Month: December 2020

If you’re getting this then “I’m back”. If not, ignore it.

Because of the limitations of my last site I had trouble finding all my contacts so I had to wing it. If you were subscribed and got this, Great. If not I apologize, you can either stay subscribed or cancel me out. If you do I may shed a tear but won’t be offended. I’m not sure yet how to unsubscribe but an email to me will do it, at: paddington98@icloud.com.

It would be nice if you just sent an email saying that you got this blog. If you didn’t get it then don’t bother.

While waiting for the site to change over, off to the pool

The change over has been quite the process. It’s very technical and mostly beyond me but my new host “Bluehost” has been very helpful on the chat line. Of course this all cost money so I hope we get a refund from the last guys.

See you soon!

After my GoDaddy site was hacked 2 1/2 years ago I switched to WordPress.

Well, I’m becoming less happy with them and am going to switch back to another host. I can hear people saying “Will he never be satisfied?” No, I won’t!

If you don’t get a post for a length of time just email me at paddington98@icloud.com and I will add you to the list; something I couldn’t do in WordPress. One of the things I can’t do with WordPress is see all my contacts so if I missed you I’m sorry.

If you don’t get any posts after this you know that the process wasn’t easy and Rosalie finally got fed up with my whining.

See you on the other side.

Christmas morning. I sit here listening to Mexican music playing somewhere in the village. It’s great and been going on all night. I woke at 5 am and could hear people partying somewhere over the wall. And of course, fireworks have been going off for the last few days and have got heavier the last twenty-four hours.

It’s a cloudy day today and about 26 C. We had the neighbours over for dinner last night and chatted with them for most of the evening. Tonight We go to Mike and Pat’s for dinner.

After all the trouble with DHL, our parcels are being delivered to Cihuatlan. Yesterday, I got an email saying one had been delivered so we went to get it. They were closed, of course, and won’t be open until Saturday. I don’t know how they stay in business, they don’t seem able to deliver anything.

This is a short blog mostly to wish everyone Feliz Navidad. Have a great day everyone.

It’s starting to get cool here, this morning it was only 16 C outside. It will soon be time to start the chiminea in the mornings. Omar told us about a great place to get firewood so as soon as I feel better (iffy tummy) we’re going wood hunting. Omar gave us plenty of instructions in Spanish so we were sure to get lost. It’s in Melaque so it shouldn’t have been too bad.

I mentioned that I had an iffy tummy. For all the panickers out there, it was not covid or dengue just a touch of Moctezuma’s revenge.

Although we didn’t actually get lost the place couldn’t be found but then his instructions were a little, let’s say, off. When we got home I drew a map and he did some more explaining so we may get lucky next time. If he didn’t get it right this time I was going to cut off his cerveza ration.

Heading back into town, we drove around and asked several people for directions and eventually found the place. We had passed it several times but it had no sign and had a very small road frontage.

The guy asked us to help ourselves and loaned us his wheelbarrow; after covering the large hole in the bottom with a piece of wood. We took two loads and asked him how much. He said it was free so Rosalie gave him 50 pesos and we toddled off. The haul consisted of solid blocks of various hardwoods that burned nicely.

We also scored a printer, although I’m starting to regret it. Some friends had one for sale so we contacted them and brought them back here for some distanced appies and to check the printer out. The reason I’m regretting it, is that I’m having trouble downloading software for it. I will prevail though.

Mike let us know that he saw an ad on Facebook for people looking for bikes. So Rosalie contacted them. They came and bought them on the spot. Nice!

It’s amazing how people follow our instructions and get here just fine, but DHL with an Amazon package, no way. Yesterday another one of ours was returned to Amazon as undeliverable. We don’t have a choice of carrier so we may have to get them delivered to Cihautlan. It’s only a twenty minute drive away so no big deal.

It’s just in the news that philanthropist, Carlos Slim is paying for all the vaccines for Mexican citizens. He was once the richest man in the world but now ranks fifth.

As I’m sitting writing this we are listening to some awesome Mexican music. It’s quite loud so we can hear it just fine. The problem is we’re hearing it from two different directions and both are playing different tunes. So goes Pinal Villa. It’s still pleasant though. See this, for a chuckle.

We think!

After the loungers were purchased we had such a hard time getting cushions. I remembered that at that store, there were some for Mexican style couches so I suggested that we check them out.

Back at the store, they sat there in two bundles with a price tag on one. Not knowing if the tag applied to one bundle or two we did the smart thing and asked. Sure enough, the price of $1990 pesos ($127 CDN) was for both.

Buy the way the pesos sign is the same as a dollar sign so it can create some confusion; especially as the prices down here can be so much lower for some things.

There were five cushions of each size and Rosalie only wanted two on her chair with the option to use a smaller one so it worked out well, and they look good.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the roads here are somewhat bumpy. Having almost run out of water, we loaded two empties into the back of the car to go get some. Just around the corner was a water truck so after waving him down we bought two bottles.

The road into town is pretty bumpy. After getting a beer at the beach and getting money from the bank we went home. Grabbing the handle of the first jug I noticed how light it was. It had shattered and there was a swimming pool in the wheel well of the trunk. Fortunately, when I took the spare out there were two rubber stoppers in the bottom so I hauled one out and the water drained away. All I had to do was wait for it to dry.

It’s been raining cats; luckily not dogs. Sitting on the patio minding our own business, there was a thump followed by kids giggling. Thinking it was a coconut falling I glanced over and found that the little monsters had thrown a kitten over the wall.

I could hear it crying for a while and then silence. I assume it had found a way out. Wrong! The next morning it showed up on the patio. I took it out the front gate several times but it kept following me back in. it’s a cute little cat but we don’t want to encourage it. One was sleeping on the patio last year and left dirty marks on the cushions. Also we don’t know what bugs it may carry.

Eventually, I took him around to the street behind the ranch and left him then I walked all the way around to discourage him from following. So far it seems s to have worked.

Now that there is a vaccine It comes down to who gets it and in what order. We found a comment on Facebook and got me thinking about the fair distribution of the vaccines. It will take a while to distribute so we will have to prioritize. These would be my choices.

Essential workers of course have to get it first, as well as a free all-expenses-paid holiday in Melaque. But not until the crisis is over as we need those guys. This would really see our tax dollars at work for once.

Care homes come next of course. Some of these old folk are prisoners who only want to see their families for a short time but aren’t able to.

Those who are compromised health wise. I don’t mean you should get it if you have an in-grown toe nail, easily get an ice cream head ache, or are allergic to work. Just the people who really need it.

Really old people: I’m not sure if we are in this category or the following one. I would lobby for this one so we get it sooner. Wait! This is my list so yes, we do get it next.

Just sort of old people. Does this apply to fifty plus old people. (Just kids really.)

Check this out from WHO, cute.

Then the rest of the peasants. That would be our kids, casual acquaintances and those we don’t much care for.

There are also those people who insisted on breaking the rules and partying during lockdown. Because they were contributing to the spread of the virus they should also be left till the last, after they have been tarred, feathered, had their cell phones taken away and been given a good slap.

Close to the bottom of the pile are those who didn’t think there was a virus at all. They should not get it at all, so they can prove their point that it was all fake news. If they do decide they want it, we will take a long time considering their case before saying, “Go away, it’s you guys who made this a problem in the first place.”

And then those who don’t want it at all. Thats fine, when they die off, we will inherit their vaccines and live a lot longer.

If you are in one of the later categories and I have offended you: Oops! Sorry!

There are also those people who can’t get a vaccine for medical reasons: allergies etc. That’s really unfortunate so I think you should at least get a lollypop. Or in one special case we know of, a coco loco.

We had an invitation to Peggy and Don’s home for happy hour; or appie hour as it turned out. I don’t like driving in the dark so it was a short visit of about an hour and a half. We seem to be popular all of a sudden as we went to Mike and Pat’s the day before. Both times we were well fed.

Returning to the Ranch the new neighbours came over for a distanced nightcap so that we could get to know each other. We have to live close to them for a month so had to find out what we’re in for. It turned out they are really nice people.

He’s from Nelson and she is a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines and lives in Washington State. Because of the Covid, they haven’t seen each other for sixteen weeks. Neither could cross the border without quarantining one way or another so they decided to come down here for a month. A really interesting conversation about US politics developed and it rapidly became obvious that she’s not a trumper.

The usual afternoon at Papa Gallo’s was a little different as we invited Brett and Hauna and sat there for three and a half hours swapping stories and devouring margaritas. After, Rosalie and I went out for some dinner, then staggered home.

There have been no Covid deaths in Cihuatlan for over thirty days; that’s great news. Most people down here are observing the rules, although there was a party at Tito’s a few days ago where people were dancing with no masks on. Some were recognized as Quebecois. They seem to be quite disruptive down here. At time of writing Mexico had dropped to 13 th on the WHO list.

The roads here are not the best and we’ve noticed that already the ball joints in the car are a little wobbly.

Us driving into town

The mosquitos have been a bit of a problem for a while. We take all the precautions: lots of smoke, mozzie coils, and of course spraying our selves with toxic chemicals. I had a few bad nights of itching because I sprayed every inch of myself but forgot the soles of my feet.

When we left Canada I was happy to leave behind all my usual chores. Down here I can relax and not have to fix anything. Then, Rosalie decided that we need a light over the kitchen counter. I said “absolutely not. For one thing I don’t have the tools” I was adamant about this and determined to stick to my guns.

Now that we have this light I have to find a way to attach it to the underside of the cabinets. I tried double sided tape but after about half an hour we heard a thump as it broke loose. “Great” thought I “perhaps it’s broken so I don’t have to deal with it.” No such luck! Now I have to figure how to fit it more permanently. This may require a whole blog of it’s own.

After the neighbours pleading with us not to go skinny-dipping again, Rosalie decided she was going to. I chose to wear my trunks because you never know when Omar may turn up. He doesn’t work on a Sunday so we are usually okay then; but this was not Sunday.

Me, reluctantly going skinny dipping. You can see how cold the water is.

Rosalie slipped into the pool while I went to look for the net to scoop out some leaves. As I stepped onto the patio a voice said “Hola.” It was Raquel in the other casa getting it ready for the new neighbours on the weekend. Oops!

I said “Hola” back as loud as possible to give a warning to Rosalie so she could put on her bathing suit and get a bit respectable. She was bouncing around in the pool and laughing like an idiot so it was not easy. It worked out fine but knowing Rosalie it will happen again sometime soon. The older she gets the more unmanageable she becomes.

Rosalie off to the pool

There is a local squirrel who noisily runs across the patio roof and dives into the parrota tree. He or she crosses several times a day and it sounds as though he or she is wearing boots.

We bought a ball and started to throw it to each other for some exercise. It is surprising how soon the puffing and panting starts, getting our heart rates up. It would be good to do it at least once a day. There is a lot of shade under the parrota tree so we play there. Rosalie does have a strong arm and throws like a boy and directly at my head. I get most of my exercise from ducking..

Rosalie took a photo of me by the fire last week. When she went to review it we noticed that the fire was actually burning and smoke was coming out of the chimney. It’s an Apple feature and it sure looks cool.

The new neighbours arrived today. We haven’t had a chance to get to know them yet. I hope they’re used to Mexico because this is the last day of the festival of Guadalupe and the fireworks and attendant explosions are getting quite fierce.

I don’t know if it’s climate change or not but it had the audacity to rain here the other day. I don’t know what the worlds coming to. The temperature dropped so severely I almost had to put a shirt on. 26 C is not warm enough when you’re used to 31 C. Anyway we will get over it and in a few days get back to complaining about it being too hot.

There has been a request for us to stop skinny dipping as the locals found out about it. Apparently the cows and goats have stopped giving milk and the hens have stopped laying.

There is a lot of noise here at night but once inside we’re so engrossed in each other that we don’t hear a thing. (Gag!) There are quite a few mozzies around in the evening and I have got quite a collection of bites.

Only going out briefly for groceries and the odd margarita on the beach makes life is a little boring right now. We only go to the beach every couple of days; sometimes for lunch; sometimes for a drink. For lunch Rosalie likes a hamburger and I have whatever else, usually my favourite, shrimp salad.

Rosalie at Bugambilias when she gets her hamburger. Pure ecstacy!

There was a bus tour to Guadajalra but we chose not to go until the Covid dies down a bit. Even working up a sweat watching Omar at work isn’t helping as he seems to have been working elsewhere lately. He hasn’t been around for a while. He told us that he had dengue, not good, as he only lives a couple of hundred feet from us.

Considering we’re cooped up together 24/7 Rosalie and I are getting along just fine. Each of us has our chores; Rosalie cooks, I do the dishes and hang up the clothes to dry as Rosalie can’t reach the line. Then it’s time to settle down with our books, games and email stuff and maybe watch Netflix in the evenings.

It’s difficult getting as much exercise as is needed so I suggested that we get a ball to throw around. A nice one was found at the market today, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m a little concerned as Rosalie has a better throwing arm than I. Also, a frisby was nowhere to be found.

It’s beginning to look as though there will be new neighbours this weekend. Some folks are coming from Canada for a month. We’re looking froward to possibly having some company.

At the market today there were a lot more Norteños than usual. That’s a good thing for the local vendors. Most of them wore masks but not all.

Checking to see if the mattresses for the loungers were in yet, we were told they would be another two days and 200 pesos more so I told them to forget it. It will probably end up costing more elsewhere but I somehow felt that they were trying to rip us off.

Once in a while Rosalie craves a margarita on the beach (at least once a day.) So, we decided to go into town regardless of the state of the pandemic. (There are no active cases in our area.)

We are having a hard time trying to get cushions for our loungers so we went to a local store and were able to order some. The problem is, we have no idea what we’ll get. Anyway they will be here on Monday so we’ll soon find out.

On the way into town we ran into a typical Melaque traffic jam. Some guy stopped to deliver water while a car on the opposite side of the road decides to double park. As you can see by the video, it was chaos for a while.

After this tiring task, we had to go to the beach to Restaurante Bugambilia to recuperate and have lunch and a margarita. The beach as usual was mostly deserted. Tony our waiter knows us well enough by now that as soon as we walk in he’s off inside to open a bottle of tequila and to cool the glasses.

As I said, the beach was mostly deserted; however there is always the evil aggressive beach vendors. (Not really.) They are relentless and are lurking everywhere. They pretty well know us by now and mostly leave us alone. Some though still try to sell us stuff and a few really are persistent. We don’t mind as we feel a bit sorry for them. The playa at this time of year is usually packed with people but having no tourists they have to rely on the Mexicans that come in on the weekends.

First we were attacked by Christiana. She and Rosalie seem to get along quite well but we still ended up with a shark shaped bottle opener that we didn’t need but will regift to someone. Rosalie’s excuse that we only have one item to open beers with. I remarked “what’s wrong with our teeth.” but that was ignored.

Next, came a kid of about five years old, obviously learning the trade. As soon as Rosalie showed interest he rushed to the beach and called for his Mama to assist him. “Mama I’ve found another sucker” but in Spanish.

Click on the image to see a short video

We are now the proud owners of a personal fan shaped like a lady bug with a light-up mirror. Also a fridge magnet of a very broken cow. Oh! and some expensive nutty candy as well as the bottle opener. At least it’s a lot of fun.

Buying stuff we don’t need might sound a bit weird but the beach people are suffering right now. They call this ‘charity with dignity’. They can be helped without feeling the embarrassment of a hand out.