5C's Que Pasa

As we walked to the ticket office at the Embarcadero I was surprised to see these packages sitting in the sun.  They were full of raw meat and chicken.  Hopefully they will be picked up sooner than later.

This was a very large boat and this tiny panga was motoring right next to it.

Then my nose caught the odour of hops being brewed.  As you can see by the smoke atop the buildings,  beer was being made this morning at the Pacifico plant.

Street art. This one was signed and dated 2017.

Lovely roof top cafe. The structure beside it is going up very fast. Just across the street to the left is one of the Michael Gallery stores where I did some serious gift shopping this morning.  Of course I managed to add a few items for us as well.

The mercado sits on a full city block and all the way around on the outside are dozens of tiny shops.

Because of the floor construction inside we now walk around the outside to get to the entrance we need.  At one of the entrances I had to stop and take this photo.  There are three of these lights hanging from the ceiling just past the chicken area.  Beautiful lights.  I wonder if this is is a new thing or a one of.  Very pretty.  My title for this post is ” It never gets old”.  There is always something new to see even after nine winters here.  I love it.

Once we got our Chihuahua cheese and tortillas we moved on to our favourite produce booth.  The lady to the right of middle, in black, saw me taking the photo and waved.  She has actually visited Osoyoos, BC, not far for where we live.  So sad to say adios to our friends at the market today.  I kept thinking that I should bring something back to them next November but I have no idea what a momento of Canada might be other than Maple Syrup.  Any thoughts??

Colin missed out on a shrimp burger last week so we stopped after several hours of shopping.

Between us we had eight full bags, three of which I could not even lift.  Just in case you need to go, I usually slip away to Panama’s to use the toilet while they start our food prep.  Today they had run out of shrimp and had to get some from one of the fish vendors.  It was a great burger 🙂

Our fishmonger.  We got some snapper for us that will give us left over fish tacos for lunches  and some shrimp to enjoy back home.  I also picked up extra snapper to make a pot of chowder for my friend Libby.  It is her favourite and this will be the first time she has fresh fish in it, which I have frozen until I get to Lake Havasu.  It was so sad to say hasta Noviembre to her.  She could not believe that we were leaving so soon.  She is also someone I would like to bring a small gift to. But what?

I never tire of riding in a pulmonia. They have regular cabs now but we refuse to use them.

Adios shrimp fleet. Thanks for all the fresh shrimp we have enjoyed week after week.

I cleaned and froze our shrimp to enjoy back in Canada as a shrimp stir fry.  The first bowl of water holds the shrimp just as I bought them at the mercado.  I then peel each shrimp into that purple bag in the sink.  These shrimp were already beheaded so I didn’t have do that today:) Next I slice the back of them and pull out all their poop and put that on the paper towel. They then go into bowl number two and then bowl number three. I really like them clean and if they are salty from the ocean this helps reduce the salt.  I towel them off and put them all in a ziplock and into the freezer ready to use as needed.  Nine years ago I taught George from ‘Our Awesome Travels’ how to clean and devein shrimp.  I bet he now has a better method!  I am still using the same one.

So ended another day on my beloved Isla.  I often get teased about the number of sunset photos I take but you know, ” it never gets old”.

Monday evening we had an unexpected visitor.  King David, a successful business man here in Mazatlan and one of the owners of this RV park dropped by to ask Colin a favor. He is doing a new brochure and wants photos.  Umm we are leaving in a week.  No he said, just stay longer at no charge.  Sorry but we can’t as we have obligations elsewhere.  Colin could not say no and here he is first thing Tuesday morning heading off to work.  He had no idea what the day would involve.

He was everywhere, doing a few days work in one day. He came home for 40 minutes to have lunch and was picked up in an ATV and off he went. Once he has some photos ready I will share them with you.  I meanwhile was preparing for our trip North.  I have to order some items from Amazon, etc.  We only have one more shopping day in Mazatlan and I did not want to forget anything.  And of course I was still dealing with a few computer issues.

As the day drew to a close the weather became cloudy and cool.

A few folks had organized a farewell happy hour complete with appies and a chili dinner as a send-off for all of us.  The wind continued thru the happy hour and we wondered if we would be rained out.  Of course we had our palapa to fall back on if needed.  Don’t you love my new glass.

Mother Nature decided to give us a spectacular farewell.

There were three chilis to enjoy as well as salads and garlic bread. We all contributed.  This was taken with my iPhone.

And this one with my camera.

The changing colors of the sky were our entertainment.  All the sunset shots were taken with my iPhone.

Someone, I believe it was Audrey, said that this was the best sunset since Christmas.

It did not want to end.  How fortunate we all are to be here on the Isla, to enjoy each others company and to be so close to the beauty of nature.

The evening ended with a bonfire.

Colin washed the car and very carefully we got it moved under the palapa out of the sun.  He then spent a full day waxing it.

He later did a very thorough interior clean.

Wouldn’t you love to be sitting there watching the waves?

Sundays we get a lot of motorbikes visiting from other villages.

Late Sunday afternoon we were invited to a presentation of Bob & Marjorie’s 21 day trip to Vietnam last November.  Very informative.

Carefully backing the car out Monday morning. Colin was on his way to pick up Sofia, my masseuse.  Only one more massage to go.  Last one until November.

Our bougainvilleas are getting so large and almost taking over the yard.  When I planted those eight years ago they were only two to three feet tall.

We spent a few hours yesterday cutting them back and down.  Some were over the top of the palapa and  others were very close to the RV.  So major surgery was involved.

An iPhone sunset last night.

We met with Rae the day after she landed here in Mazatlan. Colin and I were doing our weekly shopping at the mercado when he began to be dizzy and felt faint.  A first in our  over 30 years of marriage.  I sent him out to the fresh air while I paid for my last purchase.  Colin had found a chair at this woman’s table. He was cold and clammy to the touch.  I had him put his head between his knees.  Meanwhile I texted Rae and she met us.

The original plan was for the three of us to have a shrimp burger at Tony’s.

Colin sat outside as he was still faint and nauseous.  Rae and I throughly enjoyed our  shrimp burger.  I should have taken Colin back to the Isla right away but I thought that it would pass and he would eat with us.  However once home, he slept for the next 24 hours and woke up feeling just fine.  I will say that I was most concerned that perhaps he had dengue or??

Lovely sunset last Wednesday.

Last Friday evening Colin and I headed into Mazatlan to meet Rae.  She had been enjoying Art Walk to the fullest.  We got there early and stopped for a drink.  Here we are trying to do a selfie. Obviously I have no idea where to look at the iPhone camera.

Unlike the previous Friday when we were there with Laura and Alan and were the only foreigners,  this time the Plazuela was mostly full of Americans and Canadians.

The three of us dined at Gaia and there was an excellent Mexican group playing.  Their music was perfect for the diners and many of the Mexicans spent the night on the dance floor.

We shared a lovely appetizer, breaded zucchini with a fabulous dip.

So much to catch  up on.

All of our meals were excellent. It was a great evening.

Rae cracking up after sharing a personal thought/joke with the pulmonia driver.

Colin and I arrived at the embarcadero only to hear a plaintive cry from a wee kitty.  The lady whose feet are to the right of me threw out a taco chip to the cat.  The cat was unable to break it into tiny pieces so I went over to do  that.  I realized that the chip was full of salt and said in Spanish that it was too salty for the gato.

The woman reached into her grocery bag and brought out a stack of tortillas wrapped in paper and offered me one. I fed the cat piece by tiny piece until the entire large tortilla was gone.  So sweet to feel the nibble of tiny teeth against my fingers once again.

Eventually the launcha  arrived and we had to depart towards the Isla.  I watched as the kitten/cat poked its small head out to see where I had gone.  Yes I had a lump in my throat.  I thanked the woman yet again for the food for the gato.

Arriving home yet again.

Saturday’s sunset

Rae was meeting another friend on the Isla Sunday and dropped by afterwards.  We spent a couple of hours dealing with the rest of my questions.  Other than Photos I was good to go and I think that Rae thought so as well.

Another great sunset  Sunday.

Replacing the broken skylight over the bathroom. A very kind RVer brought it down for us mid February.

There was a problem with one of our ceiling lights. All it needed was the be taken apart and to have the corroded contacts cleaned.

First I had to empty the contents. Way way too many books. So I looked at them all and chose the ones that I was least interested in reading. I gave 36 of them away.  I still have over 30 books up there.

How empty and stripped cupboard.  Erik located the screw, cut it off and added four others to reinforce the area.

So much stuff up there behind those panels.

Next up was our non electric fan vent.

I knew this side was splitting.

But the other side was worse.  The plastic was so brittle that it likely would not have made it back to the US where we planned to get a new one.  Erik just happened to have the part.  Wonderful.

For many many years I have been putting my feet up against the dash in front of me and it has started to wear very badly. It did not look nice.  Colin had purchased the right color material to create a cover but had no idea how to proceed.  The amazing Erik came up with an easy solution that involved two anchor straps, placing the vents within the fabric and adding a few buttons to hold it into place.  The left side was simply tucked between the two sections of the dash.

Isn’t that simply brilliant?

Some roof caulking and around the newly painted mirrors.

I even got my broken shoe drawer glide fixed.

Putting in our new slide curtains. Two of the four has fallen apart so we had all four redone but with a snap on system.

The old ones used to roll in with the slide but this looks just fine.