Hello everyone, and welcome back to my channel.

Today’s video is a little different:  I’m giving you a tour of my new home here in the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico. It’s been a long road getting here, and while everything’s still a work in progress, I thought it was time to show you around.

When I first saw this property, I could feel something here: peace, possibility, maybe even a little magic. Of course, it didn’t come move-in ready; it’s taken plenty of work, a few surprises, and a lot of patience. But little by little, it’s beginning to reflect the life I imagined when I moved to Mexico.

We’ll start outside;  I’ll show you the land, the gardens, and the areas I’m still dreaming into shape. Then we’ll step inside the main house, and I’ll give you a peek at what life looks like here day to day.

There is also a “greenhouse” — I use that word loosely — and a small casita I’ll show you briefly. It’s not quite ready for its close-up yet, but it has a lot of potential.

I’ve had so many people ask what it’s really like to make a home here, what kind of spaces you can find, and what daily life feels like in rural Mexico,  so come along, and I’ll show you what I’ve been working on.

Outside

So, the property here is about one-point-seven acres,  just the right size for me and the dogs. It’s on a quiet country road about ten minutes from town, which I love. I get the best of both worlds:  close enough to run errands, meet a friend for coffee, or go to my Spanish lesson, but still surrounded by nature and these beautiful country views.

There are actually three entrances to the property. The one I use most is right by the house, but the main gate, this one, is the prettiest. The driveway curves in a circle around this old jacaranda tree. You can imagine how beautiful it must look when it’s in bloom.

Originally, this whole drive was covered in red gravel, but as you can see, the grass and weeds have pretty much reclaimed it. I’m not sure I want to fight that battle;  it doesn’t get much use, and honestly, there’s something I like about the way nature takes things back here.

The outside of this property was a huge selling point for me:  the space, the quiet, the beauty. Even though the first three times I came to see it, it was absolutely pouring rain, I could still picture how peaceful and lovely it would be once the sun came out.

There aren’t a lot of trees, but the ones that are here are precious to me. I love the way they move in the breeze.. I already know how beautiful it gets here in the fall, when the light softens and the hills start to turn gold. And these amazing grasses bloom into those feathery plumes.

I feel like this land is a wonderland, and I love to explore section by section. There are three lime trees, along with (I think) an asian pear and a pomegranate. I look forward to trying to grow vegetables here in the “green house” . It was covered by netting but the wood rotted and the netting tattered so I took it down, and now there is just this big raised bed.

There is lots of land to create a big garden in the future. Whether it’s a vegetable or flower garden, orchard or shade garden, I look forward to all the things I’m going to grow.

You know, I always thought I’d want chickens and goats if I had the space, but I’m taking it slow on making those decisions. I have to make sure I have the money for things like fencing and shelter, vet care and food for the animals. When I think of having little goats here, I love that idea! But honestly will I look at them like pets? They are barnyard animals and I’m afraid I’ll feel bad for them living out here in a barn when it’s stormy or cold. So I have to really make sure I know what I’m doing before taking on the responsibility of more animals.

I’m kind of a slow decision maker, despite having got into my car and driven to start a new life in Mexico! I’ve gone back and forth on whether I should plant some trees and let some of this area go wild, or put up fences for goats and a chicken coop. I want to make sure I’m sure before I take any big steps. It’s wonderful to think of all these possibilities!

That’s one of the biggest lessons of this new chapter — learning to let things unfold in their own time.

The casita is a small one bedroom, one bath and sits on a little hill. It’s nice for the views and just far enough away from the main house to feel that you have a little space and privacy. In front of the casita is a rather complicated garden, partially fenced by this stone wall.  In the future, when I rent it out, I can imagine having a neighbor and letting them have their own space, inside and out, so whoever it is can have their own animals and their own garden. But first, it’s going to be some work to get this section more under control. It is up on a hill and there are more rocks in this area, with various plants, bushes and flowers under all these weeds. It’s going to be so beautiful after some work!

Temo, the gardener I hire to help, and I have made this corner a brush pile and I think this was an old compost bin. We just excavated it a few days ago. Might be a good spot for future compost too.

This fountain area is really lovely and I like to come here at night to watch the moon rise through the trees. There is water and power out here but I haven’t tested it yet to see if the electricity connection is still working.  Next to the fountain area is the bamboo grove. Like I said in another video, this bamboo is highly invasive and it actually makes leaves right at soil level, so getting it under control will be a challenge.

Every day I come out and tell the bamboo “you cannot grow here” and every night as it grows anew it whispers “watch me”.

The new shoots grow so fast!  I love it and I find it so relaxing to come out and do the bamboo hunt! But I’m sure I won’t want to do that forever so I’m making a plan to cut the grove and see if I can get rid of the whole thing. Sucks because it’s nice, but when I first got here there were new bamboo bushes growing all around in about a 20 foot radius! I can’t have it take over!

The dogs love all this space as much as I do, and I think I’ve never seen them so happy! They are always running, chasing each other, hunting for lizards and sniffing around. Another reason I’m thinking carefully about how to use this land and how to design a garden.

Inside

I don’t know how many square feet the main house is, but it’s two bedroom, one and half bath.  This main room is why it feels so big!

Let’s start with the kitchen:  love how big it is! The skylights add a lot during the day. No upper cabinets makes it feel really open, along with the big windows. I did place a couple shelves for glasses. 

There are big copper sinks, really deep. Underneath is part of the water filtration system. This is the reverse osmosis part but I’ll get to that in a moment. 

I love the traditional corner over the stove and the Mexican tile. I’m not sure I love the open cabinets showing all my pots and pans, and these lights, while functional, are not what I would have chosen but maybe eventually I’ll find replacements.

I really like that you can sit at this bar and talk to the cook and see outside with the lovely windows. These bar stools were left here by the sellers like so many other things. I have the giant refrigerator out for repair and it goes here. This smaller one will go back to the casita eventually. I’m a little bummed that this big stove and oven seem to have a temperature control problem. Even at the lowest setting it burns whatever I’m trying to bake. I wonder if the gas guy can do anything to fix that.

This big room in general is really nice. I love all the windows, and though this house is not big, this room is and it gives the whole house a feeling of spaciousness. More than enough room for a dining area, and then over here is the living room area. 

I ended up ordering these curtains from Amazon Mexico. I did go to two curtain fabricators in town but neither had material that I wanted and the price was almost the same, so I turned to Amazon. The main thing was I didn’t want the curtains to be transparent at night with the lights on inside, and these do the job.

Here is the iron door that Geraldo made for me that I love! And over here is this rock facade over the arch and on the fireplace. Gives the place an earthy feel.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to arrange furniture in this long room but I bought a couch and it’s comfortable. Once again, the big windows make the room if you ask me. I love all the light and the views of the yard. Several of the windows have screens so it’s nice to get the cross breeze here. Some of these pieces were left by the sellers like this copper table and this wood burl table. Which is good because I had not a single stick of furniture before I moved in! 

In the daytime I love all the curtains open so I have to buy some tiebacks for these long tall windows.

It was important to me to get a bunch of lamps to make it cozy at night here. I love the tall ceilings and there are lights and a fan up there, but it really needs lamps so I’m glad I bought them. 

The winter is coming and I’m concerned that we will freeze in here! I haven’t been able to assess how much heat the fireplace puts out yet (long story) and with high ceilings and an open floor plan I’m thinking it might get hard to heat and chilly on these tile floors. So I’m checking out what options I might have for heat. Maybe an electric blanket!

Here is the main bedroom. As you can see the fireplace goes both ways, and it also has the rock surround. This big window adds a lot of light and there is a big closet here. Here too, I wanted lamps to make it cozy in the evening. 

I didn’t feel like I had a lot of time to think about it before we moved it so I just had everything painted an off white. Not very imaginative I know. This tile floor throughout the house seems very durable but the color kind of dictates what colors I might paint in the future. Before we got here the walls were kind of a lavender in most of the house, and a bright teal green in the bathroom. I think it’s much brighter with the ivory.

This is the main bathroom. Does the glass block give you a flashback to the 1980s? I’ve always liked glass block because it feels solid and sturdy but also lets in a lot of light.

I like this green tile and it has a big shower. I might change the light fixture sometime in the future. It’s a new toilet and new piping under the sink.

This is the half bath. It’s cute and I like the yellow. It doesn’t get used much.

Across from that is the second bedroom. It’s actually my office and sort of catch all room right now. This long desk and the shelves were already there (along with this shower chair). I want to repaint it and make it a guess bedroom slash office. Right now it’s housing some garden equipment, several charging stations and my computer. I love the view of the casita from here and all the plant life in between. 

The second bedroom lacks a closet so I’m happy to have this curved cabinet for storage along with the big closet here I use for a pantry. There is also a room up there for storage, and its pretty big, just a matter of accessing it.

There are a thousand projects that I’d like to do like refinishing all this solid wood which is damaged, and especially remaking this screened porch. The plan is to take down all the screen, repaint the wood and re-screen it. It will be really nice! The afternoon sun comes in here and it could be a nice space.

But, before any of that, the casita has to be the priority. Getting the roof fixed is number one and I have two people working on estimates for me so I hope to have it done within the next month. Another thing top of the list is to buy a riding mower for this expanse of lawn. It’s proving to be hard to find a used one and I don’t want to spend as much money as it would take for a new one. If you are somewhere in central Mexico with a riding mower for sale please let me know!  

So that’s the tour. It’s still a work in progress, but I couldn’t be happier to call this place home.

When I first came to Mexico, I didn’t know where the road would lead, I just knew I needed a different kind of life. Something slower, more peaceful, more connected to the natural world. And somehow, step by step, it led me here;  to these hills, this light, and this quiet rhythm that feels like nature herself pulling me back to who I am.

Every day I wake up and look out at this land, I feel deeply grateful;  not just for the beauty around me, but for the kindness and generosity of the Mexican people who have welcomed me so openly. Their warmth has made this transition feel less like starting over and more like coming home.

There’s still plenty of work ahead, but that’s part of the magic: creating a life, piece by piece, with love and attention. I’m so thankful to be here, and thankful to share it all with you.