The gardener came today and first priority was to trim the cactus. I thought I was ready for him, but he trimmed waaaaaaay more than I expected. So he asked if I could get some twine for him to bundle it all up for easy removal. I hadn’t understood at first what he wanted, but with further explanation, I got it and the vocabulary I needed to ask for the right thing.  I was going to Super Aki to get some groceries and told him I’d check there.

I didn’t see any at Super Aki, so I asked the clerk at checkout, explaining what I needed the rope for. The bagger confirmed that they couldn’t help me and told me to go to the tlapaleria (hardware store) just across the street and down a ways a bit that’s painted yellow. That was actually going to be my next stop as he is sometimes open on Sundays by that time, but not today.

I thought of going to Oxxo when I saw that the desechables (disposables) store was open. Surely they could help me! They sell trash bags, cleaning supplies, disposable plates and cutlery for restaurants, and more. The owner told me he sold his last two rolls of twine yesterday! He agree with me that this being Sunday, if the yellow tlapaleria wasn’t open, I’d have to go out of the neighbourhood to a big box store to get some twine. And then, I almost literally saw a light bulb go on over his head.

“I have a bag of twine from packages I receive! I think that could help you out! Let me go get it and if it works, you can have it!” he exclaimed. He went into the rear store room and came out with this:

It might not look like much, but the lengths were all usable and it was just enough for my gardener’s needs!

So that was the Sunday morning excitement here. I love living in a neighbourhood where everything’s at my door and neighbours look out for each other.

(Oh, and my friend Caroline from back home made a good point the other day about my having a gardener (I’ve had folks be very snooty about that) — he knows the local flora and fauna here, plus he understands the standards to which the owners of the house want the house kept.)