Muchas Llaves

Domingo 25 Noviembre - Sabado 01 Diciembre 2012.  (Dom 25^th) Ania & Frank picked us up at 9am, for the half hour trip north to Coscomatepec. As we said we'd do the lunch,we took some homemade cabbage, nut, apple slaw and fresh pineapple. Bought a broasted chicken in Cosco. Had a wonderful day on the hills above town. Carmen and Ania did some weeding and lots of chatter. Dan and Frank drove to their the hill top hexagon cabin to check things out. The streets thru Cosco are very narrow, hilly and cobbled. Came home with what they call California lemons (huge, like large grapefruit), oranges, prickly chayote, and some ground-planted stems of orchids, all from their property in the avocado grove north of Cosco.

(Lun 26^th) Dan spent some time getting ready to caulk around windows. Many need this done as panes are installed without putty and the stops holding some of the windows leave the glass loose, or even with an edge unsupported where the glass has been carelessly cut. Being that we could not get into our house without three keys, Dan has been spending time crafting spaces for hidden keys. With the house doors and windows all protected by cemented-in wrought bars, there is no option of just breaking a window to enter – a set of keys is a must. If we both misplace or forget to put our keys in a pocket, we would be shut out with not many options for getting in.

(Mar 27^th) Why must two cats have their play time of around and around and over the bed at 5:30am? Stopping now & then thru the next two hours to give us loving pats and purrs.

This morning, Carmen tried out her oven again. She learned she must keep it turned to it's highest setting to keep it at 400º F. She made a lemon meringue pie from half of the lemons we got yesterday. While the pie cooled, we walked into town. Another beautiful day! The paint store says our order will be here soon. Another bank stop and hardware stop. Also Dan had taken the cylinder out of the front door lockset and we took it along with a newly made key to the locksmith. The key does not work, despite the locksmith working on it twice, and having the cylinder in the shop will insure a good result this time. Stopped by the correos office to leave a little monetary gift for our postman. He's only delivered two pieces of mail to us, but his family depends on his annual tips from Dia del Cartero, and we've seen him rarely as he delivers when we have been out and about. The gift will perhaps remind him to give us good service this coming year. Stopped by the grocery store for some vanilla ice cream, and some local coffee liqueur for Dan to drizzle on it.

The pie turned out great, one of the best Carmen has made, and she has baked many in the past. Recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. Guess the oven is a keeper. The taste of the pie was not like one made from the typical lemons found NoB, but winningly yummy. Dan called Ania and told her that if Frank would stop by on his way home, that we would give them a couple pieces. Ania suggested she would trade some fresh homemade banana bread for it. Quite a fair trade we would say! Frank stopped by for the bakery trade just as it was getting dark. Chocolate banana bread! Somehow, Dan messed up the front gate lock and now the key won't fit. So the front yard is just latched by hand tonight.

(Mie 28^th) Still enjoying the ground orchids that Ania gave us, now in a bud vase in living room. They are sort of a mauve with their usual freckles. Dan talked Carmen into going up on top of the laundry building roof to paint the propane tank today. He has somehow hurt his right wrist. Must be too much retirement. Carmen was in the scalding sun for an hour, and during this time Dan worked on getting our domain email functioning again, after the server change back in the US. While on the roof, Carmen could see over the privacy walls while the neighbor lovingly brushed his dog. Also she dodged some butterflies. She finished the job and called to Dan to come up and inspect for missed spots. No sooner did Dan arrive than Carmen's finger flipped out and knocked the paint can over. What a mess. Really did not need the roof painted with rustoleum. On the way down off the roof – over the edge of the laundry roof parapet, across a few feet of slippery tiles, and on to the ladder – Dan got two big spider bits on his left arm. Likely from the foliage of the one tall plant we had to maneuver thru while on the ladder. Took quite a while to clean paint off of us.

Dan spent time working at troubleshooting the front gate lock. There were no options to take the lock to a locksmith, since some unthinking person in the past welded the lock to the gate. He ended up using a large paper clip on the outside of the gate to access the pins, and the key which only would go partway into the cylinder on the inside, essentially picking the lock. He must have learned how do this from watching too many criminals portrayed on TV, since he really didn't know what he was doing. At any rate, it works again. Since the lock now functioned, the extra key went into a hidden spot he's made for it.

(Jue 29^th) Dan's spider bites look like goose eggs. Going to spend the day with lots of hot compresses trying various lotions and liquids to take away the itching and swelling. Carmen went out back and chopped down the about nine feet off the top of the plant. Saw that it did indeed have a large spider nest hidden in the leaves. She dragged the plant into the banana field across the street, and discarded it there.

Walked into town to get the lock cylinder for front door. It works again – the locksmith had to cut a totally new llave (key) for it, as he couldn't fix the one he'd made earlier. Speaking of llaves, how did we get so many to carry around with us? Wasn't like this NoB. Here every door and gate requires a different type of key to lock it. Counting thru our key rings: front yard gate, front door gate, front door, back door lockset, back door interior padlock, back yard car gate, back yard second gate, laundry room. Plus a key for four same-keyed padlocks & chains which are used to lock up the extension ladder to the wall and the back door gate when we're gone with the car, and the other two to double lock the outer gates when we're gone for long periods. The car keys are on separate key rings, only used when we're driving somewhere. This says nothing for keys we don't carry around with us, like for the front & back door deadbolts, filing cabinet & strongbox, and various other locks, like for the bedroom doors, etc.

Walked over to the town center, and tapped the ATM again. While in the park, there was a woman sweeping the open spaces & sidewalks, as there nearly always is, with a very long palm frond. Much more effective than a push broom. The paint store told us the paint would be in next thursday. Lot's of sidewalk vendors out today, so we guessed that thursday is the day for people in Fortin to have their tianguis, or street market. The big tianguis on the boulevard going into Córdoba is Wednesday, and Sunday there is a huge used car market in the same area. We bought another piña on the walk home. This one is on the verge of being too ripe – about to turn. Spent some time near a tall bush bearing daisy-like flower 10 to 15 feet in the air, taking pictures to put here. Hopefully one will turn out.

Looking back at this paragraph, we note that we have begun to follow spanish conventions, and have stopped capitalizing certain words, that for some anachronistic reasons, are still capitalized routinely in english: languages, days of the week, month names and the like. Feels good to do this, as we never could figure out why such importance was being given to these common words.

(Vie 30^th) This is finally the day for Carmen's tooth to be pulled. We left home early, so as to make some quick shopping stops on the way. First we pulled up in front of OxiVer, a welding supply shop, for a small propane tank which Dan will need for working on the copper plumbing pipes. No luck. Then a stop at the Office Depot for a calendar and another look at software – a big two aisle display of appointment books & schedulers, but not a single wall-hung calendar in the store. The only software in the store was utility and security programs, and some office suites.

We parked near the dentists office early, so Carmen went up there (three flights of stairs) to wait, and Dan went across the street where he saw a possible place to buy the propane tank – again no luck, and he was referred to a store downtown. Meanwhile, the dentist arrived a few minutes after Carmen and started explaining in english that he had consulted a friend, an endodontist, on Carmen's situation and together they decided that a different procedure, an endoposta, would be better than pulling the tooth. Dan arrived and Dr Soley happily explained the procedure to Dan in spanish. We are to return to his office tuesday, when both he and the endodontist will be working on Carmen. The top of the tooth will be removed, then the gum will be cut back. Next the nerve will be removed (the root canal procedure or endodoncia, but much easier to perform as the upper part of the tooth is not in the way). Then antibiotic will be put down in the affected area, and the tooth will be allowed to drain and heal. On the subsequent visit, the tooth's nerve space gets fitted with a post, which will support a replacement tooth, all to get capped with a bridge. The procedure leaves the good, well-anchored, natural root in place – a much less invasive procedure in all. Now aren't you happy to know all this? Perhaps some of you have had this procedure done before.

After we left the dentist's office we checked the yellow pages which we carry in the car. No listing for the store that was recommended to Dan for the propane tank. He did notice that that another possible source was listed, just two more blocks down Avenidia 11, so he left Carmen in the car to wait while he checked it out. The store he found, specializing in hard-to-find plumbing and industrial fittings, did not sell these small tanks (that one can find in every hardware store in the US, but not here), but, he got directions to another place two blocks away. Yes, that store, the Casa del Plomero, had a few in stock, and he returned to the car, finally successful.

Upon arriving home, Carmen decided to make another lemon meringue pie. Too bad Frank did not just happen to stop by, since this, we learned, is his favorite pie. Moments after she started the pie, her brother Guy who lives in Pennsylvania., skyped us. He (ie, the netbook with webcam) got to sit on the kitchen counter and chat while Carmen baked. That was fun. Carmen took the pie out of the oven and set it on the counter next to Guy, just as Gardi noticed that she was talking to Guy on the netbook. Being that Gardi cat likes to say hello, he leaped up on the counter, just missing landing in the pie. Kitty got scolded. Carmen put the netbook on the floor next to Gardi where he could do a more appropriate greeting, complete with stretches, etc. Not sure how Guy felt about being sat on the floor for the kitty hello.

Next Peggy skyped. She said they were having a wet time in Santa Cruz, Calif, with possible flooding predicted. Carmen took Peggy (ie, the netbook) outside to see if she knew the name of the plant that Carmen cut down. Always great to hear from friends.

Dan's spider bite swelling has gone down in size, though the itching's still there, so the hot compresses continue. In the afternoon Carmen climbed to the roof top to put a white coat of paint on the propane tank. She enjoys painting as long as Dan cleans out the brushes and painting tools. Now finally time for the meal, so we consumed the vegetable soup Carmen made yesterday, expecting not to be able to chew today, warmed up and with addition of cut-up sausages. Yes, also lemon pie. Sunny day.

(Sab 01^st) Food note: You never know where you will find hot chilies or lemon. Carmen bought a small bag of Cheetos to find them very hot with chili peppers. This week she wanted some marshmallows for hot chocolate. Bought a small package of miniature ones at the checkout counter. They tasted like lemon . Not so good in hot chocolate.

Dan took off walking the nine blocks to Ania & Franks new place, as he wanted to talk to Frank about how to go about paying the crew when they are working here. Only halfway there, they drove past and took him the rest of the way. They were a bit early, as they were planning to go to Ania's daughter Kalina's home in Boca del Rio, next to Veracruz City, for the weekend. Dan revealed that Carmen had baked another pay merengue de limon, and if they stopped by Frank could get a piece. No problem convincing them, and after they dropped Dan off at home they left with two pieces of pie on a paper plate. They were headed out to babysit the grandchildren. They said they enjoy going down to the beach during the winter, as long as it was before March when it again becomes hot and humid. Perhaps we should try this some time, as long as we avoid those few“northers” that bring cold winds down from the wintery US, making even a walk on the beach unpleasant.

Thereafter, Dan finished the repair on a bedroom window screen and we put it back in place, which was difficult since it is a really tight fit. Spent some time reading. Our Smij cat honored us with her presence for awhile. We rarely see her during the day.