Category: Uruguay

Quincho

quincho

For six years, I’ve walked past this house whose past-prime quincho roof has reminded me of a mangy dog. It’s finally getting groomed, to stretch a simile. It appears the back half is nearing completion, and the facing side is being torn off.

What’s the deal with quincho? Glad you asked. Denise (“day-NEE-say”)  has answered your question exhaustively (and perhaps exhaustingly; we have different styles) here.

The escribano’s handwriting

I was with an escribano (basically, a lawyer for two parties in agreement) getting paperwork done, and was so stunned with his handwriting that I took a picture when he was out of the room:

notes

The first line: my address
Second: townThird: marital status
Fourth: wife’s name – that might be a question mark because I’m not sure what my wife’s proper name is in Uruguay, and I hesitated. She got one from migración, a different one from the Corte Electoral when we became citizens.

Amazingly, it was all correct when he produced the finished document.

 

La palta penúltima

Alas, our most generous gift of avocados had only one problem: they all ripened simultaneously. So, a few friends each got one, and our second-to-last went tonight into a wonderfully lemony guacamole…

guac
And to think, in México we lived so close to avocado orchards *sigh*. But no, don’t miss México….

… accompanied by thoroughly decadent Doritos.

 

 

¡Paltas!

paltatrees

Our two avocado trees are growing beautifully. Unfortunately, after six+ years they show no interest in producing fruit. A few months ago I chopped the tops off them to see if that would help.

paltas

Good news, though: we have generous friends 😉

omelet-palta

Just the thing to accompany a Sunday omelet and homemade bread.

 

 

Hydroponic farm, Uruguay

This is one of ten NTF hydroponic greenhouses at the Verdeagua hydroponic farm outside Montevideo.  Every day they harvest 1,500 heads of lettuce. Their entire output goes to Tienda Inglesa in Uruguay.

Verdeagua hydroponic farm outside Montevideo, Uruguayhydro-2

You can bet I will be boring you soon with my own foray into hydroponics. Well, my first since 1985 when I had a single hydroponic marijuana plant in my apartment in West Germany 😉

It’s truly an inspiring business that has been in operation for fifteen years.

 

 

Seals

seals

Harbor seals and pups on ice floes near Punta del Este, Uruguay, far up Treinte y Tres Fjord, where they are protected from their natural enemies the Orca whales. The young still can fall prey to bald eagles, though.

 

 

 

Glacier

Sorry, in my haste I didn’t identify the mountain in my last entry, which is of course Uruguay’s Mt. Artigas.

artigas-glacier

Here is a somewhat distant view of Artigas Glacier, at the head of Triente y Tres Fjord, one of Uruguay’s often-overlooked natural wonders.