You can't help but smile when you see her.

Friday February 5, 2009

This lady's job is to sit in front of the grocery store and look like she needs money, one of only a very few people around Ajijic that panhandle. She is usually in this spot everyday along with her two "sisters" and I think from the look of things they make a pretty good wage (one day we saw her in the store buying a Milky Way Chocolate bar). I just couldn't help myself, because she has the most beautiful smile in all of Ajijic, I would give her a few pesos every time we saw her. When I asked if I could take her picture, she said yes but wouldn't put on her beautiful smile!

The Lake Chapala area normally receives about 20 mm of rain from January 1 thru May 31 each year. The rainfall that Ajijic has received so far from January 1 to today is 165.6 mm. When we were here two winters ago, we could have measured the rain drops we had on two hands! So is this climate change? Or will the weather be back to normal next year? Just some food for thought.
We are doing some last minute running around this afternoon and then getting the car packed up for our exit tomorrow morning... off to the beach!!

Return of the SUN!

Thursday February 4, 2009
Yeah! The sun has finally come back! There is an over abundance of singing birds in our yard right now, it is as if they have been waiting since Sunday to sing their songs and they are so happy they are trying to out do each other. It is so beautiful outside right now, everything has been washed clean and the hills above Ajijic look like they want to burst into green. Speaking of green, here is a picture of my guacamole I made last night for dinner. It is a nice bright green because of the cilantro I used. It turned out very yummy.

Kathy's Molcajete Guacamole
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp rock salt
1/2 coriander seeds
fresh cilantro to taste
juice of 1 small lime
one avocado
Crush garlic, cumin, salt and coriander to a paste. Add cilantro and lime juice, continue crushing until a uniform paste is achieved. Add avocado, crush and mix well. Voila!

We have been watching on the weather news the very large band of moisture moving across Mexico and into Texas. Someone told us this morning that the eastern US is gearing up for a whopper of a snow storm resulting from that moisture. Funny thing is, the US usually gets their weather from Canada, but this time around they can only blame Mexico! Go figure.
Tomorrow, being our last day here, we will be finishing up errands and getting organized to leave Saturday morning. I have a dentist appointment to get my night guard fitted and then we have some grocery shopping to do.

Arrgghhh! I just saw orange kitty sneaking around in our yard! He ran under the coffee bush by the avocado tree. Hopefully all the birds saw him. The yellow bird is a Western Tananger and the other is a Bullock's Oriole, at least that is my deduction from pictures on the net. The birds really love the avocado, they are putting on weight for their trip north in the spring.

Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!

Wednesday February 3, 2009
I am really having a hard time believing we are in Ajijic and not Vancouver, except for the fact that we have an avocado tree, two papaya trees, and three orange trees growing in our yard. It has pretty much been raining steadily since Sunday afternoon. The ground is grass is squishy, the roads have little rivers running down them, we have a pan on the stove to catch the drip coming from the stove vent, and I am wishing I had a hot tub to sit in right now as I drink my cerveza! All right, I know... I should be complaining! I feel really sorry for all those folks who are having their winter vacation in Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan right now because it is the same weather, just a little warmer!

The birds are very quiet today, but I have managed to get a picture of a Black-vented Oriole, above, eating an avocado. Notice how wet he looks! I have seen this type of bird around before but this is the first picture I have managed to get. Below, I am not sure of this bird, but he was waiting until the Oriole finished so he could have some avocado too.

Mexican Shake Down!

Saturday January 30, 2009
Okay, so when you break the law, as in a small traffic violation, you should pay the price, right? This morning, we were leaving Ajijic, heading for Tonala (to pick up that something special I mentioned in a previous post), and we were at an traffic light (green) waiting to turn left, and then just as we turned (Jerry is driving but Phil and I encouraged him to "just go!") we saw ahead a cop motioning for us to pull over. At this particular light, we were not sure you could turn left without a green arrow, as as it turns out we can't! The cop said there was a sign (we will have to go back and make sure we can see it). Anyway, he proceeds to ask for driver's license and registration, tells us he is going to write a ticket for 550 pesos. Fine. He heads over to his truck, pulls out a clip board and ticket book, comes back to the car and asks us if we want him to write a ticket now which we will have to pay in Chapala (a nearby town). Some back and forth in Spanglish about what is the best way to write the ticket, and whether we want him to WRITE the ticket. By this point we are starting to catch on that there may be another option! It was an aha! moment. So after a little more back and forth, we came to the conclusion that if we paid now it would only cost us... "how much do you want to pay?" Jerry "is 200 okay?" Cop "Si!" The 200 quickly disappeared and we were on our way! Lesson learned.... first, don't mess up with traffic signs when cops are watching, second, especially if you are a gringo, third, if situation arises again offer smaller amount first! :-D LOL

This is a very organized power pole situation. Up coming, I will show you some not so organized situations! 

Molcajete Fun

Thursday January 28, 2009
I have been having way too much fun cooking with my new molcajete! (Thank you Mary Beth!) I went through all the steps to get it ready, which took me several days. First step is to grind a small amount of rice to a fine powder, until the rice was no longer turns grey from the rock. After that, I seasoned it using garlic, fresh cilantro, cumin seed, and rock salt. I left this ground up mixture in the molcajete over night and then just rinsed with water the next morning. First thing we made was a nice fresh salsa, pictured below. Then Phil got in on the act and made a very delicious guacamole! The more we use the molcajete, the better things made in it will taste.

Kathy's Molcajete Salsa
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin seed
Juice of one small lime
1 teaspoon rock salt
1 serrano or jalapeño chilie
1 small white onion
2 roma tomatoes
cilantro, chopped
Crush garlic in molcajete or mortar with pestal. Add cumin seed, crush. Add lime juice and rock salt, crush again. Add whole chilie (including seeds), crush well. You should now have a nice uniform liquid. Add chopped onion and tomatoes. Gently crush, not much. Add chopped cilantro and ENJOY!

What will we do today?

Monday January 25, 2009
Well, we were up early again this morning, before the sun! We don't have any clocks in the house, but we do check Jerry's wrist watch from time to time. We can almost tell exactly what time it is by the different noises we hear outside. Right around 6:45 am the din of traffic starts to pick up and goes until about 7:15. The birds start making noise about 7:15 and then at 7:30 or so, just before the sun comes up, we hear the little morning doves start to coo. Traffic picks up again just before 8, but by that time we are on our second cup of coffee, the sun is shinning brightly in our breakfast room, and we are starting to plan our day.

Yesterday we drove to Jocotepec, a town 20 minutes west of Ajijic, and walked along their new walkway by the lake shore. I took this picture of the white cranes having a little tiff over a fish. Below is a little water park, but there weren't any kids playing in the water that day.

We are heading off to the airport in Guadalajara this evening to pick up Phil. It looks like the weather is going to be absolutely fantastic for his whole week here. But first stop will be a store to get him a pair of shorts, apparently he doesn't own one!
We are starting our countdown until we have to leave Ajijic! Only another two weeks in paradise, damn!

Lettuce go crazy!

Thursday January 21, 2009
I think the weather has finally settled into the warm zone. The newspapers have stopped talking about where you can go to see some snow, and the local Mexican people are not wearing toques, gloves, scarves and down jackets! I am not complaining, but we did feel a little ripped when we had all the cold weather. Now on to better things.

A few days ago we bought a head of lettuce at the local supermarket. Now this is no ordinary head of lettuce...... I just had to put a picture on the blog!

I didn't weigh it, but I think it probably weighed about 5 pounds easily. We have enjoyed many lunches and dinners of green salad, and still have more than half left. And how about this single rosemary plant we spotted!

Mom left us yesterday morning, so we are all alone again until Monday when Phil arrives. I wish the weather had been a bit nicer while she was here, but at least it was warmer than Kelowna and sunnier too. We are planning two day trips for when Phil gets here.... off to Tequila! and then back to Tonala to the market again. We have to pick up something special we are having made. And no, Roma it is not for you!
I finished reading Godforsaken Sea and have started on The Sparrow's Fall by Fred Bodsworth, Jerry is reading How to Overthrow The Government by Arianna Huffington, both really good books. We are getting lots of reading in, mostly books we find at the local thrift shop. It is nice to have time just to read, and not have to worry about having to do something else. Am I starting to sound retired? Yikks!!

Lazy Sunday!

Sunday January 17, 2009

We went to the plaza in Ajijic this morning to see their second annual Art Show and Sale and first annual flea market. It has a long way to go before it matches any of the big markets I have been to, but it was fun to see the art and junk people are selling. After lunch, we left mom at home to study her Spanish, and Jerry and I went out to see some open houses. I just love the gardens people have here, they have the most beautiful unusual plants such as the Green Stripe Bamboo below. This plant was about 15 feet high and so beautiful! It would be so fun to be able to grow this at home!

We went to four open houses and then drove around a little west of Ajijic, up on the hillside overlooking the lake. I took another panoramic picture, just couldn't resist the view! This is the view of an extinct volcano across the lake from a lot we stopped to walk around on.

Tonala Market (but not on market day!)

Saturday January 16, 2009
Tonala is a city just on the outskirts of Guadalajara, population about 500,000. It has a wonderful market on Thursday and Sunday. The other days of the week is a scaled back version of the frenzy that happens on Thursday and Sunday. So we decided to go on an "off-market" day, and it was much better than the last time we went which was on a market day. People come from all over Mexico to buy things for their houses.... from art and crafts to zebra paintings and everything in between. Furniture, blown glass, pottery, dried flowers, doodads, nicknacks, widgets, doohickeys, thingamabobs, and whatchamacallits.... you get the general idea!

We enjoyed strolling around the market without too many other people to bump into. And on top of that, the weather was great! For the past couple days, we have had wind and colder temperatures, very little sun. But today it warmed up to 22 Celsius without a cloud in the sky. 

Our lunch at a little restaurant in Tonala Market was an avocado torta (sandwich) each for Jerry and I and for Mom, Huevos Rancheros, fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh limeade... totlal 118 pesos ($9.56 cdn).

Mom only has three more full days here, we will be taking her to the airport early Wednesday morning. Hopefully the remainder of her holiday will be warm and sunny!

Ajijic Village again, visiting galleries.

Friday January 8, 2009
Oh, man, I can't believe the weather here! And nobody else can either! It has been cloudy for two days now and the temperature only gets up to about 18 or 19! This really sucks big time. Hopefully we get some nice weather soon, or I am going to have to start taking my vitamin D again!
Alright, enough complaining (typical Canadian), at least it is not -10 and possible snow like my aunt is getting in Florida. Mom and I went back to the village again today for another look around. We went to some shops and galleries we had not been to yesterday. We found a small shop that sells Alebrijes (al e bri heys), which are beautifully painted carved (from copal wood) fanciful animals from small towns in the state of  Oaxaca. It is hard to appreciate the work that goes into these animals, but to give you an idea, the larger pieces can take up to a month to carve. Below is a lion and then close up detail on another sculpture.

It rains here from time to time.

Sunday January 3, 2010
It is hard to believe we have made it to 2010! In BC and Vancouver in particular, we have been talking about 2010 for about 6 years now. So it seems strange that it has finally arrived. I am rambling I know, but I just realized that after I wrote it out... 2 0 1 0 !!

Okay, now so what I was going to write about today was the rain we had yesterday. It practically rained ALL day long, reminded me so much of Vancouver! And everyone around here was complaining about the cold and rain yesterday! Even the birds were particularly quiet, I could just imagine them, huddled together deep inside a bougainvillea plant, hoping the rain would stop. Sounds so familiar, seems like I am right at home. But I don't mind the rain, and the cold (18 degrees celsius) won't bother me either. I took the opportunity to go out for a walk around our little neighborhood and take some pictures in the rain.

Holy Moly!

Monday December 28, 2009

Picking fruit from our trees has become almost a daily event. Up until now, we have been  waiting for the avocados to fall, there was usually one on the ground about every other day. But if we didn't get to if fast, the birds seem to think it was fair game. Soooo, somehow I convinced Jerry to climb up the avocado tree and pick a few, but he just didn't know when to quit! We given some away and have been eating them everyday.... in salad, as guacamole, in sandwiches, but now I am running out of ideas. So checking on the internet I found a recipe for avocado bread (would be similar to banana bread) that I am going to try tomorrow. Sounds pretty good to me! I will let you know how it turns out.

Red sky in the morning.....

Saturday December 26, 2009

Early this morning, as I was still laying in bed (Jerry was already getting the coffee going), I glanced towards our window with drapes still drawn, and noticed the light just starting to come through was a different colour than it normally is. I jumped up and opened the drapes and this is what I saw. I quickly grabbed my housecoat and camera and ran outside and up the spiral staircase to the roof and took this picture. It is the most beautiful sunrise I have seen here in Ajijic, and it only lasted maybe 5 minutes tops.

This picture below is taken looking a little to the north at the same time as the one above. Jerry checked the weather forecast  for today and it said a possibility of rain. So far it hasn't rained but it is cloudy and we only saw the sun for about an hour. Oh well, as least I don't have to put up with freezing rain, or close to freezing temperatures. The sun will come back tomorrow and we can work on our tans again!

The tale of the little rock squirrel.

Thursday December 17, 2009
This is Mr Rocky the rock squirrel, he lives in our yard, and this is the story of how he lost his mate.

One day a few days ago, Mr and Mrs Rock decided to move their three children from their house #1 to their house #2 (they have three houses that we know of). The kids are pretty big already, but they managed to get a hold of them one at a time in their mouths and carry them about 50 meters to the new location. After they were all safely tucked into the new house, Mrs Rock headed out to get something to eat. Unbeknown to Mrs Rock, Orange Cat was watching the house moving with much interest. As she was crossing the big open expanse of the driveway, Orange Cat saw his chance and pounced. I would have tried to save Mrs Rock, but it was too late. Orange Cat was very fast, and jumped over the gate and was gone, Mrs Rock squeaking the whole way. Mr Rock heard the commotion and poked his head out of the house and called to Mrs Rock. He called again several times later that day and then again the next morning. By the afternoon, he knew his true love was not coming back and he decided to move the kids again. One by one, he moved them back to the old house, safely away from Orange Cat, he thought. Then this morning, we saw Mr Rock moving the kids again! And unfortunately, Orange Cat was watching again! We are doing everything we can to discourage Orange Cat from coming in our yard (throwing rotten oranges at him) but things are not looking too good for the Rock family. Hopefully, the kids move out soon and Mr Rock can put his feet up and relax for awhile, at least until he finds a new honey!

Market Day in Ajijic

Wednesday December 16, 2009

It is market day in Ajijic, the once a week market with a loads of vendors. You can pretty much buy anything you need here, right down to the undies! Below, this couple are making chicken tacos to sell, they smelled really yummy!

We stopped at this "shop" (the back of a cube van) to buy some fresh roasted coffee beans... 50 pesos for half a kilogram. That is about $4.20. We also picked up a half kilogram of strawberries (10 pesos) and half kilogram of raspberries (15 pesos).

The glassware vendor, very beautiful glasses and dishes. Check out the glass  red and green peppers!

Last night it rained hard for the first time since we have been here. It was just like home, listening to the rain on the roof, falling on the leaves of the trees and hitting the sidewalk. This morning, everything was fresh and clean, and although it was overcast all morning, the sun did come out in the early afternoon and dried everything up. This evening we had another rain shower. I picked a big bag of the tangerine oranges for our maid to give to the kids at school. She asked for about 30 oranges off our tree, and since we don't have a ladder, we stacked a little table on a chair and I climbed on that to get them down. Jerry was holding the chair and catching oranges as I picked them. Jerry said it would have been easier to just go and buy them at the store!
We are planning our trip to Mexico City on Friday.
Adios!

Spanish 101

Monday December 14, 2009
Temperature: 24 celius

I have been practicing my Spanish  all morning, working on lesson 9. With my library card (any library in BC), I can log into a web site called Mango for Libraries that has language lessons in Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish (Latin American). I can either take the basic course or get more involved with a complete course. I wanted to get the basics this trip. Jerry already knows quite a bit of Spanish, so with both of us knowing some, then we can still practice on each other even after we get back home, and hopefully not forget what I have learned.

I noticed this morning that my Bird of Paradise has a bloom on it. I'll be watching so I can cut it when it opens. They are the neatest looking flowers. Too bad I don't have a nice vase to put it in. I will post a picture as soon as it opens up, right now it doesn't look like much. Above is our papaya tree which I think will have one ready in another week or so. We have a little hummingbird who visits us regularly, making the rounds in our yard. I am not sure of the species, but it is bigger than the Rufous we have at home.
Adios! Que tenga un buen dia!

We survived the weekend in Ajijic.

Sunday December 13, 2009
Our plans to maybe go away this weekend did not materialize and after reading the local paper we were very glad that we did not go to Mexico City. Since this was the weekend to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City was expecting an extra 7 million people in the city. Not a good time to visit a city of 14 million (that is the city only, not including the surrounding area). I think there is over 25 million all together.
Friday night in Ajijic was the noisy night, with lots of explosions and loud music and parties at 4 o'clock in the morning. We decided we would head into town on Saturday night to see if anything was happening, but it was pretty much deadsville. Oh well, I guess we missed all the action on Friday night, but I am sure we won't have long to wait until the next party happens!
I can't believe how beautiful the weather has been here. It is absolutely perfect, nice and warm (but not hot) during the day and then cooling off at night to where we need a duvet on. I hope it stays like this for the whole time we are here, you just can't ask for any more.
We will probably go away on Friday this week, first to Mexico City for a couple days, then make our way back towards Ajijic, stopping to see the monarchs. The road trip should take us 5 or 6 days.
Comment answers:
Mexico City would be about an 8 hour drive from here. I will definitely be taking lots of pics. And yes, the hibiscus is in our garden, in the background you can see the poinsettia. We also have a really pretty pink one. Our meals are vegetarian, mostly beans fixed many different ways. We have fresh fruit and yogurt for breakfast, left overs or salad for lunch, and Mexican dishes for dinner. Yesterday I made a pot of chili in the slow cooker and served it with polenta. We have enough left over for several more meals. We also have had enchiladas and tostadoes. We try to stay away from imported foods because they are mucho $$. We have a weekly farmers market in Ajijic on Thursdays, it is less than a 5 minute drive, probably better to walk if it is not too hot outside. It has been so nice having the orange trees in our yard. Every morning we squeeze 4 oranges for juice... ymmmmm... the best way to start the day, even better than that first cup of coffee. So far, the two avocados that have fallen off the tree are not ripe enough to eat, but I will let you know how good they are soon!

Holy Moly, Guacamole!

Friday December 11, 2009
Weather: low this morning was 9, high was 25. If you see anything different on any weather forecast, don't believe it! Although it might cool off tonight to maybe 6 or 7.
Our guacamole tree dropped it's second avocado this morning. The first one was gone when I went outside to pick it up. I really don't know what happened to it, but Jerry said it was either the squirrel who keeps running through our yard (although I think it was too big for the squirrel to carry) or the next door neighbor jumped the fence and got it. Either way, I knew it was just a matter of time before another one landed, and this time I got to it first. Ha!
I took a day off painting today. Although is mostly done, I still have about half a can of the blue/gray and 3/4 of a can of the buttermilk colour. So, I might as well keep going. I was just trying to decide which colour I would paint the hallway going into the bedroom. As promised, I have included in this post some pictures.....

This is the before picture, taken on the day we moved in and ~~

this is the after picture, taken today.

You can still see a bit of the yellow in the hallway behind where Jerry is sitting, so that is my next job. You can weigh in with an opinion if you want.... blue/gray or buttermilk like the fireplace?

This is our side yard and patio, kitchen to the right and living room to the left.

This is the sunroom at the back of the house.

Tomorrow we are going to go downtown to see what is going on in the plaza. Right now there are a LOT of explosions going on, and I expect they will be booming all night tonight and tomorrow night. Probably won't get much sleep this weekend.

Adios!

Living in Mexico, we are having fun!

Thursday December 10, 2009
I finished painting the living room today. It is soooo much nicer now that the limegreenyellowpuke is gone. We feel much more relaxed and at home. I will finish decorating and putting things back to where they should be and then take a picture and you can see it for yourselves. We had the electrician come by today too to fix a live wire that was sticking out of the wall with a pink plastic bag on it for protection. Hmmmm. Now we have two more lights that work. It was a simple thing, and you gotta wonder why wasn't it done by the owner?

This is the view from the rooftop of the casita. Pretty much all Mexican houses have access to the roof. It is extra living space otherwise gone to waste. Usually they have what is called a mirador on the roof which is really just some sort of roof for protection from the sun and maybe a side or two or three for some privacy. Our casita doesn't really have a mirador, but we can take a couple chairs and table up on to the roof and enjoy the sunrise or sunset. The mountains in the background are starting to turn brown for the winter. During the summer rainy season, this hillside is like a jungle.
Our location is much quieter that when we were here two years ago. There are no roosters or roof dogs. And the propane truck does not come by blasting his loud speaker everyday. We have lots of mature trees around which attract many birds. The rumble of the traffic is off in the distance and we don't really notice. So far we have very little to complain about and a lot to be thankful for.
I promise tomorrow I will post some pictures of the inside of our house.

Settling in to a routine in Ajijic

Coffee tree (bush) in our yard.

Wednesday December 9, 2009

Today was very relaxing. The weather was beautiful, very warm (25) and sunny, Jerry was working on the computer and I was painting our living room. It is starting to feel like home! All the furniture is moved in to the middle of the room, cans of paint are here and there, paint brushes are soaking in the bathroom sink.... feels great!

We started off the day with a Mexican Christmas Party! We were invited out for breakfast and a party by the owner of the real estate company that we found our rental through, same company that we rented from two years ago. It was great to be able to join the staff party, have breakfast and we even each got a token gift! Jerry got a multi-purpose tool and I got a fleece top with a Coca Cola logo on it. I can always wear it on the boat~~!! It is the thought that counts though. Bev Hunt is quite the character, it is hard to know just what is on her mind. She told us when she invited us to the party that we wouldn't be getting a gift since gifts were for staff only. hmmmm

For lunch today, I fixed a big fresh fruit salad with water mellon (we bought a whole one at Wal-Mart for 7 pesos, which is about 55 cents), pineapple ($1.20 at the grocery) tangerines we picked from our yard, bananas and strawberries bought a the local market. Can't get better than that!

Our patio, guacamole tree on the top right.

Okay, so what do you think of this idea? ... I am going to pick the coffee berries off our coffee tree (bush), peel them, roast them, grind them, and then make a cup of coffee.

Next, we have to plan a trip to see the monarch butterflies in Morelia. Apparently the best time to see them is in December, so we will be going soon, maybe as early as this weekend since Ajijic is going to go festival crazy (there will be lots of noise) this weekend because it is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We'll let you know what we get planned... but of course I should finish my painting first.