We arrived in Guanajuato very late on October 15 after a long journey from Garden Bay that started the day before. We have moved from the basement suite in the family home to a space at the top of the house. Yesterday we had to clean the apartment and buy a new mattress to sleep on. It will be nice soon. We now get sun all day and immediate access to la terraza.
We plan to return to Garden Bay mid-March 2026, with a beach trip to Rincón de Guayabitos in January. What a difference the sun and summer temperatures make!
I read a couple of books this summer with the goal of understanding the psychology of aging as I had another birthday. “Being Mortal° was first, a very useful read, but I wanted more. Then I read The Mature Mind and the author’s emphasis on the importance of creative activities rang true.
“Creativity with a ‘little c’ is grounded in the diversity of every-day activities and accomplishments.”
For example, I feel good when designing in the garden or doing some project. For me the lesson was to seek out opportunities to be creative when I’m feeling bored. Even programming fits the bill and this post is the culmination of many weeks of technical challenges.
It started with my hosting provider being purchased by another and the migration of my website. The migration required a few tweaks to my applications and I started to think of improvements, became engrossed in the implementation, and one thing led to another. In brief (for fellow geeks):
refactored my LAMP applications to share code and finally implemented version control (git)
improved the OO model for DB access
improved the UI for my first application which was primitive
improved the integration of the stocktool and ledger apps
setup the LINUX development environment on a Chromebook, installed LAMP, and migrated my applications
configured a free domain with dynamic DNS and my router to be able to access the Chromebook web server from the Internet
tried to migrate my WordPress blog internally but access was really slow, so it was migrated to a free plan on ashworthdavidg.duckdns.org/wordpress/
redirected my domain ashworthdavidg.ca to the new blog
I no longer need a web hosting service and will not be renewing in March, and the cost savings are a bonus.
I have just started this summer’s project, which is the creation of a wildlife pond especially for frogs
When I bought the property there was a circular area of paving stones in the middle of the front lawn surrounded by lavenders. I wanted a goldfish pond and bought the circular stock tank shown in the photo (2022) for that purpose. I figured out a way of adding plants and received a bounty of free mature goldfish one summer. However, the fish did not survive the winter and this summer the plants were struggling as well.
So I’ve given up on having goldfish and on using the stock tank as a pond feature. I looks more natural already. Next step is to design the build details and start digging. I am having fun!
Progress Photos
26/06/25 rough hole dug10/07/25 – layers: sand, liner, sand, center stepping stone15/07/25 gravel over sand, water added, liner cut, folded over edge, reused paving stones16/07/25 construction done, soil backfill, gravel edges
Mistakes, I’ve made a few
So I have a sterile, muddy puddle that is waiting for a wildlife invasion. I dream of the pond filled with healthy water plants, interesting aquatic insects, and of course frogs and tadpoles.
We have been very busy since returning to Garden Bay. I had two weeks of gardening before Aimeé returned, after which we went to the cabin, attended the Vancouver marathon to support a Mexican runner daughter of a friend, and then just getting back into the routine here.
There is a lot going on in the garden in May, as I tried to illustrate in the photo. I find spring here thrilling but it comes with a lot of work. I don’t have lawn but grass does grow beteen the planting areas along with select weeds and self-sown flowering plants. I cut the grass twice a season, in May and in September. From experience I know that if I don’t cut back the grass around now then the yard quickly becomes a jungle. So that’s what I started after taking this photo.
In 2023 while in Guanajuato I developed the DGA TODO App to help manage my activities and it works really well. However, lately the app has made it obvious that there is too much to do and some activities are not getting done. Unfortunately, one of those activities is playing the piano.
In Guanajuato early this year I resolved to restart my piano studies. I did a lot of YouTube searching for instruction and motivation, and ended up buying a three month subscription to jazzskills.com. With lots of free time in Gto I practiced for hours every day and made a ton of progress. I am not going to renew the subscription because I can’t put in the practice time here in Garden Bay, but will rejoin when we return to Mexico. Until then I have lots ot practice (when I can) from what I have learned so far.
Aimeé will be employed again at John Henry’s this summer and starts tomorrow. She wants to take the driver’s road test soon and is working hard on that goal.
I fly to Vancouver on Sunday April 6 and should be home in Garden Bay the next day. Aimeé is staying a bit longer and returns on April 24. April will be full of gardening activities and there is much to do, weather permitting.
This year’s beach vacation is in Rincón de Guayabitos, Nayarit. We arrived on Jan 15 and return on the 23rd, eight nights in total. Our hotel is nicer than where we stayed at Isla Mujeres and is located in a quiet neighbourhood three blocks from the beach. On this our second full day we realize the Guayabitos is somewhat limited in scope and we are planning a few day trips to nearby beaches to keep things interesting. Most visitors are Mexicans but you also hear a lot of Québécois French among the foreign tourists.
December 13-15 we made a quick bus trip to Mexico City, staying in a basic airbnb in the very historicTlatelolco area close to a friend’s apartment. The purpose of the trip was to attend the debut of a short documentary film made by a friend of Aimeé’s family that dealt with the impact of the death of Aimeé’s nephew on the “survivors”. Aimeé represented her family at the presentation and spoke very well of her experiences.
The following day we visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and walked a bit around Tlatelolco, enough to realize we should return to discover the history in more detail. Getting to CDMX by bus was easy but we struggled at first being neophites at navegating the city by public transit. It will be easier next time.
