What's New?

Since returning from San Carlos, it seems we have been shopping, shopping and shopping.  Not that we have bought a lot of stuff; but it takes several trips to get what we are looking for.  You then wait the 2 days for delivery, send them back with the damaged stuff and wait another 2 days for them to return again.

Anyway we managed to purchase 2 new recliners, we decided the old ones had done their duty and were not worth cleaning.  We also hunted for a decent looking cabinet to put in the bedroom to store some of my art supplies, books, etc..  I wanted height to get more storage area; but alas not to be found.  Our choice was either kitchen type pantry cupboards or bedroom closet type cabinets.  The bedroom ones all have a big area to hang clothes which I didn't want.  I wanted shelves, shelves and more shelves.

In the end I settled for a kitchen pantry type cabinet made out of pine, not as high as I wanted and not the colour that I wanted; but we didn't have much choice really.  I was just too lazy to get a carpenter to build one and it would have been costlier in the long run.

Even buying a new laundry hamper entailed going to many stores before getting what I wanted at one of the grocery stores in the end.

I also want/need a new organizer shelf unit that goes over the toilet; but none are to be found here in any of the stores.  Strange as we bought our old one here.  Oh well, six months down the road all the stores will be full of them.

We stuck the old recliners out on the patio for now which makes for a really relaxing place to sit out there; although it looks rather weird.  The street cats that normally spend the night up here sleeping in our regular patio chairs are thinking they have died and gone to cat heaven I am sure.  I have put covers on the seats so that we don't get covered with hair when we sit down.

So everyone is happy.

Errand Checklist

OK, so here's the report back on getting my checklist of errands done the other day.

The switch I bought for the computer system is working well, so that is accomplished.

On Wednesdays trip to centro I almost completed my list. I got my eyes checked and ordered new glasses. They had a 20 % off sale on complete glasses, (frames and lenses). I was only going to buy new lenses as my frames are fine; but the price of the lenses alone was more than if I bought new frames with the lenses. So I ended up buying a complete set. This way I will have the old set for a back up if I happen to break the new ones.

Checked the sweet corn at the one veggie lady at the Mercado. She said it was sweet corn; but it was way overripe and looked not tasty so I didn't buy it. Oh well, maybe next time or perhaps the season is ending for it, not sure. I never really keep track of the seasons of stuff here as we pretty much know what is in season by the produce trucks that come through the neighborhood.

Went to the butcher and got my meat and then to another store where I get pork chops for Roy. I don't care for pork chops and he doesn't care for fish. So when I cook him pork chops I cook fish for me and we are both happy. I noticed at the butcher shop that they have 3 kg. bags of tomato paste now. Tomato paste in the little cans or in any form is not usually available here. I don't use it often, well mainly because I know I can't get it so I hoard what I do have lol. I am thinking that I will buy a bag and re-package it into smaller bags and freeze it for when I want it. Should work I think. Might also see if my landlady would like some of it. I gave her a can to try and she liked the concentrated flavor so she might be interested in some. This butcher shop has a lot of large packaged items for pizza and restaurants and it is also where I buy my mozzarella cheese to use on pizzas, etc.. We like the Mexican cheese but I can't seem to get it to melt very well on pizzas, etc., so like to have some Mozzarella on hand. I buy a 2 kg. bag and keep it in the freezer and take out what I need as I need it. Already shredded which is nice also.

So, the list is pretty much complete and it only took 2 trips this time. Not bad.

Yesterday I met a couple of ladies from Canada and we did the 50 cent tour of Centro. Interesting to see the city through a newcomers eyes and I realized that the city is working very hard to clean up the garbage, etc.. Funny, I guess you get so used to things that you don't really notice it anymore until someone else mentions it. Way to go Guaymas!!! They also mentioned how nice everyone has been to them here, which is normal and is the main reason we live here. Great people. Again, WAY TO GO GUAYMAS!!!!! Got to love this place.

One Or Two Errands Equals How Many Trips To Centro???

Yesterday I wanted to get my eyes checked as I think I need new glasses. I thought that it maybe had been 2 years since my last ones; but I happened across the bill the other day when searching for something else and it was dated sometime in 2007. OK, guess it is time.
I also wanted to get a rotor or something for our computer system. Roys computer was giving him trouble so he started using the laptop. We had my computer hooked up to the modem with the ethernet cable and his PC had been hooked up with the USB cable. So anytime he had to get his computer repaired or whatever it incurred another 100 pesos housecall from the Megacable tech to reinstall the disc with their password, which naturally they wouldn't give me lol so that I could do it myself. When we called Megacable and the guy came over he couldn't find the driver to install for the disc so he couldn't install it. I am not sure if it is because the laptop has Vista on it or not and I didn't bother poking around to see either. Roy was stealing the landlords wireless signal (with their permission and password); but he was getting tired of doing that as it would go off and on a lot so we decided to do something about it and hook him into Megacable. The tech had told us that we needed a rotor.
Anyway I knew that the computer place that I wanted to go to was closed in the afternoon siesta hours; but thought I could get my eyes checked, go to Spanish class and then go to the computer place after class.
Well the optometrist was closed for the siesta hours also. I have never been to this one before, my landlady recommended it. The place where I got my last ones has closed down or moved and I wasn't that impressed with them anyway so no big deal.
So.... with the office closed I had 2 hrs. to kill before Spanish class and no real shopping list except meat which I didn't feel like carrying around for 2 hrs.. So, what would any woman do but hit the stores and go shopping, well window shopping anyway as I didn't really need anything much.
I am finding that more of the stores here are carrying clothing made from cotton now, I wear a lot of cotton in the summer as it is cooler. When we first came here I couldn't find anything cotton anywhere here. So that is a good thing for me.
When my feet got tired I headed for the plaza to sit down, intending to get a water from the little vender on the corner of the plaza that I usually buy from. There are a couple of restaurants on the plaza; but the coffee shop has its tables in the afternoon sun and the umbrellas don't really seem to help so I ruled that one out. The other one is OK; but I don't care for it too much, personal choice here, nothing wrong with the place. Then I noticed that a place that has had a sign up for Taco Fish was open, usually it has been closed, so I headed over there. Shaded sitting area, nice and clean, friendly people. I asked if it was alright to just order a coke and the waiter said, " sure; but aren't you hungry?" After telling him that I had already eaten we discussed their hours and I asked why the fish places close up so early and we had a little discussion about that. A little while later another fellow came by and asked me in perfect English if everything was OK, etc.. I am noticing a lot more English being spoken here than a few years ago. After my drink I naturally had to explore the washroom situation, wow!!! Clean, toilet paper, paper towels, soap and water all in one place and even a toilet seat. Bathroom facilities here are improving also since we first came here. I am not meaning to be sarcastic with this, it was just a fact of life when we first came here a few years ago that many of the washrooms didn't have papers, water, soap, or toilet seats, just how it was. Not complaining, just stating a fact. I always carry plenty of kleenex and hand wipes with me.
Anyway that was all good so headed to class. After class I headed for the computer store for a rotor. The fellow thought that I only needed a switch, so after asking repeatedly if I could return it if it didn't work and being assured that I could; although I did forget to ask if I would be refunded my money lol, I bought it. Returning purchases and getting a monetary refund are not common things here usually, again just the way things are.
So headed home on the bus, which for some reason took a different route. It was funny the lady across the aisle from me looked at me and raised her eyebrows questioningly, I just shrugged and we both grinned. Who knows? I did notice that a place on the corner that changes businesses often is now a rock/stone place advertising "granitos" and they had a large fountain on display. Nice.
So, this morning I will head uptown again to see if I can get my eyes checked and will try to remember to check the one veggie vender at the mercado who amazingly had sweet corn last week and it was tasty, we really enjoyed it. Cross my fingers for more and oh yes I still need to go to the butcher for meat. Hmmm will one trip do this whole list?? Will have to wait and still, you just never know lol.

The picture below was taken on Childrens Day, the kids must have been the winners at their school for their King/Queen competition. Who knows, anyway there was lots of honking going on as they went through the neighborhood.



This is our neighbors grandson, he had come up to show us his baseball uniform and he informed me that he is the catcher. Naturally he had to make goofy faces in all the pictures, kids!!

Look What I Found

Normally I don't like to go shopping and only go when I have to.  I have really been wanting some fresh homemade bread lately; but it is still too hot to have the oven on for that long.  I have also been wanting some bran muffins.
I decided that I would go yesterday and see if I could find the ingredients that I wanted though so that I will be prepared when it cools off.  Roy also needed a new pair of flip flops and with his foot size it is difficult to find them here, we had looked at a few places the last time we were uptown and found nothing.  He needs a size 12 up north which equates to about a 30 here or 31 depending on the shoe.  Usually the largest size we find here is 29 which is not big enough.  My little electric food chopper decided to die the other day so I also wanted to look for one of them, not with very high hopes though as there are not a lot of electric kitchen appliances here.  Last year when our electric frying pan died I asked at a couple of places and the answer was always, "no hay", in other words, "we don't have them".  Yesterday I was surprised to see that at these same stores they are now carrying electric frying pans, go figure.  I jokingly said to Roy last night that perhaps I am responsible for the electric frying pan coming to Guaymas lol.  Ask and you shall receive and it only takes a year.  Oh well, at least they have them now for the next time we need one.
So, no food chopper downtown.  There are still a couple of places to look at the mall so will try them another day; but don't have very high expectations.
On to the flip flops.  Asked a couple of places and got the usual, we don't have them answer.  Then stopped at a young fellows stall outside of the market place.  He had some but the price was 68 pesos which was pretty high for the product available.  I started to walk away and the price came down a bit, I hesitated some more and the price of 68 pesos came down to 55.  I bought them.
While I was chatting with a merchant at one place, this fellow was listening I guess and after I was done he came up to me and told me that my spanish was very good.  I am afraid that his hearing must be really bad, like my spanish; but it made me feel good anyway.  I chatted with him for awhile and found out that we had both known a fellow who had passed away awhile back.  There are not many of us here so we tend to stick out lol.  Anyway had a nice conversation with him and he made me feel good about my lousy spanish skills.
On to the baking ingredients.  I have found a multi grain bread here that I like, made by Bimbo of course.  It has sunflower seeds in it along with 4 or 5 other seeds and things.  It is difficult to find though and most of the time it is not in the stores.  The lady at the little Bimbo store told me that it is because there is not much demand for it as most of the people here like white bread and I know that.  The day after Tropical Storm Jimena passed through here the landlords asked me if I wanted to take a drive with them around town.  I did and so did one of the other neighbor ladies.  We drove through several sections of town and in each area stopped at all the little stores as both the other ladies were out of bread.  One stop was at one of the little Bimbo stores and they, along with all the other stores were out of white bread.  Que lastima for the other 2 ladies, for me not a big deal as we had bread at home.  This little store had 1 loaf of multi grain bread and before grabbing it I asked the other 2 if they would like it.  Scrunched up noses and an emphatic NO from both of them, so I grabbed it, a happy camper.  Go figure.  Roy also loves white bread.  Anyway I want to try and replicate this multigrain bread so a hunting I went for ingredients.
I decided to try a bulk place that has been open for a few months and has a good selection of stuff.  Several health food stores also carry nuts and grains; but I thought the bulk place would be cheaper if they had what I wanted.  This store is called MOY and has stores in various places in Mexico and also the USA.  They are very friendly and helpful people who moved here to open this store from Guadalajara.  The lady helped me find what I needed and the fellow chatted the whole time with me.  I ended up buying a kilo of whole wheat flour, 1/2 kilo of bran, 100 grams of sunflower seeds, 100 grams of sesame seeds and 1 bag of ground flax (not sure of the weight; but a good sized bag) and the total bill came to 38.50 pesos (about $2.94 CAD).  I was happy and had a good language work out at the same time.  They didn't have any raisins; but I found those at the grocery store so I am already to bake when it cools off.  Score 1 for me.
Of course I needed to use the washroom so headed for Woolworths.  You have to pay 5 pesos there to use it and then you get a ticket for 5 pesos off of your purchase.  The washrooms are very clean, equipped with paper, soap and an air hand dryer, so I usually go there.  As I was walking down one of the aisles I saw a familiar looking package.

I love peanuts/peanut butter in any shape or form so grabbed a  package to try.  They are a bit different than in Canada where this was my one chocolate treat; but were pretty good.  The peanut butter filling has bits of corn in it for some reason.  It says on the package "flakes of corn".  Not sure why; but whatever tasted good anyway.
Then when I went to the local Soriana I noticed that they had the bags with 4 of them in.  Will have to remember that for my next snack attack.  A nice find.  I also found blue cheese there, that was a first.  I love blue cheese on toast so of course snapped some of that up.  I think it might actually be Danish blue cheese as the label said, "danubleu".  Who knows, it tastes good anyway.  I am thinking a blue cheese sauce to pour over tortilla chips, might be good.  You never know what you will find, maybe some day a cheddar cheese will be had.
All in all a good shopping trip.
Weather wise we are keeping an eye on Hurricane Ricks progress.  This has been a crazy weather year for here, very unusual activity for us.  Rick is, the last time I looked a Catagory 5 and they are predicting that he will hit the Baja and cross the Sea of Cortes and then hit the mainland just south of us.  This won't be til about Thursday so things can change a lot before then.  We are not panicking but are keeping a close eye on it.  I hope that Nancy and Paul in Mazatlan don't have too many problems with the storm, as on its present track it could create some havoc there also and in many other places. 

Don't Laugh

Don't Laugh

According to the weather reports it has been going down to 18 degrees Celsius or around 64 degrees Fahrenheit for a low here the last couple of nights. The air conditioners are off, the bedroom window is shut; although the other windows are open. By the middle of the night it feels chilly and don't laugh but I have gotten out my flannel pyjamas and have been wearing them for the last two nights. Fall is here.

Today I meet some friends at La Barca Restaurant for lunch and we had a ladies afternoon. After lunch we went shopping.

They have just arrived from Canada and one of the ladies suitcases mysteriously disappeared on the trip down, so she was in need of some clothes and shoes.

There is definately no lack of shoe stores down here so we began to stalk our prey. We kept encountering the same problem at all of the shoe stores, her foot size was just in between the adult sizes and the childrens sizes. The clerk at one store told us of another store off of the main street that might have something to fit, so with directions we headed off to find that store, unfortunately they were closed for siesta.

There was a very funny incident as we walked down the street looking for this store. I have to tell you that the lady who was looking for the clothes and shoes is an octogenarian, as we walked down the street an older man sitting on a chair on the sidewalk, was really giving her " the eye". The other lady and I noticed and we tried not to giggle. As we drew closer to this fellow he said, "hi, Americanos?", we told him that, "no, we were Canadian", and he smiled and sagely nodded his head. He continued to "check out" the older lady as we walked past. She was oblivious to all of this as she was intent on finding the shoe store. The other lady and I made it to the next corner before we were unable to contain ourselves and burst out laughing. When we told the older lady what we were laughing about, she just grinned and said, "well at least I know I'm still breathing". I suppose it was one of those things where you just had to be there to see the humor; but it was definately very funny and cute.

We returned to the main street and encountered the same size problem at several other stores. Finally at one store, one of the clerks, sent another clerk out to yet another store and asked us to wait for just a few minutes. At this point I decided that I should go and do some business that I needed to do and told them that I would meet up with them in a few minutes. Sure enough when I returned, the other clerk had returned with the same pair of shoes in yet another size, and they had fit. So she bought them. Talk about wonderful service, only down here would you find such helpful people.

She also picked up a couple of items of clothing before we took a break for a cold drink and then headed home. A nice afternoon.

A Cloudy Morning

A Cloudy Morning

A cloudy morning, well it was for a few minutes anyway. We opened the door and windows and let the cool, moist air in. Refreshing after the air conditioning being on all the time.

Our view this morning.

I had another photo I wanted to post; but my censor (Roy), dis-allowed it. Seeing as it was of him, I allowed his censorship. Oh well.
One set of my camera batteries went dead on Saturday and when I went to charge them the charger wouldn't work. I am thinking perhaps a power surge damaged it. Luckily I had the other set charged, as I don't like not having my camera handy.
I decided that I would go looking for a new one on Sunday as we had decided that it was just too hot to stand in the sun watching the parade for hours. I have also been wanting to look for a new memory card for the camera as the one I had was too small. I had to be careful if I was taking little videos not to run out of room.
I headed to the Soriana grocery store first as I knew that they carry cameras. Sure enough they also had the card that I needed. I got a 2 GB. card for what I thought was a decent price; but they didn't have a battery charger.
I had looked in our new telephone book before leaving home to see if there was a camera store that sells accessories. It told me that the camera store in the El Vigia mall does. See, we have only had the phone book for a couple of days and already it has come in handy, even without a telephone. Sure enough, they had chargers and I got one complete with 4 batteries so now I also have some extra batteries. A good shopping excursion.
We spent a lazy day yesterday and didn't do anything. This morning I think that we are going to go out to San Carlos to look around.

Not Dead, Just Lazy

Not Dead, Just Lazy

I guess when you start getting emails wondering why you haven't posted, it is time to get off my lazy butt and put something on here. The main reason why I haven't put anything on here for a couple of days is that we are basically boring people. We don't live an extremely exciting life, we spend most of our time just doing your basic living things which don't make for very interesting reading.

Lets see, what have we been up to the last few days. I have now been to 4 different stores looking for peanut butter and no one has any right now, that's a downer (yes, sis, we like peanut butter). Oh well, at least I have been keeping my yoghurt stocks up.

Another day we went uptown looking for a de-humidifier. Two of our walls are not sealed on the outside of the apartment and when the hurricane brought all her rain, it soaked through the bricks/concrete and now the walls are damp inside also. It is very humid and even more so inside with wet walls. We thought that a de-humidifier would help so off we went to the store. The clerk was very helpful and surprisingly enough didn't run screaming for their token english speaking clerk the minute we walked in. We conducted the conversation in spanish and he understood what we wanted, que sopresa (what a surprise). He went hunting other people to find out if they had anything like what we wanted and they didn't. He then did some reading and told us that our air conditioners should function as de-humidifiers. They do to an extent; but we thought that we needed to bring in some more help, it was not to be though; as they had nothing like that in stock.

Wednesday I decided to go to the tianguis ( outdoor market) shopping. Usually when we go to the tianguis we are just doing a walk and gawk and have no real purchases in mind. This Wednesday I had some definate things I wanted to look for so Roy designated it as a "womans shopping trip" and elected to stay home in the air conditioning. The man has no sense of adventure sometimes. It had rained hard the night before and there were only about 1/3 of the usual vendors set up, the streets were very muddy and there was lots of water lying around.

As I was walking down our street on the way to catch the bus, a lady stopped me and started to chat. I guess she remembered that we had been looking for a permanent place to rent in the winter of 2005. She told me that she knew of a place that will be available in Dec. of this year and that it is bigger than where we are right now. We are not looking to move; but we do know of a lady from the USA who is thinking of moving here, so I tried to get a few particulars about the place for her. Something to keep in mind anyway. A good way to practise my spanish.

I also met up with one of the neighbors at one of our local grocery stores, we were both heading on to another local shop so walked and talked our way there. Another practise your spanish moment.

A young couple and their little boy have moved from across the street to their new home. The house they had here is small and as the little boy is growing they bought a home in another colonia with 2 bedrooms. We miss not seeing him and Roy has one less little boy to give candy to.

Roy went down to the car yesterday to take the linens to the laundromat to be washed. The car wouldn't start, so he walked it over there and returned a very hot person. We have been having trouble with the car starting since we returned from the Baja, the battery terminals have been getting very corroded and he has had to remove the cables and clean them up several times. This time he says they look clean; but it won't start, so we will have to look into this a little more. A consequence of the salt air.

Today I am going to go uptown to centro and check out the fabric shops. The forecast is for the temperature to "feel like" 43 C./110 F.. A perfect day to visit air conditioned shops; although the bus ride could be a little toasty. Roy, being a shopping wimp has again decided to stay home. Go figure.

Well, the beef roast is in the crock pot cooking away for comida (lunch) later, so I guess it is time to clean up and head uptown. Hasta luego.

Shopping

Shopping

Yesterday before I left for my spanish class, I got all the ingredients prepared to make "papas locas" for dinner. This weeks spanish classes have been a story all of their own; but back to that later. When I returned from the lesson, I went to turn the stove on and nothing, nada, zip. No gas, strange we had had lots of hot water in the morning for our showers; but apparently that must have used it all up. Ciro happened to be up here visiting with Roy, so he went downstairs to phone the gas company to deliver a tank. We have a 30 Kg. tank that we started using on October 1st/2006, so we felt that regardless of what the refill cost, we couldn't complain. Ciro came back up to tell us that the truck would be here shortly and that the cost of a refill would be $291.95 pesos (about $30.00 more or less). About an hour later the truck showed up. The fellow lugged the full one up the stairs and hooked it up for us, before taking the empty back down the stairs to the truck. All I can say is that those fellows must have lots of muscles. Darn, fast service, I was thinking maybe supper out or sandwiches; but no, now with a new tank of gas I had to cook the supper.

Spanish classes this week. On Monday we had our regular class, Tuesday after we waited for awhile, the teacher ran in explaining she was having a personal problem and to come back for Tuesdays class on Wednesday. One of the other ladies from class was coming into town, so she gave me a ride home, which was nice. We again showed up on Wednesday, as asked; but the teacher did not. Wednesday evening I emailed her and asked about Thursday, yes, she replied she was going to try and make it on Thursday. Thursday we all showed up for class and again no teacher. One of the other ladies was going into town so I again got a ride into town. Nice. Let's see, 4 trips to San Carlos for 1 class. Hmmm....I do have some sympathy with her for her problem; but I do think that she could have emailed or posted on the forum that she was not going to be able to make it to class. It would have saved everyones time. Oh well, there is always next week.

Today, as there was nothing that we were going to for carnaval, we decided to go shopping. I have been wanting to get a scale and a crock pot so we headed uptown to check things out. We got out at one of the furniture stores, (furniture stores here also carry small electric appliances) and walked Serdan Ave. checking out all the stores. We ended up catching a bus to the mall, to the store where I had seen a large one a couple of weeks ago. The large one was sold; but we did get our weigh scale. We then headed to the grocery store in the mall and got a crock pot there. Almost every store had them; but I wanted one that the crock lifts out of, for easier clean ups. I also found a deeper bowl for mixing things in. The bowls that I have, are all low and everytime I use the electric mixer lots of the dry ingredients going flying. Hopefully this one will work better. Walked over to the bus stop and came home.

Roy and I played some Canasta and then I made potato soup for supper. It was tasty; but not good for the waistline. Oh, and yes, we both did weigh ourselves. UGH. I have gained about 8 lbs. since Oct. 2005. Time to start eating less.

Molasses

Molasses

Things are different here in the grocery stores. Some products that you are used to from "back home", are unfindable here, other things are different and still others you will need to hunt hard for. I had a hard time finding chocolate chips, they are not in the grocery stores, they are found in the cake baking supply stores. There seem to be 2 grades of white sugar, standard and refined, the refined is much more espensive. The standard is coarser and not as white as what we were used to; but is fine for almost everything, I have bought the refined a time or two; but decided that it was not worth the extra cost, unless I am baking something special. Brown sugar was not easy to find. Everywhere you look, you can find the hard cones; but those are impossible to use unless you want to dissolve it in something. For baking I had to find the mascabado, it is in a small packet and is not carried in all the grocery stores and is also very coarse. Canned tomatoes, pickles and other things are just not found here. Before Christmas I wanted to bake Gingersnap cookies, so began the hunt for molasses. I have found out that it is something that is just not used down here, or in this area anyway. My landlady did not even know what it was, she thought I was looking for honey. The store owners met my questions with blank stares and "No Hay", in other words they didn't have it and most didn't know what it was.

Yesterday we had some errands to run in San Carlos. I had heard of a shop out there that carries a brand of Veracruz coffee that we wanted to try. According to the shop owner it is also an organic coffee, we bought a kilo (ground) for 140 pesos (around $14.00, coffee is not cheap here). I am just finishing off my old can of coffee so we didn't try it this morning, will try it tomorrow and see if it is better tasting. I had also been told of a store that stocks some US style products so thought that I would check there for the molasses. It is just a tiny store; but has lots of products: canned tomatoes, some pickles, Tollhouse chocolate chips and YES molasses. The prices are high, about $4.89 for a jar of molasses; but cheaper and easier than packing it back from the US. I also found a bag of brown sugar. I restrained myself and just bought 2 jars of molasses and 1 bag of brown sugar and the bill was over $13.00--you definately pay for being particular!!

We stopped at the shop where we are supposed to be buying the art easel. The owner said that she was just on her way into Guaymas to the warehouse to pick up her order. She and Roy arranged to met at a spot in Guaymas, for him to buy the easel, while I was in spanish class. I guess they did met but no easel. She told Roy that the man was not at the warehouse so she was unable to get her shipment. Roy told her we would check back in a few days. We then stopped at our friends restaurant, they were just leaving to take a break for a couple of hours so we went and visited at their home with them. Our little heater has not been working well, I think the thermostat is going bad, it clicks on and off every 30 seconds or so. Our friends had one that they were not using so we bought it from them. We also stopped and chatted with a lady who is driving to Tucson when we want to go to Yuma, she was looking for a couple of passengers and we thought it might be more convenient for us than the bus. We arranged to go with her, and then found out that she is going to Green Valley, not Tucson. In the evening we checked the bus site to see if we can go to Tucson from Green Valley and it doesn't even show up on their site. We are re-thinking the plan now and will go and check out some of the bus schedules here today to see if we can go from here to San Luis Rio Colorado rather than to Tucson and then over to Yuma. We will see. After we had finished with all our errands I went to spanish class. Hmmm... and people wonder what we do with all our time.

A Visit To The Doctor

A Visit To The Doctor

I needed another bag of soil to top up some of the plants and also to plant the yellow rose that Ciro had brought back from the tianguis on Saturday. I also needed to get a pot for it. We decided on Sunday to take the car to get the dirt and pot, so I was in the process of making a grocery list when Irene came to the door. They had bought a Jasmine plant for themselves at the tianguis on Saturday and she had it in her hand. She told me that it was for me, I told her I would pay for it and she wouldn't let me. I thanked her and she left. I can't quite figure this out as Ciro had been showing it to me and telling me that Irene had wanted one because of how nice they smell. Then the next day she is giving it to me, I don't know. So now we needed 2 pots and saucers. The pots here are not sold with the saucers and the only place that I have found the proper saucers for the pots, they have been as expensive as the pots. I have just been buying plastic dish pans to go under the pots as I don't want the excess water running all over the patio.

The yellow rose and the jasmine plant.

It seems like it is always a Sunday when we end up taking the car out for these errands. Why, I don't know, as that is the busiest day of the week for the big grocery store as most people are off work. It is not like we have a busy schedule, I think it is just that we tend to forget what day it is until we get there. This retirement thing is tough!! We got the soil from the nursery and proceeded to Soriana, which as we expected was busy! As we had the car, I stocked up on some of the heavier things so that I wouldn't have to carry them on the bus. I needed flour, I had asked Roy to get some one day and he had come back with a bag of lard, which I already had. I had gone uptown for some other things that day and realised when I got uptown that I hadn't shown him the flour bag so that he would know what it looked like. He doesn't know the spanish words for things like that. So I was wondering what he would get. I told him that I thought he did it on purpose so that I would have to do more baking. Ha ha. So, on Sunday I got a couple of small bags of flour and forgot to get yeast, oh well.

I have been intending to go to the doctor for awhile now and decided that yesterday was the day that I would try that. I needed chocolate chips for cookies, Roy has been mentioning them and the last couple of times that Alan has been up, I think he has been looking for them also, as his face kind of dropped when I gave him a lollipop instead of cookies. From the directions for the doctors office it seemed that it was only a couple of blocks away from where I get the chocolate chips. Two birds with one stone! I have never been to the doctor here in Mexico, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I found the office easily, (he also has a small hospital attached) and asked the receptionist about an appointment. Yes, she said, you will be after the man in the hat. OK, I sat down to wait. From the speed that people were coming in and out of the room, I realised that this doctor must be taking time to talk to the people. No in and out in 5 minutes like in Canada, this is a good thing, I thought. The receptionist by the way did not take my name or any medical history or anything else. There were lots of people waiting and I decided that I would be there most of the day, until I noticed that everyone else that was there was in a family group. I was the only person there by myself. People were friendly and there was lots of conversation going on, which they included me in. There was a cute little boy sitting beside me that everyone was getting a kick out of. He asked where his dad was and his grandma pointed at an elderly man waiting and said, he's right there. No, the little boy, said that's not my daddy. This went back and forth for abit with everyone getting a good laugh out of the little fellow. I gave him a candy and he didn't seem to like it. I asked him if it was dulce (sweet) and he said, no it's malo (bad, no good), his grandma stuck it in her mouth and told him that yes, it's sweet. He insisted it was bad and kept putting it in and out of his mouth and getting all sticky before she finally took it away from him. That kept everyone laughing for awhile more. Time passed slowly as there were no magazines or anything to look at other than a couple of large paintings on the walls. There was a huge television in the corner; but it was not turned on. I read all the diplomas on the walls, the doctor had trained in England with some other courses taken in Arizona. When it was my turn the doctor ushered me into the exam room himself as he had done with everyone else. I explained why I was there and he chatted with me for awhile before taking my blood pressure. He then went and phoned the pharmacy and came back with the information that I had asked for, we chatted about something else and he again went and looked something up and phoned the pharmacy. When he came back we chatted some more and he wrote out the prescription. He told me which pharmacy he had phoned so that I would know that they had the 2 things. During all this, he never asked my name or took any written medical history. He did ask lots of questions about my medical history; but nothing was written down. At the end of the visit he came back out with me, told the receptionist the charge and ushered in the next patient. A very different visit from in Canada; but very nice, as I didn't feel rushed, he took time to listen to what I had to say and was very helpful and informative.

After the doctors visit, I went and got the chocolate chips and then to the pharmacy for the prescriptions and then to the store for the saucers for the plant pots. This store was very busy and the lady behind me was showing me the santa claus hat she was buying for one of her children/grandchildren. It had long white braids on it and little red plastic stars on it. I showed her the switch and told her that there were lights in the stars. She hadn't realised that; but when we hit the switch nothing happened. She went back to the counter to pick out another one. She returned with another one and it also didn't work, there was a clerk right there so she asked her about it. The clerk either said that the batteries were missing or dead, I am not sure which, so the lady went back to the counter again. This time when she returned and showed me the hat, I showed her that one of the wires was hanging totally unattached. She rolled her eyes and returned to the counter again. This time she returned with one with no lights, she had given up on them, she said and laughed. A fun way to pass the time standing in line. After finishing my shopping I debated going home or heading to the bank as I was getting low on funds and it is almost rent time. I decided to do the banking and got on the bus, to go to the bank that gives out a higher limit per day at their ATM. I did my banking and caught another bus to go home, I was getting tired so decided to be lazy and do a transfer (they actually don't do transfers here, you just get off and catch a different bus). When the first bus stopped at one of the hospitals I noticed that stopped right in front of us was the bus that would take me to within 1 block of home. I hopped off and hopped on the other one and was home shortly. I was too lazy to pot the plants when I got home, so need to do that today. I used all the cheese making supper last night, so I should go and get some more of that today to. Instead of painting yesterday while I was gone, Roy decided to dust, and mop the floors for me, it was nice to come home to a clean house. He may get back to the painting today, maybe.

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.