Grocery Shopping

My friend Karen was managing a local restaurant and we did the shopping one afternoon.  First the meat store, then the chicken store, then the fish store. Every stop was an adventure. The chickens are fed Marigolds to get that highly prized bright yellow color. I'll take mine without feet, please! All of these venues were open-air, no doors. It made me sad to come home to Safeway with its florescent lights and linoleum floors. It was so much more fun to shop Mexican Style.

Tomorrow, pictures of the produce market.

Colors of Mexico

The colors of Mexico are so warm and exciting. No such thing as pastel, no living quietly. So much of the pottery, and the color pallet in general, reminds me of Italy.  That will be high on my "Observations" list when we are in Italy next month. The Mexican Talavera pottery designs seem so similar to the Majolica and Amalfi designs.

Watch this blogsite for pictures from Italy.  I'm hoping to bring home a shallow spaghetti bowl with a rooster on it to match the one of my grandmother's that one of my kids broke when they were little.  I'm not naming names, but it was my oldest!

Why We Love Seattle

Living in Mexico part-time sounds exciting, but we could never leave Seattle completely. There is just too many wonderful things here.
Last night we had a great opportunity to be guests onboard the Argosy Cruise Lines shake-down cruise for their new Tillicum Indian Village cruise.  Yes, Argosy purchased the Tillicum Village and has done some MAJOR renovations, upgrades and improvements.  Gone are the styrofoam plates, replaced with stoneware dishes, cloth napkins and an elegant table setting. Food was greatly improved as well, even though it's hard to improve on cedar roasted salmon. The trip over was fun with the best bartenders ever - great wine and fabulous cocktails.  Clams and nectar served steaming in heavy mugs (no styro cups!) when we landed on the beach - then drop the shells onto the trail and crush them with your foot to add to the path cover! Staff was friendly and helpful. The grounds were gorgeous and even the gift shop was new and interesting.  The Seattle skyline in the fading evening light and again fully lit in the dark, was gorgeous.
I will never be able to choose which I love best!

Water and Electricity

Know what these are called?  Margarita eggs!!  Yup, soon as you break one open, you have Margaritas!!

Very good news from Tenacatita, the test wells found a good spot for fresh water, enough to service a couple dozen homes along the beach.  Bids requests are out to put in underground electrical lines.  Still waiting to hear what the bids are. It looks like the first house will be starting soon.  Wish it was ours, but we have a ways to go yet.

Our beach

This is our first visit to our little beach.  Within minutes Steve caught this 25# Jack in the surf.  While he was holding it, a huge green sea turtle surfed in on a wave, poked her head up and looked us over, then dove out of sight. A few minutes after we let the fish go, we saw two gray whales offshore breaching, splashing and playing in the surf.  Now, two cool things can be considered a coincidence, but THREE cool things is an omen, a good omen, we hope.  We bought the lot Steve is standing on.

The First Step is the hardest

We have placed our cute little cabin for sale to finance the purchase of the land and get us started on the house itself.  Three years ago it would have sold the first day.  We had an Open House yesterday, but the realtor reports that the neighbors were the only visitors.  Funny, none of them visited us when we lived there, why would they flock to see the house after we've gone?

In the Beginning

From original diary-
Jan. 22nd - 2010
Left dreary rainy Seattle for a quick trip to Manzanillo to visit old friend Karen and her significant other, Jeff. We had free tickets about to expire and were looking for a fast getaway. We flew from Seattle through Los Angeles into Manzanillo expecting to sip a few Margaritas, get sunburned and head back home, de-stressed.

Rented a car at the airport and drove the only highway headed north for Barra de Navidad. Our first Mexican surprise is unannounced road bumps. They come out of nowhere, are rarely announced and serve to rattle your teeth and test the suspension. As a traffic monitoring device, they are extremely effective.

There are coconut palm trees lining the roads with banana trees tucked in between the towering palms. A light breeze rustles the fronds. We start peeling off layers of Seattle as the sun quickly penetrates our fleece, down, wool and heavy denim.

We wander around Barra driving right past the Coldwell Banker sign Karen said we couldn't miss! The roads are twisty alleys crowded with families, scooters, and trucks much too big for this small village.

Karen's house is gorgeous, the pool cool and inviting and we are quickly changed into linen and ready for dinner at Isadora's, the restaurant they manage. Swordfish sushi that is heavenly, large lime margarita with fresh lime, nothing better.

Sleeping in a tile lined room with the windows open, a light breeze ruffling the curtains and the moon tickling my eyelids. It feels like magic.