Rambling Thoughts

Up and Running

2011-11-26T18:13:00.001-08:00

PS First let me say that the pics are bad but I'm doing some anyway- have no idea what the problem with Blogger is. I can send photos to myself from Picasa with no problem so I assume blogger is malfunctioning.

Since arriving in Melaque we have been slowly getting around to doing chores like making sure all the systems such as water were working properly (Barry needed to change the float in the tinaco)and getting everything put away before visiting all our favourite places.

The first few days were mainly taken up by unloading the incredible amount of stuff we brought down. Our newly installed inverter system in the van kept the freezer full of fish in good order on the trip down. It ran the freezer during the day while we drove and it stayed frozen overnight when we parked. At the motel in Nogales we just ran a cord through the door to give it a hard freeze for the warm days to follow. It also kept our small fridge/cooler cold enough for lunch material to be close by between the seats.

The hutch we brought down looks good as a bar in the back utility area. This was given to us by our neighbours at the lake, the McChesneys, when they found it was too bulky for their liking. We just love it and it looks a lot better than the plastic shelving we were using!

Bill and Connie invited us to dinner so we could visit Melany and we had a nice dip in their pool before dinner. It took a couple of minutes to get dunked but it felt wonderful. Connie and Bill made an awesome steak dinner with all the trimmings. Another night we walked up to 'La Rana' (The Frog) just around the corner for dinner. It is one of our favourite spots and it is a good meeting place. We ran into Ken and Candice, who we met the first year we drove down in the motor-home. They were our neighbours at Bungalows Pacifico across the road, and we had a good catch-up with them.

That is the same place we met Fred and Sharon from Ontario. Fred and Sharon used to join us for a glass of wine sitting on the sidewalk after dinner and talking to folks walking by. We went to their place this past week for a great dinner of chicken rouladen in a yummy sauce. Fred and I have a lot in common since we both have two new knees. Fred had his both done at the same time so he impresses the hell out of me. What a man!

On our couple of visits to Concha del Mar we've run into other friends like Rude from Ontario and Tracie from the Yukon amongst others. And another set of friends goes to Bigotes, so we've been there a few times too. Our neighbours Bill and Marlene are regulars there.

Just a few days after arriving we drove to Manzanillo to pick up a new modem and get some groceries. The Telmex building is harder to access this year as a huge overpass is under construction just in front of their building. We think it must be related to their port expansion project.

We stopped for lunch and had fish tacos near Soriana before shopping. I'm sure that saved us a few bucks because we were full! Subliminal Christmas messages were in the air throughout the store as we shopped- the tune was in English but it was intended to give us all a warm fuzzy feeling about buying things for the holiday season. It didn't work on me!

Regular life is going on now that we are settled- almost daily loads of laundry flap on the line, the garbage guys happily collect their twice-weekly beers, the leaves outside get raked, the chickens get fed, and the dogs happily accept two meals a day.

Doug took Barry out fishing the other day and it turned into more of a boat ride since the fish did not cooperate at all. Barry always loves boat rides though, so it was all good. Apparently someone did snag a few Sierra (a local species) near the entrance to the lagoon thereby saving gas.

We had Doug and Gisela over for American Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. I brined a large chicken stuffed it, and cooked it on the BBQ. We also had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrotnips, swiss chard, Israeli grains, gravy, pickled beets, pickles, olives, and cranberry sauce. Gisela brought strawberries and cream for dessert. It was a wonderful evening and a good visit.

We've had visits with Pat and Garry too and the next big event here will be the Grey Cup Game at their place with everyone bringing appies for our dinner. I had better go and get the marinade organized for the chicken wings I will be bringing. I have something in mind that includes mango, soy sauce, garlic and hot pepper. They will be having a few neighbours over and Gary and Joyce from Rooster's breakfast place will be there too. Rumour has it that Joyce is bringing her Margarita Machine!

The Trip Down

2011-11-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

I skimmed over our California stay in my post about our departure, but didn't go into details.

Having problems with Picasa today so will try to get pics on later.

In Palo Alto it was good to see the daily show- piano by Sarah, violin by Sydney, Irish dance by Sydney and handstand competitions by Sarah and Sydney. This was usually after dinner.

Sydney took up both Irish dance and the violin since our visit in the spring and it is amazing how fast she is progressing. The handstand competitions stem from their gymnastics classes and Sarah is doing extremely well in her competitions.

I had my semi-annual shop at Kohl's and picked up a few sale summer things for Mexico. I just love that store with its 60,70, 80% off section!

Rene came for dinner at Dennis and Yuka's one night and Barry and I also went out to lunch with him at The Cantankerous Fish in Mountainview, where I had an absolutely awesome seared tuna salad (wish I had a picture).

We left for Bakersfield just before lunchtime, stopped for a picnic lunch at a scenic spot along the way. We parked by an incredibly interesting tree- here is a photo of the bark. I plan to look it up on Google to find out what it is.

Made it to Bakersfield OK and got an appy from the Roadhouse Grill to have in the Boler with wine, then had a prime rib dinner at the restaurant. Holy crap! Why would a sweet potato come with a couple tablespoons of brown sugar and a dollop of sweet whipped butter on top!??? Once I scraped that off, the dinner was very good.

A walkabout in Walmart finished the day and we got to bed fairly early.

Favourite signs seen the next day- On a wine truck- “Would pair nicely with a cheese truck.” and on a tiny trailer- “I go where I'm towed to!”

The second day we drove to Gila Bend Shell (a truck stop), going through our first time change in Arizona. As we neared there at nightfall, roadwork meant it was like driving into Christmas tree lights and I took a wrong turn, easily fixed thank goodness.

Dinner was an easy frozen entree- steak, pasta, & gorgonzola sauce, with wine and it was pretty good. Those cheats are good on long driving days.

The third day was nice and short and we arrived in Nogales before noon on Friday. Since it was Veteran's Day (Remembrance Day) there were sales everywhere and our Motel was cheaper with free internet included and lunch at the China Buffet was a deal as well. When we came out of the Buffet we found three police bikes parked beside our van with the stuffed pig on the dash.

We bought our Mexican vehicle insurance and did a Walmart wander to see what we could find before going to dinner at the Samurai Japanese Restaurant around the corner from the motel. Dinner was excellent.

Our border crossing into Mexico went well, with us getting the green light. (Green is one of my favourite colours!) At the 21 km checkpoint we stopped to make sure our 10 yr. permit was still valid since the rules have changed again, and after a minor bit of confusion we were good to go.

We made it to Ciudad Obregon Walmart and got the OK of a parking attendant to ensure we were fine to stay overnight (50 pesos goes a long way). It was finally warm enough to be able to sit outside and have appies and dinner until about 9:30PM.

We were awakened about 2:30 AM by tapping sounds nearby and it turned out to be a short older guy chipping framing boards away from a new small cement structure in the lot. We presume he was liberating the boards to use at his home.

But holy crap, it poured rain in the night and my trip into Wal-mart restroom the morning involved fording a small stream and getting my sandals totally soaked. It continued to rain off and on until fairly late in the day and then somewhere south of Culiacan it started to dry out.

We spent the second night beside a Pemex in Acaponeta, which is close to Tepic. Dinner was tacos at a stand so small it didn't even have cerveza so Barry went and got a couple from the stash in the van. Six tacos cost 42 pesos (about 35cents).

Instead of going through Guadalajara traffic we drove via Puerta Vallarta, which turned out to be a far slower option due to some bumpy road sections as well as a very interesting narrow lane out of town. Next year we will brave the traffic and avoid the bumps. The road to PV also has some narrow 'tree tunnel' sections.

We arrived at Melaque just before dusk and fueled up at Pemex before heading to the casa. All was well and our house-watcher Maira was busy changing the bed- she had laundered the bedding to make it fresh for us.

After greeting most of the neighbours we went over to Pat and Garry's in Barra for a very welcome appies and Prawns Diablo dinner. What a treat to not have to cook the first night!

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

2011-11-09T10:23:00.000-08:00

We are packing up to leave Palo Alto and head to Bakersfield today. Just waiting for the laundry to hit the dryer before we head out.

Snuck my last orange for this visit off the tree overhanging the back yard.

Mika doesn't even clue in that the troops are moving away today. This aged cat is having a siesta and won't even say goodbye!

Ariel checked out the Boler bed, sniffed everything to make sure it is OK, and seems sad to see us packing up.

We had a short but good visit and are looking forward to the next one, perhaps in February!!!

Long Time to get There

2011-11-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

Well we've been down in the Fraser Valley for awhile now and have managed to get most of our visiting done. For the first few days we just relaxed and settled in and sorted out some things that were flung into the van.

We had our first Thanksgiving dinner Saturday with Joan and Doug and Faith in Mission. Barry and I drove over to pick up Tami in North Delta, but Kaila and Ryan weren't available due to work schedules. Doreen also joined us for dinner.

It was a treat because Doug cooked the turkey on a rotisserie over a charcoal fire in his modified BBQ. It had a really nice flavor and was tender too since he brined it the night before cooking. Naturally that meant the stuffing was cooked in the oven along with the yams, and we had all the other regular fixings like mashed potatoes, gravy, brussel sprouts, and turnips mashed with carrots (carrotnips?). Of course there was homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert.

Our next Thanksgiving dinner was at Liana's house in N. Van and we had a good crowd for that. Along with Barry and I and Liana and her family, Sonya and all her family (minus Rosie who was catching up homework) came, my sister and brother-in-law came, and my Dad's granddaughter (so my step-niece?) Margaret came too. My girls were pleased to finally meet Margaret after hearing all about her the year before. My sister Cynthia had met Margaret at a Magee High School event and so we three linked up for a lunch last year.

Mama Margaret takes cooking tour groups to Italy. This is her website - http://www.italycookingschools.com/.

We had all the same dinner ingredients with an 'oven' turkey which I had brined at Joan's place. Pumpkin pies and an elaborate apple dessert followed with tea served in delicate Persian teacups.

The kids are all growing like weeds- taller and smarter and making me feel mighty short. Simone pulled out her microphone and entertained us after dinner so I am sure Cynthia and Margaret both went home and cherished the silence since they are not used to little people and the energy level thereof!

We spent some time exploring and bargain hunting in all the stores that we don't have at home. It is like a giant smorgasbord down here! And Joan's two kitten-cats amused us whenever we were at home. They liked going out on the roof through our window, jumping onto the van roof, and from there to the ground. They looked a bit perturbed when we drove away in the van!

We planned our trip to the Island and decided it made sense to leave from Liana's in North Van since it is so close to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal. So after staying overnight at Liana and Farhad's and having a combination Thai/Persian family dinner with Sonya and her family as well as Liana and her family, we left for Vancouver Island to see the grand and great-grandkids over in Nanaimo.

We were treated to a great spaghetti dinner at Alana's. Stephen and Audrey came over too so we had one-stop visiting that night before heading to our usual Nanaimo motel overnight. Stephen and his partner own Harbour City Music in Nanaimo.

Alana has a crew of critters and we got to visit the two mice, Siamese cat, and long-lasting bunny. Did not get into the lizard cage to visit! The small orange-coloured mouse was quite friendly and cuddled in my neck for awhile.

The grand-kids were happy to get the huge bags of used clothing that Joan sent over and the bonus was there were two awesome Halloween costumes included just in time for that special day.

Next we drove to Victoria to see Ed and Linda (former lake neighbours) and stayed two nights we were having such a good time. The second day there we got a tour around town and a nice lunch at a restaurant I forget the name of—good food though!

Our ferry trip back to the mainland was good and we didn't have to wait too long for the ferry to arrive. I can hardly wait until I am eligible for free fares mid-week like Barry is.

We spent a few days exploring the areas from Aggasiz to Langley just to see what changes have taken place. One thing that horrifies me is the sprawling subdivisions into the Fraser Valley that are being built on good arable land. Where in blazes will we be growing food in a few short years?

Sonya had surgery scheduled for Oct. 31 so we decided to stay in town longer than anticipated to make sure she was OK afterwards. Barry and I stayed overnight at Liana's to be in town for Sonya's early morning surgery and then again Halloween night to help pass out goodies while Liana and Farhad took the kids around the neighbourhood. Justin was Dracula and Simone was a Princess. They came back in a short time with a might fine haul.

November 1st we headed back to Mission and got the Boler ready for travel the following day. We managed to get a fairly early start Wednesday and had time to stop for a visit with our Melaque neighbours Glen and Sandy near Bellingham.

Once again the border crossing was smooth as silk despite being loaded to the roof in the van. I guess it pays to know which things to leave behind! Once across the line we stopped at Safeway to pick up fresh stuff for dinner and to get a package of Johnsonville Brats for Higgins, their Doberman. We have a standing joke going with Glen and Sandy over the Brats because Glen is convinced that they are far too good for dogs and we always share them with Higgins!

Sandy made some awesome hamburgers for lunch so we were able to make a few miles before we needed to stop for dinner and bedtime. We camped the first night at a rest stop at the south end of Washington because as we recall Walmart in the Portland area doesn't allow overnight parking.
Dinner was pork loin, rice, and spinach with red wine.

The following day we travelled through Oregon, through the mountain passes into California and parked overnight at a truck stop just south of Yreka. We did stop and wander through our usual Walmart in Yreka on the way by to see how it was progressing in its transition to a Super-Walmart. The parking area was too congested with construction materials to feel comfortable parking there so after checking out the store and picking up some Oak Leaf wine for $1.97 per bottle we decided to travel a bit further that night.

Then Barry spotted the Yreka 'Black Bear Diner' as we were driving away and decided we needed a dinner out for a change. We both ordered the rib-eye steak dinner which came with either soup or salad, baked or mashed potato, sauteed veggies, and a cornmeal muffin. We also had coffee, shared an order of onion rings, and Barry got extra toppings on his baked potato. The meat was done perfectly to order and was amazingly tender. The bill came to a whopping $35! The muffins became breakfast the following morning.

At the truck stop just south of Yreka our little furnace came in handy once more- it dropped to below freezing in the night. Thank goodness we made it through the Grant's Pass area when we did because there was snow behind us! Truckers who came through Friday morning had snow on them and told Barry there was heavy fog as well.

Friday went well and we made it to Dennis and Yuka's about 4:30 PM. We stopped for lunch at Vacaville Walmart just before hitting the intense San Francisco area traffic. I programmed our GPS 'Hope' to go a slightly less busy route around the bottom of the Bay, and everything was fine most of the way. I always have maps open in this area as well since it is so crowded with freeways. Thank goodness for that because just as traffic got heavier and more intense the screen on the GPS went blank. Unplugging her for a minute and then re-plugging only made it worse, but she continued speaking directions near each turn. We were close enough to make our way to their house alright, but 'Hope' is in my bad books for sure! ( Saturday morning I tried her again and it seems she is out of her snit and the screen display is back. WTF?)

We met the part-time Nanny Caitlyn when we arrived Friday. She and Sydney were busy doing crafts and practising violin and generally staying busy so I started dinner before Dennis, Yuka and Sarah arrived. We had chicken and fried rice and a sweet/sour cabbage dish I invented.

After dinner we played a game called Apples to Apples which Barry won, and then headed to bed early.

More later!

PS The update on Hopeless Hope is that she was demanding an update since her version was out of date. It would be nicer if she told us that instead of just walking off the job in the middle of rush hour!

Desperately Seeking Sun

2011-10-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Desperately Seeking Sun

In case you've wondered where I've been
Since our trip re: mango jam and such,
I got pissed off by rain and wind
And hunkered in, stayed out of touch.

But things have happened just the same
And we've been keeping busy-
So here's a few things I can name
That kept us in a 'tizzy'.

We had the wool pulled o'er our eyes
When we went to sup with H. and Joan-
It was a 25th Anniversary Surprise
And we sure didn't dine alone!

Between the creepy sideways raindrops
We arranged some other drama.
To christen Howard's brand new dock
The clan held a *Spamorama.

Then later on as 'summer' waned
We celebrated days for Dae and Gord,
As outside Mother Nature rained,
And alternatively poured!

October's here and now we're on the road
To spend time visiting family and friends.
When that is done we'll take our load,
And head south to where the rainbow ends.

*A 'Spamorama' is when everyone brings a dish containing Spam- surprisingly it turned out to be a very good dinner! We had everything from Spam appies by Anna and Barry and salad by Joan & Howard, to Spam Diablo by Pat and Garry and the award winning Spam Quiches by Rich and Janet. Grand Prize was a can of SPAM!

And because the above 'summer' recap is on the whiny side, let me tell you a few good things that happened as well:

1. We had approximately 7 nice warm days and Barry took his shirt off once and used the boat twice.

2. Last year's fall grass seeding worked and the stuff actually looks somewhat like a lawn.

3. We had borrowed dogs Cedar and Lucy for my 'fur therapy' all summer thanks to the patience of Shar and the sharing nature of Sandy and her daughter (who are the real owners).

4. My new doctor humoured me and prescribed my desiccated thyroid pills meaning I didn't need to go kill a pig to get my own!

5. Good friends who made the shitty weather more tolerable!!!

United is Untied!

2011-07-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

For our last supper in Melaque we once again tested some Mexican beef in the form of two reasonably good looking steaks. For sides I made mushies and onions and grilled zucchini slices along with a wine reduction sauce. Once again, a fail on the meat. For some reason it was quite tasteless and pretty chewy and the dogs happily took all our donations....oh well.

I also cooked some leftover chicken legs to have on the road travelling to Puerta Vallarta the next day when we headed back to the airport.

Due to the heavy rains we decided to head out the day before our flight and overnight at the Hotel Yasmin in case there might be mudslides on the road. On departure day the dogs were given their dinner at breakfast time before we headed north, and Dinga had to be convinced to quit napping on the couch and go outside when we left.

The drive went well with an occasional cloudburst here and there and we arrived at our hotel just after lunchtime. Hotel Yasmin is a modest older hotel in the old section of PV. It has two floors with an inner garden courtyard and a good sitting area overlooking the street. Our room was on the second floor handy to the sitting area and after exploring a bit we had happy hour watching the 'wildlife' go by on the street below, followed by a huge burger at the gringo bar next door and then a walkabout.

Breakfast the following morning was at a restaurant a couple of blocks away where we had parked the car. In their wisdom, and possibly at the direction of the cruise ship people, the sidewalk outside our hotel had been widened eliminating a great deal of parking in the area. We managed to find a spot on the street and avoided paying 15 pesos per hour at the underground city lot a block away.

After a wander through Wal-mart we headed to the car rental return and the airport early on time so we could find the Aduana office and get our Mexican passports stamped before our flight. We visited our neighbours in the check-in line for a long time since no airline employees were in sight, and eventually we were told that the United Airlines flight would be leaving about 2 hours late. Could this possibly be the same people that sent us a panicky email last month informing us of a couple of vital 2 to 3 minute variations in our itinerary?

That was the good part of the news. When the plane finally arrived and we were able to board, a passing thunderstorm meant we sat on the runway for quite some time before we were finally able to leave. I started to stress about the fact our connection time in SFO was shrinking to almost non-existent.

And when we arrived, it was not possible to rush through the system at all. Customs took forever as a new wrinkle was added to the process- each person had fingerprint scans and photos taken as they passed through the gates. Then bags needed to be claimed and inspected before being put back on the belt to be loaded on the plane. After which there was the security gate to go through with the examination of all 'terrorists' with artificial knees, etc.

So as it turned out, we arrived at the boarding gate to find the plane sitting there with the loading ramp attached only to be refused access. SHIT!!!!! We are quite sure they had over-booked and sold our seats before we arrived, even though the whole bloody delay was their fault and they knew we were coming. We have renamed United Airlines and now refer to it as UNTIED Airlines because they are so unhelpful, nasty, tardy, incompetent, evil and dysfunctional.

This meant that we had to go to a customer service desk across the airport to rebook our flight, go claim our bags, and do the whole check-in process complete with security scan again in the morning. Dinner was a tin of tuna salad each that I had slid into my bag in case of emergency. We also “slept” in the SFO airport instead of the nice comfortable hotel room we had booked and paid for in Richmond BC.

I say “slept” because I actually didn't. I read a book all night because between the freaking bright lights, the blasting cold air conditioning system, and the noise of bags rolling across corrugated metal strips near the escalator there was NO hope of napping.

At about 3:45 AM the following morning I noticed a line beginning to form at the check-in area so I woke Barry from his 5 minute nap and we headed down to be near the front of the line. At about 4 AM an un-uniformed, snarky tall guy showed up and gave us an army type blast about how, since they were all laid off, we would be checking ourselves in at the row of kiosks in the check-in area. And they wouldn't function until 4:15 AM. With no further instruction, as he stomped away I asked what we were supposed to do to check in our bags and he snapped that we should put them on the scales and “someone” would take them. Then he continued to stomp off.

Once again, the “terrorist” old folks got hauled off for short-arm inspection by security before being allowed to proceed to the boarding gate. All cranky staff at the SFO airport. No coffee, nada. The kiosks didn't open until 5 AM, at which point I picked up two large coffees and a couple of apple muffins for breakfast.

While the flight left a bit on the late side, it arrived in Vancouver close to on-time so we were able to make our connection to Terrace OK. Vancouver airport was like heaven compared to San Francisco. There were Air Canada employees with smiles directing us to where to pick up our bags and showing us the way to connecting flights. Since we were punchy-drunk tired by this time, that was a good thing!

Real breakfast was fast and yummy at the Vancouver airport and with full tummies we finally relaxed enough on the flight home to have a short catnap. What a nice ending to a crappy trip home when we found Pat and Garry waiting to pick us up and feed us dinner that night. :)

The Rain Got Warmer!

2011-07-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

The Rain Got Warmer!

Thanks to good friends like Pat and Garry taking care of details like garbage removal and transport to the airport, we got off on our Mexico Mango trip without a hitch on July 2nd.

Travel from Terrace to Vancouver then San Francisco went well and after finding the hotel shuttle we arrived for our short prepaid stay at the Hilton in Burlingame near SFO just after midnight. The desk clerk was mystified by our arrival and obviously they had no record of our reservation, but after perusing our internet print-out of payment a senior employee managed to come through with a king-size bed. We asked for a 6 AM wake-up call in order to get to our flight in time the following morning. Short sleep in a comfortable bed.

I was surprised to see a bill slid under the door the following morning in the amount of $12.00 US for hotel parking since we arrived via hotel shuttle! I called the desk to inform them that as far as we were concerned, we had already paid to park our carcasses, and we had no car.

We had opted to have an expensive room-service breakfast delivered rather than fight our way through the restaurant crowd, and that was tasty and delivered on time. That was one of the brighter decisions we made on the trip because it is easy to starve on flights otherwise.

The rest of the trip to Melaque went well. Thrifty car rental was better than last year's choice and we and our 2011 Nissan arrived at the casa in Melaque by about 8 PM. On the trip down, we ran through several rain showers but somehow in the warm weather it doesn't seem so bad. (Our rain on party day had required two gas heaters to stay reasonably comfortable.)

Both next door dogs, Tomas and Titan, greeted us warmly with wiggles and licks and the two-legged neighbours seemed pleased to see us as well. Luckily I had left some kibbles at the casa so I was able to give the dogs a sample of what was to come- they had both lost about 20 pounds since we left in March. It took Dinga a few days to clue in that we were back, but she quickly joined the pack and once again shared our bed while we were there.

We settled in, visited Doug and Gisela and then went out for a taco dinner at Pedro's in taco alley. With beer and tip it was less than $10. The next day, Hawaii store was closed when we went out for groceries so we ended up going in to the Bodega in Cihuatlan to stock up for our time there.

The weather varied from muggy hot damp air, to heavy rain, to nice and warm the whole time we were there. With our good ceiling fans we managed to cope OK but we sure didn't need covers on the bed!

The roads were a whole other matter. The intermittent heavy rains had turned them into a horizontal field of deep moguls making driving an adventure. A couple of times I thought we were going to get stuck in particularly deep holes.

The ever-increasing flock of chickens from next door had managed to denude our lawn in our absence. Good thing the grass was free in the first place! Henny once again started laying eggs in our laundry basket arrangement outside so we got the occasional very fresh egg for breakfast. I imagine she will have another hatch of chicks in a short time now that no-one is snitching her eggs.

And, on the theme of nature, I must mention the crab migration! YIKES! And holy crap! Over about a two day period we were INVADED by armies of small crabs. They apparently hatch in the laguna and after a period of intense rain (making it safe for travel and avoiding dehydration) make their way to the ocean...through our yard, our house, our bedroom, my night-table!!!!

I took offence at the invasion and stomped a few on the new tile floors before finding out they invade the place but leave peaceably in the morning of their own accord. They march toward the ocean in an army-like formation and hundreds, thousands ended up squashed on the road. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING bothers them. Dogs don't, chickens don't, birds don't, and humans don't. They are not edible. It was like a Hitchcock movie! If we hadn't seen it, we wouldn't have believed it.

Melaque in the off-season is a bit more subdued with a lot of the gringo restaurants and bars either closed or on limited days/hours . We still managed to get to Bigotes a couple of times, and to Marlena's in Barra de Navidad for a couple of good dinners.

The best night out was at Doug and Gisela's place for a wonderful home-cooked rib dinner with beans, plantains, grilled pineapple and salad before having Vienetta for dessert. Dennis and Marie from Texas came too, and it was nice to meet them. They are house-sitting down the road for the winter, and may still be there when we get back in November.

David (Titan's owner) from next door got us a huge tote of mangoes to work with, and jam production finally began July 7th. Once again Barry and I had a chopping session on the back patio in the cool of the early evening and I made jam the following morning. Most of it was done in two long sessions and the final load was done on July 10th. Maira had wanted to learn how to make it, but she was called in to work and couldn't make it for the last batch, so Marie came over to keep me company while I finished it.

I ran out of jam jars and some of my pectin was bad (it turned brown and hard in the package) so the rest of the mangoes were canned, making 9 quarts of potential Margarita material!

With the mission accomplished, I'll stop here and continue with the trip home in my next blog.

Where Was I?

2011-06-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

I last spoke to you on the way home from Calgary last April and apparently fell off the planet for a couple of months. It may have had something to do with the freaking snowstorm we drove through on the way home or maybe I just got lazy. In any case, here is a catch-up post to let you all know what has been going on in our neck of the woods.

When I left off, we were escaping Calgary ahead of an impending snowstorm, and despite the ugly black clouds following us we did manage to get as far as Stony Plain that night without any trouble. Since it was fairly late in the evening when we landed we had to go find a restaurant that was still open and managed to find a Boston Pizza not far away.

The next day our trip to Prince George went well and we managed to get some photos of critters along the way. It is sort of surprising how infrequently they happen to be visible when you are driving by and it is always a happy moment when they are.

We stayed overnight with Thom and Nancy in Prince George and had a good catch-up visit since we had missed them on our way home from Mexico. The next morning, April 27th, we headed west fairly early after a good breakfast since our hosts were heading to work.

The weather turned nasty between Vanderhoof and Burns Lake, with Endako being the absolute worst. Barry drove through a nearly blinding snowstorm along that stretch as I tensed up on my side of the vehicle. I absolutely hate driving in snow for some reason and it seems unfair that even though we go to Mexico for the winter to avoid the shit we still end up getting a dose of it every year.

Our time at home since then has been filled with various chores like planting the garden, cleaning the yard, getting settled in, putting the dock in (thanks Howard!), talking to the spotty new lawn trying to motivate it to grow, clearing out more 7 year old business files, and generally getting into the northern routine. We do wish Mother Nature was not such a frigid b*tch this year- not even spinach has grown well.

We have new doggy daycare subjects here as well. Lucy is a sweet Holstein-coloured (white with black spots) Boxer, and Cedar is a matronly but exuberant Golden Retriever (I think). They live at the same place just up the lake from us.

Lucy started showing up and just hanging out for the day because she was lonesome when her owners were at work. She either follows Barry up to the shop or tags me as I mow the grass, waiting for either one of us to huck a ball for her to chase. Lucy loves bites of leftovers- even broccoli and yams. I've never had such an un-picky dog!

It seemed like Cedar started coming over to send Lucy home, but she also started just hanging out here and napping in the cabin during the day. Cedar also visits Shar a lot, and seems to alternate locations.
In any case, it is nice having fur therapy here as well as Mexico.

Another exciting event was our trip down to North Delta for Barry's grandson Ryan's graduation from high school. We left here on the 15th June, arrived on the 16th, went to Grad on the 17th and were back home on the 19th. Ryan graduated from a French immersion high school, Burnsview, and plans to take training to become an electrician. Way to go Ryan!

The Grad ceremony was especially well done, with each graduate having their personal message read out as they received their diploma on stage. They managed to have a bilingual ceremony without totally confusing folks who didn't understand French.

This past trip, we managed to see several bears and deer along the way (both directions) but didn't get any photos to prove it! On our way home two large black bears at the side of the road near Vanderhoof were enjoying a rib dinner of either moose or deer road-kill.

We went to Prince Rupert to box our last load of U-Brew wine and were pleased to see the colourful buildings around town. Pacific Coast U-Brew was being painted an appropriate bright grape colour when we were there- it will look really good when it is finished. Apparently it is a Chamber of Commerce project spearheaded by Glen Saunders from Cow Bay Gifts in Rupert and The Flying Fish here in Terrace.

Pat and Garry joined us for an amazing dinner at Stardust Restaurant before we headed home. That is my absolute favourite Chinese food- thanks Tony and Carol!

And finally, to end this ramble, I am simultaneously getting ready for Barry's 75th birthday on July 1st and our trip to Melaque July 2nd to once again make mango jam. That means I am really busy and won't check in again until after our return on July 14th.

See you then.

Coming Home- the long way.

2011-04-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

After leaving Palo Alto we managed to stop at the Olive Pit in Corning, CA before landing in Yreka Walmart for the night. It is always cold there in the night since it is at a fairly high altitude, and once again we congratulated our wisdom in buying a small furnace for the Boler. Boy does it make a difference! We were told that the week before they had had a blizzard, so I guess we were lucky it was just cold.

We had a good drive up from California, ducking out to the Oregon coast for a part of the way, but running into crappy wet weather which made the scenery less inviting. As I recall, it looks very picturesque when the sun is out. Instead, our trip to the coast was kind of creepy with gnarly moss covered trees hanging over the road and it sort of felt like wizzened old witches were going to drop out of them and land on the van.

The first year we took Momma dog back to Mexico we travelled the coastline in the MountainAire motor home, and since Barry was so busy sticking to his side of the narrow winding road he didn't get to enjoy much of the scenery. I really thought it was pretty and decided Barry should get to enjoy it too, so we thought we'd try again. But this wasn't the best year due to the clammy foggy weather.

Our time in Kirkland, WA to see Rene was a bit shorter than usual because he had just sold his house before we arrived and he needed to get cracking on organizing his move to California. We expect he will find a place fairly close to Dennis, perhaps in San Jose, and we will get to visit them both on one stop next trip down.

Had a quick good visit with Glen and Sandy, our Melaque neighbours, at their house near Bellingham and they fed us lunch on our way through. Higgins the Doberman was happy that I thought to bring him a chicken jerky treat.

The border was a bit more intense than normal, with our van and Boler being pulled out for a thorough inspection, and with us left waiting in the office. I must say the Canadian waiting area is a lot more pleasant than the American equivalent in Nogales, AZ. All in all we were through in just over half an hour so it wasn't too bad.

We arrived in BC on April 7th and had to stay in the Vancouver area for awhile since Barry had a specialist appointment on April 18th. The days were spent recuperating from travelling, doing laundry, visiting the girls and my sister, and getting a last shopping fix in all the large stores we will miss once we get back home.

All the grand-kids are growing like weeds and I actually feel kind of short when I am in Rosie's vicinity! Luckily they are all doing fine and looking good. Seeing family makes up for the freaking cold weather we have endured. It actually SNOWED one morning out in Mission in APRIL! Not good.

After the Doc visit, we headed home on April 19th and made it to Prince George that evening just in time to do a quick Costco shop for some real Canadian beef, which we have been missing. Then we moved over to the Walmart parking lot for the night, and only had one other trailer there as a neighbour.

It is always nice to see wildlife on the trip although often they do a good job of hiding out.
Both on the 19th and 20th, we saw more deer along the highway than we ever have before. Most were safely off the road in fields thank goodness. They came in groups of 3 or 4 to as many as about 10 (hard to count as you're driving by).

We arrived in Terrace late Wednesday afternoon and decided to stock up on fresh groceries before heading out to the cabin. In Safeway we ran into Gordon G. and got a dinner invite for the next evening, which we gratefully accepted! It had been a fair while since we saw them last fall. Dae is looking very well after having been quite sick during the winter. Dinner turned out great and it was a super nice evening.

Our driveway needed plowing in order for us to get down it, and Ken managed to get it done just before we arrived. He had been on holidays in San Diego and got back the night before. There are piles over 6 feet tall in various places, such as where it has slid off the neighbour's shed roof. I am not impressed with the weather at all. Where is SPRING?

The phone rang as Barry was getting the heater started, and it was a call to tell him that his younger sister Myrna had passed away the Monday before (Doc appointment day). She had fought off lung cancer some years ago but had difficulties with diabetes. I priced a flight to Calgary from Terrace, and at over $1,900 each it was totally out of the question.

So before we even got settled in, we unpacked about half the stuff out of the van and started driving to Calgary for the funeral, which will be Easter Monday. Gordon recommended a hotel in Valemount as a good place to stay along the way, so we took his advice and are glad we did. The Best Western was very pleasant and took the edge off the extra travel.

Saturday after the nearly $20 toll in the park (we thought we were back in Mexico!), the drive along the Hwy #93 Icefields route became somewhat monotonous due to all the 70 k, 50 k stretches for wildlife crossings and such- never did see any wildlife where it was advertised although we did see our first bear of the season near Moricetown, BC the day before. The mountain scenery is fabulous though with the snow-capped peaks surrounding the highway. We do a damn fine job on mountains! Bus loads of tourists seemed to think so too, as in spots they were all over the place taking photos.

The last time we drove to Calgary was in 1987 when we saw the Calgary Stampede with Dennis and Liana. I had the same reaction this time as I did back then when we finally got through the mountains and the landscape turned to rolling hills for as far as the eye could see. As a BC born girl, it is still odd for me to wake up and look around to see various weather in all directions and be able to decide which mall to go to to avoid rain or snow!

We landed safely at Barry's sister-in-law Edith's place just after dinnertime (we stopped on the way and ate because Edith just recently got out of hospital having had a broken left hip). Tomorrow/Easter Sunday/ my birthday Edith and all her family will be going out to dinner with us so no-one needs to cook. Edith is doing amazingly well only 5 weeks after her injury, and is trucking around with either a walker or a cane.

After breakfast Easter Sunday we drove over to see Barry's brother-in-law Ron and also saw his sons Derik and Robert. Because he is preparing some memories for the Celebration of Life Monday, Derik had to leave but we had a good visit with Robert, who lives on the North Shore near Sonya and Liana as it turns out.

Ron is coping OK in the circumstances and we reminisced about different things for awhile before heading back to Edith's place to get ready for dinner out at Nick's Steakhouse, which has been a longtime family favourite dining place.
And when we ate there we found out why! Our prime rib and Yorkshire pudding was fabulous, and everyone else's meals looked great too. Edith's daughter Linda came, along with her son Chad and granddaughter Kiera, but unfortunately her daughter Pam wasn't able to come so we hope to see her tomorrow at the service.

Barry's older sister Martha will also arrive from Vancouver along with her family, so if nothing else at least this sad event has created a family reunion.

The funeral service was well done, with both Robert and Derik lightening the mood as they talked about their mother Myrna and injected humorous bits of family history. A funeral service where you are allowed to smile through the sadness is always easier to handle. And the power point collection of historic photos which was played during the service brought back memories for everyone.

Everyone got together for a reception following the service and relatives and friends who hadn't seen each other for a long while got caught up. During the reception two different people told us that a snowstorm was on the way for Calgary that night, so Barry and I decided to leave right away rather than waiting until Tuesday morning.

To be continued.

Good Week in Palo Alto

2011-04-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Our first day in California was filled with chores like laundry and taking some perishables out of the van and Boler, as well as very welcome showers after three days on the road. Dennis had a crock pot pork and sauerkraut dinner underway and that made a yummy dinner our first night.

The weather improved when we arrived and the sun came out so even though it was cooler than Mexico it was still nice. I went and picked my traditional orange from the neighbours backyard tree that, happily, hangs over the fence putting the fruit within reach from our side. They taste so good right off the tree! And the next thing on my list is a Greek salad dressing made with the Meyer lemons in the yard. That tree is just loaded with fruit this spring.

Tuesday we went off on a mission to replace dead 'Jillian GPS'. I looked online and found a good sale at Best Buy in Santa Clara, checked the route online, and we went over to buy it. Ended up needing a new dash mount as well since the style is so different from when we last bought a GPS. We'll have to think of a new name for the GPS because she doesn't sound the same now.

It turned out that we were only a mile from a Kohl's store so we checked out the new GPS by going there for a look around. And I spotted the Korean/Japanese store that Yuka frequents as well as the Korean BBQ place next to it, so we went there for the lunch smorgasbord.

Each table has a gas grill inset into the centre of the table, which they turn on as you are seated. Along with regular chow mein, veggie dishes, and soups etc. there are trays of various meats like marinated beef, pork, chicken, gizzards, and prawns for you to choose from. You cook your meat at the table just the way you like it. We ended up very stuffed and I'm not sure they made much profit on the 'seniors' rate we were charged.

In fact we were so full that we skipped dinner and just had a cup of tomato soup with the grand-kids as they ate their dinner. Dennis and Yuka had an evening out at an event they had planned, so the kids got tomato soup, udon noodles, chicken meatballs, and broccoli 'trees' for dinner.

Wednesday my big event after house chores was a walk up to Middlefield Safeway to shop for a few essentials for our taco night. It is just a few blocks away but it has been years since I carried groceries home that far! I made cream of broccoli soup for a starter and pork tacos with fresh salsa, guacamole, and diced onions, with sliced red and yellow peppers on the side. Everyone built their own custom tacos with the corn tortillas I warmed in the cast iron frying pan.

Thursday is a bit weird because the power company has the whole neighbourhood shut down while they change some transformers in the area, so laundry is off the job list for today and showers are too cold to attempt! I sorted out more stuff in the van and cleaned out the cooler for the next leg of the journey to Washington.

At 2:40 PM I will meet the kids at Ohlone and walk them home. They are pretty happy about that because the after school programme is not so fun anymore apparently. Just bored with it I guess.

We went out for dinner Thursday at our regular favourite spot up on Middlefield. Indochine has some great dishes like shaken beef and duck in a creamy curry sauce, and we always enjoy it. It is only a short walk from the house.

Friday's schedule got a bit simplified with Sarah missing both gymnastics and piano lessons after school so dinner was earlier than it would have been. I made Greek salad, green salad, oven yam/potato french fries, and oven baked chicken thighs for dinner, then creamy dessert with fresh strawberries. Stuffed. Happy.

Saturday Dennis took Ariel the dog to her spa day at the groomer, then Yuka and I took Sydney to her dance class- it is a combination of tap dance and ballet and it is cute to watch. They were practicing a routine for an upcoming performance and it is coming along nicely.

We all went out to Five Guys for burgers at lunchtime and they were so filling we did an easy supper of lobster ravioli and salad later on. Barry and I found a small compressor to have on hand to fill our trailer tire that seems to have a slow leak, the kids found presents for their cousins in North Van, and we all cruised through Kohl's looking for bargains. All in all it was a busy day.

Sunday morning I got a load of bedding and other laundry into the washer before breakfast. It's nicer to travel with clean stuff than dirty since I am not too fond of laundromats. The whole family is going out for breakfast and then we are coming back to pack up to head north. Since we won't likely get out of town before after noon it's hard to say how far we will get today.

It has been a really nice week in Palo Alto visiting and joining in family activities. And along with the family I am going to miss that busy dog Ariel.

Will report in later.

Melaque to Palo Alto

2011-03-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

Monday was a Mexican holiday so we postponed our trip to return the modem until Tuesday. That left Monday free to invite friends over to help eat our remaining food from the fridge.

Doug had given us two nice chunks of fresh caught-by-him tuna, which got me in a Japanese sushi sort of mood. I had sushi rice, wasabi, and Japanese soy sauce as well as assorted other authentic ingredients around so I built the dinner around that idea.

Following the assorted sushi made with both tuna and smoked salmon, we had a small cup of soup followed by rare tuna steaks with glaze and an okonomiyaki (Japanese omelet) made with cabbage and other assorted veggies from the fridge. For the sauce on top I mixed good old Canadian ketchup with Worcestershire sauce and then did a lacy drizzle of mayo over that for good measure.No-one but us had ever had it before, but it was a hit. We managed to produce a bottle of Sake to go with dinner.

Pat had made a yummy carrot cake for dessert, so we had a cup of tea with that. Bill and Connie, Pat and Garry and Barry and I all had a nice evening and talked about getting together again at Lakelse Lake in the summer.

Tuesday morning my wake-up call was by Bobby, the dog who lives at Dinga's house. He barged in, over to my side of the bed and told me it was time to get up---and it was just before 5AM!!

Anyway, I decided he was right because the rooster started to crow and outside dogs started to bark, and I got up, put the coffee on, and got the washing machine going to get my last load of the winter onto the clothesline before we headed into Manzanillo. After laundry, breakfast and a shower we left for town about 9:30 AM.

It took about half an hour to get the paperwork to return the modem done at Telmex and pay a deposit on the account to keep the phone bill paid until our return in October. Then after a quick stop at Soriana, we returned home via Cihuatlan and put a deposit on the electric bill as well. At that point we decided to have one last feed of ribs and chicken at Tena before getting back to packing-up. Tena has the best ribs that are cooked in a huge above ground fire pit about four feet wide and maybe twenty feet long. Ribs and chickens are woven onto giant skewers that lean along the perimeter of the pit. The entire skewers are occasionally turned from top to bottom so that the meat is evenly cooked. At the end of cooking, bitter orange is squeezed over the meat. Yum!

Barry and I got the back patio cleared off, the BBQ and washing machine loaded into the utility room, and one of the large propane tanks disconnected and brought inside. The other (stove) tank will come inside after breakfast. After we shower Barry will disconnect the pump and pressure tank on the roof while I finish loading the Boler and deal with whatever is left in the fridge. If I am fast I may get it into the garbage truck before we leave. If not, I will donate it to the neighbour's can!

The chicken who has been laying eggs in our laundry basket (now loaded with faux laundry) will now be able to raise her little family. We have been enjoying farm fresh eggs up until a couple of days ago, but she now has three eggs towards a nest full. Little momma is the off-white hen in the photo.

I managed to get the Boler beds made up after dinner so things are shaping up. Tomorrow will mainly involve packing the food and ice into coolers in the van and double checking to make sure I have everything I need to cook with in the Boler. Pretty sure I need a cast iron frying pan put back in.

We plan to drive up Highway 80 through La Huerta again this year and totally skip going near Guadalajara periferico, which is not on my favoured list. The periferico is a huge ring road around the perimeter of the city and, while it may make sense to people who live there, it is incredibly confusing to me when I am trying to navigate our way out of town with a fairly useless map (not all streets are on it). Avoid stress- go cross country I always say.

And Wednesday, packing day, went well and we left before noon. That meant we were able to reach Tepic before bedtime and we landed at a Pemex station for the night. After an easy dinner we hit the sack. Tepic traffic is quite intense so we got up before sunrise and made our way out of town before the traffic was in full force.

Thursday we drove from Tepic to Ciudad Obregon, where we once again parked in the Walmart parking lot. It is right on the main drag and easy to access from both directions. We parked in the rear gravel lot and had a nice quiet evening. After breakfast the next morning we left for Nogales and arrived at the border early Friday afternoon. Our wait time wasn't too bad, but we had the annual agriculture inspection and got kicked out of the van and into a creepy dirty little room while they went through our things in the van and Boler. Stayed out of jail despite the frozen container in the cooler labeled 'Pork curry'. Pork is forbidden at the US/Mexican border, even if it is cooked.

We checked into Motel 6, did a food shop at Walmart for the next leg of the trip, and then went to dinner across the highway at the Italian restaurant. It was a treat to get online at Motel 6 after dinner even though internet kept crashing on me for the first while. Stubborn wins!

Saturday we left fairly early and managed to get as far as Palm Springs Costco just before 6 PM. We went inside to pit stop, shop and get parking permission only to find out they close at 6 PM! Yikes. So we just ate, slept, and left the next morning because they also open late (like 10 AM).

Sunday we were able to reach Bakersfield in the afternoon even though we dawdled down a back road behind Palmdale to connect to highway# 138 near the I 5 end. We enjoyed stretching our legs walking around Walmart and other stores in the area before heading to the Roadhouse Grill for dinner.
It is a treat to once again be able to enjoy succulent rare to medium/rare beef that is chewable! I had the prime rib dinner and Barry had a slow-roasted tri-tip and both were very tasty.

Monday we made coffee, drove awhile and then stopped to make breakfast at a rest stop. We had a good day driving up to Dennis and Yuka's place in Palo Alto even though it was chilly and drizzly for awhile along the way. And 'Jillian GPS' died as we approached Palo Alto.

She temporarily died once before on the way down through Mexico, but Barry was able to get her recovered to a degree for the trip home. She had had a major brain fart and wasn't able to tell us where gas stations, etc. were, but still retained favourite and recent addresses in her memory, which was helpful. I managed to fake my way to their house on the first try using a map and my memory, which is pretty miraculous when you think about it. After all, CRAFT is setting in!

Dennis was working from home that day due to it being his day for kid driving chores. It was a nice surprise for us and we were able to have late lunch with him before he went back to his laptop office.

And I'll stop for now- will continue the tale in the next missile.

Just a message

2011-03-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

We are offline starting Tuesday and likely heading north by Wednesday afternoon, so will check in again once we get to Palo Alto CA.

Hasta luego!

Time MARCHES on!

2011-03-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

By Saturday evening Barry felt well enough to join everyone at Froy's on the beach for the first annual Rotary Foundation dinner. It was a good evening with a buffet style dinner followed by Mexican vanilla ice cream for dessert. Angelina Sol, a very good local entertainer, provided the entertainment, along with an-upcoming future star about 5 years old I'd guess. I'm not sure if it was her daughter or a niece, but the kid was pretty good, and quite the ham.

Just as the bombs started going off to blow all good Catholics out of bed for mass about 5 AM Sunday morning I decide that I had a dose of Barry's flu and got up to visit the throne. I ended up feeling pretty bad all day and couldn't eat anything. As a matter of fact anything but plain water had too much flavour to even consider, and I didn't make many trips out of bed all day. It took a full two days to get back to normal, taking away a lot of packing up time.

In between all the sorting and chucking things out and packing stuff to take home, we have managed to go out a few times. One of the best days was our St. Patrick's Day dinner at Los Molcajetes with Pat and Garry, followed by heading down to the square with throngs of people to wait for the fireworks. Town has filled up again with a ton of Mexican tourists from inland added to the gringos that remain.

On our way there, we were passed by a clown wearing white patent shoes that were about 18 inches long. Pat said, “Nice shoes!” as he went by and that led to him stopping to chat while he created balloon sculptures for us. Pat's was a red heart decorated with a flower and some leaves, and mine was a Tweetybird on a swing. Two grown women packing kid balloons all night- what is the world coming to? LOL

We spent some of our waiting time exploring the Carnival and watching some pretty freaky rides where the locked in rows of people were swung around madly, actually completely turning them upside down a few times. I have no idea how they all managed to walk off the platform at the end of the ride.

Melaque is actually made up of three small towns that sort of grew together. They are Melaque, San Patricio, and Villa Obregon. San Patricio is the central town and the patron saint of the town is, of course, Saint Patrick. The Church puts on a huge celebration for that day involving a huge castillo or tower of fireworks. Having been previously shot in the chest (powder burn!) by one of the fireworks, I tend to stay out of the way on a side street to watch the fun.

In previous years Pat and Garry have always gone home before the festivities, so they really enjoyed seeing the castillo for the first time. Different levels of swirling wheels on the rickety tower send fireworks and rockets out into the crowd and the sky, and they are set off one after the other so the show goes on for quite some time as the smog level builds.

As the higher fireworks were being set off some shrapnel flew across the square, down our side street, and hit Pat's balloon. All she had left was the flower! Fortunately, Tweety survived.

The grand finale of the castillo is when the top section lights up, lifts off the tower, and goes spinning wildly into the sky. I haven't heard how far it flew this year. After that, a fellow guiding a faux wire bull (El Torito)runs through the crowd setting off screamers that fly snaking through the air hitting victims right left and centre. Call me chicken- I am always relieved when it is over!

There is a link to our friend Scott Parks blog with a video clip from the 2009 version which I can't seem to add to my blog. You can easily find it by Googling 'melaque castillo 2009' .

As if that wasn't enough, Friday night we joined two other couples- Pauline and Jerry and Larry and Lorraine- and went to Siboney's botanero to see the transvestite show. We hadn't been yet this year so when it was suggested it seemed like a good idea. We lucked out since it was an appreciation night and a pretty good meal of spaghetti, chicken wings, salads etc. was provided instead of just the regular snacks of flautas, fried fish, and cucumbers and jicamas with lime.

The show was good, with various appearances by 'Lisa Minelli', and 'Cher', etc. I didn't take my camera since it has been acting up lately and I can't take good photos in poor light anyway.

The music got us all in a dancing mood so we met at Ava's to listen to 'Lalo' sing while we had a light supper. I had such a good time I bought a CD to remind us of the evening when we get home.

With a few chores in between, our next outing was to La Sierra Saturday afternoon with Bill and Connie and Robin and Sandy to listen to the Banda Loca play a few tunes. They play a variety of music, both Mexican and Gringo, and our plumber/electrician is one of the singers/guitar players. Jorge always says hello when we show up.

And the chores continue! Today the bedspread is in the wash to eliminate dog residues and odour so we'll be able to use it on our return. It is outside rinsing in my old wringer washer just now so I'd better get back to work and wring it out to hang in the Mexican sunshine to dry. See you later!

Major Catch-up Post

2011-03-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

It has been along and busy time since I last posted. There is simply too much stuff to do a regular 'Dear Diary' recanting of it all. Just imagine the regular visits, excursions and dinners out and you will get the gist of it.

But before we start, take a close look in the middle of the laguna weeds to see one of our neighbours!

We had good visits with Janet, Richard, and Paulette during their time in Melaque. We had a nice dinner at Bungalows Mayorca, went out to lunches, and visited at the casa. At least they returned to the great white north with a fresh supply of vitamin D in them! Bonnee and Vic and Pat and Garry also joined us so it was a good clan gathering.

During that time in addition to a repeat performance of my cold, we had new tile floors installed the same week that the electrical went for shit and the city water service shut down, so it was quite an interesting time to say the least. (Meaning interesting in the same tone as that curse “May you live in interesting times”.

We ran a electrical cord over to our neighbours place to get power for a trouble light for the tile layers, and ran a hose from our well to fill their water cistern. During the first week we had seven occasions to call the CFE (electrical company) for repairs to the power system, and that is a new record. The whole episode ended with a honking big electrical bill for the past four months. We may have had a short in the pump line that caused it, and are certainly hoping Jorge has it fixed now.

Barry and I prepped for tiles by emptying most contents from the house, landing them in the storage room, back bedroom and the rear patio- all safe zones since they weren't getting tiled. I cooked on the BBQ out back because the stove was disconnected and parked outside, and I occasionally ducked in to use the microwave or toaster oven. The crock pot was also plugged in near the BBQ to get meals cooked without a kitchen.

We had to stay nearby to keep an eye on progress and answer questions about design decisions, etc. But there was hardy a safe spot in the whole house! The tiles were stored in the spare bedroom, and tile layers were working in several rooms at the same time. Certain zones were off limits, such as freshly laid tiles that weren't set yet, and we had to remember where it was safe to walk each day.

After it was all laid I had to repaint everywhere the new tile baseboard grout damaged the walls, which took a steady hand and a bunch of crawling around like a rug rat. A garage creeper would have come in handy under the couches. We went out to dinner that night!

But we lived through it all and are very pleased with the outcome. We installed a tapete by the front door as a feature. It is a tile carpet in coordinating colours, the size of a small area rug. We did a couple of accent areas- one under the dining table and another transitioning to the kitchen, where I used the darker colour to hopefully hide the fact that I am a sloppy cook!

Next on the agenda were our FM3 renewals in Manzanillo. Once again we went in with Doug and Gisela and returned in about 4 weeks to pick up our cards. In the photos we both resemble criminals and if it was up to me I'd keep us out of the country for sure!

Anyway, things are now pretty well back to normal. I am feeding four dogs instead of three, one hen has four chicks that graze in the compost heap, the rooster and some hens are still roosting in our tree, and one hen is laying eggs in our laundry basket! Leaf-cutter ants are causing more grief in the garden. They decimated my swiss chard patch overnight, and I wonder why the heck they don't eat weeds instead!

We hosted Emma dog's 10th Birthday Party here- Jeannie made her pooch a hamburger cake to share with the local dogs and we had from 6 to 7 dogs here for the party (Tomas ate and left). We managed to have only one minor skirmish while they sorted out who was in charge here. Higgins dressed for the occasion and Emma wore her party hat.

Yard cleanup is underway. I suppose it could be called 'Spring Cleaning' but it seems more like summer already. I spent one day attacking the prickly bougainvillea along the fence and came away with only a few minor scratches. It took three of the hugest garbage bags to get them ready for removal by the garbage guys. We get almost daily service and since we occasionally supply cans of beer for their 'coffee break' they will haul just about anything away for us.

We are starting to get into lift-off mode and thinking about what needs to be packed where for the trip home. We plan to leave around the 22nd to 25th March depending how things go. There will be a trip to Manzanillo to turn in the modem again this year to save about $20 per month while we are gone and load the account with enough cash to pay the phone bill until we return. And I need to go put a deposit on the CFE (electrical) account to keep the power on for the lady who watches our casa and waters the yard while we are away. We also leave all our fans running on low to cut down/eliminate mildew problems during rainy season here.

Friday evening Barry wasn't in shape to join us at Gigi's Bistro for the French dinner Gigi created. He ended up with a case of 24 hour flu and stayed home and laid low while Garry & Pat, Bonnee & Vic, Bill and Connie and I all enjoyed the huge meal that went on forever. I brought home some samples for the next day in case he is better by then.

The dinner included many appetizers, so here is the menu (Melany, this is for you!).

First Service: canapes of anchovies, canapes of pesto, carrot jam, cod brandade, confit of gizzards and garlic, dried tomato tapenade, garlic
snails in mushrooms, liver pate, Nicoise salad, olives tapenade, onion jam, Provencal pizza, french bread.

Second Service: Onion soup with cheese croutons

Third Service: Coq au Vin (Chicken braised in red wine)
Medley of the Ocean, Provencal style
Pork Loin with prunes and apples
Scalloped potatoes French style

Fourth Service: Profiteroles with cream
Clafoutis of fruits
Mendiant, Chocolate Gourmet

So, on that note, I am still so full I can't write anymore and will end this chapter for now. :-)

Fun-Filled Week

2011-01-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon we met Bill and Connie at La Sirenita for the Redneck Mothers jam session. The place was packed and we ended up sitting at a table down on the beach with our toes in the sand. There were other performers as well, but we could just hear them and not see them so they will remain anonymous!

After we had had our fill of music and cerveza we went back to the casa for an appetizer before we headed downtown to El Patio for dinner just after 6PM. El Patio is in the former location of Rooster's Breakfast Place with outdoor sidewalk seating as well as courtyard seating inside. We chose the inner courtyard. All four of us chose a different dinner and all were delicious. Not only delicious, but served simultaneously which is a rarity in Mexico. While we ate there was (taped) pan flute music playing quietly in the background, which later switched to a live Mexican guitar player/singer who was also very good to listen to. It was a wonderful evening.

We checked out Ava's on the way home but there was no seating available to listen to an Elvis impersonator who we first heard last year. He is quite good and we may make the effort one Saturday to make a table reservation. Tonight we just went home to get ready for bed!

And Sunday was a completely lazy day. The most active thing I did was go catch the piglet Cha-Cha for a photo op. (That was prompted by a comment made by my orthopaedic surgeon before my knee replacements.) And the best part of the day was a visit from Bonnee and Vic and catching up on things that have happened since we last saw them.

We had fruit salad for breakfast- I love the fruit down here because it definitely tastes like it is fruit not cardboard, it is ripe instead of crunchy, and it didn't travel through two time zones to hit my bowl! Then lunch was the biggest cheeseburger ever, and supper was ham and potatoes and peas with a side of Mexican beans.

The first part of the week had a few highlights like a trip to La Manzanilla Tuesday to check out a restaurant that moved down from Tenacatita. It is called Fiesta Mexicana and to access it you need to drive across the beach end of the cocodrilo laguna. By the way, the cocodrilo area has become monetized- there is a lady stationed near the access to the pens who collects 5 pesos to let you in to see them up close.

Anyway, it was interesting to go to a new place and find a display explaining the production process involved in the making of raicilla, which is a more primitive type of tequila. They actually had a small still on display along with lots of photos outlining the process, and free samples of raicilla one of which has been aged 3months and the other for 5 years. Guess which one tasted best! The price difference was only 30 pesos so Barry got a bottle of the aged raicilla.

My evening project was completion of a steak and kidney pie to surprise Barry at dinnertime. I had cooked the meat with red wine the day before so I just needed to make gravy and pastry and pop it in the oven. Of course I took photos to remind him how good I was to him! I personally wouldn't go out of my way to find another S & K pie, but it wasn't too bad. I did make a huge pan of veggies to wash it down!

Wednesday was totally a home day, with a surprise visit from Mark, who walked over from Barra along the beach and managed to find the casa without much trouble. We had a good sit in the back yard and he and Barry managed to see a cocodrilo float by while I was inside making soup for lunch.

Coming from an acreage, Mark appreciated all the action in our yard in the form of chickens and dogs. Not the same as cattle, but something to watch anyway. After a short scenic tour around Melaque, Barry dropped Mark back to Barra and we ended the day with a supper of crock pot turkey leg with green salad, pasta salad, and tortillas.

Thursday was a pretty good day with a trip to Manzanillo to see the the large market in the Walmart parking lot. There were vendors from all over Mexico and beyond- I noticed one vendor from Peru, and there were East Indian clothes on display as well. I enjoyed watching the fellow who was making bowls from very long pine needles.

We ran into Bill and Connie so we all went to lunch together at a nearby restaurant, El Vaquero, well-known for its excellent beef. Barry and I both had beef fajitas and Connie and Bill had hamburgers and we were all pleased with our meals. It is an attractive restaurant inside and we left just as musicians were setting up on the second floor dining area.

We managed to check out all three major grocery stores as I was looking for a leg of lamb for our Valentine's Day dinner next month. Pat usually marinates and cooks a 'pierna de cordero' every year but for some reason lamb is off the radar this year. We have a couple of last chance possibilities before we decide to switch to something else.

Friday was filled with general household chores and laundry with brief intermissions when company dropped by. As we were sitting in the living room having a glass of wine before heading out to dinner our neighbour David came by with an interesting visitor. They had come across and caught a large iguana at work that day and he, the animal lover, brought it home to save it from being killed. It was very docile and the skin texture was quite rough when we held it.

Our main event of the day was dinner out with Pat and Garry and Bonnee and Vic at Gigi's Bistro. Every two weeks Gigi has been putting on an international dinner and this Friday was a Thai dining experience. The meal was very good and we were all impressed by her ability to source all the necessary ingredients down here. We had a great table close to the beach so we had a good view of the sunset. The next dinner in two weeks will have an Italian theme.

Saturday morning we met Pat and Garry and family for breakfast at Bananas in Barra. Mark, Jennifer and Chloe were flying out later in the day so it was a farewell celebration. We managed to get a table on the balcony overlooking the ocean. We all had different meals, and they all were served at the same time- once again a minor miracle!

After saying our goodbyes, Barry and I drove into Cihuatlan to check the rib place “Tena” to see if they might have some lamb for sale since they serve it on weekends. After explaining exactly which part of the lamb I wanted to purchase, they agreed that they could supply it for me. Oh happy days! Another problem solved.

An interesting last half of the day was spent at a Mexican pig cookout. I can't call it a BBQ because the entire 120 pound pig was cut into roast-sized chunks and cooked in a huge wok-shaped vat of hot lard over an open fire. We went to the party early to be able to get a look at how it was cooked. Friends we met a few years ago invited us to the party. John and Ann co-hosted it with another couple and there must have been between 90 and 100 people there.

My favourite part of the pig was the crackling, which was served before dinner as an appetizer. The crispy crackling was followed by both bits of outside meat/skin combinations and some softer skin which had, to me, a pretty weird texture. But at least I tried it. The rest of the meat was carved up and served along with a variety of salads brought by the guests, There were also fresh warm tortillas and two varieties of homemade sauces for the meat. This was followed by the BIGGEST cake I have ever seen. (I'd like to see the oven that it was cooked in!) We were all served a large piece of the very tasty cake at the end of our meal.

There was entertainment before and after dinner by both a Mexican singer and a Canadian fellow from Vancouver Island, and a dance floor available to burn off calories after dinner. All in all it was a wonderful afternoon and evening.

And I think I'll end this chapter at the end of the party.

Good Friends, Good Food

2011-01-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday we mainly hung around the casa, with occasional visits over to Glen and Sandy's place and people dropping by our place to say hello. I moved some of my dirt pile around to the garden beds and thankfully got interrupted by company when I was all sweaty and due to stop for a break. It was a good workout and surely helped with eliminating some of the calories ingested at dinner Friday night. Planning ahead, I also put on another batch of Costco U-brew wine.

Later in the day just as I was planning dinner I was summoned over to Glen and Sandy's place for happy hour with Barry and Doug and Gisela. It wasn't long afterwards the menfolk decided to go to our place to watch the football game, leaving the 'girls' visiting at Sandy's. Gisela eventually decided to go home, do a beach walk and experience some peace in her house since her company had just left that day, and Sandy and I decided the game must be nearly over at that point so we went over to our place and joined the guys.

Glen had been talking about taking Sandy to dinner at La Rana but I made the executive decision that he had ingested far too much leg-wobbler to make it that far, and thawed a few extra steaks. As we were finishing the cooking, Jeannie the photographer surprised us at the door. She had just arrived that afternoon and was on her way to dinner with Leone, so she just stayed for a cocktail before heading out. We had salad, steak, mushrooms/onions/peppers by Sandy, a spinach/cheese frittata and garlic toast. Dessert was papaya brought by Sandy and store-bought cookies. It was a fun evening- I think the spontaneous get-togethers are the best.

Sunday brought more dirt moving and then a lot of computer surfing and TV watching to recover. This time I was given a 'stop work' order by the neighbours chickens who decided to take dust baths in the pile! I think there is only one more session left to go before it is all off the driveway.

Early in the afternoon we organized a trek to Bigotes to meet Pat and Garry & Connie and Bill for happy hour. It was a nice sunny, breezy day and a lot of other people had the same idea so it was a bit hard to get a table, but we ended up sitting in a fairly sunny spot overlooking the beach. Duffy and Whiskey managed to stay comfortable alternatively under the table, on a spare seat, or on any available lap that was cool enough.

It was there that we formulated our merger dinner plan, with Pat providing the main course of a yummy prawn/asparagus stir fry and rice, Connie bringing a nice green salad, and us bringing garlic toast and a few sugar free chocolate wafers to accompany Pat's home-made cookies. Another good evening was had by all and we lasted a bit longer than we usually do before I cried uncle and suggested we go home to bed.

Monday was a home day with van washing and laundry—all the regular boring stuff. Titan seems to have caught a cold and was much quieter than normal most of the day with occasional bursts of energy, like when Higgins showed up for instance.

I found out that a very pleasant former neighbour, Aldeo, is in hospital after a terrible fall off his deck. Unfortunately he landed on an old pile of concrete leftover from some work at the house and hurt his head, shoulder and knee quite badly. The Gringo grape-vine was not as efficient as usual because this happened New Year's Eve day. Apparently he laid unconscious and wasn't found until the next day, because everyone who dropped by assumed he must be out when their knocks weren't answered.

Anyway, we determined that the owner of Gigi's Bistro was coordinating people who wanted to help out, so we dropped by and added our names to the list.

Connie and Bill invited us over for supper, so I decided to make a few tarts to donate to the cause. It was a bit tricky since I don't have a tart pan! I rolled out the dough, pinched the sides into little fluted walls, and jammed them all into a small pan so close together that they couldn't collapse. Then I pre-baked them a few minutes before adding spoonfuls of low sugar homemade jam for the final few minutes. It worked!

We had happy hour on their second story deck overlooking the ocean while the sun went down, and then went inside to enjoy our dinner. Connie had made a delicious, tender pork roast, salad, and mixed veggies with potatoes. There were also buns available but we were all too busy devouring the pork to have any. My tarts were tasty coupled with a glass of Baileys liqueur for dessert!

Tuesday was a day for visiting- we went over to see Doug and Gisela in the morning and caught up on things in the neighbourhood before having quesadillas for lunch at home. After lunch we went over to visit Rose and Ken and a few other people showed up there as well.

After visiting Ken and Rose, Barry and I tried to go downtown to pay the telephone bill but the office was closed so we headed over to Bigotes for a couple of cervezas before heading home to feed the dogs. Speaking of dogs, there is a new small addition in the neighbourhood called Dogo, and Alejandro is his owner.

Barry has been craving tacos al pastor for a few days so after the dogs ate we walked a few blocks to a taco stand we spotted earlier. We recognized it as the one that catered at Rose and Ken's party last year, and it was very good. We had two small bottles of beer and a total of nine tacos for only 74 pesos. You can't beat that!

Titan has a cold just now and Dinga usually goes to bed right after dinner, so we left both dogs in the house when we went for tacos. When we returned, a very tired damp Tomas was laying in the front yard and he headed into the house to check if, by any chance, there was any more dinner being served. There wasn't, so he headed off to sleep.

When we head for bed tonight it looks like an eviction order will need to be issued- Titan and Dinga have taken over both sides of the bed instead of Dinga's usual foot of the bed position and Titan's living room couch location!

We worked that one out!

Went downtown to pay the water bill and telephone bill today and then went through the tiangi before heading to lunch at Concha del Mar. The tiangi has become quite large compared to the short market that was here when we first arrived. It now goes right from the beach near Bungalows Mayorca all the way to the football field near the highway with a great variety of merchandise. There is everything from used clothes, to veggies, plastic ware, watches, silver, pottery, coffee, coconut oil, pine needle baskets, and more.

At Concha we sat with people who were down from the Lake Chapala area near Guadalajara- they actually live in the US and come down for the winter. One couple formerly lived in Alaska near Anchorage and now lives in Blaine, and the other couple was from Colorado. When they left we
moved and joined one of the couples we delivered from the airport last week. Our table then chin-wagged with a fellow at the next table who was travelling up the coast towards Mazatlan with his son on a fairly large sailboat anchored out in the bay. There are always interesting people at the beach!

On our way home from lunch we stopped to visit the “Flying Aldeo” and were pleased to see him looking bruised but in good spirits with family looking after him. He has multiple stitches across his forehead, a multicoloured shoulder, and a surgically repaired knee with a bandage on it. The wheelchair they managed to borrow is not optimum because he will need to have one with an extending foot rest since his knee can't bend yet.. Anyway, once we determined that he is on the mend, I decided to buy an apron and call it a cape for any future flights. I just basted on a cloth with “The One,The Only Incredible Flying Aldeo” to personalize it.

We had salad and potatoes and fried chicken for dinner,and as we were having a glass of wine afterwards Bill and Connie dropped in for a visit. It was a pretty lazy but good day from start to finish.

We decided to go out for breakfast at Banana's in Barra Thursday morning, and then head into Manzanillo for a shopping trip. Had such a big breakfast there that we skipped lunch! We did a Walmart shop and then finished off the list at Soriana's before heading home, getting there about dinnertime and finding all three dogs awaiting our arrival.

Our dinner was an appetizer of portabello mushrooms sauteed in butter and balsamic, followed by some unidentified kind of breaded white fish, rice, and asparagus. The mystery fish (frozen and from Alaska) tasted OK, but the texture left something to be desired! Mushy. Blaaaagh.

Most exciting event of the day Friday will be our dinner out at Jennifer and Mark's rental in Barra. It is a waterfront property with a pool and sounds like it is very nice. We are going to take a large antipasto platter for our contribution to dinner. I made some 'instant' pickled veggies and charred and prepped some small apple shaped peppers that looked too cute to be as killer hot as they really are! Then I made more balsamic portabellos, fresh red, green, and yellow peppers, and a variety of salami and cheese to go with the thinly sliced buns I added for the bread component.

The regular part of the day included trimming a hedge, doing more laundry, and putting more of yesterday's groceries in the proper places. Hope the laundry is dry enough to take in before we head to Barra.....I hung it out a bit later than usual because I first went over to Doug and Gisela's place to start the paperwork for this year's FM3 application.

Glen and Sandy dropped by for a pre-dinner Caesar and we had a good chat before it was time to leave for Barra. Somewhere in between chats I managed to get the laundry in, so tomorrow will be folding day. Ironing just never happens down here- I wait for the humidity to relax all the wrinkles.

Dinner at the beach was wonderful. It is a huge beautiful house with a large pool right up to the fence line overlooking the ocean. There is a huge outdoor palapa beside the pool to enjoy the beach view and the living and dining areas of the house are also covered by a huge palapa. The kitchen ceiling is domed brick with a design feature built into it, counters are granite, there is a wide spiral staircase leading to the upper floor, and all in all it is a very impressive residence.

It was once again a pretty full week down here in the south.

What a Start!

2011-01-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve day we tried to meet our company, Kerrie and Debbie, at the downtown bus terminal from about 1PM to 5 PM or so, but did not find them until we finally went home and they were waiting in our back yard! We were waiting for a Primera Plus bus but they ended up arriving on what we lovingly refer to as a “chicken bus”, arriving on the opposite side of the street at an odd time.

A “chicken bus” is not first class with a bathroom on board, but a slower moving, stop in all small towns, no food and drink available kind of bus. Sometimes locals have odd cargo with them,like live chickens in boxes, hence the name.

Kerrie and Debbie did not have the best trip coming down, taking 6 ½ hours instead of 4 hours, but at least they made it before we headed out for dinner at El Marino restaurant with a group of twelve. It was set up nicely and there was live music during and after dinner.

I fed the dogs before we left for the restaurant and Tomas and Dinga were quite happy to stay at the casa, but Titan followed us there (we walked) and after exploring the entire place laid under the table like a good dog. A few small bites of chicken kiev landed near his nose and he was quite content until Barry and I decided to get up and dance to a particularly good tune.

I must say that it was the first time I have ever danced with a dog either hanging onto my finger with his mouth or biting at my dress in an attempt to get me to 'sit stay'! All the Mexicans at the neighbouring tables were laughing like crazy and snapping photos with their phones.

Barry and Debbie had similar difficulties when they tried to dance, with Titan mainly grabbing at Barry's shirt and shorts and Debbie laughing so hard she couldn't keep dancing. Eventually Barry and I managed to get a full dance in with Kerrie hanging onto Titan's collar to make him leave us alone!

After their long travelling day Kerrie and Debbie were in favour of heading home to the casa just after 11PM, getting into pj's and having champagne to celebrate the New Year before heading to bed just after midnight.

Over the next few days we had a good visit, did a bit of exploring, went to a barbeque catered and hosted by our new neighbour Greg, visited Pat and Garry and showed off their house. We introduced Kerrie and Debbie to our Washington neighbours Glen and Sandy, who just arrived with their Doberman, Higgins. We also managed to visit both Bigotes and Concha del Mar.

Part of the entertainment here was fairly regular visits by the neighbours piglet Cha Cha. Every time we spotted it heading for the door we shut it to keep the piglet outside if possible. We did have it in the house more than once, and it managed to check out the back yard a couple of times too. It seems to think it is a dog because it hangs out with them and Titan in particular loves to play with it. More than once I have come across the piglet draped across Titan's back as they hang out together.

With all the stray critters in the yard Barry thinks it is the closest I have ever been to having a farm since we left the Island! The piglet seemed to be having a coconut football game on the grass one day, with the chickens looking on.

Kerrie and Debbie headed back up to the resort at Bucerias (north of PV) Tuesday morning, and I am sure it will seem boring up there after the wildlife here. Kerrie emailed to announce their safe arrival Tuesday afternoon and said she was hitting the beach for a tanning session before dinner. As an added feature, Kerrie reported that Carol James was also at the resort since she now has time to spare.

Wednesday we decided to walk through the tiangi and see what we could see. All we bought was a bunch of radishes, and containers of raspberries and blackberries. The most exciting items this week were the bowls made out of pine needles. They are attractive and well made but we don't need any more stuff lying around so we passed on the temptation.

Lots of our friends were also wandering through and we find it is a good place to visit and keep tabs on who is doing what. After our wander through the entire tiangi we decided to go to Fredi's up on the highway and have seafood for lunch. Barry had a platillo de pulpo diabla (platter of spicy octopus) and I had a ceviche tostada and a small coctel de camarones (shrimp cocktail). We met people from Vancouver and Comox who are staying at La Manzanilla for a short holiday...they joined our table as we were finishing our lunch.

Woke up Thursday with unusual grey skies overhead. It is still warm but very dull this morning. My laundry dried slower than normal but I got it off the line in time for our dinner with Pat and Garry.

Doug and Gisela had given us a nice chunk of frozen tuna and we decided it was big enough to share.

I made creamy yam soup for a starter, then mini-chili rellenos using small yellow peppers. Our tuna was marinated in Japanese soy sauce with just a hint of wasabi, and seared on all sides. We also had brown basmati rice and spinach. This was all followed by berries with brandy and the local festive sweet bread meant for twelfth night celebrations. It is Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings Day bread). Since it was huge, we gave the leftovers to our neighbours and just to be a sh*t Barry stuffed the tiny plastic Jesus back into the bread before he took it over!

Whoever gets the figure is supposed to host a dinner February 2nd for those present, serving tamales, etc. We will do that using the frozen tamales which I made a couple of weeks ago just to see if I could!

Friday afternoon we went to the art gallery in La Manzanilla to see our neighbour's art on display. Ed Gilliam has a very colourful style and often paints buxom Mexican women in an abstract way. It was well attended. We went early so we could get to dinner on time.

Friday's highlight was our Mediterranean dinner at Gigi's Bistro. Pat and Garry called to see if we'd like to join them about 6 PM for a special set dinner, and we thought it sounded good. There were several appetizers ranging from humous and baba ganoush, to olives, to lentil soup, to cumin crisp breads, etc.. That was followed by a main course of lamb, chorizo, and chicken with couscous and vegetable tagine. And to totally immobilize us, we were then served spice cake with chocolate cream sauce and an incredibly sweet Greek-style dessert bar with honey and coconut. We wisely chose to accompany that with espresso coffee to cut the sweetness, then waddled home to roost!

I attempted to burn off some of the possibly 4,000 calories ingested at Gigi's by wheel barrowing more dirt around the yard this morning.

And that was our first week of 2011 in a nutshell!

End of 2010

2010-12-30T08:40:00.000-08:00

Had a nice quiet Christmas dinner at the casa- Barry and I, three dogs, 2 chickens and one rooster in attendance. Piggy did not show up! Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrotnips, brussel sprouts, and homemade cranberry sauce leftover from Thanksgiving at Liana's place. We ate on the back patio overlooking the laguna, and celebrated being able to eat again by having a glass of champagne with our dinner.

We were just too full to really care about the jello I made for dessert- I think Barry snagged a shortbread cookie, but I had no room.

We drove over to visit Pat and Garry, Sue and Bill & the boys and had a drink and played a card game before heading back home to bed. Despite the fact that I totally lack the gene that makes playing games fun, it was quite an easy game to learn and I didn't do too badly. Only one card is dealt per person each round so not too many brain cells were required to keep track of things!

Boxing Day morning we tried to visit Doug and Gisela but missed them when we walked over to their house- they must have been out visiting. Will try again until we succeed.

Boxing Day meant the traditional turkey soup for lunch, and then appies over at Sue's while we awaited the decorated boat sail past after dark. There were probably about 18 boats and they were well decorated and lit up. The rumour that they were to sail to Melaque and back was untrue, and it was a bit disappointing that they stayed so close to downtown and the Malecon because some of them were hard to see. But it turned out the reason they stayed closer to Barra was the wind and choppy seas, so we'll forgive them for the short run.

All in all, it was an excellent first year celebration with good participation and we hope it continues as an annual event. Next year we will likely watch from the Malecon in downtown Barra so we get a better view of the boats.

Monday is the day I will try to make sense out of things in the casa that got out of control while the maid was ill...like getting the clean laundry folded and put away for one thing. I also need to water the garden to keep stuff alive. Barry did a major truck cleanup to get ready for our trip to the airport tomorrow to pick up the Howle's and their friends- they are the kind folks who are delivering our new Shaw receiver to us. I also got the spare bedroom ready for company- Kerrie and Debbie are coming down to visit at New Year's and we will all be joining Bill and Connie and their family for dinner at El Marino.

After our visit to Doug and Gisela's and meeting her son Nelson and his wife from Florida, we found company had dropped by our place and they were heading out after leaving us a note. So we herded them back for a beer and a visit, then Bill and Connie dropped by and joined us.

While Nelson was here Cha Cha the piglet made an appearance- she came into the casa for a drink of milk.

For a change of pace after eating many turkey meals lately, I made poached salmon, potatoes, peas with red pepper, and cauliflower with cheese sauce for supper.

Tuesday we went to Cihuatlan shopping and then to the airport to meet our new best friends from the QCI. We picked up the Howle party of 6 and thrilled them with a cold beverage in the van as we headed for Barra and Melaque to drop them to their homes. It was a good trip and we will all meet again for dinner sometime soon.

That meant that Wednesday morning was spent partly cussing at the dish, receiver, horn, & cable, partly on hold for lengthy periods to Shaw cable and partly just faking it and finally getting honed onto the signal and getting our TV functioning again. At last! And the new receiver operates well with no jumping pictures on our favourite channels- all is well in our world once more.

So we celebrated by heading down to Bigotes for a couple and then one at Concha del Mar to catch up with the gringo gossip. It has been awhile since we were out and about. We lucked into a birthday celebration for Rude and had a yummy piece of birthday cake to share. We ran into Ron and Carol from Comox on the way to Bigotes and had a good visit with them.

The beaches at both ends of town are full. Full of both Mexicans and gringos, and it is hard to find seats at most beach bars. It must be a huge relief for all the businesses in town who have been scratching to make ends meet up until now.

Wednesday once the dogs were fed we headed out for tacos for dinner. We had a combination of chorizo, puerco, and carne asada tacos with jamaica to drink. The bill came to 77 pesos and we were full.

Thursday I plan to do another session of moving my new dirt pile around the yard and pull out the mysterious vigorous weeds that have been appearing all over places where the dirt was previously spread. I wonder where the heck the dirt is from?

And laundry. The never-ending laundry chore is also on the list for today. Tomorrow Kerrie and Debbie arrive, so I'll get caught up on all the regular chores today so I can play the rest of the year!

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year celebration and a Healthy Happy Year ahead.

My Wheels Fell Off!

2010-12-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

Life since my last post was going fine until the dang cold got me. It lurked for a few days and I was able to sort of ignore it, though still aware of its presence, but it finally got my full attention Sunday morning.

Up until then we were having a normal busy week- Wednesday after a home-made hamburger lunch I got my much needed haircut from Angela just in time for the Gringo Day celebration at Concha del Mar.

We joined some friends for beer and munchies along with entertainment by the local transvestite talent from Siboney's, Mexican singers and dancers. We left just before the finale- a dance troupe in elaborate costumes, who were entering as we left.

Thursday was mainly a home day with yard watering and chores, but we ducked out for a tasty fish tacos lunch downtown at a little hole-in-the-wall on the main road near the money exchange alley. On the way, there was an interesting road closure which we drove about a block around- a Mexican worker was sitting in the middle of the road replacing the interlocking paving stones and only bicycles were able to get by!

Once we returned home Pat and Garry dropped by for a cocktail while the cleaning lady was at their place- Mexican (make that all) cleaning ladies are best left with an empty house rather than having people and dogs get in their way and track up the damp clean floors.

I made vichyssoise (alias potato leek soup) for supper with open face cheddar cheese buns for a nice light supper.

We did a tour of the Festival del Mar events on Friday, checking out the sand sculpture on the beach downtown, the art show in the jardin, and the skim board competition near Villas Camino del Mar.

Saturday's main event was dinner with Dave and Sue- appies, yummy arrechara with lots of sides, then dessert of butter tart and ice cream followed by a pretty sunset over the playa.

This was my last great meal before the head cold took over my sinuses and ruined my life. Shivers in the night, even though I was under the covers, meant I had to balance a pillow on top of myself to make it cozy in there.

Sunday I woke up just not hungry or thirsty, but also mighty whiny. We went to Hawaii and the Bodega Aurrera in Cihuatlan to stock up on grub before I totally folded. Napped most of the day, or at least laid down. It sure is hard to sleep when you can't breathe. And it sure sucks to cough when your ribs and head hurt that bad! And I regret not buying shares in a company that produces paper towels.

Barry went over to Pat and Garry's for dinner and I made a chunk of white fish for my supper before heading to bed to read a book.

So Monday and Tuesday were pretty much a total loss for me- I spent Monday in bed and finally surfaced to have a shower Tuesday after eating some poached eggs. Somehow poached eggs are an easy way to get back into the eating game- they are mild yet nourishing. Chicken broth too.

Late Tuesday around bedtime someone in the neighbourhood who had obviously had too much to drink starting a loud tirade/rant sort of thing. It was as if a large stick had been poked into a giant anthill, the amount of rapido emotional Espanol that was flying through the air, with all the family members joining in like a symphony. I shut all the windows on my way to bed to keep the noise level down until it abated.

Later in the night the dogs erupted because someone was taking lumber from the neighbour's yard. It took awhile to settle them down. Hell, I felt like barking myself! But by the time we woke up Wednesday morning all was well again. Except one thing.

By Wednesday morning I had shared my sickness with Barry and he woke up after a shivery night feeling pretty crappy, so now he is the one laying low. I, however, will probably live and I am cooking some light soup for when Barry wakes up again- chicken broth with carrots and celery- rice will be optional.

And Thursday it's more of the same- fruit for breakfast, brothy soup for lunch, and who knows what for supper. Now all I need to do is snag the gas man on his way by because the tank that heats our shower water is empty, and cold showers don't appeal to us right now.

Well Christmas is all about sharing, and I sure did that didn't I!

Hacked but not Shut Down!

2010-12-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

As I was finishing my previous blog a week ago Monday my Yahoo email account was compromised by a Nigerian hacker.

Before I was able to change my passwords on all email accounts and lock him out, all my contacts got a plea for money to be sent to the UK as I had “been mugged”. The nasty t*rd can't even spell properly and I was quite sure my contacts could figure out it was a scam.

What I didn't clue in to is that he forwarded my mail to 'marthabub2u' for a day until I got online with Yahoo tech help and figured it out. So sorry for the hassle folks!

Anyway, life went on, and that night we had dinner at Pat and Garry's along with Alfonso and Ruette- Pat made a ceviche appy then pork hocks in chipotle sauce for a main, with shortbread cookies following. It was most enjoyable evening!

After morning chores Tuesday we went to town & bought beer, dropped into Concha then Bigotes before having tacos al pastor for dinner at Buon Gusto. On the way home we stopped into Ava's briefly to listen to our electrician Jorge singing with his group. He is very good and rumour has it that he used to sing along with Santana before he moved to Melaque. His wife is my hairdresser here.

Wednesday was a lazy house day with laundry, Christmas lights up by Barry and some decorations inside by Anna. Doug and Gisela and later Connie and Bill stopped by to inspect the new lawn.

I made crockpot pork and beans for supper along with wieners and coleslaw, then tea and cinnamon buns for dessert (last of them!). Barry is hinting that he'd like more to magically appear sometime soon.

After breakfast at Rooster's, chatting with Gary and getting the real scoop on their second location opening in Barra soon, we spontaneously decided to head into Manzanillo shopping.

It was a good shopping trip but lunch afterwards was a bust. We went to the Monkey's Chicken place and both our normal and honey garlic wings tasted mainly of vinegar! Maybe the brownish pre-cooked-sitting-on-the-counter regular sized chicken would have tasted better, but wasn't going to take a chance. We came home and had steak and mushrooms to get over it! As a note, Doug swears that the regular chicken is very good and he always likes to eat there so maybe, after a thousand years have past and I am
over my bad memory, we will try again.

Garden chores occupied me the following morning as I moved some dirt to the beds and watered the yard. In the early afternoon, Bill & Connie and Pat & Garry and Barry & I all went to Cococabanas on Isla Navidad for lunch, then afterwards to Hector's Q Club in Barra simply for instructional purposes. (Barry was the only one who knew where it was and we all needed to know!) Bill did the driving- thanks Bill!

After all that excitement we just had lettuce wraps for a light supper.

Saturday the same group of us went to listen to The Redneck Mothers at
La Sirenita. There was also an open mike session where first a choral group sang some melodic but fairly churchy music for a beach bar, a young guy sang some of his own material, then Arlie played his guitar and sang.

After that, we all headed to Concha del Mar for dinner- I had Camarones Melaque, which are large, bacon-wrapped shrimp, and Barry had Pulpo con Ajo (garlic octopus). Yum!

Sunday, Barry got up early and went fishing with Doug and Jim the fireman. Barry brought home two fish- the larger one a sierra and a smaller fish I forget the name of.

While he was gone I took the dogs for a walk and then moved some of my dirt pile around the yard to various garden beds. The new dirt is a very fine soil and would be better mixed with some peat and sand, but that can happen later as a top dressing that I hoe in. Actually, there is plenty of sand already since that is what the yard consisted of in the first place!

I already had liver planned for dinner that night, so we saved the fish for Monday.

Monday, Pat and Garry came for dinner- we had bbq'd fish, coleslaw, ratatouille and a creamy blackberry/mango dessert.

We were having a glass of wine at the front of the casa when they arrived, and watching the neighbours little pig root around in the sand. When Pat and Garry and the dogs got out of the car, Duffy was particularly interested, thinking it must be a small dog, then quickly backed away and went in the house when he discovered it was some sort of alien!

Other than the pig rooting in the front, and the chickens roosting in our backyard tree, we were entertained by a small frog who jumped out of the paper towel roll and hopped across the table past the appetizers before hopping over to the stairs to hide from the dogs.

Tuesday we decided to join the Canadian contingent in the Festival del Mar Parade which started at the Melaque end of town and continued through San Patricio and into Villa Obregon before returning to the main square in San Patricio.

This is the first year of what will be an annual event, and the excitement level is high. We had thought we might walk for awhile, then deke out, but it was so much fun we walked the entire route and then watched the motorcycle show before heading to Bigotes for another beer on the way home. (Our leader, Bruce, had mercifully provided a nice cold Modelo beer during the last leg of the parade since we were all getting mighty parched!)

So that is what it is like to be retired and have nothing to do. And if I didn't make notes along the way I'd lose track of it all!

What a Week!

2010-12-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

It started out normally enough last Saturday with a trip to Concha del Mar for cerveza and then then Chinese food at home- sweet & sour chicken balls, stir fry veg, and rice.

We did have to take Titan to Beto the vet due to some failed stitches in his recent neuter surgery and he was prescribed three days of antibiotic meds to get the swelling under control before repairs could be made. He must have been too active after surgery but I am not sure how you make a rambunctious dog slow down.

Sunday after casa chores we made a trip to Cihuatlan to shop and my mystery ingredient of the day was a half a pigs head to cook in the crockpot for the dogs. Not even dogs should have to eat the same thing all the time! Mixed with rice, it was a hit, and disappeared in a flash.

Once we returned we had a sociable day with Doug, Dave and Sue dropping by and then later Gisela stopped in for a glass of wine. While we chatted I made pizza dough and popped it up on the roof in the sunshine to rise quickly while I chopped the toppings up. (My other reliable way to make dough rise quickly is to put the bowl in the van when the sun is hitting it.) In no time at all I had two pizzas to take over to Pat and Garry's for the Grey Cup game.

Bill and Connie picked us up and we were joined by Don, Pat and Garry's new neighbour from Calgary. It was a good evening but, in my opinion, a bad game because the wrong team won!

Monday saw an escalation of the back yard crab wars, and I managed to murder two and miss one. (I flood the crab holes and wait for them to pop out for air, then clobber them). I also did my nearly daily ritual of watering the road to keep the dust level down and believe it or not a small crab popped out from under a rock in the road- I let him skitter off to live under the boat trailer across the road.

The rest of my day was spent waiting patiently but unsuccessfully for my coconut oil delivery to show up. Barry decided to scrape the wrought iron gate to prep it for paint- with all the scrolls, etc. that is a job and a half! Doug loaned him a wire brush for the drill to give him some help. It has taken a few part days already since he can only work in the morning before the sun hits it.

Dinner tonight was a crock pot chamorro stew (pork hocks) and it turned out quite tasty but not as good as at El Fogon. I managed to get Titan's third and final pill into him so tomorrow we will go back to the vet for stitch and bitch.

After dinner we attempted to Skype Martha and Myrna, Barry's sisters, but couldn't get through due to some phone blocking system to screen out unknown callers. To get past it we were supposed to push certain buttons on the phone, but computers don't work for that! We ended up getting in touch with his sister-in-law Edith and then his niece Janice though, so that was good.

Without any breakfast Tuesday morning we whisked Titan into the van and went to wait for the vet at his place of business, El Granero. He arrived just after 9 AM and sedated Titan right in the van so he was carried into surgery already passed out. By 11 AM we were able to pick him up and take him home in a very groggy state, with legs that operated like a drunk. He wanted to get out of the house so I put him on a leash and walked him around the yard until he was finally able to determine that he could not pee like a boy dog standing on three legs, and went anyway. He was then relaxed enough for a siesta.

While Titan was at the vet we had visits at the front door from three chickens and then one little orphan piggy- the rest have died it seems. Ronnie was trying to have the piglet follow him to the store but by the time they went past our house the little pig chickened out, squealed, and headed for home.

After waiting all day for Estafeta and coconut oil, I found out that the order had not been shipped yet since it was incomplete. Arrrrghhhh! It would have been nicer to email me that info so I wasn't trapped in the casa all day....again.

Without our Shaw receiver we have developed coping mechanisms- we get some BCTV newscasts about a day late on the computer and also use stations like CKNW and CFNR to keep us in the loop with what is going on at home. It would be merciful if BCTV would alternate ads in their newscasts- it is a form of Chinese water torture now as the same ad repeats at every break until it gets etched in your brain. I finally decide to hit mute to cope with the problem, so the ad doesn't work anyway.

Wednesday ended up being laundry day, then I planted a tomato plant (started from seed) in one of those tomato hanger things. That is my attempt to keep the plant safe from the darn chickens- they scratch up everything I plant in the yard. I'm having the same trouble with the corn and squash seeds.

Barry washed the van and it looked so good I decided 'ohwhathteheckwithit' and went to the tiangi instead of waiting at home for my oil delivery- rumour has it that they don't deliver to Melaque on Wednesdays anyway. Then we went to Bigotes for awhile and found out there was free food for gringos after 5 PM, so we went home, fed the dogs, and came back for vino tinto and a light supper of pescado and coleslaw- it was very nice.

We sat with Maurice and Ron and were joined by a Mexican family who now live in Wyoming, but come every year to holiday in Melaque. They were very nice and if the note I wrote on her napkin doesn't get lost we may connect on Facebook later.

Thursday once again I stayed home waiting for the invisible delivery truck and Barry went out cruising. He ended up checking out Hector's Q Club in Barra and met up with Fred and Sharon and two other couples. Our friendship with Fred and Sharon goes back to the first year we came down here in the motorhome and parked near Bungalows Pacifico.

We all used to grab a glass of wine and play like Mexicans, sitting out on the sidewalk watching traffic go by and talking to tourists. So, right about sunset, the six of them all showed up at our house and we sat out in the front yakking over a few drinks just for old times sake. It was fun!

While Barry was painting the metal gate and I was watering and gardening Friday, Greg from the new swanky fourplex down the road came by to ask if we could use some free topsoil. They ordered a load of dirt to prep their yard for the Open House at 7PM that evening, and it ended up being way more than they needed. All we had to do was show up quick!

Of course, mention free dirt to a gardener and they are off like a shot- we threw a tarp down in the van, grabbed a couple of garbage cans, a 5 gallon pail and shovels and away we went. We managed to scoop it all in three trips and dumped it out on a tarp in front of the Boler. That's a good incentive plan to get it deposited around the yard because we can't get the Boler out if it doesn't get moved.

Make that a double 'Whoohoo'! After getting the van vacuumed out, having lunch and showering/changing we were offered free rolls of sod that were also left over from their project, so we threw a tarp back in the van and did another three loads of sod (man that stuff is heavy!). Mexican sod is a very coarse grass that hopefully doesn't get too tall or we may need to buy a goat or a weed-eater to deal with it. It got piled on top of the dirt pile, then we went through motions of cleaning up all over again.

I felt like we won the lottery, especially since our coconut oil delivery finally showed up the same day!!!

Their new fourplex was in great shape for the Open House at 7PM- there are two units for the two owners up on the third level with a super view overlooking the laguna, then two identical units on the second floor that are available for rentals, then a large common area on the main level with a living and a bar area overlooking a huge solar-heated pool. The stairway is a feature on the outside front (pool side) of the structure. Stairs down on the laguna side lead to a small sandy area, a storage room and a gate out to the malecon (walkway) along the laguna.

We ended the evening having dinner with Pat and Garry at La Rana (The Frog) restaurant just around the corner so we all walked there from the Open House. The place was busy and the food was good.

I was so excited when I got up early on Saturday morning that I went out and laid sod wearing my pyjamas! It only took about an hour to finish the job and it looks good. There was enough to finish the area just off our patio as far as the flowered hedge- so perfect it was like we measured and ordered just the right amount of sod!

The day got nothing but better since after getting the laundry done Barry and I had lunch up the highway at La Sierra, followed (after a siesta) by the most scrumptious pork roast dinner at Ken and Linda's with their friends Ed and Janette. We got stuffed to the gills and I'm thinking it was the best pork roast ever! Linda's yard is decorated to the max- puts us to shame, so we need to get our lights up rapido!

While Barry finished painting the metal gate Sunday morning I went grocery shopping in Cihuatlan, then drove up to the bank there to get money at the ATM. As I came down the side street I realized that, once again, I was trapped by a parade. I decided to abandon the van in the street and walk to the ATM, and by the time I returned I had a couple of vehicles trapped behind me as the parade had passed by. I had it in motion just before the first honks occurred. As it turned out, that was the best and easiest parking spot within several blocks, so I am glad I did it.

Irma's combination celebration- birthday and opening of her two new bungalows- was at 2PM that afternoon. The two attached bungalows have the living room and kitchen on the main floor and the bedroom and bathroom up an outside spiral staircase on the second floor above. She used antique doors from a church in Tomatlan to add character and another feature we all loved was the polished concrete floors in the bedroom with a cocodrilo painted into it. The staircase is very attractive as well with a polished concrete handrail that makes quite a statement.

Irma provided food and drink for about 80- 100 people from the neighbourhood, Mexicans and tourists alike, and a good time was had by all. After appetizers and drinks of all descriptions (I started with coconut water), we had a wonderful meal with salad, mixed rice, goat stew, etc. then huge, delicious cupcakes following the entertainment.

First there were three dancers, colourfully dressed, who performed a modern ballet. Then a group of young singers did a couple of acts, followed by four ballerinas who were very good and very pretty. Miguel from Bigotes was there singing, as was another fellow I don't know, and there was also canned music. We were encouraged to dance but we were all too full from the meal.

Villa Xochipilli is a beautiful property with a gracious hostess- a perfect place for a party. After chatting with friends and neighbours, exploring Irma's new second floor terrace, and generally having a wonderful afternoon we headed home just before sunset.

Bed came early since Saturday night the neighbourhood had been treated to a party that lasted until nearly 5 AM Sunday morning and we all felt a bit sleep deprived. I had a longer than normal sleep-in to 7:30 AM this morning.

At least I feel rested up for whatever this week will bring.

Mainly About Critters

2010-11-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

We had another busy week down here. Our regular weekly tour through the tiangi was pretty non-productive since we didn't see anything we needed or desperately wanted. That led to a wander through town and a drive out to Cuastacomate and then La Manzanilla. Another day we went out to lunch at Grand Bay Golf Club on Isla Navidad and then did a bit of exploring with Bill and Connie while we were there. Found some gorgeous views overlooking Barra de Navidad.

Friday was my first day volunteering at the Cisco Spay/Neuter Clinic which was held at the San Patricio Ejidal hall. My shift was from 1PM to 5 PM and I was in the dog recovery section.
A few straw mats were placed on the floor with towels laid in the centre of each mat. The vets carried the dogs out to the recovery room, usually by holding their feet and letting the dogs hang down in front of them as they walked. Smaller dogs and pups were easier to carry in their arms of course.

Since the dogs arrived still under the effects of anaesthetic, it was easy to check them over for fleas and ticks, check their temperatures, clip nails, clean their ears /treat for ear mites as required, and give them an oral dose of magic potion which takes care of a multitude of other problems dogs down here are subject to. As they started to revive, they were placed in kennels along the wall to await pick-up by their owners.

It was a good shift and since I was now familiar with the drill, I decided to take Titan in on Saturday morning for his operation. Turns out Saturday was parade day to celebrate Revolution Day and it was like driving through a maze trying to find a way to the clinic without getting hung up in the groups congregating for the parade. I ended up going up to the highway and back in through downtown and parked just outside the front door.

The parade started going by with all its loud music and, since he was terrified, Titan was a handful to say the least. A fellow assisted in weighing him and we managed to stuff him backwards into a kennel to await his fate. Then I went out to the car with the clippers to deal with Dinga's dew claw which was curling towards her leg, soon to puncture it. She of course was agitated from all the parade noise, the weird car trip (had never had a car ride before) and being left alone while hearing Titan complain. A simple snip was all it took, and after I returned the clippers I sat with her in the van because we were now trapped by the parade.

About an hour later we were able to head back to the casa. Barry had gone fishing with Doug, but returned in time to deliver me back to the Clinic for my Saturday shift. Saturday I was promoted and taught to run the autoclave machine sterilizing surgical instruments for the vets. There is a way to stack the assorted instruments and a special way to wrap them so they are easy to unwrap in surgery. There is a lot of waiting time while the cycle is completing, but you need to be there when it ends.

Barry brought the two-way radios so later in the afternoon when Titan was ready to go home I was able to call him to be Titan's taxi ride. He left the 'groggy doggy' sleeping on a blanket on the floor and went to Bigotes to wait for the end of my shift.

Two days after surgery Titan came down with kennel cough, most likely due to the stress he went through, then two days later Dinga caught it from him. It is sort of like a smokers cough and happens mainly in the morning or if they are too active. Neither dog seems sick from it so we are just keeping an eye on them, assuming it will resolve itself soon.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, or rather at the next door neighbours, a few tiny newborn piggies were dropped off last week because their mother didn't produce any milk and couldn't/wouldn't look after them. We donated a quilt to help keep them warm and Julie at the Cisco Clinic donated another warm blanket. David has managed to save three of them by bottle feeding with baby formula and they are now running free in their yard. We can tell exactly when feeding time is by all the happy snorks and grunts we hear through the brick fence!

On American Thanksgiving we were treated to a wonderful feast of bbq'd ribs, shish kebabs, and plantain at Doug and Giselsa's house on the playa. Another Canadian couple joined us and we all had a great evening. I made a dessert of pumpkin pie filling without the crust- I just made a small cookie shaped piece of pie crust to garnish the top because none of us need to get any larger.

We have been more or less trapped in the casa for a few days waiting for a delivery of coconut oil from Tecoman- today we plan to get out of the house and go to Concha del Mar for a cerveza break because we are certain that the delivery company, Estafeta, will not deliver on weekends anyway. I found out after about two days of waiting that the order hadn't shipped yet due to a malfunction in their filling equipment. Arrrghhhh!

So we're off to wiggle our feet in the sand while we visit folks and have some refreshments- see you later!

Busy Doing Nothing Much

2010-11-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

Lots has happened since my last confession but be danged if I can remember all of it.

Life is into a normal routine of doing a minimal amount of chores with a lot of fun activities and visiting around them. There is often laundry to do in the morning, along with watering the plants, weeding a bit, cleaning the van, vacuuming the casa, re-arranging the storage room, raking leaves in the front of the house and the 'oh so Mexican' watering of the road in front of the casa to cut down the dust level.

One major event that happened recently was the logging operation to remove the huge, beautiful but evil ornamental fig tree near our driveway. I loved that tree but it was sending roots into the neighbours cistern and would soon get into ours as well.

You know the kind of tree I mean- the ones that no matter what we do to cater to them in our Canadian houses, drop leaves and get scrawnier every year. In Mexico however, no matter how much you whack them with a machete they just go "hey thanks!" and grow even more robust.

Barry was out fishing with Doug last Sunday when the tree came down. The neighhbours all went at it with machetes and a chain saw and in no time at all it was carted away (two trips)in their pickup truck never to be seen again. I went up on our roof to direct branches away from both our telephone line and the decorative rain spouts, and managed to keep the branches far enough away to prevent damage. At the last minute I remembered to go downstairs and get a couple of photos to commemorate the event.

Barry managed to come home with a couple of pan-sized pescado for our supper. A previous day we were given a nice chunk of another yummy fish, so all the leftovers were turned into a creamy chowder for lunch.

Another favourite pastime is either having people over for lunch or supper or going out to someone's place. Pat and Garry, Bill and Connie, and Doug and Gisela have all been included in this at various times over the past while.

Barry and I have also gone to Alcatraz in Barra and El Fogon in Manzanillo
on our own and had some delicious meals- Barry's favourite at Alcatraz is the Octopus a la Diabla

and I really enjoyed the Puerco Molcajetes

and at El Fogon our absolute favourite is the Chamoro, which is a tender and very tasty pork shank in yummy red sauce. It is big enough to share for lunch.
They also make the best roasted salsa, and none of us can figure out how to duplicate it at home.

The casa is a tad more organized now. We went to Walmart in Manzanillo and bought two more sets of plastic shelving to handle all our stuff in the storage room, or "basement" as we call it. That meant the totes that were in limbo in the hallway are now put away and the place is looking a lot better.

On the way home we stopped to buy a chunk of yaka fruit and figured out how to extract the funny orange fruit sections from the inside and remove the hard seeds from each section. It tastes a bit different than any other fruit but not bad.

Barry has just washed the van so we are ready to head over to the tiangi for a look see.

Halloween and Beyond

2010-11-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

It was only the second time we have experienced Halloween in Mexico and this time we were better prepared. I bought candy, phony plastic teeth, and spider rings to make up small ziploc bags of loot since most kids here don't come equipped with a bag of any kind. I added in brightly coloured Sears balloons that were donated by Richard in Prince Rupert. (Thanks Rich!)

I made up 30 bags and had extra Tootsie rolls available for emergencies, then Doug and Gisela came over to join us bringing a bag of large suckers. Doug came dressed in a wig, Gisela in a fancy mask, and we pulled out our scraggy blond wig to take turns dealing with visitors. The funny part is that in most cases we were dressed up more than the kids!

Our close-by kids had been reminding us that Sunday would be Halloween ever since we arrived, and they were the first ones to come to the door, which was decorated with a candle set in sand in a plastic pumpkin. They were all pleased with the results of their chant of 'Hall-o-ween! Hall-o-ween! Hall-o- ween!' and left with their bags of loot. Several more groups of kids came over the next couple of hours and by the end of the evening all the bags were gone and a good many candy bars as well. We estimated that there might have been about 50 visitors and only about a half dozen with any sort of costume.

The funny part of the whole experience that it was a very quiet night with absolutely no fireworks around. On most other occasions there are fireworks galore. Perhaps they are being saved for the Day of the Dead celebrations which are coming soon. (PS- nope, all quiet today too!)

And with regards to the ongoing saga of our mysterious Mexican power problems, we had yet another electrician, Jorge, come and check the system out in the casa because we were still having brown-outs when something like the microwave was turned on. He did various tests and checked quite a few of the connections with his bare-footed Oaxacan helper Victor, and determined that it could very well be a problem either up the power pole or within the new meter itself. Luckily when he phoned it in to CFE they had a truck here within about an hour and since they checked it out it has been better. We still don't trust it and will reserve judgement until we have tried it for awhile.

In the meantime, after many computer games worth of being on hold with TELMEX regarding my internet problem (still no connection), I was finally helped by an English speaking person who determined that there was a problem somewhere with the server at their end and they will be looking into it sometime today or tomorrow. I can hardly wait to get online again in the comfort of my own home.

It's time to go to the ATM for a reload of pesos- our travel money has finally run out after all these minor electrical bills, new parts for the pump, etc. not to mention our dinner out the other night. And it was a successful mission thank goodness- seemed like the ATM was being reloaded as we stood there because first one machine and then the other was out of service temporarily. Anyway, having it work was sort of like winning a minor lottery so we celebrated by heading to Bigotes for a couple of cervezas.

There was a tiny pup there belonging to Miguel the oyster man. I think it's name is Vaca (cow) and it is white with sort of Holstein black markings here and there. A lady ended up holding the little ball of fluff while it had a siesta draped over her shoulder, and when it was time for her to leave I became the new puppy-sitter. It is possible to drink beer with one hand and puppy-sit with the other so I was quite happy to oblige and I am ever so grateful that it didn't happen to pee on my shirt! I eventually handed it off to its owners and they took it home with them.

After a dinner of our leftover spicy chamora stew (pork hocks) we decided to drive over and visit Pat and Garry for an hour or so. We found them recovering from a couple of intense days scrubbing out their pool and going to Manzanillo to organize their telephone and internet as well as do their first major shopping trip to stock their cupboards. For some reason I got sleepy early last night and we headed home and went to bed early.

So that meant that by 4 AM Tuesday morning I was awake! Yikes. Oh well, I managed to quietly fold all our laundry before deciding at about 5 AM it would be fine to start the coffee pot and read my newest book for awhile before Barry woke up and joined me. Now that the pumps are working reliably again, this will be the day I wash all the Boler bedding and get it ready for either visitors or the trip home.

We emptied the Boler out in order to make it lighter and easier to manoeuvre when we back it into the yard for the winter, but haven't yet got it parked- it is still out on the street mucking up one of our parking spaces. The Boler move is planned for early Wednesday morning because we will have a large tree removed from the driveway entrance later in the day and we need to clear the runway.

So, Tuesday, my mission was accomplished on the laundry end of things, and Jorge and sidekick came to install our new fans in the living room and Master bedroom, install the old living room fan in the storage room, put up bathroom light fixtures (formerly bare bulbs), and add a new light fixture in the laundry room. Our old bedroom fan was given to our neighbour Sabas who indicated he'd like to have it when we talked to him last week. Later in the week Jorge will install our replacement kitchen taps as well as some replacement bathroom taps because the old ones totally corroded in no time at all down here in the humidity. The kitchen taps are a set that was unearthed in the attic clean-up campaign at the lake, and which most likely came from the Cassiar Avenue files.

Did my daily call to check on Telmex internet progress and was informed that this is a National Mexican holiday and the repair staff is not in today. I'm thinking it is Day of the Dead, and somehow that seems appropriate.

It was such a busy day here today that I opted for dinner out at Concha del Mar and both Barry and I had the daily special, garlic shrimp. A few more friends have arrived and we chatted with them for a bit before heading over to visit Bigotes on the way home. Joyce and Gary from 'Roosters' breakfast restaurant were there with friends so we got an official update on their expected re-opening in about ten days or so. Everything is on Mexican time here for sure, but Gary is hopeful. Then in about a month or so their new additional rooftop area will open, and the views from up there should be stupendous.

Wednesday we were so busy we didn't even make it to the tiangi. Tracie stopped by with her daughter and grandson, 'string-ball Fred' dropped in and then Jorge showed up to complete the job list. We had managed to get the Boler into the side driveway before the swarms arrived just in case the tree attack happened today (but it didn't). We have new kitchen taps and bathroom taps in both banos, as well as rheostats on the store room fan and the bedroom fan. While Barry helped Jorge I managed to arm wrestle the Boler along the side driveway foot by foot and parked it in its winter resting place. When Jorge and Barry got to the last job of fixing the pipe leak on the roof above the back bathroom, the glue/cement/sticky-shit caused some grief and let go a couple of times before we decided to leave it overnight to cure and see if that works. That made us late for dinner at Pat and Garry's.

Anyway we eventually got to Barra and enjoyed mango margaritas and appies before a dinner of Caesar salad, grilled bread, and fresh camarones au natural with both diablo and garlic butter sauces, followed by fresh fruit for dessert. It was a great dinner and comparing notes on our progress during the past few days made for lively conversation. They hope to drive over between chores sometime tomorrow to see our improvements. Their local handyman is in the process of re-coating their roof and they are still getting their pool set up, but are almost under control.

And the bomba test Thursday morning went well thank goodness- there were no leaks when we turned the pump on before breakfast, so showers will be full steam ahead with warm pressurized water instead of tepid gravity fed water. Small things make us happy here.

This morning I made almond meal pancakes for breakfast with butter, warm homemade raspberry (low sugar) jam, and diet syrup. Can't remember that last time we had pancakes- it was a treat. Titan and Dinga came for breakfast this morning and discovered that pancakes are OK food. Dinga (not sure if that is her real name, but it is what Gisela calls her) is a medium sized slightly needy dog who loves to be petted and talked to. She belongs to our house watcher Maira and her family, and lives with our other frequent visitor, Fuzzyface, across the street from Doug and Gisela's casa.

We did a bit of grocery shopping before having lunch at Ayala's where we ran into Tracie and her family, and then a beer at Bigotes before heading home. Gisela dropped by for a visit and a glass of wine before dinner which tonight was green salad, liver and onions, and 'Potatoes Anna'.

And to make our day complete, Bill and Connie dropped in after dinner for a short visit- they just arrived in Melaque today and came over to report in. Of course they were pretty tired from travelling so we just had one glass of wine before they went home to bed.

I'm so excited to finally have internet in the casa that I am going to post this tonight!

Too Much Stuff!

2010-10-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

When unpacking, and it is in the humid high 80's F, a person starts to wonder why in the name of sweet bejesus they managed to pack so much stuff into a van and Boler. It has taken days to decant all the essential sh*t out of the vehicles, and we may have learned our lesson- less is more.

There were actually some happy surprises in there, like more wine on board than we thought. We, however, discovered one damp section in the bowels of the Boler that may have been cause by a wine leak. In any case it caused me to immediately get a batch of wine brewing to eliminate one of the soggy cartons, so we are well on the road to a stress free life here.

The bomba (pump) on the roof problem was a bit more intense than we thought and we admitted defeat and hired an electrician to rewire the thing after our attempts fizzled. Having power dim when pumps turn on is not how I want to spend the winter, and so rather than take a course on how 200 wiring adapts down to 110 and which dang wires actually go where, we had a fellow recommended by our dentist show up today to give us a hand. The expected 11 AM arrival was actually more like 1 PM, but since it was on the same day it is a small victory.

Gisela had informed me that there were still large fresh mangos available in the tiangi, so I popped out to snag a couple, leaving Barry waiting for Reyes the electrician. I bought a couple to eat fresh and/or maybe make a couple of mango margaritas (they are BIG), then stopped by the butcher shop to stock up on bacon and chicken and pork loin for future dinners before heading home.

As I arrived back at the casa a pleasant fellow on a bicycle was riding past and he turned out to be the electrician. Having him show up by bicycle was a tad unnerving, but he turned out to be totally competent and got us back in good running order in a short time. It just cost 150 pesos and a can of coke to get the job done.

In other news, we have checked in at Bigotes for cervezas and lunch. Conch Del Mar for cervezas and an appie, and Mario's for a supper of tacos which cost about $8 CAN. We have run across a lady called Mien (Min, short for Wilhemina) at both Bigotes and Concha as well as Hawaii, the gringo grocery store. We're getting to know her since she lost her husband to cancer in March and is still feeling a bit lost. We admire her for continuing to take her winter holiday without her partner, just as Paulette has done. With more tourists arriving each day now there will be more and more company/diversion for her. Good news is she managed to sell her Calgary cabin while she was here and her son is handling the Canadian paperwork for her- one more thing off her mind.

We plan to head to Manzanillo Thursday to pick up a new modem, which will make me very happy since we have no internet at the casa yet. My one brief internet session was at Doug and Gisela's place a couple of blocks away on the beach, and I know there will be a bunch more emails when I finally get online again.

The yard is looking fine and this year we have a few small limes on our tree- they are hanging on later than usual which we appreciate since they are good squeezed into a cerveza in the afternoon. The neighbours report that they have on occasion seen a crocodile sleeping on the beach below our yard early in the morning so I will be especially cautious when I take my morning coffee down to the laguna. I will be declaring war on the f'ing land crabs that have drilled holes in the yard below several plants. My foot actually landed in one major crab tunnel yesterday! I mentioned a reference to Caddyshack and gophers in the previous post, and it will be more or less the same treatment here if they don't pack their bags and leave first!

On the theme of local critters, Tomas ( Momma's former beau) has been coming here for meals for a few days, there is a new young male dog next door called Titan. Fleur (alias Daisy) and Canela are reportedly still at the neighbour's ranch, and Fuzzyface has come to call a couple of times already. We are awaiting the arrival of Higgins, Sandy and Glen's Doberman, and will greet his arrival with a Johnsonville brat, as per usual. (Haha Glen!).

Our Manzanillo modem mission was marvellous (we should have gone Monday ;-) ). We had hardly any time to wait in line and since we still had a credit on our phone account, we didn't even have to pay anything today. We hooked it up once we got home to the casa and will now have to wait for the TELMEX office to switch it on before we get to use it. That could take awhile.

While we were in town we had lunch at Tacos Don Julio- I had two pescado (fish) tacos and Barry had a chorizo and a pescado taco. They bring a cup of seafood soup with the fish tacos, a free nopales appy, and enough condiments to sink a ship. Just two tacos and we were completely stuffed.

Then we did a small wander through Sorianna, which is like a Mexican Walmart-type store with an assortment of food, booze, clothing, appliances, and household goods. I just picked a few things that weren't available in Melaque so it was a light load coming home.

We are expecting Pat and Garry to arrive any time now since they were in Washington about the 23rd if I remember correctly, and they will travel quickly since they aren't towing a trailer this year. It will be good to see them again and I'm sure they'll have lots to report once they arrive. Connie and Bill (from Alberta) called from Arizona and said to expect them around the 5th of November. The regular clan is beginning to gather here.

And no sooner did I write that, but Pat and Garry showed up at our doorstep Friday evening! It was good to catch up with all their news and hear how their trip went coming down. I managed to throw a dinner together for the four of us and we chatted outside for a few hours before they headed home to bed. We'll stop by their place Saturday for happy hour, then we all plan to go out to dinner at 'Alcatraz' in Barra and see how Tito is making out in his new venture.

I woke up about 6 AM this morning and have already had my second cup of coffee, read a few more chapters of my latest book, trimmed the small hedge in the back yard, and fed Titan. Barry is still sawing logs and it's after 7 AM now. But he finally woke up just before I starved to death and we had bacon and eggs for breakfast before I got another two loads of laundry done and hung on the line to dry. (There seems to be laundry regular and often because we change clothes when we get hot and sweaty.)

Still no internet connection Saturday and the mysterious Mexican manual says we need to wait 72 hours before we get all hissy about it. Oh bother!

Dinner Saturday night was great- had a nice visit. Today I am getting ready for Halloween- the local kids make sure to remind us every day that Halloween is coming Sunday! Will report on that later- bye for now.

California to Melaque 2010

2010-10-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

We were able to fill the time in California quite easily. Friday was laundry and recovery day, interspersed with dog walks for Ariel, who was very happy to have willing humans in the house during the day for a change.

A fairly long day with kid activities after work was followed by dinner out at Indochine a few blocks walk away. Yuka and Dennis know the menu well and selected several delicious dishes, including some of Sarah and Sydney's favourites.

Saturday morning we went over to Ohlone School to help with their work bee to get the school ready for a fall celebration the following week. Dennis and I started out by cleaning bee hive parts, then I switched over to creating a pirate scarecrow to be raffled off in a fund-raiser. Other people were weeding the school veggie gardens and fixing critter pens.

It is an interesting school because they have resident animals and chickens as well as an organic vegetable garden. The kids all learn early in life which bits of leftover lunch are suitable for the compost heap and where the heck eggs actually come from since they take turns caring for the animals.

Later on I got to see Sydney's dance class- both tap and ballet. I'm certain she is the best one in the class! It was fun to get to see her learn various steps.

Then Barry, Yuka and I had a good shopping trip to Kohl's (I love that store!) followed by a quick trip to the Korean store to pick up my new favourite Korean chili paste as well as seaweed snacks to replace their stash after I raided it! They are a yummy snack that is not available in Mexico.

Dennis and I went grocery shopping in anticipation of their dinner for a few friends Sunday. Dennis made huge racks of ribs, slow cooked and succulent, as well as a huge bowl of coleslaw. I made chicken legs/thighs and a creamy strawberry dessert.

We were introduced to the magic of Netflix and watched various shows on demand over the weekend- it is a good system. Enjoyed seeing Caddyshack again as it will give me ideas for eliminating some land crabs in the Mexican garden.

The weekend was over too soon, and Barry and I headed out fairly early Monday after one more load of laundry. We had a good lunch of leftover ribs (thanks Dennis) overlooking a huge reservoir on the route from Gilroy over to Bakersfield. The attendant at the tourist desk there said a lot of the water comes from the Mt. Shasta area and is piped in at night.

We spent the night at Walmart on Rosedale in Bakersfield and shared a Cowboy (meaning honking huge) prime rib dinner, having learned our lesson about huge portions there in previous years. I had a huge salad as a side dish and Barry had the baked beans.

Tuesday the memorable part of the day came as we drove along I 10 in California and the sky fell. An horrific rainstorm acccompanied by hail was just blinding for a few minutes and everyone was going super slow with their blinkers on. One semi even parked off to the side it was so blinding. We noticed a few casualties along the road as we continued, but made it to our regular Shell station in Gila Bend in time for supper.

A nearby RV park had free wireless and I was able to send an update about our progress from there.

The following day was a short drive to Nogales giving us lots of time to get our Mexican car insurance and stock up on grub for travelling. We had lunch at a Chinese buffet up the hill from Walmart before getting our shopping done, and then dinner was steak cooked in the Boler with enough leftovers for our first dinner in Mexico.

Crossing the border went smoothly since with our FM3's we no longer need to get vehicle identifications done every year. We were across by 10:30 AM and had a good trip as far as Ciudad Obregon, where we decided to land for the night at Walmart before 5PM. Dinner was easy- Caesars and leftover steak with salad parked in a quiet spot with a bit of grass beside us.

The following day we drove as far as Walmart in Mazatlan, once again landing for the night about 4:45PM. We had a couple of visits as we ate our appies and dinner beside the Boler. One lady asked us what an appropriate food would be to represent French Canada at her son's kindergarten. We suggested French bread, cheese, and grape juice to take the place of red wine! Another group of visitors were about 8 giggling school girls who wanted to practice their English on us. Their English was at least as good as our Spanish and we offered them some of our jicama with Mexican spices.

Then Saturday we decided to try driving down via Puerta Vallarta for a change, assuming that by now the bridges that had been washed out in rainy season would likely be repaired. As it turned out, one near Santa Cruz had been temporarily replaced by a Bailey bridge but the one closer to PV was simply a one lane dirt dam with alternating traffic- quite interesting to say the least!

This was the view from my side window crossing the dam.

Roads were generally lumpy and we recommend that folks travel via Tepic and Guadalajara instead. It delayed us just enough that we didn't arrive in Melaque Saturday.

We spent Saturday night at a Pemex station just north of Tomatlan and gave each of the gas attendants there 20 pesos each, making them very happy to watch over us in the night.

It was a bit foggy Sunday morning as we headed to Melaque but it cleared up fairly quickly, and we arrived in Melaque by about 11 AM.

We gassed up, went to the casa and began unloading perishables first. Our house sitter came by and explained that our roof water pump had been stolen but it was tracked down by her family and returned, but not re-installed. I guess there was a serious rash of break-ins and thefts when the local economy tanked in late summer. The locals know who most of the thieves and fences are, and just went around until they tracked it down. We are glad to have such a caring house sitter!

Maira's brother-in-law David helped Barry track down parts to re-install it even though it was Sunday and our showers later were very much appreciated due to the long trip as well as the humidity when we arrived.

Before we left Canada we were aware of warnings about land travel in Mexico. We did not have any problems and did not see anything worrisome along the way. There were more patrols of police and military convoys than usual, we assume to reassure tourists. All the Mexicans we encountered were as friendly as ever and it was a good trip.

Until next time we are sending warm wishes from Melaque!

Turkey Time and Onward

2010-10-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

It sure is fun seeing cousins meet and play together for the first time. And nothing makes a Gramma happier than having all her grand-kids under one roof for the very first time. So it was a pretty happy houseful at Liana's over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Dennis and Yuka flew up from California for a visit and stayed with Liana, and Barry and I drove in from Mission and stayed there too. Sonya lives nearby and brought her family over, and my sister Cynthia and her husband Charles joined us as well.

That many people to feed made me decide to cook two smaller turkeys instead of one large one- the rationale being that since most people like dark meat, having four legs would be a good idea. (In Melaque last Christmas I accomplished that by buying two extra legs to add to the roasting pan, but found I needed to be careful not to dump them overboard when I basted the bird.)

I managed to fit both birds into our small cooler and brined them overnight. That method seems to keep the breast meat extra moist and flavourful. Then early Sunday I got busy chopping up celery and onions along with bacon for the stuffing and also made another low carb version of stuffing using gluten free rice bread as an experiment.

That bread is the most disagreeably textured stuff I have ever eaten and I doubt I'll ever do it again, but once it was cooked along with celery, onions, hot pepper and cauliflower the texture improved a lot. I even made two versions of low carb stuffing- one with sausage for us and one without for Rosie, who is vegetarian.

All the regular veggies rounded off the main course and then it was time for dessert. I made two pumpkin pies, Liana bought a special order of coconut banana cream pie for Barry, Cynthia made a yummy pineapple walnut square, and Farhad bought a box of exotic Persian pastries. Could we walk after all that? No. Were we all completely happy about it? Yes!

Barry and I achieved lift-off early Monday morning before the rest of the crew woke up since we had to drive back to Mission and get the Boler hooked up for our trip south later that day. After a breakfast stop along the way we managed to leave Mission about 11:30AM and were through Customs by 12:30PM.

Our Melaque neighbours Glen and Sandy live just across the border near Bellingham and we stopped in there for a visit. Sandy's sister Norma and another friend Jeannie the photographer came over as well, so it was a really good reunion and chinwag about things Melaque. Sandy made hotdogs and chilli for lunch, then produced two- yes TWO kinds of pie for dessert. We had both lemon meringue and chocolate pie, and resolved to go on a diet later!

We arrived in Kirkland fairly early in the afternoon but did some grocery shopping on the way to Rene's place and got there just before suppertime. As we drove up, he was just walking down the street because his house was being shown by a realtor and he ended up sitting in the van talking with us until they left. After we landed the Boler on the street (but off the road) instead of our usual spot in his garage, we walked to a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Tuesday we just hung out and chatted and I caught up on my emails. The weather was phenomenal for October- sunny and warm after the morning chill burnt off. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast and leftover Chinese food for lunch, then salad and homemade chilli for supper rounded out the day.

Wednesday morning after breakfast we headed down the road because there was another house showing booked for the afternoon. The house has been staged for sale and it kind of made us nervous to land anywhere everything was so perfect. The good thing is there has been a steady stream of viewings so we hope a sale comes through soon and Rene can get back to normal living again.

Since we left early in the morning we drove farther than we normally do and ended up spending our first night at a Love's truck-stop in Oregon. After our happy hour of beer and spinach dip/rice chips we enjoyed a salad, steak and potato dinner on the forested side of the Boler. (We're way shorter than a semi so we always have a 'back yard' to eat in behind our rig.) I managed to play a few computer games before bed without making my laptop batteries drain too much.

Thursday we woke up to thick fog in the parking lot. After coffee and bacon and eggs we headed south and in no time at all we were out of the foggy zone. We actually climbed above it I think because we were just starting to drive through the range of mountain passes between Oregon and California. That is the most difficult stretch of our whole trip to Mexico as some passes are over 4,000 feet high. The scenery is always nice though, especially near Mt. Shasta in California.

We did our usual gas and pit stops and lunched at a rest stop where Barry talked to a truck driver from BC who is 70 years old and still driving for a living. He has a regular run from Langley to Salinas CA.
His wife refuses to join him on trips anymore he said, and I suggested that since he could still drive on pleasure trips once he retired, maybe she would join him on one of those!

Anyway after lunch when I consulted 'Jillian', our bitchy GPS lady, she indicated we could make it all the way to Palo Alto that day if we didn't dawdle too much, so we had about a half an hour cruise through the Olive Pit in Corning CA and that was it.

We arrived in the San Francisco area during rush hour and despite my misgivings about that, it actually worked in our favour. Traffic was much slower moving than normal and it gave us time to strategize exactly which lane 'Jillian' was referring to by cross checking the overhead signs in time to change lanes. It took a bit longer than she predicted but we arrived at Dennis and Yuka's house just around dinner time, and fortunately they hadn't eaten yet so we were able to merge our proposed road supper with their planned meal and had a good potluck type of dinner together.

The weekend is coming- a perfect time to visit, so we will check in later whenever we come to another internet location and report on our California stay. TTYL!

Time Marches On

2010-10-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I last blogged that my extremely short hair is beginning to grow. (Before we left in September I went to my hairdresser Belva and asked for the 'Melaque cut', meaning hair short enough to last until we get to our Mexican house around October 25th.)

We had a good drive down to the lower mainland, stopping in Prince George the first night and arriving in Mission the next. Tried to call Nancy B. in PG but didn't manage to connect, so we just kept on trucking.

Our home base down here has been Joan's house in Mission, but we have managed to see Tami, Sonya and Liana as well a couple of times since we arrived. We have slept overnight at Liana's place twice already and will be there again once Dennis and his family arrive in a few days. We plan to have Thanksgiving dinner there on October 10th because Dennis and Yuka will head back to California on the 11th and we plan to cross into the states then as well and spend that night at Rene's in Kirkland. (I wonder if the US border guards would take issue with a delivery of Thanksgiving leftovers!)

There has been more time than usual to poke around this year due to Barry's earlier than normal doctor appointment, and we have taken advantage of that. Praveen and Shama have done even more work on their house and their new granite kitchen countertops were being installed when we stopped by their house to say hello. The place is looking great and it was nice to see Pria again. Thanks for the brunch you guys!

Another day we drove toward Maple Ridge, turned up Wilson Street past the Hayward Dam, and ended up finding Stave Falls Dam after we turned right to return home via Dewdney Trunk Road. It was a nice drive and interesting to see the area- we have never taken the time before.

We also managed to check out the RV Show at Tradex the weekend after we arrived and climbed our fair share of stairs checking out all the Class A's and fifth wheels on display. There was a stage set up for seminars and we caught one by Mike and Terri Church that was pretty good- a fellow who does Baja tours was also there and he had interesting comments about all the hype regarding travel in Mexico and related “dangers”. Crap, we feel more at risk driving around the Fraser Valley than we do in Mexico.

The cheapest gas in the area is down at Costco near the border so we have been there a time or two. Coming home I spotted an open air petting farm near a farm market and had to go see the critters and feed the burro some grass. Apparently they now also have self-guided farm tours around the area so city slickers can get some clue as to where food comes from. That is a helpful concept, but unless they quit building housing complexes on all the awesome fertile soil, they won't be growing food around here for long. Every year it is getting more built up- we notice a huge difference between Mission and North Delta along Highway #10 for example.

We just got back Saturday from a trip to Vancouver Island (we left Wednesday) to see family and friends. Barry's grandson Stephen and his partner Mike have just opened their store 'Harbour City Music' in the Townsite area and we stopped by to check it out. Things are going well and the store looks good. They sell instruments, etc., rent equipment, and give music lessons.

Tanya, Stephen and Audrey guided us over first to Sheila's place (Happy Birthday Sheila!) and then Alana's, where we got to see Kylana and Kaylee as well. We ate dinner at Alana's, then breakfast the following morning at Stephen's house before heading down to Arbutus Ridge to see Tom and Cecille's new house.

Tom and Cecille live in a very pleasant, scenic fortress hidden within a golf course. Cecille warned me that some of their friends have had problems finding their place, so I made sure to go online the night before and check them out on Google Earth. Arbutus Ridge is a gated community with a security guard at the gate, and unless they have advised the guard friends are coming it must be impossible to access the property. My research paid off, and we managed to find them on the first try. No wonder they fell in love with the place- the view is fabulous! They look out onto a very private back yard high above the water, and there was a freighter in view in the channel when we were there.

We were given a tour of the immediate area and a wander through a local cider farm/store/processing plant along with free samples of several types of cider. Both Barry and I were pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was. It was a bonus that the weather during our Island trip was absolutely perfect.

For dinner that night we were joined by Richard and Judith, friends of Tom and Cecille, and we all had supper at a local waterfront pub complete with live music. The special was halibut and chips and it was delicious and moist- not dried out as sometimes happens in a pub. Then we went back to the Ridge for a few glasses of wine and some visiting before bed.

Cecille made a breakfast that was above and beyond the call of duty before we left Friday morning. I would have to reclassify it as a brunch there were so many things to eat. And Tom must have made three pots of coffee before we headed down the road!

And at the southern end of the runway, we went to visit our former lake neighbours Ed and Linda at their water view home. Just one fabulous view after another! Linda was heading out on a girl lunch date when we arrived so we managed to follow her instructions and get lunch finished. After lunch was over we visited with Ed and we all went for a walk before Linda returned. Then it was catch-up time and the laptops came out to compare photos- Ed and Linda had been on an Alaskan cruise and of course we had photos of the logging operation at the lake as well as ones from our last Mexican trip and the mango jam operation.

We enjoyed a steak dinner and more visiting that night, then breakfast the following morning before finally heading for the ferry around 10:15AM. I got Barry to go along East Saanich road on the way there to spot a few of my old stomps like Shady Rest Church, the experimental farm, Bazan Bay Road, my great aunts' old place and McTavish Road on our way to the terminal.

I would like to thank whoever was in charge of weather for those few days because it was bloody perfect! Fit for an ocean cruise!

When we arrived back on the mainland we called Tami and arranged to go there and take her and Ryan out for an early dinner (sorry Kaila- you missed us again!). We ended up walking over and eating at the Cactus Club close to their house- I had a yummy nut crusted cedar planked salmon for dinner.

'Just because', we took Joan and Faith out to Boston Pizza tonight too, so I'm thinking it will back to home cooking for the next few days now. Tomorrow will be pork tenderloin and butternut squash and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Getting Ready

2010-09-11T23:23:00.000-07:00

September is flying by and a few things have been checked off our long list of things to do before heading south. Even the newly sown grass seed is starting to grow and our lawn may actually be alright when we return next spring.

We got the Boler back with its new headliner installed and have it partially loaded. After scrubbing the kitchen cupboard I put a coat of fresh paint on the shelf before lining it with non-slip material and loading the dishes and cutlery. Barry installed another shelf in the clothes closet, so while I was in the neighbourhood with a paint brush in my hand that got painted as well.

Since we never use the table in the trailer we decided to hinge the pieces together to make access to the suitcases stored underneath a lot easier. (The table drops down onto rails to form a double bed at one end of the trailer.) With only 13 feet to work with every little trick helps. Most of the under bed storage compartments are loaded now and once the suitcases are filled and loaded I will make the beds.

In the course of loading the van and trailer I managed to snap the side door handle off the van. Cheap plastic sh*t!!! After looking around town we managed to find a replacement part at the dealer and it was installed at a total cost of over $200. I would hate to buy a vehicle in pieces- the bloody thing would end up costing about a million bucks. Anyway, I guess it was easier to deal with before we hit the road so I am thankful for small mercies.

Does anyone know if feral cats bulk up like bears and sleep the winter away? The calico cat that has been hanging around here all summer and occasionally YOWLING for food at our door, has been ravenous the past couple of days. I'm not sure if it smells a rat and wants to get fat before we leave or what, but it has been especially vocal lately. It is a pleasant cat despite its yowl, and it has a distinct kink in its tail as if it was caught in a door at some point. Before and/or after a feed it likes to have a few pats and strokes but it is not what you'd call cuddly. The past couple of days it seems to be casing the interior of the house as a possibly good place to hang out- sorry kitty, no go.

And speaking of bulking up like a bear for long winter sleeps, we may have had a bear on our deck the other day. I woke up to find the suet containers ripped off their hooks with the chains broken and the entire bird feeder emptied of seeds even though I had filled it the day before. There were no obvious tracks but I can't think of any other explanation. I haven't checked the creek to see if the salmon have made it up to spawn but that is probably why bears are in the neighbourhood. Other people in the area have had bears cruising through yards lately, and one family who was out biking had an encounter with a bear that turned on the dog they were with. (It turned out fine, and they assume she had cubs nearby.)

Friday night we made dinner here and took it down to the Gillam's to celebrate Dae's birthday. We will already be in Vancouver when the real day comes so we made chicken and ribs, BBQ'd veggies, mashed yams/potatoes, and quinoa/wild rice with Black Forest cake for dessert and had our celebration early. It was a nice evening and a good visit.

Tonight- Saturday- we went over to the McCluskey's. We won't see them again until they come down to Melaque sometime in February. I made hard-boiled eggs for appetizers and for a twist I added chopped capers to the egg yolks and chopped smoked salmon on top. They look pretty good! For good measure I added a few olives and some pepperoni pieces to the platter. It turned into a visit with Doug and Jacquie and Jacquie's mum Marie as well, and we all enjoyed Janet's dinner of delicious stew, mashed potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, and buns followed by triple berry pie with fresh whipped cream.

Next week will bring more chores, a haircut, a trip to bottle wine, and more packing. I'll try to get one more update in before we hit the trail.

Something Seedy

2010-08-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of seedy activity this past week- the back yard has been raked and seeded and I finished making the rest of the raspberry jam! Whenever the weather decided to dump rain and blow it sideways I stayed inside making jam, and whenever it was dry I raked outside.

With the neighbouring lot being logged off and the fenceline open, we decided to take advantage of the situation and have a couple of truckloads of fill dumped in our yard to level it off. Gnarly tree roots have been eating our lawnmower blades for quite some time, and it was a good idea to fix the problem.

However, the operative word being 'dumped', it meant that the fire pit kind of got buried and all my work gravelling it this spring was hidden under silty clay fill. Two loads of fill is a LOT of wheelbarrows full so it kept me quite busy for a few days before I beat it all into submission. I found several huge solid lumps of clay as I raked the fill out, so I sort of tucked them into hidden away spots like a squirrel with nuts. If I decide to become a potter some day down the road I can ferret them out!

As the yard got relatively flat and I was almost ready to spread seed I unearthed a couple of peanuts that had been hidden by the Stellar jays. When we return in the spring it will be interesting to see what else is growing there besides grass.

The lawn is now not perfect but seeded anyway, and it is a lot flatter than it has ever been since we have owned the cabin. Despite several dogs, multiple species of birds, and a family of squirrels all running/hopping across it while the seed tries to sprout, I am sure some of it will be alive when we return next spring. At least Mother Nature has been watering the dang thing faithfully since it was seeded.

And this year's jam session went well, with several dozen jars ready for the trip south to the kids/grandkids. Once again the labels got messier as the jars piled up. (I really should just learn how to make labels on the computer and save that aggravation.)

While there are a few miscellaneous jars of strawberry and blueberry, etc. most of the jam is raspberry. Barry did most of the picking again this year and it is surprising how it adds up in the freezer. We also eat some fresh berries during the summer, usually just off the vines as we are walking past. They taste better that way.

In between the seedy activities we had the usual visits and dinners with friends during the week and weekend. We will miss that once we start travelling south.

There are just over two weeks left to get all our chores done before leaving, and just like every other year I don't see how we can get it all done in time. It usually works, so we'll keep on plugging away.

Let There Be Light

2010-08-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

While this wasn't the only thing that happened since my last post, it sure was the most memorable. Our next door neighbour's lot is now twenty-six trees short and we have a panoramic view of the lake!

One morning last week all the neighbours watched as a logger climbed trees one by one lopping branches off as he climbed, and cutting chunks of tree off as he came back down. A simple push on the trunk send the new log off it's base away from the logger, and they piled up fairly neatly quite near his car which was parked nearby. Impressive!

On one occasion the 60+ yr. old climbed one leaning tree and trimmed three other trees nearby at the same time...so 4 trees were eliminated by climbing only one. He hung like a monkey, leaning out with the chainsaw held in one hand to lop them off.
(The last time I was that mesmerized was watching a Mexican climb a huge coconut tree barefoot, hang out over the laguna and harvest coconuts.)

By the following day all the branches and logs had been removed and a few loads of fill dumped in the area. It will eventually become a grassy area for the kids to play on. Meanwhile, we not only have a great view and more sunshine, but also a lot more wind coming through from that direction. At some point there will be either a fence or some hedge trees put in for a windbreak.

In the meantime, there are a few very pissed off squirrels here who have lost habitat and probably a lot of their stashed pine cones and peanuts for winter food. We have a couple of trees on our lot so hopefully they have some grub left on our side. I will likely leave a couple of bags of peanuts behind when we head south to help make up for their losses since we feed them all summer and they are used to finding food here.

Along with all that excitement, we had some good visits with friends and Fred and Jill stayed overnight when they came to Terrace for an eye exam.

Gordon had a birthday party last Saturday and over twenty of us had a good visit and a delicious feast. I made veggie kebabs and a chocolate/lemon cake with whipped cream icing. There were wonderful salads, steak and ribs along with other sides, and Jane made a yummy cake. And to make sure their dog Finn didn't repeat his performance of last year by eating a quarter of the cake, I made a dog cake from hamburger, rice, & eggs with cream cheese icing for Finn and Taylor to share! They loved it.

Yesterday's excitement was that the water pump gave us grief (Murphy's Law that it had to wait for a rainy day to do that!). It turned out that the intake in the creek had clogged with some silt. This year is the lowest the creek has ever been. Barry waded out and got things going again and we primed the pump using the neighbour's water hose, so it was back in order in a relatively short time.

It did mean that my jam project was put on hold since the thought of sticky pots etc. with no water to clean up with made me decide to call it off temporarily. It will only take a couple of intense days to get it all done anyway.

Linda and Ken dropped by with a wonderful chunk of halibut for us and we had it last night for dinner with rice and beans from the garden. Nothing beats fresh fish-- thanks guys! Linda had to have her new knee manipulated yesterday- hope it went well. Sometimes those suckers just don't want to bend on their own- OUCH!

We are in list-making mode now. There is a lot to do in a short time to get ready to head south early due to a changed doctor appointment. Panic will set in soon!
Next update may be short and sweet!

Birthday Visit

2010-08-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

Since my last post we have been busy. We took a trip to Prince Rupert and Barry wrote his Safe Boater's exam before having a tasty steak dinner with Fred and Jill at their house. It ended up as a sleepover, with breakfast the following morning before heading back home. It has been awhile since we've had time to linger like that and it was a lot of fun. Thanks guys!

There was a noticeable temperature difference between the towns with Terrace being several degrees warmer. Prince Rupert was 55F and Terrace 73F when we arrived in town about 1 1/2 hours later. They are paving a long stretch of highway and I just love how slick the machines they use are- not much waiting time, but fun to watch.

There was a busy morning at the lake on the 29th when the gas crew came to relocate our gas line (which had ended up under the neighbour's garage). I guess the location was forgotten when they built on top of it, and we are glad that the gas company covered the cost of moving our line since it took three men all morning to dig it all up, relocate it, and cover it all back in again.

After that excitement I got into frenzy mode to get the cabin ready for Liana and her family's arrival August 1st. I had been sorting out stuff in the attic and using the upstairs beds to sort it on, so the stuff was all packed away again before making the beds up. While the cabin is small, we manage to all fit by using the hideabedand a kid-sized ottoman in the living room, and three single beds upstairs along with our bedroom.

They arrived in time for dinner on Sunday and left early the following Saturday, and managed once again to hit probably the best stretch of weather we have had all summer. The only day we had some rain was Friday, and it stopped for a few brief periods during the day. That was the only day the TV was turned on during the day since there were lots of kids in the neighbourhood to play with.

We managed to round up lots of kids for Simone's 4th Birthday Party. I think there were at least a dozen for the main party and another half-dozen or so later on when the mom's got off work. Thursday was Simone's real birthday and we're sure glad we stuck to it because Friday the weather turned nasty.

Liana blew up a bazillion balloons and we strung them all throughout the deck area and around the yard before the party. Mathew cooked hamburgers, sliders (mini-burgers), and hotdogs to go with the chips, veggie platter and french fries. And a huge cupcake cake followed for dessert along with ice cream cones and drinks. Surprisingly most kids asked for either water or juice rather than pop- my how times are changing!

Cooking for a crowd came back to me readily (I usually cook too much anyway!) and we had everything from chinese food to steak to chicken during the week. We ate veggies from the garden and managed to make a dent in the snap pea supply. Liana introduced me to a couple of very tasty French and Belgian beers to go with my usual Molson's Canadian, and we also checked out the u-brew wine supply during the week. Time to think about a diet I'd say!

They managed to get all the way home on Saturday by leaving before 7AM, and emailed news of their safe arrival just before 11 PM. It was a treat to have a visit!

Friends and Mother Nature

2010-07-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather is a bit better, we have all been getting together more often for potluck dinners here at the lake. And my garden has been producing welcome additions to meals now that the weather is a bit warmer.

The other night I used Swiss chard from the garden in a lasagna in place of the regular spinach layer and it turned out well. Green snap peas are ripening quite quickly, and the regular peas are starting to fill out. Zucchini and squash plants are finally starting to grow and the pole beans are climbing up their supports. Found out that the replacement bush bean plants, which I planted to replace ones that didn't grow the first time, are actually more pole beans so the garden is looking even more haphazard than normal. Kohlrabi are sitting there doing not much, as are the carrots, but the lettuce is making up for it and is growing like stink.

We've eaten a few beets too- I am growing the cylindra type since they seem to stay tender longer and they are also really handy for slicing. I cook the beets separately from the greens and merge them when they are both cooked (leaves take much less time).

For some reason the chinese broccoli is not really producing well- we've only had a few stems to throw in stir fries so far. Maybe they don't like the weather or something. At this point, I'm thinking they are as waste of garden space so I'll either omit them next year or only plant a couple. The Jerusalem artichokes are starting to look like they are from a Jack and the Beanstalk story- tall!

We had an awesome feast at our get together Saturday. Normally there are similar foods at most of our gatherings all summer- either fish or chicken or pork or steak with salads and 'cabin veggies', which are a combination of potatoes, onions, and carrots with butter, salt, and pepper all wrapped up in foil and cooked on the grill.

With a larger than normal crew, this time everyone did something different and we had everything from borscht, perogies, cabbage rolls, meatballs, many kinds of sausages, sauerkraut, and roasted new potatoes. There were salads as well- coleslaw, potato, and Mexican corn & bean salad; and appetizers from cheese plates to salmon loaf to a fresh veggie tray with dip. Too much food to even remember it all!

We also started with a cocktail from my old neighbourhood. It is called 'Dirt Hog Punch' and is a combination of gin and vodka with lime jello, pink lemonade, Sprite, etc. with lots of ice. It must be served from a garbage can containing assorted worms and such so I borrowed a small new can from Richard and Janet and used gummie worms as the critters. Also made a kid version for the younger neighbours, eliminating the booze and adding more worms, and it was a hit.

We had a wonderful evening, the weather improved from chilly, windy, and cloudy to clear and sunny, the neighbours came over, and we ended with a bonfire until well after dark. Some of us girls had a few dances on the deck and the lawn, then we all went down on the dock to watch the very full moon rise through the trees- it was pretty impressive.

Cabin Projects

2010-07-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

It has been another busy time here at the lake with a few projects being completed. All of a sudden I decided to do a faux granite finish on my ugly old kitchen countertop and extra wooden shelf along the counter on the sink side. I checked out information online and went to town for supplies.

It started out with a coat of white primer on both surfaces to make the latex paint bond properly to them. I chose colours to create a faux red granite that would blend in with my new rust coloured curtains (after 23 years of the old creepy ones I finally got that chore done earlier in the spring thanks to a deal at Zeller's in Prince Rupert).

The first coat was a rich red, then I added drifts of black and blended them in to create a deeper base colour. I spent a couple of hours dabbing on my accent colours with tiny pieces of fine-grained sea sponge- one was a soft yellow, and the other a tan colour.

Since granite always has bits of black, I then sprayed a fine mist of black paint in drifts across the entire counter and shelf and blended in more of the two colours as needed to soften any 'too black' spots. The last step was to dab the original red colour randomly across the entire project, and walk away! The hardest part is to stop before you mess it all up I think!

The whole process was done over a two day window, with the first coat of spar varnish going on just before my company arrived for dinner! There was a lot of 'watching paint dry' going on during the two day period as I was a bit impatient to get it done.

The project sure made for a fun dinner experience Friday since I had only my stovetop and a stool to use as prep surfaces for dinner, and I was making an unfamiliar dish- antelope! I had marinated the beast in a vinegar & water solution overnight to take any 'game' smell out, then made a flavourful marinade from maple syrup, soy sauce, worcestershire, and spices for a couple of hours before barbequeing the meat.

We also had rice/feta stuffed red peppers and BBQ'd veggies done in a basket on the grill. Pat brought a yummy blueberry/mango pie for dessert and we had four kinds of ice cream to choose from to top it.

Then Saturday Howard came over to help Barry change a rotting beam under the heater end of the cabin. (The sag was getting very noticeable since our friends sitting in the wheeled dining table chairs on that side of the table tended to drift towards the stove!) It was interesting being in the cabin during the jacking since the floor was moving and there were a few creaks. Richard also came over to help and they got the job done just before dinnertime, even though it also involved re-fitting the back door which obviously had been installed when the cabin sagged a bit.

We had just finished our 'after the job' beer when we had to shower and leave for our anniversary dinner reservation in town. We went to 'Villa 46' which is one of the nicer restaurants in Terrace. Our dinner was very enjoyable and we started with red wine and antipasto. Barry had tomato bisgue and I had an arugula salad with prociutto and pear, then Barry had lobster ravioli while I chose chicken fettucini as a main. The restaurant kindly donated our shared anniversary dessert of bananas foster and we had that with tasty coffee, fresh pressed at the table. It was a nice evening.

In preparation for our upcoming party this Saturday, I finally fixed the wonky leg on our old wooden two-seater with center table on the deck. Then I screwed down the seat planks which had been removed during the cabin beam repairs, added and painted a small end table installed on the now longer beam. (Three beams stick out on the deck end to form the support for the bench seating.)

Wednesday we are heading to Prince Rupert with our neighbour Ruby to put on another batch of wine, check the mail, get a haircut for Barry at his favourite barber, and do lunch somewhere.

See you again when we get back.

Lettuce Update Things

2010-07-14T21:52:00.001-07:00

Life has been busy since our party weekend. We started things out by filling out our Passport renewal forms and heading into Shopper's Drug to have photos taken. It was quite a process to go through, but we both ended up with acceptable photos in the end. Barry actually had three tries and I managed to get by with only one sitting. The photographer was telling us that one of her customers came from a country that demanded a red background for the photo, and they had to go find a large piece of posterboard to use.

That was so much fun I decided to go have my lab test re: vitamin D levels done on the same trip before going to lunch in town. Once we are there we tend to stay awhile. (I managed to get a copy of the test about a week later and, possibly due to my acting as a giant solar panel in Mexico for the winter, my vitamin D reading came in at an acceptable level.)

The day we planned to go bottle wine in Prince Rupert started out very busy with two electricians next door, a Hydro truck, a satellite tech lining up our satellite dish, the gas guy painting our pipe to the demand heater & installing a clamp, and the machine operator working on the lot next door all showing up in the half hour before we left! Because the power next door was shut off, and would be off for about 6 hours, and Judy's fridge didn't switch to propane, Barry checked into that as well before we left and determined that she was out of propane. So we loaned her our old van to go fill her tanks because her new car is still just too nice to use as a workhorse. Whew!

Our trip went well, the wine got bagged, and we ended up with a gift of some fresh spring salmon for both us and Ruby. Talk about happy campers! Thanks! We even saw a young bear crossing the highway on our way to town, which just made everything perfect that day. And about a day later we were given another fish as a thank you for the loan of the van. Thanks again!

Barry and I had a couple of sessions powerwashing Ruby's deck since the needles were jammed between the deck boards so tight they wouldn't come out with a garden hose. It was due for a good wash anyway, and it is ready for some water seal to help it last a few more years. I forgot how much fun that is- I felt like Ms. Pacman chewing my way through the universe!

Had a yummy dinner with Howard and Joan and Makayla last weekend. Salad, steaks, cabin veggies, and corn followed by apple "crisp" made with an almond flour and coconut oil crust. And wine! Then Sunday, we went there again for a bacon, toast and omelet breakfast with champagne and OJ- talk about getting spoiled.

I did a bit more sorting up in the attic, burned a couple more bags of old business files, donated a couple more bags of stuff to Goodwill, and hucked a bunch more out in the garbage. And it doesn't look like I have made much of a dent at all...I think the stuff expands to fill the space available! One good find was a brand new kitchen tap set which we can take to Mexcio to upgrade the set down there.

The new 32" TV is great, but it did not solve our jumping intermittent picture problem on certain channels in the bedroom, so we once again called the satellite tech out to look into it. It turned out to be a problem he had never come across before- our stacked LNB was faulty. Once that was changed everything worked fine. Since he was there and had a spare receiver available, we bought it so we can just leave one down in Mexico instead of carrying it back and forth every trip.

While all this action has been going on, the lettuce has been sitting out in the garden growing like topsy and I spent part of this morning picking it and trucking it around to the neighbours to thin it out. I also thinned out enough swiss chard for dinner, and we will soon need to start on the beets as well. The snap peas are starting and Barry and I managed to find a few raspberries for our first taste of the season.

And I am waiting for a visit from Liana and family!!!!! Sometime this month or early next....Hurry faster!

Barry & Janet- Pinata Time!

2010-07-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Sunday to be precise, I managed a trip to town by myself while Barry was down helping Richard with a project. My mission was to purchase a 32" TV for Barry's birthday and somehow sneak it into the cabin and hide it before he clued in.

I looked around for potential hiding places and, not wanting to carry it up and down the stairs to the attic, I decided my closet was the best place to stash it until the big day. I cleared a spot on my side and then left for town.

When I got back home Barry was up in the garage so I quickly backed the van to the cabin door, grabbed the large box, and stuffed it in the closet. I was just coming out the door for the rest of my shopping when Barry got to the cabin- that was a close call!

I installed a new shelf for the receiver to sit on since we had it sitting precariously on top of the old tv before. I just explained that I was sick of worrying about it maybe falling off when Barry asked why I wanted to build a shelf. The real reason was that the new LCD TV was too skinny to pile anything on!

Don't know if I mentioned it before, but I shared my cold with Barry and we now both have various symptoms bugging us. I think I get sick every time I fly! For that reason, as well as the fact July 1st was mid-week, we decided on a scaled-down birthday celebration this year on his actual birthday and went out for dinner with Pat and Garry. There weren't many choices in town as most of the restaurants close for Canada Day, and we ended up at the Northern Motor Inn dining room.

The restaurant wasn't busy but the head chef was away for the holiday, and that led to a long drawn-out dinner. We got an order of calamari to share and a litre of red wine, and placed our dinner orders- three prime rib dinners and chicken for Pat. Barry was going to celebrate by adding lobster to his prime rib.

Our waitress eventually came out to tell us that the staff left in charge had overcooked the prime rib so our initial orders for rare and medium-rare prime rib were changed to rib-eye steaks. Some time later we were told they had no rib-eyes and we needed to think of something else. By now our litre of wine was almost gone.

Barry and I switched to New York steaks and Garry decided to try the Salisbury steak "with lots of onions". We all started wishing for Chef Ramsey to show up and kick some *ss it took so long. Barry actually went to the kitchen door and asked if they might like him to cook his own!

Menwhile, our waitress told us that our dessert would be free for all the hassle and waiting. We thanked her and suggested we'd rather have another half litre of red wine! Oh well, it made up for the fact that our dinner prices had gone up $5 each by switching from prime rib to New Yorks! By this time, our waitress went off shift and we got a new one.

Our New York steaks were done rare and were very tasty and the lobster was passable . Garry's Salisbury steak came with mushrooms and NO onions! Pat's chicken was "OK". And for dessert the apple pie pastry was amazing even though the apples inside were crunchily under-cooked. Pat had cheescake.

It was an interesting dinner I must say- and I will think twice about doing that again.

So last night, Saturday, was the neighbourhood combination birthday party for Janet, whose birthday is actually on the 4th, and Barry. We all brought different dishes and we ended up with a crab mousse appy, two wonderful green salads-spinach and mixed, steak, greek ribs, pulled pork enchiladas, and BBQ'd salmon, with copious amounts of wine, followed by 1921 Creamy tequila liqueur.

I made a swiss chocolate/orange cake with whipped cream icing and it turned out rather well. I split the chocolate and orange layers and so it had the appearance of a 4 layer cake. I mixed a fruit glaze for between the layers, then made a low sugar chocolate pudding with coconut milk and spread that between the layers like icing. Somehow when that sat in the fridge for a couple of hours the pudding completely disappeared and the cake turned out nice and moist. Once it was iced I sprinkled bits of Lindt orange chocolate over the top. It was a big hit so I'll have to remember how the heck to do it again.

The absolute highlight of the evening was the pinata of Barry that Janet made! It was so funny we didn't have the heart to bust it, especially after Janet told us it wasn't filled with candy anyway!

Company at Home

2010-06-24T14:06:00.001-07:00

A gorgeous sunset accompanied us for quite awhile on our way to Calgary Saturday evening. The skies were beautiful but I have no photo because my camera was in my suitcase in the overhead bin and I was too lazy to retrieve it.

We arrived in Calgary around midnight and by the time we got our checked-in bag from the luggage carousel, it was already Sunday morning. Thankfully, I had booked us into the Airport Delta and we managed to find the route (one floor up, across a walkway) by asking a Calgarian we had met in the boarding area. Bed felt heavenly! I think this Delta is on my list of favourites in all my travels- pillows were just right, room was nice and quiet, and there was everything we needed right in the room.

In the morning I had a lovely tub soak before Barry woke up, and after he showered and opened his Father's Day card we went downstairs and had a buffet breakfast, which we both enjoyed. Then it was time to check in for the flight home.

As it turned out, I gave my window seat to a young engineering student on his first long trip from the Maritimes, heading to a competition in Hawaii. He was thrilled to see the Rockies and took several photos. Our bag was checked through to Terrace so all we had to do was get to our next gate, with a lunch/beer break along the way.

Pat and Garry picked us up at the airport, dropped us home and invited us to a wonderful rack of lamb dinner at their place to celebrate their anniversary (not to mention Pat's birthday the day before). Rich and Janet dropped by the cabin on their way home, but we totally missed Connie & Bill and Fred and Jill, who had been at the cabin earlier. We had a nice lunch with Fred and Jill later on when they came to Terrace for Fred's eye appointment, and had a chat with Connie on the phone.

One of the things we noticed when we got home was a HUGE pile of sunflower seed shells beside the bird seed container on the deck. The squirrels had figured out how to open the lid and had had a feast fit for kings in our absence. When I put the container inside the cabin, the little bandit came inside and found the stash of peanuts! I managed to get a couple of very blurry shots before the one above- he was no longer jumping when the camera came on by this time.

The garden is OK now that it has been mainly cleared of the chickweed crop.. The spinach had almost gone to seed so I cut it, froze it and replanted the area.

My project now is to excavate the attic- sort out all the boxes of stuff which I was sure I needed when we moved here years ago, and have not gone through since! I feel like an Archeology major. Some stuff is getting junked, some given away, some taken to the kids, and a bit stored for the next bout of sorting, when I will be even more ruthless.

Barry is re-wiring the Boler, hopefully for the last time. Then we will get the headliner installed so we will look more 'couth' on our next trip to Mexico.

See you again when I come up for air!

Mango Time

2010-06-24T09:46:00.001-07:00

Takes Two to Mango!

2010-06-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

The flight from San Francisco went well and we landed in Puerto Vallarta in overcast skies but warm humid weather.

Clearing Mexican Customs was a bit funny because even though I got the green button and shouldn't have been inspected, the sight of a bazillion round metal shapes in the suitcase as it went through the scanner piqued the curiosity of the agent and he asked if I'd mind if he looked inside.

Upon opening it, his female assistant verified that those were vasos por mermalada, and we were free to go. There was no trouble at all with the little boxes of white powder (Certo) that were also in the suitcase. We made our way to the car rental counter and a Hertz shuttle took us across the highway to the rental office.

Naturally our requested car wasn't available and we had a choice of either a BMW for an extra $10 US per day or a dinky Dodge standard (instead of the requested automatic). We chose the Dodge since a BMW would stand out like a sore thumb in Melaque. Barry became the chauffeur since I am too chicken to drive standard after years of only automatics.

We took our time driving to Melaque and stopped in a 'No-tell Motel' along the way. For only 200 pesos we were allowed an 8 hour stay, with the money exchanged in a swivel compartment in the motel room wall. That way no-one sees who is in the room. It was clean and comfortable with a good shower and accessories such as paper slippers and soaps. After a brief time listening to high heels clipping back and forth along the neighbouring tiled hallways/rooms we had a decent sleep.

In the morning we had a problem lifting the heavy vinyl curtain hiding our car from sight in the carport, and we needed assistance to escape--busted!

There were very colourful blooms along the way- trees covered in orange-red, lilac, yellow and white blossoms with dry looking areas in between since rainy season has not quite gotten into full force yet. The scenery was a bit different than we see in the fall and winter, but the bougenvillias seem to bloom all year long.

We checked in with Doug and Gisela once we arrived in Melaque, then went and got the casa operational. It was quick to set up one of the couches and a table and chairs in the back patio area, then the following day we went to get some grub at Hawaii. Later on I wheeled the washing machine outside to keep up with our laundry and Barry set up the hot water tank and the propane for the stove as well. We spent our time there sans TV, computer and radio so it was time to read the last stash of books I had left behind.

It was lucky that we went down to our casa because there was a short in an underground splice and we had burned through the entire deposit we had put on the account by the time we arrived. We called an electrician, upgraded the wiring to 220, added to the deposit, and had a new line installed from the power pole to the casa. The good part of this was that they didn't have a new 220 meter available and we are getting a minimum charge until that is installed.

After the wiring problem was taken care of we proceeded with the jam making operation. Gisela had researched the best place to get mangos (in Aquacate) and she drove me there to purchase a case for only 70 pesos (under $7). The mangos filled a 68 litre tote and they were all sorted to be in their prime for mango jam- no green unripe ones in the box. Just as a comparison, one mango in Terrace yesterday cost $1.99!

Barry and I did a team effort out on the back patio, with me slicing off the sides and him dicing and scooping the fruit into a huge pot. Once the pot was full I put it in the fridge until the following morning and made jam in the cooler part of the day. Then in the afternoon we finished prepping the remainder of the mangos, to be processed the following day.

The temperature for the most part was similar to when we left in March and it was fairly comfortable with the overhead fans. After the jam session was over the weather turned humid and hot- even the Mexicans were complaining! Talk about timing.

We had a heavy rain/thunder/lightening storm in the night and the power went out. When it came back on our stand-fan was no longer working and we had to buy another
for 780 pesos. It is a good one, sounding rather like a hurricane on the top speed.

In between chores we had several good visits and computer fixes with Doug and Gisela, dinners out, wine and appies at home, and checked out any favourite haunts that are still open. Some places like Rooster's are taking a break until the gringos return, but quite a few are still operational and catering to Mexican tourists from inland. We managed to see friends and had a good visit with Irma from Villa Xochipilli. We managed to go to the tiagi twice during our stay.

We did a few road trips checking out the area, went to Manzanillo to buy '1921' creamy tequila in Walmart, and noted all the road work going on in the area to do with a new bypass around Cihuatlan.

We headed out of Melaque a day early and spent the last day in old Vallarta because there was a threat of bad weather coming up from Acapulco. In fact, after we arrived in PV Friday afternoon, there was a storm with heavy rain, thunder and lightning and we were glad we missed potential mudslides along the winding road from Melaque.

Saturday we found a Farmers Market, wandered around old Vallarta, then drove to the north end of town and poked through Home Depot, Walmart and Sam's Club (declining the many samples of tequila offered throughout the store). We headed to the car rental early and that was a good thing because there were line-ups and service was slow.

At the airport I had to search for the Immigration office to get our FM 3's stamped for exit, and that took a bit of searching. At one point an airport employee, while waving her arm to the right, told me to go over there and turn left! Yikes! Found it somehow anyway.

Since this is getting too long I'll save the rest of the trip home for the next blog. See you again soon.

Halfway There!

2010-06-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well during the week, travel insurance was purchased, all the yard chores got caught up, another bazillion caterpillars left the earth, the bags got packed, the bedding was changed, the laundry got done, and we were ready to leave.

We had a wonderful send-off dinner at Pat and Garry's on Thursday evening- Pat made an all-out excellent authentic Mexican dinner complete with taco salad and two kinds of enchiladas, followed by yummy chocolate lava cakes for dessert. We could barely move to go home!

Friday we were in 'clean the fridge out' mode and had a big salad and new potatoes with leftover salmon loaf after getting chores done. Saturday I sorted out some food for Pat and hucked the rest- Barry made a run to the dump and got rid of everything.

I managed to fit a few dozen jam jars into two check- in sized suitcases, and minimal clothing and toiletry bags in carry- on sized luggage. As it turned out, one case was 45 pounds and the other only 31 pounds so I could have squished another case of jars in at least.

My main worry was that Customs would have fits over the little boxes of white powder traveling along with the jars. Another was that the shape of the pressure washer wand packed in the bag would make them think we were terrorists. I forgot to even think of worrying about all our new metal knees until just before we left.

Garry came early to pick us up and drive us to the airport so I just left the last load of laundry whirling around in the dryer when we left.

Barry and I had a cup of coffee at the airport cafe before heading through Customs and we had managed to comply with all the new 'toothpaste rules'. My tag-end of toothpaste just had to be taken out of the cosmetic bag and placed in a plastic bag in a bin before it was deemed safe.

The checked-in bags just disappeared quietly into the inner santum and then we were both thoroughly wanded right, left, and centre after we passed through the scanner. New metal knee joints sure cause a lot of excitement. Our flight to Vancouver was good and we snacked on a few small corn chips in a reflective lined bag that sort of magnified the contents- what a wonderful marketing gimmick. When you had two chips left, it looked like four!

At Vancouver airport my inner worry-wart came out and I insisted on going down to the baggage claim carousel to make sure our bags weren't dumped off in Vancouver instead of being checked through to San Francisco. That was the only time I was ever glad to have my bags NOT arrive.

We then checked out where our boarding gate was before heading to the Japanese restaurant for a nice dinner complete with sushi, sashimi, miso soup, oyster motoyaki and an unagi plate along with Kirin beer. Way better than buying airline food!
We got to the boarding gate in ample time and read the Vancouver Sun while we waited.

The flight to San Francisco was mainly great, with only a few lumps in the road. We left YVR a bit late but arrived in SFO early on-time and walked out to find Dennis waiting for us. Our luggage appeared quickly and Dennis grabbed the 45 pound wheel-less bag plus another and led us to the car parkade. (Memo to self- next time all bags must have wheels!)

Sunday morning we went out to breakfast and then wandered through the local farmer's market. The variety of produce, plants, and organic eggs, cheese, butter etc. was amazing. They had different varieties of regular and white peaches, half a dozen types of basil plants, kittens for adoption, and a whole lot of other things. We saw one of the largest chicken rotisseries ever, all kinds of breads, cheese curds, flowers and plants. It was fun.

Dennis is busy making ribs and coleslaw for dinner so I, as kitchen assistant, should go help. My next missile may be when we return to Canada on Father's Day. We leave in the morning- Dennis is driving us to the airport for our 9AM flight before heading to work.

See you later!

Countdown to Mexico!

2010-05-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

Life since the 2010 Prince Rupert Homecoming has been busy. We managed to get the yard and deck work done and Barry put up the 20' x 20' white tarp over the decks as per usual. It is just good insurance for those days with drizzly weather and lots of company for dinner, since the deck is almost bigger than the cabin!

The hanging baskets are up and the planters have all been rigged up to the automatic watering system. My garden is almost weed free and I started planting some stuff for Ruby since she hasn't come up to the lake yet.

This is the Year of the Caterpillar apparently because Saturday when I went outside an entire army of the furry little bastards were all crawling up the side of the cabin. It grossed me out so I hosed them off and stomped them all. I can't even see where they are nesting- there are no apparent webs in any nearby trees. Between them and the carpenter ants it is a buggier than normal spring here.

Saturday, after the massacre of the bugs, we went over to Howard and Joan's cabin, joining Richard and Janet and Pat and Garry for a Mexican dinner complete with marguaritas, natchos, mango salsa and tortilla chips, chicken, corn, and Spanish rice, followed by boozy fruit.

Sunday morning we had one of our traditional Sunday brunches complete with champagne and OJ to start the season off right. That meant we skipped lunch and had stuffed portabella mushroom caps with crab and cheese as an appy before our dinner of leftover 'rose' spaghetti with chicken balls, corn, and swiss chard. Stuffed and happy!

Now the packing starts for our two week trip to Mexico to scope out what the weather is like in June and to make mango jam. There are huge orchards of mangos in the Melaque area and they always ripen while we are away so this year we are going down to experience mango season. I can hardly wait to see the reaction of Customs when we exit Canada and enter the US and Mexico packing jam jars, certo, and hardly any clothes at all!

I managed to line up tickets using our Aeroplan points and the route is a bit bizarre since we end up in San Francisco from the night of the 5th June to morning of the 7th. However, that means we can have a nice visit with Dennis, Yuka and the kids on the 6th so I am not upset by the delay. Coming home we land in Calgary just after midnight so that means a hotel at the airport was booked in so we can grab some winks before heading first to Vancouver, then Terrace on the 20th.

Monday I will contact the Insurance company for travel insurance- better to be safe than sorry.

Home at the Lake

2010-05-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

The trip home from Washington went well. I filled my gas just before crossing the border and then found that the ramp to re-enter the freeway was blocked due to roadwork. Fortunately they had good signage directing traffic to the nearby truck crossing, which had almost no traffic and the crossing was a breeze.

I kept going straight up and across the Lions Gate Bridge and had a good visit in North Vancouver with Liana, Farhad, Justin, & Simone and also Sonya, Rosie, and Sammy when they joined us.

Rene had sent up a couple of boxes of videos and dvds for the girls to share and we had a family gathering out at the van while they got sorted out. I kept a box of assorted books to take to Mexico next winter- that seems to be the only place I have time to read.

I spent the night sleeping with Simone, who has a reputation as a bed hog, and when I got up the next morning to visit the bathroom sure enough by the time I returned to bed she had glommed onto my side! Anyway, it was OK- I just moved to the other side!

Quite awhile after breakfast I headed up the road and got as far as Prince George that night. The trip took a bit longer due to rock scaling in the canyon and I stopped at Costco in PG to pick up two tires for the old van just before they closed. I also grabbed a cooked chicken and spinach salad for my supper. At the motel I bought a bottle of wine and had a good feast in my room while I watched TV.

My arrival at Lakelse was timed Friday afternoon to be there in time to see everyone for the weekend, but no-one from Prince Rupert came up at all. Pat and Garry welcomed me home with a yummy dinner at their place though, so that was nice.

Barry and I took the Boler to Prince Rupert last Thursday and camped out at Howard's place just out of town while we attended Prince Rupert's Homecoming 2010. This year is the 100 year celebration of the city of Prince Rupert and about 2,000 people attended the event, coming from as far away as England and Australia. It was really nice to see all the folks who came back to visit.

We managed to see a lot of people we knew, went to the Wine and Cheese event at the Museum, went on a Pub Crawl, attended the Gala Dinner, and ended the weekend with an excellent pancake breakfast at the Moose Hall Sunday morning before heading back to the lake. I must say, that was the first time I have ever had both pancakes and birthday cake for breakfast! It was a busy weekend.

My biggest project this week has been sewing sets of new curtains together to make closing them easier. The window wall on the lake side is about 20 feet or so so I had to buy 4 sets of two drapes per pack to get the proper coverage. There is no way I have the patience to manouver four drapes on each side each night, so I sewed sets of them together.

That was accomplished by having a fight with two separate sewing machines until I beat one into submission and got it working properly. Apparently at some point in the past few years I have either forgotten how to sew, or at the very least forgotten how to thread the damn machine, not to mention adjust the tension! The good old treadle was the one that I got going.

All I need to do now is hem them because they are a bit too long, and a cabin with carpet is no place to "puddle" the drapes on the floor.

We also picked up the hanging baskets in town so Barry is adjusting the tarp over the deck before we hang the baskets up. It is starting to look like summer may happen after all!

As I look out the window I see a squirrel hanging upside down chewing bits of the suet block we set out for the birds. And a hummingbird is hovering by the feeder having a snack as well. It is nice to be back amongst the critters.

Back in Washington

2010-05-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

After all the income tax frenzy, getting pill prescriptions updated by going in to see the doctor, catching up on yard work, installing a new gas-fired demand hot water tank, getting the phone repaired, buying a modem so the new laptop could communicate with s-l-o-w dial-up service, and planting most of the veggie garden we thought things were getting under control at last.

Then I got a email from my oldest son in Kirkland saying that he had just been to Emergency with a bad bout of pleurisy, which to him had felt as if it was a heart attack. And this happened after he had two bouts of chest infection while trying to get his house ready to put on the market. So Mum decided to go down and administer chicken soup and help out with the battle plan.

I left Terrace Tuesday morning, May 4th and drove as far as Cache Creek that day. As it turned out I was lucky to find a motel available when I arrived that evening. For some reason the motels were mainly sold out, packed up, no room at the inn by dinnertime. Go figure! I did manage to get a room at the Cache Creek Motor Inn in the inner courtyard, which turned out to be mighty quiet thank goodness.

It was a nice unit and after dinner I decided to haul a glass of Mexican wine into the bathroom and have it while I soaked in a nice hot tub. At that point I discovered my unit was the home of the absolutely most gigormous hot water tank I have ever seen! Which meant that, although it occasionally emitted strange belching noises, I was located by the motherload and would never run out of hot water when I was in the tub or shower!

Wednesday after taking advantage of my free breakfast at the Subway next door, I hit the road and managed to get to Kirkland by early afternoon. I did a grocery shop before heading to the house since Rene doesn't have a car and grocery shopping is a bit of a drag. It was good to see he didn't look too bad, although he still had a cough, and coughing hurt.

Since then, we have been going through the house doing chores, sorting and hucking stuff, and filling dings and painting. I took on the 'renew the decks' project and over the course of the past few days have scraped, sanded, primed and painted both the upper balcony and large lower deck. The weather wasn't promising yesterday or today but I took a chance and won both times because the rain held off and it actually got sunny today. The stain went on the deck today, and my mission is accomplished.

In between painting and sorting chores we have made numerous trips to Home Depot for parts and plants and weed killers and such. We took a load of used books to a used book store, old computer parts to recycling and renewed his ID at motor vehicles today (about an hour and a half!) We hit the grocery a couple of times and went out to dinner once.

And as for the plants- in between other chores Rene has tamed the backyard jungle by mowing it about three times, and I planted a flower garden along one edge of the yard to brighten it up. He also cleared out a whack of bamboo that infiltrated from the neighbour's yard- that stuff is a real pain! He had more tools in his arsenal too- the next to be applied is moss killer, and then grass seed I believe. It has been a busy week.

On Mother's Day I was treated to a nice home-cooked breakfast and dinner, with lunch out at the mall so I had a total day off! Most of the time we have been doing tag-team cooking, with Rene doing it one meal and me another,or else him doing some dishes and me others.

The realtor will be over tomorrow (Wednesday)with a list of comparables to set a selling price for the house, Rene will attempt to get it sold and get moved closer to work (in California perhaps), and I will hit the trail heading north with a stop in Vancouver to see the girls along the way.

When I get home, I will get to see if any of my veggie seeds sprouted in my absence!

Back Where We Started!

2010-04-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

It has been too long since I updated this blog, so it will be a slightly condensed version of how things went in the past three weeks.

Our trip from Kirkland WA to Mission was pretty uneventful. We tried to stop and visit Glen and Sandy on our way past Bellingham but they were gone for the day attending a motorbike event in eastern Washington. When we drove to their house and went to the back door (the one they use) we noticed a large sleeping black lab on the doorstep. Yikes! Fortunately I was packing a treat for their Doberman dog Higgins and it came in handy when the lab woke up! I quickly offered a bite of liver to the pooch and we became friends! We phoned their cell, got no answer, gave the rest of Higgins' liver treat to the big guard dog and proceeded to Canada.

It was a short wait at the border, a few questions, and we were on our way to Joan's place in Mission to park the Boler and then head to the grocery and liquor stores to replace what we had left in Kirkland. (Since each border is different, and the rules keep changing we just find it simpler to leave fresh food and spare booze behind before we cross borders.)

We had a good visit while we were there, with trips to visit most of the kids and grand-grunts. Barry washed all the vehicles in the driveway, I did a bit of yard work with Doreen, Barry went for lab tests, and our time in the Fraser Valley ticked away. I managed to see a coyote run across the yard one day- Joan says they have been around quite a bit. We also managed to arrange to pick up a new Bosch gas-fired demand hot water tank with a side vent feature that will eliminate our annual winter roof vent disaster due to snow load.

I had researched products online while we were in California and the Bosch line looked good, plus it had a dealer in North Vancouver where my two daughters live. When I contacted them they referred us to a Terrace gas installer, so we phoned him and he authorized the dealer to let us pick up the unit. Actually we picked up the heater on Annacis Island when we visited Tami, then picked up the power vent in North Van when we visited Sonya and Liana. It worked out really well since they don't stock the parts up north and we got quicker service when we arrived home.

We stayed overnight at Liana's after she put on a big family dinner for us, her family, Sonya and her family and my sister and brother-in-law. It was a nice evening and a good visit. In the morning, after breakfast, we went to Barry's doctor appointment downtown, headed back to Mission, and got packed to leave in the morning.

All the morning chores, like strip and change the bed, wash the sheets, and turn on the self-clean oven, went quickly and we headed out in time to make Prince George by early evening. We gave Thom and Nancy a call from Quesnel and they were free for dinner so they met us in the Costco parking lot and drove us to the Keg for a delicious steak dinner. After Mexican chewy beef, it was a real treat! Thanks guys!

In the morning we took bacon and eggs to their place and had a good feed including 'house speciality' hash browns and gourmet toast before heading west to Terrace. It's nice to visit along the way. We also managed to connect with Howard and Joan as they passed through Burns Lake and we had a brief chat, hugs, and exchanged some items before we each headed off in separate directions.

When we arrived at the lake it was time for dinner, start the heater, and then bed. Chores waited until the next morning when Barry managed to get the water running again and the gas installer came out to check what he would need Monday when he came to install the tank. We found out we had no phone servce and therefore no internet, so I called Telus and they couldn't come until Friday to repair the line. Turrned out that the lines inside the phone connection box outside were corroded.

It was a long week waiting for internet, so I got all busy in the yard after unpacking the essentials from the van and Boler. I raked twigs and leaves, pruned the raspberries, trimmed the broken hedge branches, roto-tilled the garden, and burned all the rubble.

We also managed to visit Dae and Gordon and have a nice lamb dinner with Pat and Garry during the week. All the income tax stuff was transported to Prince Rupert the same day we boxed all our wine that was put on in our absence. It is so nice to come home to a full larder of u-brew wine after paying higher prices on the road.

Last Sunday we had a nice dinner here with Howard and Joan and visited with Richard and Janet- it is good to get back together after all these months. We usually see each other almost every weekend during our time at the lake, having 'loaves and fishes' type dinners at one cabin or another.

At this point we are close to caught up on most chores. Just need to file, put away, organize the last things out of the van and suitcases, and re-organize the stored canned goods and put them in the pantry cupboards. The garden is mostly planted and I am impatiently waiting for the first radish seeds to break through the dirt to let me know the rest of the seeds will be along shortly. Thank God for radishes- they keep me calm.

Tomorrow we are heading to Prince Rupert to file our income tax and pay the accountant's bill for, once again, keeping us out of jail and legal by filing on time. See you next week!

Chillin' in Washington

2010-04-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Dennis, Yuka, Sarah, Sydney and Yuka's mom Toyoko arrived early on time from Japan due to a tailwind. Their first days at home were a mysterious time warp since they were used to Japan time and tended to wake up about 1:30 AM our time, then get sleepy in the afternoon. The house resembled Christmas there were so many packages all wrapped in the traditional Japanese way. It took a few days to get almost back to normal. Of course their dog Ariel was one complete body-wag the whole time we were there she was so happy to get her family back!

We had a good Easter dinner the day after they got home- I baked a huge ham and added some turkey legs and wings to the same pan so we had a combo special. Instead of potatoes I made mashed cauliflower with roasted garlic, and it was the best version I have ever done. With that we also had brussel sprouts and mashed turnips/carrots with butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. And of course, gravy.

Even though Sarah was punch-drunk tired she managed to get one 2nd place and two 3rd place medals in her gymnastics class competition. WTG Sarah! Sydney was fun to watch on the trampoline and in the sponge pit the same day.

Yuka, Toyoko and Barry & I managed a fun shopping trip to Kohl's and Costco. My biggest scoop was a formerly $44 sweater marked down to $1.99 at Kohl's, and I got a further 20% discount for opening an account there. Crazy.

Anyway, we had our last night's dinner at Indochine Restaurant, and the next morning we packed up and headed north once again. Our first night we landed at the Yreka Wal-Mart where we shopped nearby for fresh sole and had a nice light supper with stir-fried bok choy and carrots with some fresh corn. The temperature went down around freezing and the furnace wouldn't kick in, so we had an 'under the covers' kind of night! The kind where you cover your head with the blankets and breathe warm air really fast until it gets cosy! (Barry has since figured out that the thermostat is frapped, and has found a way to turn it on anyway.) We ate breakfast at the Black Bear Diner the next morning since it was nice and cozy over there and we needed to be spoiled after having a chilly night.

We started running into the odd sprinkle of rain as we drove, but the trip was fine since we got all the mountain passes out of the way before the rain started. Not sure if Yreka had snow behind us, but I wouldn't be surprised. We got as far as Chehalis WA Wal-Mart the second night and it was a bit warmer there. We had both dinner and breakfast in the Boler, and left fairly early in the morning.

Rene is just a short distance north of there so we arrived at his place before noon. Spring is happening here even though it still gets chilly and damp, so I did my semi-annual weed attack and hedge trim in his yard. This year even more of the neighbour's ruddy bamboo is popping up on Rene's side of the fence, and I murderized his hedge clippers along with the bamboo- who knew metal could bend like that?! Today we bought him a new set of clippers.

We've been eating well with things like turkey legs, and spaghetti with meat sauce, and homemade soup and pie. I may have to walk the rest of the way home to wear it off!

Barry managed to replace a kitchen outlet here that had fried itself, so that was a good job done. Rene transferred stuff from my old dead computer's hardrive to my new laptop, and formatted the old hardrive to act as extra memory for the new computer. He also updated my Garmin for me- I might have eventually figured it out on my own at home, but this was WAY easier! Thank goodness for smart kids.

We have had nasty reports of white stuff happening at the lake up north, We have also had bits of chilly weather and rain here in between the rays of sunshine that occasionally break through the clouds. Would whoever is in charge of weather please, please, please make spring happen for me so I don't have to deal with snow when we get to the cabin!

We will head to BC tomorrow.

Melaque to Palo Alto

2010-04-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

We headed out of Melaque on schedule about 10:30 AM on March 25 after packing the last minute items, saying adios to a few neighbours, and extracting one puppy from the back bedroom where she chose to latch onto the bed. Sorry Canela, can't take you home.

We tried a new route up Hwy #80 towards Guadalajara, then veered left towards Buenavista to avoid the Periferico traffic, getting onto theTepic cuota road by 3:50 PM. That saved us about an hour or more compared to last year.

Our first night was spent at a Pemex near Rosamorada north of Tepic, and it wasn't the quietest we have stayed at! We were up early and on the road by 5:30 our time. During our trip up, at some point we cross into a different time zone and aren't sure just who has switched to daylight savings time and who hasn't, so we just use our Melaque time for the first days of travel.

Our second day of travel was very productive and we arrived at the Ciudad Obregon Wal-mart by 4:30 PM where we did a small shop before having Caesars, tuna sashimi, and turkey stew for supper. I had packed the frozen food from the fridge at the casa to use as multi-purpose ice blocks and suppers along the way.

On the 27th our lift-off was at 8:40AM, but it would be an easy run to the border from there and we were relaxed about leaving later.

Then we hit the big Mexican Military Checkpoint, where a pleasant but very persistent soldier ferreted into every nook and cranny of our van and Boler for quite some time. He even went under both beds and checked the storage compartments there, and lifted/opened boxes and totes in the van. He seemed amazed that we had so much stuff, but settled down when we explained that we lived very close to Alaska and needed stuff for different seasons and to repair the vehicle on the road if necessary. I showed him where we lived on our atlas and his eyebrows shot up.

Anyway, that session left the beds a tad dishevelled and I was glad we'd be in Motel 6 that night so I had time to get them rebuilt.

We got through the checkpoint OK and arrived at the border by about 4 PM to find a LONG line-up. I mean L_O_N_G!!! We had a four and a half hour wait before we got though, including a further US inspection of all our stuff in the van and Boler. All I lost was a part package of prosciutto and salami, my patience, and a large part of the evening!

We checked into Motel 6 OK, then luckily found our favourite Italian restaurant across the highway would be open until 10PM so we had a nice relaxing and well-appreciated supper there.

On the 28th we had coffee in the Boler before heading to IHOP for brekkie. That is a nice treat after a few days of cooking in a phone booth! We did a Wal-mart cruise before heading out of town about 11:40 AM.

That day we drove to a Flying J truck stop right near the Arizona/CA border where we have often stayed in the upper parking lot. We had a supper of salad, mushies/onions, cabbage/cheese, and BBQ'd big thick steaks along with red wine. Even though it got a bit cool in the night we had a good sleep and woke up about 6:30 AM.

After an easy breakfast we gassed up, cleaned the layers of bugs off the windshield, and headed towards our next night's landing zone at Bakerfield Wal-mart on Rosedale Highway. We arrived there by just after 3 PM and did a walkabout, had a beer by the Boler, and went to the Roadhouse Grill for dinner.

March 30th we strayed from our normal route since there was no rush to get to Dennis & Yuka's house in Palo Alto (they are still in Japan). We got over to I5, then turned west at Lost Hills and drove through Paso Robles. We stopped there and walked around the Wal-mart to stretch. (You may notice our theme of landing at Wal-marts- that is because they are very RV friendly, unlike places like Target who don't allow overnight parking. In gratitude, we always shop at Wal-marts. Lots!)

Other than a rainstorm heading to the coast, the weather was passable but cooler than we have been accustomed to at around 65F. Highway 1 along the coast is very scenic and extremely winding. I would call it a cross between the Fraser Canyon highway and the road to Hana in Hawaii. The stretch of highway along the coast is reminiscent of the Queen Charlottes with a lot of Galleries and artsy places along the way. We stopped for a leg stretch at one point, but didn't go in the Gallery.

Due to the cliffs and sharp drops towards the coast I wasn't sure if we would find a suitable campground, but Barry found the Ferndale Resort beside the Big Sur River south of Monterey. We got a spot right beside the river and bought a $10 US bag of firewood. Yikes! That is sort of against my religion, but the fire was sure nice and we ate a stir-fry made with our leftover steak and a bunch of veggies for supper sitting beside the campfire.

It rained in the night, but cleared by morning. We slept very well and were up by 7:45 AM, had breakfast, and left by 9:15 AM. Some interesting things along the stretch of highway leading to Monterey were a wild turkey crossing the highway, a movie crew filming on one treacherous corner, and the Point Sur Naval Facility perched high on a knoll.

The winding road turned into a freeway as we approached Monterey and we swung off onto #156 towards Palo Alto about 10:15 AM, passing through the Artichoke Capital of the World, Castroville, and the Garlic Capital, Gilroy, along the way. After getting onto #101 we did a gas stop, then found a Camping World to wander through before arriving at Dennis's about 12:25 PM.

The key was waiting for us and we got into the new 'in-law' digs in the garage and got the bed made for bedtime. (The painter was just finishing the project as they left for Japan, so they couldn't get it all ready before leaving.)

Since arriving, Barry has been puttering around on the trailer wiring since one rear light went out on the Boler, and I have been getting caught up on both emails and laundry! We managed to clean out the coolers and get them ready for the next leg of the trip.

The cranky old cat Mika, who has been staying home alone (with daily cat-sitter visits) has been pretty vocal about how her family is missing. She has only one more 'Gramma day' to go before things are back to normal!

Hasta Luego!

2010-03-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

Well, this is just a short last minute message before we turn the modem back in to Telmex in Manzanillo. We decided there was no point leaving it active while we are gone, but have decided to keep the phone line active so hooking up again next fall will be easy.

More boxes have been sorted and packed and I went on a cooking frenzy yesterday to use up a lot of the food. Paulette gifted us a lot of cheese when she left, so I made lasagna with that. And an assortment of nuts, shredded coconut, leftover Special K, etc. transformed into cookies for the trail. They may come in handy if we come across any hungry checkpoint people along our trip to the border.

One year as we were leaving with the motorhome we were boarded by an inspector at a state border checkpoint. He did a cursory glance around the interior and then said in perfect English, "Don't you have any candy?" At that point we offered him some homemade cookies and told him to take enough for everybody working there- he was pleased, and that was the end of our "inspection".

Today I will be phoning Justin to wish him a Happy Birthday when he gets home from school. That is why our Telmex trip will be tomorrow- Gramma needed the Skype phone!

Tomorrow we will go to dinner with Fred and Sharon at La Salamadra just around the corner. We met Fred and Sharon the first year we came to Melaque when they stayed at Bungalows Pacifico, across the street from our motorhome. We used to park our chairs out on the sidewalk after dinner and watch the traffic go by. It was more fun than it sounds! It was neat watching the reactions from different tourists walking by- most were happy and friendly, some were a tad uptight.

This year we plan to drive up to Tepic a different way. Instead of using the cuota roads through Manzanillo to Guadalajara then Tepic, we plan to go up the libre road through Autlan and turn off to the left just past Cocula to hit another highway that connects to the Tepic cuota road. The whole point of the exercise, besides avoiding the stress of traffic through Guadalajara, is to see some new scenery. We will join the cuota road very close to Tequila.

Once we hit that cuota road, we will use them all the way up to the Nogales border crossing. After that, we travel up through Tuscon then swing onto I10 towards San Bernadino, where we swing off to avoid Los Angeles. We will go through Palmdale,
then up I5 as far as Lost Hills, at which point we will try a new route to Palo Alto. We plan to connect to the coastal highway at Cambria and wander northward until we reach Monterrey, then cross over to Palo Alto via whatever route Gillian , our GPS biatch, suggests. (I usually ignore her most of the time, but she is handy in freaking stressful freeway situations!)

Anyway, this is it for at least a couple of weeks while we travel. Hasta Luego!

Sort of Like Being Pregnant

2010-03-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

Well the last few days of packing up before heading out have brought a flurry of activity to our casa. Suddenly all the little chores that I was ignoring all have to get done at once and it feels just like the frenzy prior to giving birth.

It takes me back to the time that just before having one of the kids I was up on the roof painting trim- for some unknown hormonal reason everything had to be just perfect.

Anyway, I loose laid brick along the front of the house against the wall to protect the conduits buried along there from the two ambitious puppies. Mainly Daisy is the instigator and she loves to delve into the weirdest corners of the universe. I had visions of having her either bite into the electrical line and get hurt or the water line and cause great grief in our lives.

That same day Glen came over with his trusty electric saw and pruned an out of control tree at the front of the casa, with Barry, Doug, Gisela, Sandy and I all acting as sidewalk superintendents while he worked in the hot sun. Somehow the guys managed to cram tree residue from three lots into the back of Glen's truck and it all got hauled to the dump. The whole operation involved a big beer break in the front yard.

Barry and I took a quick run into Soriana in Santiago for what was most likely our last big food run. While there I bought two dog collars because I need to have a way to control the little farts when they go in for surgery Friday morning at the free spay/neuter clinic in La Manzanilla. I already have two leashes here so it should all work OK.

Thursday I finally painted the upper walls in the bathrooms above the new tilework. It looks a lot better with a fresh coat of paint I must say. We also redecorated a bit in the living room and added a new set of vases complete with tall coloured grasses to set them off. Then Barry drilled holes to hang our new rustic metal light with a sun, a very native looking face, and what appears to be the outline of a pyramid on the other side. It is cut out so that when the light is turned on it looks pretty cool. It hangs on the wall below the masks our neighbour gave us last year so it has turned into quite the vignette.

Of course in between all the above activity there were the normal Bigotes trips, etc. and a most memorable dinner of poached smoked alaska black cod (gifted by Tony and Marg), green pea salad from Sandy, and cauliflower & cheese sauce, with smoked salmon as an added feature. We shared our wealth with Doug and Gisela and Glen and Sandy and we were all very happily stuffed.

This post is a bit hurried and incomplete since I am doing it early and at bedtime. In the morning we need to head out early, the pups can't eat, and life will be too complicated to go online and blog. It will be their first trip in a vehicle- wish us luck!

PS I am happy to report that the pineapple top I bunged in the garden in a previous year is now forming a totally cute baby pineapple! It's the first one I've even seen growing up close.

The Gringos are Thinning Out.

2010-03-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

And no, I don't mean they are losing weight. The mass exodus of the snowbirds is now in full force. There are less tourists everywhere and there is more room on the beach. Some restaurants have already shut down and those that are open have fewer customers.

We have spent a fairly quiet week nursing our colds and not getting into too much trouble. Bill and Connie are still here so we had a visit with them last night in their rental on the beach.

One of the most interesting things we did this week was join in on a discussion and field trip last Friday to explore the possibility of applying for a Federal Zone to protect the far (Barra) side of Laguna del Tule. We hadn't realized before that there is actually a section of mangroves on that side- our side of the laguna has tules (tall reeds that float in clumps like small islands) and assorted floating weeds like water hyacinths.

We were able to walk fairly far into the area towards the beach, so it wouldn't be too much work to make an accessible walkway for tourists to observe the mangroves and wildlife there. It was beautiful.

The annual Skim Board Competition was held last weekend- Barry went down to the beach to see some of the competitors, but I stayed home and just joined him for lunch at Del Tule after the show. There are competitors from all over and the level of skill is amazing, but my laziness from the cold won over.

The celebrations leading up to Saint Patrick's Day have already started. One of the three original small villages that make up Melaque is called San Patricio, and Saint Patrick is featured every year on March 17th with a huge celebration in the town square. They have a very impressive fireworks display that night, but leading up to it there are mysterious cannons going off about 5 AM (or maybe 6 AM?) and occasional other bursts of fireworks during the day.

The fireworks are fired from a huge rickety wooden structure called a castillo. It is amazing to me that it all works. Last year part of the tower caught fire and someone went up to put it out. Here is a link to a video of the performance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nzw2wIqDTg

Pat and Garry reported in from Palmdale CA on their way home- I imagine they are in BC by now, just in time for the dump of snow there. Construction on the house being built on the property beside them in Barra is going ahead and it looks like there will be a fairly tall house set to the rear of the lot. We drove by Thursday on our way home from the tiangi in Barra de Navidad.

The normal cycle of shopping and laundry and visiting is now interpersed with thinking what will get packed to go home and what will stay down here. Boxes are starting to get piled in the hallway as the 'home' boxes get sorted.

Would someone please get rid of winter before we get there?!

Less than a month left!

2010-02-27T11:04:00.001-08:00

Friday evening, despite my dumb cold, we went to Pat and Garry's for a salad and spaghetti dinner. First the women's curling final and then the Olympic Canada/Slovakia hockey game was on, so we ate TV dinner style in their living room. Holy cow, we almost lost that game at the end! It went later than normal, so we went home in the second intermission and watched the end of the game at our house.

I found some anti-histamine to dry up my drippy sinuses and also took oil of oregano and a salt water flush before bed. That along with the warmed brandy/chambord drink Barry made me solved my problem temporarily and I managed to get a few hours sleep before my cold woke me up.

First thing I learned on Twitter Saturday morning was that Chile had had a massive earthquake and that there was a tsunami warning for Manzanillo for about 11:09 AM our time. We called friends who live on the beach to make sure they had heard the warning and then tried to track the tsunami progress online. It didn't amount to anything, but we were glad to be aware of the problem. Since there aren't many hills nearby, we were going to take a box of homemade wine up on our roof and watch what happened. As it turned out, there was only a fairly minor effect here and in Barra and the whole thing passed over without any wine break required. I spent part of the day watching the water flow down in Hawaii on a live news show.

Sunday we had our eyes glued to the TV during the Canada/US hockey game and were glad we managed to get the gold (thanks Sydney!). Our American friends and neighbours didn't even raise a big fuss when we won. I made two large pizzas- one meat & everything and one spinach/feta etc. They went over well with the clan who dropped by, and we had some leftovers for lunch during the week.

I wasn't super impressed with the closing ceremonies, but maybe that was just my weird taste anyway. All in all, I think the Olympic Games were pretty awesome.

Pat and I did our annual trek to Cihuatlan Monday to pay our taxes, bank trust fees, and deposits on our electrical bills. We followed that with a nice lunch before heading home.

Paulette stayed overnight here Monday before heading back home on Tuesday's afternoon flight. She treated us to a great feast at the Japanese restaurant for lunch (of course I just had tastes due to my previous Cihuatlan lunch). We had a nice relaxing visit and she got rested up a bit for all the excitement that will hit once she arrives home. Her son Stewart and his fiancee Terri are getting married in Prince Rupert. (Congratulations!)

Tuesday evening we went to another laguna meeting with our Mexican neighbours and we are getting closer to working on our severe water hyacinth problem. They got a laugh when we told them our Canadian friends Bonnee and Vic from Ontario actually buy the same plants at a fairly steep price to stock their pond, and have to replace them annually because they die off in the cold weather there. (Hey, maybe if we all dumped trays of ice cubes into the laguna at the same time we could kill them off!) Growing conditions here are ideal temperature wise and the leaking sewer system only compounds the problem by adding fertilizer to already ideal conditions.

This week's activities have been a bit scaled down due to my honking head cold which eventually started to make my chest crackle. Thankfully, it has been working its way out slowly and I will survive. As of Friday, Barry started to get the same symptoms, and Pat got it a few days ago too. I think I got mine from Garry, who was the first to get it. Sheesh- nothing like sharing!

Thursday we had a trip to Manzanillo to pick up our FM3's and Barry & I and Doug and Gisela were joined by Glen, who was just applying for his renewal. We all travelled in our van, with Barry driving. Glen's paperwork took a fair bit of time, but then the fun began. Gisela and I did a shopping trip in Walmart while the guys went across the highway to Auto-Zone. Then we parked at Soriana and walked a couple of blocks to have lunch at El Fogon. I just love their Chamora- which is very tender pork hock. It is delicious! Could only eat half of it, so can have more today for lunch.

Then Gisela and I did a quick shop in Soriana while the guys just had one more beer.
On the way home we explored a new section of road north of Cihuatlan- we found it skirts town and will eventually join the highway right at the bridge exiting town. Cihuatlan is a sort of weird bottleneck in travel to Manzanillo- a good shopping destination, but it slows you down if you simply want to hit the road. It will be good when the bypass is functional.

We made it home Thursday just in time to have Pat and Garry drive up and tell us they are heading out Sunday. They were planning to leave fairly soon, but it has been speeded up by loud construction on the lot next door - the sound of cement mixers all day is grating on their nerves. We ended up going to dinner at Rula's above the laundromat. I was still full from lunch so just had a caesar salad for supper. It was a nice meal and there was soft music being played in the background by an older gringo guitarist.

Today after lunch Barry and I will join Irma for a meeting with a fellow who has a laguna plan on the Barra de Navidad side. We want to see if we are on the same page so we can join forces. I'll keep you posted.

Back Online- Thanks to Garry.

2010-02-26T14:55:00.000-08:00

Last Friday's dinner was awesome. Bonnie brought a scrumptious salad complete with craisins, etc., Pat made stuffed chicken breasts with spinach sauce and green beans, and I brought banana cream pudding with whipped cream and chocolate shavings along with blueberry and raspberry tarts for dessert. No wonder we can't lose weight down here!

After a chat with a knowledgable computer guy in town, last rites were read over my laptop. All I can have done is to remove the harddrive and transfer information to my new laptop when I get to California. Rene found a deal online but I wasn't able to order it from Mexico on my Visa, so Dennis arranged purchase for me and I will pay for it once we arrive in Palo Alto. In the meantime, Garry kindly loaned me his computer so at least I can go online from the casa.

The rest of Saturday was spent at Bigotes for lunch, the Q-Club with Bill and Connie listening to the Redneck Mothers playing some tunes, and then dinner at Los Arcos in Barra de Navidad.

Sunday after brekkie, yard chores, and news on TV we took a leisurely drive through Jaluco (across the highway) looking for a mural done by Ed Gilliam on a school for the field workers children. We didn't manage to find it, but saw a lot of other interesting things like peppers being dried on plastic bags laid alongside the dirt road, and an older wild boar skin draped over a post.

We found the new highway which will eventually connect to Hgwy 80 and managed to cross an arroyo and get up onto the highway, so we ended up driving to La Huerta for lunch.

I had cooked a pork crockpot stew for dinner, then the losing hockey game between Canada and the USA ended the day.

The power was out again Monday morning- have no idea why since there was no storm in the night. Maybe they are doing maintenance on the lines or something. By the way, the dead microwave has come back to life after not being used for awhile. Que pasa?

Our TV is still in the repair shop, but it may be fixable and that would be a good thing. We are still using Glen and Sandy's spare TV for now. We sure have great friends and neighbours!

The rest of the week was a bit of a blur- we ran across Dolly and Allan from Prince Rupert while eating lunch in Barra with Pat one day, and we had a couple of visits with them. We drove Paulette on a successful second try at finding Ed's mural in Jaluco, and took some good photos. Tony, Marg and crew brought their larger screen TV over to watch the Canada hockey team win this time. We went to the tiangi in Melaque on Wednesday, then the botanero with Dolly, Allan, Paulette and her friend Fifi on Thursday.

Thursday evening we showed Dolly and Allan our favourite taco stand near Ricky's. Dolly and Allan had enchiladas, Barry had tacos, and I had a gringa (which is like a large quesadilla with more fillings in it). Dolly and Allan headed to Puerta Vallarta Friday morning to be there for their flight home the next day.

I started coming down with a head cold Thursday evening- shoot! I've been using Oil of Oregano and Fenugreek and Thyme capsules to ward it off, but I am still a pretty snotty broad!

Friday morning after breakfast and laundry I got ready to head to La Manzanilla with Irma, the president of our laguna association, for a meeting with another environmental group founder there. We compared notes and got a couple of very useful contacts from Dave Collins of the tierralegre group.

The power was out everywhere in La Manzanilla, so after out meeting ended Irma drove us to lunch at Lety's on the highway in the Barra area. A dance director and another friend of Irma's joined us for lunch. We had a special crab cake dish in a tomato broth, with fresh handmade tortillas. Apparently it is only made as a treat before Lent because it is so much work.

Anyway, I'll go for now and post again next week when I am not so contagious!

Death of a Laptop

2010-02-22T07:55:00.000-08:00

As I sat there prepping
My blog post on Word
My laptop began to
Act like a turd.

The print began hopping
Two thirds down the screen,
And a jumble occured
Where, once, words had been.

I didn't believe it
I thought it might go
And I did a reboot
So I really would know.

In a moment of wisdom
I 'copied and pasted'
Then emailed to me
So my work wasn't wasted.

It's really a pain
And it will cramp my style.
My blogs will be short
For the next little while.

Oopsa Daisy- Dead Laptop

2010-02-20T12:27:00.000-08:00

First of all, no pics due to dead laptop as I went to post this.

It was an ordinary Friday with yard work and visits, until about 4:30 PM when we collected ten of us to go to the Siboney Botanero to watch the 5:30 PM show. The fun part was that most of the ten had never been before. It is always fun to watch the reactions of newbies to the various performers.

There were even some surprises for Barry and I since we hadn’t seen some of the acts before. Daniel/Daniella did a couple of appearances dressed as a man for a change, yet reverted to a Cher costume shortly after.

After the second show began we all left and went our various ways. Paulette, Barry and I all went to Luis’s taco stand on the way home and ended up sitting with Dr. Paul, a retired orthopaedic surgeon, and Pat, a retired pharmacist. Pat and I compared new knees since he also had two knee replacements a couple of years apart- his right knee was just done in November and he is doing really well. Dr. Paul was interested in why I had both knees done, and approved of the outcome when I told him about having been so bow-legged ‘I couldn’t catch a pig’.

We watched the remainder of the Olympic Games opening ceremony when we got home and were pretty impressed in general. Some of the music was not my favourite but I approved of the people chosen to light the flame. It is just too bad that Terry Fox couldn’t have joined them.

I decided that due to the really warm winds off the laguna Saturday morning it was prime drying weather and did lots of laundry, including the bedding. Close to lunchtime we drove over to check in with Pat and Garry and we all decided to try our neighbour Andre’s restaurant ‘El Fresco’ for lunch.

It is tucked in beside one of the seafood providers on the far side highway access road. The restaurant looks very nice, the washrooms were clean and the waiting staff was attentive. If I could change one thing it would be the traffic noise going by. For some reason it seemed louder than the Japanese restaurant in a similar location on the opposite side of the highway. Garry and Barry had pescado and Pat and I both had pollo asada- all orders came with a generous portion of beans and rice, salad and salsa. I couldn’t finish mine so Daisy and Tomas will benefit from that.

After bringing in the laundry and getting rabbit stew underway, we watched Olympic coverage of women’s moguls and hockey, then speed skating while sipping on a glass of red wine. Then rabbit stew, spinach and creamed corn for Barry was tonight’s dinner. I gave Daisy all the mysterious extra parts that came with the rabbit and it made her happy.

Valentine’s Day I woke up with both a beautiful bouquet and a dose of tourista, and spent the whole day laying low and attempting to get cured in time for dinner at Pat and Garry’s. I managed to be in good enough shape to go to dinner, but without my usual good appetite. Pat made a fantastic dinner with shrimp cocktails, Greek salad, marinated roast leg of lamb, roast potatoes and Vienneta ice cream with chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. We all enjoyed champagne with dinner too. I gave it my best shot and ate some of almost everything, but we headed home at a relatively early hour.

Monday we laid fairly low all day with a brief trip to Cihuatlan for grub, then lunch at home. I made a big dish of sweet and sour pork appetizers to take to a BYOB block party in Barra de Navidad that night. Bill and Connie had invited us to join them and their friends and bought our tickets for us. It turned into a great evening with Taqueria Ramos taco stand providing the food and a local band providing the music. Dancing was a bit tough on the legs since it was on sandy interlocking pavers, with me wearing sliders that a) kept almost coming off and b) stuck to the concrete. Bad choice! We still managed a few dances anyway. Bill and Connie joined us for one last drink and a bit of Olympic event viewing before heading home to bed.

I got to sleep in to 7:30 AM Tuesday for some reason- nice! Then it was coffee and breakfast before I got ready to go to La Manzanilla with Pat and Bonnee for our Mexican cooking class.

Just after 10AM the three of us headed over to Eileen’s for our class, with Pat driving (thanks Pat!). We made mixed green salad with pine nuts, cheese, and mint vinaigrette, fresh corn tamale casserole, poblanos stuffed with shrimp, apples and almonds, and Ricotta Romp (like a cheesecake) for dessert. There were five of us taking the lesson as we were joined by Karin and Randy from Arnold, California.

Once the prepping and cooking was complete, we carried our meal up to the roof palapa and ate in the fresh air. The meal was accompanied by chilled Jamaica tea, which is a red tea made from flower blossoms. It has a good slightly tangy flavour and is one of my favourites. We were impressed that a guy took the class too- Randy said it was because he likes to eat! None of us figure that our men folk would do the same.

We were done early enough to take a walk through the art gallery in La Manzanilla followed by a drink at ‘Palapa Joe’s” before heading home. The art gallery was a good diversion- we all loved the pile of paper mache chickens titled ‘Cirque de Poulet’! And ‘Palapa Joe’s’ recently hosted a charity dinner assisted by the TV chef Guy Fieri of ‘Diner’s, Drive-ins and Dives’ and ‘Guy’s Big Bite’. Guy and his family regularly spend time in La Manzanilla, and the whole clan assisted with the charity dinner.

That night we drove Bill and Connie up to Mama Ines ‘El T-Bone’ for a steak dinner. They had never been there before, and it was our first visit this year. One of the different sides was a split jalapeno pepper filled with grilled onion slices. I ate half the pepper before admitting defeat.

Wednesday was company day. Paulette came over, Gisela dropped in, the Herman and Sheila came accompanied by Herman’s sister and brother-in-law. Too bad Barry missed some of the visits because he went to help Garry with his satellite dish. Anyway, he made it back home in time for us to go to lunch with Herman and crew and we went to our usual spot- Bigote’s. Then after showing them where both the Correo (Post Office), and also Concha del Mar are located, we took a break before going to dinner with Paulette.

Unfortunately the Japanese restaurant was closing as we arrived so we drove over to the seafood restaurant ‘Fredi’s’. Paulette hadn’t been before and she really enjoyed her camaron cocktail. I had a platter of marlin and ceviche to spread on tostadas, and Barry had a camaron and pulpo (octopus) cocktail. After all that eating, we all came home and watched Olympics with a glass of wine.

After a fairly normal chore day Thursday, Barry headed over to help Garry adjust his satellite dish, and this time they were successful at getting a signal. I spent the day at home doing a few chores and then goofing off. Linda Seymour stopped by with another hot tip about routes towards home. (Thanks Linda!) They will head out next Sunday and plan to stop in Tequila on the way home. That is not too far from Guadalajara, and is an easy first day’s drive from here.

In the evening after supper, Doug and Gisela came over then Bill and Connie arrived. The guys watched the close Olympic hockey game between Canada and Switzerland (Thanks Sidney Crosby!), and we gals sat in the back patio area chatting over a glass of wine. Storm clouds started swirling and the sky got dark so we took our chairs up on the roof to watch the ‘Nature Channel’ for a while. There was lightening far off to the west, but it never really amounted to anything here. We did have a pretty impressive warm wind while the sky show was on. Anyway, all that company meant we missed our laguna meeting last night and will have to get caught up on the latest developments.

Our plans for Friday include dinner at Pat and Garry’s with Vic and Bonnee. Pat is making appies and the dinner, Bonnee is bringing salad, and I need to figure out dessert.

Cruising and Chewing!

2010-02-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

Friday was a nice lazy morning, starting a bit later than 6 AM for a change. After breakfast and company we went out for a cruise around the area checking the aftermath of the big rainstorm. We found cable lines down and lots of lakes where there should have been roads.

After trying to track Paulette down, but finding she was in La Manzanilla for the day, we decided to go to Fredi’s for a seafood lunch. (From our seats in the restaurant, it was easy to see the controversial filled area on the lot next door. The previous administration in Cihuatlan issued a fill permit just before they left office, but it is against Federal regulations to fill laguna wetlands so the project is currently shut down.)

We each had a botanas platter- mine was camarones (shrimp) and Barry’s was mixto with scallops, shrimp, and octopus. Both were excellent accompanied by a couple of mini-cervezas. We sat beside Allan and Mildred and their friends.

I managed to get the laundry done early in the afternoon, planning to leave it drying overnight.

Later that afternoon we decided to go to the botanero to watch the show for the first time this year. The place was nearly filled to capacity and a Mexican singer was performing when we arrived. There were several performers in full costume during the show. Guys dressed as (very attractive!) women lip synch to various tunes in both English and Spanish while strutting around the stage and interacting with the audience. The show ended with another very good Mexican singer dressed in Mariachi gear. We went to the 5:30 show and left just before the 7:30 PM show.

A fast dinner of liver & onions with veggies ended the day. Then it was TV and bed.

Saturday after breakfast, chores and company we made plans to take Paulette and meet Pat and Garry at their house in Barra and walk over to the Rotary Chili Cook-Off in the town square. We got there about 2:30 PM and there was already musical entertainment underway. We grabbed tickets for both refreshments and tasting and bought drink sleeves and raffle tickets before the chili tasting began about 3 PM.

There were 30 entrants- 22 amateurs and 8 professional. They had competitions for both chili and for salsa, but I decided to just judge the chili since I figured my palate would get confused enough with that. I managed to taste 12 chili samples before folding for the day, and one of those went straight into the garbage due to a texture issue! I tried all 8 professional chilis and only 4 amateur, but managed to pick both the amateur and professional winners. The event was well attended and the weather was perfect.

The thing that was the best part of the day for us was Paulette’s ticket being pulled as the winner of a $1,200 US bottle of anejo tequila donated by Grand Bay Hotel! She plans to celebrate her son Stewart’s wedding with it when she gets home.

When the event wound up, we all walked back to Pat and Garry’s and drank a glass of wine while soaking our hot feet in their pool! That sure felt good. Then about 8 PM we all went over to Concha del Mar for dinner before heading home.

It was cool when we woke up Sunday morning but quickly warmed when the sun came up. After breakfast of fruit salad and scrambled eggs Barry did a bit of puttering around and I raked the front and back yards before heading down to the laguna to pull some water hyacinths up onto the bank to dry. Since we’ve had all the rain the water level has come up a bit, so it was a reach with a rake that was required to snag the plants. They are very heavy being 90 percent water, and it was a pretty good workout.

After late lunch we showered and got ready to head out on our Super Bowl run. We visited at Ray and Terri’s for a while before heading to Rose and Ken’s to watch the game. Both house parties had large crowds of between 30 to 40 people. Rose and Ken hired the taco stand guy and the food was delicious once again. I was glad to see New Orleans win since I was rooting for the underdog!

So Monday was my morning off, and though we originally wanted to go to Victor’s for breakfast, it was closed so we ended up going to Esmeralda’s on the other side of town. It was almost jam packed, but we found a table in the rear and settled in. I had a Spanish-type omelette and Barry had bacon, eggs, & pancakes with lots of good coffee.

Afterwards we went to see Bonnie & Dale’s new mural on their courtyard wall near the pool. Bonnie was home alone as Dale is on his fourth trip to Manzanillo over a root canal issue. The mural is an ocean scene complete with floral/beach foreground and tropical island scenery in the distance, with a boat/dolphins in the water. The colours are bright but the large scale of the space around it makes it work quite well. Bonnie is feeling better after a brief bout of the heebie jeebies, which struck after the chili cook-off.

Then I suggested a quick trip to the bodega in Cihuatlan, more for the drive than the groceries! After our quick shopping trip we looped up the hills around the town exploring the back roads. Some roads led to nowhere, and some were obviously where the sand and gravel on the lower road originated from during the rainstorms. There were huge crevices on the dirt roads so we tried to stick mainly to the cobblestone ones.

When we left Cihuatlan and headed home, Barry did the same exploratory loops in the Jaluco area, which is across the highway from Barra and Melaque. We got a few quizzical looks and a few happy waves- we don’t think too many tourists make it across the highway. There are lots of businesses up the hill- good butcher shops, tortilla factories, shoe and clothing stores, etc. Some of the streets are so hilly they resemble San Francisco just like the Santiago ones did.

As we neared our house we spotted an electrical service truck and flagged him down to come check our low-hanging power line. We figure an RV may have snagged onto it and stretched it or something, and we have been having our own personal minor brownouts for a few days. We thought it was all storm related, but maybe not. Anyway, the worker obliged and came over after his current job was finished (haha- get it- current!). He tightened up the line after we shut our breakers off, and that seems to have solved the problem. Barry sent him off with a 50 peso bonus for cervezas after work.

For some reason I spent most of Tuesday thinking it was Wednesday. I did a bit of slave labour after breakfast. I went down to the laguna and raked out some more of the evil water hyacinths that are choking it. I figure they will make good compost to add to our totally sandy soil. It was quite strange to see a small strip of water along the shore when I was done for the day. I am not willing to wade out into it to get at the next plants so will have to rely on the wind to blow them closer. (The sewer pump from the primary treatment up to the filtration plant has failed and shit is happening.)

Barry was working in the Boler peeling off the liner and cleaning all the nooks and crannies that have been neglected up until now. He ended up just as hot as I did, so we both had good long cool showers before changing clothes.

Pat and Garry joined us for dinner. I made coconut crusted dorado, French fries, onion rings, stuffed zucchini, and fried green tomatillos with tomato slices/basil serving as a salad. We had a sugar-free white chocolate pudding for dessert, thanks to a mix I brought down from Canada. The twist was that instead of using milk in the pudding I used coconut milk, and it turned out quite tasty.

Wednesday after all the normal chores like breakfast, dishes and laundry we went to the tiangi to see what we could see. I bought a mint plant to try in a shadier part of the garden- don’t know what it will do in the heat of summer, but in the meantime it will be nice to have fresh mint to throw into the tzatziki.

We went to El Dorado restaurant for lunch, then over to Bigotes to the TomZap party. A lot of folks who regularly chat about all things local in Melaque on www.tomzap.com get together once a year and hold a party. Martha went around dressed in her Mexican dress armed with a gigantic water pistol full of tequila, shooting it into the mouths of most of the patrons. I managed to snag a tequila slammer instead- way easier to deal with! Barry got the full treatment though- funny hat, tequila pistol drink, and head shake afterwards.

Whoops! Rushed home, showered quickly, and went to dinner at Pat and Garry’s in Barra. Alfonso and Christina were there as well and we all enjoyed cheese and crackers
and wine before our dinner of hot mushroom Caesar salad, Prawns Diablo with rice,
and curried cauliflower, followed by vanilla ice cream with pineapple sauce and homemade cookies. It was a great evening.

Thursday morning involved more slave labour turfing the laguna weeds uphill to the compost area before I got showered, dressed, and ready for venturing into the outside world. It threatened to rain again, and in fact did a few spits, but it didn’t amount to anything. I just had visions of my half-dried weeds weighing much more once they were rained on so I got the job done while they were relatively dry and light.

It was about 1:30 PM before we went first to the bank for pesos, then to pay the Telmex bill near the town square. After that we tried to find our neighbour Andre’s new restaurant, but failed due to the confusing directions. We ended up having lunch at ‘Fonda Mary’s in “meat alley” downtown. We once again chose the chiles relleno since they are tasty there, with just the right amount of bite. (Andre will see us soon, once we get it all figured out.)

“Meat alley” is actually two corridors off the south side of the main street that has many small shops on either side of each alley connecting two streets. The opposite side of the main street has a similar corridor we call “ fish alley” because one of the first shops is a pescadoria, or fresh fish store. Fish alley doesn’t seem as busy this year and there is some construction going on partway down. I was reminded today of the good butcher shop near Fonda Mary’s, and picked up a chicken when we finished our lunch.

I disguised our leftover coconut dorado with a tasty sauce, and generally got rid of leftovers for dinner tonight. Nice and easy!

Bill and Connie stopped by to tell us about their four-wheeling adventure in Manzanillo and make plans for a street party in Barra next Monday. They may join us and Paulette and some other friends at the Botanero tomorrow, but will confirm later. (There is a symbolic torch relay being held tomorrow in Barra to honour the Olympics, but it just doesn’t make much sense to us to trot down the road with a flame in this weather. Party poopers!)

Daisy woke me up about 7 AM Friday and Tomas was waiting to come in for his breakfast of dry dog food and some pats. The sun is getting brighter, things are warming up and we managed to catch the Global Gas guy as he drove by (to get the kitchen stove tank exchanged). Looks like a good day!

Soggy Nights and Busy Days

2010-02-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

After lunch at Ava’s, Friday’s exciting event was a trip just past El Naranjo to check out the price of interlocking paving stones. We are looking into installing them at the front of the house to cut down on dust from all the sand that is currently there. Interlocking pavers would allow access later to all the mysterious wiring conduits and plumbing lines along the edge of the house, so it seems like the best choice.

They were busy making blocks when we were there and it was pretty interesting to watch. They have everything from huge conduits to small pavers stacked in the yard.

Dinner was at Bill & Connie’s place and once again there was a gorgeous sunset while we were eating. Connie made fried fish fillets with carrots, spinach and nice crispy french fries, then a fancy dessert afterwards. We think the fish was a southern version of sole, and it was yummy.

Saturday morning was lazy, and then we set out to deliver orange juice to Pat and Garry in Barra. We came across one of the neighbour girls and her small daughter waiting for the bus to Barra so we offered her a ride. It turns out that now she and her husband are caretaking a ranch in the Barrio and she offered to show us around and introduce us to her horse. What a neat experience. While the penned up deer were hiding in the tall grass having a siesta, we did see the wild boar, a pen of goats, and dancing horses in their stalls as well as several other horses and colts out in the field. They have a ring to train the dancing horses as well. It is a huge ranch in an out of the way setting, yet close to town.

Then we managed to deliver the juice!

On the way home we stopped at our neighbour’s new birria stand on the highway. Birria is a very rich flavourful goat stew, which is served with freshly made tortillas. A small but filling helping was 35 pesos each.

I did a late load of laundry and managed to get it off the line fully dried before we headed out to The Frog restaurant to meet Dave and Sue and some other friends for their special rib dinner. The twelve of us had a bit of a wait, but the ribs were worth it.

Dave and Sue are heading home Sunday morning to get their Penticton trailer park ready for their spring start-up. It just reminded us all that time is winding down quickly and by mid-March most of us will be heading north too.

This Sunday passed by quickly with a pancake/crepe breakfast and visits from Sandy and Glen. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the Manzanillo airport to pick Paulette up from her flight south.

Several people we knew were also picking up folks, so we visited while
we waited. Once we got home, we had balsamic/oil and dipping bread with
olives, along with a glass of red wine, on the back patio before ‘Tequila
Fred’ dropped by. Since I had a crock-pot full of pork stew, we invited Fred to stay for supper and he happily obliged.

Since Paulette had gotten up at 2 AM in the morning, it was early to bed.

And Monday, after poached eggs for breakfast and a whole lot of company, we headed downtown to shop at Hawaii store to stock Paulette’s larder. After the shopping trip was over we ate lunch down on the beach at Concha del Mar- octopus for Barry, avocado tostada for Anna, and beef taco salad for Paulette.

By then, Paulette’s room at Bungalows Mayorca was ready so we helped her get moved in, and everybody was there to great her with open arms.

Dinner Monday was an easy assortment of leftovers from the fridge, with salad.

Tuesday we got our paperwork ready to go to Manzanillo to renew our FM3’s. It took a bit to find an internet place with a decent printer- the first one printed with blotches down one side of the paper. (The plan was to go to town first thing Wednesday morning, but the wild storm on Tuesday night changed our plans since Doug has to stay nearby to pump the water out of his boat.)

At suppertime Tuesday we picked up Connie and Bill and headed over to dinner at Pat and Garry’s in Barra. Pat had prepared a Chinese meal with lettuce wrap, beef fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and a veggie stirfry followed by homemade cookies for dessert. It was a great evening, which ended at ‘senior’s bedtime’ around 9:30 PM and we were home by 10PM.

As we drove home there was a fantastic lightening display across the sky, which continued late into the night. The wind and thunder was pretty impressive too and we woke Wednesday to find things had been blown around the back patio and the power had been off in the night. We woke up at 6 AM for no reason since we have postponed our FM3 adventure for a day. Doug needs to stay and keep his boat dry since the automatic bilge pump isn’t working just now. Oh well!

The weather this winter has been very different from what it normally is, but the rain that we get is much warmer than at home. Last night’s wind was no worse than what we have often had in Prince Rupert over the years. What is different is the horror it causes on the local dirt roads! With one hard rain they turn into a field of moguls that almost shake your teeth loose when you drive!

And I wonder what will happen with the tiangi today? Mystery to me- we missed it!

The weather has affected the power, which is fluctuating wildly, and we seem to have damaged both the TV and the microwave due to that. Glen and Sandy loaned us their spare TV for now, and the microwave clock works but the thing won’t heat anything. I can live without that anyway, and it only cost $30 US in the first place- no big deal.

I did get my wine done today. The batch in the carboy went into boxes, and the batch in the fermenter went into the carboy. The Cabernet Sauvignon seems to be quite good, and it is ready to drink. The Merlot has about another two weeks to go. Anyway, the wine shortage is over and that is a good thing.

As an afterthought, we went downtown to get extra copies for our FM3’s since they usually like having extras. And after that we joined a whole lot of other damp tourists at Bigotes for a drink. Glen and Sandy were there, a fellow brought out his guitar, we met ‘Booger’ from Missouri, and Chris & Barb and family from Saltspring joined us. The place was packed and more people kept coming, some carrying their own large umbrellas because the outer edges of the bar are damp from drips off the frond roof. Quite an experience for us since it has always been sunny and warm before.

Dinner was BBQ’d steak, onions, spinach, and carrotnips accompanied by a Caesar. Carrotnips were frozen ones from Christmas leftover dinner on Boxing Day. That will be the last turnip we get until we are home in April since they are not sold in Mexico, and the southern states don’t seem to like them either. Must be a cool weather food!

Once again, it is early to bed since the alarm will go off at 6 AM for our trip to Manzanillo. Hope the trip works this time since alarms are sort of against my religion at this point and we rarely need them.

And by the way, it is absolutely pissing rain again as I head off to bed.

The weather was overcast but slightly clearing as we left for Manzanillo about 8:30 AM. Doug had pumped his bilge out on his boat moored in Barra before we left, and had a friend on standby in case it poured some more while we were gone. This was the first day I have worn sensible shoes since arriving in Mexico- needed them to cross major puddles! The road we drove out on was more like a small lake than a road since there are no storm drains here- Mother Nature usually clears things up in a short time, but right now the land is all water-logged and it takes longer to dry.

It is amazing what a couple of heavy rainstorms can do here- the moguls in the Melaque dirt roads are back and are even deeper this time. Driving is like using a vibrating machine! As we drove through Cihuatlan there was a huge amount of sand at every intersection brought downhill by the water flow of rain, and they had men and equipment busy clearing the roads. The formerly nearly dry riverbed was full and muddy.

We got to the Aduano office in Manzanillo for our FM3 application just after 9:30 AM and by some miracle, there were hardly any people in front of us. They use a number system to keep track, and ours were called soon after we arrived. This year it all went much smoother and I just need to bring in a cheque to prove the internet bank statements really belong to us when we return to pick up our new papers March 4th. We paid the fees at Bancomer, and turned in the receipt at the Aduano office before heading to the stores.

The FM3 trip is always followed by a cruise through all major stores picking up essentials that are cheaper or better or different than in Melaque. We went to Commercial and Wal-mart before having lunch at Tacos Don Julio, and Soriana after lunch. It was a fun day with Doug and Gisela, and we got home around 4:30 PM in time for happy hour guacamole with Pat and Garry, who dropped by to return the table. Dinner was leftover ribs, stir fry veggies, and brown rice.

And bed felt good after the early wake-up two days in a row!

Laguna Mexican Day and More

2010-01-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

Friday got off to a quick start. Darvin dropped by just as Barry was eating his breakfast, so they headed over to Mexico Day in time to help set up tables and chairs, go pick up donated food, and get the ice ready for the beer coolers. I followed shortly after and ended up being ticket lady at the entry to the grounds. I collected prepaid stubs or money for tickets, and stamped hands to keep track of paid patrons because traffic flowed in and out of the main gate as people went into the property for beer, etc. or to see the photography display and back out to see the entertainers on stage in the roundabout outside near the fountain.

I managed to get a replacement ‘ticket lady’ so I could briefly see the photos on display before they were packed up. It was good to see Howard Platt again since he has moved to Manzanillo. Howard is an amazing (retired doctor) photographer who specializes in photography of birds.

The entertainment was wonderful- the dancing and music was great and Angelina Sol totally captured the audience. It was worth far more than the price of admission, which also included delicious Mexican food.

When the stage entertainment was over I packed up my ticket stubs and cash and joined everyone in the gardens and had some refreshment- yes, cerveza! For a while longer, music was played over the sound system and it was a nice way to end a busy day. Tito from Bigotes was catering to us all and served beer right at the tables. The Bigotes crew was great at helping with the event as Marta donated food, Miguel sang and emceed, Miguel’s son did a Michael Jackson number, and Tito served drinks.

Sunday was a pretty lazy recovery day for us. We turned in the entry money, ate lunch at Bigotes, and then drove Mildred and Allan over to Pat and Garry’s for a wonderful supper. We had so much fun we ended up getting home about 10:30 PM, which is pretty late for our crowd.

Monday is starting out overcast, but I got the laundry out anyway and it turned out OK. The busiest thing I did today was get my hair cut at Angeles hair salon on the other side of town. While we were waiting for haircut time we found a new restaurant called Aztecas just across from the Herradura, which is the large Mexican grocery store in town. Barry waited for me there and had a coffee, then a cerveza before I was done and joined him there. We ate fish and chips for lunch but the fish was more of a lightly breaded fillet than what we expected. Anyway, it was all good and we will go there again sometime. The fellow next door sells complete BBQ'd chicken dinners fo 70 pesos.

I made an executive decision to take us out to dinner at Salamandra Restaurant because I am such a chick with my new haircut! It was a fairly late, fairly light dinner due to the large lunch---Barry had Azteca soup and I had Tempura shrimp with veggies.

Daisy the pup has been off her feed all day and is a bit listless- just now she is hunkered down under the cement couch we are sitting on. She doesn’t want to be too far away right now. I have wiped her head with a damp washcloth because her nose is warm and dry. Poor puppy.

Tuesday we did all the regular morning motions, and then packed up to head to Tecoman in search of coconut oil at the Green Cuts plant at the edge of town. It took about two hours to get to the plant, which has no sign by the way. We just stopped because it was in the right place according to our primitive map. They called Lorena once we arrived, as she was my internet contact, and in a short time she was there and filled our order for enough coconut oil to use here and also bring some home to Canada when we head out in late March. The plant was interesting to watch operate- it is very clean and everyone was wearing hairnets. It is certified Organic and ‘Earth Kosher’. Once the product was packed for us we had to drive across town to the office in the ‘Coco Es’ building to pay for our order. ‘Coco Es’ is not certified organic and makes products which include sugar etc. for the regular Mexican market. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get coconut flour since it wasn’t in production and all previous product had been shipped out.

Tecoman is a much larger city than we were expecting, but we only got lost once due to a detour on the way to the plant. Barry managed to follow Lorena through traffic, and we also managed to find the highway out of town and back to Manzanillo.

An hour later, when we reached Manzanillo, we ate late lunch at the pickup truck taco spot near Soriana and then proceeded to Wal-mart to check out the market set up in the parking lot. All states of Mexico are represented, and they are showing off their wares for the month of January. Each state specializes in certain products and each booth had different items. At one booth we actually tried a (deep-fried) crunchy bug and it really wasn’t too bad! I’m not so sure how the East Indian clothing made sense, but I ended up buying a blouse there.

We got home just as the sun was setting and just had a light, easy supper. Daisy was OK but still lethargic and not eating so I broke half a Pepto Bismol tablet into small pieces and stuffed them down her gullet at bedtime. She chased it with a big drink of water.

Wednesday the pup woke me up and was her regular frisky self again. What a relief- I had had visions of taking her to the vet Wednesday if she was still sick. Good old Pepto!

After breakfast we headed downtown to pay the water bill for the year. The bill was about 1,320 pesos or $109 Cdn.

Then we headed to the tiangi to visit and check out what was new. Barry bought three hand puppets for some very poor Mexican kids from the farming area out of town and they were thrilled. Lots of visiting went on in the aisles as we found more and more friends are arriving in town.

Lunch was at Concha and our entertainment was a bocce ball tournament out on the beach. After lunch we moved to Bigotes and visited with Ron and Marcel before heading home to feed Daisy and her big buddy Tomas.

Glen and Sandy lured us over to visit and have a drink along with Doug and Gisela. Then instead of my planned dinner of fried chicken at home, Glen and Sandy, Jeannie, and Barry and I ended up going to ‘The Red Lobster’ for very good 35 peso fish burgers. Glen took us on a tour through town after dinner and we met a friend of his across town who has a fabulous palapa-covered rooftop apartment over his original house, and had a quick tour, before heading back home to bed.

Daisy was happy to see us return, and Tomas came in for a snack of dry dog food with chicken on top. Daisy is in, Tomas is out, and it’s time for bed!

Thursday turned out to be laundry day again and it is a good drying day. Barry went downtown and fixed the flat tire on the two-wheel cart. I prepped spinach salad ingredients and got coconut pudding made for dessert because Pat and Garry are coming for dinner tonight. Connie and Bill dropped by and invited us to their place for dinner Friday, and Darvin dropped by for a visit and a coffee.

Made cream of cauliflower soup for lunch with a chicken stock base and a few carrots thrown in, and mashed the remaining cauliflower to serve as faux-tatoes tonight with our chicken dinner.

I took the laundry in and folded it while Barry did a vacuum job on the casa and it improved the look of things a great deal!

We had a great evening with Pat and Garry- ceviche by Pat, deep fried zucchini with tzatziki by Anna, spinach salad, fried chicken and cauliflower faux-tatoes with cheddar cheese, followed by coconut cream pudding with bananas for dessert. To end the evening we had Cuzalapa coffee and 1921, the creamy tequila liqueur with a touch of cinnamon. It doesn’t get any better.

See you next week!

Parties, Company, and Trips

2010-01-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

After putting laundry out late Friday due to lots of company dropping by, we had to run out and pull it off the line early, when most of it was dry or nearly so, because we had the most amazing cloudburst ever early this afternoon. It didn’t last long but it was doozy!

With that in mind, it was also amazing that Leo’s party at their casa on the beach was totally sunny and wonderful by 3PM. There were about 40 or so people at the party, live music and it was catered by local owners of a taco stand in Villa Obregon. They served all kinds of tacos- beef, pork, chicken, chorizo, etc. with frijoles (beans) and all sorts of condiments. They set up their stand in Leo & Delores’s attached garage. There were several singers- two male and one female, plus a guest appearance by a female relative. They were all very good. Dancing took place on the covered back patio as we tried to wear off the effects of the tacos by dancing to both fast and slow music. Then about 3 delicious desserts appeared to get us all fat again! We went there about 3 PM and were home by about 8 PM feeling like it was at least 11PM. What a full afternoon!

Saturday after breakfast I make a batch of spaghetti sauce and put it in the crockpot on low while we went out to the carniceria (butcher shop) to buy pork ribs for our dinner that night. We stopped at Concha for a beer and a plate of natchos for lunch, and met a young guy who owns a rental yard in Idaho, a retired massage therapist and a former journalist. You meet interesting folks by sharing a table on the beach.

We had a surprise visit from David and Karen from Prince Rupert. They are staying at Blue Bay just north of here, rented a car, and came to see us while they were cruising around. We had a good visit before our dinner company arrived- first Bill & Connie bringing salad, then Pat and Garry with dessert. Dinner turned out great- we had spaghetti and ribs and we all got stuffed. We had the satellite TV music piped out to the back patio via wireless speakers and had to occasionally change stations to accommodate different wishes.

Sunday wakeup was by Daisy about 7:15AM smacking my side of the bed so I’d get up and let her outside to pee. It was just a bit early for Sunday morning, but there is no going back to bed allowed once the puppy is awake. She is very frisky and would most likely eat a few shoes if given her way. We have retrieved a few items she has liberated from the neighbours- like thongs, t-shirts, a Barbie doll, and a shoe.

While we were having our smoothie breakfast we met Darvin, who dropped by to meet us. He has volunteered to help with the Mexico Day event deliveries next Saturday. (Barry volunteered to help pick up different donations of food from various restaurants and deliver them to Villa Xochipilli for the event.) I‘m sure there will be lots to do in a short time that day. And our friends Allan and Mildred who just arrived in town stopped by, bought tickets and took a poster over to their hotel to let their neighbours know about the upcoming event.

After soup for lunch we called Pat and Garry and arranged to pick them up about 3:30PM and go to Cadillac Ranch to listen to live music and have a cerveza. As it turned out Deanna, a local restaurant owner was having a birthday celebration there and we ended up being invited to have some tacos and assorted Mexican dishes along with the birthday guests.

We visited some more at Pat and Garry’s when we drove them home and then decided to walk downtown for a light dinner. I’m afraid my chicken was way to salty for me, and it ended up getting mixed into the dog food tonight. Tomas and Daisy didn’t seem to mind
at all.

Monday after breakfast, laundry, and such we were picked up by Bill and Connie about noon and set off on another day trip. This time the major destination was the hot springs (balneario) near La Concha, which we skipped on our last trip. We found the turn off the highway just fine and turned right at the fork instead of left to the marble mountain.

At that point it was a bit confusing since the road in was a one-lane dirt road through fields of corn and grain with no signage and various side roads going off from time to time. When it forked, Bill decided to go right and eventually that decision was rewarded by our coming across an antique faded metal sign indicating we were on the right track. That led to another small sign pointing to the narrow bumpy road to the hot springs.

We were met by a guard goose. Apparently it lives there and is quite territorial about its home. Barry almost lost a chunk of sandal and neither Connie nor myself were quick enough with the camera to record the moment. We all made our way across a narrow cement walkway over the pools to get to the main hot pool area. There was a small hot pool that would likely have fit the four of us, but the other larger pools were quite cool. There was a consensus that due to the rustic conditions and algae nearby, we would skip the pools and just have a cerveza to celebrate finding the darn thing! The guard goose followed us across to the drinking area and started interacting with Bill. (I know how strong their beaks are and I kept my bag in front of my feet at all times-call me chicken!)

Next we decided to scope out La Huerta on our way back to our second destination of the day, La Manzanilla. Driving around town to find a parking space, we discovered that it was tiangi day and we parked to check it out since it was a different group of vendors than we get in Melaque. There were similar items, but none of the tourist pottery and glasswork and far less silver. We checked out some of the stores as well, but none of us needs the gorgeous orange leather saddle.

In La Manzanilla we went to Restaurant Rincon on the beach and had cerveza and guacamole for a late afternoon snack. Bill and Connie went off on a trek towards Boca de Iguanas at the other end of the bay while Barry and I just sat and watched all the beach action. Connie came back with a photo display of various lost shoes and sandals that were strewn from one end of the bay to the other.

Then it was time for dinner at a ‘new to us’ restaurant along the road into La Manzanilla.

It is called Mayahuel, “pronounced “Mayawell” and is the name of the goddess of the maguey plant. It is a beautiful high building with a partial glass roof, a fishpond in the center, and tables/plants all around the perimeter. There is also some outdoor seating out on the entry patio. Dinner was tasty as well as artistic. For starters, Barry tried the peanut soup and I had a tropical fruit salad, then Barry had fish and Connie had shrimp, with both orders served in a hollowed half pineapple. Bill had Chiles en Nogada and I had chicken in orange sauce, and we all enjoyed our food choices. This dinner was back in the normal ‘treat’ dinner range and our share, with wine and tip, was about $40 Cdn.

Home to feed Tomas and Daisy by about 8:30 PM or so, and then wind down with TV until bedtime with the laundry still out on the line!

After a slow start to the day Tuesday, with bacon and eggs for breakfast first on the agenda, I got Monday’s laundry in at last. I put on a new batch of U-brew after siphoning the first batch into the carboy and adding all appropriate potions to make it work properly. It involves quite lot of stirring to degas it, and that was the most strenuous exercise I have had for days! We headed downtown, first stopping at the butcher shop to get chicken and liver to cook for the dogs. And after dropping that back in the fridge at home we went around town checking which businesses still needed posters advertising the Mexico Day fundraiser.

Sold some tickets at Concha and one more at Bigotes, then passed three to Gisela, so tomorrow we will need to get some more from Irma at Villa Xochipilli. In the course of selling we visited several people and generally chatted the day away. Supper was homemade lasagna with Caesar salad, and a visit from Gisela ended the day.

Even though it was tiangi day Wednesday, we decided not to go check it out. Instead we went to Cihuatlan and did a minor shop at the Bodega and ended up giving one of our neighbours a ride home. This was a very lazy day and all we did was pick up more tickets to sell before visiting Bungalows Mayorca to advertise the event, then checked in with Trevor and Leslie and Bill and Gail at the Del Tule RV park.

Dinner was a whole new combination of leftovers, with Caesar salad, BBQ’d ribs and lasagna on the menu tonight. Internet, news and TV before bed ended the day and bed will be early since last night we had a short sleep.

Thursday morning we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at La Terraza restaurant near the downtown area. After all Deanna, the owner, was kind enough to feed us free last Sunday at Cadillac Ranch! I had an ‘everything’ omelet and Barry opted for pancakes since I hardly ever make them anymore. Pat and Garry joined us as well, having bacon and eggs. It was a good start to the day.

After breakfast Pat and Garry stopped by our place to pick up their fresh-squeezed orange juice- we have door delivery in Villa Obreon and they don’t in Barra de Navidad, so they just order it through us. Mildred and Allan stopped in on their way by (after Pat and Garry left) and we agreed to give them a ride to Barra next Sunday for dinner at Pat and Garry’s.

Then I phoned Eileen in La Manzanilla and arranged to go to her house to purchase a liter of coconut oil. I found out about the availability of the oil on a local online message board. (It has seemed pretty strange to me that while I am surrounded by coconut palms everywhere I go, there is NO coconut oil for sale in the local stores.) Anyway, Eileen is a very interesting lady with a gorgeous house who also rents rooms and holds cooking classes in her home. I think Pat and I might try to attend one just for fun. Check out http://www.eileenslamanzanilla.com/cooking.html. In one photo you might recognize Guy, from ‘Guy’s Big Bite’ and “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’. Apparently he owns a house there, and last year he was a judge at the Rotary Chili Contest in Barra de Navidad.

Then, in a surprise move by my chauffeur, we headed up to Tenacatita for an inspection tour and lunch on the beach. We first drove up a lumpy road and over the hill to the old turtle farm area where several campers spend the winter, and where there is very good snorkeling in the bay. We just cruised in and out again since it was pretty full and also looked pretty unchanged from our last visit about three years ago.

We picked a shabby looking beach bar instead of the newer, ritzier looking one beside it. Kary’s turned out to be a very good choice food-wise and the Mexican crowd at the table near the parking area was very friendly and fun and wanted to buy our pig puppet which sits in the front van window as a mascot. I had Mariscos Mixta (mixed seafood) and Barry had Camarones Relleno (cheese stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon). They were both delicious! We were so full from lunch that supper tonight wasn’t—we just snacked on a hard-boiled egg and some dip.

Then we drove as far south along the narrow beach road as we could and checked out all the rustic camping places along the way. There are lots of Canadian license plates and a few US ones on the various campers, etc. It was virtually deserted with only a handful of people walking along that stretch of beach. We came to the end at an old gate and found a place to turn around and head back to town.

There is an RV park near town and two or three decent looking hotels visible from the road. On the way back on the 9 km drive to the main highway we stopped to take a photo of the Distillery, which produces Raicilla and tequila according to their sign. It looks interesting, but today wasn’t the day. Tenacatita is only about a 45-minute drive from our end of Melaque, so a lot of people go there to snorkel and picnic and swim.

Barry is watching the hockey game so I think I will just get this blog finished tonight and give myself Friday morning off! See you next week.

Busy Week in Melaque

2010-01-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

Dinner at Sambuca last night was both delicious and expensive. I can’t remember the last time I have shared a (generous) Caesar salad that cost 180 pesos, which is almost $15 Cdn. However the presentation was wonderful. It was served on an elongated white platter and the Caesar salad was spilling out of a large Parmesan cheese bowl on the end of the platter, covered with extremely tasty dressing.

We were served a bowl of bread with butter when we arrived. Then, after the salad, for a main course Barry had Dover Sole fillet in a light cranberry sauce and I had fettuccini with calamari. We had a bottle of Chilean Shiraz with dinner and with an after dinner liqueur each our dinner total with tip came to 950 pesos or about $80 Cdn. That may not be high for a dinner in Canada, but it is an enormous amount for a dinner here in Mexico. Most ‘treat’ dinners run about $50 Cdn. I forgot to take the camera so I will try to get a shot of the setting another time…it is fabulous.

Saturday morning turned out to be a normal sunny day again so it looks like laundry is on the job list. Lately I have been checking the weather before committing to that chore. It was basically a lazy stay at home day with a few visitors dropping by. One, a recent arrival to Melaque, was Judy from Toronto. She is in the same rental as last year, and may decide to rent it year-round. We had a good visit over a glass of red wine and caught up on things we had both done since our last visit. Judy and her friend Linda had a great trip to Greece recently and it included some Mediterranean cruising.

Barry barbequed a couple of steaks for dinner and I made sautéed onions and mixed veggies to go with them. It was a nice end to a lazy day.

Sunday, after having coffee to wake up, we had fresh grapefruit segments and bacon and eggs while we watched the BC news on Global. It was much less cloudy today and ended up getting pretty hot. We had just decided to go shopping in Cihuatlan when company started arriving.

Heather with the Hat and crew arrived first, with Linda & Wayne and Wayne’s daughter (Kirsten?) close behind. Then Ed Gilliam and his wife Roxanne arrived followed by Tequila Fred! Ed Gilliam is an artist and neighbour who recently had an art show in La Manzanilla. I love his colourful voluptuous peasant women. He has done some wonderful murals in the local area. If you like, you can check out some of his work at http://www.laartists.com/artist%20pages/gilliam.htm . It was nice to visit them all!

Then I managed to shower and get ready for the trek to the Bodega. We dropped our groceries home, popped some pork into the slow cooker on low, and went to Concha for late lunch. The weekly horse ball/string ball tournament was on so we sat with a few friends and chatted while we watched the games. Jeanie is here from Bellingham now and staying out in Barra with the Watkins until her house is ready. I had an avocado tostada, Barry had a beef chimichanga, and we shared an order of chicken strips. With 5 beer it was only 125 pesos, and beer has recently gone up in price to 9 pesos each!

Dinner tonight involved a walk of a few blocks to Luis’s taco stand. I was not too hungry so I just had 2 adobada tacos (pork) and Barry added a 3rd chorizo taco to his order. They had freshly baked lemon meringue pie for dessert so we shared a piece before walking back home. An evening of TV and internet ended our totally lazy weekend.

Monday morning started with coffee on the couch and visits from Glen and Sandy and then Jeanie from Bellingham. Barry went over to help Glen set his Starchoice dish up and then Glen used our internet connection to phone Starchoice for a ‘hit’ to get it up and running. That operation was a success. We had chorizo and cheese omelette for breakfast outside on the back patio while visiting, and then got ready for our day trip with Bill and Connie.

They came by just before 11 AM and we headed east out of town past La Huerta on highway 80. We passed fields where sugar cane was being harvested, with huge loads being hauled out in trucks. About two thirds of the way to Autlan, when we got to Casimiro Castillo, Bill turned left and went up the road until he came to a botanero by a small secluded lake, which I believe may be Laguna del Capulin which I found on Google http://www.panoramio.com/photo/18371516. There was a huge poinsettia plant in the yard that was absolutely tree-sized.

At a botanero, you order a drink and they automatically bring you food to eat with it. With two drinks each, we were served a total of 11 tillapia and a platter of ceviche on tostadas accompanied by a bowl of fresh salsa. The bill, including tip, came to about 220 pesos or $18 Cdn.

When we left the botanero, we headed back toward la Huerta before turning left, driving through Cuautitlan then left again to Cuzalapa where we went to a small coffee outlet. (We did not see Juan Valdez anywhere, even though there were a few mules in the area.)

It is a co-op business run by the local women and the coffee beans are harvested and processed by hand. Connie and I both bought a kilo of freshly ground coffee and a package of 4 strange crumbly cookies made using flour they produce as well. From what I gather, the flour is made from small tree fruits, which grow near the building but I can’t remember what they are called!

An interesting part of the next leg of our day trip was a field of huge rocks near the road on the way back to highway 80. One rock formation resembled a giant whale.

Our next mission was to find the petroglyph mountain off the highway near La Concha. This time we turned right and followed a dirt road alongside farm fields, turning down the left branch until we came close to a small but steep hill. We drove around it until we found the road going up the hill. There had been blasting going on, with shards of marble rock (marmol) lying in the parking area. There was one small petroglyph within our comfort range, but the larger one was up and around a steep hill which was covered in loose rock, and none of us felt like risking our knees or any other body parts climbing it. It looked like the trip back down would be very treacherous on the steep hill with poor footing. This is what we missed- http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7172357.

Near the ‘Guadalupe’ petroglyph, what looked like a tunnel turned out to be a crevice that went right through the huge rock pile to daylight on the other side.

The right branch of the same dirt road leads to a hot spring about 1600 metres away near La Concepcion, but we have saved that for another trip. It can be seen online at http://www.panoramio.com/photo/23864706. We got home safe and sound about dinnertime, but we were all so full that all we had was a Caesar and some olives on the back patio.

Tuesday started with coffee, fruit salad and a ham & egg rollup. Then the company began- Glen and Sandy came to use the internet and to learn all about our day trip on Monday, Jeanie and Teresa both came to find Sandy, and Pat and Garry checked in as well. We arranged to have Pat and Garry over for dinner since I had an uneaten crock-pot pork stew left from Monday when we weren’t hungry.

We went downtown and had a floral arrangement made up for Bonnee, whose mother recently passed away in Canada. Janet and Rich had asked us to get flowers on their behalf and we decided to just get a larger one to give jointly since they are in a rental accommodation at Bungalows Mayorca, with limited space. It turned out beautifully with large white mums, birds of paradise, small rust mums, yellow filler flowers and greenery to finish it off and it fit perfectly on top of their fridge in plain sight yet out of the way. Had a nice visit with Bonnee and Vic and their daughter who came down to console her, and then headed home to get dinner prepped.

The neighbourhood here has a lot of helpful folks, so Dave ended up helping get Glen and Sandy set up to use our internet from their house two doors down by using an antenna Barry borrowed from other friends with motorhomes on a lot nearby. Then we adopted Dave for dinner because his wife Sue has gone home to visit the grandkids for a while. So the five of us had a good time on the back patio with appies, drinks and dinner. Once again both Daisy and Tomas had their dinner here and Daisy is having another sleepover.

Wednesday after breakfast we took yet another useless trip to Manzanillo over the faulty air conditioner part. Manual at the GM dealer took photos of the vehicle odometer, licence plate, and serial number and then told us to come back Thursday for the part. Yikes! Not happy about that.

So we tried a new pizza place, Bambino’s, in Cihuatlan for lunch. They have the chica (half-size) Sol bottles so we each had two during lunch. After we ordered a medium pizza we were served jalapeno halves with melted cheese inside along with small grilled bread slices while we waited. Medium turned out to be twice as big as we needed so the rest will get reheated for another meal. The pizza was a tad different because they had sprinkled sesame seeds around the perimeter of the crust and one of the toppings was sliced wieners, but it was pretty good (I like mine better).

Then we checked into Bigotes for a visit and cerveza before going back to the casa in time for the bathroom door installer at 5 PM. The problem was, he must be coming another day because no one showed up Wednesday. (We will try to check their shop Thursday--- and the story is that the frames are made but the rest isn’t and he really meant next Wednesday). Anyway, Bill and Connie and Gisela dropped by so it turned into a nice evening visit and later Barry and I ended the evening with grilled portabella mushrooms drizzled with balsamic to upgrade our leftover stew dinner. Gisela was interested in our Monday day trip because she hasn’t yet been to Cuzalapa so I fired up Google Earth and showed her the route.

Thursday was our sixth trip to Manzanillo over the air conditioner problem- the part arrived and we went off about 11 AM to try once more. Barry picked the switch up at the GM dealer and we drove over to the air conditioner service shop, which appropriately, is called Blizzard. We killed two hours wandering through the nearby Soriana store and shopping, and then went to pick up the van. After a bit of a wait and explanations about tiny leaking valve stems being the problem, we had a vehicle that could cool us down and we were ready for lunch.

We once again went to Tacos Don Julio, but ordered pescado (fish) tacos instead of meat. Three tacos each were a bit too much, but we ate them anyway! The owner managed to get a good photo of Barry and I eating lunch. It is unbelievable how many sauces, salsas, and garnishes arrive when you order tacos there. This time the different one was a dish of pickled finely diced cucumbers. We also ordered grilled onions and peppers and we both managed to eat a hot pepper, minus the seeds of course.

On the way home we picked up tickets to sell for the Laguna fundraiser at Irma’s place, Villa Xochipilli. It really is a beautiful setting right on the laguna. Check out http://www.villaxochipilli.com/.

Another successful laundry out/laundry operation happened today despite our travels.
Glen popped by to suggest an enchilada cooking challenge sometime in the near future.
And tonight's dinner was leftover pizza with a few extras on top, like sliced portabellos and extra cheese. The best part was that I heated it in the oven and stuck it under the broiler to melt the cheese properly.

Friday so far has been visitor day- Arturo, Angel and their sons, Jerry and Dee, and Ken & Candice all stopped by this morning as I was doing another load of laundry. We will miss out on a feast with some of them in Santiago today because we are already going to Leo’s birthday party this afternoon. Leo and Delores have arranged to have a taco stand operator on site to feed us all- it should be fun! Will report in next week.