Rain!

I cannot believe it-it's rained on and off all day today. This is so unusual for Vallarta! This morning there was water on the bedroom balcony and I just thought it was dew dripping from the overhead canopy (it's been dropping to 18-19C at night which is so nice for sleeping) . Then, as the day went on it started to drizzle and tonight we had a DOWNPOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really do feel sorry for people who are here on a one week resort holiday from the rain and snow up north BUT I have to say that I love it! It is so cool and refreshing for a change from the heat and sun and humidity.

Tonight I went to Greg and Shirley's for dinner and had to actually walk on the street around the outside of the houses to get there because it was raining so hard. Good thing Gail left her very light rain jacket here, otherwise I would have arrived like a drowned rat.

It's stopped now and hopefuly for good this season!

Master Bedroom and Ensuite

I've FINALLY finished the master bedroom! It's not that it is such a huge room but that I had to work around the furniture, shifting everything each time I tackled a wall. Three walls are painted a pretty lemon colour and the window wall is painted white.

Unless you have already been here you wouldn't notice anything different about the bathroom or closet. I've included pictures though to show the drawers that were added to the bathroom cabinet on the left side. Previously there had just been a solid wall there which made the area behind impossible to access. I had to buy the toilet paper holder as the only place to hang the holder was on the wall behind the toilet where the drawers now open. I hate having them hang behind the toilet anyway so I'm happy with the holder.

In the closet, I added a bank of shelves. There is now an additional one beside the one behind the door to the ensuite bathroom. I also added an extra shelf above the existing one. The ceilings are 10 feet high so there was a lot of wasted space. There is now a door into the closet from the master bedroom. It closes the room and looks much tidier. Besides, there is a skylight in the closet ceiling that brightens the bedroom too much in the morning. The skylight is a dome shaped thing that is larger than the hole in the ceiling because....it is opened to the outside with only screening around the bottom. You can't see it but it is a constantly opened skylight. It's designed so that rain cannot get in. It's commonly done down here to give air circulation, especially in the rainly season when things can get mildewed really fast. I hate it for two reasons: all the dust from the construction around here comes in through the openings, and when the air conditioner is on in the bedroom, the cool (and very expensive to run) air flows right out the top. It's kind of the opposite of hearing my father say when I was growing up: "Close that door! I'm not paying to heat Elizabeth Avenue"! :) So now the closed door will at least allow the air conditioner to run more efficiently.

Yesterday, I went back to the fabric store and bought beautiful fabric to make Roman blinds for this bedroom and the guest room. I'll start working on them this week. I can't wait to have them done and hung. Next weekend I'm going to Guadalajara to go shopping so then I can add all the little finishing touches (like paintings and wall hangings) to many rooms in the house. Anyway, that will be a different post.

This morning I went out for breakfast with some of the neighbours to a litle Mexican place called Jorge's Cocina (George's Kitchen). They have great food at typically cheap Mexican prices. One thing I've noticed about just about all the restaurants here is the cheap and awful cutlery they use. You can go to a really nice place and have a fantastic meal on beautiful Mexican plates and the cutlery looks like it comes from a dollar store. Anyway, this morning my cutlery was really bad. The knife and fork were so small and short I could hardly cut and pick up my food. Then I noticed the name on the side of the fork "Mexicana". It was cutlery from an airline! I just howled when I saw it! It's things like this that I just love down here. The most innocent thing can turn into a "I cannot believe it" story.

American Thanksgiving+Lots to be Thankful For

Gail's Mom is improving every day, so much so that Gail thinks she may be able to return to Bucerias sometime next week. The family has lots of meetings set up with the social worker and doctor to discuss her ongoing care and placement. She now requires more intense care so this weekend they will be checking out long term facilites. Of course there are long 6-7 month wait lists for the best ones so in the meantime, she will either have to stay in the hospital or go back to her intermediate care home with extra support until a bed comes available. Lots of decisions. Still we are thankful that she made it through this latest crisis and that Gail got home to spend time with her mother.

For me, I spent a very nice evening yesterday celebrating American Thanksgiving with neighbours-Canadian hosts for some of the American's here. We had turkey with all the trimmings and boy was I glad not to have to heat up my kitchen for all the food! It was delicious and lots of fun. One couple is Jewish so Thanksgiving was even more special for them than most. They are so cute, they can't imagine having a Christmas tree in their house yet they buy Christmas gifts for their Christian friends and love going to Christmas parties!  Last year Marilyn showed up at the owners Christmas party wearing a t-shirt with reindeer on it. I had to tease her about it of course!

I spent the entire day today and a good part of yesterday painting the master bedroom and I'm still not finished. There is so much furniture to work around. I've finished the ensuite bathroom and painted one wall in the walk in closet so at least that much is done. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow. I really don't mind much because it keeps me busy and after all it has to get done sometime.

So that's about it. I talk to Gail a couple of times a day using the MagicJack. What a fabulous device. I bought it last year for only $20.00. Then there is a $20.00 per year fee which gives me a Washington State telephone number that anyone up north can call to talk to me or leave a message. I can make unlimited 24/7 calls anywhere in the USA or Canada on that twenty bucks. I have a telephone connected to my computer instead of the wall but that is the only difference to using a regular telephone. It's been fantastic.

Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures of the bedroom sometime this weekend.

Thanks to all of you who have called, emailed and left messages on Facebook for Gail. I read every one to her and she is very touched. All your good thoughts and prayers have worked!

Mural Painted by Lobo!

First of all, Gail is home in Nova Scotia and spent last night with her Mom in the hospital. They both had a good night and Lillian is doing ok. She has some very good moments and some bad. It's hard to know what is going to happen as she has surprised the medical staff a lot. So, this is good news and no matter what the outcome is, Gail is very glad that she went back to spend this time with her mother.

Lobo finished our stairwell this morning. We wanted a Mexican puebla (village) scene, with houses, a church, flowers and a few people. He did a magnificent job and I am thrilled. Gail will have to wait to see the finished product! He painted two sides, one has a meadow with cows, trees, agava (tequila) plants, sunflowers, stone wall, fence etc and it flows onto the second wall to the street with a lady, man on a burro, vendor, houses, flowers surrounding them, trees, church etc. It's painted all the way to the ceiling so the top shows the mountains with the sky and clouds above. I'm describing it all because there is no way to take photos showing the entire effect.

On a funny note, I was home alone last night and every time I walked past the stairwell into the kitchen, the lady on the stairs startled me! I guess I will get used to her- almost like having a friendly ghost in the house!

So here are some photos- showing Lobo working, the progress and the finished wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Nova Scotia

Gail received some bad news yesterday. Her mother is in hospital with pneumonia, irratic heart rate, high blood pressure and failing kidneys. She is 86 years old. We were unable to get a flight back to Halifax for her yesterday and the only one available today leaves at 8:40PM on Westjet. She arrives in Calgary at 12:45am then has to stay overnight until her flight via Toronto tomorrow morning at 8AM. She won't get to Halifax until 5:30PM Monday

It's been an emotional 24 hours so far. Thank God we have the MagicJack Washington State telephone number here. She has been able to make and receive calls and messages back and forth to her family- who are of course all at the hospital. This morning the news is guardedly hopeful. Her Mom had a good night and is somewhat stable. Gail was able to speak briefly to her Mom yesterday, which made her feel somewhat better. She just wants to make it home in time to see her.

Of course yesterday, when we were desperately trying to make an airline reservation and dealing with lots of long distance calling, all my workers showed up! Aghhhh.

We had our metal security/screen door installed- what a terrific amount of noise that created.

Our artist showed up, without a ladder as he was unable to borrow one from his friend. Our stairwell is at least 20 feet high- so I had to borrow Ann and Jack's for him. He climbed up and promptly dropped a bottle of bright blue paint from a height of about 15 feet- hit the light fixture on the way down to smash on the ceramic tiles and grout. What a scramble to clean THAT up! (But he was so sweet and apologetic I couldn't get mad). The wall is about one third done and looks breathtaking!

Mariano, my carpenter arrived with all his equipment, tools and materials and had to get up the stairs with it all. Oh boy, it was like a zoo here.

So, now we have a long wait today for our trip to the airport. Gail has very little in the way of warm clothes. One pair of long pants, one pair of jeans, one pair of sneakers, two light sweaters and a rain jacket. Our sweet neighbours Marilyn and Barry stopped by last night to see if they could lend her some things to wear. We are so blessed to have purchased a house in this complex. Everyone is so helpful and kind.

So, if you read this today or tomorrow, send Gail good thoughts and good karma. I'll keep the blog updated with what is happening there and here, where I will remain.

Sunset Picnic on the Beach

Last night we decided to have a picnic dinner on the beach so we could watch the sunset. Early in the morning, Gail BBQ'd chicken and made a Greek salad. I spent most of the day painting the ensuite bathroom so by 5pm I was ready to call it a day.

We are so close to the beach. We walk out of our complex, go down the street, cross the road, turn right and walk about the length of a building. Then we turn left to a beach access path. There are steps leading to the beach and right in the middle of one step a large palm tree is growing! Last year when we arrived, there was a drop of about 10 feet from the bottom step to the sand because so much was washed away because of the heavy rains. This year, no problema!

There were very few people on the beach. We had a beautiful, relaxing time, eating cold chicken, cold salad, drinking cold bevys and watching the surf and sun. At one point a trio of Mariachi players strolled by, no doubt heading to one of the beach restaurants just down the sand a few hundred feet away.  They were so colourful!

Remember you can click on the photos for larger views.

Guest Room

Today is Wednesday and we were supposed to have four workers here today. So far, the electrician, who was scheduled to fix the fan in the master bedroom at 10am has not come. It is now 1pm. The fellow due to install the security door has not arrived, but he only told me Wednesday, not a specific time, so there is still hope. The artist who we want to paint a mural in the stairwell is supposed to come sometime this afternoon to show us a sketch of what I have described. BUT.............
The glass man did come!!!!

Only yesterday, I ordered glass to cover the dresser and two bedside tables in the guest room plus a sheet to cover the computer desk. He was here smack on time at noon. Now the guest room is completely finished with the exception of a Roman Blind that I am going to make when I find fabric that I like. We already have blinds in the window but this room faces east and when the sun comes up in the morning (even in winter it rises here around 6:45am) the room becomes very bright very quickly.

I ordered the glass mainly because the top of the dresser is really the only spot for guests to place their luggage. I don't want the furniture scratched so I ordered the glass. It looks great and we are both very pleased-especially with the price. It only cost $670. pesos- less than $65.00 Canadian for all the glass, delivered one day after ordering.

I've posted a few photos of the guest room (including the closet). The beautiful mirror is courtesy of our wonderful friends Walter and Maria from Austria, who visited us in March. We took them to the Thursday market in La Penita and they found and bought us the mirror for the guest room. We love it and it is so authentically Mexican, with a punched tin and fired ceramic tile frame.

By the way, the two twin beds in the guest room convert to a king size bed. I designed and ordered the two headboards and had the end tables custom built to fit in the space we have. When we put the mattresses together, we have a special insert that we bought in Seattle at Bed Bath and Beyond (thanks to Lea and Dale for picking it up for us!). We cover it with a king mattress pad, push the headboards together, place the two bedside tables at each end and it works perfectly (and is super comfortable)!

Next time I put the beds into a King configuration, I'll take photos and post them.

Update: Just received this text message on my cell from Lobo, the artist:
"Hi Karen, no es posible to day no felling good tomorrow 12 o 1 oclock jaliso time sorry I have desings thanks"

Here is what I THINK this means:
Hi Karen, not possible to come today, no telling if tomorrow is good but maybe 12 or 1 o'clock Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta time*) Sorry, I have the design."

At least he contacted me, which is fabulous down here. Now it is just Hector, the door guy that I am being held hostage in the house for this afternoon.

*We live in Bucerias, which is in the state of Nayarit. Puerto Vallarta is in the state of Jalisco. These two states have an hour different time zone. Just about everyone down here, except Nayarit government offices, keep PV time. It is easier because we are directly on the border and of course the airport, especially, keeps PV time. The workers often use this to their advantage when scheduling a time to work for you. If they are late, they often say they are on Nayarit time. You learn to ask and some of them have learned to tell!

Well, Manana. We were hoping to have Thursday completely free of waiting. We want to take the afternoon off to spend on the beach, take a picnic dinner and watch the sunset over the bay.........

Like I have said, you really cannot make plans here, because they are changed by forces beyond your control.

One Room Finished!

I finally can say that one room in this house is completely finished. The main bathroom has the mirror, ceiling fan/light, over the cabinet light fixture (which I installed myself!!!!Mexican style electrical work!), towel racks and toilet paper holder moved to better locations (drilled into solid concrete, which I did myself with a hammer drill), it's painted and I love it! Hopefully, room by room I will work myself through the house and post pictures as I go.

It's Sunday and the carpenter finally arrived, two and a half days late. It's so pathetic it's funny. Even though the workers are late for EVERYTHING, I am so grateful when they arrive that I act like they are honoured guests! It's once again hot here, so I turned on the ceiling fan for the carpenter as he started to work in the kitchen. He went to his truck and came back wearing a sweater!! It's 32C! I love stuff like this. Makes me really realize that I am in a completely different space than Canada.

This week Christmas trees started to arrive in the big stores here like Home Depot and Mega (the supermarket). They are live, smell beautiful and are already dropping needles in the 30+C heat. Who buys them? It's only mid November.

Yesterday vendors had set up a plant sale in the Mega parking lot. They were selling all kinds of beautiful plants including large poinsettias for only $60 pesos (less than $6.Cdn. I bought two, one red and one white. I'm going to plant them outside in January to see if I can get them to survive. They are native plants in the mountain areas here but I'm not sure about the summer heat and the humidity here on the coast.

More rooms later this week, I hope!

Happenings Around Here

There is not really too much to tell about the last week. It's still very quiet here but we have at least ten neighbours arriving this coming week. We went into Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday because I found out about a new fabric store that opened close to Walmart- much closer than going all the way into the Malacon area where the other two stores that I know about are located. I want to make Roman Blinds for the guest bedroom and the other two bedrooms eventually. The guest room is important because the sun rises on that side of the house and it is so bright in there early in the morning that it wakes up our guests. People on vacation do not need to rise so early! Anyway, the store is large and well stocked but I couldn't find the colours that I was looking for. Instead of sewing yesterday, I painted the main bathroom. It's just as difficult to paint bathrooms down here as home! But, it's done and today I will put everything back together in there and try to install the light fixture that I brought from home. I can't locate my electrician from last year so I am going to attempt it myself.
I also finally have hired a carpenter to put a door from the bedroom into the walk in closet in the master bedroom. He is also going to install additional shelving in here, put three drawers in the ensuite bathroom cabinet, install a door in the back of a kitchen cabinet and install a handrail at the top of our staircase. All this work should be started Saturday when he finishes his regular job and will be completed on Sunday. I can't wait to have it done.
I had wanted to paint the bedroom, closet and bathroom before the work is done but I don't think I will have time.
This morning, I finally had my large star choice satellite dish installed. Remember last year, they gave me the wrong size dish for Mexico. Now, I will be able to tune in the HD Channels. I need to get an HD receiver which I am going to buy online and have muled here by our next visitors!! Any volunteers?
My water system is also being serviced today. I need salt for the water softener and new filters. It's still working fine but it's an annual maintenance thing. We spend a lot of time at home waiting for all these people. The cabinet guy missed four appointments but now that I have hired him he seems to be on time for everything.
Last night we went into town (a quick five minute walk) to meet our friends Linda and Loren for drinks at Tapas del Mundo. It was Loren's birthday yesterday.
That's about it. We are just settling into a routine of normal living here. It's not a vacation-it's just life in the sun-which has been shining steadily ever since we arrived. Average days are about 30C and the nights are about 25C. Last night it dropped to about 23C and it was so beautiful walking into town and back-nice and cool!

Back from The Dark Side of the Moon!

I guess I spoke too fast when I last posted! We did indeed have phone and internet when we arrived last Tuesday. Then on Friday morning I had NADA nothing! I thought it was just a minor outage like we often have but by afternoon I checked the phone and it was gone too. Someone ran over the Telmex box in front of our house and wreaked the wiring! I realized this too late to do anything Friday and of course Monday was a big holiday here "Dia de los Muertos" Day of the Dead and the Telmex office was closed.

I cannot tell you how discouraging it was to go first thing Tuesday morning to my nemesis Telmex. I was told 1-3 days for a fix. I really expected it to be a week or more. Imagine our delight returning from a Costco run this afternoon to find both the phone and internet working- exactly three days after reporting the problem. Yeah!!!!

So now our update on the last week:
Things are really quiet here. Not many gringos have returned yet from Canada/USA. That works well for some things- like we managed to get the grass between our two driveways and our pathway removed and concrete +stones installed right away- for us and two of our neighbours who asked us to supervise it for them. There is no competition yet for the workers. On the other hand there are no happy hours or much visiting happening!

When we were in Nogales Arizona, just before we went over the border, I had an email from one of our neighbours here (Mexican who lives in Switzerland) saying she would be in Vancouver Nov 2 and wanted to see us. She looked like she saw a ghost when we knocked on her patio door Tuesday night! Lupita is a lot of fun. She married a German/Swiss man years ago -(he died a couple of years ago in his mid 50's from a brain tumor)and has lived in Switzerland ever since. There are five girls in her family- two married Canadians-one lives in Victoria and the other in Sechelt; one lives in Santa Barbara California and the other in south Mexico. We went to her house on Wednesday night and had a great dinner along with two other neighbours she had met in the couple of weeks she had been here. One is a man from Calgary-renting just until the end of November-and the other a young (mid 30's) georgeous Mexican architect. Miguel is a sweetheart and I know we will be great friends with him. He dropped by yesterday afternoon for an hour or so. He is so sweet and speaks great English! He just moved into his home here-the last one to sell- in October.

What else? Oh,Friday night- because we won't see Lupita again until next fall- we had her over for dinner. We also asked another lady we had met last year- she has bought a place in the next complex which is not ready yet (and it will be years because of the economy the work has completely stopped there)who is temporarily staying in a rental unit here over as well. Lynn is from Pakistan but has lived in Nanaimo for 30 years. She is completely not a Pakistani woman- independent-blonde hair-divorced and gutsy!

Saturday night, Hallowe'en we had about 10 kids from the complex come by screaming "We want candy"! That's what they say here-not "Trick or Treat" which is so much nicer! We offered to take Lupita to the airport-her overnight flight to Vancouver left at midnight so we headed out at 10:30. Other than in New York, I have never seen so many police on the road!

The complex looks wonderful. The guest parking lot is finished, the trees in our interior courtyard were replaced by palms which we love, the sprinkler system is done, the grass is very lush and green after the summer monsoons and our home was clean and ready for us to just move right in. We had hired an older Mexican man to clean and watch our house while we were gone. He had no idea we were returning and the house was spotless. We were truly delighted.

We went for only one long walk on the beach on Sunday. The beach looks much better this year after the rains than it did last year. Our access is just fine- last year it had been washed away. No garbage, lots of restaurants still open- which was so nice to see. We had heard that many places bit the dust because of the swine flu scare and the bad economy.

No pictures -sorry. I'll take lots over the next few days and post them. From now on, if there is a really long break before my updates, you can assume I have internet problems. I want every one of you to think positive for me. No more lost internet!!!!