Homes and Gardens

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Homes and Gardens

The Wild West

Saturday, 14 July 2007 18:00 J. Brad Grieve

Let's look at the construction business here at Lake Chapala. This is like many businesses in that just about anyone can hang out a sign and call himself or herself a contractor. I believe the freedom here in Mexico is great and allows young entrepreneurs to start up a business easily with little or no bureaucratic intervention however, on the other side of the coin, there is little regulation governing their business, which could help protect the consumer.

Composting a Home

Thursday, 14 December 2006 18:00 Janet Zampieri

Ajijic has its yard waste pickup and composting program, which substantially reduces the amount of garbage going to the dump. But did you know that you can also help reduce the garbage you generate by setting up your own compost system for your kitchen and yard waste?

For the Birds

Sunday, 01 January 2006 00:00 Mary McDermott

September is the month when Mexico is bursting with patriotism. There are Mexicans flags everywhere, and fiestas and holidays are numerous with lots of celebration, noise and parades. We will have listened to President Fox give his State of the Union Address, we are commemorating El Grito, the call for Independence, and el Dia de la Indepencia is a national holiday.

For The Birds

Monday, 14 June 2004 18:00 Mary McDermott

My friend Kay and I were sitting on my terrace one afternoon. Kay has been trying to teach me about the various plants in my new garden, possibly to little or no avail. For whatever reason, their names are not sticking in my head. To redeem myself in some fashion, when a familiar bird landed by a plant whose name I could not recall, I said: Look, Kay, there’s a white-collared seedeater. She looked at me, mildly impressed, so I added helpfully, it eats the seeds of that plant. Kay then asked, well, what does it eat when the plant isn’t seeding? She had me there…first I actually had no idea that plants are not always seeding, and I certainly had no clue what the white-collared seedeater eats when it isn’t dining in my yard. So, I set out to find out.