Cactus Anyone?

Cactus Anyone?

Bird enjoying his home in the cactus.



I liked the color contrast of the wall covering plant and the cactus.

Let It Snow--Somewhere Else

Let It Snow--Somewhere Else

We saw this decoration as we were out walking the dog. I thought it was cute and it echoes my sentiments exactly. To all of you who are living with the snow and cold, you have my sympathy.

A Video For Mama

A Video For Mama

This is a video of our new best friend, Geordie. This video is actually so his mama can see him and know that he is doing fine and enjoying life in general. If you are not interested in seeing a dog do his thing, then come back tomorrow for something more interesting, maybe.

Christmas Eve Boat Parade

Christmas Eve Boat Parade

Every Christmas Eve some of the boats in the marina dress up their boats with lights and head out to put on a show. We have never gone to it before; but seeing as we were out here anyway we decided to head down to the beach to see it.

We went down a little early and let the dog play for awhile. When Roy had been down there in the morning there had been a fellow fooling around with some of the rocks on the beach. I guess he must have had a lot of time on his hands as he built this couch out of the rocks. He certainly did a good job of it anyway!

We didn't have to wait for too long before the boats appeared. The owners had certainly done a good job of the decorating, and the boats looked great. I think there were 12 or 13 boats in the parade, apparently there were a lot more last year; but it was nice anyway. There were some fireworks being set off on the shore and a bonfire or two also. We enjoyed it; although the dog was not impressed with the sounds of the fireworks.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR (FELIZ NAVIDAD Y PROSPERO AÑO NUEVO)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR (FELIZ NAVIDAD y PROSPERO AÑO NUEVO)

Canon de Nacapule

Canon de Nacapule

This morning we went for a walk with the dog and then headed for the beach so we could play ball with him. He had a great time and so did we.
After eating lunch we decided to go to the Nacapule Canyon which is just a couple of miles from San Carlos. We have been meaning to go there since we first came down here; but just never seemed to do it. The road there was better than we expected and we made it almost all the way to the canyon before deciding that it was time to park the car and walk the rest of the way. The dog of course enjoyed all the new smells along the way. The canyon is supposed to be a kind of tropical micro climate and there are several different species of vegetation to be found there. If I understood the signs correctly there were a couple of native tribes living in the area about 3 thousand years ago. There is a stream of fresh water in the canyon and the rock formations of the mountains are also interesting to look at. We enjoyed our afternoon there and I took lots of photos. I can't seem to upload photos to either Slide or Webshots from here, so that will have to wait until the next time we go home. In the meantime here are a few of the pictures.

Housesitting In San Carlos

Housesitting In San Carlos

We headed out to San Carlos on Tuesday to housesit for some friends that have gone back to Canada for the Christmas holiday. On Wednesday we took the one lady to the airport and then we were on our own with our new "beasties". We are enjoying being with animals again and are having fun with them.

Here are some pictures that we have been taking the last few days.

Views from the patio.

Regular oranges and mandarin oranges.

Grapefruit.

Our new kitty.

A poor picture of our new best friend.

Tree Trimming Time Again

Tree Trimming Time Again

Well, it's that time of year again, time to trim the trees. This is across the street from us.

The beginning.

The middle.

The end.

Rainy Morning

Rainy Morning

I went shopping yesterday while Roy was having his football Sunday. Headed to the El Vigia mall where I wanted to look for a floor dust mop at the Ley grocery store. While wandering around I came across a young lady handing out samples of a new pizza. It is one of the type that is prepared and you take home and cook. Up north there are tons of these types of convenience foods; but here there are very few. I think we eat better, as in healthier and less additives, here because of this lack; but sometimes it would be nice to be able to have some of these things on hand for a lazy day. It tasted not bad, for a convenience food, so I bought one, thinking that it would be nice to have for lunch when I got home.
When I finished my shopping and returned home, I cooked the pizza and we ate it. I had forgotten how nice and creamy mozzarella cheese is when melted. The cheese was so yummy and the rest of the pizza was OK, not great; but after all it is a convenience food and you don't actually expect much from it or I don't.
Later on in the evening we were both getting the munchies and didn't know what to eat. We hummed and hawed and thought about it until Roy suggested that we go for a torta. We decided that we should walk over to the torta place that we had gone to the other day. It was chilly out, so Roy had to go hunting in the closet to find his denim jacket with the sheepskin lining. I had a sweatshirt on already so just wore my fleece jacket. We would have been wearing short sleeves at this temperature a few years ago. We have really become wimps, weather wise.
The lady at the torta place had been so nice the other day and had cooked for us when she wasn't even open so we felt we should go back when she was actually open.
We arrived and she was open for business this time with a flashing light over the window. She just grinned at us when we arrived and told us to come in and sit down. Roy thought the torta especial looked interesting so I asked her what it had in it. Ham, pork, 2 cheeses and all the fixings we were told, so he ordered that, while I stuck to the ham and cheese. The tortas arrived piled high and were of course served with all the extra fixings that are usual here. We both managed to finish them; but were stuffed. I think that we have a new favorite place and it is close also, so nice for the late evening munchies. The bill for the 2 tortas came to 43 pesos, about $4.30, makes you wonder why you ever bother to cook at home.
I woke up last night around 1 AM to hear it pouring rain, strange weather for here. It just rained hard here a week or so ago and normally, according to the weather archives anyway, there is no precipitation here in December at all. Well, it was still raining this morning; but quit before noon and the sun has come out now. It is muddy though and people are having trouble getting up the street with their vehicles.
It was a dreary looking morning and also chilly at only about 16 C./61 F.. Brrrr.....

Here is a video of the rain this morning.

New TV

New TV

This morning we decided to go and look at Soriana to see what they had for tv sets. We found a 21" flat screen that we thought we would buy; but first we had to head to the bank for some cash.

We caught the bus from Soriana and headed to the bank. Roy decided that he would go and check out the sets at Ley while I went to the bank, I said that I would meet him at the corner and we would head back to Soriana. I waited for him for a bit and then noticed that he was waving at me from across the street. When I joined him, he said that he wanted me to come and look at some of the sets in Ley. We went over and took a look and found one that was a 29" flat screen and was on sale for 2,152 pesos, about $215.20. We decided that if we were going to buy it we should get one of their point cards first, so off we went to the customer service desk. I filled in their form and was presented with the card.

Off we went to find a sales person and confirmed with her that the sign was indeed the correct price and then asked if they had someone who could deliver it. She took us over to one lady who in turn radioed another fellow. When it was all settled it turned out that if we went out into the parking lot to another store, (that they have just lately set up), and bought the TV in that store, they would deliver it. The clerk went over there with us and discussed it with the 3 clerks there. They did not have the same set there of course, so we were back to square one. We then decided that maybe one of the taxis would be big enough to get it in their cab, so we walked over and discussed it with the taxi drivers. One fellow told us that one of the cabbies had a station wagon and it would be no problem. He told us to go and buy the TV and they would get ahold of the fellow with the station wagon and he would be there when we got back. Back into the store we went. The only set they had was the floor model, so they got it packed up and into the box, then they ran around looking for the batteries for the remote control. No hay, couldn't find any. Then they found the whole package with the book, remote control, batteries, etc. and so into the box that went. A fellow lifted the box onto a cart and off we went to the till.

Once at the till with the tv all boxed up the clerk punched in the numbers and up popped a price that wasn't even close to the sale price. We told her that the price was incorrect and Roy went and got the sign with the sale price on it. That sent 2 of the clerks into their books looking for the UPC code, one of the ladies was agreeing with us that the sale sign and the tv were the same. After searching their books they got on the phone and called another lady. She must have been the supervisor as after all was explained to her, she seemed to do an override on the till and we were able to pay for the tv finally, at the sale price.

This whole procedure must have taken at least an hour; but everyone was pleasant and we were all smiles at the end of the endless transaction. We thanked them all for their time and trouble and we were on our way out of the store.

We arrived at the taxi stand to see no sign of the station wagon taxi. No problem, we were told, we'll just tie it into the trunk. OK, lift it into the trunk and tie it in. I didn't like the look of how the latch on the trunk lid was going to hit the side of the tv box. One of the taxistas just grinned, ran over to where their chairs were, grabbed a loose seat off of one of them and put it under the latch so that if the trunk lid bounced it would hit the seat instead of the tv.

On the road, finally. Over a very big tope, I am sitting in the back seat watching; although what good that would have done I don't know. I guess I would have been the first one to see it fall and smash. The driver saw me watching and said, "todos bien", all is good, and it was. We arrived home with it in one piece.

Ciro came and helped Roy get it upstairs and helped unpack it. We got it set up and running and he returned downstairs.

A few minutes later when I read my emails I had one that I had to go and talk to Ciro about. We were chatting and Ciro told young Alan to take me into the bedroom and show me something. Alan took me by the hand and into the bedroom we went. He pointed and when I looked, there was the exact same tv sitting on their stand. Too funny. I came out of the bedroom laughing and when Ciro and Irene saw me they started laughing also. Strange coincidence.

Buying a larger item here might be a more time consuming operation than up north; but it is filled with smiles and helpful people or that has been our experience so far. Never go looking for a big item here if you are rushed for time, as you will only be letting yourself in for frustration, take your time, be pleasant and enjoy the differences and it will usually turn out fine for everyone.

Just Looking

Just Looking

When we came to Mexico in October of 2005 one of the things we brought with us was a small TV set. When I say small, I mean small, I am talking about a 14" screen here. It has served us well; but the last while has been showing its age, which is considerable. Some days it is so blurry that you cannot make out the images well at all and forget about reading any of the writing on the screen. Then again on other days it is just fine, making you wonder what you were complaining about the day before. I am not a big TV watcher, clocking in maybe an hour or two a day at most. There is one show that I watch almost everyday, when we remember to switch the channel to it and then I watch bits and pieces of another couple. It is turned on almost all day though, usually tuned to CNN, Roy watches more of it than I do, so he is a little more concerned. My suggestion that we just wait until it died and then not bother replacing it was met with a LOOK, until I couldn't restrain myself and started laughing.

Today we decided that maybe we should think about getting a new set, so we headed up town to see what was being offered.

Electronics, such as TVs, computers, printers, cameras, etc. are definately not cheaper in Mexico, in fact I would say that they are quite a bit more expensive than north of the border. We are not interested in a top of the line, fancy gadget model, so are not really concerned about all the new technologies that are out there. We were just looking for a regular TV with a bit bigger screen than we have.

We wandered around downtown and about the best price that we found for a 20-21" screen, regular TV was 1599 pesos, about $159.99. Good enough for what we need.

Enough window shopping, on to the fun part of the outing, going to sit on a park bench in the plaza. Gee, aren't we exciting people. First window shopping and then hanging out on a park bench!

When we arrived at the plaza, we noticed some booths set up by some artisans from Oaxaca. Now this was interesting. We wandered along, looking at/admiring all the various articles for sale. Finished with our tour of the booths we retired to a bench and did some people watching. After enjoying this for awhile we wandered over to the bay to see what is happening with the part they are filling in. We were surprised to see that they had filled in another area, that we had thought they were done with. For some reason they have the area around the Plaza del Pescador cordoned off also. The work continues on the grounds of the Plaza de los Tres Presidentes also, so much of the area is a mess.

Last year I laughed at the look on the face of the burro in the Nativity scene that was set up in the Plaza de los Tres Presidentes. We noticed that it is set up across the road from the plaza this year, so I will have to return to take another picture of the burro and his friends.

We then headed home to relax after our taxing shopping afternoon.

Jamaica Gone Wild

Jamaica Gone Wild

No, not the country Jamaica; but my Jamaica plants, perhaps this is not the correct spelling for this plant, I am not sure. I had started some seeds from these plants and some of them just managed to reseed themselves into other plant pots on the patio. They grow very well and have taken over some of the other pots, where they were not wanted really; but I just didn't bother pulling them out. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see some of the rather insignificant blooms, white and the pretty red pods that form after the flower is finished. I think that these are what the juice is made from; but I could be wrong.

The Desert Rose plant is blooming nicely right now, this is one of my favorite plants.

I went to the tianguis yesterday and then later Roy and I took a walk around the block and ended up at our local mini market. It is always fun going there, it is a mini language lesson most times. He always tells me if I am pronouncing something well or if I am putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable, good deal. He also is always interested in learning the english words for some things. He has taught himself english from watching TV and can speak very well.
It is very foggy here this morning and chilly, it is only 18 C. right now at 10 AM. I have my sweatshirt, sweatpants and wooly slippers on.
Today is the day that I go to the orphanage for english class, so that should be interesting.

Propane

Propane

Yesterday I mixed up the dough for cinnamon buns and had them all ready to bake. I lit the oven to pre-heat it and when I checked it, it had gone out. We had been expecting our gas tank to run out as the last tank (30 Kg.) we had gotten was in February; but we had also been away for 2 mths. on the Baja. I went down and asked Ciro if he could call the company and ask them to deliver a new tank. For some reason they told him it could not be delivered until today. Not sure why as they usually have delivery trucks everyday.

Now what? The buns were ready to bake and no gas. Ciro then told me that he had a tank that we could borrow. Roy carried it up and got it hooked up and I baked the buns. They turned out well, despite the time delay.

Today, Ciro again called the company and shortly after the truck showed up and got us all hooked up again.

The tank we got in February cost us $291.95 pesos (about $29.20) and this tank cost us $288.50 pesos (about $28.85), so for some reason it has gone down in price just a little.

Speaking of costs of things, we got our electricity bill the other day. We are billed every 2 months here for our electricity. Our bill was $564.14 pesos (about $56.41) for the last 2 month period.

The Bouganvillea plant that I repotted in different soil seems to be doing very well now. Hopefully it continues.

Baking Buns

Baking Buns

As I mentioned before, we had rain most of the day Thursday and Friday. Late Friday night it began to pour, and as usual when it rains heavy here, it began to run down the street, making a stream bed. As Roy lay sleeping, I watched the rain pour down and listened to the water gushing down the street beside our place. After a while I crawled under the covers into the nice warm cocoon and attempted to sleep as well. Dozed off for a couple of hours and was awakened by spinning tires right beside our bedroom window. Some poor young fellow coming home late had gotten too far over to the side of the street and his back tire had drifted into the stream bed formed by the running rain water. He sat and spun and spun and spun to no avail. I guess he finally decided that he wasn't going to get out by himself, so he got out of his truck, got out his cell phone and proceeded to talk to someone as he started walking. Not a nice night to have to walk home.

The next morning, he and some friends/relatives returned with a pick and filled in behind his tire until he was able to back up and get out.

I had thrown some stuff into the crock pot for beef stew for lunch yesterday and as it was bubbling and sending out its aroma, I said to Roy that some nice fresh homemade buns would taste good with it. He, of course, seconded this motion.

A month or so ago Nancy, the landlords daughter in law had come up and asked for my bun recipe so I had translated it and given it to her. She tried to make them one day and then brought one up to show me. It was small and rock hard. Roy took one look at it and laughed along with her and we decided that it would be a good missile, (to throw at Roy). I went down with her and we went through the process and couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. I thought perhaps her yeast had not been good, so gave her a package of mine to try. A few days later, she again called me downstairs to see the latest results. Same thing, rock hard lumps. She was a very good sport about the failure and we laughed about them, and she suggested that they be given to Roy, as he had laughed so hard over the previous ones. We again went through the recipe and couldn't figure out what the problem was. Unless her water had been too hot and killed the yeast. I told her that the next time I made them I would call her and she could come and watch.

When I decided to make them yesterday I went down to see if she wanted to watch. She did. She came up and watched the whole process and noted that she had dumped all the flour in at once which might have been the problem. By this time Irene, the landlords wife, had joined us and when I turned the dough out of the bowl to begin kneading it, they looked at each other and noted that when Nancy had gotten to this point the dough had been very duro, tough. She decided that she will try again and just add the flour a bit at a time. We will see what will happen the next time. Nancy is a very good cook and this must be frustrating for her; but she has taken it well, lots of jokes and laughter about what her resulting "rocks" are good for, again Roy comes to mind.

Today, it is still cool, so I may make cinnamon buns. Like I need the extra calories; but it is winter and you always bulk up in the wintertime. The newspaper is telling people to take precautions for the cold when going out, as the forecast is for extremes between 16C./70F and 25C/77F. Funny to us; although I am chilly also; but "extremes", that is going a bit far I think.

Burger King

Burger King

No, we do not have a Burger King here in Guaymas; although there are some NOB fast food places such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Dominos Pizza. I have no idea of how they stack up to their counterparts NOB as we have never gone to any of them.

I mentioned in the post below that I had read an article this morning that bugged me. It is an article that was in The New York Times . The article talks about the hardships of migrant workers and the part that the owners of Burger King play in keeping them in poverty.

I hope that you will go and read the full article at the link above. I realise that this is just a drop in the bucket of **** that goes on in the world of big business to keep their profits high and the "little people" poor; but it bugs me anyway.

I also hope that those of you who eat at Burger King, or other businesses who have/condone these type of ugly practises, decide to go elsewhere the next time you have an urge for a burger.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the article.

"Migrant farm laborers have long been among America’s most impoverished workers. Perhaps 80 percent of the migrants in Florida are illegal immigrants and thus especially vulnerable to abuse. During the past decade, the United States Justice Department has prosecuted half a dozen cases of slavery among farm workers in Florida. Migrants have been driven into debt, forced to work for nothing and kept in chained trailers at night. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers — a farm worker alliance based in Immokalee, Fla. — has done a heroic job improving the lives of migrants in the state, investigating slavery cases and negotiating the penny-per-pound surcharge with fast food chains." .........

"Telling Burger King to pay an extra penny for tomatoes and provide a decent wage to migrant workers would hardly bankrupt the company. Indeed, it would cost Burger King only $250,000 a year. At Goldman Sachs, that sort of money shouldn’t be too hard to find. In 2006, the bonuses of the top 12 Goldman Sachs executives exceeded $200 million — more than twice as much money as all of the roughly 10,000 tomato pickers in southern Florida earned that year."....

Ok, rant over; back to looking out the window at the rain.

Still Raining

Still Raining

Very unusual for here; but it is still raining. It is just a soft, slow drizzle and is soaking in rather than coming down hard and running away. Should be good for the trees and plants. It is also chilly, only 21C./70F.. I am sitting here with my fleece pants, sweater and socks on and am not too warm. My feet felt like blocks of ice this morning before I put on my socks. Go figure.

According to the computer it is -14C./2F. where my sister lives in Canada. UGH. Here is a picture from one of the AMA road cameras on the highway just a few miles from the city where she lives. Double UGH!!!

We are having a lazy day at home on the computers, staying in and staying dry.

I read a news article this morning that bugged me, so may post about that in a few minutes.

It's Raining

It's Raining

We needed to pick up some groceries yesterday, so naturally we stopped and had shrimp tacos first. On the way home Roy stopped to see if he could get a haircut. There were a couple of people in front of him he told me after- I had left him there and continued on to another grocery store, so he was going to leave and return later. The hairstylist wouldn't let him leave though. She smilingly took him by the arm and motioned him to sit down. He said that everyone was grinning. It turned out that the others waiting were with the one person getting a cut, so he was actually next. He was still grinning when he came home and told me that the stylist had "grabbed" him. Too funny.

It started raining this morning, well drizzling anyway and it continued on throughout the day. Unusual weather for here.

It was the first day to go to the orphanage for english classes for the children. I met the other ladies there and we had the first class together. We went out for lunch and then returned to have a class with some of the older children who had been in school in the morning. An interesting afternoon.

No Pictures

No Pictures

A few weeks ago I mentioned that there was a parrot flying around on the loose here. Which is rather unusual as we don't see parrots around here. Well, the last few days he has been back and seems to have found a couple of friends. There are now 3 of them, flying around, sqawking, perching, doing parrot type things. I have tried to get a good photo of them. What you see here is the result; nothing, zero, nada. Everytime I get the camera out they fly away, they seem to have ESP. So, no pictures of them.

We have been doing nothing exciting the last couple of days. Yesterday and part of today we spent cleaning and doing laundry. I pulled out the frig and the pantry cupboard and washed behind them. Washed out the microwave, etc., boring stuff.

I had taken meat out for lunch; but as lunchtime came closer it was not thawing out fast enough. I looked at Roy and asked if he thought we could get to our shrimp taco stand before she closed for the day. It was 12:15 by this time, so we jumped in the car and drove down there, closed. I had noticed a while ago that there is a torta place that is about 3 1/2 blocks from home, so we decided to try it out. The gate was open so we walked in, no one around but the house door was open and there were 3 ladies sitting at a table playing cards. I asked if we could order a couple of ham and cheese tortas and she said, "sure". She came out and began preparing them, as she was working she kept apologising that the place was not cleaned up and ready to go. I finally asked her what time she usually opens and she replied, "en la noche", at night. I then asked her what time and she told me at 7 PM. Well, we felt pretty dumb at this point and apologised to her for bothering her. She kept saying that it wasn't a bother and was going to bring us some chairs to sit on. We told her that we would just take it to "go". "OK", she replied, she finished preparing our order, packed it up and with many thanks to her, away we went. Try getting service with laughs and smiles like that in Canada 6 or 7 hours before a place opens. Those tortas were sooooo good.

Shrimp Festival

Shrimp Festival

The annual Shrimp Festival is being held in San Carlos is this weekend. The weather was not co-operating today as it was cool and windy. This morning it rained hard in Guaymas and our landlord told us that when they were at the tianguis in another area of the city it had even hailed abit. There is a cold front in Arizona and snow forecast in the higher altitudes there, so it was chilly here also.
They had the opening ceremonies and some things going on last evening; but we didn't go to them. The things I wanted to see, the dancers/singers and of course the food tasting booths were happening today.

We headed out there around 1 PM, picked up our friends from the RV park and arrived just in time to see the dancers begin. We found a good spot to sit and enjoyed watching all the dancers and singers. We also enjoyed sampling some of the many shrimp dishes. Of course, there were so many booths and lots of options at each booth, so we did not get too far in the tasting before we were full. What we did sample was good though.

They also had an art display and craft display; although there were not as many crafts on display as there were last year.

This is the third year that we have gone to this and each year the venue has changed. The first year we really didn't enjoy it very much as it was set up right along the busy street and it was very congested. Last year they moved it to an area close to one of the hotels and it was much better. Lots of room to move around in; but not enough seats in the shade and it was quite hot. This year they moved it to the Golf Club and it was set up very well. There were lots of tables and chairs set up under shade canopies, (although this year it was chilly and people were searching for a chair in the sun, can't seem to win with the weather). They did a good job of setting it up regardless. I think that no matter where you sat you would have had a good view of the stage.

We met up with a few people that we knew and also did some visiting. The lady that we had meet in the restaurant at Thanksgiving dinner, who was raised in the town where we lived before moving here, was also there. We spent some time chatting and it turns out that she worked with my mother in law and also knows 2 of my sister in laws. Such a small world we live in these days.

We enjoyed the entertainment and the food for several hours before heading back home. It was to end at 6 PM, so we didn't miss much by leaving a bit early.

We visited with them for a bit at their motorhome and said our goodbyes. They will be leaving on Tuesday so we will not be seeing them again. We have enjoyed their company and hope they have a good time for the rest of the winter in Arizona. Thank you again M. for all the goodies that you brought down here for us. We will miss you.
More photos here

Foggy, Foggy Morning

Foggy, Foggy Morning

I like spending time watching the sky at night, it seems like there is always something different to see. Last night when I was outside looking up, I noticed that there was a huge, perfect circle around the moon. It was beautiful. Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of it as my camera lens wasn't wide enough to get it all in. I noticed that Ciro was out on his patio so I called him up to see it. He went back down to get his camera; but had the same problem that I did. We think it was caused by the humidity in the air; but are not sure. It was certainly something to see.
This morning it is very, very foggy. This doesn't happen very often; but it is cool here this morning only about 14 or 15 C. around 58 F., BRRRRR my fingers are cold as I type this.

Turkey Day

Turkey Day

We were on our way out to San Carlos when we saw a truck with a big whale bone/rib tied onto the box. I said to Roy that I should have a list somewhere on the blog of "things you would never see in Canada", this for sure would belong on that list. I imagine that it was on its way to decorate someones yard.

We picked up our friends and went to the restaurant where we were going to have our turkey dinner. All 4 of us are Canadians but who can resist a turkey dinner with all the fixings, besides it never hurts to take the time to stop and reflect on the good things in our lives. Roy and I haven't had turkey for about 2½ yrs. so it really tasted good to us. The restaurant was not too busy and we chatted with our friends and the owner and his wife when she could take time out from the kitchen. A large group of people entered the restaurant and heard part of our conversation about something in Canada and asked where we were from. When we told them, it turned out that one of the ladies had been born and raised in our small town of 1400 people in Alberta. Go figure, we even knew some of the same people. What a small world! We laughed and teased the owner that all of his customers at that time were Canadian, so perhaps he should cook us a turkey next year in October on our Thanksgiving. He admitted that there are a lot of Canadians in San Carlos and that yes, they would cook us a turkey dinner next year if we would just tell him when the holiday is. I don't think it will happen though as most of the snowbirds do not arrive from there until after the holiday.

We enjoyed our dinner and the visiting and made plans to pick our friends up to go to the Shrimp Festival on Saturday.

After we returned home later we noticed the parrot that had made an appearance a few weeks ago; but this time there were 2 of them. Not sure where they are coming from or staying; but they better find somewhere warmer to stay for the winter as it will be too cold for them here. It goes down to 10 C./50 F. some nights during the winter and I think that this is much too cold for them.

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday if you celebrated it.

Walk On The Beach

Walk On The Beach

Yesterday we decided that we would go out to San Carlos and walk our friends dog one more time before she left. We made arrangements with her and she decided that she would be elsewhere when we arrived. We wanted to see how the dog reacted to us coming into the house without his owners around. No problems, the dog was happy to see us and we went for a nice walk along the beach. By the time we returned so had our friend so we chatted for awhile and then went to meet the people across the street.

These people are in need of someone to also care for their dog and their home while they are on holiday. They had someone lined up to do it; but unfortunately there was a tragic traffic accident about a week ago and they were both killed. Very sad. It was a shock to the community as these people seem to have been well known and loved by all. We did not know the couple but sympathise with their families.

We chatted with the new people, exchanging information and meeting their dog, who is an exuberant 1 yr. old. So, it looks like we will be spending over a month in San Carlos over the holiday season. We should be getting an ample amount of exercise with all the dog walking! We will be coming home sometimes during the day to keep our plants watered, etc., so it will be a different way to housesit.

After meeting the second set of dog owners, we headed over to the RV park and visited with our friends for awhile. Their dog had been very sick and now appears to be on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, they have decided to head up into Arizona at the end of the month, to spend the rest of the winter there. The vet. strongly recommended that they keep the dog out of the sea water and being that he is a water loving dog they are hoping to find a place to park along a river where he can be in the water and enjoy himself more.

Today we went to the tianguis and wandered around, it seems like there are more vendors now in the new area than there were in the old place or maybe it is that there are more now that it has cooled off and the Christmas season is coming up. We enjoyed wandering around and then headed back towards home with a stop off for lunch at our favorite shrimp taco stand.

Tomorrow we will again be going out to San Carlos to join our friends and enjoy a turkey dinner for the USA holiday. There were not enough snowbirds here yet in October to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, so we will be having ours tomorrow.

This weekend they will be holding the annual Shrimp Festival, so we will again be going out there. We really enjoyed the folkloric dancers and other talent displayed last year, so we are hoping that it will be just as good this year. Too bad all these activities couldn't have waited until we were living out there, it would have saved us some trips back and forth. Normally we don't go out there more than once every 2 or 3 weeks; but this last week or so it seems we have had to go every couple of days.

I finally managed to take the time to go and get a haircut late this afternoon and that sure feels better. I was beginning to feel like the shaggy dog in that long ago movie.

I hope that all the people in the USA enjoy their turkey tomorrow and that we are all smart enough to take some time and give thanks for all the good things we have enjoyed in the last year.

Revolution Day

Revolution Day

Tomorrow is actually the true date for Revolution Day; but they have declared today as the holiday.

We went downtown for awhile and watched part of the parade. It was very crowded so I didn't get any really good pictures. It is a very long parade, (about 3 hrs.), with many, many of the schools and clubs participating. We didn't feel like standing in the sun and watching for that long so we came home before it ended.

Stilt men.

A Concert

A Concert

This week was the "week of the disabled person" here. They were selling tickets for a concert to be held in the Civic Auditorium here in Guaymas. The proceeds are to go towards assistance for the disabled. We hadn't bought tickets in advance as we weren't sure if we were going to go. We did finally decide that we would attend and as the concert was supposed to begin at 3 PM, and we didn't as yet have tickets we headed uptown shortly after 2 PM. When we arrived at the auditorium the doors were open and we purchased our tickets, 25 pesos each, around $2.50. We looked around the building as we have never gone to anything held there before. We were impressed with the structure, thinking that it is a wonderful building for the size of our city. It compares very favorably to auditoriums that I have been in, in other bigger cities.

After checking out the building we went and sat down in our nice, padded seats, by this time it was almost 3 PM. There were only a handful of other people there, the organiser, the sound man and a couple of performers so we didn't have high hopes of it starting on time. It did begin shortly after 3 PM though, playing to an almost non existent crowd.

As the show progressed more people did show up; but even near the end the place was not even 1/2 full, what a shame as they missed a great show.

We know that they sold a lot of tickets as periodically throughout the show they pulled tickets to give away some gifts and some of the numbers on the tickets were over 1000, so even if people did not show up they still had donated to this good cause.

The acts were all local and showcased how much talent there is in this area. There were various acts; singers, a band, a chorus, and dancers doing dances from various different places in the world and Mexico.

Instead of eating our big meal at lunchtime today we had decided to go out for dinner after the concert, assuming that it would last for about 2 hours. Well, when we looked at our tickets it showed the show time as being from 3 PM to 8 PM!! Around 7 PM Roy turned to me and asked if I was ready to go for dinner. We were both hungry and decided that it was time to leave. The show could go on without us.

We walked a few blocks over to the main street and then down a couple of blocks to one of our favorite places, Loncheria Doney. Roy decided on his favorite, papas locas and I had a Torta Milanesa. Both our meals were very good, even though they serve Pepsi instead of Coke. Cost of our supper was reasonable, 95 pesos, around $9.50. So for 165 pesos, (includes tips),about $16.50 we got to see a long concert and have dinner. How could you ask for more than that? An enjoyable afternoon and evening.

Some of the dancers and performers.

Lunch On The Beach

Lunch On The Beach

It looks like we will be spending a couple of weeks in San Carlos in December. We are going to look after a dog and cat for some friends of ours that are returning to Canada for the holiday season.

This morning we were getting ready to head over there to get to know their dog better before she leaves. Roy decided to hose the car off before we left and when he went to turn the outdoor tap off, it broke right off. Needless to say water was gushing out of the pipe, so he quickly clamored up onto the roof via the storage bench and low wall and shut off the water at the tinaco, the water storage tank. He took the pieces and headed to a hardware shop and returned shortly with a new heavier duty one. He replaced it and this time used the ladder to get onto the roof and turned the water back on. No leaks, success.

The rest of the day went better.

We got to our friends house and played with the dog for awhile before heading off for his walk on the beach. It was a nice day so we all enjoyed the stroll along the beach. On our way back we stopped for lunch at La Palapa, an outdoor restaurant right on the beach, which specialises in Greek food. While we were waiting to order, someone stopped by our table to chat and mentioned that the place serves good burgers, so Roy and I both decided to order one. It has been a long time since we had a good burger, our friend ordered the shrimp. So much for Greek food, oh well next time. We did order an appetizer that was good though. Our food arrived with really good homemade french fries, that were done just right. I am not a big french fry eater; but these were good as were the burgers and shrimp. You don't usually get fresh, homemade fries in the restaurants here. A good lunch. We finished our walk, returned to her house and then we bid our goodbyes.

We stopped in to visit some other friends from Canada that are in one of the RV parks. They have been having problems with their dog being sick and we wanted to stop and see how he was doing. Thankfully he is recovering and seems to be doing well. After visiting for awhile we headed back home, taking the scenic route through the Miramar area of Guaymas.

I didn't take the camera, so no pictures today.

Pretty Quiet Around Here

Pretty Quiet Around Here

We had another beautiful sunrise this morning. There are a couple of photos below and there are more here .

Yesterday I went out to San Carlos and had lunch with S. and her husband. It was "football Sunday" so Roy stayed home in front of the computer and TV.. After lunch she and I headed over to a meeting being held in another area of town. There is a group of ladies that go to one of the orphanages in Guaymas every week and spend some time teaching the children english. This sounded like something S. and I would be interested in, so we attended the meeting. There have also been some computers donated to the orphanage and one of the ladies goes on another day and does some computer training with some of the children. Interesting programs.
I met one of the ladies at the orphanage this morning and she checked out the computers to see if they were in working order and also to check and see what was needed for this winters programs. These programs only run in the winter as most of the ladies are not here year round. Sounds like both programs will get up and running around the end of November. So it is shaping up to be an interesting winter.

Rememberance Day

Rememberance Day

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sunset From Our Patio

Sunset From Our Patio

Christmas Lights

Christmas Lights

Right around Halloween we noticed that there were several homes with their Christmas lights hung and lit up already. We also noticed that these lights were up and alight. I don't know about you; but for me it is just a little bit early.

Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise And Sunset

A friend and I went to the tianguis this morning. You can certainly tell that it has cooled off a bit, as the tianguis was very busy. Much different than when you go in the heat of the summer. It was still quite warm today though, with the temperature being 31 C..

The city had negotiated with the tianguis vendors to move their operations because the city wanted the usual street to be open for traffic, as they are doing more work on the filling of the bay. We asked a lady where it was now being held and we were given directions. We found it with no problems and wandered all through it. I noticed that the plant lady was back and she has roses in stock again, so I will have to decide what color I want to get to replace the ones that died from the bad soil. I didn't bother today as I didn't feel like carrying them for the rest of our shopping trip. After we finished at the tianguis we headed for a couple of second hand stores to have a look around, you never know what you will find in these stores.

By the time we were done our shopping we were getting hungry and thirsty so decided that it was time to break for lunch and a cold drink. We walked into the restaurant and sat down at a table, near another table where a couple of other ladies were sitting. It turned out that my friend knew these ladies slightly so we joined them and had an enjoyable lunch. The days special was shrimp in a peanut sauce, we both decided to order that. No hardship for me as I love anything to do with peanuts. The food was good, the company was good, so we had a nice time.

After lunch we returned to the apartment and visited for awhile before she left to go home. A nice day.
There were a few clouds last night and this morning so the sunset and sunrise were pretty.

Last nights sunset.

This mornings sunrise.

New Boat Slips

New Boat Slips

I took this picture on Saturday while we were waiting for the Nauticopa boat races to begin. It shows the relatively new boat slips that have been built in the bay downtown in the last few months. I have never seen any boats in any of the slips so perhaps they are not open as yet. I also have no idea of what the daily/monthly fees would be, or what services are available. We don't have a boat, so information about these things is not really high on our radar. They look nice, they are there and that is about all I can say.