Today, we are having a pool party at the Hickey's house. Jack will be happy because he can share his swimming skills with all the people. He is only 4 and 1/2 but I think he will be swimming the "front crawl" within a few weeks.
We are taking dessert to the party so we bought fresh strawberries from the strawberry man, and we made some oatmeal cookies too! Even though we live on the roof about 5 stories up from the street, we do have the biggest stove in the building. We like to bake a lot of our food rather than fry it because we know frying food isn't healthy. Since we live outside, it doesn't matter how hot the oven gets because the breezes cool things off quickly.
Not only does the parrot tree keep us cool, we are surrounded by many tropical plants. Here are a few of our favourites ... (These plants grow naturally here in Mexico because it is a tropical climate. However, the photos were taken on our rooftop tree house, and the plants are in pots.)
1. Bromeliad - It is a member of the pineapple family and the water is collected inside the leaf cones. That is how it drinks. It is attached to the tree branches so it doesn't use roots to find water.
2. Agave - These plants are not cacti. They are related to the Aloe plant and have many uses. There are four major parts of the agave that are edible: the flowers, the leaves, the stalks or basal rosettes, and the sap (in Spanish: aguamiel, meaning "honey water"). Tequila is made from the blue agave. This plant is growing a flower. Can you find the bud? Once it blooms, I will post the picture again.
3. Palm tree - This tropical tree is one of the most popular trees in the world. There are many different kinds. They are unbranched and can grow very tall. They are used for many things such as clothing, shelters, and food. The oil from the palm is not good for your heart, so when you read labels on your food, beware of the palm oil in it.
We are taking dessert to the party so we bought fresh strawberries from the strawberry man, and we made some oatmeal cookies too! Even though we live on the roof about 5 stories up from the street, we do have the biggest stove in the building. We like to bake a lot of our food rather than fry it because we know frying food isn't healthy. Since we live outside, it doesn't matter how hot the oven gets because the breezes cool things off quickly.
Not only does the parrot tree keep us cool, we are surrounded by many tropical plants. Here are a few of our favourites ... (These plants grow naturally here in Mexico because it is a tropical climate. However, the photos were taken on our rooftop tree house, and the plants are in pots.)
1. Bromeliad - It is a member of the pineapple family and the water is collected inside the leaf cones. That is how it drinks. It is attached to the tree branches so it doesn't use roots to find water.
2. Agave - These plants are not cacti. They are related to the Aloe plant and have many uses. There are four major parts of the agave that are edible: the flowers, the leaves, the stalks or basal rosettes, and the sap (in Spanish: aguamiel, meaning "honey water"). Tequila is made from the blue agave. This plant is growing a flower. Can you find the bud? Once it blooms, I will post the picture again.
3. Palm tree - This tropical tree is one of the most popular trees in the world. There are many different kinds. They are unbranched and can grow very tall. They are used for many things such as clothing, shelters, and food. The oil from the palm is not good for your heart, so when you read labels on your food, beware of the palm oil in it.
We walked again this morning down our favourite path and stopped to feed the coatimundi. We discovered that they prefer fruit over vegetables. Robert also stopped to watch the red ants (hormiga), who work very hard feeding their queen.
Ants are not termites, but we have lots of both here in Mexico, and they both live on the roof with us.
The party started at 5 p.m. All the adults sat around and talked about life back home in Alberta and Ontario, and Jack and Robert went swimming. It was a beautiful warm night.
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