My Next Gardening Spot in Chacala

My new home, in a few weeks

I have been struggling for months about where I want to live next. The two options being either an upstairs rental unit with teraza and a great view or camping at Esparanza's on the beach. I love the beach the most, hands down, but I ended going with living in a place with a secure, lockable area and the potential for a dial-up connection. I will be paying more rent, but..... I am still ambivalent about my choice, but it' ll be okay I think.Distant view to the south, from the teraza, with the ocean peeking thru.

I think what finally helped me decided was wanting to settle in somewhere. Planting things in the dirt, and choosing my wall colors, and stuff like that. I have been moving every six months for three years, and I guess I am tired of it.Close view to the south

There is a third possibility, which would be to stay where I am, if the homeowners end up not coming down this year. Bu that's not likely, however. I don't like this neighborhood very much. Five of the seven nearest houses are owned by gringos. It's starting to feel alittle like a gringo ghetto. Two of the owners are year year-round residents (sort of) and the others are winter vacationers and/or business owners who come and go. Paul (owner of Satow rentals) and Dex and his wife have been here for more than a year straight, almost continuously. The others come and go and aren't involved in Chacala particularly, at least so far.Distant view to the south-east

So I made a deal with my new/old landlady. I stayed at her place for the winter before last, my second winter here. I learned alot about trying to go with the flow, and letting go of some of my problematic values about water quality, working toilets, continuity of electrical service, quiet from 11pm to 6am, and other middle-class type things.Three year old, at least, Chili plant at my new home.

One of the things that was really hard for me, when I lived at this place before, was that the nearest neighbor, had an incredibly loud voice that carried right unto my patio. So I heard a lot more than I wanted to about this person's life. In English. This year may be worse though, because I will be close to the new hotel, whose managers appear to be deaf, and seem like their music VERY VERY LOUD.View to the south-west. Ocean is two blocks away

Anyway, I am getting ready to start painting the inside of my new bedroom, which is actually the only room. Plus the bathroom, and the covered patio with a sort of a kitchen. The walls are bright pink. I hated the color a couple of years ago, and I still hate it. But I am allowed to paint.

The landlady would prefer I paint a color, but she said white would be okay. She would like the bottom half of the walls to be a color, which won't look dirty quite so quickly. (Her opinion). We agreed I could wait until I get some more money (some year) to get the colored paint. I wouldn't mind yellow for the color, but she hates yellow. So maybe, eventually a soft sage green. But she, in her heart of hearts, only like light blue, and light purple, and pink. .

View to the west-west-north

I have some photos here of the views from my new home, and some of the plants right around the house. My space is the upstairs, with an outside staircase in the back. There are lots of places to plant things. And the husband is excited for me to bring new plants down from this house. I am looking for someone with a truck to help me move them next week. Plus, I will have some pots up on the cement overhang in front of my teraza. The view is great from this place. I love it. And it's only about two blocks from the beach. Uphill. And the stores, etc.Volunteer papaya plant in front of the house. Maybe almost two years old.