Independence Day Kitsch

 

The city buses have flags across their hoods. So do the taxis. All manner of red white and green decorations to honor Independence Day, September 16th. The stores have little or huge flags. The doorways are decorated with clothing in red, white and green that is part of the store's inventory. Or there are window decorations of decorative accessories all in the prerequisite red, white and green.

But, I think this "golf cart" or wacky wagon takes first prize. The two little grannies got off of this had on white tennis shoes with red and green shoe laces.

Whatever floats your boat - or in this case, your Independence Day transportation. Doesn't it make you smile......or shake your head!

Independence Day 2011

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Independence Day is September 16th, but the celebrations started at the beginning of the month here. Independence Day in Mexico is like the USA's 4th of July and New Year's Eve all rolled into one. There are fireworks, marathoners running through town, dancing, music, bull fights. You name it. It happens in honor of the Independence of Mexico.

On September 15th, El Grito will be read and proclaimed from the balcony of Allende's home which is now a museum. It is located overlooking the jardin. The jardin and surrounding streets and balconies will be STUFFED with people. I do mean LOTS of people. After all, the fight for independence actually started in San Miguel in 1810.

There will be many nationals from all over the country pouring in here. Probably starting tonight. I'm already seeing license plates from all over!

The event that I still enjoy the most of all, is the children's parade. You can't possibly stand and watch it and not smile. The ingenuity of the parents in making the costumes. The kids enjoying walking the long parade route. And the fact that the "powers that be" manage to keep all those little tykes together in some semblance of order. Delightful.

I can hardly wait until Matilda and Sebastian are old enough to march in these parades. A beaming Grammy I will be.

I'll be on the road heading north on Friday, "o dark thirty" about 7:30AM, so I won't see the parade Friday. But I've seen all the rest of it, other then the Grito, already. Year after year after year.

Viva Mexico!

Amigos Gustoso Gathering

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photos posted on this blog are from a culinary dinner group that I participate in. We had an amazing dinner the other night on the theme of Mediterrenean. The food, the home and the people all enhanced this experience.

The menu was planned by the hostess. It was held in their newly completed home out in the country. What a magnificent casa. Having lived in the Middle East for many years, they built the house in the architecture of Morocco and other countries in that region. Any adjective I could use to describe the home would be lacking. The attention to detail from the marquetry on the kitchen cabinets and other pieces of millwork to the use of cantera in new ways was a delight.

We started with appetizers in a courtyard much larger then my whole house. I love that concept. Interior living with lush gardens and pools to view.

Dinner was just one delightful feast for the palate after another. The three photos I took were the basil cheese roulade, the buffet of food and then the poached pears in marsala reduction. Delicious!

Now to the interesting part. How I got in this group is beyond me. Yes, I once was a member of the Houston Culinary Guild. And yes that whole group were dear, dear friends and business associates of mine. And yes, I once was President of Roundtable for Women in Foodservice, a national organization. BUT none of this was because of my culinary talent. Trust me. I'm a "mom cook". You know, one of those women who their kids say "Mom, please fix meatloaf and macaroni and cheese; please fix homemade lasagna; please, please fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with apple pie". I certainly don't think of myself as a "fancy" cook.........

Now I'm close to a panic mode about when it is time for me to plan the menu. For me to have everyone to my little casa. But, I'll think of something. I think I have til February or March to come up with ideas - maybe a theme of Southern fare or Texas BBQ..........who knows! Guess I'll have to get out my River Road recipe book from Baton Rouge or my Soul Food cookbook from New Orleans or some of those that my great friend, Ann Criswell, former food editor for the Houston Chronicle wrote. I'll think of something. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'm tasting all kinds of unique fusions of flavors and being impressed with the talents of the partipants. Not to mention the beauty of their lovely homes. Oh, and the scintillating conversations. I can't even begin to divulge the myriad topics discussed the other evening - you wouldn't believe me!

Life is good.

NGO's in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

 

Volunteers! Volunteers! Volunteers! They are everywhere. In town. In the campo. In the schools, clinics, homes and other assorted places. All giving to make life better for the families or animals of this area.

San Miguel, at last count has 81 non-governmental organizations. I've been told it is a record number. I didn't substantiate that. But it sure sounds like a lot to me.

They range from Alma, a retirement home for Mexicans and gringoes. You can live there regardless of the ability to pay. I've been there. It is extremely nice. Not like the retirement homes in the USA - that is for sure.

Atencion, the once-a-week paper put out by volunteers with the Bibliotecha is quite a feat. I remember when it wasn't in color and was 1/4th the size it is now. It is NOT intended to be a "news" paper in the journalistic sense of headline news but rather info that tells about what is going on in San Miguel relating to activities, opportunities and where to eat and shop. A must for visitors who wonder what to do while here. It's astounding to me that it is near perfect without typos and well edited, in my humble opinion. They do this EVERY week. The funds raised from ads and the sale of the paper goes to scholarships for Mexican children and to operate the free programs for kids and adults at the Bibliotecha.

Audubon is extremely active in all kinds of nature activities - trips, walks and supporting other environmental endeavors in the area.

And that's just a few in the "A's"!

A few more are Centro de Creciemiento for special needs children. Feed The Hungry which provides 3000 meals a day all over the area to children; Mujeres en Cambio which provides scholarships for young women to continue their education; Patronato Pro Ninos which provides free medical and dental care in the area to children. Then there are the animal organizations, Amigos de Animales which sterilizes animals; and SPA which is a shelter and adoption location for animals.

There are so many that I couldn't possibly list all of them. There has even been a book published and distributed by San Miguel's city government with all the information along with contacts.

It would be interesting to know, with all the hours volunteered, how much "sweat equity" that that provides to this area's economy. It would be staggering it seems. Although that's not the point - it certainly helps.

The only problem right now for these organizations that have grown so much in the last ten years, is that the tourists who used to come from the USA and attended the fundraisers that each of these organizations depended on for revenue haven't been coming. All the organizations have had to cut back on their services to some degree. Even though there are volunteers, it takes money to operate.

If you have a "heart's desire" group that appeals to you and you would like more information, please let me know and I'll try to get websites or email addresses for you.

Volunteering is good for all..... those who do it and those who receive the benefits from those volunteers.

Outsider Art from North Carolina

 

 

In 2007 I traveled all over North Carolina and a bit of South Carolina with the Orange Show of Visionary Art. It was an "Eyeopener Tour" to meet outsider artists and to visit sites and museums from Asheville to Roanoke Rapids and every place, it seemed, inbetween.

Two of the highlights of that trip were meeting "Sam the Dot Man" in Winston Salem and Hubert Walters in Troutman, NC.
I had read about both of them along with many others I met on that trip, including Vollis Simpson who makes the most amazing whirly-gigs and Mr. Pearl Fryer who has had a documentary made about his gardens that are all espaliered trees and shrubs. (He has been featured in Smithsonian magazine and PBS aired the documentary).

It was a great trip. I recommend visiting North Carolina to see a myriad of artesans to everyone. In addition, it is a beautiful state.

I've posted photos of two pieces of outsider art that I purchased and now would like to sell. The church made by Mr. Sam and "Mr No Bull" (my name) made by Mr. Hubert Walters who is now deceased. The bull is made of bondo as Mr. Walters was a shipbuilder in his working life.

The church is only $200 and the bull is $120. Exactly what I paid four years ago plus the shipping to get them back to Houston at the time.

I will be driving to Houston next week. If anyone is interested, I can take those pieces with me and ship from there.

Those of you who know outsider art will recognize the names of the artists. Those who don't can put those names into your search engines and be amazed at the accolades and large following these two men have had for years.

I need more room and need to part with some of my precious treasures. My loss is your gain!

HACKED!

What a day! What a day! Hacked has never meant much to me except when I get "hacked off". But today I found out through friends and readers of the blog that they could not access the blog.

WHAT? So I tried to check it out, but this site called www.rpcblogrolling.com kept coming up. It had no way to contact them to find out what the heck was going on.

So, after much consternation I went on Google Help where you can send your question to a group of fellow bloggers or someone - heck, I have no idea who they were. But I typed in the question and got three messages back. Two of which were speaking in "computer speak" and I had to keep saying things like, "What does Page Elements mean" and "What is a wizard" or "What is a gadget and where is it?"

I'm sure to computer gurus, I gave them a good laugh. I tried for 1 1/2 hours to resolve the issue and gave up, left the house and didn't think about it.

When I came home I said "Self, you have raised children, you have run a business, you have moved to Mexico - for goodness sake you should be able to figure this out!"

Do you talk to yourself too?

So, I sat down and looked for the things that the responders mentioned. I found it!
It seems that when I used Blogroll to put other blog sites on and then they went out of business that these people at rpcblogrolling.com took over all the sites that had used blogroll.

I found something that said javascript and rpcblogroll and some other stuff - deleted it and no more problems.

I'm amazed that I actually fixed it - by myself - with the help of Google Help.

Some other things I discovered was that I have Google Analytics and it showed me where my comments come from; all the comments that were spam; and a few other interesting statistics. Who knew?

Watch out, I might turn out to be a "computer monster". I sure hope though that I never get HACKED again!