Redesigned Dining Room

I finally got around to putting in wainscoting in the dining room and painting the wall a dark teal. I am very happy with the result. Observe the beautiful quilt that Patti designed and made hanging on the wall.  The carpenter also got around to adding the skirt to the kitchen breakfast bar. A detail the perhaps only I would notice.

Room decorated for our Judeo-Christian-pagan holiday party...Food included turkey and dressing, potato latkes, and pecan tarts.  Sim lit the menorah for the second night of Hannakah.

On my birthday Sim and I went to a fancy restaurant with yummy food. This is crab salad with melon and cucumber!

Arlo is sitting up, crawling, and pulling himself to a standing position. He is now 7 months old and I can't wait it hold him next week.

Our Voices concert is this weekend with bits from the Messiah and Christmas carols. Hope we get a good turnout.

Thanksgiving 2014

We had a lovely duck dinner that Lee made. We dined in the courtyard alcove. Check out the pics.

Beautiful Spaces in San Miguel

San Miguel de Allende has some amazing houses built on the flat or into the hills around El Centro. I did not take pictures of Rob and Andrew's stunning house on Aldama, but took plenty of a new B&B where Lee will do some dinners next month.

Last evening we went to the little movie theatre around the block where for the price of a movie you get popcorn and a margarita. "Elsa & Fred" starred Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine. It was a fun romantic comedy. Afterwards Sim and I walked over a few blocks and got a Dominoes Pizza to take home.  The streets were quiet unlike the previous evenings when marriage parties would march down the streets with brass bands and huge puppet brides and grooms.

On Saturday we walked all over town, maybe 8 miles. We used 4 miles to walk over to the house that Lee and Richard are renting from Dec thru Mar. It's very cute with a lovely back courtyard with waterfall. In the afternoon we walked up to the B&B which was about 2 miles uphill. Unfortunately the folks were not there so we walked back down. We drove on Sunday thankfully in order to see the 8-room B&B. It surrounds a 17th century stone chapel. It is quite marvelous.  It has an amazing roof top terrace as do most of the houses here.  The view is breathtaking and has lots of seating places and outdoor grill and kitchen area.

We have been enjoying street foods such as gorditas and tacos al pastor. The square is usually buzzing with activity like street venders, bands, dancing etc. it's called El Jardin. We usually stop at the bakery to get some yummy pastries for breakfast.

November is dancing

John and Carol came to visit for almost one week early in the month.  We went Scottish Country Dancing in RTP one night.  I know some folks there because they come to our local Ceilidh dancing.  I said I would try to attend regularly in January since I could get a ride over on Thursday evenings.  I'm considered an experienced dancer on our Tuesday lunch time Ceilidh dances.  I did Scottish Country dancing for about 3 years in the mid 1990's in DC.

Sim and I are in Mexico now where I have had my first individual Argentine Tango lesson.  I will get 5 more plus some dances within the next week. I am very excited about learning how to do it.  There is not just one type of tango dancing but many. Basic tango, tango waltz, tango milonga, and multiple neo tango styles. 

We are staying with Lee and Richard again just two blocks from the main square of San Miguel de Allende. Their dog Baily and their son, Noah, are here as well.  Check out the living wall at the bottom which is an installation of plants hung up on a wall.  The plants are mostly succulents. 

All Saints Day

I have been looking forward to the arrival of Sim's daughter, Lee, and her family on their way to Mexico for the Winter. So last Saturday night they arrived for dinner along with some long-time family friends, Mike and Gail, who live in Chapel Hill. Below are some pictures.



Lee, Bailey, Sim, and Gail



Emily, Noah, and Lee



Gail, Mike, and Richard

Sunday, they came by for breakfast and helped me eat the Day of the Dead bread turned into French toast, leftover pretzel rolls and biscuits. Sim and I went to see Margaret Kerr in Raleigh who had just gotten out of the hospital but is looking great. Below is a picture of John-Mac and McConihay who just turned 4 years old.

Halloween

Fearrington Village pumpkins

Pan de Muertos

Costume for party--can you guess what I am?

 

 

Tennis Festivities

Here are some pics from our tennis round robin.

The tennis club also had a lovely dinner at Kippos; see below.

Nino and Trisha

Edith and Jim

Tennis dinner 2014

Here's the big screen from Uncle Jim's NYC apartment. His mother bought them in Trinidad in 1933. They were made in India. I put it in my big bedroom.

Garden flowers followed by new fish for the porch.