02/18/08 - Christie and Bob

Yesterday we had our Traverse City friends, Christie McGue and Bob Calt, over to see our place. It was our first time entertaining in this lovely dining room, which I usually use as an office for my computer work and studies. As you can see, it's a good-sized, well appointed room with a fireplace.

This casa is supplied with so many lovely things. You can see the kitchen through the door on the left.

I love this piece of art,  which is located above the fireplace. Rick and I eat breakfast at the dining room table daily, and I always face this picture. I'd love to take it home, but I don't know where I'd put it. 

This is a painting on the other side of the dining room. Christie, who obviously has a sharp eye for detail, pointed out that the tiles in this picture match some of the tiles in the rest of the house.

A view of the dining room, leading into the foyer, which leads to the front door and out.

Christie and Bob, the Traverse City couple who introduced us to San Miguel. Muchismo gracias, amigos!!!

02/17/08 - La Concepción (AKA "Las Monjas" or "The Nuns") Church

Subject: Photos of La Concepcion (Las Monjas or "The Nuns") Church

To those who are interested in San Miguel Catholic Churches: 

This is the dome of La Concepcion church, as seen from our Master suite balcony. It's where we went to Mass this morning and last Sunday. There's an English Mass at 10 a.m., so we took advantage of that.

 

Here's the altar of the side chapel, where the English speaking mass is held.

 

A side view of the altar follows. (As you can see, they use life size statues here.)

 

The right hand side wall.

 

La Concepcion steeple and bell tower, which was completed in 1842.

 

A beautiful painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane that hangs in the side chapel.   

La Concepcion is also called "Las Monjas", or "The Nuns". The funds to build it were supplied by a daughter of the Canal Family.

Will send photos of the main church in another e-mail.    j

02/17/08 - Casa Tranquilidad, Part 3

Dear Jess, Darren and Girls...

Finishing up photos of our casa.

Going up the 17 steps to the Master suite, from the guest room suite and  patio (photos I sent yesterday).

The Master Suite - notice the beautiful boveda ceiling, obviously the work of very skilled people.

Some of the beautiful folk art on the bedroom walls. But it's everywhere. This entire casa is extremely well appointed.

The artwork is eclectic and fun. Another piece that hangs on our bedroom wall.

A alternate view of the master suite. The fireplace, which we haven't used, is wood burning. Grandpa typically uses his laptop at the desk you see. I typically use mine in the dining room. Photos of that will follow.

The patio outside the Master suite. We can lie in bed and look through the patio to the town's landscape. It's especially beautiful early in the morning, and at night when all the lights of the town are on. Rick likes to sit on this patio and read.

The view of the historic "Centro" from the Master suite patio. The tall steeple slightly right to the middle of the photo is "La Parroquia" the amazing Gothic Catholic Church that lies at the foot of the Jardin (town square). I will send photos of La Parroquia in the future.

Going back down the 17 stairs to the guest room suite and patio. Note: The iguanas on the wall are NOT real. 

Hope you enjoyed. Will send more another time.   Off to Spanish class.     Love,   Mom/Judy/Emmie

02/16/08 - Casa Tranquilidad, Part 2

Dear Jess, Darren and Girls:

Here are some more interesting photos of our casa. Wish you were here.

Subject: Some iPhotos of our Casa

Grandpa coming out the front door. The name of our street is Salida a Queretaro, and our casa is #8. Note the cobblestone street, and the plants that line the rooftop. There's 7 steps going up to the front door from the street.

The washer/dryer closet is on the far left, the kitchen on the right. This stairway has 17 steps, leading up to the extra bedroom/patio suite.

These are the first 8 steps leading to a landing, then leading to the guest bedroom/patio suite.

Patio #1 is at the top of the stairs (far right corner) that you just viewed. This photo was taken from the door of the guest bedroom.

Here's the other side of patio #1. The door leads into the extra bedroom. Note the stairs on the left. They lead up to the Master Suite. 

  

The extra bedroom, which has pretty much turned into my "closet" . There's double bed and a single bed, with a gas fireplace.

  

The next photo is leading into the extra bedroom bath (the bathroom I usually use).

 

It's small, but cute...

with a beautiful little shower. 

Grandpa wonders how he ended up with a shared bedroom and bath, while I ended up with a bedroom and a half and a bathroom and a half.  Sounds fair to me...

More photos will follow.     Love,    Mom/Judy/Emmie

02/16/08 - Casa Tranquilidad, Part 1

Dear Jess, Darren & Girls:

I want to show you what our casa is like. Here are some photos of the kitchen.   

The shininess you see above the burners of the stove, reflecting on the photo, is a plexiglass cover that protects the burners when it's down.

Although it's relatively small, it's completely remodeled and has new, top of the line large and small appliances. It's extremely well equipped for all of our needs.

This little "coffee" area is just beyond the right-hand wall above. There's even a latte machine (which we don't use because we don't drink latte. Through the opening above the coffee pot, you can see the dining area (pictures to follow).

 

The screen door that you see straight ahead leads to an open air area, where the washer/dryer is stored inside a closet. To the right, you can vaguely see the 17-step stairway that leads up to the guest room suite and outside patio.    

 

Will send photos of foyer, living room and dining room at another time.    

Love, Mom/Judy/Emmie

02/16/08 - Mama Mía

Dear Jess, Darren & Girls:

Last night Grandpa and I had dinner at Mama Mia Restaurante. We thought Italian would be a good bet, since it was a meatless Lenten Friday.   (BTW...The people in this photo are NOT us. They are people who just happened to be sitting in the way of the camera).

 

As you can tell from the photo, Grandpa is very pleased with his tasty looking eggplant parmesan (one of his very favorite dishes) and his wine.

And I'm proudly showing off my spaghetti with seafood (shrimp, mussels, fish, oysters, clams) marinara sauce. It was YUMMY!!! (notice my new, hand-embroidered overblouse. I wisely took it off before eating - didn't want to risk splashing marinara sauce on it). I also took the precaution of tucking a napkin over the white t-top beneath. A good thing, because I definitely splashed!!!

            

The artwork on the walls was eclectic and interesting. This is only one example of what we saw. (note: The red and white hanging lace cutouts were obviously left over from Valentine's Day, just the day before).

We shared desert - chocolate ice cream with cookies tucked inside. ( I probably shouldn't have, because I went to Weight Watchers this morning and found I'd gained 6/10ths of a pound.  No doubt it was that was the culprit.  But...I enjoyed every bite!!!)

And as you can tell, Grandpa is very satisfied!!!

We finish off the evening with a selfie....

...and a photo of the outside of the restaurant as we leave. Another definite great meal in San Miguel!!!

Love you, and hope that some day you all can come to visit us in this magical place.

Love,  Mom/Judy/Emmie

02/11/08 - Toller Cranston's Art Studio

Dear Jess, Darren & Girls:  

Toller Cranston was an Olympic Ice Skater in the 1960's. When he moved to San Miguel, he began to use his artistic skills. His paintings and other works are very large and don't appeal to me, but I certainly appreciate his talent. Following are photos I took while visiting some friends who happened to be living in an apartment on his estate.  (P.S. Toller passed away at the age of 69 in 2015.)

Toller Cranston's art studio - see paint tubes on table to right.

One of his wall-size masterpieces behind Grandpa. We were told that his work ranges from $3,000 for very small pieces, to upwards of  $25,000 for wall size.

A bed that Toller designed. His artistry covered many venues, and we saw a lot of furniture that he designed. This headboard is an extremely conservative piece of his work.

Pat & Bob Johnson are the couple who are staying at the home of Toller Cranston for the months of February and March. They are the friends of the parents of a friend of mine from Cedar, MI, and were kind enough to invite us over for tea when we first arrived. We had no idea that we were going to the home of a famous artist and an Olympic figure skating champion. I was so overwhelmed by the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, every-horizontal-surface-covered vividly-colored art deco in the home that I didn't think to take photos until we got into Toller's studio - at the very end of our tour. 

San Miguel is exciting.  Wish you were here.  

Love,   Mom/Judy/Emmie