Well, Happy Birthday to me!!

It was another gorgeous day in Paradise and fun was had by all. Actually it has been a B'day party week for us starting with Pam's birthday last Monday, TG turkey dinner in the middle and finishing with Cynthia's this coming Tuesday. We went to Careyes to watch two polo matches in the afternoon. We packed a picnic which included champagne and tasty snacks. G brought along a bottle of Tres Mujeres tequila which was perfect as there were three B'day gals. I have some special photos to share. Click here. Between the two games we were treated to a shot of tequila by a sponsor and with shot in hand we headed out to the fields to stomp divots kicked up by the horses' hooves. Not many as it was dry so divots turned into dust. Grant and I spotted some likely ones but it turned out to be 'road apples' and we thought better of stomping those!
Back in La Manzanilla after dark it was time to stop in at Palapa Joe's where there was live music with Willy, the owner, and Scottie, from Powell River BC, both on guitar, Dan from Cal on harmonica and Danko from ? on bongos. Good dancing blues music.
So today - another sterling sunshiny day and the Grey Cup game to look forward to this evening. I am going for a swim with the gals around 3 pm.

Tortilleria Robbed

Yesterday morning some bads guys with a gun (apparently) robbed the tortilleria. Normally this wouldn't make much sense as tortillas are subsidized and cost practically nothing so everyone can afford them. However, since everyone needs tortillas, the place is also the spot to pay your electric bill which arrives every other month. The bills came in last week, so folks have been anteing up mucho dinero. Anyway, our tortilleria was one of three different hits in the area (Melaque, too) so I guess we can expect some police presence in future. Like elsewhere, there's not a lot of work and times are tough this year for everyone.

No Rain here

Just a quick note to say the sun still shines and sets somewhere in the world and here is the view from my patio. The sun disappeared behind the mountain on Nov 5th and won't be back to setting in the ocean until Feb 3rd. I still, however , get great skies to watch.
I'm adding this bit, too, though some have seen/heard it before:
If I ever complained about the afternoon winds up on this hillside, I take back every grumble. There is hardly any wind to speak of most days and, boy, that means it's hot and steamy. Cool showers are the order of the day and I don't have to worry about the umbrella blowing off the patio.
The casa was in very good condition upon my return. The usual measuring stick for that is how musty, moldy and mildewed everything smells. Well, lucky me, the clothes hanging in the closet smelled like ... clothes!. The clothes left in the drawers smelled like... cloves (cause that's what I threw in with the duds) - that and bay leaves - I guess it worked. The sheets smelled fresh and so did the towels. It was easy to get the bedroom enough back to normal for my first night's sleep. Drop cloths are a good answer.
Had a bit of a prob with lighting the stove and the HWtank but after 2 or 3 days the gas finally filled the lines and the stove is on the go. The hwt was not so compliant but thankfully it is so hot a cool shower works just fine! I thought it needed a new thermocouple(?) but today I gave it one more chance to stay lit and low and behold...I have hot water! and a pilot light still on the go.
No putty coloured doughball frogs 'chilling out' in the bathroom sink drain this year but I did have a bit of a scare while brushing my teeth the first morning when there was this rush of red ants galloping out of the sink vent lugging eggs behind them. I sent them down the drain then got out the Raid!
Mago, my gardener, has the gardens and the potted plants looking just wonderful. It's like I never left. Well, except that the cutter ants came through a week or so ago and demolished several tasty flowering shrubs - like every single leaf is gone. Good thing they don't like every plant They'll take some time to recover but I can see wee green buds. Basil is growing like crazy and great big Cosmos with rose-red and white flowers are volunteering everywhere, ditto marigolds and zinnias. Sadly not a single lime on my lime tree this year.

Start the day with Passion

... fruit that is. I have a very healthy vine winding along my chainlink fence and fighting for space with the letitia vine - big glorious lavender blossoms. I have to check regularly because if they fall, they roll a long way down hill into jungly overgrowth and I don't go there looking for them. Anyway, they are juicy and delish. Today I am going to make syrup for agua fresca(think Kool-aid) with them. Pour a bit of syrup into water or soda water and add ice for a cool refreshing drink on a hot day. We have lots of those sorts of days here. We were swimming the other day with Grant's thermometer and it registered 30°C(86°F). I am still the only one being stung by ??? out there but the days demand a swim anyway.
It is hard to believe that the end of Nov is just around the corner. I am joining my American friends for a full fledged TG turkey dinner at Palapa Joe's on Thursday. Saturday marks the opening of the Polo season at Careyes (and my B'day) so I hope to be there for the opening game and the half time tequila divot stomp! Those horse's hooves kick up a lot of turf!