Reaching the End

If you have read my blog for any length of time you know that I have a large flower garden, and that each spring the task of weeding and manicuring all of the beds is a long process.  Usually it is the beginning of July before I have completed my work.  This year, because I was not able to make my usual trip to Mexico in April, I got an earlier start to my gardening.  The weather in April and May was not always cooperative (we even had snow in May!), but a long stretch of dry weather in June was helpful.  I can now say that the work is complete, and we have not yet officially reached the beginning of summer.  There is one side of the house that is mainly bushes and ground cover that I have still not touched.  However I am going to wait until the workers have finished putting new siding on the house before I do that.  Of course, the work is never really done... I still have to maintain the beds.  But now an hour or two on nice days will suffice instead of a daily grind of four to six hours.

The "big garden" next to the storage shed always requires many days of work. 

The shade garden under the walnut tree and the long stretch of garden along the border of my property line were finally completed a couple days ago.

Now, if only we could come to an early end of this damnable pandemic!

Sent to Me by Alejandro

Alejandro sent me this picture from a website selling T-shirts...

The Legend of the Volcanoes

(all images taken from the web)

To the east of Mexico City are the volcanoes Popocatépetl (to the right in the photo above) and Iztaccíhuatl (to the left).  They are the second and third highest mountains in Mexico, and are referred to as "Popo" and "Izta". 

With a little imagination, the form of Izta looks like a reclining woman.

 

According to the pre-Hispanic myth, Izta was a beautiful princess, and Popo was a brave warrior.  The two were very much in love, but Izta's father would not permit the marriage until Popo had proven himself in battle.  So the young warrior marched off into war.  A rival for Izta's hand told the princess that Popo had been killed, and Izta died of a broken heart.  But Popo returned as a great hero.  When he discovered that his beloved was dead, he carried her body up into the mountains,  There he laid her down and knelt beside her.  The gods turned the two of them into mountain peaks so that they would be together for all eternity.

View of the Volcanoes

I have frequently posted pictures from "Webcams de México", especially now that I can only visit Mexico virtually.  And frequently I have mentioned and posted photos of the two volcanoes, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl (Popo and Izta for short) which are located about forty miles from Mexico City.  However, I don't think that I have ever posted a webcam view of the two of them as seen from the other side, from the city of Puebla.

Popocatépetl is to the left and Iztaccíhuatl to the right.  The later appears to have a bit of snow on its peak.  

Because of air pollution, the two volcanoes are only occasionally visible from Mexico City.  However, Puebla, on the other side of the mountains, long afforded a better view.  Back in 1973, I attended school in Cholula, on the outskirts of Puebla, and every day there was a magnificent view of the two peaks.  Nowadays, however, Puebla has its share of air pollution also, and it is no longer a sure bet that you will have a crystal clear view of Popo and Izta from there.  

But yesterday morning, the webcam showed this dramatic view.

I don't think believe I have ever shared with you the legend of the two volcanoes.  That will be the topic of my next post. 

More Blossoms in the Garden

Here are some more photos from my garden...

The spirea bushes are in bloom.

The first of the astilbe are blooming.

The Mexican primrose is quite invasive.  I pulled out quite a bit until I had a manageable clump. 

Even more invasive are the spiderworts.  They have appeared in every one of my flower beds, and I frequently pull it out.  But its flowers are pretty.

I had a peony bush which was in a spot which was too shady.  It struggled each spring to produce one blossom.  I moved it to a sunnier area, and it is gradually improving each year.  This year it has four blossoms.

I don't have a great deal of luck with roses, but this year the bushes which I still have are all in bloom.

Slow Progress

I wrote earlier this week that I am having new siding put on my house.  I knew that the job was going to take a while because there was only one worker and his assistant.  I figured that, weather permitting, it might take the whole week.

Their work has been uninterrupted by rain for the last five days.  At this point, they have only removed the old siding, gutters and insulation, and, as I write this, they are still putting up the new insulation.  However, they are doing a meticulous job.  I would much rather that they do it carefully and correctly, than for them to do a hurry-up job.

Next on the Reading List

I know that some people are doing a lot more reading during this pandemic.  However, between working in the garden, cooking, cleaning, following three series on Netflix, and conversing daily with friends and family on Skype, my days are pretty full.  I only have time for a bit of reading before bedtime.  I still have not gone through the supply of books which I had fortuitously purchased just before the pandemic began.

I have now started a new book, "Son of a Witch" by Gregory Maguire.

I have read several of Maguire's books.  He writes revisionist, adult versions of well-known children's stories.  "Mirror, Mirror"  is based on "Snow White".  (Imagine the heroine being given the poisoned apple by an envious Lucretia Borgia!)  "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" is based on Cinderella.  (The title character is a good-hearted person who tries to look after her handicapped sister and her beautiful but troubled stepsister.)  Maguire's best known book is "Wicked" which tells the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the "Wizard of Oz".  It was the inspiration for the popular Broadway musical of the same name.  The novel, however, is a much darker tale than the musical.  Oz is under the despotic rule of the cruel Wizard, and the "wicked" Witch is a subversive fighting against the dictatorship.

"Son of a Witch" is a continuation of that story after the Witch's death.  The main character, Liir, is an adolescent who may or may not be the son who was born from the Witch's affair with Prince Fiyero before his death at the hands of the secret police.  The Wizard has departed, but the political situation in Oz remains uncertain and dangerous.

I am only a short way into the novel, but it seems to be another entertaining book by Maguire.