Tidbits

I noticed my avocado tree was getting some new leaves.  I didn't realize the new ones started out a kind of orange-ish red and then turned greet.  I love the colors.  If they were low enough to reach I might be tempted to put a small bouquet of them in water--but then, I can just look out my window and there they are, in all their beauty and constant change.

I saw my first baby hummingbird this morning.  I was gazing out my window and caught a glimpse of what I thought must have been the largest bug I'd seen this side of Texas.  When it scooted back into view I realized it was a hummingbird.  It was less than half the size of the little ones I see out there on a regular basis and probably no more than 1/4th the size of the larger ones.  I'm hoping for some good cloud cover so I can set up my camera on its tripod and see if I can wait patiently enough to get a few hummingbird photos, but especially a few where I can put the little one in perspective with the grownups.

When people see the exteriors of homes here in Cotacachi, it may look as though it's pretty sterile.  I saw the house in the below photo on a walk the other day.   The photo is taken through the gate at the street.  There's room to park a car and then you can see the inner courtyard.  The is fairly typical of houses in this area.  The exterior of the house is frequently "ugly" in comparison to the inner courtyard.

I've seen plenty of bougainvillaea plants before but this is the first time I saw one in bloom.  I had always thought the red part was the flower but it turns out those are leaves.  The itty bitty white flower is in the center of a cluster of red (or other color) leaves.

 

This lovely woman provided me an opportunity to show you how indiginous women carry their head covering and shawl.  The thing on top of her head is not a hat in the traditional sense.  It is a blanket of sorts that is folded up and "stored" there until she needs it to provide a different style of head covering that protects her from the rain.  It is the same size as the shawl she is wearing and before it turned cool, she also had that folded and was carrying it on her head as well.  These women have no pockets or purses.  Trust me when I tell you that they can carry as much down the front of their blouses as I have in my purse.  It's quite impressive.  I haven't gotten up enough nerve to take a photo of a woman searching for something in her "purse."