Pretty Hibiscus Blooms

Pretty Hibiscus Blooms

Todays Pictures

Todays Pictures

Not doing much, just hanging out. Took a few photos.

Token palm tree picture.

Mangos are beginning to grow.

Pretty tree just covered in yellow blossoms. Have no idea what the name of the tree is.

Join Me For Breakfast In Guaymas

Join Me For Breakfast In Guaymas

A few days ago Todd from the blog Life in El Corazon did a post entitled Join Me For Breakfast In Patzcuaro. He then invited some of us bloggers to do the same type of post.

We seldom go out for breakfast and when we do, we usually go to our friends restaurant in San Carlos for an old fashioned north of the border breakfast and a visit. This is one of the few times that we actually eat north of the border type food down here, in a restaurant.

This morning we are going to try to find a place here in Guaymas for breakfast, and no, it is not going to be our favorite shrimp taco cart which is only open in the morning. We are going to look for a breakfast in an actual restaurant.

One of our favorite restaurants La Barca is supposed to be open for breakfast now. So we will see. The camera will be going with us and I will be taking some pictures along the way. See you when we get back.

First thing we do is walk down to the corner to catch the bus going to centro. We seldom use our car here, relying on the city bus system as it is handy and convenient for us.

The bus lets us off at the VH grocery store on the corner of Calle 10 and Serdan Avenue. We cross the street, go past the flower vendor and the shoe shine man, past the old house, (100 yrs. old this year). Hmmm the shoeshine man isn't open yet, (he is open when we return).

Turn the corner and go north on Calle 9 and in one block we are at La Barca Restaurant and they are open.

In we go and select our seats. The friendly waiter/owner arrives with the menu and we decide to drink a freshly squeezed orange juice and a Jamaica juice. The juice arrives and is delicious.

Roy decides to have a ham and cheese omelet which looks delicious (40 pesos, about $4.00).

I decide on the Chiliquiles and it is also great (35 pesos or about $3.50).

Oops, forgot to take a picture of the nice, fresh, warm bread until we had eaten some of it. It was really good also.

Needless to say by the time we are done eating we are both stuffed. The food is excellent, the staff friendly and the location wonderful.

We pay the bill, total 100 pesos or about $10.00 and walk back to the corner to the VH grocery store and the HSBC bank. We get some money from the ATM and then pick up a few groceries before grabbing another bus and heading home to relax.

Hope you enjoyed coming for breakfast with us, it was excellent, wasn't it?

Street Animals

Street Animals

Anyone who has either been to Mexico or done much reading about Mexico, knows about the proliferation of street animals. Our city/neighborhood is no different than other cities/neighborhoods in that area, with the exception perhaps that our street animals are in fairly good physical condition compared to lots that I have seen.

A few months ago the dog catcher came into our neighborhood and picked up the female dogs that we had here. I have no idea if someone called and complained or if they just happen to go through areas at random. It has been much quieter here since then with none of the noise associated with the females at certain times of the year.
The two males that we have left here come and go at their discretion. They are friendly and come to get petted and wag their tails mightily when they see someone who feeds them regularily.

We have lots of cats also, of course.

At the corner of our landlords lot is a big stone with a flat top, this is where we put out our leftovers for the animals when we have some. Our landlords also put food out for the animals when they have it. This is our "drive through" for them and they all know it. There is a definate heirarchy involved in the feeding process. Whoever gets there first rules. The dogs will wait until the cats have had their fill and vice versa. No fights or even growling, just patient waiting for their turns. Pretty funny to watch.

Only 2 cats waiting this time, sometimes there are 5 or more waiting their turns.

And a token, bad moon picture.

Sometimes Blogging Is Work

Sometimes Blogging Is Work

I have known for months that I needed to update my "Mexico Blogs" blogroll. I am reading many more blogs than I had listed on the blogroll; but other things always seemed like more fun than mucking about with it.

Well this morning I bit the bullet and got to work. I added another 11 blogs to the blogroll for Mexican blogs. Some of them might be old friends for you and some of them may be new, anyway take a look and have fun. These blogs have lots of good, interesting information and great photos of their respective areas.

Have fun.

How To Learn Spanish Or Maybe How Not To

How To Learn Spanish Or Maybe How Not To

A few weeks ago I got an email from a fellow who has this site, Learning Spanish Blog. He asked if I would do a guest post on his site about how I learned/am learning spanish. I laughingly replied that I could probably be the poster person of how not to learn another language as my attempts so far have been pretty hit and miss.

He has a lot of good information listed on his site, so if you are interested in learning spanish I recommend that you head over there and take a look. I wish he had had his site up when I was searching for online resources to learn from.

Anyway I sent him an email answering his questions, he tweaked the email and has posted it today on his site. So if you are interested you can head over there and have a look.

Semana Santa In San Carlos

Semana Santa In San Carlos

I mentioned yesterday in my post that we are staying home and away from the craziness at the beaches in San Carlos and area.

This morning Alecs on one of the local bulletin boards, Viva San Carlos posted some photos of the fun going on over in San Carlos. Interesting photos; but they just cemented my plan for staying away from it. Most of the restaurants and many of the businesses close up shop and wait for it to be over.
This is a picture of the same beach that I took on March 1st, 2008.

Some of Alecs pictures taken during Semana Santa.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Easter. I don't have an Easter Lily but here is a photo of one of the Hibiscus blooms.

We are not doing anything much over the Easter (Semana Santa) holiday here. We are staying home and staying away from the craziness at the beaches. It is a major holiday here and thousands of people head out of the cities to the beaches. A good place to stay away from for a few days as far as I am concerned.

Dentist And Other Things

Dentist And Other Things

A few days ago, I think maybe it was Friday evening we were just sitting around here and suddenly a piece of my filling fell out of one tooth. Great just before the weekend. Fortunately it was just part of the filling, I wasn't in any pain so waited the weekend out, thinking I would go to the dentist on Monday. Monday arrived and I realised that the people had decided to celebrate Benito Juarezs' birthday on Monday instead of Friday, (Good Friday) when it was supposed to be. You can't have 2 holidays on the same day after all. I assumed that the dentist would be closed so put it off until Tuesday. If you know me at all, you know how much I hate going to the dentist, so you will also know that I wasn't too upset about putting it off for another day. So Tuesday arrived and downtown I went to see if I could get an appointment before all the Semana Santa (Easter) vacationing started. Luckily there was only 1 person in line ahead of me and I got in quickly. The dentist examined the tooth, told me he would have to completely remove the filling, so would give me a shot of Novocaine. Yipee, words I love to hear coming out of a dentists mouth. Shots over with, he proceeded with the repair and in a short time I was done. It must have been a big hole as he told his assistent that he needed 2 fillings. Anyway no pain and $40.00 (400 pesos) later I was on my way home. Thank goodness that is done!!

Afternoon was spanish class, I went early and my friend and I had a coffee and a visit before going to class. Class was fun as usual as we discussed various topics in our bad spanish.

This morning we headed for the tianguis and then walked along the malecon to see how they are proceeding on the projects that they want done before the cruise ships begin coming. They have done a lot of work since we were there last. We then headed for the Palacio Municipal (municipal government building) where they have an exposition of photographs from the area on display. We enjoyed looking at the photos and then headed to the plaza to sit in the shade and people watch for awhile before heading home. Onto a bus for home, a stop at the mini market for some groceries and home to relax for the afternoon.

No painting class tonight due to Semana Santa.

Walmart Is Coming!

Walmart is Coming!

According to one of the local papers Walmart is coming to Guaymas. There have been rumors of this since before we moved here; but no action on it. Now apparently there is. The mayor is supposed to go to Mexico City this week to sign the land sale agreement and then at some point the building will begin. I have never been a big fan of Walmart; but I have to admit that another shopping option will be nice, as we are kind of shopping challenged here.

In other news they are supposed to be breaking ground on the 25th of March on a new hotel and an 8 plex? cinema. The old cinema here has been closed since before we arrived and there have been rumors flying about a new one for that length of time also.

There are also rumors abounding that a Burger King is being built beside the mall. I haven't seen this either in the newspaper or with my own eyes, so I am not positive about this one; although it is possible.

We do have a Pizza Hut, Dominos Pizza and McDonalds here already; and even though we have been here since October of 2005, until the other day we had not tried any of them.

I liked McDonalds fish fillet sandwiches in Canada, actually that was all I would eat there, as I think their burgers are gross. Sorry, just my opinion. Someone had told me that the fish fillets were good here also, so the other day we decided to go and try them. The place looked like any McDonalds anywhere I suppose; but my eyes popped when I saw the prices. Yikes!! 71 pesos for the "full meal deal", about $7.10!! I know that we haven't been to a McDonalds in Canada for a couple of years; but sheesh, I thought it was supposed to be cheap. Well, not here. Let's face it, if I want to spend $7.10 on a meal it sure won't be at McDonalds, not here anyway. There are many places here where you can get an really good meal for around 50 pesos, about $5.00. Why would I want to go to McDonalds and spend $7.10???? Especially seeing as I am a bit old for playland, which they do have. Anyway the fish fillet was good, a real fillet of fish presented in the same fashion as north of the border. Price--26 pesos or about $2.60. Don't think I will be going back there again anytime soon though, well not until I get another craving for a fish fillet sandwich anyway.

Photo courtesy of El Vigia newspaper.

Plant Update

Plant Update

My head is feeling stuffed up again this morning, hopefully I am not getting sick again! Anyway if I disappear again you will know why.
I decided to take some photos of some of the plants this morning. The Desert Rose is not blooming right now; but seems to be growing. I have been having problems with aphids on it and have been spraying it with soapy water which seems to help. I need to remember to buy some garlic cloves and plant some in with this to keep them away.
The Plumeria is sending out its flower spikes, so it should be blooming in a week or two. I can't wait, I just love its scent.



The bouganvillea is doing well, since I transplanted it to new soil and started fertilizing it. It is blooming like mad at the moment.

The roses are doing great. The red one has 5 blooms on it at the moment. No scent to this one; but it is pretty enough to get away with not having a scent.

The pink rose is also blooming; it has a magnificent scent which makes me desperately wish for a "scratch and sniff" feature on the computer. It is unbelievably aromatic. Everyone who takes one sniff has to go back and take another one; just because it is so wonderful!

I'm Back

I'm Back

Well I'm back. The last couple of weeks I have been sick and the last thing on my mind was the blog. I had a bad sinus infection and bronchitis. After 2 injections of antibiotics and over a week of oral anitbiotics I am feeling like I will live. I did absolutely nothing for the last two weeks and at times that felt like too much; but now I am feeling much better.

Yesterday we went out to the library at San Carlos to exchange our books before the library closes for the summer. We also had breakfast and a visit at our friends restaurant and then went to Belles Artes to look at a new exhibit of paintings. We both really liked one artists paintings and neither of us liked the other ones endeavors.

Today we decided to break down and go and buy a washing machine. We have been using the laundromat since we have been living down here and it is beginning to get tiresome for both of us. We checked out the stores downtown and then went to a big sale that one of the stores is holding in a big building on the outskirts of downtown. We decided on one and then found out that they didn't have it in stock, they showed us another one for the same price that they could deliver today, so we bought it. It was delivered a couple of hours earlier than they stated and it is now washing its first load of clothes. I am pretty sure that I am going to enjoy having a machine right here to use whenever I feel like it.

Fog In San Carlos

Fog In San Carlos

Yesterday morning we went over to San Carlos and had breakfast with our friends at their restaurant. After a good visit with them we headed over to the Belles Artes building to look at the new paintings on view in their gallery.

After we finished there we headed home, after a couple of stops to take some pictures of the fog bank that was hanging around. It was chilly there with the wind blowing off of the water.

There are lots of mountains behind all that fog.

Fog starting to rise.

Art Exhibition Opening

Art Exhibition Opening

Last week our painting teacher had given us an invitation to attend an art exhibition opening at the Casa de la Cultura. It was being held last night so we decided to get dressed up and go. It was supposed to start at 7:30 PM so we were not in a big rush to get there as things usually do not start on time here.

We arrived right around the stated time and were surprised when a lady that we have seen around the Casa de la Cultura came up to us and told us that it would be beginning in a couple of minutes.

In the meantime we looked around. The opening was being held in the inner courtyard of the Casa de la Cultura, there was a red ribbon strung across the gallery doorway and a guest book waiting to be signed. A sound system was set up. Against another wall was a table with food and drink and an absolutely beautiful floral arrangement on it. In the center of the courtyard was another decorated table. There were a few chairs set up; but the majority of the people were just standing around visiting.

They started the program with the usual thank yous to the various groups that helped put on the exhibition and introductions of the main people. A short speech followed that I managed to follow most of and then the ribbon was cut by one of the artists three daughters that were standing there with the artist and the other dignitaries.

After the ribbon cutting everyone thronged into the gallery to view the pictures. The pictures are hard to describe and I didn't take any photos. I wasn't quite sure of the etiquette for taking photos at an event like this so didn't take any. I guess the best way to describe the paintings would be "abstracts". They are colorful and quite beautiful; although there weren't any that I would really want to hang in our apartment, as they would be a bit overwhelming in our tiny place.

After we finished viewing the paintings the lady who had welcomed us to the event came over and encouraged us to partake of the food and drinks. Waiters were also circulating asking what you wanted to have. There was a selection of either red or white wine, non alcoholic beverages and a selection of finger foods.

We are glad that we attended as we really enjoyed the event. A nice evening.

The invitation that our teacher gave us.