Proyectos pequeños

Wow! (or as spelled out in spanish “¡Guau!”), how time flies (como vuela el tiempo)! It's been almost two months since we last posted here. No problems or issues, or too much of note, we're just enjoying life, reading, jigsaw-puzzling, some TV most nights, and keeping up with the flowers in the yard. It's typical summer weather here, with warm days and very frequent evening showers, that rainfall taking care of a lot of keeping the plants in the yard irrigated, except for those on the porch and under the roof overhangs.

One monday in mid-July, taking advantage of the timing of a 4pm IMSS appointment in Veracruz, we arranged to drive down early in the morning, taking our neighbor Carolyn along with us. She had been wanting to show us one of her favorite beaches there. Our previous trips to the big port city had us in the downtown area, so some time on the beach sounded great. We managed a good part of the day on Playa Mocambo, in the adjacent city of Boca del Rio, south of the port, From our shaded spot on the shore (we're not looking to burn) one can see far around south, past the river mouth, to the point where the navy school is located. The port area is not visible from here, as that vista is only available from around the point to the north. Carmen had packed a light lunch of sandwiches, so we didn't even have to wander off the playa for snacks or partake of fare from the occasional vendors trudging by. Keep in mind this was a non-weekend day, before school was let out for the month long summer vacation, so parking was no problem (in the lot of the waterpark just up the strand), and the beach was not crowded. The water temp was great, with minimal wave action just right for floating on one's back—a relaxing time.

We left Carolyn under a rented-for-the-day (MX$30) umbrella station (table, chairs) on the beach, got to the clinic in time for the cita, and afterwards had time for a great Carl Jr's burger next to where we parked. Then back to the Plaza America mall (across the coastal highway from Mocambo) where we connected with Carolyn in the food court. She just loves to mall browse. Aside from a few routing mistakes, caused by not having a detailed city map and street construction changing things up a bit, it was a good day. We got back home just after dark, the last few miles on the new lanes of the autopista in the rain (no visible lane edge markings yet, and a steep drop where the shoulder had not yet been graded) causing just a bit of white-knuckling. Dan hates driving at night, so we make every effort to plan our trips to avoid it—if we had avoided the transit misdirects in Veracruz we could have been home an hour earlier.

We celebrated Dan's birthday with a restaurant outing in Córdoba. A few days before we took the time to do a walking tour of the area we think of as the restaurant area of the city. We dropped into six or seven eating establishments serving a variety of cuisines (italian, argentine, brazilian,japanese, etc), viewed menus, prices and ambiance, and decided for this occasion we'd visit the Villa Franca, a new restaurant specializing in “Mediterranean” meals. It was a good choice, after we moved our party (the two of us plus Ania & Frank) from the open area in front (too much street noise) to farther back but next to an inner courtyard window.

A couple of proyectos pequeños (small projects) in the house occupied us a bit. The open shelves in the bathroom got fitted with cantina-style doors (two pairs, the lower ones hung upside down). We bought these unfinished at Home Depot, and stained, varnished, hinged and hung them to create the look of a floor to ceiling cabinet. Now all the bottles and boxes of meds and body care stuff are out of sight.

Items in open hanging areas and on shelves tends to get dusty, but one has to be careful if closing-in spaces or covering them, because mildew is always lurking. So the new bath cabinet has louvered doors. The shelves and unenclosed “closet” spaces where our clothes live have been great for reducing chances for mildew on the fabrics, but even so Carmen hangs them all out in the sunshine every so often to keep them fresh. Closing off that end of the bedroom with louvered doors was considered, but that would have been a big, pricey, job and the doors would always be in the way. So for the master bedroom we found some pull-up “cortinas romanas” made of bamboo slats at Walmart, a type of shade normally used outdoors on a porch. Even this much of enclosure will keep the air a bit stagnant around the clothes, so we will only use these shades some of the time. Pulled up, they are completely out of the way.

Of course they didn't exactly fit the spaces, so both sides had

to be trimmed off with shears and hacksaw, and the bracket slots recreated in the new ends. That got the widths correct, without having to change the cording mechanisms. We elected to hang these so that there was about 8” of space above the shade (where air can easily exit, yet above the sight-line so the hanging clothes aren't visible), and a similar amount at the floor, where our shoes get stashed (again, this is good for keeping them dry and mildew-free).

We have had building-related activity on all three sides of us. Actually, as I write this, there is a crew cleaning out the undergrowth and pulling down bedraggled and brown leaves from the banana field to the north, so some activity interesting to us has taken place in all four directions. After Valentin, in the single-story house to the west, moved away, the landlord came by with a crew to touch up all the exterior painting, reseal most of the roof, and put it new rain scuppers there. So far, no new tenants into this small house, and the landlord comes by de vez en cuando to keep the garden looking nice. Beyond that house, there is a vacant lot, overgrown and rampantly green for all the

while we have been here, that has now be cleaned out, possibly to be sold?

To the east, the corner double-wide lot across the street has been rising fast. The regular crew seems to consist of six or seven happy guys. After the concrete walls went up, about a week of work erecting temporary posts and plywood floor forms, topped with a maze of rebar (varilla) and lastly a bunch of orange flexible electrical conduit and junction boxes tacked to the forms. We expected a pumper and concrete truck (from Veracruz port, the closest ready-mix plant) would be the next step.

Not so. This past saturday trucks delivered huge piles of sand, gravel and then a hundred or so bags of cement, these last stacked against the walls of the church to the north. A crew of 35 men swarmed over the area, making concrete in two large towable mixers, with others carrying it in partly-filled 5-gal buckets (cubetas) to the wall, others standing on a mid-wall height scaffold and hoisting the buckets to the floor level where others would run it over the rebar-covered floor to dump it for the guys placing and vibrating the mix into place. There were enough guys on the crew that a couple would be free to rest for brief periods. By the end of the afternoon all the work was done. Amazing!

Next door to the south, the house (used to be an office for a social-services organization, empty since the end of the year) has been sold to a local newly-married couple, Jorge & Carla. This is Jorge's second marriage, as also living with them is his daughter and his granddaughter (nieta). We have only met Jorge so far. This building, as an office, was only finished on the ground floor, with open-to-sky partial brick walls on the unfinished second story. There is now a crew of three albañiles working to complete the construction (with also some paint and finish work downstairs), which will consist of pouring posts between the old freestanding brick upper walls, then beams and eventually a sloping slab concrete roof. It will be good to have this building made weather-proof, as the rain-soaked brickwork has been wicking moisture into our contiguous wall.

A couple of new blooms have pleased us. First, our night-blooming cereus had three buds that we had thought were new branching stems, but as they developed we discovered they would be flowers. Unfortunately they got to just that point where we were checking every night to see if they had opened when they suddenly died back. Turns out we had let the pot get too dry. We are now taking more care and we have gotten another burst of seven flower buds. Since this plant blooms earlier in the year, perhaps this is because the first flowers failed to mature. How far will these get, and will any of them then form into pitahaya (“dragon fruit”). (Dan bought a huge pitahaya at the grocery store and enjoyed it's succulence. Carmen used a bit of it as a garnish on a melon-jicama pineaple-yogurt-dressed salad one day that Frank & Ania visited us for lunch.). The Stapelia gigantea (carrion plant) just keeps pushing out huge blooms that the house flies just love to visit.

The Stanhopea occulata (Torito, Two-Eyes Stanhopea) we have had for the longest time in a coir lined wire-basket hanging near the from gate, pushed out a bloom stalk thru the bottom of the basket. The large native orchids didn;t last very long but were beautiful, with a fragrance of mint-chocolate. We took the time one day when the car was out to visit the floricultura center north of town and but several plants we have been wanting. This include a Cycas revoluta (sago palm), a native Zamia furfuracea (cardboard palm) and an Adenium obesum (desert/karoo rose), plus another hibiscus to replace the one we lost.

Currently, the open storage wall in the mid-sized front guest room also is getting an enclosing “treatment,” vertical curtains. The fabric Carmen is using is actually plant shading cloth, so it is very strong, weatherproof and yet allows air to pass thru it. Aside from some problems with the sewing machine, which have been resolved, this project is almost done.

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El Fortíncito

During Semana Santa (the holy week leading up to Easter) Dan heard news on the local radio station that the city of Fortín would be running a special tour bus visiting some interesting sites around the area.  The three hour tours would take place thursday thru sunday, with three departures each day.  Kathy Perez, the morning news host, talked the trip up after she took one of the first ones.  The new mayor is very much into promoting the delights of his fair city for visitors and tourists, and these new bus tours are an early result of his efforts. The weather during mid-week was pretty iffy but by saturday things had improved so much that we decided to indulge our curiosity the next morning.

Easter sunday we were up early, well-breakfasted, shod with good walking shoes and armed with a bit of bug repellent to ward off any chiggers that might be lurking in the grassy areas we would be visiting.  We walked into the center of town, arriving in front of city hall about 8:15am.  Sure enough there was a booth set up, and the young ladies in attendence said the lady with the tickets would be there soon.  We took a turn around the park and by the time we got back to the booth there were quite a few people standing around to buy tickets. We wondered if we would get seats, but apparently some of the folks were there to buy passage on the later noon and 3pm tours. The short street directly in front of the munipcal building where we were waiting is closed off on weekends and hoildays, and it is here where the bouncy inflatables are set up for the little kids, and from where the mini-"train" circulates.  We saw that there was a new, larger train parked here, perhaps also thru the efforts of the new mayor.  About quarter to nine a gayly painted Metro bus pulled up and we we able to board, sitting well up front.  By nine the 40-passenger El Fortíncito bus was full and off we went.

Ana, our guide started off welcoming us, explaining that this little tour would take us around the city and as far north as Monte Blanco.  She asked those in the group to raise their hands when she called out their home locations, and it turned out that qute a few folks were from other states in Mexico.  Everyone clapped for each group so identified.  She also asked how many were from the US, and the two of us raised hands, to a huge applause from all.  She proudly told us we were the first "international" visitors to take this tour.  Later we explained to her that we were also "locals."  Throughout the trip she threw in a few english ín words here and there to help explain things for Carmen.  The bus headed out thru Fortín Viejo, the old part of the  town, passing outside of a gate behind which Ana told us was the site and ruins of the old fort that gave the name to the city.  The mayor is trying to negotiate the ability to include visits to this interesting site, now on the grounds of a private home, in future city tours.  Our current tour, consisting of six brief stops, was just a sampling of several future itineraries in the planning stages, which would specialize in specific areas or subjects of interest, like the history, culture and economy of the community.  Just below the location of the fort on the old steep road down into the Metlac canyon to the west of town, we stopped a El Mirador (recently opened, cleaned up an painted.  A few picnic tables here overlook the Metlac river far below.

Next stop was the Museo Tatsu Goro, the famous national bonsai museum about four blocks south of the center of town in the attractive residential area where we had looked to buy a home a few years ago.  The museum, created by Don Miguel Ros, houses a collection of over 500 specimens in over 100 species, accumulated over more than 30 years.  The museum is open to the public, free of charge, and also offers inexpenive classes in bonsai creation and care.  Staff gave our group a brief overview, and we wandered around admiring the various types of bonsai.

From downtown Fortín we headed north on the highway that goes to Coscomatepec and Huatusco, to the town of Monte Blanco, and actually a bit further west into the adjacent pueblo of Santa Lucía Potrerillo. Here we visited the site of the ex-hacienda Monte Blanco.  It lies at the foot of the dominating crest of that name, which was topped in the past by a small fortification.  This old estate was occupied by a family up to the time of the revolution.   The walls and remaining ruins give some idea of the kind of life that was possible on a country quinta controlling a large part of the surrounding area.  There are hopes of creating a small museum here, with photos form that era illustrating how things looked back when it was a functioning enterprise.

Next a rest and refreshment stop at Chula Vista, a restaurant and outdoor recreation center in Monte Blanco on the rim of the Metlac green and forested canyon.  Some of the folks on the bus elected to stay here and return on a later bus, as this is a good departure point for a hike down into the natural area below.  The final stop on the tour was the Parque de Floricultura just north of Fortin.  We wondered why there was no sign of preparations for the upcoming annual Feria de la Flor, always held at the end of April  -- we later learned that this year's festival will be held  during the first ten days of august, in conjunction with the town's celebration of it's founding on 03 August 1930.  We spent maybe 15 minutes al the floral center, and got back downtown just about noon, where a busload of folks where waiting for seats on the next departure.

Examen ocular

Domingo 23 - Sábado 29 Mar 2014   Carmen wanted to go to the Lebanese restaurant in Orizaba to celebrate her cumpleaños (birthday), but for one reason or another we never did it until today, 4½ months later.  Sunday is the day when they have their full buffet, and since we had talked about our positive experience there, Ania and Frank decided to dine with us. Oh so scrumptious! Authentic ethnic restaurants here are few and far between. After overstuffing ourselves from the buffet, the owner gave us some Lebanese special desserts that were not part of the dessert table. On the way out, Ania spied some items to buy. The one was a kilo-sized bag of semolina, which is rarely found in stores here. She shared with us. Carmen had been longing for the taste of cream of wheat for a long time...

We received an email from a friend who has been involved in rescue/recovery efforts, about the devastating mud slide very close to where we lived for many years in the US. Since then, we have been following the local news on the NWCN website.  The landslide, a mile wide and pushing mud & debris about a mile from the hillside that gave way, covered 59 lots and about two dozen houses, and has blocked the state highway and clogged the Stillaguamish river betwen Oso & Darrington, in the state of Washington. The rain-soaked hillside north of the river, perhaps undercut by the flowing water, came down as a rush of mud, rocks, trees and undergrowth, crossing the river and covering the little group of houses that had been built in a flat ox-bow loop on the south side of the river.  Rescure efforts were hampered as the mud was like quicksand, and due to constant rain it was feared that the hillside had not yet stabilzed. As of saturday 18 bodies have been recovered and 30 are still missing and may never be found..

Another jigsaw puzzle was started and finished. Only 1000 pieces, but harder than the last. It is a golfing "Where's Waldo"-type scene, with hundreds of tiny people golfing in the most unlikely situations. In trees, cars, trains, planes, canoes, and over cliff edges.

Tuesday Dan finally had his examen ocular (eye exam). His experience was the opposite of Carmen's.  Dan had Dr Ferrón, a male doctor instead of the woman Carmen had. This fellow enjoyed talking with us and opinioned that Obama should take over Mexico and make it part of the US.  He could not imagine any one leaving the US and moving here. He said he would gladly trade our US house today for his. Dan's eyes are in good shape, no changes since his last exam two years ago, and he was given some eyedrops in case he ever had need of them.

Mangoes, guayabas, apples (at US$0.60 cents a pound), pepitas (pumpkin seeds), spinach (two large bunches for US$0.14) and good looking pork chops were our buy today. Strawberries fresh on a corner in downtown Fortín for US$0.35 a pound. These are easily as good as the berries grown in northwest Washington, and are not the huge, watery, weak-flavored berries that are shipped around the US from California. Yes, another shortcake! Apple pie soon too, with MaryLou's recipe. Often our evening cena (dinner) is a half apple and piece of cheese each.

Tuesday thru wednesday we received a light steady rain. Posies perked up! Our gorgeous hibiscus suddenly showed us that it is suffering with root wilt. We followed survival info from the internet. Took it out of the pot. Threw the dirt away. Rinsed the roots in chlorinated water. Put it in new soil which we then watered with an anti-fungal solution. Wondering if we have saved it. Probably not, but Ania says they are pretty resiliant. We also have a couple other plants with a fungal problem. We have sprayed and watered them with a sulfer-based fungicide. Apparently this fungal wilt was the cruel killer of our goats foot pink orchid tree.  We saved some pods from this tree, planted them after losing the tree, and so far eight have germinated. Also the piece of our vanilla orchid which was accidentally broken off a year ago, has started to grow again. Yea!

Gardi spotted a butterfly (black with orange triangle and white spots around the edge) on it's last legs. At least it was unable to fly. He did not touch it, until it crawled upon his tail, at which time he gently removed it and sat watching it, the last we saw. Smij is becoming less fearful of her world. She even occasionally lets someone passing outside the fence actually see her, the least scary people it seems are mostly men with soft voices. She will study them before dashing inside.

We presently have copper-colored chrysanthemums on our dining table and red carnations of cream & deep red petals in the living room. Our  miniature roses are blooming: red, white, peach and yellow. Think they will be small bushes. More orchids blooming. Speaking of copper – the back portion of Carmen's hair is rather copper-like – the front being light gray. Weird for some one who formally lived with ash blonde.

Friday was not as expected. We went to IMSS hospital to do a quick pick-up of papers at the clinic head's office to get Carmen's next eye appointment. The tonometer (machine for testing internal eye pressure) had been broken when Dr Vera had examined Carmen, so the doctora had written up an order to send her to another hospital for the test.  This is the same machine that tested Dan earlier in this week!  Now, it seems that the clinic chief, understanding that the machine was fixed, wanted to avoid sending folks elsewhere for the testing. Apparently they had to wait for Dr Vera to personally check and OK the machine. Two other ladies were there waiting for the same issue. Turns out that the doctora never showed up  for her shift and we are to return monday. This next time we will not forget a book. We were there for four hours!   While waiting, Dan's sore throat got to the point where he was barely able to squeak sounds. Since we are to take in a fecal occult test monday, we can take no vitamin C – which is our favorite “get rid of colds and sore throat” treatment.

Mid-day temperatures went above 90ºF. Used our car airconditioner driving home from IMSS, for the first time since arriving in Mexico. This evening a gray-haired lady rang our doorbell. She carried an old five gallon bucket, and asked for some food. She gave us so many blessings of thanks after we handed her a container of milk, that we felt we should have given more. We are not the only house she will stop at however. Some folks specifically ask for tortillas, which we have only frozen. The younger folks get a juice box, and one really starving elderly man also gets cookies or part of our recent meal.

A favorite tv show at the moment is “The Renovators” from 4:30 til 6pm, five days a week. Takes place in Australia and was filmed in 2011. We had missed the first few shows, but luckily after the last show, the series started again. It starts with 26 people and ends up with one, renovating six rundown houses around Sydney. Friday evening a strong wind storm, with giant rain drops, blew in from the northwest. Carmen had to fight with the strong rachas (gusts), to get the windows closed. The floors and chairs on the north and west were soaked with driven rain. We have never before had forceful winds from the west, and we had not had rain blow inside since we put the plexiglas panels part way up outside our windows. The storm was relatively short – but soaking. 

Our breakfast bananas have gone squishy – banana muffin time. The neighborhood gray sleek female cat can get thru our narrow barred gates. Yesterday she was found sitting with Gardi under our car. No fighting – merely enjoying the companionship! Probably Gardi will invite her into our house some day. Then what?

No specific pictures illustrating the week's activities, so we have selected some images of our cactus & succulent collection to place here.

A una iglesia

Domingo 05 - Sábado 11 Enero   

It finally happened. After many neighborly invitations to churches in the area we finally agreed to go to church with Oscar & Nancy, and family, who live two blocks south of us. They have a pickup truck, so we followed them in our car, since the directions seemed confusing to us. Took us about 15 minutes to get to the church. We had to take the autopista west a short distance, and a short drive north thru the country. The little village where the church is, maybe a dozen homes, is La Cumbre de Metlac, a part of Dos Rios, the town northwest of the where the big bridges cross the deep Metlac barranca. 

Were we actually going to attend an Iglesia Bautista Gracia (Grace Baptist Church)? Apparently yes, as we leaned when we turned a final corner and saw the front of the building.  Upon arriving, one parks along a dirt road. The church is new, recently plastered and painted, and still building roofs over the outside area. Immediately Oscar introduced us to some english-speaking folks and also the minister. One lady is from New York. Everyone was very friendly. People mingle about outside for a bit, or avail themselves of coffee and treats, then go into the church. There is a stack of bibles, all in spanish, on a table by the door for those who did not bring one.  Some folks had their bible on a tablet device.  The church is tall-ceilinged and painted white inside, with two aisles and 12 seats across. Also a small balcony up in back, where most of the teens sat. Probably 120 to 150 folks attending today, standing room only in the back.  

Boom, boom, boom – the amplified music has started. Soooo loud, it could have shaken a dwelling. Drums and acoustic & electric guitars were played by six men of various ages. One could sing as loud and off-key as one wanted and the persons standing next to to you could not hear you. Our ears started ringing. For almost an hour, everyone remained standing and the young man at the podium directed the sound, responsive readings and songs. The lyrics for the songs (but no musical notation) were projected high on the front wall. We have not seen this done before, but it sure beats handing out song books. Finally with continual praises to God in prayer and song, we sat. Children at this point went into another part of the church, for sunday school. The music used was not hymns, at least with any tunes we were familiar with, but seemed to be shorter pieces of sung praise. Seems most folks didn't need to look at the lyrics, so we suspect the music was the same each week.

All first-timers were asked to stand and asked where they were from. Several towns were represented by the dozen or so newcomers. Following this, the pastor made some announcements about classes during the week and planned work sessions (for the new roof over the front patio), then launched into an hour-long sermon which was about "doubting Thomas," asking everyone in the congregation to follow along in their own texts.  The sermon was all about what was written in the scriptures, what events had transpired then, and  how we today can understand each passage.  This was all similar to Carmen's church upbringing. However, Dan's churchgoing history is different, with the liberal pastors he recalls mostly sermonizing with only a brief reference to scripture and much more interpretation and application of the ideas to modern life. The sermon was entertaining since the minister was full of movements while talking. Many times the congregation let out joyful noises and "amen's" at what the preacher said. Bit different from the more sedate services we are used to.  

Being the first sunday of the month, there was communion, open to all present. The grape juice and bread was passed out to those standing. The bread was an uncut small round loaf that folks had to break a wee piece from – not too sanitary. More songs of praise, and then the offering was collected by people carrying long poles with a long black bag at the end. This is good. No one can see what the other puts in. At the end of the service there were a few more announcements, and an invitation to all to stay for a meal or snack after the service.  Everyone shakes hands with people standing near them, and after the service closed, as they walk outside. There is a small eating area, where foods prepared by women of the church are served, which one pays for at prices listed on a chalkboard, to reimburse the ones who furnished them. 

We now felt a little awkward and at loose ends, so made an excuse and went to our car to leave. We had left home at 10:30am and were told the service was over at 1pm, but it went almost an hour more, and could easily have taken more time if we stayed to eat and chitchat. Just as we were about to get into our car, a man who spoke some english came up and talked for awhile. He asked if we would be back next week. Dan said maybe and the fellow wanted to know why a "maybe."  We told him the music was a bit too loud for us, and perhaps next time we could sit in the balcony, since Carmen is unable to tilt her head back comfortably to read the lyrics high on the back wall. We actually will probably never devote this much of every sunday going to a church - but who knows. We definitely did appreciate the experience, and meet some nice people. You can see some video about the church here.  We both feel that one doesn't necessarily have to be together with others in a church building to express our praise and thanks for this beautiful world, loving friends and the dear family we are blessed with.

Monday morning we got a phone call from Luci, Shattuck's housekeeper. Something was wrong with the lock on the back gate over at Las Magnolias, Frank and Ania's home. (We've included some fotos of their beautiful residence.) She felt that someone had tried to break in. We drove over to check it out about 10:30am, just as fog and much colder air was rolling in. The lock – whatever caused the problem, needed replaced. We drove into Fortín and bought a new lock that we could set to the old combination. Back later in the day, now with some chipi-chipi precipitation happening and spent much time changing over to the new lock, involving widening holes for the thicker cable.  The new one is stiff and difficult to use. Imagine it will loosen up with time.  We showed Luci how the new lock worked.

Back home, in the afternoon rain, Carmelo showed up. We would have bought fewer plants had the sun been shining, but we felt sorry for him out in the bad weather, and he had been waiting for us in the cold and wet. We did tell him that we would buy no more gazanias after today though. Really, nine is enough! They have to be in the full sun or the flowers do not open. Full sun, we have very little of except on our terrace outside the bedroom. We remember seeing a cemetery in Turkey full of these beautiful flowers.

Come the evening just about dark we got another call from Luci, this time explaining that the new lock wouldn't trabar (fasten).  We offered to go over and see what was what.  By this time it started to rain. We got up to the back gate, with a flashlight, and sure enough the tongue and lock wouldn't fit together.   Also the tongue end of the new lock was missing its protective cap (which has the little nubbin on it to show where to line up the digits), so something was amiss for sure.  The cap had fallen off somewhere in the dark. It appears that instead of feeding it thru carefully she had wrenched the tongue end out thru the rebar loop, tearing off the plastic cap from the end of the cable in the process.

With the cap off, the knurled resetting ring is exposed, so she obviously twisted the reset ring while turning the digits.  The lock wouldn't shut because it no longer was set for a known combination.  Fortunately we brought the old lock in the car with us so it was threaded thru and things locked again.  The new lock was also left there, unlockable, and it was too dark to hassle with removing it, as the stiff cable was wound round and round the door frame.

Wednesday we went back to fix the lock situation (after buying another, simpler, cable lock just in case), and to feed their kitty.  We determined that the expensive cable lock just wouldn't work without risk of inadvertent & occasional loss of its combination, so we removed it and installed the smaller one with a fixed combination. The cat was nowhere to be seen.  Since we were out with the car, we shopped around looking for stovepipe for our new small hot water heater, to be installed just outside the kitchen on the front porch. Letting it vent into that space would just bring exhaust fumes into the kitchen, so a pipe thru the porch roof is a must.  Few people seem to vent above their heaters, so finding stovepipe meant traveling all over the city. Dan also visited an obscurely located warehouse in Córdoba which stocks refractories and high-temp materials, scoping out options for building a fireplace-insert rocket stove he's got ideas for.  When we got back home Dan called Luci with the new numbers for the lock.

All this week our house has been serenaded by a gray cat in heat. Doesn't she know that our Gardi is an "it"? Gardi has not been allowed outside our bedroom with out a halter and leash, since he went traipsing across the roof tops of our neighborhood. Just afraid that he might slip and fall into a cravasse or jump down into a yard where he can not get out. And he would die a slow death. When Gardi first came to live with us, he had no collar. Whenever Pepe, our six pound Pomeranian dog, was getting his collar put back on, after a hair cut and bath, Gardi would try to get his neck into it. We bought Gardi a collar, put it on him, and he strutted around like a proud peacock. He always gets upset if we take his collar off, and yes he also stands perfectly still to get the harness put on, until, that is, the leash goes on. Immediately his stomach hits the floor and you can't budge him. He should be living with little people who like to dress up their animals – like Carmen when she was young. She still remembers putting clothes on her cat and taking it sled riding down the hill next to her home. That kitty always seemed to be happy with the situation, or so she remembers.

Toma de protesta

Domingo 29 Dec- Sábado 04 Enero   We continued enjoying the children coming by in the early evenings, entertaining us with their El Viejo dance and song celebrating the end of the year.  This all stopped on New Years Eve, when firecrackers galore exploded all around until 2:30am or so.  ¡Feliz Año Nuevo a todos!  Opportunity to dispose of leftover fireworks kept the neighborhood noisy in the evenings, for the rest of the week.

The 31^st we walked into town and watched and listened to the toma de protesta, the swearing-in ceremony for the newly-elected mayor and his city council members. (Protesta in this sense is an oath, so this means a " taking of oath.")  We have tried many times to be at the plaza central or city hall for various events, but this is the first time we did it right – all because Dan can now better understand the news on the XHFTI-FM, the Fortín radio station, which we listen to each morning. There was a huge video screen on the front of the city hall building that showed images of life in Fortín. A big covered stage was set up on the city hall front steps, with lots of people in attendence.  The sun shown down and the clouds just held off long enough for it to be a very pleasant time.  Lots of policemen about, as is typical, but this no longer bothers us.  At least the local cops don't mask their faces, as do the Policia Federal, purportedly to protect their identities and families from the criminal/gang element they have to deal with.

Thursday was our big day away from home. We were at our family IMSS clinic in Córdoba at 8:30am for our monthly appointments. We forgot a watch, so we do not know how long we waited, but Dan finished the book he took along. We then discovered that our usual doctor was on vacation, but we dealt with a very thorough young female doctor. She took a really long time with us, even reading our care summaries we brought down from our doctors in the US, in english.  Dan's labs came in with no flagged numbers.  He did get a prescription filled for prevastatin, but learned that it would only be provided this one time, as it is expected that once LDL levels are lowered they can be maintained there by diet/lifestyle.  He's been self-medicating with half the dose prescribed in the US, and had expected to continue at that level.  But, IMSS will only dispense statins if regular blood tests show that one has persistent high cholesterol.  Doctors here reject the premise that a low maintenance dose, for the rest of one's life, is called for.  The only way around this is a cardiologist's order.  Lastly a fairly quick stop at WalMart, and back home to stash our purchases.

When we got home, we found Carmelo waiting for us. We took care of him, buying a few new plants for our growing collection. We immediately headed out to Orizaba. We got there about two o'clock and by that time we were starving, so we popped in for lunch at the Chinese buffet. Then we shopped for a few grocery items at Chedraui, where we had parked the car. Carmen went back to the car and took a wee nap while Dan walked a couple blocks to a large Aurrera supermarket to check it out. The main reason we drove to Orizaba was to make an appointment with the IMSS hospital's rheumatologist for Carmen's six month scleroderma check up due in April. We had a long wait. Dan tipped his head back and got his nap. We finally got home at 4:30pm. A long, tiring day...

Saturday Carmen potted up some new plants, and transplanted others. Dan shopped online for his tax prep software, and paid all the outstanding taxes and bills he had been putting off until the new year arrived, and started downloading annual mutual fund reports.  It feels like our winter weather has arrived and the next cold front (#24) is supposed to be here in two days. So far the early-AM night temps have not gone below 50, but this time it will probably go into the 40s.   Time for heavier comforter on the bed.

Días grises

Domingo 01- Sábado 07 Diciembre 

The week started with a day in multiple shades of gray. Dan hung a large prayer plant in our bedroom, where we hope it will be happy. Three teens rang our bell. Dan was not able to go to the door at that moment, so Carmen went out. She dutifully asked them if they spoke english to which they all looked horrified, shaking their heads no. We know that english is taught in school here, but few students choose to actually practice it when given the opportunity it seems. They rattled on in spanish as Carmen told them no hablo español – in spanish. Obviously they did not believe her. She understood the word for woman and sick, plus they carried a plastic glass with coins, stretched out towards the gate. Carmen excused herself and came inside to get some coins to put in their glass. Always wonder if the malady is fact or is it just a way to collect money...but then, what seems like a lot to them, is so little to us. The area velador (night watchman) who walks the streets after dark was here to make his weekly fee collection, as he is every Sunday morning, just before 11am.  The gray weather doesn;t seem to bother the plants.  Lots of our orchids are looking really healthy, with lots of white root tendrils reaching out to grab on to something (like this Oncidium), and the pseudo-bulbs filling out.  Good portents of lots of blooms.

Monday we both had IMSS clinic appointments around eleven am. Dan to get lab orders for blood/urine tests before his next month's appointment, an annual checkup. And Carmen for her monthly meds plus the dizziness and elbow problems. Our appointments were fifteen minutes apart with the same doctor, to be sure Dan was there to talk for Carmen. We arrived a half hour early and knowing that our doctor leaves near one pm (patients are set up annually at the clinic for morning or afternoon assigned doctor shifts at one of eight consultorios, so you always have the same doctor), we started getting very anxious when 12:30pm arrived. Dan asked at the desk when we were to be taken, as we had already seen the nurse for the weigh-ins and BP checks. At this point Dan was informed that he had to go down to Consultorio Uno because our doctor was running out of time. Carmen was to see Doctor Rendon in Cinco as usual. Dan had to leave Carmen on her own, or miss his appointment. After another hour of waiting time in the chairs at Uno, Dan (worried all the time that Carmen would get called in and have issues talking to her doctor) had no problem getting his lab order, written out by a young and pleasant doctor. (Invariably, we have had only favorable interactions with IMSS staff at all levels.) Then he rushed back to see how Carmen was faring.

Here is Carmen's story: After waiting that extra hour or so, she became very nervous that the doctor would have to leave and she would be shuttled elsewhere, to someone unfamiliar to her situation. Knowing that she really needed to see the doctor this day, she practiced what to say to the receptionist in her mind, then bravely walked up to the desk and informed the lady that she did not speak much spanish, and would she please let her know when to go into the office. Seemed that all the other folks sitting about waiting were most interested in what Carmen had to say. Apparently the receptionist understood, because she walked up to Carmen to tell her when it was her turn. Carmen went into the doctors office and found no doctor there, so she sat and waited expectantly.

Meanwhile a fellow came in asking where the doctor was. It was discovered that this fellow spoke more english than Carmen did spanish. Carmen asked him if he could help her if needed since her translator (Dan) was sent down the hall. He did in fact hang out by the open door until Carmen was almost finished, until the time Dan arrived. This fellow had needed to talk to the doctor about some X-rays that Dr Rendon returned with.

Ok – here goes: Dr Rendon always speaks a few words of english to set Carmen at ease – “hello” and “how are you today,” not much else. Carmen first of all told him, in spanish, she was sorry that Dan was not there, and yes he knew that Dan had been sent to a different doctor. We had prepared & printed out several papers to give to Dr Rendon describing what was going on with Carmen (we find this much more efficient, doing the technical translating at home, rather than Dan trying to relate everything verbally) plus exam reports generated by the rheumatologist in Orizaba and the ear, nose and throat specialist she had been to since last coming here to our clinica familiar. He read everything and asked a few questions. It was really not too bad. Dan then showed up and the doctor informed Dan of all that we had discussed and gave us the needed prescriptions and off we went back to his nurse to get our annual influenza vaccine shots. What we learned today is to never accept an appointment late in the morning, but to choose another day when earlier appointment spaces are still open. We don't like seeing doctors that might not be familiar with our situation (although the doctors we see always type up everything that transpires in each session into their computers), and it is hard on both doctor and Carmen when traductor (translator) Dan is missing from the room. She is on antibiotics again for the swollen elbow.

Before going to the clinic, we had stopped to check on the status of our vacuum cleaner order and special paver blocks. Also a stop at Office Depot. Only needed a grocery stop on the way home. Walmart was in chaos, moving big areas around, making room for all the extra Xmas goodies. Seemed that not much restocking had been done the night before. Most unusual for this store. And guess what new item we found there this time – Temptations! Finally we have found our cats' favorite treats here! Wondering if all our emails to mexican Whiskas finally convinced some area stores to handle it? Now if only other Walmart customers will purchase these Temptaciones regularly, so the restocking will continue. When we first arrived here, WalMart was the only place that carried Scoop Away cat litter (our favorite, because it works better and lasts longer than mexican brands), but the store only had a box or two at a time. It now gets it in by the pallet load.

Our front porch area is really clean at the moment. Carmen watered flowers there and laid the hose down for another watering later before winding it back onto the wall. Some how, the hose was left running. Now, did Carmen space out turning it off, or is our little ghost playing tricks on us? Dan squeegeed the water off. He had earlier swept off the porch and cut our spot of grass in the front yard. Tuesday evening we went for a short walk down to the end of the street and back up the next one over, and found that street being black-topped. It had been dirt, gravel and cobbles. We assume that the trucks loaded with sugar cane that crossed over by our house this week are using this route since the other road was being resurfaced.  These are huge open-bed semitruck loads!

One morning a man with a sizable bag of really filled out orchids rang our bell. This was the same fellow from a week ago who we had bargained down significantly. Dan limited himself to only three, and he gave us one extra (since we're “buen clientes”), so we got all four for MX$150 (about US$11). We have misgivings about buying wild orchids that may have been stripped from forest trees (we'd never do this ourselves, and try to discourage itinerant sellers by saying we'll only buy blow-downs), but with the plants there, jammed together in a big bag, we feel that nurturing them here is better than them getting dried out and discarded should they not be sold.  Dan tied them up to a piece of bambu, here they will eventually grab ahold and flower for us for years.  We are very much enjoying the opportunities here for year-round flowers, and note that our mornings for the most part are about 35ºF higher than the frigid temps now being experienced back in the maritime pacific northwest.

This has been a crashing week. First Carmen dropped and broke a dish from the new set we purchased here a year ago. Next while in bed one night, we heard a crash and it turned out to be the light bulb falling from the ceiling fixture over our upstairs shower. Dan has now replaced the fixture, which had threading so minimal as to not grip the screwed-in bulb firmly. The weather has been quite chilly for us this past week. At six am wednesday morning a strong wind came up along with many degrees warmer air. Yea!!!! On this really windy morn, after talking to the fellow selling us orchids, we left the front door open a bit for our cats. As we were taking our shower, there was a horrific crash. Dan feared some of our roofing above the mirador had blown off. Turned out to be just the door crashing closed, driven by a gust passing thru the house. Luckily Gardi cat was all the way outside, so he did not get flattened when it closed. He was meowing to come back inside by the time we got downstairs. Kitties did not like the strong wind.

We often water our plants in the early evening, and we have discovered that our terraza outside our bedroom is a great place for bird-watching at this time of day. Two green parrots flying past several times. One orange Altamira or Black-throated oriole flying from one fruiting tree in the neighborhood to another, eating oranges. A flicker pecking away in a tall palm. The cooler cloudy weather has reduced the number of butterflies we're seeing.  The fruit on the Easter eggplant is almost ripe enough to pick, having changed color from white to yellow, and lots of lavender color blooms means more fruits are on the way.

Dan made and installed a rack to hold our brooms and mops in our water heater closet, which is in our new bathroom. He also worked on the faucets in the upstairs shower again, repacking the valve stems. Maybe this time they will not leak after a few uses. He is of course spending time at his computer, copying more music, of which now 2/3 is finished. The hour in the day that flies by the fastest, is the 6-7pm hour when the show, “Teen Wolf” is on. This and a good many other tv series and movies, are in english with spanish subtitles. The tv station that had all the cooking shows in english, has recently changed to mostly telenovela (soap opera type) shows in spanish. No all-english channels are available from Cablecom, our packaged tv-telephone-internet service.

Thursday, Colyn, the lady from Santa Cruz, CA, stopped by to give us a book. She said she was moving, probably to Oaxaca, because her insect allergies are too bad in Fortin. What a shame to lose a friend who speaks english. Then as Carmen was laying in the hammock, on the front porch, reading, this green noisey vocho (vw beetle) parked right in front of our gate again. We have often seen it parked there and thought the driver was with the social action group whose office is next door. This time the man got out of the car, started to walk past, and backed up. Yes, he actually walked backwards. He said hello and asked if we are the people from the US. His name is Juan Carlos, and he teaches english in the bilingual school here in Fortín. Carl, as he is known in english, turns out to be the father of Lewis, the teen age boy who used to stop and chat a bit, from Los Angeles, CA. The reason we have not seen Lewis lately is that they have moved a few miles away, over into the residential area behind Walmart. We also found out that two other english speaking men and their families who moved here from Houston, have moved to Tamaulipas state Bummer. So – we have lost four english speakers from our neighborhood. However, Juan also told us that a woman who is in a wheelchair and lives a block away, is from the US. Also Juan said he would bring Richard, another man from the US, to meet us. Richard and his wife own a rental house a few doors from us (where Colyn lives now), but he lives in downtown Fortín. Juan is giving private english tutoring to the teenage girl (and possibly her mother Nancy), who lives with her husband Oscar two buildings south of us.

On our walk into town friday, we spied and bought the first fresh strawberries of the season, also a pineapple. Both could have been better. The grapefruit we had for breakfast, however, was one of the best ever! On walks we always see something new. The house we considered our second choice when we were house-hunting has been sold and has been repainted, and has been having masonry work being done out back. On another street, avenida 9, we have been wondering about one large structure that had much rubble in the front and bare walls, plus some walls & roofs missing. The rubble is now gone, outside walls plastered, and the yard in the front cleaned up. Also the large field next to it where we have often admired all the wild flowers, had been cleared. Wonder what will happen there? Seems like there is always evidence of growth and change in the neighborhood.

There was a long line at our bank's atm machine. We will go there another day. Checked for a specific o-ring at two hardwares and shopped for fresh veggies at the Super Ahorros store. We saw Ania shopping there, and firmed up our invitation for their visit saturday. The menu was a fresh vegetable salad, chicken stew with dumplings, and peanut butter cookies for dessert. When that day arrived, Ania and her mother, Wanda from Poland, and Frank came for dinner and a chat. The ladies toured and admired all our plantings. The guys ended up at Dan's computer. Always an enjoyable time and we hope to see Wanda a few more times before she goes back home. She is truly a delightful lady!

Oh yes, friday night at 2am we were awoken by a flatbed truck of mariachis & brass serenading someone who was having a birthday that day, down the avenue a block away. Dan opened the window so we could enjoy the music. After two selections they were gone and we got back to sleep. Mexico is a country where people enjoy and live their music. One of the abañiles (masons) across the street loudly sings throughout his work day. Great voice!  Where the new house is being built, is a huge pile of freshly delivered arena (sand). We looked out to see an unusual sight! On the very top lay two dogs, seeming to enjoy the view and soft surface to take their ease. They were kings of the mountain, and in fact two more dogs happened by and the ones on top barked possessively to drive them off.

Manos Verdes

Domingo 10- Sábado 16 Noviembre   A delicious start to this week with a nice dinner at Ania and Frank's. A celebration of Carmen's birthday with chayote soup and an adobo chicken with mexican rice course. We just love Ania's cooking, and she always takes so much care with presentation. We played four games of double dominoes. As we left Ania gave us some cut anthuriums that we put in the vase with the carnations we had purchased. She also gave us several stalks of a very interesting dried prickly plant from Veracruz. They are now over one of our living room windows, yet to be id'd. Also a couple of plant macrame hangers that her daughters had made. She does not hang items on her walls like we would, so she thought we could make use of them. And right she was. The hangers are in the living room with different types of prayer plants, which seem happy!

By Monday, Carmen had run out of the antibiotic to treat her arm, still a bit swollen, so we walked into town to buy another course of pills at a local pharmacy. We figured this would be quicker than going back to IMSS for a new prescription. Turned out that purchasing antibiotics takes a doctors prescription – can't just buy it over the counter like one used to be able to do here. Other than antibiotics and narcotics, all medicinal drugs can be bought over the counter on demand. The Similares (Generics) pharmacy has a small clinic, staffed with a doctor, attached to the store. On the wall is a list of services provided, with very reasonable prices. We explained the situation to the doctor, showed him the drug packaging we got from IMSS, answered some questions on how Carmen was faring, and he wrote out a receta (Rx) for another week of treatment. For this service we paid MX$30 (US$2.30). Next door, in the farmacia we bought the dicloxacillin, which here cost a tenth of what it would have been in the states. It was perfect weather for the walk, and we were happy to get the exercise!

Carmen spent most of this week exercising her manos verdes (green hands, ie "green thumbs"), planting new acquisitions and caring for them. This included potting up the little start of the Reina de Noche or Pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus, Night-blooming Cereus, Dragon Fruit) Celia provided, for which we have high hopes for fantastic flowers and delicious fruit. The plant is supposed to be a fast grower, which we will have to trellis against our south terraza wall. It seems everything here grows at warp speed, including not only wanted plants, but also weeds and insects. Dan spent some long hours perusing the internet, identifying plants we have growing here, and creating some online albums of plants of which we have good photos. There are links to our foto pages near the bottom of the navigation column to the right of this blog page. Frank reported that google maps just updated it's coverage in Fortín, adding street views of both the calle and avenida for the corner where we live. These are dated August 2012, the month before we arrived here with our furniture, so the house appears just as we purchased it, before any of our house renovations and painting.

Thursday, we picked Ania and Frank up at their house and took them to catch their bus in Orizaba, going to the airport in Mexico City, the first leg of their vacation. We are still wondering if they caught the bus for which they had tickets, since they got to the station only minutes before departure time. We had needed to go to Orizaba for foam for our bench seat in our bedroom. The foam shop was closed between 2 and 4, as many businesses are, and that was the time we got there after the stop at the bus terminal. To fill our time, we wandered about a bit in the downtown business area. Always an enjoyable walk in this beautiful old city. We also strolled the big mercado, which has hundreds of stalls selling about every imaginable item. Lots of interesting sights and smells, as markets of this kind are heaped with produce of all kinds, as well as raw fish and freshly butchered hanging meats, all mixed with cooking odors from many dining stalls.

Stores proffered large discounts for this weekend – “El Buen Fin” (the good weekend) is the third year of holding this mexican equivalent of the Black Friday weekend following Thanksgiving. Next Wednesday will be Mexico's Dia de la Revolución, but the holiday is celebrated monday, extending the shopping weekend into a four-day friday-monday affair. Yes, we just could not resist a good buy. Off to Home Depot to buy a small supplementary hot water heater to put in near the kitchen sink. We have been holding onto the old 38 liter storage-type heater we removed when we built the new bathroom, but realized we would be better served with a newer fast recovery de paso model (heats 6 liters of water almost immediately and continuously). Our main water heater is at the opposite end of the house and it takes long minutes to get hot water to the kitchen faucet. Being that Carmen is most impatient, and much extra water is used just draining the cool water in the lines before it turns hot, we decided to put this second water heater in. While at the store we also bought more soil and pots.

What a day saturday! Seemed like the whole town was stopping by to talk to us or sell us something. By 9am we had purchased 2kg of freshly dug red potatoes, an orchid in full bloom (Laelia anceps anceps) with an asking price of MX$120 (but Carmen really does not want any more orchids, so she firmly held out while the seller's price dropped over and over, until she relented and paid MX$50), plus more plants from Carmelo. We must have one of nearly every plant that Carmelo grows! Such a variety! Thruout the rest of the day there were folks asking for money and food or work. We never give money – only food. Our fresh flower man again had beautiful long stemmed flowers, but we did not need any this week. Our last week's carnations were still healthy. Folks ringing the bell included some with questions about the old water heater we now have for sale and people looking for some other address.

During a typical week, many vendors pass down the street, hoping to sell: unfinished small furniture, pillows, coconuts, fresh herbs, garlic bulbs, fruits, avocados and many homemade items like breads, tamales, desserts, pickles, etc. There's also the man with a bicycle cart selling fresh raw milk right out of the steel milk can (the kind that farmers in US used in the past). And services like the knife sharpener, the motorcycle-riding postman, and the guys that drive around wanting to buy scrap metal. Then add in the regular domestic deliveries of bottled water and propane (at least three brands of each have customers in this neighborhood), and commercial deliveries to the little house-front abarrotes (grocery-sundry shops), at least one in every block. On and on the list goes,and many varieties of just about anything one can think of, will eventually come to our door with the hopes of a sale. Not all of these sales people passed by saturday, but any typical week most of these vendors will be seen. And most of them just walk past hawking their wares, without ringing doorbells or knocking, depending on residents to hear them pass and come out if they are interested in buying.

Oh yes – there is the saxophone man, and occasionally a three-man conjunto of musicians. They come by playing a few bars of music, up and down the streets, hoping for an appreciative tip! Plus all the folks just walking past who have a smile and hello makes for a rich full busy life here. The weather has been delightful, the various cold fronts (we're expecting number 14 this next weekend as I am writing this) bringing in very sleepable nights (not so cool that the bedroom window isn't open all the time) and mid-70's sunny days.  Dan is speaking more extensively to folks, which pushes his learning (finding the correct verb tenses and using those pesky relational pronouns), making it that much easier to keep conversation flowing.  Vocabulary has never been much of a problem for him, but then there are those subjunctive tenses to stumble over too. All in time...!

Una caminata a la caldera

Domingo 13 - Sábado 19 Octubre   Sunday morning we had a leisurely breakfast of rocky mountain hash. This is but a scramble of chopped potato, onion, sausage and egg. Ours also had nopal, which we have come to enjoy in many foods. Served on top of warmed corn tortillas and topped off to our individual liking with salsa picante.  No sooner did we have dishes finished when the telephone rang. It was Frank asking us if we would go on a caminata (hike) with them. It would only take two hours, and they felt that Dan needed a break from the computer where he had been helping a friend over a LogMeIn remote connection. After hemming and hawing for a few moments – this was of course after previously advising them that Dan could not afford the time until after 15 October – we scurried about changing clothes, rounding up cats to bring inside, locking doors, prepping our backpack, etc. Carmen had understood that Shattucks were picking us up, so she was straightening the house a bit – only to find Dan heading out the back door with the car keys. Oh, WE are driving! Off we happily go on this gorgeous day, and find them walking along their road near the autopista, with a backpack.

After driving on the highway about 15 minutes to the east of Córdoba, we arrived at the exit where the free route to Veracruz takes off. We followed a convoluted route onto increasingly narrow roads thru the dusty village of San Rafael, still roughly paved for the most part. Ania kept us informed of all the sights along the way. Ex-haciendas, fruit trees, birds we might see – soooooooo many interesting things to tell!  Next we turned onto a dirt road, and finally onto a narrow grass lane. This was our car's first experience with an overgrown grass lane. We expected but a short distance on the grass path, but it seemed a fair distance to us paved road travelers. Eventually, the other two got out and walked ahead to be certain that no large rocks had gotten into the track since they had last been there. It was difficult to travel in spots where the wheels had worn down into the surface, and we had to cant off to the side to avoid high-centering the car. Finally we got to a point but a few paces from what would have been the end of the road, providing an ample parking spot with ample turn around space, to find there were two trees down across the road. Dan's heart fell, as he imagined having to back out over the rough and twisting route when we headed back home. Luckily we found a nearby slight widening of the path with a bit less undergrowth, and were able to turn the car around, backing over the bushes between a rock and a tree to face more or less back the way we came. Hopefully no one else would come down the track to block it later...!

Now, with feet on the ground, at one of Shattuck's favorite hikes – off we go to explore the Caldera del Diablo (Devil's Caldron)!  Dan had insisted on bringing his Komperdell “trekking pole,” just knowing that at least one of us would find it useful. Okay, Carmen grudgingly took it out of the car, and Dan hefted our pack with water & snacks onto his back. Carmen soon discovered soon that she is no longer quite so stable on her feet. She had been expecting a well-worn sendero (trail), but after but a couple steps, she was very thankful to have the help of the staff. The ground was in fact a bit slippery from rains a few days before, plus many large rocks of many shapes and sizes littered the way up the slope. Seems that this site was over 1000 years old, where a small volcano had erupted,. It left an oval (when viewed from the air, as in Google Earth) open cone and an interior caldera (crater) about 960 feet across its longest width.

From the base, it looks like just another hill covered in forest greenery, and the inner caldera itself is accessible by a rocky trail up thru jungle liberally sprinkled with coffee bushes. Looking down from near the top it is revealed as a really deep hole with very steep interior walls, and a basin-like floor way below, now heavily forested. After getting near the top of the outside of the cone, there are two breaks in the rim of the vent, allowing access to a well worn rough path around a ledge maybe 100 feet or so down from the upper rim. Step off the ledge, and there is a steep tree and brush covered slop to the bottom of the big round hole in ground. In some places the ledge is large enough to set up a camp, especially in areas undercut back into the cliff-like vertical sides above, The only real problem here was that the path in places was only about a foot wide, or slick with a thin covering of slippery algae-capped mud. Not a “walk in the park,” by any means.

The views of rock formations were fantastic, rising high up the inner cone walls high above us! Carmen, true to recent form, kept losing her balance, so we kept one person near to stabilize her when she wavered. Unfortunately she mostly tips to her right – the down side of the trail. Dan slipped twice on the slick underfoot, and by the next morning he could hardly put weight on his left leg where a ligament in his left knee was complaining. We were too late in the day to see the parrots and parakeets, but heard a few. Saw lots of butterflies. The crazy thing about this cone, is that all the rocks are gray, the color of aged limestone, and the seepage from above has formed stalagmites on the walls and flowstone-like formations in the undercuts (almost caves) inboard of the trail we followed.  The rocks that littered the trail also were of this same material, and showed the clear effects of water erosion.  So just how can a volcano be made of sedimentary rock?  Is this an example of carbonatite, which we understand is pretty rare?

Ania found many plants for both herself and Carmen. At one point, we three enjoyed some banana muffins Carmen had packed, while Ania was scrabbling up a rock to cut and pull off some favored plants. She always has in her backpack a plastic bag and a knife for such gatherings, plus Frank's hands for carrying more. She is careful to only take epiphytes which have been blown off their perches by storms, or off of trees which have fallen to the forest floor. Ania also packed up a large plastic bag with loose soil, of the type some of her plants like.The walk around usually takes them a half hour. Took us about three times that long. What can we say? We walked slower, with so much to see. Our amigos had never seen a snake here, but we did! A large thick black one, moving quickly away from us out of the arroyo trail on the way back down to the car! We believe this 4+ foot specimen to have been a culebra indigo (Drymarchon corais, probably the orizabensis variety that is native here).

As we drove back home, roads here and there were closed or very busy, so they guided us through areas in the city where we had not been before, and interesting tour of Cordoba! At one point we drove by the huge cementerio with it's big panteon (mausoleum), with a fantastic multiple block-long cut flower market outside the walls, close by to where families come to adorn the graves of the departed loved ones. When we dropped Frank & Ania off, we were invited for lunch, but we really did not have time, thinking Dan's friend would be waiting for him to come back online.

Carmen got all the new plant stems into pots. Thankfully we had purchased another huge bag of soil and some new pots last week. We now need more pots! There is simply no more space outside in the ground, without digging up other plants or getting rid of a least some of our tiny plot of grass in the front yard. Dan tied the orchids that came off of fallen trees during out hike, onto branches in our bougainvilleas.  As it turned out, the friend Dan has been helping never came back on line after we returned home, though Dan tried to raise him. Bummer – we might as well have stayed at Ania and Frank's for dinner. While watching tv this evening, our cable went out, so we went to bed and watched some of the maratón of the last season of Breaking Bad, which Dan had recorded on the DVR last weekend. Good day.

One evening our Gardi cat told us excitedly, that there was something in the bag on the floor which was holding the miter box that goes back for exchange. He was right! We took a medium sized brown saltamontes (grasshopper) outside for him to play with. We believe it is the same one he was with in the hallway the next day, so he must have been the one to bring it in in the first place. He is so good about telling us, with a meow, when he has found something that does not belong in our house.  It was a pretty quiet week here. Four days with no rain. We saw two green birds flying at a distance. Probably parrots? Had to put another butterfly outside.

Work has begun in the lot across the street. With the ditches dug around three sides for footings, next huge piles of sand and rocks were delivered this week.  Then on each of the next days, eight bags of cement plus eight five gallon buckets of water were delivered first thing in the mornings. A single man has been mixing cement by hand, bucketing it to the trenches, and then rolling/placing huge rocks into the mix, creating a mampostería (rubble-concrete) foundation for the lot's perimeter walls. Hot heavy work for 8-10 hour days. Don't know how his body held up to it!  Dan walked across the street and offered that the fellow come to our house if he needed anything.

Dan stopped in at the MasKotas store, and was surprised to find two little bags of Temptation treats, to which our two cats have a long-standing addiction. We have been trying to obtain this product for over a year, and all the pet stores professed never to have heard of it, despite the company's email message to us that it was available in our area.  Unfortunately, our cats' favorite flavor is chicken, and Mexico no longer makes that flavor.  But, second best is salmon, and that is manufactured here by Whiskas. The government has just put thru new tax laws, so the prices we pay for some things will go up. This includes a 16%  IVA (value-added tax) on pet foods and sweets. Cat food was already more expensive here than in the US.   In the store, Dan saw a puppy that he would love to have brought home. No more dogs for us though. They are a problem when we travel. Be nice if they could be trained to litter boxes like cats. The cats thought they had died and gone to heaven when they received their treats that evening.

The little man that comes to the back gate with potted plants that cost 20 pesos each (US$1.50) has been here three times this week. His plants are always small, but well rooted, and we don't mind buying from his little enterprise--better than those that come by just looking for a handout. One day we bought a pinkish peach color thanksgiving cactus. It looks nice on our fireplace mantel. We also bought a dark pepper plant, so he told us. Its leaves are dark green with dark purple on the back. Can't seem to ID it one the internet, so we wonder what it will turn into. At present its leaves are a bit rolled up and look long and pointed.. We potted it with our pepper plant that a neighbor gave us – the one loaded with the hot piquin peppers. Carmen again has everything planted. She dug out all the local soil that we had planted our corn in, which was in the large Earthbox planter we had used for tomatoes in the US. Then she put regular potting soil into the planter for four new plants which came from the Home depot discount table.

Thursday morning we woke up at six am, so we got up half an hour later, showered, breakfasted, and drove into downtown Córdoba. We had once upon a time found an agro-chemicals store there, and we since have not found it again ( the yellow pages have been useless in this regard). The traffic is horrid in this area, with only overfull on-street parking. Our thought was that if we got there early enough, the streets would not yet be full. At 7:45am the streets were only three quarters full! We drove up and down the streets 'til we did indeed find the missing shop. Plus, there was parking across from it! We purchased the weed killer we needed, plus some sulfur for getting rid of those nasty little chiggers.

Lots more stops during the day.  Being that we were close to the east side of town at this time, we went to the Soriana hiper-mart. This store has the best oatmeal. This may seem a small item to visit a store for, however, we do like good oatmeal for breakfast! We started down the aisle for our oatmeal and soon Carmen admitted to Dan that they had best take a cart. The veggies looked especially good this day, also this is the only store that seems to carry good canned sweet corn. The fresh baked goods were very attractive, And there were some pies with real pie crust!  Crusted pies seem to be rare down here. We selected a pineapple one. It was good, but the surprise for us was that the filling must have been pineapple juice thickened with cornstarch. It's saving factor was that it was not over-sweet. Since we do not drive the distance to this store often, we strolled all the aisles. Yes, our cart slowly filled. We found some more ant-proof plastic containers at a good price, along with small milks and juices that we give to folks who ring our door bell or call at the gate for anything we can give them. Several come by each week.

At Home Depot we exchanged the miter box which was missing a part. Of course we always check out the plants, and often buy one. This time we bought four. Two from the discount shelf, plus another large bag of soil.  Onwards to IMSS where we stood in line for ten minutes and never saw the line of over a dozen folks ahead of us move. We will go back another day. Walmart for various items and we spied a whole roasted adobo chicken, plus for ten pesos more we got 500g ranch fried potatoes. They were delicious and the potatoes made three meals. Next the RG store looking for a vacuum cleaner. Finally got back to downtown Fortín, for a fill-up at the Pemex station and a stop at the supermarket for their local apples. Home again before 1:30pm. Kitties met us at the door, they like us to be at home with them!.