Roy At Centinela.

Here is one of the little videos that I took this afternoon. Scroll down to read the post. I loaded them all onto YouTube; but they are really pixelated when you watch them on there as compared to watching them on my computer. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong. I have the camera set at the highest resolution.

I tried taking a photo of the moon tonight; but I think that I will need a tripod as I am too shaky.

Back To Centinela

Back To Centinela

We spent a fairly lazy day today. I did some laundry and washed the floors, while Roy had a nap...hmmm...well I guess one of us had a fairly lazy day!!! Last night neither one of us got much sleep. One of the neighborhood dogs is in a state of "caliente", so there was a ruckus going on all night. Along with that, there was a fairly loud party going on somewhere quite close.

Last evening and again tonight there was and is some loud preaching going on a few blocks away, with music at times, and the volume on his microphone is high enough that I can hear what he is saying, most of the time. Especially the "hallelujahs". It must be connected to the upcoming Dias de Los Muertos (days of the dead), I am only assuming this, as it is not a normal occurrence. Yesterday evening when we were walking home, a lady stopped us to chat, or so we thought at first, we had chatted with her and her husband last winter; but hadn't seen her since. Well, the chat turned out to be a question and answer period and a little lesson about religion. Once I realised where she was going with her conversation, I politely tried to tell her that we had to get home for supper. To this she replied, "come on in we're all family", we politely declined the invitation; but did stand and chat for awhile, or until she allowed us to leave basically. She found out what our, well my (Roy just stood there smiling and nodding) religious leanings/tendencies are and once satisfied with my answers, we were allowed to go on our way. It was an interesting experience, she is a nice lady and I didn't want to be rude; but I don't normally discuss my religious beliefs with total strangers.

Around 3:30 this afternoon, Roy wanted to know if I felt like going to the cove at Centinela. We haven't been for awhile, so away we went and I actually remembered to take the camera. It was a nice, cool afternoon with some clouds so it was great for relaxing by the water. We saw some little stripped fish, some little blue/purpley ones and some bigger tan colored ones with red tips on their tails and fins (these were almost a foot long). The water is so clear that we could really get a good look at them. Although it is harder to take a picture of them with the water moving/distorting them.

Little blue fish--notice how clear the water is.

Striped fish, they are harder to see than the blue one.

A partial view of the cove.

We caught the bus to go home and it was the same bus driver that took us there. We decided to stop off at El Novillero for supper instead of having sandwiches when we got home. The coconut shrimp were good as usual and the atmosphere warm and friendly (the waiters recognise us now and the young man asked us how to say "cuenta" in english (the word for the bill or check). There are no walls in the restaurant, they have some screening along one wall, some plants and a palapa roof. They do have overhead fans which is nice. The breeze flows through and you are shaded and comfortable. It didn't occur to me to take any photos of it. I think that we are both getting spoiled as we both decided that we liked the ones I had made at home better than the restaurant ones, our shrimp were definately fresher than theirs. When we finished our dinner we walked to the bus stop and believe it or not, it was again the same bus driver. We all laughed as we got on the bus and he asked if we had liked it, he must have realised that we had stopped for supper. We got the scenic ride home along the malecon and got to look at all the lights reflecting on the water (it was dark by this time). A pretty sight.

I am trying to load some of the little videos that I took on YouTube and then will put a couple on here.

Hand Feeding Hummingbirds

Hand Feeding Hummingbirds

I received an email yesterday from a friend in Canada, with the following photos and description and thought it was interesting. Our hummingbirds here are friendly; but I have never tried this. NOTE: I have no idea who the lady is, and so do not have her permission to post these photos; but as they are circulating around the world in an email, I hope it is OK to post them here. If not, then my apologies to whoever the lady is.

Here is what the email said:

This lady lives in a Hummingbird fly zone. As they migrated, about 20 of them were in her yard. Just for a lark, she took the little red dish and
filled it with sugar water and this is the result.

Continuing Saga Of The Storage Box Lid

Continuing Saga Of The Storage Box Lid

Some of you may remember me posting several times about getting a lid/cover built for the brick storage box that Luis built for us before he returned to Obregon. We had a carpentario come over, measure and give us a price and a delivery date. The delivery date came and went and we went to Albuquerque to do the house sit. On our return we waited again, just in case he showed up. I was afraid that we might make other arrangements and then he would show up with the completed lid. A week or so passed and nothing. Ciro was telling us that his brother was coming to install the railings and he thought that he could do the lid for the box. He was to come on a Monday. That was about 3 weeks ago, he still hasn't come. The other day I mentioned to Roy, that there is a fellow a couple of blocks away that has a metal fabricating shop. Maybe we should check him out, asked Ciro about him and he thought it might be a good idea. So we wandered over there after supper Thursday night. We tried to explain what we wanted and he said that, yes, he could probably do it and would come over Friday morning to take some measurements. He did arrive Friday morning and did his measuring. We went back over to his place last evening to get a price, which we did. We told him we would be back this morning to give him some money for the materials. When we went over with the money he wasn't home. He may have already left for Empalme where he said he has to install a "cortina", a type of roll down garage door style thing. Oh well, will try again later. This time the delivery date is for "around" next Saturday; but that will change, if we don't get the money to him. Hopefully this time the order will turn into something more solid! As in an actual lid.

The low looking wall with the center divider is the storage box with the higher wall behind it. If we ever get a lid/cover made for it (hinged). I will make some cushions for it and it will double as a sitting bench. We had Luis build it at a comfortable seating height.

This morning we went over to San Carlos to a supposedly "huge" garage sale. There was very little there, we then went to another viveros (nursery); but they didn't have any roses. Stopped off at Marias Pizza for breakfast and a visit with our friends, then back to Guaymas and Soriana to look for some candy for Halloween. We didn't get the candy; but did get another plant pot, as I keep using the "rose" pot for other plants.

We are in the process of looking for a hot water tank, as we will soon need one, as the weather is cooling off. Our water is stored in a rooftop "tinaco" (plastic storage tank) and the water is gravity fed through the pipes and warmed by the sun. I have been looking online for a water heater that does not require a standing pilot light, or a tank or an electrical connection. I did find some tankless water heaters, that can be installed outside and the water running through the pipe when you turn the tap on, lights the pilot light (same principle as hydro electicity). Perfect, I thought; but then decided to see if I could find out more about them as the website stated that they need 30 psi to work. With our gravity fed water, I didn't think we had that. I talked to a fellow last night who had had two of them installed at his home and has gone back to a regular one. The water pressure was just not sufficient he said. OK, back to the drawing board, we go. The fellow did say that his standing pilot light uses very little LP gas. We use LP gas here for cooking, etc.,( a large cylinder that the trucks come around and replace when you need it). So the quest continues.

Our Wall By The Door

Our Wall By The Door

Scroll down for todays first post and more photos.

We have been looking for something to break up the monotony of the wall beside the doorway. We purchased some wall hangings in Albuquerque, New Mexico; mainly because the ones here were in english if they had writing (for the tourists) and the ones there were written in spanish. Go figure. Another reason for purchasing them there was the color, I am a pushover for blue and when I saw these I couldn't resist. After returning from there we purchased a couple of pots and I have been looking for the right sized plants to put in them. I could find the plants but not the sizes I wanted. I didn't want to buy bigger ones than I needed as that is the only place I want those types ( at the moment, this will probably change and I will wish I had bought bigger ones). I got the plants today and Roy put the screws into the wall to hang them, while I potted them up. It looks a bit bare right now; but they will grow (I hope). Here's a photo of the wall, still without paint, hopefully now that it is cooling off it will get painted.

A Walk Down The Street

A Walk Down The Street

We went to Soriana this morning for a major grocery shopping expedition. It cost us around $33.00 for a lot of groceries. I then wandered across the street to the produce truck parked there to get my tomatoes and potatoes, as they are cheaper there than in the grocery store. Then walked a few feet down the road to a small nursery and managed to get a couple of trailing plants for the pots I want to hang on the outside wall. 2 smallish plants, for about $4.00. When we got home I cleaned and chopped up a bunch of veggies to make spaghetti sauce for supper. Digging through the cupboard for the spaghetti, I realised that I didn't have enough for supper, thought I had another full package but didn't. So, off to the mini market to get some. I remembered to take the camera with me to take some photos of the flowers on the plant that the man gave me a cutting from. The flowers are pretty beaten up looking from last nights wind and are faded as they are almost ready to fall off. They are brighter pink when they first open.

Flowers on the plant that I got the cutting from,may be a type of plumeria? Very aromatic.

Below is just a look that I like. The yellow on the right hand side, if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see that it is a butterfly having lunch.

Below: a couple of photos of the Hibiscus that I gathered some seeds from. You may remember from another post that I had one growing and killed it. Am now waiting to see if any of the next batch of seeds will grow.

Kiva

Kiva

In case you are wondering what the newest addition to the sidebar is, I will try to give you an "in a nut shell" explanation. I had actually not heard of this particular organisation until today, when I read about it on another blog that I read: http://lagringasblogicito.blogspot.com/ , (this lady lives in Honduras). After I read her blog I went to the Kiva site and did some more reading. I know, I need to get a life, I read too much!!

It sounds like a great organisation, all of the funds are forwarded to the people, it is not a donation--it is a loan that will probably be repaid (they say 96% of their loans get repaid). The loans go to people who have small family type businesses, and are trying to improve their lives. The loans are repaid in a specific time frame. Naturally, they hope that after you have been repaid you will re-lend the money. You can lend money in $25.00 increments and specify as to which person in which country you want the money to go to. If you think you might be interested go and check out their site by clicking on the new sidebar addition or go directly with this link: http://www.kiva.org/app.php

My Expanding Garden

My Expanding Garden

At the end of the block and around the corner from us is a home with some nice plantings. The yard looks like a cool, shady oasis. There is a plant the size of a tree that I have been coveting a cutting of for ages; but I never see anyone outside to ask. Yesterday on my way back from the store the gentleman was just coming home. I asked him what the name of the plant was (he didn't know) and I told him that I just love the scent of the flowers. He agreed that yes, it does smell very nice. He then asked me if I would like a cutting, naturally I answered yes, glad that I hadn't had to ask. Just a minute he said and went into the house to get something to cut a piece off with. He came out with a hand wood saw! He motioned to a large branch hanging over the sidewalk and asked if this one would be good. Yes, I answered after asking him if he was sure he wanted to lop off such a huge piece. Oh sure, was his answer and I walked home with my huge cutting, a very happy camper!! If anyone knows the name, I would appreciate it. I asked Ciro and the names he gave me are words in the Nahuatl language and that's all I get when I google. This one has aromatic pink flowers; but Ciro and Nancy both say it also comes with yellow or white flowers.
The "cutting" a very nice gentleman gave me.



The bouganvillea is doing well, as are the other plants. So far I haven't killed anything.


One of the garden blogs that I read and enjoy is written by a fellow called Gary, who lives his profile says, in southeast Texas. Here is the link to his blog, if you are interested in gardening you will enjoy it. http://tismoreblessed.blogspot.com/ On Monday he had posted a photo of his garden bench which reminded me of one that I had taken in my garden in Canada, in the summer of 2005.

Part of my old garden in Canada.



I tried to take a photo of the bread man as he went by yesterday; but had some problems with the photo. It was already shady on our patio and my camera batteries needed charging. I tried to fix the photo with limited results; but here it is anyway, I will try to get a better one another day. LATER NOTE: A lovely lady from this blog: http://alexandriadailyphoto.wordpress.com/ took the time to "fix" my photo, many thanks. The new and improved version is below.

The bread man (with the hat). The lady and the little girl are our neighbors across the street, the man in foreground is our landlords oldest son (also named Ciro).


Just as a note: The plank with the cross pieces on it in the background is what the man working on the neighbors home walks up to the second floor on, carrying cement! OH&S and Workers Compensation would have a hemorrhage over this in Canada, here it is the "norm" and no one thinks anything of it.

More About Today

More About Today

I was just going to add this to the bottom of this mornings post and then decided not to.

I put on a long sleeved shirt when I went to the store and got laughed at by the landlord and his family, who were sitting outside. I think Irene told me that I was going to have to get a heavy coat.
The pharmacy was out of my medication; but wrote it down on his "to order" list and told me he would have it tomorrow. I asked him if he could order 2 boxes so that I would have enough for a month, rather than just 2 weeks and he said sure.
The local tortilla place was closed, so I asked the mini market fellow about it. He laughed and told me that she doesn't want to work anymore, she has too much money. HA HA. He also showed me, when I asked, how to tell if an avocado is ripe enough to eat, as I wanted one ready for supper. As I was coming home, Nancy (landlords daughter in law) was coming down the street calling something about the bread man. I couldn't hear/understand her very well as there was a couple of trucks and a bus running and also lots of wind. I wasn't sure if she was asking me to stop him or if she was trying to tell me that this was the bread man that they had been telling me about previously. I walked around the corner and sure enough there he was, just down the street, with his push cart. He lives up the hill a couple of blocks from us (can't imagine pushing that cart up that hill, he is not a young man) and his wife does all the baking. Nancy and I both got some sweet concoctions, she was laughing because I got 2 of everything that I bought (uno por mi y uno por Roy). She told me that is was fattening (it's a little late to tell me that)!! As I continued on my way home another lady stopped me to ask if I had gotten my stuff from the bread man, I told her that yes, he was just around the corner, so she hightailed it after him. Apparently you have to catch him early as he sells out quick, as they are so good.
Dinner was very good, I meant to take a photo of it before we started eating; but forgot. We had coco shrimp, rice, avocado, tomato, tortillas with a little lime on the side (didn't bother making any salsa). We are full, fat and happy as I write this. It's a tough life!!

Shrimp

Shrimp

We had a lovely shower this morning and it is still cloudy and windy, a lot windier than it usually gets here. I spent some time this morning looking for recipes for Coconut Shrimp, as we had ordered some shrimp through Ciro a few days ago. I had just finished doing that and there was a knock on the door. There stood Ciro, bag of shrimp in hand--do I have ESP or what? When we ordered them, I was told that the price was 50 pesos for a kilo (about $5.00 dollars), I thought maybe I had misunderstood, so before paying Ciro I again asked, yes that is the price. OK, fine by me. I separated them into 3 meals, cleaned enough for our dinner and froze the rest. So, the menu for this evening is: Coconut shrimp, rice, tomatoes, salsa of some sort, and maybe some avocado (if I get energic and go to the store) and tortillas and of course the always present limons. Yum, yum, can't wait for dinner.

Just in case you are wondering what $5.00 worth of shrimp or a kilo looks like here, here's a photo.

I got an email from my step daughter this morning saying that it is cold and they have had snow. She said that as she was writing the furnace was running. Here it is 80 F./27 C. in the house with all the windows open and it feels chilly. I guess we have adapted to the climate.

The De-Forestation On Our Street

The De-Forestation On Our Street

Our street or at least across the street from us, looks totally different this afternoon than it did this morning. The lady across the road had some fellows come in to trim her trees. Trim is not the word to use and neither is prune. They actually had a power saw, along with the machetes. They filled the back of the 1/2 ton truck once and came back for more and when I say filled I mean filled. They stomped it down until it couldn't hold anymore and then added some more and tied it all down. I do realise that things grow much faster here and can get out of control but this is excessive in my mind. Perhaps because I have lived almost all of my life in a colder climate and spent an enormous amount of time persuading, cajoling and babying along trees to get them to grow, this is a heart breaking thing for me to watch. For me it is akin to standing by and watching someone get raped. I know that sounds like an over exaggeration; but that is how I felt as I stood and watched.


View of the house across the road, before the tree pruning.
Photo taken last winter (2005), notice that all you could see was the roof of the one house and really nothing of the other house beside it.

A photo of what it looks like now.

The chain saw is still running, the truck is almost full again and it looks like there could be another load laying on the ground. I realise that these are her trees and her property; but it still hurts to see those lovely trees all hacked up.
Ciro told me that this is the month for pruning trees and that now they will grow bushier rather than taller. I do understand the concept of pruning, just not on this grand a scale.

Nothing In Particular

Nothing In Particular

There is nothing terribly exciting going on at the moment; although there was a death in our family yesterday. Not a terribly sad death; but a death all the same. Actually, I am just kidding, what died was a seedling that I had planted. Last winter there was an older lady living on the corner of the block and she had this lovely yellow/orange flowering hibiscus plant (actually more of a large shrub). The lady was very friendly, ( her family moved her in with them last winter, and I miss seeing her), and I had gotten some seeds from this plant and left them here with our things when we returned to Canada for a few months. A couple of weeks ago I found them and decided to plant them and see if they would grow. Well, out of 5 seeds only 1 germinated; but it was doing well and getting its second set of leaves. It was getting lots of tender, loving care and the other evening I decided to set it outside for the evening. I intended to bring it in in the morning when I went out to sit and have my coffee. Well, yesterday morning as usual I turned on the coffeepot and the computer in the same breath. I sat down to read my emails and needed to respond to a few and one thing lead to another. I got busy cleaning the house, we went to the grocery store and the usual daily things. When I remembered the plant in the late afternoon, it was totally fried. I was chatting with my sister on msn messanger later on and giving her a hard time about their weather. It had snowed there yesterday morning and is cold. I told her what had happened to my seedling and wouldn't you know it, not a shred of sympathy from her. I think her response was something like this, " well, duh, did you forget it was hot there?" Maybe I shouldn't have given her such a hard time over the snow? Oh well, I wandered down the street to the corner and found some more seeds, whether they are viable or not I don't know; but I again stuck 5 into a pot. Will see if anything grows.

I stopped at a small nursery across from Soriana (big grocery store) the other day; but they didn't have what I was looking for. One of my blog amigas has told me of another nursery, so I will have to check that one out the next time I am in San Carlos.

For dinner last night I made a chicken rice dish, I had spent some time looking at recipes wanting to try something different; but so many of the recipes call for things that I either can't get or don't have on hand. So, as usual I just plopped in whatever was in the frig.. Browned the chicken, added onions, peppers, tomatoes, sauted this for a while then added some regular rice, a couple of chicken/tomato bouillon cubes, (one would have been enough), some spices, and water and let it cook, while I tried to make a batch of brownies. I am trying to figure out this gas oven, haven't used it much as it has been so hot and also I haven't bought any cake/cookies pans yet. I found a tin foil cake pan from last year so used that. It seems like you really need to give the oven a good pre-heat and then play with the dial to find the temperature you want. I managed to keep it at around 350 F. and the brownies baked fine. Well, I think they did, I haven't tried them yet. I went to bed last night before my sweet tooth cravings kicked in. My lower back has been sore the last couple of days, I think maybe I pulled a muscle, so I took a pain killer and by 9:30 PM I couln't stay awake anymore. OK, I know, boring....but I warned you at the beginning that there was nothing too exciting happening.

Just another beautiful morning, the sun breaking over the mountains, the birds chirping, the dogs barking, a lovely view of the church spires in centro out of our livingroom window. Life is good.

Looking For Plants

Looking For Plants

We intended to go snorkeling yesterday; but when we got to San Carlos it was quite breezy and there were some whitecaps in the water. We decided not to snorkel. Instead, we went and had breakfast at our friends restaurant and did some visiting. When we left, full of food and the latest gossip, we didn't feel like heading home yet, so did some more looking for plants. We stopped at one nursery in San Carlos; but she didn't have anything that I wanted; although we did stock up on another bag of soil in anticipation. We decided to drive back through Miramar and go to the nursery there. The truck was there unloading things when we got there; but I think they were a bit worse for wear from the trip. The roses looked overheated and sad, so they stayed right where they were.

This morning as it was cooler, well for here anyway, we went down to the tianguis. I, of course, still have roses (or to be more precise, una rosa roja, a red rose) in the forefront of my mind. Red roses have a special spot in my heart. We did find the 1/2 pots that I want to hang on the wall outside and purchased another large pot (for the rose). So, we now have soil and a pot. We talked to the plant lady there and she told me that she wouldn't have any until the end of the month. Oh well; but now I am also looking for some trailing things to put in the 1/2 pots for the wall. I think I know what I want; but of course couldn't find any today and can't for the life of me think of the name so that I can look it up online and find out the Spanish word for it. Roy did manage to find some sandals/flip flops that fit him, unusual as he has size 12 feet, most stores here stop at about size 10 shoes for men. That was a nice surprise. He then took our purchases and went home while I continued on uptown to do some other shopping.

When I was in one of the shops there were some tourists in another line waiting to pay for their purchases. They were talking to the clerk in english, none of the clerks in this store understand any english. The lady was trying to pay with a 500 pesos bill(about $50.00) and of course the clerk was going to have to call her supervisor for change. The lady finally pulled out a 50 peso bill (about $5.00) and the transaction was completed to the satisfaction of all. I guess. The tourist was probably ticked off that she couldn't change the big bill, who knows. If I get all big bills from the ATM I usually go inside the bank and get smaller ones, as most of the smaller stores will not have change for a 500 peso bill, other than the big grocery stores that is, or I give them to the landlord for rent! (smile)

I just realised today that I am not as hesitant about asking questions of the vendors in Spanish and that I can usually figure out what they are telling me. I still think that I sound like an 18 month old, just learning to speak and massacring the language; but people seem to understand my gibberish. The bigger problem has been understanding the answers!! Anyway, my shopping completed I hopped on a bus and went home. Walking past the corner store across from our place, the lady was outside with her grandson who has just started walking. The last week or so he has been getting more social. To begin with he never noticed us up on the second floor, he was always looking more at eye level. We have been calling and waving to him the last few days and he now waves back and jabbers. The lady told me that this morning, he looked up and waved and greeted us; even though we weren't outside. We had a good chuckle over this.

I decided to try and use some of the sea shells that I have collected to decorate the plastic plant pots that we have bought. Eventually I would like to get concrete pots; but it is just too big an expense to get them all at once. As the plastic ones break down, I hope to replace them with concrete ones. I am trying to attach the shells to the pots with silicon as I am not sure that the glue from the hot glue gun will stick to the plastic for long. They will probably look quite tacky when finished; but I can always say that they are a new folk art concept!!!! Ciro and Irene came up for a visit and I think she agrees with my thoughts of tacky; but of course she didn't say so. To give her an "out", I said with a grin, "they are muy diferente (very different)", "si", she said, with a puzzled look on her face, "muy diferente." Pretty funny.

Our street dogs are barking, so we know that someone different is in the neighborhood, they never bark at anyone who belongs in the neighborhood (in their minds, and they are usually right); but they also, always bark at any strange dogs that trespass into their territory, the cats they pretty much ignore.

Papas Locas And Other Things

Papas Locas And Other Things

We were quite lazy yesterday and didn't do too much, other than clean the house and get some groceries. We had a nice chat yesterday with the owner at the mini market a couple of blocks from home. Someone had told him that Roy had worked on a fishing boat in Alaska and he wanted to know if that was true as he somehow couldn't believe it. No, we told him it wasn't true. We then had a good discussion about the differences in fresh water fishing and the fishing here and the types of seafood. Apparently people are discussing us, it got us wondering just how people here perceive us, we don't act like the normal "tourists". We take the buses usually, rather than driving and shop locally rather than running to the Wal Mart in Hermosillo, just a couple of the differences. A couple of days ago when I was on my way to the store a lady stopped me to chat. She wanted to know where my husband was, I told her he was at home. She grinned and said, "ah....sleeping", I got a chuckle out of this. Now, I don't know whether this lady has seen us together and just wondered where Roy was, or if she has only seen me by myself and was curious about my marital status, or.. or.. or..?? The conversation of course was in spanish. Anyway it got me wondering.

I couldn't decide what to cook for supper last night, so thought I would try to make the "papas locas" that we like so much at a local restaurant. Typically here they use "carne asada" (grilled meat), cut up into tiny pieces; but I decided to make it with bacon instead. I cooked the bacon (cut up into small pieces), then added onion and peppers and sauted them. Then added some canned elote (corn), crema(cream), leche (milk), queso (cheese) and of course some sal con chili y limon spice (salt with chili and lemon). This was heated until the cheese melted, then put over the baked potatoes. It was very good, as in, we ate tooooo much. It was very rich and I am sure not good for the cholesterol levels. I will definately make it again.

I had a pleasant surprise this morning when I opened my emails. I frequently get emails from people asking questions about this area and I try to help them out as much as I can. Usually what happens is that there are emails that go back and forth for awhile until they find out what they want and then I don't hear from them again. Sometimes I wonder about whether they ever came here or not, if they did--did they enjoy it, etc.. This morning I got an email from a lady in Canada, we have emailed back and forth sporadically over the last 8 or 9 months. She emailed to say that they were in Hermosillo, the city just north of us about 125 kms. and were on their way eventually to San Carlos. It was nice to hear from her and to find out that they actually did come to Mexico as planned.

She also asked about the state of the shrimp here. Awhile ago people were saying that there might be some e-coli floating around with the shrimp. I haven't bought any; but am getting a craving for some, so will have to ask the landlord if they are OK now. Fidel, if you are reading this perhaps you could comment also or if you would ever like to get together for a coffee just let me know.

We may go snorkelling today, we will see. We were going to go last Wednesday; but Ciro said that his brother was coming to install the railings and we wanted to talk to him about the lid for our storage box. He didn't come and still hasn't come, so I guess he is busy at work. This is just a side project for a family member and not a rush job so I guess we are last on the list. Oh well, he will show up one of these days.

Mexico Navy Symphonic Orchestra And Chorus

Mexico Navy Symphonic Orchestra And Chorus

We had read that the Mexico Navy Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus was to be giving a free performance last evening in the Plaza of the Tres Presidentes. We decided that it would be an interesting evening and so around 6:30 PM we hopped on a bus going to centro. We wandered down to the plaza and were amazed at the amount of people who had had the same idea. They had put an astounding amount of chairs out in rows and there were at least as many people standing as sitting. The performance was to start at 7 PM; so until then we wandered around and did some people watching. It was a lovely evening, with a slight breeze perfect for an outdoor concert. They had the stand for the orchestra and chorus set up at the west end of the plaza with the Palacio Municipal as a backdrop. To our right (north) the white/grey spires of the church rose into the dark night sky, to our left (south) were the statues of the 3 presidents that were born in Guaymas. They have added some nice lights to the Palacio Municipal and it looks great. The photos below were not taken last evening, they are from last winter. I was too lazy to take the camera along last night, as I didn't want to have to carry a lot of stuff in case we ended up walking all the way home.

Palacio Municipal, the backdrop to the stage.

Church Spires.

Statues of the Tres Presidentes (3 presidents)

The orchestra and chorus were of course, all in their white uniforms and looked wonderful as well as many other members of the navy that were in the crowd to watch the performance. Remember the old saying, "there's something about a man in a uniform?" Well if there were any ladies looking, last night was a perfect opportunity!!

The performance began around 7:30 PM and was fantastic. They also had a big screen off to one side of the stage, so that if you couldn't see the stage very well, you could watch the screen. One little boy, watching from his fathers shoulder didn't notice the screen until about 3/4 of the way through and when he did he got very excited. It was funny to see his facial expression when he noticed it.

After some introductions, they began playing. They did a few numbers from some operas, La Traviata for one. The music and voices were awe inspiring, sending shivers down my spine. They did some by Tchaichovsky (sp?), some popular tunes, some movie themes by John Williams-Jaws, ET, Star Wars, etc., some popular mexican music and much, much more. It was an absolutely wonderful concert and if anyone reading this ever has a chance to go and listen to this group, I highly recommend it. At three times during the performance they set off fireworks, much to the dismay of some of the local pigeons. Part of one came whistling close enough to us that I moved aside. The sounds of the music, the fireworks, the people, the lovely evening weather, definately a night that will long be remembered.

There were some jokes told by the MC and I actually understood some of it!! They had to keep turning on and off the lights in the plaza, off for the performance and fireworks and on for the MC, and I think at one point the MC joked about the mayor not paying the power bill as the lights were going on and off--but I might be totally off key to, as my spanish is iffy. At certain times he would call for applause and sometimes, strong(loud) (fuerte) applause.

When the performance was coming to an end, a city official (the new mayor?-I couldn't hear this very good) gave the leader of the group an ironwood statue of the Pescador, a large one sits at the malecon.

Statue of the Pescador on the malecon.

This was a family outing and I have never seen so many well behaved children in my life. They sat quietly throughout the whole performance, which was for 3 hours!!! No whining, no crying, no pouting. There were of course, the usual vendors selling toys,balloons, candy floss, etc.; but they were very unintrusive and did not interfere with the performance what so ever. They began playing at around 7:30 PM and didn't stop until 10:30 PM. A few of the older children whose parents were standing close to us, would go away for awhile, I guess to play and would return to check in once in awhile. We were getting very tired and sore from standing for so long; but we didn't want to leave and miss anything. A couple of times, the leader would make out like they were finished and everyone would yell, "otra, otra", instead of "encore" and of course they would continue.
It was a wonderful concert. When they did eventually quit playing, we made our way down the street hoping that there would be a bus that we could get home on. We were lucky and there was one from our area, so we got on and rode to within 3 blocks of our place. We sat outside for a few minutes to unwind and I was getting goose bumps so went inside to get the thermometer. It was 11 PM by this time and our thermometer showed 24 C./76 F.. Hmmm.. I may need a parka this winter yet, if I am getting goose bumps already.
A wonderful evening.

What A Difference A Year Makes

What A Difference A Year Makes

It was 1 year ago on October 10 th that we crossed the border into Mexico. We had left Canada on September 20 th; but took our time travelling and also stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA for a week or so to do a housesit. We were excited and nervous and had no idea of how much our lives would change by crossing an imaginary line in the dirt.

So much has changed in that year.

We came to Mexico for 6 mths. more or less, not really knowing what to expect, we intended to return to our "normal" lives in the spring. Little did we know one year ago how different things would turn out. We could not have imagined how the people and city of Guaymas would grab our hearts and not let go. We did not want to leave in the spring and figured out a way to return as soon as possible. We did go back to Canada; but only long enough to shed the majority of our possessions. Everything was sold and we were again on the road to Mexico. We re-entered Mexico exactly 3 months after we had left. We have seen so much different scenery and met so many great people during our travels.

We returned to live in the apartment where we had spent the winter and when construction was finished we then moved into the upstairs apartment, at the same house. I cannot begin to put my feelings into words about how the city, neighborhood, our landlord and his family have made us feel at home.

We returned to Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA again in September to do another housesit and will probably be going back again in April of 2007. We hope to do some travelling in Mexico also, now that we are settled in our home.

Through this blog we have "met" online people who share our love of this country and its people and frequently get emails from people who want to know more about this area. We share our thoughts and our feelings willingly with them.

It's been quite a year, I am not sure that you could have asked for a better one.

Bruja (Witch) In The Neighborhood!

Bruja (Witch) In The Neighborhood

Here are a couple of photos of this mornings sunrise, it was beautiful as usual. It was much cooler here this morning 22C./72 F.. I took my coffee outside and sat and watched the sun come up over the mountains. Yes, I had my shawl over my shoulders as it was cool.

Young Alan the grandson of our landlord finds our thermometer a very interesting/amazing thing. Last night when they were up here visiting, he suddenly very excitedly started telling us, "abajo cero, abajo cero", we turned around and looked at him and he was laughing and pointing to the thermometer. Fortunately it was not, abajo cero (below zero); but we had a good laugh at his inventiveness. He is taking english in school, so he brought his book (printed by MacMillan) up last night so that I could quiz him; but after sitting in school much of the day, (his day in private school is longer than the normal school day here) he was not really into the quiz as much as grandpa was. He was bouncing up and down with lots of energy to burn. The children here do not have the opportunities to use their energy as they do in Canada. There are not the big yards to run in or the parks for them to play in. They spend a lot of time in the house, Alan does not play in the street unless someone from his family plays with him, as there are no children on our street that are his age.

We were going to go snorkeling today; but Ciro told us last night that his brother might come to install the railings today. He may also be persuaded to make the lid for our storage box. The carpenter that came and measured and gave us a price never showed up after that day. He had told us he would have it ready in 3 days and we did not take down his phone number. We haven't gone looking for him, as we may be better off having one made from metal anyway because of the sun, humidity and insects. We will see what happens today.

It is my mother in laws birthday today, she is a very active 83 year old lady (as of today). She is more active than I am, taking long walks with friends everyday. I hope she has a very happy birthday and I will try to phone her with the Yahoo phone later.

We bought a table for the patio and a couple of more patio chairs, so now we won't have to take out the house chairs when we get visitors. I also potted up a Yucca plant last night that Irene had given me the other day. I looked them up on the computer and read that they only flower after about 10 years and then die; but Ciro told me last night that this one flowers every year and does not die. That's a good thing! He also said that a lot of brides use the blooms as their bouquet when they get married. While reading I also found out that the Copa de Oro/Allemanda is poisonous, and last night Ciro kept telling Alan to stay away from it. When I asked him about it, he confirmed what I had read.

Ciro also told us an amusing story last night about one of the ladies in the neighborhood. Apparently she thinks she is a bruja (witch), albeit a white one and ladies come to her when they are having problems with their husbands. She also believes that she has a picture? of the Virgen of Guadalupe on her bedroom wall; but Ciro says that he saw nothing, so she told him he was a devil. We had a good laugh over that. He was thinks it is very funny that people still believe in things like this, and to be honest so do I. We then discussed all the Virgens that have appeared on sandwiches, buns, etc. and have been sold on Ebay. He was upset as his computer crashed and he has lost everything he had on it. I should have told him that maybe the bruja could have fixed it rather than the computer tech..

Sunday At The Beach

Sunday At The Beach

We actually managed to find all the snorkeling stuff, bathing suits, beach towels, etc. last night, so this morning around 9:00 we headed to San Carlos. We made our Sunday breakfast stop at Marias Pizza, (the restaurant run by our friends there), where as usual, the food was good and the company entertaining. We couldn't decide exactly where to go for snorkeling and had by this time much advice and many suggestions. We started out by going to Playa Algodones; but decided that the waves were a bit bigger than we wanted. The waves here at any beach are not large; but we were looking for really calm. I had never snorkeled before and the sea seemed to be getting more immense each time I looked at it and thoughts of the strange creatures that make their home there were getting larger in my mind. We do not have wet suits/skins so I took along our bottle of vinegar just in case we encountered some jelly fish (it supposedly kills the stingers, then you are only left with the pain and a possible allergic reaction). Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Anyway, we continued on up the road to the Hotel Paradiso where we wandered around for awhile, we took a couple of other roads to the sea and decided to go back and try Pierdra Pintas beach. It is a bit more sheltered by some rocks and we thought it might be quieter. We looked around there for abit and decided that this was the place for today. Roy (at my urging) went into the water first, I said I would watch our stuff; but there were so few people around, mostly families, and the water looked so good that it didn't take me long to decide to get wet. I played around a little first, getting used to the waves and the feeling of weightlessness, (nice not feeling like a rock), before trying out the snorkeling thing. It wasn't as bad as I thought, I told Roy that maybe it was easier because I have so many allergies that half the time my nose/sinuses are plugged anyway and I am breathing through my mouth. Now isn't that just more information than you needed, it's not really that bad.

The water was the temperature of a lukewarm shower, you don't have to do anything to float because of the salt content, the sun was shining, there was only the tiniest of breezes, it was quiet and peaceful. Hmmmm, kind of sounds like paradise, doesn't it; especially when I looked at the weather in Alberta for today: high of 8 C. low of -2 C.. We saw lots of tiny little fish that were a light tan color; but when the sun lit them up they looked silver, some bigger ones of the same species and Roy saw some really nice purple ones. I didn't see those as I was staying closer in to the shore than he was. The water was really clear and Roy estimates that we could see approx. 15-20 feet down. He was more comfortable as he has done this before; although not in the sea. He said that when he was in Guatemala the area of the ocean where he was, was so dirty that he didn't want to snorkel. There were so many of the small fish that it felt like we were swimming around in an aquarium. We both had a great time and will be doing it again now that we are getting a little cooler land temperatures, the water will be warm enough for swimming for awhile yet. We got home around 3 PM, showered off the salt that had dried on us and vegged out, Roy has a nice rosy back and we were both tired. Thank goodness there were leftovers for supper as I didn't have the energy to cook, instead I went to the corner store, bought a newspaper and spent some time puzzling it out.

It's Cooling Off

It's cooling Off

The last few days it has been more comfortable to sit outside in the evening. It is cooling down a bit and the humidity doesn't seem to be as high. Last night we sat outside for quite awhile watching the clouds and lightning; but of course, there was no rain, well a couple of drops. This morning around 6 AM, I took my coffee outside and it actually felt cool. I went in and got the thermometer: 26 C./79 F., I put a light wrap over my shoulders for the first 15 minutes or so until the sun came up. The weather for our area in Alberta at 6 AM, said -1C and going for a high of 8 C., what can I say other than UGH!!

Sunrise this morning.

We went to the tianguis in 100 Casas (another colonia here in Guaymas) yesterday, and as we hadn't bought anything, we then hopped another bus and continued on to the cove at Centinela. It was lovely as usual. There were alot of one type of bugs scurrying over the rocks in certain places. They reminded me of the lemmings on their migration. They were all going the same direction in a big rush. We had never seen this before. I didn't have the camera with me so didn't get a photo of them.

Last night we got out the snorkeling stuff. After going for breakfast to our friends restaurant this morning, we will head to the beach and see what we can see. I hope that the jellyfish are not around.

Names Please.

Names Please

Can anyone help me out and tell me the names of the plants in the photos below? The yellow one is a tree and the flower has a wonderful fragrance. We saw them both on one of our walks the other day and I would like to know what they are. Click on any of the photos to see them larger.





We just returned from the nursery, we purchased a 25 litre bag of soil (30 pesos-$3.00), a purple bouganvillea (35 pesos-$3.50) and a yellow flowering plant that I love the look of, Allemanda (30 pesos-$3.00). Both plants are a nice size and are both blooming. We had to stop off at the other store to get another pot and now I have to go uptown to get some more drain basins. I had only bought one the other day to see if it would work. It does, so now to get some more, hope they are still there!! The palm we bought the other day is an Areca Palm, I remembered to ask the nursery man for the name.
The Bouganvillea(sp?) and the Allemanda.


The Areca Palm and the Hibiscus.

Gotta Love Blogger

Gotta Love Blogger

I just spent the last 20 minutes typing up a post and of course when I went to publish it, it disappeared. The "recover post" button doesn't work and you cannot copy and paste a copy of it into something else to save it before trying to publish. This happened the last time I posted also, so this time I thought I would save it as a draft so it wouldn't get lost. Didn't work!!! Darn, just realised that if I go into the html then I can copy/paste. GRRR...........

I have been doing some sewing the last few days, a couple of cool, loose cotton dresses and some kitchen towels.

Last night we went to the park in centro and fed the pigeons and people watched, it's so much fun watching the faces of the little children when they are feeding the birds. We then went to eat supper at the restaurant that serves the "papas locas", which were excellent, again; although I don't think that they are very good for the cholestorol levels.

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up soon and I think that rather than cooking a turkey we will go out for a shrimp dinner. This decision might have been influenced by the fact that we had chicken for 3 dinners in a row. I had roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots and then the next evening made chicken stew with dumplings with the leftovers. I got a little carried away and we ended up eating it for 2 meals. Oh well, it was good.

We are going to another nursery today looking for some more plants, we have bought a palmy type plant and an hibiscus so far; but want to get some roses and other things. We may have to wait a couple of weeks yet for the roses as they don't start selling them until it cools off a bit more. We also need to buy some soil as we forgot to get some the other day.