Making a large throw net

Back in Melaque a little more than two weeks and just finished a full two weeks work on the house. Stefan, my neighbor across the street is a fisherman and has been working everyday on this throw net. It's a large one that can only be thrown from a boat and it takes him a month to finish. He's close to finish with this one. He made a small one for my Canadian neighbor but I was under the impression only Mexicans can use throw nets which are considered commercial ??

Stefan also plays guitar and sings and he was over last night serenading us while while the work crew, I and a few more neighbors finished off 3 cubetas of Coronitas (small beers - 24 per bucket). The buckets of beer is a sometimes thing at the end of a week or job.

Goodbye to Jocotepec

Had to take a last minute walk around town yesterday for a few fotos and last minute shopping. Sadly my favorite tortas filled with queso and jalepeno were not there in the market.

I thought they were re-painting the central area for the 2010 celebration but they are still working on parts of it. The buildings used to be a rather dull two-tone brown ... and I like the new white and grey. There was some plaster repair around the plaza ... but the Mercado got a whole new facade. Really nice.

So I'm off to Melaque for the winter and probably beyond. Got this house project I've been working on for over 2 years now if you can believe it. See ya there !!

New face on the central mercado

New paint on the Municipio Building

Unhappy with my neighbors

About two weeks ago I found this little guy in my back yard crying his head off. With lots of food and attention he came around and will be a good cat. Because I'm moving and my two cats were not very happy with him I was planning on leaving him with a local animal shelter. Luckily the new renters had a neighbor that wanted him and he left yesterday in the arms of the neighbors very happy daughter.

The reason I'm unhappy is I woke this morning to another crying kitten. This one doesn't even have it's eyes open and can barely walk. No way he could have gotten into my yard by himself. Off to the animal shelter in a few hours !!

A plug for Anita's Animals in San Juan Cosala. Just got back from there and she say's she has a nursing mother that will probably accept this 3-4 day old kitten. She has more animals than she needs but won't turn any away. Sweet lady!! Anita's Animals is located on the east end of San Juan Cosala about half way up the entrance to the Racket Club. Turn left at the sign.

Anita's Animals Website

Concrete Canvas - Mexico City

Mexico, home to esteemed muralists such as Diego Rivera, Julian Beever attempts to create a work that captures the natural and surrealist beauty of Mexico.

I've seen a few of the YouTube videos of this guy from around the world but had not seen this one in Mexico City. Very different work and always interesting interactions with the crowds. In this case especially the police. This 3D drawing is of a Monarch butterfly on the Mexico City Zocolo. He also adds some documentation of the local street artists.

Fiesta de Bautizo

Mi Bautizo (baptism) is what the card the neighborhood kids gave me because one of their moms would have a baby in a few days. At least that's what they used for an excuse for a fiesta. The card was actually from last May for another Bautizo at the church.

Why me? Because I have fruit for the pinata, maybe a gift and some money for globos (balloons). I let the kids in the yard to get some limones (limes) and guayabas then they noticed the ciruela (plum) tree. We had to place a ladder against the wall to get the ciruelas and nobody fell!! The ciruelas were just turning red so this is the first time I tried them. Very large pits.

They needed the balloons for decoration but also for the game of gallina where everyone ties a balloon around their ankle and take turns trying to stomp on the other persons balloon. Kinda like chicken fighting.

They also needed me for duct tape to make the pinata. Problem was it was so strong it wouldn't break so it was decided to throw the prizes off the a neighbor's roof. Not good for the fruit as they exploded on impact except for the limes. They did make a good cleanup crew using every broom in the neighborhood.

Neighborhood fiesta in Jocotepec, Jalisco Mexico