Being Lazy

I know I haven't blogged on here for awhile. I have been busy with yard, company,etc.. Have also been playing around some with the Blogger site and have posted a few times on there, if you are interested you can click on the link to it in the lists above, or here is the link: http://brendandroygoingtomexico.blogspot.com/
hopefully this link will work and if not use the link above.
Rained again on Saturday evening, another 1" and 2/10's so things are still green, cannot believe the rain this year!
Time to go for now.

Doggy Haircuts And Car Titles Continued

11/07/2005

Well Griz. is much happier this evening after his haircut. Looks like a whole different dog. He should be much cooler now.
Am going to upload a couple of photos of Griz. before and after haircut, if you didn't recognise him by his actions, you wouldn't know he was the same dog!! Pictures are in the Blog Album with the horses.
Managed to confirm today that we do not have titles for our vehicles here in Canada, only the registration, so that is one less thing to worry about.
Guess what it is pouring rain right now. Can't believe the rain this year.
Bye for now

Car Titles And Dog Sitting

Well time passes quickly, it is now only 87 days til we leave, when we first started counting it was over 276. We can't wait, I'm sure the last week will be extremely busy and long lasting!
We have had Denises' dog "Scotty" here for a week while they were camping and the children were taking swimming lessons. Our dog Griz will be staying with them this winter. He left a couple of hours ago and both our dogs have been sleeping ever since, they had a busy week!!!
We have just found out that we will need a copy of the car title along with the registration to cross the Mexico border. We have bill of sale and reg. but not a paper that says it is the "title" so will have to look into that tomorrow. As with most everything else I foresee several phone calls to get that.
Griz goes for a badly needed haircut tomorrow, so he will be cooler after that, poor dog has been doing alot of panting the last few days. It was 88 farenheit here the other day.
The yard is looking good and have been taking lots of photos lately of it and other things. Have posted all the pics. on the webshots site. I was bored earlier today, and started fooling around on BLOGGER, it is a neat site and ended up creating another site, so if you are interested you can check it out. The link for it is on the List at the top of the page.
Right now we are just relaxing, me on here and Roy watching Nascar and the hurricane on the T.V., he says he has nothing to add to this so, I guess that's it for today.

July Is Here

Well July is here. Yesterday we went to watch the parade in town. Didn't upload any of the photos to the albums online as they were not very good. Camera batteries were low, so by the time it took the picture the float was halfway out of the picture. Wonderful. After the parade we watched some of the entertainment that was going on, strong man competitions, fur trader competitions(which we couldn't really figure out) and some live bands on the refurbished outdoor stage. It is Albertas centennial this year also,so everyone was given buttons and a copy of the centennial song.
Today we decided to chance the weather and went out to Stoney Lake, which is about 15 miles from us, we wandered around a bit; but as there is not much of a beach there, we decided to head off in the other direction. We ended up at Whitney Lake which is about 15 miles in the other direction. Nice sandy beach, we walked along the shore around the lake for about 1/2 mile and watching the clouds decided it was time to turn around. You can walk around the whole lake almost on the nice sandy shore. Posted some pictures on the webshots album of the lake. We also kept getting "dive bombed" by some type of gull, who must have decided that we were too close to their nest. The wild "tiger" lilies are all in bloom right now and because of all the rain we've had the ditches are full of them. The countryside is lush and beautiful this year. We just made it home before it started to rain again. This evening it poured again for awhile.
Oh yes, the grad photos were taken on the 30th so that is done with, now I can slack off abit on the yard!!
We will be dogsitting for the next week(starting tomorrow) so that should be interesting, 3 dogs!!! Speaking of dogs, our German Shepherd, who is totally petrified of thunder, did the funniest thing the other night. We had an amazing thunder and lightning storm on Thursday night. Of course she was in the house, she had disapeared and I never thought too much about it, as she tends to hide out wherever she can. Well, I went into the washroom and there she was totally laying flat out in the Bathtub!!! What a sight, we had a good laugh over that. She stayed there all night,wouldn't budge!!!! Think she was a little stiff in the morning though.
Well that's it for now.

Summer??

Well here I am again, it's been awhile I know. Things are busy around here with the yard. It's been abnormally rainy here this month, making it difficult to get much done. We have had 4 1/2 inches of rain in June so far, which is more than we sometimes get all summer!
One of the neighbors daughters is graduating tomorrow, and they asked if they could take her grad. pictures in the yard here. I have been trying to get the yard in shape for that; but with the wet weather has been interesting. I have mowed the lawn more this month than all of last year, and of course just when you need something it breaks. The weedeater decided that it had had enough and died, so I was without it for over a week. Then the pond sprung a leak and had to hunt for where that was, not easy with an 80 foot creek running into it. Managed to find that and repair it. Yard is looking good, with all the shrub roses, columbines,etc. starting to bloom. I uploaded some photos of the yard to the online Webshots album(link is at top of page). It's really nice to see everything so green this year, the countryside is really pretty, the wild tiger lilies are blooming in the ditches right now.
Then one morning we looked out the window, and guess what? No horses to be seen!! They had broken off 2- 4X4 posts and 16 feet of plank fence was lying on the ground. WONDERFUL!!! Luckily?? They were smart enough to run home and all was well. So we spent all of one morning repairing the fence. I still have to paint the new posts; but haven't been able to with all the damp weather, no use sealing in the moisture.
Our small dog, Griz, went for a trial run visit at one of the daughter-in-laws, where he will spend the winter. We wanted to see if he would get along alright with their dog,children, and schedules. Things went fine, so all is on track for him.
We were intending to go camping this weekend; but the forecast is for cloud/showers, so think that we will stay around home. Will maybe go to the parade,etc. in town on July 1st, or take a day trip to one of the local lakes, just need to decide which one. This area is fortunate to have many,many lakes within a short driving distance,also the North Saskatchewan River is only about 6 miles from us. The one day that we went to the river I chased down and managed to capture some clams(tough job as they are so quick!!Ha, Ha) which I put in one of the ponds at home. We took a couple of pictures, at the river, that are on the Webshots site.
Well have to go and mow the grass in the ditches, as it is getting out of hand.
Till later. Hope you all have a great day.

Finally!!!

YAHOO!!!!! Roys' passport finally arrived today!!!! Now we are almost ready to go. Actually we could have been ready to go about an hour after he came back from the Post Office with it in his sweaty little hand. HA HA HA Oh well, it is summer??? here(supposedly) and we will be able to enjoy it more now that we don't have to worry about when that passport will get here.

It has been rainy here the last few days and rained almost all of today. 1 3/10 inches today. So everything is green. Hope that the sun comes out now.

Uploaded some more photos to the webshots site the last couple of days, yard,dogs,horses.

That's it for now

Busy, Busy, Busy

I know I haven't been on here for awhile; but things are busy around here!! Lots of yard work to be done and yard cleaning. Now that I have gotten rid of alot of steel,etc.(left over from our business) I have been cleaning up the yard where it was stored. What a job; but almost done. Looks much better now; although no one but me could see the mess as it was stored down by the barnyard, I do feel better now that it is cleaned out!!

A couple of days ago I acquired 3 automatic,self propelled lawnmowers to keep the grass in the pasture mowed. They seem to be working wonderfully and will save me alot of time this summer, as I won't have to do it. Would take me almost all of one day, several times a summer to mow it and at the price of gas now this is a big help!!!(See photo). Actually the "lawnmowers" are on loan from a neighbor just for the summer. It is nice to have animals back on the place again. They are beautifull horses and huge!!(Belgians).

Nothing much to say about our trip right now, just keeping up with reading the newspapers,message forums,etc. to see what is going on there right now. The Blue Jellyfish arrived in the San Carlos Bay a few days ago, so the swimming was not so great!!! It is disgusting to see that the temperature down there now in the early a.m. is warmer than our daytime highs get.

Well that's it for now. Time to get outside.

More Yard Pictures

http://community.webshots.com/user/brendamaa

Hi, I have taken some more pictures of the yard today. Rather than take up all my storage space on this site you can see the pictures on the above link.

Partly cloudy,windy and cool here today. Ugh!!! Gotta love this Alberta weather!!!

Spring????

25/05/2005
Spring????
Well not much to say today. It has been windy,raining and chilly here the past few days. Even the dogs do not want to be outside!!! I am hoping it warms up, so that I can get some yard work done.

Roys' passport has still not arrived; but must be on its' way, as the cost has been charged to us, so hopefully it will be here shortly. The weather here is just making us want to get going sooner!! We have decided that we will probably leave a bit sooner than expected, probably in the first week of October rather than waiting until later in the month.

Springtime

UPDATE: PHOTOS ADDED HERE NOW.

Hello, just a short note to say that I've added some photos to the Guaymas album and have also started a new album of some pics. of the yard. I will be adding to the yard photos as the summer blooming progresses. The cowboy and cowgirl at the yard entrance I made this winter, I prefer the painted versions to the black silhouettes. The fish are in a fair sized pond that I had the neighbor excavate with his backhoe! The river starts at one end of the back yard, goes right across the yard and empties into the pond. Yes, it has a major size pump,with a 2" hose that sends the water under the creek to a spillway and runs it down the creek back into the pond. I haven't gotten the pond filled completely yet, it takes alot of water, so fill it in increments. It looks like the rain is over and the sun is back out, so I guess it's back to mowing the lawnssssss. Bye for now, hope you enjoy the photos.

I'm Back

Hello, we have been really busy here. Spent alot of time getting ready for a yard sale and then having it, this past weekend. It was a very busy weekend, and we got rid of alot of old stuff that has been hanging around taking up space.

We got lots of rain Monday and yesterday,so have been taking a rest!! Today I got busy and got the fish outside into the ponds. I am glad to get them out of the house again, finally. Anyone want some fish next fall????

Nothing much to report on our trip at present, just waiting and wanting to go!!! 149 days and counting!!! Still waiting on Roys' passport. I was hoping it would come yesterday or today, as he is on days off, and he has to sign for it when it comes; but no such luck. Oh well, guess it will come in due time.

Well that's it for now.

Gotta Love Canada Post

Well.... despite Canada Post my passport finally arrived today, still no sign of Roys. On the envelope was a sticker saying " this item did not meet delivery standard as a result of an incident within our operations, etc. etc.. Go figure.... Canada Post messed up!!! Hard to believe that in these times, when you can send information from one side of the world to another in mere seconds; and, we can put men and machinery in space(also repair it there if necessary), that Canada Post cannot get an envelope from Ottawa to Alberta without having an "incident". Kinda makes one think that not all the Space Cadets are working at Nasa, doesn't it????

Well that's it for now.

Here I Am Again

More about the area we are going to. Guaymas is a major shipping/fishing port(lots of shrimp). The pleasure fishing in the Sea of Cortez is also great apparently; according to what we have read. There are 2 large marinas in San Carlos, full of private boats. A web cam that we watch from there shows one of the marinas. The other web cam(the one I prefer) , can be controlled, and you look at whatever area you want. Usually I just look at the view of the bay, expecially when the weather here is nasty-- nice to check out the bay/boats and palm trees. Here are the links to the web cams if you would like to have a look around. http://www.marinaterra.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?Action=LoadCam&Word=994a1fc1ed682427059162dba3a3b295&Title=Vista%20Panoramica&lang=EN_US and http://www.cybercosecurity.com./webcams.html .

During our online travels we have chatted/emailed with a variety of people. When we first began to think of leaving our lovely Alberta winter, we intended to go to Belize. That is a whole other story!! We did end up talking to some very nice people though, and had the opportunity to housesit there for a month this June. We didn't have our passports ready yet and didn't want to give up our summer here and have to return home for winter. We also knew we couldn't afford to stay away right from June to next April (10 mths.)so we decided to pass it up. That was kind of disappointing.

We have chatted with people from Belize,Veracruz(Mexico),Xalpa(Mexico),Lake Catemaco(Mexico), Hermosillo(Mexico),Guaymas,and 1 who lives part-time in Empalme(Mexico) and part-time in Phoenix. On our trip down we are supposed to stop and have a quick coffee with the person we have been chatting with in Hermosillo, he has been very helpful with information about the area and various other cities. He has visitied Guaymas, as he has relatives there.

We read alot of information on various forums and these are also helpful when we have queistions that we can't find answers for elsewhere.

While we are there , of course we won't have our computer. My crystal ball shows major withdrawal in my future!! Good thing I love to read!!! We will be using internet cafes, which is the reason for this blog. We thought that it might be easier to do this rather than emailing everyone separately. We will see. I can already see that I am much more verbal on here than by email!!! This reminds me of my mother writing reams of letters at Christmas time. Something that I have never been good at!! I am happy to say that my typing is better than my handwriting so you should be able to read this!!

It should be interesting when we arrive in Guaymas, as while we are having Hallowe'en, they are also celebrating a holiday called the "Day of the Dead". This is when they honor and remember their loved ones who are no longer alive. It sounds like a beautiful celebration. Families clean and decorate their loved ones graves and celebrate their lives. This celebration lasts anywhere from 1-3 days.

Christmas there is also celebrated for a much longer time than it is here. We are looking forward to seeing and living many,many new and exciting experiences.

Well enough for now. Bye til next time.

Still Planning

Hola a todos---hello to all.
Ah yes.....Spanish. Well...the first phrase I thought I needed to learn was "Buenos dias(buenas tardes,noches),↕donde esta el bano, por favor? (the keys used for the spanish accents don't seem to work properly here, so just pretend the accents are there) Good morning(afternoon,evening)where is the bathroom,please. I'm sure that I will be needing this phrase!!!! The second phrase I thought might come in handy was "Buenas dias, ciento ochenta dias, por favor", for the aduana(customs) to get our 180 day tourist visas so that we won't have to go and get it renewed partway through our trip. If you are interested this is the link to the newspaper from Guaymas that I try???? to read every morning. http://www.elvigia.com.mx/ .

We have gotten almost all of our shots, just need to go back in August for a booster. We got Tetanus,Typhoid,Hepatitis A, Hepatitus B(I already had this because of working in hospital),and TB test. We had no side effects other than a bit of a sore arm for a few days.

Our passport applications are in Ottawa awaiting some bureaucrats scrutiny. Should have been mailed out last Monday(2nd); but hmmm......still haven't arrived. Hard to believe that the government didn't do what it said it would, isn't it????

Guaymas is approx. 400 kms. from the Arizona border and is not far enough south to have a really tropical winter. I'm not sure the antifreeze in our Alberta blood is set for tropical anyway!!! The low temps. in Dec./Jan. are in the 50's F. and the highs are upper 60's-70's F.. Then it begins to warm up. Sounds much better than -30 in either Farenheit or Celcius. I'm hoping that the fibro. aches/pains will not be so bad there as it seems to be better here when it is warmer.

How to get there? That has been a source of a lot of thought. I think that we have finally decided to drive rather than fly. We will be able to take some kitchen things(coffee pot,etc.),towels,blankets,etc. that we wouldn't be able to take by plane. If we flew we would have to buy all that down there and then dispose of it before coming home. Some comforts of home on our big adventure! We plan to leave sometime in October and be in Guaymas a few days before the end of the month for renting purposes. Taking the car will give us more freedom and if the weather is nice may camp the last few nights. Once we are settled in we plan to use the local buses as it is so convenient and cheap. The bus from Guaymas to San Carlos costs about $1.00!! Having the car will also mean that we can take other excursions on our own schedule though.

In The Planning Stage

Hello everyone.  As some of you know we are planning to spend the fall/winter of 2005/2006 in Mexico.  After many hours of research online we have finally decided where we want to visit.  We will be going to the city of Guaymas in the state of Sonora,Mexico.  Here is a link to a map of Sonora.  http://vivasancarlos.com/jpg/mapa_trun.jpg . Guaymas is a port city on the Sea of Cortez with a population of approx. 130,000. It is not a big tourist city which is its attraction to us!  Here is a site with some information about Guaymas.  http://www.tourbymexico.com/sonora/guaymas/guaymas.htm  . About 10 kms. east of Guaymas is a small city called Empalme. Empalme is different in that it has only been founded since 1905, and was built as a railroad town. This is their centennial year. Here is a site with a lot of info. about Empalme.  http://groups.msn.com/EmpalmeSonoraMexico/inandaroundcontinued.msnw  . To the west of Guaymas about 20 kms. away, is the town of San Carlos, this is a tourist/expat. town of approx. 7,000 residents. You can visit here on a virtual tour by using this link  http://gotosancarlos.com/en/virtual_tour/ .  We have been emailing to someone in Guaymas and he will assist us with renting an apartment when we get there, as our spanish is pretty well non-existent!!! I have been trying to learn some spanish online and have progressed to being able to understand some of the local newspaper which I look at every morning with my coffee. It is much easier to decipher the written that the spoken, as when I turn to the local radio station there(online) I maybe catch 1 out of every 10 words!!! Oh well, after 5 mths. of immersion we should pick up something!!

A Move From Another Site

The first 14 or 15 posts on this blog were originally posted on this site. It didn't take me long to get frustrated with the absence of capabilities of that site and so I moved over to Blogger. I finally got energetic in May of 2008 and moved these posts over here. Hope that you enjoy reading all that has happened in my life over the last few years.