Wednesday, March 31, 2010

On a REAL Strawberry

Twice already I’d been to the Vivero or Green House vendor in La Tortuga for strawberry plants. No luck. While I will not discriminate against California produced strawberries, plump and fat, but seriously lacking in flavour, juiciness, and sweetness, I am yearning for the incredible taste of connoisseur strawberries from l’Ile d’Orléans (near Québec City), the landing place in 1654 of my earliest ancestor Gabriel from Normandy, France, himself a descendant of the early Vikings who’d invaded France and the British Isles a thousand or so years ago. Anyone who has tasted strawberries from l'Ile d’Orléans will forsake all others in favour of a single one of these! Guess I’ll try once more next Saturday. While Mexican strawberry plants might not be from l’Ile d’Orléans, they’ll grow naturally without help from growth hormones or chemicals. Mine will. Perhaps then I’ll savour the real taste of a natural strawberry, my favourite fruit.

This week, Teodoro, a magnificent artisan with stones and building materials, is here to build up the stone base for a typical Mexican fence made of cement blocks. The erection of the fence itself will take place next week. In turn, it will eventually be the backdrop to a festival of all hues of bougainvilleas, trumpet vines, and others I’ll be delighted to discover. Then, if I can afford it, the bodega or shed, over the concrete platform covering the septic tank. Then, construction will have to be on hold until the fall, or until after the rainy season. But, not to worry, I’ll still have plenty to report on my blog. Meanwhile, I’m having a hard time with all the sand, cement dust, and cal dust constantly flying. They trigger serious asthma attacks.

A word about posting. One of the puppies chewed up my camera cable, the one that permits me to download photos. I had taken some of the ranchers marching their sheep and cows back from the pastures, but cannot download them. I had taken some of the ongoing construction, again no way to download them. Went to San Juan del Rio but the standards in Mexico are a bit different and the connection into the camera did not fit. Must try again next Saturday when they will have received some kind of universal multi-fittings. At least that’s what I was given to understand.

Sorry about the photos. All in good time, I guess.

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