Some coffee land on the edge of town
The house in Coatepec covers most of the small property it is built on. The tiny front and rear courtyards have been the context of a brave struggle by various small trees and shrubs, as well as a few not so small, to survive over the past few years. We always wanted more land to build a proper garden and to hang out on -- but getting the house more or less finished was the first priority.
One day in January, coming back on the Las Trancas bus from dropping Midnight off to get a new radiator, we saw a real estate office previously unknown to us. On a whim we asked about a small bit of land for a garden. As it happened the owner of the office was subdividing several acres of coffee land and wanted a buyer for the middle of three plots. The price was OK, but the land itself was superb. On the edge of Coatepec, fringed by a goat farm, other coffee land and some grazing land, the plot sold itself immediately.
Agreeing to buy was the easy part. Arranging the payment, the receipt and signing of documents, between Mexico, the US, Australia and Canada, was less straight forward. However, PDF file transfers and email and electronic banking made it possible.
Earlier today, 20 June, we picked up the deeds - signed, sealed and delivered. A few days ago, upon first arriving in Coatepec for this trip, we took over a few self sown coffee plants from the two bushes at the house, along with a small lime tree, a present from Roberto. Tomorrow, Pastor, a local gardener who maintains superb grounds at a local (private) school, will come and take out the struggling fruit trees from the house for transplanting on the coffee land. In time we'll build a garage/workshop and a simple dwelling on the land. For the meantime, however, it will be daytrip and picnic land -- to hang out on, build a garden, and generally enjoy the chance to spend time in genuine campo land just 10 minutes from the house.
Here are some low res pix taken with the old Mavica, the only digital camera in the house at the time. We'll post some more and better quality ones in the weeks ahead.
One day in January, coming back on the Las Trancas bus from dropping Midnight off to get a new radiator, we saw a real estate office previously unknown to us. On a whim we asked about a small bit of land for a garden. As it happened the owner of the office was subdividing several acres of coffee land and wanted a buyer for the middle of three plots. The price was OK, but the land itself was superb. On the edge of Coatepec, fringed by a goat farm, other coffee land and some grazing land, the plot sold itself immediately.
Agreeing to buy was the easy part. Arranging the payment, the receipt and signing of documents, between Mexico, the US, Australia and Canada, was less straight forward. However, PDF file transfers and email and electronic banking made it possible.
Earlier today, 20 June, we picked up the deeds - signed, sealed and delivered. A few days ago, upon first arriving in Coatepec for this trip, we took over a few self sown coffee plants from the two bushes at the house, along with a small lime tree, a present from Roberto. Tomorrow, Pastor, a local gardener who maintains superb grounds at a local (private) school, will come and take out the struggling fruit trees from the house for transplanting on the coffee land. In time we'll build a garage/workshop and a simple dwelling on the land. For the meantime, however, it will be daytrip and picnic land -- to hang out on, build a garden, and generally enjoy the chance to spend time in genuine campo land just 10 minutes from the house.
Here are some low res pix taken with the old Mavica, the only digital camera in the house at the time. We'll post some more and better quality ones in the weeks ahead.
posted by Colin and/or Michele at 8:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home