New pages on Blog - La Noria information

Sunday a.m.
It’s a beautiful day today – feels like the cold spell is finally over. I’m sitting here working on the blog. I have added two pages to it – one with information about us - Bill and me and one with information about our RV Jennie. They remain a work in progress.

Just below header picture

If you have suggestions for them please let me know. Also added a place for “followers.” I guess? it is to notify a “follower” when I do an updated post. And no I don’t know how to add your name. I don’t have to follow this.
I bought some Lipton Ice Tea Green Tea Citrus flavor in WalMart the other day. It is the same tea I drink at home but of course this is made in Mexico. It is quite a bit sweeter than what I buy in the US. The same thing is true of pop – CocaCola made here is much sweeter than that made in the US. Strange.
And Bill is right behind me cooking up a storm. He is making Milanese – bought a bunch of pieces of meat yesterday so he is cooking them all and will freeze a bunch for sandwiches in the future.

Cooking

Final product

Bagging it for freezing

 After he finishes cooking I’ll make my coleslaw. Oh oh I created a monster. He says we shouldn't buy it anymore he likes the one I make better. OOPS
Regressing again about our couple of trips to La Noria – very interesting trips. It is so nice that he speaks the language we learn so much.
Where to start. As with all the towns in Mexico there is so much history and so many interesting people and stories. This is the sign on the front of one of the leather shops we go into all the time.

The sign outside leather shop

It says “In this place worked the last 50 years of his life the Master Leather worker Alejo Salas Aguirre -1909-1999- A good man a great friend.”

Inside the shop still works his son

Sewing on a saddle part

And his grandson and his son. 

Grandson is on the far left - Bill is checking out a piece of leather

They make everything leather. From shoes, knife sheaths, saddles, purses, and belts to name a few. This just caught my eye – a unique bag holder.

Would you like one of these?

Here is the father drawing a design on the leather part of a saddle stirrup.

A closer look at it.

You can barely see the outline for the second row of stitching

The sewing machine with the variegated thread he is using to stitch the design.

Thread is on the floor

The son also works with gourds turning them into decorative lamps. The gourd before and after

From there shop we walked around town and visited with the older lady in town who imports all the leather pieces. Love this guy he is always sitting here and talks to everyone who goes by. He is sitting in a rocker with a hemp seat.

This is the Civil Building – no mural here

But it has a really nice porch.

Nice tile floor

One of the older homes. We asked how old the buildings were and learned that when the French invaded Mexico in the 1860s they burned most of the towns they passed through. So most of the buildings in town date from the 1870s or later. Look at the roof line – it is wavy.

Also Pancho Villa was very active in and stayed in arnd around this area for a while. We walked through this little store that sells everything from mops to lettuce.

Chairs so everyone can sit and visit after shopping. No lights inside.

After passing through the store we entered a store room behind it with these hand painted tiles on the floor

These tiles were made like the ones we saw in Malpica

And then out into a courtyard separating two families homes. Here we heard a great story.
Our friend told us that this area used to be the town’s movie theater. It closed about 20 years ago and was in operation for about 30 years. He had us look left at the second floor wall. The holes in the wall were for the projectors.

Then he had us look right – The lower part of this building did not exist then, the overhang has been added – it used to just be a large white wall used as the screen. The bench in the background is one of the original movie theater benches.

The benches were placed in this area – now the courtyard between the houses and laundry area.

This is the living room of one of the houses.

Very comfortable room

The wired continue outside and finally end up at a plug for the electricity.

This is a picture of the outside of the house. It is one room wide but several rooms long.

cannon ball topes

Bill and Manuel the leather shop owner walking back towards his shop

Lunch is almost ready. Smells so good. It is being outside in front of a small meat market.

Grilled, chopped wrapped in a tortilla

The leather shop. It originally belonged to his father.

He is married to the women, Jessie we met last week at the Tequila Distillery and is cousins with the people in the shoe factory.
Some snake skins that The Driver covets.

snake skins don't know what kind they are

A saddle in the making

This is just for laughs and tourists – it an over the shoulder style “gun belt” but for tequila. The large loop on the left is for the bottle of tequila, the next smaller loop is for a container of cut up limes, then the shot glasses and then a baby bottle to start them young. Don’t know but they sell a lot of them.

For the serious drinker

A piece for another saddle that had to be finished the next day. He says he really loves his work.

Fringe on end - more stitching to be done

The building that the little store is in.

Built after 1860 - plaza in front of it with the Gazebo

Just a picture of the gazebo. This is one of the few towns where the gazebo is not in front of the church. The church is a couple of blocks away.

A couple of different kinds of topes in the road – this is several big strands of braided rope – its getting old now but still serves its purpose – you slow down.

And this is a killer tope – broken cement – will jar your teeth out if you hit it fast.

As we were driving into town I noticed a blacksmith at work so we walked down to his shop. He was happy to show us around and explain this to us. This shop has been in his family generations.

4th generation blacksmith - shop is over 100 years old

This is his forge sand some of the tools

To light the forge (it has an electric switch) he took a big pair of pliers with heavy wooden handles and poked the switch – sparks flew and the forge came to life – I about jumped out of my shoes. Everyone got a laugh out of that.

fire

Some of the tolls he uses – some over 100 years old.

Some if these are from his grandfathers time

An aged anvil

It is worn down

Same sparks flew when he turned off the switch!
A box of mule and horse shoes he’d completed.

I had to have a set – so bought a set of mule shoes for 50 Pesos at today’s rate US4.15

Now I guess I’ll have to buy the mule to use the shoes NOT!!
And yet another small metal working shop.

Our errands taken care of and our trips to La Noria duely recorded we returned to the big city for Saturday afternoon and evening.

Visit to La Noria

Friday p.m.

I was so hyped up on the new photo program I forgot to include any regular pictures from our afternoon walk yesterday.
The Driver was feeling much better so we went out to lunch in the Plaza Machado – hence yesterday’s pictures. Then we again walked around the area. I wanted to check out a book place we’d seen where they had a lot of English books. Turns out it is a lending library for the Norte Americanos in the area. You have to live here to utilize it. Oh well…..
The area around it has a lot of gringos living there. Here are a couple of the homes they have restored.

Now that is GREEN

Nice Roof Garden

And one that needs some TLC. The cost of the building isn’t that much – it’s the restoration that needs a private bank.

Help Me Please!

And also saw some graffiti in the area – some of it is interesting instead of destructive.

This guy is working on putting the electrical lines underground – see the tubes

Then last night we went out for ribs again. The grill is in the patio area of the restaurant. Smells so good as you drive by. Had enough left over for lunch today.


YUMMMMMM

 This morning we took a drive out to La Noria – a tiny town inland about 25 miles. Had a pleasant surprise this year – the road has been fixed. Only one or two pot holes the whole way, instead of sections with craters and little pavement.

And this was new – It is a ranch/farm to raise Fighting Cocks. It wasn’t here last year. It’s pretty big and noisy.

As you arrive in town you go through the ever present arch.

Then past one of the little plazas scattered around the town. I like the fountain in this one.

And one of my favorite houses – every year the cactus growing out of the roof gets bigger.

Has two friends this year.

The main reason for visiting here are the little leather “factories.” We have visited them several times and learn something new each time.

This year just as we arrived so did a small tour group. About 10 or 12 people and their guide. As I got out of the car and walked towards the leather shop a young boy came up to me and gave me a red tea rose. I had forgotten this custom – every year the young boys give all the women tourists some kind of small flower. The boys are always dressed in their school uniforms of dark blue slacks and white shirts. The ladies in the tourist group received their flowers then we all entered the shop. Of course first thing they were shown were the beautiful and expensive leather masks. Lots of ooh and ahhs about them. This one was quite different as the face is carved wood instead of formed leather.

Some of the masks were made by the man we met in Mazatlan a couple of weeks ago.
Then the group was walked through a couple of the small work rooms with their antiquated equipment – treadle sewing machines for one. Years accumulation of leather scraps all over the place.

The blue shirted guide led them out into the open air work shop. His first stop a table of sandals that had just been completed. As he got to the work station the worker who had been making the shoes turned around and left.

Watching the worker leave

The guide watched him go then explained to the tourists that he was going to lunch and that all the workers were at lunch and siesta for a couple of hours. So this time they didn’t get to watch them work. Which is too bad as it is fascinating to see. The guide explained that the worker was born in town and has worked for 47 years for this shop. And they are now training a young boy to work with leather too.
Close up of some of the shoes.

The guide explained that they mainly make shoes for campesinos - farm workers - as they have a metal binders holding the strips of leather down. This makes them wear longer but they can't be used in the home as they will damage the floors. They also make regular Huaraches for tourists and of course they sell cheaper in La Noria than in Mazatlan. So buy now.
The wooden forms used to shape the shoes.

Wooden forms for shoes

The guide explained that this particular factory also raised their own cattle to insure the quality of the leather. They sell the meat and process the leather. Interesting.
The out door shop – the tire hanging in the tree is cut up to make tire tread soles.

And back through the shop I happened to notice this tray – look like deer feet to me.??

Did not ask about them. This shop also makes saddles and purses.
To see more about La Noria check out last years blog  link
Leaving town we had to wait for this truck to worm his way past these cars. Again notice how high the sidewalks are from the street. 

Narrow Streets - glad we're in a small car

And we found out that the movies we bought the other day that wouldn't play in the DVD because they are the wrong region code will play on the laptops. So we'll be able to watch them, just not on the bigger screen TV.
Enough for tonight - tomorrow is another day for adventures.