A day of rest in our new & improved Arroyo Seco home

Today we took a necessary day of rest after almost a week of putting in sod and plants around our Pink Flamingo property in Arroyo Seco. We were on serious dust control duty, trying to get a handle on how much dust we breathe, how much dust lands on our palapa floor and in our outdoor kitchen.

The results are pretty spectacular!

We've gone from a dust bowl to a lush jardin --- a green, grassy area that will keep us cool and clean. Many of our new neighbors have been stopping by to see what we've done. A friend reminded us that it wasn't that many years ago the owner was grazing cattle here.

Today I felt my mother's gene's kick in as I puttered around the property, planting various flowers in front of the bathrooms, moving ferns around in front of the old grey goose trailer, deciding where to put the frog pot with the beautiful lily we just planted.

My mother was a master gardener at her place in upstate New York. Her joy was to spend the day in the dirt and her home still reveals her ability to plan a garden that was meant to last for years. As difficult a relationship as we had, the sweetest moments came the last few years of her life when she would sit in a chair in the driveway and direct me to prune the flowers, explain which plants were weeds, why I should allow some of the wisteria to creep into her garden. She was pleased that I finally cared, that she could share this thing that she loved with me.

She would have loved it here!

The people of Arroyo Seco are all gardeners, for the most part. The soil is rich river bottom. Bougainvilla will sprout from a stick, as will most of the sub-tropical plants. It's what makes this village stand out from many others --- the burst of color surrounding most homes.

While grass is a novelty (no worries, everyone. It's low maintenance crab grass and if we don't buy a mower, we'll at least invite the neighborhood goats in for a scheduled maintenance), a jardin is something our neighbors can all relate to.

Today was Palm Sunday. A friend stopped by with his grandson (and his donkey) after the church service to check out the new jardin.

Tomorrow we paint the bathrooms in anticipation of the new bathroom doors, which are scheduled to arrive from the welder on Tuesday.