nothing new

just wanted to post some photos of the casa upon request from a friend.

this is the main living space, looking forward to getting more color throughout the rest of the casa.

listo para visitantes

ok, not much going on, but a huge milestone has been reached.

all of jed's cookware has been unpacked and put away! this is major progress.

also, our friend erica has joined casa agave and has established her "lair" in the guest wing. don't know why, but i think women like the term. to me, a lair sounds like something that needs a bucket of damp rid and could stand to be tidied up.

now, the home front won't be so lonely when one of us is out of town.

one thing's for sure, nadja is ready for visitors, and we should be soon!

¡que oso!

oh my gosh, i'm so emabarrassed!

had this blog for ages, always wondering if anyone actually visits these pages, only to discover that there's a comment tool! i have messages from current and long lost friends! and neighbors who prolly think i'm a complete jerk!

i feel horrible, and need to start mending some missed connections.

here's a form letter to get things rolling:

dear _____:

thank you so much for reading and more importantly, for sending me notes! i am so glad we can finally (meet /catch up) after all this time! it's rediculous that i've been unable to (walk over and meet / call / email) you, but of course life always gets in the way no matter how hard we try to get together.

xoxoxo
-the noncommunicative jerk

alright, i need to start reading...

hacimiendo progresos

looks like we're getting somewhere with the house. the roof hasn't been touched, but other aspects of the casa are starting to shape up.

we have a lawn, and it has a future. hopefully we'll be able to get some projects started in earnest after the triple-digit heat subsides. so for now, we're keeping indoors, and speaking of which, we found a real gem in the antique mall. it's a piece that holds excess dishes, fussy dining linens, and most importantly, liquor!

don't call this hollywood regency, whatever you do

the entry is starting to shape up, i've taken about 6 photos of this space, and isa (black kitty) manages to get in every one!

mi torrito de los mocajetes

jed, our dear friend claudette, and i packed into my trusty jetta wagon and went south in the hunt for the perfect molcajete. actually, we weren't hunting, i was planning to get a preconcieved piece from an amazing shop just outside of guanajuato that i had denied patronizing for over five years in previous visits. it's called "ojo de venado" and it's THE BEST place to get art (and i do mean art) from all over guanajuato and michoacan.
it's so good, i gotta give a shout out:

Ojo de Venado
Guanajuato, Mexico -
Below the church of San Cayetano
Phone 473 374.1435

the staff and selection are fantastic and although i threw a complete fit when i got there and didn't find what was in my mind supposed to be there, the owner was kind and calm and offered suggestions, like coming back in the next year, which is sound advice... the route was austin, zacatecas, guanajuato, san miguel de allende, dolores hidalgo, matehuala, monterrey, laredo, austin. all driving, with a little help from jack's beef jerkey, countless margaritas and beers, and a handful of stok. we *barely* got into trouble in matehuala and had a fantastic time.

zacatecas
this is a great city! my guess is lots of retirees live here. the pace is laid back, but the food and architecture are stunning! it's the mexico that you cannot see on the border nor at the beach resorts. i wish we had more time to stay there. i could easily spend a week there just relaxing. parking was horrible, but the street food (especially elote) was top notch.

outside the hotel

somehow it's more majestic to paint these buildinds difference colors, effect just isn't the same in east austin

the whole city looks like this:

reminds me of the blue houses in india

on our way to zacatecas, we drove by a la costeña factory, where they make the jalapeños that my family has eaten forever.

guanajuato

there's a reason jed and i have gone to this place by ourselves and with close friends, we absolutely love this city. it's got an incredible history, architecture, food, etc. but what we love the most is La Casa de Espiritus Alegres in a nearby town, Marfil. it is hands down our favorite place in the world. the manager, Hugo is fabulous, his sister Angelica is fabulous, the staff is fabulous, and aside from the lovely photos on the site, i've provided my own:

delicious breakfast

unique rooms, flowing over with art (no spoilers here)

garden tent with indian art and fabrics

did i not mention the honor bar in the tent? stocked, with an incredible margarita recipe? that's how the next photos came to be:

jed and the first pitcher

took a break and had dinner at a nearby grill

do you see a "volcano" in this picture? we were charged for one but couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. delicious nonetheless, and claudette got to jump on the trampoline.

back to the tent with major kroger feet

" puddin' " the cat i nicknamed and befriended on pitcher 3

city from el pipilo lookout

all saints day processions

left the city and stopped on the way out at Capelo pottery, a picturesque mountain setting with great wares. here's claudette taking a picture of me taking a picture of her, need to get the one she took.

san miguel de allende

yes, this is the city full of americans (who now own more than 50% of the properties) and it's easy to get around, and the water is safe, and land rovers are as common as they are in the US, but it's still a cool place, and i mean cool like "neat" or interesting or enchanging because actually, it wasn't that cool, it was baking hot when we were there and air conditioning is not something you negotiate in spring, but luckily, they have these neat frozen- and icy concoctions to be beat the heat. locals call them "beer" and "margaritas".

we wined (alot) and dined at bougambillia, a traditional restaurant that serves chiles enogadas, the local specialty:

chiles enogadas

luckily, we ate (and drank) so slowly that we were the last customers, which was good because we were also the most annoying.

jed explains mexican produce superiority to us

claudette and i appear sober when we look AWAY from the camera

we could not sleep due to the heat in our hotel room so claudette showed us a little trick (don't know where she learned this but it was a lifesaver!). wear a wet tee when its blistering hot and you'll be cool enough to fall asleep.

dolores hidalgo
there's got to be more to this city, but we only had a few hours to get and get back on the road to monterrey, what sticks out the most for me was an amazing plate (okay, 3 plates) of escabeche. i had never had a plate of pickled jalapeños with all of these amazing veggies.

escabeche estilo dolores hidalgo

notice there is no photo of the shrimp cocktail that i also ordered. that's because dolores hidalgo is here:

could've had a burger instead:

it was very pretty, but i have to admit, not alot going on here except for pottery and church, so we adopted a donkey named dolores, then took off to monterrey.



monterrey
we need to give this city another chance, but we stayed in a monterrey version of a favela without good food.

the end result of our trip to get a molcajete in guanajuato was we bought one just outside of monterrey at a shop that we saw driving in. found another one along the way near matehuala, so now we've got a little tower:

feel the burn

so much activity, so little time, and no internet connection make for short and late updates. my legs hurt all the time from having stairs for the first time since childhood, and lugging crap up and down them. so, to save time, i'll use bullets:

• closed april 30 - yay!


• began moving in may 2nd - yay!


• got hot water and moved animals in may 3rd- yay!


• first cooked meal at home in ages may 10th - yay!


• nadja gets her go dog go! ball launcher back from storage may 11th - yay!


• beautiful sunsets, fabulous vecinos, chairs galore, new space, new stuff - big yay!


• big storm that ripped up our roof may may 14th... totalled by insurance co. may 21st - wah!


• ginormous punch list - wah!

ok, pictures:

just another sh*tty day in paradise
house is now protected by foo!

desperately seeking color

new sunroof

vecinos nuevos

ok folks, this post is for the new neighbors. i've been getting pressure from everyone i see to update the blog. but as everyone knows, the closer you get to the end, the further you are from ready, so free time is rare! based on other agaveites' activity, this blog will be most likely neglected for a while after we move in.

funny thing is i've been looking at agave blogs for a long time and often wondered some of the folks looked like.

so, first things first, this is me (alex) on the left and him (jed) on the right. a bit decieveing since neither of us cleans up much. we never look this tan, nor clean shaven. imagine more carnie-versions of this clean look... that's us.

alex and jed

the casa is getting closer and closer. don't wanna jinx it, but april 30 is *hopefully* the most expensive day jed and i will have for a long time. the minimal landscaping is in, and the yard has tripled in size after getting sod. hopefully, nadja can stand the wait until the yard is secure enough to become her frisbee track.

front of house (before final painting)

view from back deck (even in bad weather, it looks great!)

and finally! we see some color, the unveiling of "Young Green". ironic name since the house has aged us tremendously.

young green