Breakfast
Yucatan Living

 

So take a look at these blogs. They are a real mix of practical advice, whimsy, and just people living authentic lives. Back soon with an update on the work in progress  on the Progreso house. Things are changing!

 

Mi Jardin Se Despierta

I hope my beginner Spanish has not failed me. The translation of this post’s heading should be “My Garden Awakes”. Wow, does it ever! Less than a week after the last of the snow melted away so many of the perennials have begun to poke up, unfurl, leaf out and even bloom. It never ceases to amaze me that so much beauty can burst forth after the brutality that is winter in Western Canada. There is nothing quite like the joy that comes with the regeneration of Spring. Much as I look forward to taking on the challenges of gardening in the Yucatan I know I will miss the fresh new hope that accompanies the changing of the seasons. I am sure that alone will draw me back to Canada on a regular basis. But, I am getting ahead of myself. I have one more perfect garden season ahead of me before the move to Progreso so here are some pictures of the delights that await me.

Monkshood an aconite with blue or purple flowers. The upper sepal of the flower covers the topmost petals, giving a hoodlike appearance

Iris a plant with sword-shaped leaves and showy flowers, typically purple, yellow, or white. Native to both Eurasia and North America, it is widely cultivated as an ornamental

Yarrow a Eurasian plant of the daisy family, with feathery leaves and heads of small white, yellow, or pink aromatic flowers

Columbine from Latin columba ‘dove’ (from the supposed resemblance of the flower to a cluster of five doves)

Sedum a widely distributed fleshy-leaved plant with small star-shaped yellow, pink, or white flowers, grown as an ornamental

Lungwort a bristly herbaceous European plant of the borage family, typically having white-spotted leaves and pink flowers that turn blue as they age.[so named because the leaves were said to have the appearance of a diseased lung.]

Remember the brave little silla bud I showed you the picture of in my last post? Well here she is in full bloom with many of her friends.

And, just in case you were worried, the flood waters have receded.

mañana

I love reading posts from howdoyousaytacoinspanish but this one really hit home. I am going to have to rein in my type A personality in Progreso.

howdoyousaytacoinspanish

Since I am a day late posting my blog – I thought it would be a great time to discuss the Mexican idea of mañana. Now, I have to admit that prior to living in Mexico, I would have run myself aground making my deadline yesterday. But the two years I spent in Mexico have altered me in many ways. For one, my type A personality is a little toned down. I had a choice yesterday between finishing my blog or hanging out with my friend. And in the spirit of mañana, I chose my friend 🙂

So you are probably wondering what exactly is the spirit of mañana. Well for starters, Mexicans do not embrace the time-is-money mentality of many other cultures. In fact, there is an old Mexican saying that “North Americans live to work, but Mexicans work to live!” So sometimes, or most times…

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A Really Bad Decision

We seriously considered taking a quick trip down to Mexico to check on Casa Lulu in late April. I had some vacation days to use up and a long stretch off in  my rotation which would have given us almost two weeks free. We ended up deciding not to go. Because the work had not begun on the house we would have had to pay to stay in a hotel, bed and breakfast or the hostel which would have made for a more expensive trip than if we just waited until the basic repairs were finished and we could stay in our own home. Also, late April is traditionally a lovely time of year in Winnipeg. A time for shedding winter clothing, donning shorts, getting the bikes out, preparing the gardens and just enjoying the longer, sunny days. Progreso, on the other hand we were told, would be really, really hot. It would be exhausting to head in to Merida in the heat to shop for  the casa or meet with architects. So we decided not to go. That was a really bad choice. With record cold temperatures by mid-April the snow was only just beginning to melt when I took a few pictures on the 15th.

There were some signs of life. A brave clump of thyme peeked out from under the snow

and several tulips even emerged in the warmth of the brick school wall.

But hopes of Spring were dashed the very next day when Winnipeg got dumped with over a foot of snow. Other parts of the Province were completely snowed in.

And with the snow came the threat of flooding as the Assiniboine river rose up out our back door.

Then, having survived the coldest April on record, when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it snowed again on May 1st!

And when I checked the temperatures in Progreso it was a moderate 25 degrees C and sunny. Day after day.

I could have gone to see this

strolled along the beach

and hung out with the pelicans.

So

all in all

a really bad decision

But there is hope yet. The first sweet silla is in bud.

Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin

In keeping with the philosophy that if I can’t live in Mexico just yet at least I can eat Mexican here is my latest offering. You might call this one Asian-Mexican fusion because the ginger and the soy sauce definitely give if a bit of an Oriental flare but the salsa and the cilantro are pure South of the Border fare. What ever you call it though it is really, really good. And super healthy, coming in at 169 calories per serving and 24.4 gm of protein. So enjoy!

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-sweet-pork-tenderloin-10000001065570/

Click on the link above to try this amazing recipe from Cooking Light magazine.

 

Garnish with a little cilantro.

 

Serve with okra and rice pilaf.

Ik Kil

As promised, here is the first of several planned posts about things to see and do in the Progreso area. Nothing like starting with a bang! Ik Kil Cenote is just so beautiful it may be the highlight of your visit (other than visiting with us of course!).

Ik Kil lit by the Afternoon sun.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this natural wonder. “The cenote is open to the sky with the water level about 26 metres (85 ft) below ground level. There is a carved stairway down to a swimming platform. The cenote is about 60 metres (200 ft) in diameter and about 40 metres (130 ft) deep. There are vines which reach from the opening all the way down to the water along with small waterfalls.”

Amazing

When Ken was in Progreso he visited a small museum which described how an astroid hit in the Progreso area (actually at Chixelub) millions of years ago. This is the hit that many scientists believe led to the demise of the dinosaurs. Bits of the massive space rock broke off  and scattered in a circular pattern creating craters which have since filled with water. Hence, the cenotes!