As promised, here is a story from south of the border about gastronomical delights and botanical observations.

The past two months have flown by with the busyness of buying and moving in to a new house — and furnishing it. But that is another story for another time.

Within our Riberas del Pilar neighborhood, there is a plethora of small eateries, and nearby villages and towns present dozens more. Some are quite formal, similar to Diego’s or Madeline’s in Redmond. But some of the best surprises come from the little places. We used to call them mom-and-pop places north of the border (N.O.B. as they say down here). One that comes to mind was a breakfast in a Venezuelan spot, that started with a green salad with dressing that was heavenly. Another small chain store that began in Guadalajara features waffles and omelets that tickle the tongue every time.

A place called Yves, west of our house about five miles, serves just about anything you can imagine and does it with excellent service from bilingual staff. And three white donkeys grazing in the lawn nearby! We have only scratched the surface in finding epicurean delights, poor us!

Oh, must not forget the Brew Pub. Yes, micro brew has come to Chapala, thank goodness. But we will move on bravely to find whatever delights await us.

One last word on food. At least three markets are held each week, one specializing in organic food. The others include local produce plus art, batteries, toys, etc.

Botanically, this place is overwhelming in beauty. And at the same time practical. At least that is our aspiration for recent plant purchases.

We are proud owners of a lime tree, an orange tree, a tangerine tree and a strawberry guava tree. In a small pot are four starts of papaya, given to us by a friend. We like to call all of this our orchard. We will see.

The temperate climate, called eternal spring down here, allows year-round growth to most food and flowers. Right now we are in the rainy season which in some ways reminds us of Portland spring. Usually, the rain comes at night and days are sunny.

It will be revealed what winter is like and what is so attractive about Chapala to the snow birds who make the annual trek from el Norte to here basically in October and leave again in April.

I’m cutting this column short, as it nearly time to head out to the monthly garden club meeting. Adios.

— Miles Hutchins is a retired former Redmond resident who grew up in Central Oregon. Contact him at milesredmond@gmail.com.