Feb 28th Sunday: Workers came today to cut up the fallen boganvilea(sp) & truck them out of here along with other piles of yard debris. Joey was able to find some guys that have a chain-saw & would work on Sundays. Just like home, yeah right.
It took four truckloads of plant/weed debris to clean it all out. They used a pickup truck but they packed it up pretty full each time. Joey was helping to cut everything into smaller pieces so they could fit more on each truckload.
They charged 200 pesos for each load. About $16 USD per load.
The front patio…well, most of the front wall is now BALD! No more beautiful red flowers.
There were some pretty red birds in the yard this morning though. They helped my mood a bit! Trying to be a little pollyanaish. Is that a word? Well, it is now.
We’re going to try to plant some new ones but it will be a couple of years before the new ones will be prolific. By then the house , hopefully, will be sold. The boganvilea was a nice visual and would have added to the sales appeal.
Plants DO grow well here in Alamos so maybe it won’t be as long as I’m thinking.
We found out it’s easy to kill the worms by mixing laundry soap with water & pouring it at the base of trees . It doesn’t seem to hurt the trees, only the worms. If we had only known before we lost them.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Paella Party
Feb 27th Saturday A Paella Charity Luncheon @ La Hacienda de los Santos 350p each (about $29 USD) . There were several competing chefs from various parts of Mexico with their special paella recipes. The ones we tasted were very good. Margaritas were included as well as deserts of flan or capriotada (a Mexican bread pudding of sorts). There was music too. (albeit loud…ah Mexico! Always loud)
There must have been over 100 people. Mostly wealthy Mexicans from out of town. I guess they would need to be wealthy to afford 350 pesos each.. The streets were packed with clean, late model, nice vehicles.. It was really difficult to find a place to park in O little town of Alamos.
There were probably 20 non-Mexican guests. Most of us were lucky to have tables further from the loud speakers than the Mexicans.
Our friends Bill & Emily were at our table & it was nice to spend time with them. We shared some geocaching talk with some 1st time American visitors that are also RVers. They, Judy & Ron, are renting a house at the end of our street, Durango, & it was good to meet them.
It started at 2pm. The weather was perfect, about 75 degrees & went on until….well, who knows? We left about 5:45pm, staying later than many of the Gringos & the few other foreigners.
We had hoped to catch a photography showing at the museum that began at four. The photographs were by Paul, an American friend here that has taken pictures of Alamos over several years. By the time we walked over there the museum was closed….@6pm. Oh, well, maybe we will be able to see them in his home before we leave
From there we went home to grab the laptop, drove to our favorite hotspot for a nice internet signal so we could catch up on not only email but watch some of our recorded programs from our DVR at home….using SlingBox. It’s working well this trip so far….knock wood. (not the worm-eaten kind please.
There must have been over 100 people. Mostly wealthy Mexicans from out of town. I guess they would need to be wealthy to afford 350 pesos each.. The streets were packed with clean, late model, nice vehicles.. It was really difficult to find a place to park in O little town of Alamos.
There were probably 20 non-Mexican guests. Most of us were lucky to have tables further from the loud speakers than the Mexicans.
Our friends Bill & Emily were at our table & it was nice to spend time with them. We shared some geocaching talk with some 1st time American visitors that are also RVers. They, Judy & Ron, are renting a house at the end of our street, Durango, & it was good to meet them.
It started at 2pm. The weather was perfect, about 75 degrees & went on until….well, who knows? We left about 5:45pm, staying later than many of the Gringos & the few other foreigners.
We had hoped to catch a photography showing at the museum that began at four. The photographs were by Paul, an American friend here that has taken pictures of Alamos over several years. By the time we walked over there the museum was closed….@6pm. Oh, well, maybe we will be able to see them in his home before we leave
From there we went home to grab the laptop, drove to our favorite hotspot for a nice internet signal so we could catch up on not only email but watch some of our recorded programs from our DVR at home….using SlingBox. It’s working well this trip so far….knock wood. (not the worm-eaten kind please.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The WHOLE fish
Feb 25th Thursday :
Salvador, the fish/shrimp/lobster man, came to the door this morning. He comes by every week and I was waiting for him because we brought curry & coconut milk & basmati rice from the states in order to make shrimp curry. YUM!
Also I wanted some fish but Joey had forgotten we had spoken about this
I was in the shower & could hear Joey talking to someone but had no idea it was the fish man. When I got out of the shower Joey told me that Salvador was the one he had been talking to.. Oh well, we’ll wait another week for the seafood.
We didn’t actually need to wait another week because when Joey remembered that that the kids, Erlan & his new bride Rachel, would probably be coming down before Salvador would return Joey got into the car & chased him down. What a guy!
Bottom line: we DID end up with ½ kilo of nice sized shrimps, 1 kilo of some fish filets & one complete red snapper about 2 feet long! It’s the first time we ever purchased a whole fish.; let alone try to cook one. It’s really pretty to look at too. The innards had already been cleaned out, otherwise we never would have purchased it. It WILL be a new adventure of sorts to cook this thing! We probably won’t be ordering anything more from him this trip!
Salvador, the fish/shrimp/lobster man, came to the door this morning. He comes by every week and I was waiting for him because we brought curry & coconut milk & basmati rice from the states in order to make shrimp curry. YUM!
Also I wanted some fish but Joey had forgotten we had spoken about this
I was in the shower & could hear Joey talking to someone but had no idea it was the fish man. When I got out of the shower Joey told me that Salvador was the one he had been talking to.. Oh well, we’ll wait another week for the seafood.
We didn’t actually need to wait another week because when Joey remembered that that the kids, Erlan & his new bride Rachel, would probably be coming down before Salvador would return Joey got into the car & chased him down. What a guy!
Bottom line: we DID end up with ½ kilo of nice sized shrimps, 1 kilo of some fish filets & one complete red snapper about 2 feet long! It’s the first time we ever purchased a whole fish.; let alone try to cook one. It’s really pretty to look at too. The innards had already been cleaned out, otherwise we never would have purchased it. It WILL be a new adventure of sorts to cook this thing! We probably won’t be ordering anything more from him this trip!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Bye Bye Captain Jack
Feb 24th Wednesday Neighbor Captain Jack Selfors visited for awhile. He will be going back to Seward, Alaska in another week so we won’t get to see much of him.
This night we picked up Dolores, our “80 something” friend & ate an early dinner up on the Mirador where there’s a small place to have an inexpensive, good meal with a view of the town. We watched the sunset from there & went home, turned on the electric blanked & got into bed early.
This night we picked up Dolores, our “80 something” friend & ate an early dinner up on the Mirador where there’s a small place to have an inexpensive, good meal with a view of the town. We watched the sunset from there & went home, turned on the electric blanked & got into bed early.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Feb 23rd Tuesday Las Palmeras dinner notes:
. Squire & Robin music.
Met Kathy & Al (sat next to me)
Jackie & Darryl leave tomorrow to return to Alberta
Eustachio worked 2hrs w/nephew, yard work
Eustachio was trimming the boganvilea in front of the house as I sat at my makeshift desk working on the laptop. I’ve positioned the desk in order to see the red boganvilea through the window.. The boganvileas are one of the things about the front of our house that I really love to see.
All of a sudden I heard a loud crash-thump-type sound & when I looked up from the desk I saw that the noise had come from the boganvileas crashing down onto the brick patio. All I could say was “Oh, no, Oh, no! Oh, NO!’
No one was at fault. It turns out that the branches that had been flowing over into the street were actually grabbing the other side of the wall & holding them up. They needed holding up because some awful, large, white worm, as thick as a finger & about 2” long had been eating at the trunks for years. When looking at the broken, fallen trunks we could see the worm holes & the wood was pulverized. You could actually break it in two almost as if it were a cracker!
I cried, big time…..of course that didn’t help anything & I’m over it…..sort of.
. Squire & Robin music.
Met Kathy & Al (sat next to me)
Jackie & Darryl leave tomorrow to return to Alberta
Eustachio worked 2hrs w/nephew, yard work
Eustachio was trimming the boganvilea in front of the house as I sat at my makeshift desk working on the laptop. I’ve positioned the desk in order to see the red boganvilea through the window.. The boganvileas are one of the things about the front of our house that I really love to see.
All of a sudden I heard a loud crash-thump-type sound & when I looked up from the desk I saw that the noise had come from the boganvileas crashing down onto the brick patio. All I could say was “Oh, no, Oh, no! Oh, NO!’
No one was at fault. It turns out that the branches that had been flowing over into the street were actually grabbing the other side of the wall & holding them up. They needed holding up because some awful, large, white worm, as thick as a finger & about 2” long had been eating at the trunks for years. When looking at the broken, fallen trunks we could see the worm holes & the wood was pulverized. You could actually break it in two almost as if it were a cracker!
I cried, big time…..of course that didn’t help anything & I’m over it…..sort of.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
First Day's activities in Alamos
Feb 21 Sunday: The first morning we walked the house & yard to see where the work & fixin’ must begin. If any. Usually there is something that needs work on after being abandoned for a year.
In the house we found a small leak in our bathroom as well as a disconnected hose under the kitchen sink. That’s where Joey began. We have now given him an additional title of Plumber. Everything else inside the house seems ok.
In the yard we used to have a HUGE Maguey plant. It was taller than I am. That’s the plant that they use for tequila. It’s similar to a muy grande aloe vera plant. I say USED TO have one in the center of the yard with some cacti & other desert plants in a big circle area defined with rocks. We could drive around this circle….a circle driveway . The heart of the Maguey plant had been ripped out, stolen. What a shame. It was so beautiful. The outer leaves now all dried & dead. The plant dies after the heart is taken. I don’t know how anyone got it out of the walled & gated yard but people can be quite innovative.
Our next door neighbor , Raul, said that one afternoon there were 3 teen age boys on our roof & he chased them away using his barking dogs as ammunition. First of all I have no idea how they got up there without a ladder. It’s about 18feet high. Maybe they were just hangin’ or maybe they were thinking about stealing the copper tubing up there. Maybe they “did away” with our Maguey plant. We’ll never know.
The horse poo needed picking up. A friend & neighbor, Ellen, puts her horse in our yard from time to time. It’s a win win situation because he eats the weeds…We need more horses because he doesn’t eat enough.. Still lots of weeds. Oh well.
Anyway she came by to tell us she’d come tomorrow with her worker to pick up the poo.
We went over to neighbors Velma & Bob & found out they’d be leaving Alamos tomorrow for the season. They came down in November & it was time to go home to Salem, Oregon & tend to an ill sister. They gave us two big bagsfull of grapefruits & oranges from their trees. A lovely going away gift but THEY were the ones going away. Works for me!
Other neighbors, Nicole & Ray invited us & Velma & Bob, for coffee & cookies in the afternoon as a friendly send-off for Velma & Bob.
In the house we found a small leak in our bathroom as well as a disconnected hose under the kitchen sink. That’s where Joey began. We have now given him an additional title of Plumber. Everything else inside the house seems ok.
In the yard we used to have a HUGE Maguey plant. It was taller than I am. That’s the plant that they use for tequila. It’s similar to a muy grande aloe vera plant. I say USED TO have one in the center of the yard with some cacti & other desert plants in a big circle area defined with rocks. We could drive around this circle….a circle driveway . The heart of the Maguey plant had been ripped out, stolen. What a shame. It was so beautiful. The outer leaves now all dried & dead. The plant dies after the heart is taken. I don’t know how anyone got it out of the walled & gated yard but people can be quite innovative.
Our next door neighbor , Raul, said that one afternoon there were 3 teen age boys on our roof & he chased them away using his barking dogs as ammunition. First of all I have no idea how they got up there without a ladder. It’s about 18feet high. Maybe they were just hangin’ or maybe they were thinking about stealing the copper tubing up there. Maybe they “did away” with our Maguey plant. We’ll never know.
The horse poo needed picking up. A friend & neighbor, Ellen, puts her horse in our yard from time to time. It’s a win win situation because he eats the weeds…We need more horses because he doesn’t eat enough.. Still lots of weeds. Oh well.
Anyway she came by to tell us she’d come tomorrow with her worker to pick up the poo.
We went over to neighbors Velma & Bob & found out they’d be leaving Alamos tomorrow for the season. They came down in November & it was time to go home to Salem, Oregon & tend to an ill sister. They gave us two big bagsfull of grapefruits & oranges from their trees. A lovely going away gift but THEY were the ones going away. Works for me!
Other neighbors, Nicole & Ray invited us & Velma & Bob, for coffee & cookies in the afternoon as a friendly send-off for Velma & Bob.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Arrived Alamos
Feb 20 2010 Saturday ARRIVED Alamos @ 6PM. We began unpacking the car. At least until we were able to reach the electric blanket. So glad we got that far. The house was quite cold at night & in the morning until we open all the windows and doors to let the warmth of the sun in.
We ate dinner at Las Palmeras nearby. Had Enchaladas Suises & had Indio beer on draught. Went to bed as soon as we could. Nite nite.
We ate dinner at Las Palmeras nearby. Had Enchaladas Suises & had Indio beer on draught. Went to bed as soon as we could. Nite nite.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
1st day on way to Alamos
Well, we got a late start...to say the least. 1:45pm yesterday
We're at our "regular" Palm Springs motel...w/coupon $35 nte....Palm Canyon Inn
Got in the room just before dark. Watched slingbox Olympics ...parts we wanted to see.
This morn we finished watching Sean White.....and others....fun to watch skateboarding.
Joey's just finishing up shower & we'll be on our way by 930am.
We love to not be rushed...guess u can tell.
Probably Phoenix tonight. This means we will take 4 nights in motels before we get to Alamos. We usually take 3 nights. la di dah , la di da
We're at our "regular" Palm Springs motel...w/coupon $35 nte....Palm Canyon Inn
Got in the room just before dark. Watched slingbox Olympics ...parts we wanted to see.
This morn we finished watching Sean White.....and others....fun to watch skateboarding.
Joey's just finishing up shower & we'll be on our way by 930am.
We love to not be rushed...guess u can tell.
Probably Phoenix tonight. This means we will take 4 nights in motels before we get to Alamos. We usually take 3 nights. la di dah , la di da
Friday, February 12, 2010
A good GeoCache day: one found, one not
We went out for our walk today with the iPhone app for geocaching. A new direction from our house. Nichols Canyon. The geocache showed two that we thought we would be able to handle.
I waited on a rock for the half hour that it took him to come back. I was enjoying my iPhone...the iPod part , killing the time by listening to some of the podcasts I had. The time went by quickly with this diversion.
As we were driving back down hill we saw where the fireroad was ....the one we'd somehow missed on the way up on foot. So when we come back to find that 2nd geocache it , hopfully, will be a snap. We will drive up & find a place to park so there the walking part will be just right!
I think we'll wait until we return from Alamos to find that 2nd one.
(Sorry again, if u got this more than once. While I'm doing my editing....it somehow gets posted instead of just saved. I didn't mean to sent it out 3 times but I think that's what happened. There is supposed to only be one photo of the knight towards the bottom...u might see 2 in the uncorrected first one. Oh well. I'm still learning)
It was such a very nice walk up the canyon. We saw two deer. Most of the time we needed to walk IN the road. Not too much traffic but we'd really had to pay attention when we heard a car coming & step up on a rock or a bit of dirt where ever possible.
Luckily no Prisus' snuck up on us!
The uphill wasn't too steep for my knees & after seeing the deer & walked a little bit further we found the first geocache. It really was an easy find but we got all excited anyway!
I checked my app again to see how much further uphill the other one would be.....well, it seemed dooable. We walked & walked & felt we must have passed, unseen the fireroad mentioned in the geocache details. When I looked again at the map in the iPhone I saw that we had walked uphill for over 1 1/2 miles....that's WAY more than my knees can usually handle. Uh oh, I knew it was not going to be a good thing to walk back the same distance. That's what I get for not paying attention to anything but the quest when geocaching.
Joey was an angel....I still cannot believe that he volunteered to run all the way back to the house to get the car to rescue his lady!!!
As we were driving back down hill we saw where the fireroad was ....the one we'd somehow missed on the way up on foot. So when we come back to find that 2nd geocache it , hopfully, will be a snap. We will drive up & find a place to park so there the walking part will be just right!
I think we'll wait until we return from Alamos to find that 2nd one.
(Sorry again, if u got this more than once. While I'm doing my editing....it somehow gets posted instead of just saved. I didn't mean to sent it out 3 times but I think that's what happened. There is supposed to only be one photo of the knight towards the bottom...u might see 2 in the uncorrected first one. Oh well. I'm still learning)
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