Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, Weather, tagged African Tulip trees, bougainvillea, flowers, garden, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plumbago, popular travel destinations on June 11, 2018| 8 Comments »
June in Oaxaca city, the mornings are grey.
Bougainvillea
The sun eventually appears.
Plumbago
Afternoon clouds gather and thunder rumbles in the distance.
African tulip tree
Then darkness descends.
Night blooming cereus
Alas, this June only a minimal amount of rain has fallen. But the garden endures.
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged Araneidae, Argiope, Casita Colibrí, garden, Mexico, nature, Oaxaca, orb weaver spiders, photographs, photos, spider webs, stabilimentum on May 31, 2018| 2 Comments »
X currently marks the spot in OaXaca — be it for HOT weather, blockades, or orb weaving spiders. Regarding the latter, another, in a long line of Argiopes, has chosen to take up residence on my terrace.
Fun fact: The purpose of the white zigzag of silk, known as a stabilimentum, is disputed. It reflects UV light and may act as camouflage, attract insect prey, or prevent larger creatures from accidentally destroying the web. Whatever the function, this gal’s (yes, it is a female) is one of the best I’ve seen!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged cactus, Epiphyllum hookeri, flowers, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on May 7, 2018| 2 Comments »
Act two of this year’s night blooming cereus extravaganza began the night of April 22…
Continued the night of April 26…
And, it looks like there will be more in a week or two!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Casita Colibrí, Flor de mayo, flowers, frangipani, gardens, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plumeria, popular travel destinations on April 10, 2018| 4 Comments »
Plumeria (aka, Frangipani, Flor de mayo) currently bringing their fragrance to the Casita Colibrí terrace…
As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers — even if it’s still April!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged cactus flowers, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, opuntia microdasys, photographs, photos, Spring on April 7, 2018| 4 Comments »
My Opuntia microdasys are blooming and, like the jacarandas, their blossoms are a subtle sign that spring has sprung in Oaxaca.
It is commonly known as “bunny ears” or, in Mexico, “alas de ángel” (angel wings) — though I can see nothing angelic about them and you certainly don’t want to pet those fuzzy looking paddles. Those glochids (hair-like spines) are nasty. I know from personal experience!
I have two large pots of them — one with white glochids and the other with yellow. However, despite my personal run-ins with them both, I’m still in search of the rust colored variety.
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, tagged birds, Bullock's Oriole, Casita Colibrí, fountains, garden, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on March 14, 2018| 7 Comments »
This morning’s ecumenical gathering of the birds at the fountain — seen through my (dirty) kitchen window.
I think the orange one is a Bullock’s Oriole — the first I’ve seen on my rooftop garden.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged cactus, Epiphyllum hookeri, flowers, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on February 9, 2018| 6 Comments »
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, century plant, flowers, garden, maguey, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, quiote, terrace on January 31, 2018| 16 Comments »
While scientists were in the process of identifying four new species of agave, an agave on my terrace…
June 28, 2017
… had a surprise of its own.
July 23, 2017
Seemingly overnight, from its center, a stalk (aka, quiote) began reaching toward the sky.
July 23, 2017
After awhile, buds began appearing along the sides of the stalk.
September 18, 2017
And from the buds, the rainy season brought blossoms.
September 27, 2017
The flowers opened from bottom to top.
October 21, 2017
Eventually, all the flowers browned and seed pods began forming.
November 19, 2017
Who knows what I will find when I return to Casita Colibrí next week. What I do know is that this agave is now dying — but there are plantlets waiting to replace it! By the way, quiotes have traditionally been used for firewood (Maybe for my chiminea?) and even to make a didgeridoo-like musical instrument. (Hmmm… I don’t think I’ll try the latter.)
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, tagged bird bath, birds, fountains, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, terrace on January 13, 2018| 2 Comments »
This morning’s entertainment on the terrace…
Birds of a feather awaiting…
Bath time at the fountain.
Yippee, my turn!!!
Fun at the fountain is for the birds.
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged birds, hummingbirds, Mexico, nests, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on December 10, 2017| 3 Comments »
There may be a population explosion of Casita Colibrí’s namesake…
Hummingbird nest under construction on the far spindle branch of a tree near my balcony.
Mama waiting until the coast is clear — in front of a Guaje tree reflection on my neighbor’s window.
She comes, she sits briefly to test its strength and expansion potential, then is off again in search of more materials.
Next up, she and we await the show male colibríes will put on — hoping to strike her fancy.
The librarian in me can’t help but offer a few references:
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Food, Restaurants, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged Argiope, Carniceria Sonora, chile en nogada, comida, Las Quince Letras, lunch, Mexico, Oaxaca, orb weaver spiders, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, tacos on October 12, 2017| 6 Comments »
Lunch coming down out of the mountains in Colorado…
Tacos at Carniceria Sonora in Clifton, CO
Back in Oaxaca in time for a comida of September’s traditional dish…
Chiles en Nogada at Las Quince Letras Restaurante in Oaxaca de Juárez
And, not to be left out, Argiope showing off her freshly caught brunch…
Flies or bees or one of each on the terrace at Casita Colibrí
Gals, be they human or arachnid, have got to eat!
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Science & Nature, tagged Araneidae, Argiope, Casita Colibrí, garden, Mexico, nature, Neoscona oaxacensis, Oaxaca, orb weaver spiders, photographs, photos, spider webs on October 5, 2017| 6 Comments »
If you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to click away from this post.
You were warned, so I will continue… Two spiders, a Neoscona oaxacensis and an Argiope, have taken up residence on my terrace. This isn’t the first time I have played hostess to these two kinds of orb weaver spiders.
Neoscona oaxacensis (back)
Neoscona oaxacensis (underside)
My latest guests arrived a week ago and have been settling in ever since. Their webs are strung across neighboring plants, though the Argiope’s also extends across a walkway onto the deck. Unfortunately, a few days ago, I inadvertently walked through it but, undeterred, she rewove it in the same place. So I have blocked the route with an extremely spiky cactus, to prevent further human destruction.
Argiope (top)
Argiope (underside)
Aren’t my new visitors beautiful? By the way, they eat insects and are harmless to humans, so nothing to be afraid of!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Creativity, Culture, Music, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, benefit, concert, earthquake, earthquake relief, flowers, Francisco Garcia Vásquez, Lila Downs, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, sculptures, Susana Harp, Tehuana, video on September 18, 2017| 4 Comments »
A skein of yarn waiting to be woven…
Agave blossoms reaching for the sky…
Ceramic sculpture of a Tehuana by Fran Garcia Vásquez.
Ooops, a broken arm! It seems appropriate that my only casualty from the 8.2 earthquake depicts a woman from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec — the region where some of the most severe damage in the state of Oaxaca occurred. However, like the people she represents, she is strong, proud, and healing will happen.
If you want to help the victims of the September 7 earthquake, please see my previous post. If you do, reward yourself by watching last night’s benefit at the Guelaguetza Auditorium, Oaxaca Corazón. And, if you don’t, perhaps this spectacular concert will encourage you to donate to earthquake relief.
This all-star event, organized in less than a week by Lila Downs and Susana Harp, will have tears falling — I guarantee it!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged bougainvillea, bugambilia, colors of Mexico, flowers, Frida Kahlo blue, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on August 8, 2017| 4 Comments »
Two weeks ago, as the sun was about to sink behind the mountains to the west, I glanced up from my desk.
Light and shadow highlighted the Mexpost pink of the bougainvillea against the backdrop of a Frida Kahlo blue wall. Ahhh…
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Mexico, Mexico blogs, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Surviving Mexico blog on July 7, 2017| 2 Comments »
Many thanks to Surviving Mexico for considering “View from Casita Colibrí” a blog about Mexico worth reading! The feeling is mutual, as I continue to enjoy reading about their “adventures and disasters” living in Mexico. 😉
Shannon writes at Casita Colibrí, another long-time favorite of mine.
What brought you to Mexico?
Even though I grew up in California, my first trip to Mexico was in 2007, when I came to Oaxaca to visit a friend. I immediately fell in love with Oaxaca, returned a couple more times, and considered eventually retiring there. The privately funded library where I’d been the director for almost 13 years lost its funding and closed in spring 2009.Full-time jobs for librarian/archivists in the San Francisco Bay Area were almost non-existent. Faced with the choice of working multiple part-time and substitute jobs to barely keep my head above water, versus renting my house and moving to Oaxaca to live a downsized and simplified life, in a culturally rich, full of life city, I opted for the latter.
What was the inspiration behind the name of your blog?
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