When our air conditioner went out last week, we contacted Mario who had done all the original electrical work on our house. He had worked with a handful of laborers to bring our vision of a home in Mexico into existence.


We hadn’t seen Mario in a while and he brought his wife to see our obra de arte, work of art. Watching his excitement at showing her around his work, gave me new eyes. Living in this house, I sometimes forget how beautiful it is.



I find that many houses in the US are beige, gray, black, white and brown with the occasional touch of color being a turquoise throw pillow. I find neutrality boring. Our house has blue floors! It was one of those risks that could have been a disaster but turned into a WOW. We forget how striking it is because, well, we live here.

Thank you Mario for reminding us what an obra de arte, work of art we live in.

DOS TORTAS

Your house is stunning! Did you do the murals, Alex? And I want to see a photo of the blue floors. I would love that. One of the things we loved most about Mexico was all the colorful homes. We’re back in the US now, but when we build our smallish home, we wanted color, so the exterior is dark blue, and the exterior doors are bright yellow. We get SO many compliments on it, because it’s so different from all the white and black (“modern farmhouse”) homes that are so prevalent now in our part of the US. We have color in the interior as well with lots of blue and red in our kitchen, Mexican art pieces here and there, and my husband especially has a lot of Mexican decor in his office. Mexico lives on in our hearts!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oops, sorry – I see the beautiful blue floor in the first picture; I overlooked it. Love!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was quite a process to paint the concrete. It is always the first thing people notice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, I didn’t paint the murals. If only I were that talented. A local artist, friend of mine who has since died, painted them. Where are you living now? We can’t imagine living back in the US. What made you decide to return?
LikeLiked by 1 person
We are back in my home state (and my husband’s adopted state) of North Carolina, since 2020. We had to come back for family reasons – elderly parents and a brother who needs significant assistance. We bought 21 acres of woods and built a little “retirement house”. We’ve spent the past few years putting in raised beds for vegetables, flowers, and pollinator plants. We have trails all through the woods that my husband put in, for hiking. It’s really quite lovely – but it’s not Mexico. We do miss it, but we’re content here as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a brother 🧑in Asheville. What part? Sounds lovely.
LikeLike
Was your brother affected by Hurricane Helene? Such devastation in western NC. We are in the Piedmont, rural Orange County.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In prepping for it, he fell and broke his leg and was in the hospital with no electricity for a week. 😬 His house was fine.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Omigoodness. The truth really is stranger than fiction!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Alex and Lisa and Alice!
What a beautiful video and I love what you are saying about being grateful for what we have…and I love your colors too! We are wanting to come down next month…there are folks renting our place for 4 of the days so we are hoping to entice them to stay in another of the spots…here’s hoping!:)
Love to you three – L.
Lorrie Jones
Simple Serenity
simpleserenity.comhttp://simpleserenity.com/
253.312.3117
LikeLiked by 1 person
Keep us posted.
LikeLike
Looks simply gorgeous – paradise on Earth 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is needed. Paradise however needs a lot of maintenance.
LikeLike
Gorgeous place!
LikeLike