Sunday in the Central Valley

Tonight I will just share some pictures from my Sunday in the Central Valley of California.

Ernies Taquaria, Take out food, Cinco de Mayo, CarnitasI will start with a picture of my lunch. It looks a bit messy as I accidentally turned the to-go box on the side and scrunched everything together. However, it did not ruin the wonderful taste of a carnitas combo from Ernie’s Taqueria.

I have been thinking about having this for lunch today ever since I wrote my post last night about the Battle of Puebla.

Ripening Apricots, Central Valley Orchards, Fruit TreesHere you can see that the apricots are finally starting to get a bit of color. You can just see a bit of yellow in the ripening fruit. Apricots will soon take center stage in Patterson as they celebrate at the annual Apricot Festival next month.

Ripening Cherries, Cherry Orchard, Cherry Trees, California Central ValleyThe Cherry trees are very colorful as the cherries start to ripen. They will soon deepen in color as they get closer to harvest time. However, the trees are very beautiful now with the bright red fruit laden branches.

Kitten, Mother Cat, Barn Yard CatsOf course I had to spend some time with the kittens. It was nice to sit and watch them play with each other. Of course, I also had to give them a bit of attention. One of them liked batting the strap of my camera around as I tried to take a picture.

The kittens are getting big. Above you see one of them with the mother cat who is really not much more than a kitten. She has become very affectionate since she had the litter. Before you could hardly touch her, but now she comes to me for ear rubs and will follow me around while I take pictures.

Hidden Kitten, kittens, playful kittenI took this picture from a little bit away and was just going to crop it down to show the kitten hiding in the plant. However, after seeing the background I just had to keep it.

I have a lot of kitten pictures, so maybe you will see more later this week 🙂

Now for some rest before a long week in the classroom.

Steven

 

 

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The Battle of Puebla

Are you celebrating the Battle of Puebla today?

The battle took place on May 5, 1862 and is also called the Battle of Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo - Battle of Puebla - Mexico vs. France - May 5, 1862The Battle of Puebla was between Mexico and an invading French army. The Mexican Army overcame great odds to win the battle and send the French packing.

This battle may have had a big affect on the War Between the States as it has been speculated that if France had won this battle they would have then moved north to join with the Confederate Army.

A year later President Juárez declared a national holiday to remember the Battle of Cinco de Mayo. Today Cinco de Mayo is only a regional holiday in Mexico and is not a national holiday. It is more widely celebrated in the US than it is in Mexico.

After being defeated at the Battle of Puebla the French army had to regroup and they eventually resumed their march toward Mexico City which was soon defeated. Emperor Maximilian then ruled Mexico for about three years before the Mexican Republic was re-established.

Chapultepec Tower - Battle of Chapultepec - Mexico City - Grasshopper HillThe painting that I shared at the beginning of the post is titled: Batalla de Puebla, 5 de mayo de 1862

The painting is by José Cusachs and was painted in 1903. Today the painting is in the Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City which is the home of the Museo Nacional De Historia.

There is also some interesting American history about Chapultepec which you can find out more about in my post Back in Time II.

Mexican Restaurant - Ernie's Taqueria - Patterson California - MuralHere in California we have many people with Mexican roots so there are big celebrations on Cinco de Mayo.

Carnitas Tacos - Mexican Food - Ernie's Taqueria - Patterson, California - Mexican Food - authentic Mexican FoodI am debating on whether to go out for dinner tonight and have some good Mexican food like these Cartnitas tacos.

Chicken Soup in Mexico City - Chicken Soup with Avocado - SopasIt would be nice to have some good chicken soup with avocado chunks like I would find in Mexico City.

Actually, this is perhaps a good idea just to make here at home. I did buy an avocado today as I plan on making some guacamole this evening.

I will probably just curl up with a good book and quietly celebrate.

Steven

 

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