I've Always Had a Thing for Pineapples.

 Video: Don't you know her shoulders ache?

When we went to Honduras to dive with Joy and Robert, Ev stopped for us in a pineapple field where each lovely fruit was wrapped in its own little special condom to keep it blemish free as it grew. It was the first time I'd ever contemplated how they grew. We ate the sweetest pineapples that trip, the ones that have too high of a sugar content to be exported. My first alcoholic drink  (thanks, dad!) was a "Barker Special" made with frozen pineapple juice and lime. I love pineapple. It makes my kombucha fizzy and even though it's not a thistle, it looks like one. "Thistle" has always been my favorite geometric shape.

Our neighboring state, the great state of Michoacan, is the home of many talented artisans. I saw ceramic pineapples there for the first time when we went for Dia de los Muertos in October. I saw them again at a big art fair given in Chapala in November. I wanted. Unlike my mom, I'm no good at pressure shopping. The venues were crowded and I knew I was going to need time and space to select the perfect complement of pineapples to march down the center of my table.

Two weeks ago, I looked up the premier pineapple artisan in Mexico. I had seen him featured in a coffee table book at my hair salon. Lo and behold, Helario's town, San Jose de Gracias is right near a little alpine town we like to go to when it's hotter than blue blazes here. We drove to the town. Not a pineapple in sight. "No Senora, we don't work the pinas here, we work the vacas, the leche, the crema y queso. Well, poop.

Last week, I called the maestro himself. "Helario," said I. "I couldn't find you among the cows." Oh. What do you know. It's a San Jose de Gracias two hours away in a different direction. Ev and I set out again, this time armed with excellent directions. Helario said, "when you get to my village drive until you see the blue door, if you don't see the blue door then ask for me so anyone can lead you to my house." Evdad was dubious, but it all worked out. The blue porton was the first thing we saw when we drove in to town.

This man digs the clay with his wife and son. They beat it into submission, then fire it twice in the adobe pit. (yes, the one with the motorcycle helmet on it). See the woodpile? He hacks that up too. Amazing industrious man. This year, my Albuquerque friends, he will be in Santa Fe at the Folk Art Museum summer show. If you go, say hola de parte de Susan!

Helario lives in the pink home with his children and grandchildren. The little guy with the fresh haircut was showing me his kinder papers, reading the labels on the pictures he colored all the while telling me he couldn't read because he was too little.

An added bonus, the local townspeople also use the clay to make bricks. Ev and I thought Harvey should know how bricks are made and fired so we stopped to ask if we could take pictures.  See how they stack the bricks so they can build a fire under them? See how they put a layer of adobe on the brick pile to keep the heat in? People are smart.

The beautiful church was in the city of Zamora. We could see it from the highway, its so huge.  It was started in 1898, the construction was interrupted in 1914 during the Revolution. The subsequent Cristero war (intended to eliminate the power of the Catholic church) didn't help matters either. This beautiful thing was finally finished by a tenacious bishop in 1989. More about that here.

Then we saw a printing press and a tortilla press and our field trip came to a sweet conclusion with a lunch of Carne en su Jugo and about 2 dozen tortillas.

April, warm and tolerable. May, hot and dusty. Thank God for ceiling fans and swimmin' holes.

Fried Oyster Salad at Gossips

Picnic with Bob and Mary, Colima did her thing and burped for us.

Todo incluido in Puerto Vallarta. Fun time.

Evdad can hardly contain himself that he let me walk around the Malecon with a chocolate Hitler mustache.

All the little altars in my 'hood are festooned this week.

First come the yellow trees, then the purple, then the fire red.

Margaret and I took stools in to be covered in Huipiles, saw this guy selling his wares to the store owner.

Picnic before walking to the falls in Mazamitla.

This is the kind of thing Evdad does for me. We drove past this rock.  A few minutes later I said, "you know I'm gonna have to have that rock, right?" Doesn't say a word, stops car, gets out,walks back, gets the rock and puts it in the trunk. True love.

Waterfall at Mazamitla. Harvey wants to go there and find a tadpole. Tata will help him.

Roberto? It's not as good as it looks. Half those black specks are flies, not seeds.

Mancha has found a spot in the shade down low where she can be safe from Kino.

Jose and his daughter Fatima-she's giving him his last instructions for the pinata (which she killed by the way).

A day in the Life

Before my feet hit the ground, I look to see if Elyse has an updated picture of Harvey. Ev peeps over my shoulder. Sometimes we cry before we even get out of bed. On a perfect day, we wake up to something delightful like this:

Coffee first, or in this case, the last piece of birthday cake scarfed while the coffee brews:

Kitties and doggies eat breakfast al fresco.

Sometimes it takes two men to do my bidding in the garden.Today they re-potted a mystery plant that had broken it's  previous home with its mighty roots.

It's walk time before it gets too hot. This boy can barely contain himself. He's working really hard at not breaking my nose while I tie  my shoes.

Our walks take about an hour and are full of interesting things to pee on, I mean look at. Click on the pic and you can see our Capillita behind the tree.

Drive through Coke service if you're on a horse.

Wish you could smell this:

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Hildedoodle is getting up there in age and brings up the rear, but she still wants to go, so we accommodate her. Either that, or she brings up the rear so she can eat bad things off the street while I'm unaware. She's a sly one, that Hilde.

A gate was open, I asked to come in. The owner lives in Guadalajara, the house in Ixtla is her weekend house. She is a curandera so she grows plants to make tinctures and salves. I went home and got Jose so he could see what our next project will be. He pretended to be thrilled.

Kale smoothie for us for breakfast.

It's going to be hot and dry today, so we took the opportunity to drag the rug out to steam clean it. Humidity is close to 0, it'll be dry by tonight.

A trip in to town for the organic market and because I was very very good, a gelato to tide me over while we go to Costco.

Let me just say that MAYBE this day was not one of our best eating plans, lol. I'll make up for it when I cook all the stuff from the organic market tomorrow.

May is a hot and dusty month down here. Also, it's MBS month. Mexicans Burning Shit everywhere you turn. Air quality is poor.

But sunsets are stunning.

It's down to my bodega for a little play time, When the moon rises over the house I know it's time for bed.

Dannnng. Looks like Ev got hungry and fixed a little snack with our Costco buy. Oh, well.

There's always tomorrow.