Spice it up!

No bueno!  Too hot!

Piling the bags of groceries on the counter we started to unpack and put things away, then it struck me how we are gradually acclimating to this culture.  

On the counter were two types of chilies, onions, tomatoes, limes, mangoes, avacados, tortillas and a bottle of our favourite spicy chipotle mayonnaise. 

These are just some of the ingredients we needed to make delicious arrachera fajitas for lunch.  Yum!

                      

Beginning of a tasty meal.

Three years ago when we were touring around Italy, with Lawrie’s siblings and spouses also known as “The Family,” Lawrie and I discovered that we really missed the spiciness of Mexican food – the heat, the zip, the zap.  

The Italian food tasted good, but it used to taste great before we moved to Mexico.  Perhaps we have burnt out the more delicate taste receptors in our tongues by eating hot sauces and salsas.  Now, don’t get me wrong Ghost Chili Peppers, the world’s hottest chili peppers, are not for us!  A bit spicier is good, crazy hot spicy is no bueno!

Living area 2007

The other obvious change in our lives is the amount of colour that has slowly crept into our house.  When we moved here our casa was tastefully furnished in North American colours: black, neutral beige, and of course white.  Attractive?  Sure.  Interesting?  Not so much.  A few years later the main floor sofa and our patio sofa morphed into green, blue and yellow stripes. I have plans for the next reincarnation that include navy, yellow, pink and orange.  

Living area 2015

Our assorted candle lanterns have been spray painted several times to combat the rust and corrosion and each time the colour combinations are more and more lively: green, blue, yellow, orange.  

Even the dishes piled in our open-front kitchen cabinets have undergone a colour infusion from white and whiter to multi-hued hand blown glassware from Guadalajara, hand painted margarita glasses, turquoise plates, and stacks of blue or yellow bowls.

I wanted pink, orange and yellow, this works.

Recently I decided to update a bathroom small cabinet that we had purchased in 2007.  It was painted black, of course.  

I wandered into a local paint store and explained that I needed small cans of perhaps orange, pink, and yellow in something similar to Varathane, but no luck there.  

The new combination - 6 colours.

The clerk helpfully pulled out a selection of 250ml tins of enamel paint in a variety of blues, yellows and turquoise.  Sure!  Why not?  Colour is colour.  

For the next few days I painted and experimented with the various shades, eventually getting a fun result that I am darn-pleased about.  Now I find myself eyeing other furniture items in the house – thinking, hmm, I wonder.

On a grander scale, we could bravely follow in the foot-steps of other pioneering ex-pats and paint our house a multitude of eye-pleasing hues, but to be honest, we are a bit lazy.  On this side of the island the paint takes a beating with the constant but pleasant cooling breezes.  One colour inside and out suits our lifestyle.  Patching and touchups are easier with one shade to deal with – a little here, a little there.  All done.  We are back to reading a book, and sipping on a glass of wine in record time. 

Boats - one of my favourite things to photograph

Less house maintenance also leaves me more time for taking photographs; photographs of my favourite things like brightly painted boats, jazzy houses, and tropical flowers.  

Even laundry hung to dry outside other casas can be eye-catching and bright.  

And then there is our laundry basket.  It is currently filled with t-shirts instead of long-sleeved shirts, shorts instead of long pants, and everything in shades of blue, green, and turquoise to orange, pink and yellow. 

But the one thing that doesn’t change about the laundry basket is the smell!  Canada or Mexico – stinky laundry is still stinky laundry, and needs to be dealt with. 

All clean - hung to dry inside our casa

That’s my next job!  I wisely hang our laundry inside to dry, foiling the attempts of other camera-happy photographers! 

See you next week.

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

Don't forget to check our other blog:

http://animalsandfamilymembers.blogspot.mx/

September 2015 - new colours