Monday, January 25, 2016
I haven't exactly been faithful about posting here this past year, but I think it might be time to start again. Maybe? We'll see.
So I'm not going to rehash what's happened since last summer because whoever is reading this already knows, right? So, backing up to a few days ago, we left Kentucky just ahead of the "blizzard" allegedly headed in our direction. Taking five relatively short days, we got to Ajijic Wednesday afternoon, January 20th. We drove straight to our house where Antje (pronounced "awn-cha"), the property manager met us. Antje's parents resettled from Germany to Mexico in the mid-70s when she was a young girl, and she's lived here ever since. She speaks English, Spanish, and German fluently--possibly others--haven't heard speak any others. Her family has developed several communities in this area.
Riviera Alta, where our house is, is 400 meters up the mountain (north) from the main highway in the village. Going laterally (back toward the east), it's about another 600 meters to the gate and our house is just inside on the first street. We don't have a view of the lake, but we can see the mountains on the other side of the lake. The community reminds me a lot of Florida areas, with about 40-50 homes. Each straight is flat but they progress up the mountain in tiers. Obviously, the higher you are the better the view--and the more expensive the home. There's a large clubhouse with a very large covered terrace, kitchen, library, gym, and so on. Large beautiful pool and two in-ground hot tubs, plus tennis courts, and, yes, a shuffleboard court. Sounds just like home, huh? Well, that's the idea. Most of the residents are American or Canadian, with only about a third who live here year-round.
One of the things I like about this neighborhood is that, unlike some other gated communities, the houses are all different. There is no cookie-cutter pattern which makes for nice variations. One thing they all have in common, however, is that none of them are more than a single level. I think that was probably mandated when the development was first started to insure that nobody lost their view to someone new coming in and building a multi-storey home and blocking the view of the lake.
Our house is like a patio home, about 1500 sf (I'm guessing because they deal in meters here and I'm not very good at converting them; also, here they count all the space that is covered by a roof, including terraces and carports). Imagine a box with a small green lawn surrounding it on 3 sides. The 4th side is the double carport and entrance. You come into the house on the west side (carport side) into a wide entry way. Directly ahead of you are doors to the atrium right in the middle of the house. To the left is a full bath with the guest bedroom next to it. The bedroom opens onto the atrium and has a full-length double window that opens onto the back lawn--sort of a private little garden view. If you turn right from the entry way, you go into the open living area--living room with gas fireplace, kitchen with granite countertops and laundry room and pantry beyond. (You've now come in a circle from the front door. Off the living room is a very large sunroom, used as a dining area and additional sitting room. From there, you step out to the small tiled, covered patio. The living room opens onto the atrium as well. From the living room you continue around the atrium to a small TV/sitting room That also opens onto the patio. And from there into the master bedroom with the 4th entrance to the atrium. Voila--the box! Through the bedroom are the master bath and walk-in closet. Very liveable floor plan. I like it a lot.
Today is a little overcast and the temperature is about 70. This is the first day since we got to Mexico that the skies have not been a cloudless blue. The daytime temps have been in the mid-70s, evenings in the 50s. We sleep under the duvet and wear a sweater or long sleeves in the morning until we get outside. Outside the house is surrounded by fencing covered with blooming bouganvillas that provide privacy from the street and the neighbors. Along the back, on the mountain side is a wall that serves both for privacy and retaining wall for the houses on the next street up. There's a cactus garden, a fountain, a large rosemary bush, but not a lot of other blooming plants because this house has been empty for quite awhile. So the gardener has only had to do minimal yard maintenance. Today we went to a nursery we had used before and I bought some thyme, oregano, and basil to pot. There are lots of empty pots around the house. I also bought two blooming African violets that I couldn't resist. I broke my vow, after my obsession with them in the Frankfort house, that I would never get hooked again. It's so pleasant to look around see flowers in bloom and trees with green leaves. I'm sitting in the sunroom and just glanced outside. There's a rubber tree right outside the window, about 20 feet tall. Through a different window I see a ficus about 15 ft tall. In the atrium are lots of potted palms which are our responsibility to keep watered. Fortunately, there's a faucet and a curly hose in there.
