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It’s been a little crazy for the last week or so. What with the palapa and the party afterwards we have been busy. And now, the relatives and some more friends are arriving.

I knew it would be a rough week but I was ready for it.

Gordie and Giselle came on Sunday and their flight was an hour and a half late. Their plane was delayed in Calgary as it needed to be de-iced. Brent was enlisted to drive us back from the airport as I can’t drive at night. Barb and Dave showed up a day earlier than we thought and we had a nice evening with them and Gordie and Giselle.

Next came the cousins, Jeannine and Louise. Their flight was on time and they came out fairly quickly, in fact; the quickest pick-ups at the airport this year. When we got to their hotel, they couldn’t get into their room since the manager wasn’t there. So we all went to Resta-Rita’s for dinner.

Next came Vic, Suzanne, Dedee and Marina. I couldn’t pick them up as I don’t have enough room for all the luggage.

Next week we pick up Uncle Lorne and Aunt Elonda.

At pick-up time, a bar service is provided. Options are: red wine, white wine, beer plus any additional drinks left lying around, and all kept in a cooler. It seems to be appreciated after a long flight. So far no complaints; except for me, I can’t drink on the way home…mostly.

In the midst of all this, I’m finding that the Star Link dish is being obstructed so I have to find another location. I plan to put it on the palapa so it gets an unobstructed view of the sky and all those satellites.

Me at the end of the week. It’s been hot as well as hectic.

With all this going on and multiple visits to the airport, Rosalie has contracted the sniffles. Probably bought in by one of the tourists. She has a sore throat, sniffles and a bit of a temperature but otherwise feels great.

The new palapa was a great excuse (as if we need one) for a party. So, we contacted our friends in the complex down the street which is owned by our landlady, and it was on.

There were twenty of us in all, which included Blanca, her sister with her husband as well as Blanca’s son and his daughter. It was a pot-luck so we had plenty of great food.

Before the eating got underway, we had to sit in the shade for a while and wait for the sun to go down While we waited, we were visited by an iguana. He tried to climb the wall but soon fell on his butt and scuttled behind the tenaco where he waited out the party. The following day he hid in an area between two walls with about a one-and-a-half-inch gap.

I connected the bluetooth speaker and sought out some music. I started with some great old blues tunes. As the evening went on, I had to find more music and as I had no current subscriptions to any music stores, it was a bit of a challenge. Gerry suggested Youtube and from then on I got lucky and not only found a lot of good Mexican music but a lot of old favourite norteño dancing tunes too.

Then the eating started, which I’m sure the Mexicans found way too early for them as they usually eat late and their parties start at about 10 pm. Some fools insisted on dancing so I had to turn the volume up and the tunes just kept on coming.

It was great! Our Mexican family had a good time listening to us trying to speak Spanish. Blanca’s son Junior was born in the States so he speaks both languages fluently as does his daughter Emily who’s fourteen. Then we had to explain why Canadians end most sentences with”eh”.

Blanc’s family left fairly early, probably thinking they just had lunch and were now going home for dinner later on. The rest of us stayed and enjoyed some more music and the die-hards sat around telling lies to each other.

Overall, it was a great party. The following night we had four more friends over and then on Sunday Rosalie’s sister Giselle and her husband Gordie arrived. We have a lot more family and friends coming this week and next so we have a lot of trips to make to the airport. I suppose there might be a bit of drinking done also.

When we rented our casa last year it was suggested that there might be a palapa on the roof in the future. However, when Blanca, our landlady, came down here earlier this season, she was still upset about the passing of her husband and decided not to do it right away.

She came back to Mexico a few days ago and we were asking her about several things including the palapa. She said she would talk to her nephew, Ram, about it as he owns the place. They were thinking, in the future, to build a casita on the roof anyway, so we were hopeful.

The next day Blanca showed up with her son Junior and between us, we decided what was needed. As it turned out, the best suggestion was exactly what we wanted.

A while later the builder showed up, found out what was needed and drew up a quote. Blanca said she would have to discuss it with Ram again as the quote was quite high. Then they all went away.

About an hour later the builder, Rámon, showed up again with some of the materials, so we assumed Blanca got permission to proceed; at least we hoped so, as you never can tell in Mexico.

We opened up the gate so the guys could bring in the roof panels. Rámon said he would probably be back to start in the afternoon so Rosalie and I had to go and remove all our junk that would have been in the way. I also had to take down the shade cloth and which was later modified for the new palapa.

Rámon didn’t show up that afternoon but arrived the next morning. I took down the Star Link dish just in case they dropped something on it. Rámon checked our extension cord and said he needed a heavier one for the welder.

He went up onto the roof and handed one down for me to plug in for him. Well, it was a typical Mexican haywire job. He didn’t use a welding mask, but just held up a chunk of smoked glass and carried on with that. True to his word, he was finished the next day, and a sturdy structure it is too. His shop is just around the corner from us and he does some very nice work including spiral stairs and window bars.

The only problem we found was that it was open to the sun all day long. It was decided to cut the shade cloth into quarters and make a set of blinds for the two sides with all the sun. That provided a few problems but they were soon overcome.

So, what next? Of course! A PALAPA PARTY!!

The last month has been nothing but socializing. Either friends visited us, or we visited them. And of course, there is always happy hour on the beach.

Over the Christmas holidays we seemed to be on the go constantly. For New Years Eve we ended up at Bill and Connie’s condo on the beach where tons of fireworks and noisemakers abounded. We got home at about 1:30 am and sat drinking tequila and talking until 3 am before going to bed.

One day, Sue and Rod met us a Tito’s for a few drinks and we were in for some really good entertainment. A lady was doing traditional Mexican dancing with her nephew. She even did the ‘Old Persons’ dance by herself. She came to our table and tried to get me to help her out: not a chance!

She was quite cute

Another time, an afternoon visit to Papa Gallo’s was scheduled, just as we got there we ran into Mike and Faye as they were leaving. They happily came back inside again for a few more drinks. About fifteen minutes of settling in, Bill and Connie showed up looking for us as they know this is our favourite hang out.

After a few margaritas, Rosalie suggested that we go back to our place and order pizzas. And of course, a few more drinks. The order was for three medium pizzas and they took about forty five minutes to get here. When we opened the boxes I thought we had ordered large and wondered how we were going to eat all this food. Well, we made a great job of it and there were only two slices left by the time we’d finished.

That night, Rosalie put the boxes on the patio ready to take out to the garbage. When she picked them up next day she got a lot of little red ant bites on her hands. I took them from her and also got bitten and it itched bad for about an hour.

A few days later, here was a USA international Skim Board Competition at the east end of the beach and Neil and Diane asked us to meet them there for breakfast, to see the action. Since the restaurant at Laguna de Tule was not open, we walked up to Resta-Rita’s. Ordered breakfast but they were so busy it was an hour before we got served and then it was almost lunch time.

Back at the beach we watched the competition and it was fun. We have never seen waves so high in Melaque and several other people said the same thing. The competition lasts all weekend and there were a lot of American competitors, both men and women, some Canadians and a lot of Mexicans. There were a lot of spectacular wipe-outs and very few managed to regain the shore with their boards.

So, now I have to go and buy a skim board and a speedo to keep Rosalie happy.

And then there was Faye who saw us driving near where they stay. So, she stepped out into the road, stuck her thumbs in her ears, waggled her fingers, stuck her tongue out and then realized it wasn’t us but a poor unsuspecting, Mexican couple. And so it goes in Melaque.

I’ve been negligent in writing my blog this year. There has been a lot of socializing and I tend to forget.

It took about three weeks but then there was some new growth in our plants. Both of the banana plants had new shoots about three inches long, that quickly turned into new leaves. This is the one I’m most excited about. There are several other plants with new shoots, but we have no idea what most of them are.

The lime tree didn’t recover so I replaced it with a nice little orange tree. When Dan and Linda brought some other seedlings over, they laid them on the tub that the orange plant is in. The next day, the orange plant started to shrivel up. I removed the seedlings and it popped up again. weird!

Between Christmas and New Year, we have been to the beach for a glass of wine on a few occasions. We met Bill and Connie there the other day and had a great hour or two with them. Afterwards, we strolled uptown to see if we could get a Churro. Unfortunately, they weren’t there yet so we will have to wait until next time.

The lot next to ours is being cleared over a period of a few weeks. They brought in a living breathing lawn mower which scared the life out of us when we first heard it.

A ‘orse’ with the cute one looking on

Rosalie needed a new light for the kitchen so we decided to go to Home Depot in Manzanillo. Big mistake! Because it was the holiday break, the place was loaded with Mexican tourists. Buses and cars lined up along the beach and partly blocking one lane. Luckily the traffic wasn’t too bad so we arrived there okay. Some of the other stores were so busy it was decided to just go to Home Depot. The lamp we found needed four bulbs but they told us it came with one, so we went and bought four more. When we got home I found that there were three in the package with the lamp, not one. There obviously should have been four so one was missing. However, there were four spares which I decided to use instead of the originals so they all matched up. Nope! one of the ones we bought was kaput so I just hope nobody looks up.

Just before Christmas there are all kinds of celebrations and parades mostly between 1st and 12th of December to celebrate ‘The Lady of Guadalupe’. A very religious event. The video is part of one of those very colourful parades.

On Christmas eve I went into the laundry room to get something off the shelf and was startled by a huge spider. I don’t think I was worried too much about its size, but that darn thing could move.

Preparing for a battle with a spider

I grabbed a broom and prepared to do battle. Not only was it fast, it went straight up the wall and hung on the ceiling mocking me. I attacked with the broom and it dropped to the floor right at my feet. I must have screamed because it jumped and ran and hid behind my toolbox.

Me, when it dropped from the ceiling.

I decided that I had to bring in the heavy artillery and grabbed a can of Mexican-style Raid. Even then I’m not sure if I got it or not as it sped away behind the washing machine and I didn’t see it again. Needless to say, I don’t go into the laundry room anymore Because if it lives it’s going to be really pissed off. I’ll go back in after Rosalie brings me its body.

That evening, we went down the road to join the rest of our friends for pre-Christmas appies. After the trauma of the spider, I needed some relaxation; I think I was suffering from PTSD. There were fifteen of us and the food, drink and company were great.

Me, the next morning

Arriving home, and after I made sure the laundry room door was locked and barred, we watched ‘Hocus Pocus’ for some light entertainment before going to bed. Meanwhile, the local Mexicans were having a great time. The music played all night and was still going on in the morning. While we were having our morning tea, some guy next door started yelling and singing and was obviously drunk. I wouldn’t want his head later in the day.

Christmas day was a lounge around, and do as little as possible day. You know, like any other day. Although Rosalie had to prepare a dessert for dinner that evening. At about 5 o’clock, we again went down the road to join our friends for a fantastic turkey dinner, and of course a few drinks.

Back at the casa, we went up to the roof patio and watched ‘A Christmas Story’: one of my favourite Christmas movies.

The following day, we were back to normal with wine on the beach at Papa Gallo’s.

It’s that time of the year again. It seems to creep up on me as I’m still not used to these temperatures at Christmas time.

Thank you to those people who sent cards and e-cards. We of course do neither so I try to make up for it with the blog. If we sent a Christmas card from here we would have to send it in October and you may, if you’re lucky, get it for Easter. However, we think of all our friends and family at this time and are grateful to have you all.

When we see snowfall in Canada we feel a little nostalgic and wish we could be there. This only lasts for a short while so to get over it, having a margarita on the beach does the trick.

There’s been some entertaining up on the roof patio. Rosalie likes to have friends in so she can feed them with lots of appies and send them home full. This week has been really busy in this regard.

We wish all our friends and family Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

All our love, Chris and Rosalie.

Our little lime tree was planted with great care. However, it doesn’t appear to like us and is slowly dying off. I wonder what I said this time? I even covered it with Christmas lights but to no avail. When it finally expires, we will still use it for a while as it makes a great inexpensive Christmas tree. After that, it will go where all our plants go when they die, into the empty lot across the street. With my knack for killing plants, that lot will be full soon after we get back next year.

It doesn’t look too promising

Memorial services will be held every afternoon at two o’clock at Papa Gallo’s on the beach until the end of the season.

I already have an orange tree to take its place so I won’t mourn too long. While getting the orange tree we also picked up three papaya trees for me to try and kill off. Why three you ask? Well, only the female produces fruit (obviously) but we have no idea which is male or female. I tried turning them upside down to look but Rosalie said I was being weird so I decided to take my chances.

Besides males and females, some are also bisexual so they can play with themselves for pollination. If you don’t treat them just right they get stressed and the females become males and don’t produce fruit. No comment there about females being awkward as Rosalie would beat me.

We have been enjoying strolling up to the town centre as it gets dark. We like to find the Churro cart and wait while they make fresh ones for us. The stroll ends at Papa Gallo’s for a glass of wine before heading home. When we get home, we sit on the roof patio and watch Netflix until one of us falls asleep. This usually takes about fifteen minutes.

Mmmm! delicious!

I can’t believe that we’ve been down here for two months already. Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We haven’t really been anywhere so far, we prefer to stay local and enjoy ourselves that way. I’m sure we will take a few day trips before the season is done. Rosalie wants to go to Puenta Perula which is about an hour’s drive from here. We’ve heard that it’s quite beautiful so we just may find a place to stay overnight.

There was a week of high humidity a week or so ago but things have cooled off a bit lately. There hasn’t been a 30-degree day for several days now. At night the temperature has been going down as low as fifteen so I have to wear long pants and my hoodie in the morning.

I have just discovered ChatGPT, it’s amazing! Just ask it a question and you get a concise well written answer. It’s AI (artificial intelligence) and sometimes makes mistakes but if it can’t find the answer it says so. Cool site.

Go Leafs!

Well, that’s that, and then there’s this:

Just a small sample of how large corporations are ripping us off. If I did this I would be in jail quicker than quick. Remember the guy who bought up all the hand sanitizer from Costco? I defiantly don’t agree with what he did but if he was a large corporation he would have gotten away with it.

And this:

Rosalie has turned her hand lately to cooking as a hobby. I enjoy her dishes and her enthusiasm. I have also learned all sorts of ways of telling her I don’t like a particular dish without actually saying I don’t like it. Any new skill is a good skill.

One of the off-shoots is that she has started making different flavours of margarita. So far she has tried mango and papaya. I love them both but can’t make up my mind which I like best so she has to keep making them until I can finally decide.

Also this

Our rent was due to be paid so we went to the Intercam bank to withdraw some pesos from our account. We walked in, took a number and were seventh in line. Now, in a Canadian bank that means a five minute wait. This however, is Mexico.

Our second stop was Barra so we decided to go there first to buy some plants but the place was closed for some reason. So back to the bank again and continue standing in line. We still had our original number but still had to wait forty five minutes before getting served. Total time from when we first walked into the bank was an hour and twenty minutes.

There are three tellers but only one was open. The tellers not only deal with customers but also members of the staff who come up and speak to them regularly.

It was exhausting!

Once the money was in my wallet it had to go to the BanaMex bank to pay the rent. It was getting too late that day as we were expecting visitors so the plan was to go back the next day during siesta time when most Mexicans are off eating their lunch.

The way to pay the rent, is to have a photo of our landlords credit card and present it to the teller. They then take our cash money and give us a receipt which we take a photo of and send to the landlord via email. It works well especially as BanaMex has a bit more efficient way of dealing with clients. The whole thing this time took about five minutes.

Go Leafs! Oh, for the non North Americans, the Toronto Maple Leafs are my favourite ice hockey team and are doing great right now. I take a lot of abuse because I’m a fan of an eastern Canadian team so folks like to rub it in a bit.

Again, Go Leafs!

We wanted to brighten up the yard by adding a few more plants. As it happened, friends of ours, Dan and Linda, were thinning out their garden and donated a whole bunch of beautiful plants to us.

I happened to ask how they grew banana plants. We now have two plants to find out for ourselves. Apparently, all you have to do is dig a small hole, stick the plant (about a foot tall) into it, water it a bit and wait. Apparently, when we come back next fall, we will be able to eat the fruit.

Because of this, I have been digging holes and planting like a madman. They gave us so much stuff that I had trouble finding places to put it. I’m concerned about the soil as it seems to be mostly sand and small gravel. I was told to dig and plant so that’s what I did. I had to take the attitude that if it comes up, it does and if it doesn’t, too bad.

When I first planted them, most were very droopy and sad looking but after a few days some were showing signs of recovery so I live in hope.

I started to relax and then they said they had a lime tree for us. I had to dig a good sized hole which was fairly easy once I had watered the ground a bit. The soil is still very sandy and gravely so I had to do something about that.

Dan and Linda told us of a place just outside of Barra where we could get some peat moss. We found the place fine and after some language problems found what we were looking for. It wasn’t peat moss as we know it. I think it was more likely coconut husks which will work just as well. We also bought an aloe vera plant with several babies. The whole thing cost 100 pesos, about $7 CDN.

When we went to get the lime tree they also had a lot of good garden soil for us so I got a couple of five gallon buckets of that too.

Digging up the tree was a bit of an ordeal as it is covered with very nasty thorns. Luckily, the roots weren’t too deep, so Dan and I had it out and into the back of the car in no-time. I got nailed by a few thorns and as usual had to give blood to the cause.

When we got home I found that the hole I dug was just right, so I put some of the peat moss, good soil, some of the sandy soil, the tree in and watered the heck out of it. It looks great just where Rosalie said where to put it. She’s quite proud of herself because of her location planning. I bet she’s even telling her friends that she dug the hole as well.