The last day

Glen is leaving tomorrow so had to spend one last day on the beach. We figured most of the vacationers would be on their way home by now but no way.   Stretch that vacation out till the last minute sees to be the rule. Sirenitas did not have an open seat on the beach.  Lifeguards walking the beach and on Jet-Skis getting a workout with the large waves we've been having the last few days. Nice last day on the beach.

Driving home on the highway just past the bridge I noticed something new off to the left.  Had no idea what they were so had to turn around.

Further away than this the first time

Tamarind drying?

Tamarind doesn't grow in this area but rather further up in the mountains.  I also didn't know they dried Tamarind because it's always sticky-gooey when I've tried them.   Maybe gonna do something different with them but nobody there to ask.

Now you're alone

That was a parting remark from my Canadian neighbor the day before they headed for the airport and the flight back north.  She's the same one that refuses to think in pesos for the 5 months they are here.   It is a fact that all the "gringos" are gone from our community but I still have a bunch of good neighbors.  

Burro

I didn't catch Burro in a way to show off his ears best but this is pretty good.   As he hangs out the car window he gets lots of oohhs and aahs like something never seen before.   Burro is my neighbors dog and his first name was murcielago (bat) but Nahima couldn't pronounce it so Burro it is.   A short quick name is better for a dog.

The Internet was off and on over the last week but really not that bad.  I just had nothing to say which can be a good thing.   Going back to school shopping, trying to get CFE here to clear the neighbors tree off my power lines and catching up with things not done because too many people in town.  Semana Santa vacation is just about over and we survived it.  

We've not had a totally clear day for over two weeks and the humidity has gone way up.   The ocean temperature has gone up as well.  No signs of rain here but the highlands are getting some earlier than normal.   Year of El Nino with signs this early ..... I don't know.   I just have a feeling.

Semana Santa steals the Internet

The huge influx of people to our small vacation town has overwhelmed Telcel to the point that trying to stay on the Internet via a Cellular Modem is all but impossible.  I may reappear next week when things calm down.   That goes for email as well.   Have a good one you all !!

A little less green

While I would love to let those bananas complete their life cycle and maybe even collect the fruit they produce these are just too big for the space I have.  They are/were well over 4 meters and no sign of a flower.   They were blocking all the afternoon sun from the lime trees and maybe stealing their water as well.

The first platano plant I had was a Dominico, the small sweet fruit, and it was mature and had fruit at only 2.5-3 meters. There are two more plants in another location but are still small and don't know what kind they are yet.  Neighbor and I have been planting them in a vacant lot where size does not matter but they may not be getting enough water.

That's 2 lime trees in front

Will have to dig the rest up

Green Iguana visitor

Neighbors noticed this guy inside my yard last night and he was hanging on the front gate this morning.  I walked right up to him and not sure why he wasn't afraid.  Maybe injured or once a pet.   Kind of afraid the neighbor kids will molest him if he sticks around.

Anybody see it?

Full lunar eclipse visible in the Western Hemisphere with clear sky's

To see the full eclipse last night would have required staying up 'till about 3am even though the process started around midnight Central time.   I thought about it until I realized I hadn't had an alarm clock since I moved to Mexico.   Well, maybe someday

Wall hangings

I picked up 2 of the white and brown wall hangings when I was living in Jocotepec a few years ago. I had a large rental with a few nails in the walls so they did hang for awhile. Since I've been back on the beach they've been rolled up in a closet.  Why the delay to hang things here I'm not sure.   Part is deciding what goes where or even if it should at all.   Also has something to do with commitment to the house, length of time I'll likely be here and not treating it like another rental.

Then there are the 4 coco-head "dolls" I found at a garage sale last August.    They could have been grouped anywhere but better in a small space.   They might fit that front room a little better with some furniture. Hanging them was fun because I forgot the originally planned large window had a lot of cement around it. Ended up both drilling and using nails (cement) .... but there they are. I included the older picture on the bottom because they are really better close up.

Next up will be my attempt to freshen up my Equipale (leather) furniture. I bought some saddle soap (Jabon de Calabaza) but there are differing opinions.  Think it has to do with the type and quality of the hide?

Shortly after I bought the 4 of them

Rearranging the garden

Both lots on either side of me are vacant. One is for-sale for too much and the other I met the owner once but don't know who he is. I say that because growing stuff here is so much fun and I just don't have the room with 2 lots. Bananas, limes, star fruit (carambola), Chico Sapote, papayas, sugar cane, various vegetables, flowering shrubs and decorative palms.

The papaya was tired with only small fruit so I replaced it with the small palm that has been hidden under the huge bananas in the back corner.  In front of the palm is the new Moringa which I've been interested in for awhile.  It's grown a few inches there but I'm surprised how tender the "trunk" is.   It will out distance everything around it in a few months but still too young to flower this year I think.   I cut the large sugar cane and shared with neighbors so only smaller ones left.

The second foto was an attempt to show the Star Fruit flowers but they are 3 meters high so couldn't get close.   Makes me wonder how I'll reach the fruit in a few months. The tree is not strong enough to support a ladder.   Will have to consider a pruning plan to keep every thing in reach.  I had one fruit last year and looks like I'll have many more this.

Carambola in the center and higher than the 3 meter wall.   Last Neem in a bucket below it.  Buckets on the left are various veggies.  In the low foreground is my Avocado that has done nothing for 2 years.  It looked sick a few months ago and leaves were weird and falling off.   I sprayed it and all the leaves fell off.   Within a week it had all new leaves and the whole tree was growing like crazy.   Would love to someday have my own Avocados. 

Finally the Laurel tree which used to be totally root bound and less than a meter high when I bought it from a Gringa that was leaving Melaque.  I actually split the pot and have two Laurel plants/trees almost identical. 

When the cat's away, the mice will play

So says my neighbor.   His cat is always outside looking for prey and not in the house.   He's also a very small young cat.   On the other hand my cat keeps the place too clean.

Hugo came over yesterday morning saying that his drain pipe under the kitchen sink broke and did I have any extras.   I did have this flexible one that works well in odd situations.   He didn't bring over the broken one so I don't know what the original problem was.

Again this morning water all over the kitchen and Hugo blaming Lorena until he got down and looked at the pipe that had only been there for 12 hours.   So headed into town in a few minutes to buy another pipe or two and some rat/mice poison.   Must be good tasting plastic and maybe paint some yukky stuff on the next one.  Then maybe they are collecting for a nest?

Shooting the waves

Glen and I went up to Arroyo Seco because neither of us had been there in awhile .... and we had to go somewhere. It's also not far from Emiliano Zapata and wanted to check out the Asi Azul Asian restaurant (another story).

We started out on Playa Chica trying to get good shots of the large waves both along the beach and the rocks on the far end.   Nothing very exciting, at least for me.   Didn't realize there is a good sized lagoon about mid-beach which is where the arroyo opens up in season.   Decided to go over to Playa Grande and thought much more exciting waves if we could get over to the El Tecuan rocks.  We walked over to Tecuan from the end of the road and had a wave shooting competition for a few hours.  Haven't seen Glens fotos yet.

The road on Playa Grande now stops at the last house as someone built a new wall.   No problem parking and walking.  A number of restaurants and camping spots are being cleaned up and readied for Semana Santa.   Over all an interesting day but I got way too much sun.

Tecuan rocks

Looking back at Playa Grande

Dry the lens

Room Temperature

At least those are Dr. Rosa's instructions when it comes to drinking or eating cold. Her rational is a virus will "take advantage" in the cold. She kinda frowned when I brought up a cold cerveza.  Ice cream I can do without but cold drinks in this weather are hard to put aside.

So the whole story is that part of the reason I quit smoking back in mid December was due to a sore throat. When it didn't go away at the end of January I went to the first doctor (Dr Rosa's son) and got antibiotic pills.  At the end of Feburary I went to another doctor and she gave me 3 strong antibiotic shots.   So this past week it was Dr. Rosa or a specialist in Manzanillo.

Dr. Rosa has 2 cameras similar to Dentista Woo and I was able to see the infection with small little blisters. Maybe when the other two doctors looked it was only red and no blisters .... but blisters are a sure sign of a viral infection and not  bacterial.  Antibiotics do not work on a viral infection.  So a few swab samples went off to a lab in Guadalajara and I went home with a box of Maclov.   Looking up Maclov when I got home and find it is a common treatment for Herpes and there is the connection to the blisters.   Two weeks for the lab results to come back but in the mean time we're headed in the right direction and no more antibiotics.

Don't do a knee jerk on Herpes.   It is not a sexual virus but a type can be transmitted sexually.   My type can be transmitted also but more likely from a cough, sneeze or not washing my hands. I picked it up from someone else when maybe my immune system was a little low. 

Another Jova or two ??

With 5 hurricanes expected to affect Mexico's Pacific Coast this year, Secretary General Arturo Zamora Jimenez recently met with Jalisco emergency services representatives to discuss preventive operations.

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Towns all along the Mexican Pacific Coast are 'battening down the hatches' in preparation for this year's hurricane season, which is predicted to be rather stormy.

Since 2014 will be unique in terms of maritime phenomena, with five high intensity hurricanes expected to affect the Mexican Pacific Coast this year, Mexico's Secretary General Arturo Zamora Jimenez recently met with Jalisco State security and emergency representatives to discuss preventive alerts and operations to be undertaken by all municipalities along the coast.

"...above all, we must prepare for the heavy rains that will result from the five Mexican Pacific cyclones that the State Water Commission has predicted will impact our coastal towns," Zamora Jimenez said.

Puerto Vallarta Prepares for 2014 Hurricane Season

Conagua