A La Florería

Domingo 18 - Sabado 24 Noviembre 2012.  (Dom 18^th) Sunday was rather slow around here. More small projects about the house. Dark cool day. Temperature here seems cool when not above 75ºF during the day time, although we are not complaining, considering that daytime temps in Anacortes now are 20º to 30ºF lower than this. Most days this week were cloudy with some rain and some sun. Has not kept us quietly indoors though.

(Lun 19^th) Looked out the kitchen window this morning and saw a family with a young boy all decked out in his straw hat, toy rifle and fake beard. Children get dressed up for today's Revolution Day celebration. Girls wear special dresses typical of 100 years ago. We put pictures of them in last year's blog. Actually we walked into town later, only to discover that we were there either too late or too early for the formal celebration in front of city hall. Town was pretty empty. Wonder when we will ever get the proper timing for special events. It was easier last winter when we lived but a couple blocks town center, the park, in our little apartment, where we could hear the happenings in town, usually accompanied by music or some loud announcements on the city's p/a system.

We walked home past the floral market stalls. At the first stall we bargained a bit for a large fuchsia, and the owner lowered the price to 50 instead of 60 pesos; we said we'd come back. We walked on to check out the other stalls. Found a large pot with three plants of verbena and one other plant, for 60 pesos. In the next stall was a large hanging petunia, but the shop was closed. At another shop we decided to buy one other fuchsia, which needs to expand yet, and the sales lady said 60 pesos for it. Carmen gave her unhappy look as Dan spoke to the clerk, so we took it for 50 pesos. Then, when we got back to first shop for the large fuchsia, another person, a young man, was tending shop, and he would not sell the plant for less than the 60 pesos, so we walked home without it. Total spent today, 110 pesos or $8.36 US. We had heard that plants were really expensive here, but instead found them to be maybe half the US price.

(Mar 20^th) This day we walked back into town again to go to hardware and pay our water and electricity bills. Did not take the camera, knowing that the holiday was celebrated the previous day, so there would be nothing happening this day. Wrong again. Blocks and blocks (at least ten) of children from all the local schools parading in their school uniforms. Some with marching bands. Some in outfits of years gone by. Some doing acts along the way. Thankful that we got to see this.

We did in fact pay our bills today. The electric company could not explain why our bill had not been delivered to us. Should come every two months. Cost about US$22 for two months for all the time we have owned the house now, since mid-July. Our water bill is another story. We had received a notice with our bill, telling us that we could get 10% off the bill by paying in advance for a the full year ahead. We planned to do this. However, when Dan talked to the clerk, he asked what we needed to do to qualify for the other special rate, for retired people. The clerk asked to see our proof (a copy of Dan's INM card was sufficient), and then gave us 50% off for paying now for the coming year. Our water and sewer therefore cost us a whole US$1.25 US per month for now until the end of 2013, paid in advance.

Again we walked past the florerías at Fortín's in-town floral market. This time we bought the large fuchsia for 50 pesos, plus three good sized petunias for 60 pesos from the little lady who sold us the verbena. Walked on home and took Gardi out front with us, and Carmen planted all flowers, while Dan worked on a panel to hide the cat potty box, to put in front of the fireplace where the box sits. Gardi managed to pull hard on his leash and his breakaway collar pulled apart. Time for a new one. We hung the plants from the beams along the front porch outer edge. They make us feel even more at home.

Carmen got brave again, and answered the door bell. Was a small boy, selling some homemade food. Carmen explained that she did not speak Spanish, and no gracias. He piped up and told her that was okay, he spoke English!

(Mie 21^st) Dan drove us into Córdoba today. We drove on some cobblestoned streets. Not too many of those here in this city, but we have seen many further west, especially in the towns that are preserved as colonial cities.

First we stopped by Walmart and did some quick shopping. Next went to the IMSS clinic for Dan to pick up the results of last week's ultrasound. It wasn't in the office where he could have gotten it the next day, after the test, and they sent him to various offices with no luck finding it. After waiting in the jefe's office a while, he excused himself, explaining that he had to get Carmen to an appointment and he would return later.

On we went to the dentist to do a root canal for Carmen. The endodontist's opinion was that a root canal would not be the best treatment in this case, but that an extraction was called for. Another dental surgeon for mouth rehabilitation was recommended, but two blocks away and after a phone call, we were able to get in with him in an hour. Though only two blocks, we thought it best to drive, in case Carmen was feeling bad when leaving. We were expecting this tooth to be pulled after a three weeks of antibiotics not totally working.

We walked into Dr. Augusto Soley's office and what a surprise we had. The dentist was a tall good looking happily smiling black man. We had guessed that he might be from Panama since he looks typical of peoples there, and also he had some handicraft from the San Blas Islands on the wall of his waiting room. Black people are relatively rare here. Dan explained that Carmen did not speak Spanish, and Dr. Soley smiled and said, in English, that was okay since he could manage in English. Carmen was very happy with this turn of events. He is from Panama, got his dentistry degree in Puebla and married a mexicana he met while he was in dental school.

After a thorough exam, he had time to take impressions for a bridge with two crowns that will replace the tooth. Also there is too little bone to safely put an implant in, which was also the reason that the root canal and crown process wouldn't have worked. One of the problems with scleroderma is bone loss in the jaw. Will take two more appointments to finalize this process, and no time without a visible tooth there. The doctor took time to explain it all very thoroughly, along with restoration process images on his computer of other procedures that he has done. Most enjoyably interesting man to talk to. The implant Carmen had a year ago in US took a full year and the cost was six times what it would have cost here.

We have checked several places for cat collars today, with no luck. Compared to dogs, cats get short shrift here. Stores typically have great selection of dog toys, dog treats, leashes and collars, and yet the cat section just is only stocked with basic food, and if one is lucky, some litter. For lunch we stopped at the chinese buffet near Chedraui, and also bought a few chinese paper lanterns to see if we can dress up our middle-of the-ceiling bare bulbs. Turns out they only fit on the lights suspended on wires, and not on the flat single bare bulb socket ceiling fixture found in most of the downstairs rooms. Returning to IMSS, we were happy to find they had located the test results, which Dan picked up. One more stop, at Metalurve, for some plumbing fittings, paint and masonry cutting wheels for the angle grinder. The trip home on the boulevard (the road between Córdoba and Fortín) was slow due to most lanes being closed due to repaving.

(Jue 22^nd) Had to go into town again to the ATM to start building up our cash for payment for the dentist. Today we noticed a tall tree type bush, covered with daisy-like flowers. Some of these bush-trees are white daisies and some are yellow. We see new plants every time we walk. On our way home we saw Josefina, Alex's mother. She was chatting with some folks, where we were trying to get someones attention so that we could pay for a pineapple we were holding. She sent the clerk over. This really large pineapple, larger than we have seen sold in markets back in mainland US, cost US$0.75. We walked a few paces down the street with Josefina and then she crossed over, while we walked on straight to check on our paint. Of course it was not here. Crossed the street to see Josefina carrying her cooler plus dragging a well constructed grocery cart along. We waited for her and helped her out for a few blocks. She stopped at the supermarket and we came on home. Nice to be able to help others.

Upon arriving home, we found our second mail delivery waiting in our mail box. Took 28 days this time. Dan spent the rest of today trying to straighten out credit card companies, and a replacement on an HP computer monitor.

(Vie 23^rd) Cosme was here for some time. We thought he was just going to bring us some fertilizer for the orchids, which is hard to find here. Nope! He showed up with three more unusual orchids. Yes he did show us how to care for orchids and anthuriums. Also he dug around our other plants and highly fertilized them for us. Used all the fertilizer he brought. He will come back next April and fertilize again. Carmen told him in no uncertain terms that we would not buy any more orchids from him. To which he replied that she had told him that she wanted one of every type flower, so he was bringing us one of each type orchid he had. Hmmph.

(Sab 24^th) Got a call and an email from Frank at 7:30am saying they were going to their cabin on the mountain near Coscomatepec this day or Sunday, and would we like to go along? Could not be today because of dental appointment, but we'd love to go Sunday.

Carmen spent a couple hours in the most comfortable dental chair, having teeth prepped for the big pull next week. Two side teeth were ground to take the bridge. Dan spent a moment in the chair also – just to let the dentist take a look at something he might get done. On the drive home, we shopped at Walmart. Also stopped at Metalurve, one of the few hardware stores one can browse around pulling purchases from the shelves into your shopping cart. Home Depot, when it opens soon, will be some competition.

Anturios y Orquídeas

Domingo 11 - Sabado 17 Noviembre 2012.  (Dom 11^th) Before breakfast, we bucketed a few more cubetas (5 gallon buckets) of dirt from across the street into our flower pots. Dan carted the bugambila trimmings into the banana field along the avenida, as this seems to be how people get rid of yardwaste here. He kept a watch for spider webs, as this is start of the dry season when their webs start to be noticeable hanging from plant to plant in the fields. Of course he suffered a bit more from the bugambilia thorns in the process. Later in the day... what is this with it's web across the large opening of our remaining liftvan box? A huge banana spider, (araña) with a spread of about 5” on it's eight long legs. We selected our best spider spray and gave it a massive drink. Later it was upside down on the ground, holding so very still. We later learned there is also a non-venomous yellow one around this part of the world, and were glad we were so ruthless with this red, white & black one. We figure since we (mostly) stay out of the banana fields, they should reciprocate by staying out of our yard, it's only fair.

Next we picked up litter across the calle from us, along the edge of the banana field. Do not know why so much trash seems to land there, but perhaps it's because no one actually lives there. In general there is very little street clutter around here, and people keep the street in front of their home clean and swept. Afterwards, we went for a Sunday drive.

Dan has been virtually exploring with aerial views from Google Earth and had a drive circuit planned out, south to the town of Zapoapan. Went thru a couple of pueblitos on some paved and then some dirt roads on the west side of the Rio Metlac, with green, green hills all around. Saw many types of structures, even some with horizontal wood lap siding, which is pretty rare here, but most homes were of concrete block with corrugated metal roofs, and of course lovely tiles to dress things up here and there. Definitely we were off the main track.  Here are some trip pix.

When we were on the way back, north of little Villa Union, we stopped at a campestre (country) restaurant that serves rabbit, El Toxtli Jarocho. Toxtli is the Nahuatl word for rabbit, conejo in Spanish. Neither of us had eaten rabbit in years. We started with a bean soup appetizer and grill-crisped seasoned tortillas. We shared a half rabbit, prepared grilled over a wood fire, with pastor sauce, accompanied by soft blue corn tortillas. We splurged on dessert, flan for Carmen and peaches with rompope (rum eggnog) for Dan. The meal was delicious. When you walked out the off-street side of the restaurant, you could go down a sloped suspended ramp, over a steep defile with a bubbling creek at the bottom, the banks covered with huge leafy plants. On the other side were some penned deer and peacocks, a mini-zoo of sorts. Also they had two swimming pools and a selection of children's playground equipment.

A ten minute drive from the restaurant, and we were home. Another day that was good for the soul. Though we live with two banana fields across from us, we still have the need to get into real countryside, every once and awhile.

(Lun 12^th) Dan was told over the phone to be at the IMSS clinic at eight this morning for his prostate exam. We were there on time. He was then sent to the jefe for further info, and as it turned out he was here only to schedule his exam. Here he was told to come back tomorrow at 9:30am and bring a liter bottle of water. Next we walked upstairs to the dental consultorio, where the dentist would, sometime during the day, work Carmen in. Only had to wait til 10:30am. After looking and prodding the sorest area, and examining the full mouth panoramic Xray we brought in with us from a month ago, Carmen was sent downstairs for an Xray of the affected couple of teeth. Waited almost an hour for that to happen for her turn. We sat down, patiently waiting to be called to the desk to pick up the radiografía. Eventually Carmen noticed that the person Xrayed after her, went to the desk without being called and got her films. Thus we went to the desk and asked for Carmen's. Yep, they were sitting there waiting for us. Back upstairs for the dentist, where we waited for the door to open and the current patient to exit. We handed the dentist the tiny bit of film, which she immediately looked at, then called us into the office. She showed it to us, and informed us that Carmen needed to be back on a different antibiotic for another week, and then needed a root canal (endodoncia) done. This is better than having the tooth pulled, right?

It was now near two o'clock, when many places close for a couple hours. We had planned to stop at Walmart on way home, but road was torn up in front of it and we could not get in there. So we stopped at the Bodega Aurerra (also owned by Walmart), nine blocks from our house. No cat litter. Fruits, veggies, and bakery were poor looking today. However, the meat looked great, so we bought thin sliced beef and pork, a turkey chorizo to try and a mixture of meats described as “traditional” sausage, which we had when we got home and it was more flavored like sausage from the US. Meat prices are still between US$2.25 and $3.00 a pound, beef being at the higher end of this. Also bought some Gallo beer from Guatemala, which costs about US$3 per sixpack here.

Dan now felt he needs to accomplish something, so he crafted a new bigger, better positioned hook on our back gate. Here we hang our garbage so that the dozens of roaming dogs (and the one cat we've spotted) cannot tear into it. Rarely have we seen garbage dug into, but we do not want the experience at our gate. Actually we figure that the cat did tear into a bag of chicken bones when we had a garbage bag just out back on the ground, before our garbage can arrived. We do not put our can outside the gate for fear that it will leave our premises. We have learned that when we put out cardboard or aluminum cans, that some one comes along and almost immediately takes them for selling to a recycler. This is good.

(Mar 13^th) Back to the clinic in Córdoba by 9:30am for Dan, with his liter of water. We went to the wrong area and were sent upstairs where Dan was told he could now drink his water. Now, Dan is more of a sipper than a chugga-lugger of beverages. When the nurse came to get him, he had not quite finished the whole liter of water, but they checked him anyways, only to find that his bladder was not full yet. The test turned out to be an ultrasound. Dan walked around for about 20 minutes, willing the water to work its way down to his vejiga, then knocked on the door for another go at it, and this time the ultrasound now was good. Aah, how good it feels to use the bathroom -- then back once more for another scan with bladder empty to finish up the test.

Next we drove further downtown to the dentist who we've gone to for cleanings in the past. Since then Carmen has started up with the dentist at IMSS, but they do not do endodoncias and she must have it done at a private dentist. We stopped by to see Dra Gwen and learned that she does not do root canals, but she did refer us to Dra Rosalba who specializes in them – we'll make an appointment with her later today.

Next we drove right into the center of the city and found a parking spot only five blocks from the store where we bought our stove. Visited them and explained the problem with the oven not reaching temperature, and they promised to send a repair person out later this week to fix things, as the appliances we purchased have a year long warranty. Now since we are but a couple blocks from the dollar store, we headed for there. Oh goody, we pass a fantastic fabric store on the way. We needed white thread for the curtain hemming project and Carmen has been wanting to go in and ooo and aah over the fabrics. She is not a seamstress, but she loves to look at the fabrics. More than we have ever seen in the US – and such a variety of designs! We found the thread section – lots of colors but no white! How can this be, so Dan asked at the counter, and bought two spools from the huge stock of spindles on the wall behind the clerk.

Now on we happily walk to the Waldos store, where we could buy more of the wide mouth glass jars needed for kitchen storage. They have gaskets and wire snap bails so our little helper ants can not access the contents. We of course meandered thru the food section where of course we bought some cookies to put away for future use. Carefully carried our glass etc items back to our car. We've been extra cautious parking on the street in the city, using the “club” to provide a little dis-incentive to would-be ladrones. Next stop is the endodontist's office, located near the corner of Avenida 11 and Calle 14. Found a parking spot just around the corner – we have been really lucky finding parking spots today. Carmen got an appointment for next Tuesday afternoon, as Monday is a Día de la Revolución, a national holiday.

We are doing better at maneuvering thru the streets here. Going into Córdoba from Fortín, the calles (streets) start with high even numbers dropping down to Calle 2, and then as one goes further east from the center the numbers go back up with odd digits At the central plaza downtown the avenidas start from Avenida 1 incrementing odd numbers going south, and even numbers going north. Generally, avenues have the right of way, and both streets and avenues tend to alternate one-way directions, with a liberal addition of two-way roads intermingled. And, avenues north of the center have “Norte” tagged onto them, and to the south “Sur, while calles to the east are tagged “Oriente” and to the west “Poniente.” Fortín follows the same numbering logic. As we travel along, Dan watches for ways to move around stopped traffic (parallel parkers, buses halting ahead, taxis stopping for passengers, etc), while Carmen calls out the approaching red lights, topes (speedbumps), and huecos (potholes) and arrows painted high on the building walls at corners telling which direction street traffic goes and which color they are. Red arrow streets have the right of way. All the signing and conventions make for safer transit, but some learning time definitely is needed to get comfortable as a driver here.

We progress on to Walmart, and find the parking area accessible today. Lots of road work happening here. Lots of roads needing work too. Our main reason for stopping at Walmart was to buy the very expensive Scoop Away cat litter. Want to try it once to see if it in fact dries up tighter than the other brands here. Dan first looked for software, but found none in the store. Something to check on at Office Depot someday. Carmen first scoped out the pressure cookers. Nothing new of interest. But next!!! There was a massive fresh fruit and vegetable sale happening, all of it in prime condition. Our cart proceeded to fill up. Apples, pears, mandarins, swiss chard, spinach, beets, carrots, tomatoes, celery, on and on. Yes, we remembered the cat litter, which was on the shelf today. Three boxes there in fact. We took the one that not been damaged, and headed home.

(Mie 14^th) Today Dan installed inner upper shelves for glass fronted upper cabinets in kitchen. Carmen is still remodeling curtains. Worked on posting this blog for last week's activities. Meal was made with the fresh spinach we purchased yesterday. Eggs florentine, made without the white sauce, and added a small dollop of sour cream over top. Such a beautiful showy dish. Would be good for company.

The fellow who sprayed for insects outside was to show up about 5pm today to show us an orchid and an anthurium from his nursery north of town. Well, we can tell you that all Mexicans are not late. He arrived at 4pm with three anturios (anthuriums) and five orquídeas (orchids), expecting us to buy them all! Now, Carmen did not want to buy any plants before the roof is finished. And there are so many varieties of plants here, she certainly did not want more than one of each thing, for her small garden area. The fellow was not happy that she would only consider three of his lovely anthuriums, which were grown by his wife and proceeds for them had to go to her. He put on a good sulk. Carmen was unhappy that he was trying to force her to buy these plants. She made an offer for the three plants and finally agreed to take all of them, so that he would not have to carry them back home on the bus. Carmen does not like plants like orchids that bloom for a very short period of time, and has bad luck with them in the past in the US. Grrrrrrrrrrr. Poor Dan just had to keep translating for the two of them, and kept telling the fellow that Carmen knows what she wants and will not change her mind. In the end we got all the unwanted plants for half what he had asked. We affixed the little orquídeas on one of the front windows, as each was attached to a little stick of dead wood and provided with a wire hook for hanging.

Now Carmen was feeling that she might have done him an injustice. He and his wife did grow the plants. So we walked the 12 blocks to the local florist market, just to price similar plants, since we had really no idea of their worth. Oh yes, we had all but stolen them. Well, the fellow should not have assumed that we would want them. All three anthuriums were the same basic dark red. Carmen told him she would pay him something additional if he would bring others of another color to exchange tomorrow. The flower market had many color varieties. He is bringing a vanilla plant tomorrow - an orchid that perhaps must grows20 feet tall before it blossoms, and maybe then will give us vanilla beans. So now we have all these plants to do something with – sitting about on our front porch. We are hoping, since this is not the cold US but is in the prime Mexican region for growing orchids, Carmen's luck with them will be different.

While watching TV this eve, we thought we saw something on the screen. It then got in front of the caption area. Yep, it was a tiny besucona (gecko). Probably a good place to catch tiny insects. We were concerned that it might get cooked on the screen. We just left it there while we watched TV, being distracted by the cutie. By next morning it had traveled elsewhere.

(Jue 15^th) Today Cosme Rojas was to be here about ten. A cab pulls up out front at 9am, early again! And guess what - the cab was FULL of plants. Rather makes one want to hide and not answer the door. Out of the further back door bounces a smiling Cosme. He and cab driver proceed to unload the cab. There was the vanilla plant sitting on the floor in front of the front passenger seat! It was attached to a seven foot tree leaning into the back of the car, which provided a living trunk for the vanilla orchid to grow on. Certainly not what we had expected. Life is just full of new surprises! Also not only did he bring one other colored anthurium, but three. He only got the money for the two items we ordered, but ended up leaving all four. He planted the huge vanilla plant, which also has another variety of orchid on it. He wanted to plant all the other plants, but we insisted that Carmen likes to do that. After reading about anthuriums, we discovered that we needed to plant them in little soil with mostly leaf and bark medium. Now where to get that?

We were invited to Frank & Ania's for supper and games. Being that they have a really large acreage with many plants, we asked them if they had some leaf mold anywhere that we could dig up for our new plants. Turned out that their compost pile was at the wrong point to get leaves out of it. We had a luscious meal. Carmen was the winner after four hands of rummikub. Always enjoy our time with them. On the way home at the lower end of their driveway, we saw a large tlacuache (opossum) cross the road in front of us, eyes glowing in the car's headlights.

(Vie 16^th) Yesterday, Dan talked Carmen into climbing up a couple ladders to see the roof and view from there. The view is fantastic and the roof tiles are indeed in bad, bad shape. This will be a great place for a mirador (lookout) platform, if we can get a stairway up there from the planned second floor patio. While there Carmen pointed out a couple trees a few blocks away that might have the right kind of leaf debris for the anthuriums to be planted in. Later in the day we walked to these trees, but found few leaves under them at this time of year. We did however discover that the road edge in front of the church up the street had a lovely batch of dried leaves. Out we went with rake and garbage can in hand to clean the street gutter! What must our neighbors think? We did indeed get all the plants in pots and found at least temporary homes for them. Now, if only we can get the right amount of water on them. Not too much. In amongst the fallen leaves Dan picked up a soccerball-sized mass of the common epiphytes that grow high in all the trees and on the electric wires around here. He stuck on the top of our front garden fence, just to see what it will do there, down close to where we can monitor its progress thru the year. Does it actually bloom at times?

Today the two fellows came to check out our oven. Yesterday we finally leveled the stove. Had to lift the front up ¼ inch. Also yesterday we had our propane tank filled, though it was still 1/3 full. So – how did the repair on the oven go? Does it now work? How embarrassing, the darnn oven heated up for them when they tested it, just perfectly. Whereas the oven flames would not go above Low for us, for the three prior times we had tried it, the flames went up just fine for the repair men! Hope it works when we decide to bake again. What caused the difference?

When the repair men arrived, Dan went out front to let them in and Gardi cat took it upon himself to trot right along. He was scolded and shooed back inside, which he did peacefully. He does like to greet company, but he has always done it from inside before. Next we were all standing in the kitchen, Carmen turned around and there was Gardi happily lying on kitchen counter just being part of what was happening. No he is not allowed on counters. Whatever got into him? Took him outside on leash this afternoon to make him happy. He seems to get embarrassed and sulky, when scolded in front of others. The outing made him his happy cat self again.

Now Dan is snacking on lemony salted peanuts. Yummy. And he just indulged in a passion fruit (granadilla), happily crunching up the tiny seeds surrounded be the pulpy juice, which Carmen cannot bring herself to enjoy. What shall Carmen nibble on – ohhh, these peanuts are really good she discovers. No other items for supper, since lunch was at three.

(Sab 17^th) Got a bit of a late start today, with some scrumptious oat bran pancakes. Walked into Fortín, hoping to pay CASF water bill and see how much a discount we can get for paying 2013 in advance. Then to the CFE office to find out why we have received no bill since starting our power account in July. Discovered that both offices are closed Saturdays. Next walked further to the hardware to buy a refill canister for our long reach butane lighter, which we use for lighting our water heater and oven. Much less frustrating than stick matches. Stopped at the correos (post office), which was open even though this is a holiday weekend, but they were holding no international mail for us, undelivered, although we know a letter was addressed and mailed to us three weeks ago from Anacortes. On to the ATM for more cash. Stop by paint store, and no, our order has not yet arrived, so we made some changes based on a revised plan for refinishing our windows. We'll use brown paint on the exterior only, instead of trying to renew the varnish which just will never stand up to the rain & sun exposure. Grocery store for bananas and olive oil that was on sale.

Gone from home two hours. On the walk home, Carmen walked on home by herself with purchases and Dan headed on over to Frank's new place to talk to the guys who will be heading up our renovation crew. They arranged to come by after 1pm, when their Saturday half-workday ended. Frank & Ania dropped them off then and Dan took Manuel and Luís up on the roof for a quick scoping of the job ahead, to start in December when Frank & Ania's obra wraps up. An afternoon meal of potato chip crusted fish, buttered carrots, sesame-rye bread and fresh mandarins, washed down with sidral (apple soda).

Mariposas

Domingo 04 - Sabado 10 Noviembre 2012.  (Dom 4^th) Started today like a true Mexican. Did something we would never have done in the US. There is a large pile of dirt, kitty-corner across the street, where the new street has been started at the edge of the banana field. Don't know if this is church property or city right of way. Well, you see, we brought all these empty flower pots with us and have found no potting soil with which to fill them. Sunday mornings is the time with the fewest passers-by, so we took advantage of the opportunity. We carried buckets, two at a time with our shovel, across street and proceeded to fill many flower pots on the front porch. People walked and drove by with saying nothing but a “buenas dias”. Then a police vehicle went by. This rather frightened us, thinking we might be doing something illegal, although we had seen someone take dirt from there a few weeks ago. Police did not stop. Since that went so well, maybe will get a bit more next weekend when there are fewer others about. After all, all we are doing with the soil is “beautifying” the town.

Carmen has had this swelling on her jaw for a couple days and it got much worse today. She had been hot salt water rinsing and applying hot compresses every two hours for past day and a half. The pain and swelling now is thruout her face and throat. She looked at her face in the mirror when she came out of the bathroom and saw that her lip was also grossly swollen. Dan said to get ready and he would take her to the IMSS clinic that we are assigned to, if she wished. Worried that she would be far worse by the next morning, and it might be hard to get in to a doctor, we hurriedly got ready to leave, as it was nearly 4:30pm, not knowing if the clinic would be open, or how long. We got there by 4:45, the “Urgencias” section was open, and the nurse did her triage thing immediately, taking screaming babies first, thank goodness. She set us up for the doctor. Still no fever, so we probably got it in time. Thereafter we waited for two+ hours 'til our turn came. But we paid nothing for the doctor, an antibiotic/analgesic shot and two packs of meds. It is a big abscess. After the week of meds is finished she is to make an appointment with the IMSS dentist - also free. Isn't it amazing to get all this for only $260 a year? If only the US were on this system, we would still be there. So she had high hopes of less pain by morning. Still no fever yet though, so we're lucky she got in before that happened. She had kept thinking it was just a salivary gland clogged up - but was bigger than the other clogs she has had. So glad we went to the clinic tonight! All is well otherwise.

(Lun 5^th) Dan is being frustrated that he has not been able yet to repair a remote for the Philips HD-DVR. Otherwise, Carmen sort of slept the day away, having had almost no sleep past two nights, and Dan tried to stay out of her way and quietly read. Carmen says that at least when her face is all swollen, there are no wrinkles! Always a good side to all.

(Mar 6^th) Cat walkway panels got a couple coats of white paint. Carmen made migas, in Andalusian (Spanish) style (not Texas-style) for lunch with fresh green beans and olive bread from Chedraui's bakery. Dan tried to make oven heat above 325ºF, with no luck, so we will have to ask for some service under the one-year warranty. Got laundry mostly dry before rain started. Tried a last time to fix the HD-DVR remote, but one of the buttons seems to have failed, despite the foil pad replacement trick. No visible failure on the printed circuit to explain the problem, so Dan programmed a complex generic remote to access the menu functions we need to reach on the setup menu and the programs already recorded on the hard disk and any DVDs. Still trying to get thru to clinic to make appointment for Carmen's dental exam next week, and after several attempts Dan got thru to learn that she'd have to just show up next Monday and they would squeeze her in, as all the appointment times were booked already. Dan finally got hold of the Xray department to make an appointment for himself, and was told to call back Thursday, as they have not been authorized for another block of appointments yet.

(Mie 7^th) Eventful day!!! We stayed up 'til early this morn, watching the presidential election results. And yes we did vote, by email, and most of our wishes were answered. While breakfast was in the making, Dan came into the kitchen very excited. He wore high top work boots today, and he felt something moving in his boot. Before getting out of bed, we had noticed Smij cat looking into the same boot, so he figured she had been watching a gecko. In horror, thinking he had squished the little thing, he took off his boot and shook it good. Nothing came out. Then he felt a movement in his sock, which he had taken from his stack of clean socks, which lay on an open shelf at the head of our bed. EEEks! Ripped the sock off and gave it a shake, and what should appear? Well it was not Santa Clause and his reindeer. Nope – it was a small cockroach. Those things have no respect for us!

We were just about to sit down at the table for Swedish pancakes, when Frank arrived. He indulged in a couple pancakes, bacon and coffee with us while chatting. He told us he had stopped by to see us Friday and there was a fellow at our gate trying to get a hold of us. We were in Córdoba. We figure it was Alex trying to deliver the tamales. Frank needs to use Dan's drillpress. Nice to have someone to exchange use of tools with.

After he left, Carmen was peacefully sitting on the downstairs toilet, when Dan yelled, “Earthquake – get off the toilet now, and outdoors.” Carmen never felt it, and the floor in the bathroom is a step down from most of the rest of downstairs. When Carmen finally moseyed out, thinking Dan was being silly, the hanging objects in house were still swaying a little bit. Turns out that the sismo was a 7.5 off the northwest coat of Guatemala, about 550 miles from us.

Next? Our doorbell rings, and there is a fellow there, wanting to spray for insects around outside and inside our house with his backpack sprayer. We have been thinking about doing a thorough spray outside and figured it was better to let someone else inhale the poison, who was used to working with it. Also he would like us to buy orchids from him and ship them into the US, which of course we can not legally do. As retired, we are not allowed to make any income here in Mexico. And?? Yes, he would like to trade some orchids and other plants for plywood. We have several people each week trying to buy or trade for our plywood, though it sure is crummy stuff. It is but 1pm What will come to us next on this eventful day?

Our garafon of agua purificada was delivered just after 2pm About 3pm we made our every other Wednesday walk four blocks from our house, to the restaurant that sells two outdoor-grilled chickens for the price of one. Also includes tasty rice, tortillas and a two liter bottle of pop. Price? 100 pesos, US$7.60. Makes at least three meals. Beautiful outside for a walk, though the sky looked ominous. Really looking at all the flowering bushes along the way. After eating we proceeded to work on the cat walk. Should be finished tomorrow. Dan did the final designing, sawing and fitting together today, while Carmen filed her nails. Gardi sat nearby being hopeful.

Wondering what the proper thing is to do about the few beggars we get. Are they really in need or just earning a living that way?

Jue 8^th) Took all day, but we did it! Got the cat walkway done. Hopefully they will show us how much they enjoy it. We put Gardi up on it and he dutifully maneuvered it. Later we put his ball that he carries all over, up there. Then put him up on the shelf. He got the ball and carried it back down through the hole onto the next lower shelf, onto the fireplace mantel, down on the chair and deposited it on the floor, where we were then expected to play ball with him. It is a game he started, of rolling the ball to us and we roll it back to him and on it goes 'til one of us gets tired. Smij on the other hand, when put up on a shelf, just gets big eyed and can't wait to find the fastest way down. The walkway looks really good. Dan did a fantastic design and finish.

(Vie 9^th) Carmen's birthday today. And what did she want to do? Go for a walk down this dirt road that is at the edge of town, five blocks south of us. First we looked at Google Earth to get an idea of where we were going. What a perfect sunny day, but not too hot. The route we took crosses over the old railroad right of way a few times, had a few houses back in the greenery off the road, some just being built. It also had electricity and city water all the way down there. Lots of wild glorious countryside. Saw a small stone church. Few dogs and a burro. Saw literally thousands of butterflies (mariposas) of all descriptions. At one point there were a couple dozen on the road basking in the sun—we figure they were out because there was still a little moisture in some drying muddy spots in the roadbed. As we walked by, they flew up and around Carmen – her special present. There is nothing like being in amongst many butterflies fluttering about you! Seem to be more butterflies here in winter months. Flowers, oh my goodness!!!! Huge sections of tiny yellow blooms on bushes, and then tall tall large groups of large sunflower types. Some flowering plants we had not seen around here before. Came to a point where we simply did not know which road to take and feared the possibility of getting lost, so we backtracked a bit and chose the road less traveled for the trip back – the railroad grade of years gone by. We continued to follow it north and finally managed to get above a paved road which we knew to be only a little southeast of the end of Calle 11. Only problem now was that we could see the pavement, but not how to get to it. Needed to cross a deep ravine. Backtracked a bit and found another road going down hill. This connected with the road which crossed under the railroad route we had been on.  Here's a link to other pix taken on this little excursion.

Now along the paved road, we stopped to gaze at the stream below, in a bit of shade. Along came a long black car and stopped beside us – always makes us nervous. Turned out to be a man who had lived in Minnesota for eight years, and he was merely saying hello to some English-speaking folks. After we got home (the walk took about two hours), Carmen prepared leftover chicken, sweet & sour cabbage and made from scratch mac and cheese. Dan got to work building a riser/shelf for under the microwave, giving extra storage on counter top. It's now ready to varnish tomorrow.

Josefina, Alex's mother, saw Dan out front and stopped to talk to him. She was pleased to see that Carmen had planted the three pepper plants she had given us Wonder if she will come by with more plants for us, seeing all the pots here on the front porch we have filled with dirt, with no plants occupying them yet. We are very much enjoying the friendliness of so many here. On our walk today, we passed many houses where we saw some of the people (and dogs) who have been walking by. Not many cats around, but we did see two today. Gardi wanted to go outside for awhile so Carmen put his halter & leash on him and they went out into the gated front yard. One young lady would have loved to pet him, but he was afraid when she reached out for him. Never saw him afraid of anyone before. Have we kept him inside too long, or, maybe, long enough so he'll think twice about trying to get outside if a door inadvertently opens in front of him?

(Sab 10^th) Dan worked on creating some extra shelves for our kitchen wall cabinet, and used some of the liftvan plywood, dressed up with wood filler and some iron-on birch veneer he had brought down with us from NoB. Then he proceeded onto varnishing the stand for the microwave, plus the shelves and their supports for the china cupboard. Carmen continued to work on curtains. Dan trimmed the bougainvillea from the porch roof area and over our sidewalks. He cut it back where it had draped itself over the concrete column that is at the outside corner of the lot, with the thought of eventually painting the calle and avenida numbers on it. As drivers in an unfamiliar area, we know how helpful they can be. However desirable it is for its beautiful and cheery flowers, bugambilia is a bear to work with, full of hard spines, and he got pierced and gashed almost from head to toe.

While outdoors, a delivery person stopped and asked Dan for directions. Actually Dan was able to direct the delivery person into the correct area of town. Always helpful to know the numbering system of towns, and where the colonias begin and end.

Huéspedes

Domingo 28 Octubre - Sabado 03 Noviembre 2012.  (Dom 28^th)  Upon waking, Carmen decided this would be the day to invite Ania and Frank for an afternoon meal. They also eat mid-afternoon as we do. Carmen called them, and as luck would have it – they were free! Dinner at two. While food prep was happening, Dan, with Carmen's assistance, set up the cat “tree” we had brought down from US, getting its parts out from underfoot. Then of course he had to clean off dining room table, which Dan has been using as a work table full of parts, etc. Oh, and chairs. Well, we did not bring our dining chairs with us, nor are we ready to purchase new ones. We do have some card table chairs and a couple lawn chairs, so we will not have to sit on our thumbs. It is hard to dine, when sitting on one's thumbs you know.

Not always a good idea to try your new oven the first time when having company, but really what could be wrong? The rest of the stove works fine! Wrong, wrong. The oven needs to be 425ºF but it would not go up above 325º. Well, our Dutch Baby wasn't as good as it could have been. This Dutch Baby is done without vanilla or sugar as the dessert ones are. It is poured over thin chicken breast meat, and . bakes about half an hour. By the time the “baby” is well browned, the chicken on the bottom is done. Really is best when it browns well in a hot oven, but due to the cooler temp in the oven, it was done before it puffed and browned. Our guests called about 1pm checking on the time. Mexico went off daylight savings time at midnight last night, and they wanted to confirm we were both on the same clock schedule for the meal. This is almost the first time that Carmen has cooked for guests at home, other than for family, in many years. Since she has been cooking in a restaurant and then retirement home for the past 17 years, she had no desire to cook when home. Found out that she really enjoys it again. We also had a parmesan crusted potato/chayote dish, fried green beans, red cabbage/pineapple slaw and wholewheat bolillo rolls. Did not make a dessert.

After dinner, we watched the DVD, “Mamma Mia.” Such a fun movie with upbeat music! When Ania and Frank arrived, they had presented us with some beautiful Anthurium flowers from their home, and some of their home-grown oranges and bananas. While watching the movie, Carmen kept thinking about the fat bananas, and since she had seen the movie before, she went into the kitchen and proceeded to fry them up, as they were actually platanos (plantains). After browning, she poured in a goodly amount of a brandy type cane booze, cooked hard, then added sugar to caramelize. Meanwhile, she took some of her frozen peanut butter cookie dough from the freezer and baked a few in the toaster oven. Found some pretty dishes in the cupboard, plated the yummies with a dollop of sour cream, and we all indulged. Yum, yum. Ania told Carmen that there was supposed to be no dessert, and Carmen told her it was their fault for bringing the platanos.

What a nice relaxing day we had. Watched another movie on TV after our first huéspedes (guests ) left. With daylight savings off here and still running in the US for another week, we are now two hours earlier than the east coast and one hour later from the west coast. Will switch back as soon as their time falls back.

(Lun 29^th) Rained last night and this day there is an on and off chipi-chipi happening. This is a very light misty rain in the air with solid gray sky. Dan is spending the day with the blog, and then with trying to get our banks to get their records straightened out for our life in Mexico. Carmen is watching the weather reports for hurricane Sandy, while reading, plus writing for the blog. Today we are having beer battered fish, and it is time to prepare it. Bit chilly today. Temp is about 68º outside and only 72º inside. Quiet day. Gardi is napping on the coffee table and Smij is of course in her drawer upstairs.

Carmen plans to raise the hem lines of the living room curtains, since they are basically down to the floor now. This makes for cleaning the floor difficult, and the bottom of the windows is about 20” above the floor. So she has pinned the edges up at various heights, to see which we might like best. In doing this it has been discovered that the bottom of the curtains has stretched and is a bit wider than just above where the new hems will fall. Always makes for difficulties of making them look good.

Our new acquaintance, Alex, who lives across this block, stopped by today to see that all is okay with us. He said that if anyone hassled us, tell him about it so that he might intercede. He opined that there were some folks around who didn't care for gringos, but we have, so far, encountered nothing but politeness and smiles from our neighbors and passers by.

(Mar 30^th) Last evening we had a surprise uninvited guest. A 3 inch across (with legs extended) tarantula was walking slowly across our living room floor, maybe watching TV with us? Now how did that get in the house? (Sorry, no picture to show you.  It was Dan's first thought when he saw it, but Carmen's desires to get a great distance from it won out here.)  We put an empty quart size yogurt container over it and slid a dust pan under, and carried it outside across the street to let it go in the banana field. Later, a calmer  Carmen told Dan that we should have saved it and sold it for a pet. Carmen used to have one with its young ones living on back steps in Scotts Valley, California. It was much smaller though.

Third day in a row with moisture in the air. Guess God does not want Carmen doing laundry today. Today is actually a fine rain instead of the chipi chipi. Temp outside is merely 65 and inside 72 and holding. Wonder how long the inside warmth will hold with no sun or heat? We discovered a leak behind the upstairs toilet, and Dan determined it was the seal between the tank and the bottom half of the fixture. So he turned off the water, flushed the tank, then removed the supply hose and decoupled the tank. Once removed he took it outside and hosed it out, taking off the old gaskets which definitely needed replacement.

Carmen is still thinking about hemming curtains and Dan is sitting at computer trying to make the printer function, which just stopped working while he was printing out some bank statements. He also was communicating with HP to see if he can get some idea about what is causing the monitor to display that weird interference pattern superimposed on the screen. Today we must look up medical terms in Spanish since our visit to the IMSS clinic is tomorrow. Dan's vocabulary of Spanish medical terms is pretty inadequate, so we will be using Google Translate and the great Word Reference website to get up to speed. We will put together a translated list of meds and conditions for Carmen to have with her, just in case she has some of her doctor's consult tomorrow without Dan present.

Carmen feels her mind is being lazy today. Can not think of what to do with the thin cut pork she has thawing for a meal today. Now there are also a couple fresh tomatoes and an avocado that should be used. Then of course we must finish the ice cream in the freezer since we will have the car out tomorrow and will shop at one of the big stores, which means we'll need freezer space for some new ice cream flavors. Problems, problems, problems all day long...remember that song? Actually no major problems here, thankfully, just little ones as we get settled in. We have still not found the little outside window thermometer that we got from Merv's in Marblemount years ago. We remember seeing it, but what did we do with it?

Keeping a lookout for another tarantula visitor! Too bad we could not have let it live with us, since it lives on insects. However, so far we do not mind those cute little visiting geckos in the house, which also eat insects. Their excrement is dry oval gray specks. This just gets swept from the walls where we see it, with no wall damage. Actually we found another newly hatched baby and carried it outside. It scurried off in a panic. They do not seem to like being carried by the tail upside down.

(Mie 31^st) What a night! A dog sat in front of our house and cried til 3:30am, when we finally got out of bed to see if we could do anything for it. We think it was a mama that just had babies taken away. When we started out the door, it went down the street - apparently back home. Do wish we had done that hours earlier. Just breaks our hearts to hear an animal being so unhappy.

Since today was both our first doctor appointments at the IMSS clinic, so we drove into Córdoba today. Before leaving, we had time to chip the peeling paint we found behind the upstairs toilet tank, seal the wall, and apply a coat of new white paint. First went to the hardware here in town to buy some plumbing parts to enable reassembly of the toilet—if they have them (they did) we'd avoid having to go to a plumbing store in the city today. Still with time to spare, we next stopped at the Office Depot to check out printers, since our is insisting that there is a paper jam, which there is not. Dan has tried everything he has read about on the web to make the printer understand that it is mistaken. Nope, it will let you do anything with it because it still insists there is a paper jam.

Different doctors for each of us at the same IMSS clinic. Carmen's cita (appointment) was at 11:15am, and we arrived about 40 minutes early, and checked Carmen in. Surprise, we were ushered right into the office, where we then waited for a few minutes. The friendly and well spoken doctor, referring to her history on his computer, asked questions and checked her with his stethoscope. She had written up a list of her meds and surgical history (we had looked up all the translations for these) on the bottom of a page printed from the web, and translated into Spanish, describing CREST syndrome, aka limited scleroderma, which she has had for many years is. It made things easier for all. The doctor typed everything into the computer, and his printer generated an order for lab tests, a complete battery of blood testing to establish a baseline for him, recording at what point her health is at this time. Then he will send her to a specialist in rheumatology. Knowing that there is a specialist in town who speaks English, Carmen asked if she could be sent to that man. The doctor smiled and said no, he would be referring to a female practitioner who works with IMSS, and Dan could translate for Carmen if needed, just like we had done today. The form authorizing the labs had to be countersigned by another doctor, el jefe just down the hall. All the tests will be done at the main IMSS hospital in the city. He also generated some prescriptions she could fill at the IMSS pharmacy downstairs, if she needed some of her meds now (which we didn't, having brought enough from the US).

Dan's appointment was at 12:30pm. He was not taken early, but was taken a half hour late. His doctor turned out to be a female, whose rapid manner of speaking made it a little difficult to understand. He hopes she was just a fill-in for his regularly assigned medico. He went thru the same series of questions. He was given papers for an X-ray of his prostate, again for baseline purposes. We can schedule that next week here at our clinic. He also has to have some blood and urine lab tests at the main hospital. Off to the hospital we went, only to find that the lab closed at 2pm today; we could come back late between 5pm and 8pm, or another day. Tomorrow is the Day of the Dead here, so we expect the lab to be closed tomorrow too. We will return here Friday. We had found on-street parking a few blocks away. Hospitals here expect people to take taxis or bus, so no parking lots are provided except for the staff.

Next stop, the big Chedraui store at Plaza Crystal for some groceries. Left the car there in it's covered parking garage and walked down the street to see what the big Josefina store there was all about. We are getting pretty hungry by now, and as luck would have it, it happened that this store was all candy and cookies. Here we bought, among other things, a package of Alegria Redonda (round happiness) cakes. Turns out that they seem much like rice krispy treats. They are disks of pressed amaranth, a plant cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas and used as grain. They look like sesame seed cakes and have sugar and limon mixed with them, sort of tasting like crackerjack since the crude sugar that binds them is molasses-like. Really good. For those of you who do not yet know this – this store sells bulk candy and among the variety is semi sweet chocolate chips at US$3.80 a pound. So we can have good chocolate chip cookies here. We planned to have a buffet in the Chinese restaurant across the street, but the price was higher than we expected, so we dined at the Chedraui store in their deli/restaurant, where there were many selections to chose from, each one hotter than the other. Tasty though, if you can taste with the mouth on fire. Thereafter we did our shopping. Remembered to bring a small foam cooler with an ice pack this time, so we got two flavors of ice cream, and could not pass up the specialty cheese area, and the great variety of wholegrain bread loaves. Bought a couple more plastic storage bins for bedding or clothes. Trying to keep the musty odor out, that sets in here because of humidity. On the way back to Fortín we stopped at Walmart to get some Scoop Away cat litter, the only place we have seen it down here. We have tried other brands, but wanted to try and compare the action with Scoop Away. None in the store today. It is very much more expensive than the others, but perhaps worth it. So now, will the store ever get it in again?

Upon arriving home, groceries unpacked. Dan put toilet back together and Carmen fried some pork pieces which we just bought, to go with cottage cheese and fresh, oh so ripe, tomato. We cut into the Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead ) we had just bought. Dan wanted to wait for the proper day – being tomorrow, but Carmen convinced him that we should eat part of it when it was so fresh. Unusual taste – perhaps something like anise seed, with tiny pieces of a fruit. Rained a bit this evening. Fresh orange juice from the oranges Ania and Frank gave us. They have a different flavor than the ones we have been buying in 40 pound bags. Some TV time before bed. Another good day.

(Jue 01^st) Nice way to start a new month. Decided that after four days of mist and rain, we'd take a chance on hanging out laundry this morning. While doing so, we looked down and here is a young puppy by our feet! She had come in thru the gate. Dan assured Carmen that puppy would hear other people on the street and wander off. Not so far, after peeing in grass, checking out the laundry building which had an open door, she is now taking a nap in the liftvan sitting in our backyard

Dan is working on plywood from a taken apart liftvan to make a cat walk, running around near the ceiling above the windows. He also made some mini work platforms so we can work on the sloping tiled roof without stepping too hard in one spot and breaking more of them. Carmen worked on making curtains for the long kitchen window, which faces busy Calle 11 Sur. She does not like the passers-by watching her in kitchen and dining room all the time. She bravely talked to a lady who works next door, and found out that the woman does not also live there. Forgot to exchange names though.

And how is puppy doing after five hours; still napping. Carmen is upstairs sewing and keeps hearing Dan out front talking to passers by while working. She is determined that the cute little puppy must find another home. She pushed puppy back out thru the back gate where she had come in, but she could come back in faster than Carmen could push her out. Next she carried puppy out front to Dan and asked that he walk down the street with her and try to find puppy's owners. No go. Okay, how about asking everyone he talked to if they knew where the puppy belonged. He could do this, but that would depend on getting their attention and interest. Okay – Carmen pushed puppy thru the front gate and kept her hand on her and Dan put some boards in front of gate so puppy could not come back in. Dan explained to the folks passing by and stopped by the commotion that the dog was not ours, and we were just trying to keep it out of the yard. Just at this time a young girl, maybe 11, came by, fell in love with puppy and took it home along with the other one she had with her. Wonder how her parents felt about that? We kept expecting her parents to come charging back to our house with the puppy, but so far we have not seen or heard that little cutie again. Thank heavens it was not a dog that Carmen could not say no to!

(Vie 02^nd) Another day for new experiences. This is the day we are going to the hospital for our blood and urine tests. We got up extra early and took the bus, since the hospital we were sent to is right on the Avenida 11 bus route that we can board nine blocks from our house, and parking is very difficult around the hospital. It was good to be on a bus again. Is it strange to enjoy bussing? Took only 15 minutes from Fortin to the bus stop at the clinic. Well, we got to the laboratorio department on the second floor, just before 8am, as we had read that it is open 8-4. What we had not done when we were there a few days ago, during a closed time, was read all the signs. The sign that read that appointments must be made between 10am and 1:30pm, was pointed out to us. Oh great! We had expected to go in this morning and wait in line for the tests, so we had eaten nothing for breakfast. Since we would not actually have the tests today, but could only make appointments, so now what?

Dan spoke to the attendant for an explanation of the procedures here, and realized that our lab appointments would be made according to when our next doctor's appointment was scheduled. As we looked at our health record cartillas (booklets) we found and remembered that Carmen had been given next appointment for December 6^th, but Dan had no appointment scheduled. Obviously Dan had to get an appointment scheduled before we could get his labs appointment. We figured it was too far to walk over to our clinic (about 18 blocks, one way) so we took a taxi for 25 pesos ($1.90 US). Got the appointment and taxied back to the hospital, where we still had time enough to go to a nearby restaurant for breakfast, since there would be no tests today.

At ten minutes to ten, people got up from the chairs where they had been waiting, so we got in line too. One man tried to get in the front and a lady in line told him to go to the back of the line. He did not want to, but finally did. At 10:05, someone finally came to the window. Another surprise...she did not immediately make appointments for people. She took all our health booklets along with our lab test order sheets. After she had a couple dozen of them, she started scheduling lab times for people, one at a time, and actually kept them in order of being taken from us. She thankfully gave us both appointments on the same day and same time, Dec 4^th .

Now, when we first arrived at 8am, there was a good sized table sitting in the waiting area. It was covered with urine-filled bottles of all shapes and sizes. Apparently only a few people are given sterile sample bottles to use (depending on the testing called for), and the others are requested to obtain a clean frasco (jar) at home. All the bottles are to be filled at home on the scheduled morning, and are to be brought in between 7 & 8am, and labeled at that time. Then the cart is wheeled away and no other samples are taken that day. Bit different all the way around from what we have been used to in US. Of course, all the lab tests are performed without additional lab fees here, and we can't fault the procedures here which are designed to economize labor and use of facilities.

We now decided to walk thru Cordoba a bit, since we were but a couple blocks from the central park. Glad we did. There were many ofrendas (display of offerings) made of flowers, with some docents dressed in authentic dress. Schools around the city made the displays for Day of the Dead. Most beautiful. We next went to the city's commerce office and asked where there was a lighting store. We would like to find some covers for our downstairs ceiling lights. Yes there were a couple stores about three blocks from there, but most stores were closed today. One was open but we had no luck finding what we were after, a simple clip on translucent shade for the bare bulbs in the center of each room's ceiling. Took the bus back into downtown Fortín where we visited our local hardware for a few parts we needed. Wandered around the Dia de los Muertos display in the central park. Tapped the ATM and made a bakery stop, where we bought pan muerto baked in the shape of a rabbit. We passed on those baked to resemble cadavers. Walked home with the purchase of tomatoes from a street stand. Napped.

Dan is working on cat walk, after hanging curtain rods for the new kitchen half-curtains. A few moments ago our doorbell rang. It was friend Alex with some treats his mother Josefina made for us. A small pan muerto, some of the promised tamales, and some candied calabaza en tacha (pumpkin simmered with piloncillo – crude sugar cake – and spices). Unfortunately we had just finished a large burger on fresh bakery rolls, for lunch-supper, so the tamales will wait in the refrigerator for tomorrow. A gray day today, which was great for all our walking around. It's now 5pm and the temperature outside is down to 65ºF. Still holding 71º inside. Just tasted the candied squash. Most delicious – rather like it was candied with molasses.

(Sab 03^rd) Doesn't feel like rain today, though the sky is gray. Caught up four days laundry. We both worked preparing the wood parts for the cat walk. Dan set up the router table and we cut channels in the long 2x2s (into which the plywood floor panels will fit). While using the router, a smallish purple black butterfly kept fluttering into working area. Then Dan filled holes in them with resanador (wood filler paste), and sanded and varnished them, while Carmen primed the panels. We had the chicken tamales Alex's mother made, for lunch. Positively the best we have ever had. After lunch Carmen baked off some of the frozen peanut butter cookie dough that she had made last week. Refilled the container that had tamales in it and walked down around the corner to Calle 9 to Alex's house, where we met his mom Josefina and spent a short time visiting with them. She said she'd be happy to come to our house and teach Carmen how to make tamales. Alex said that he missed some of the foods from when he lived in the US. Perhaps if we knew what they were, we could share some of them should they be in Carmen's repertorio. On the way past their small front yard, filled with plants including some beautiful rosas. Carmen admired a small bush with tiny bright red elongated berries on it. Turns out it is a perennial piquin pepper plant (10 to 40 times hotter than a jalapeño), and Josefina uses these tiny fruits (the biggest no more than 3/8” long) for salsas. She gave us some starts from volunteers growing in soil under the bush.

Carmen put the harness on Gardi and took him out front while she trimmed some bushes. While out there, inside our fenced front yard, Gardi looked toward the front door and meowed, and headed for the door. Thought he wanted back inside, but no, he was telling us that Smij was about to come outside by herself, thru the crack inadvertently left as Carmen did not lock the door behind her. If that happened, we would never see her again. At least she would not let us catch her, and she is terrified of strangers, so who knows where she would hide out, slowly starving or at the mercy of the critters that roam about. We offered to put her harness on her, but she wanted nothing to do with that. Next took Gardi into the backyard for a look around and some grass chewing. So went another lovely day. Sun did come out for about an hour – not enough to dry clothes completely, so they are now hanging about in the house. Finishing off a papaya for snack time, along with asiago cheese which is similar to a New York very sharp white cheddar.

Yesterday a young lady pushing a baby stroller asked Dan if we would be interested in buying organic cleaners and such from her, and later in the day dropped off a booklet of SWIPE products she sells around the neighborhood, sort of like combined Avon & Fuller brush. Ever hear of this product? Has various personal and household products that sound pretty good. Titles or names of products are in English. Sold in Mexico, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. Checking the web, it appears as if the products are about half the price of those sold under the same brand in Canada, and 1/3 the price the Aussies pay, but still pricey compared to products in the supermarket. We may try some as our in home supplies we have run out. We are hoping to hear from Dan's daughter Harmony and family on skype tonight.