In Search of the Perfect Virgen: There's No Place Like Home!

Of course, I don't have to travel very far, to find examples of the Queen of the Americas.  This one is sitting in the niche, in the Inner Patio of Casita Laberinto one of the two "GREEN" houses that we built and are selling.  This Virgen is carved from Cantara, a stone used for statuary and decoration around buildings.  We had been searching for a statue of the Virgen to put in this niche and found her in Dolores Hidalgo (along with numerous of her sisters).  Simply carved out of the pink cantara, we bought her, brought her home and added just a touch of color.  She, along with the plants and our fountain, make the Inner Patio seem like a mini-sanctuary.


Watch the Fountain @ Casita Laberinto

How To Care For A Simple Green Home.

    When we first came to Mexico to build, we had in mind a house with land around it that reflect our respect and love for nature and its beauty, the full ecological picture, and simplicity.  We built our house with many of the features that we had researched and envisioned.  Among those that we implemented in the house were, adobe construction, passive solar orientation and elements, photovoltaic solar energy, water catchment, gray-water plumbing, a compost toilet (to avoid extra water usage and black-water), and composting of both kitchen and garden by-products (i.e., peeling, etc., from the kitchen; weeds and clippings from the garden).
     We also let the garden evolve around the house, as we were building and first living out on the property.  Once walls and terraces were in place, we designated areas which sheltered the garden or exposed it to the elements.  And then we planted like an artist dabs color onto a painting, a flourish here, a few dots there, a splash in the foreground, a foundation in the back.  And once that had settled, we looked and "Painted" some more.
      One of the most important things to remember when building and living sustainably is that the house a surrounding garden require your participation.  The most important payment that you can make is to Pay Attention.  So, doing something everyday, we Pay Attention to our house and garden, so that it gets full and complete maintenance throughout the year.  By doing a little each day, nothing is too hard and nothing is neglected.
Things to Pay Attention to When Caring for a Simple, Green Home:

1.  Every day feed the Compost Bins.  Our Worm Bin gets the Kitchen by-products and our Green Compost Bin gets the garden by-products and orange peels (because our worms don't like a lot of citrus).
2. Every day, channel the gray-water to a part of the garden (trees, bushes, etc.) that needs a drink.  Some of our gray-water is stationary, permanently directed to a specific location.  Some is directed by hose, to various parts of the garden, as needed.
3. Everyday, water something.  Until the rains come, that is.
4. Everyday, walk through your garden and see what it needs, a branch clipped here, a tree well weeded there.  By walking and maintaining the garden daily, you are stuck with a chore that keeps getting put off.
5. Once a week, flood the gray-water drains with a bucket (approx 5 gallons) of water.  The pipes are simple and direct and the flooding keeps them running freely.
6. Every week, rake the the dry compost toilet, to turn the "soil" and promote the composting process.
7. Every week, turn the Worm and Green Compost Bins.
8. If you are a serious gardener then, you are already planning the next phase of your garden, as the present one comes to fruition.  Every week, keep the garden up-to-date in terms of planting, maintaining, harvesting, digging.
9. Every 3 Months, check and refill the water in the Solar Batteries.  They get thirsty, too.  We check and fill ours on the Solstices and Equinoxes.
10. Every 6 Months, raise or lower the Solar Panels.  We do this at the Equinoxes, right after checking the Batteries.
11. Every day of every year, take time to enjoy the combined efforts of nature and your nurturing.

     For more information on Green Stuff and to See a bunch more pictures about the place we live, the homes we built [Which we are offering for Sale] visit our Website: Las Casitas: Dos Arbolitos; and Laberinto
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     Think Green.  Think Peace!