5C's Que Pasa

In our last days here in paradise we are living each day to the fullest and creating memories.  Nothing in life is for certain so we are enjoying our days with the girls and each other.  We are all well and thank all of you who have sent personal emails checking in on us.

For some reason I just can’t pull myself away from being outside and just simply enjoying the ocean, the wind and the view and all the energy that that creates.  I have however been taking many photos and have lots to show you.  That will come over the next few weeks.  One does not always have to document and publish life in real time.  Good things keep 😉

The internet here is extremely S L O W…….most frustrating.  I suspect we have 1 or 2 people watching movies online.

Semena Santa is here and we are living it in the moment, so glad we stayed for it.  What a great past few days it has been.  Of course we are also in the final days of preparation to pack up and leave but we are doing that slowly and savoring our last days.

Good Friday.

We have a few dark and cloudy days and no sunsets. This is from a week or so ago.

This is the second time I write this…it was great the first time, not so much this time……dang WordPress error 👿 

Last Wednesday Colin and I had gone up the beach to try out a new restaurant ( post coming ).

On the way back we turned and saw this lovely scene. The horse had been training directly in front of our site.

We are certainly going to miss these spectacles.

As we approached the RV, I noticed some insects flying about.  It did not take long to realize that the termites were back.  The hatching of these termites usually occurs late March to mid April.  Our first four years here were termite free.  But back in 2014 we were swarmed with thousands of them and our RV was a war zone.  It took us hours to gain control.  You can read that story here.  Last year we had a minor invasion as we now knew how to deal with them.  They fly to the light so one has to shut all lights off and of course vents and windows.  Last Wednesday we had left our fairy lights on to guide us home as we walked the beach at dusk.  The screened windows were all open and we had left a light on inside for the girls. We quickly shut everything up and I also ran to advise the other RVers what was happening so that they could protect their RV’s.  It took us over 90 minutes to kill  those horrific insects as they kept popping up here and there.  I didn’t count every one but pretty close to 125 were terminated 😯

They usually pass by quickly if there is no light.  However they do come for 3 to 5 nights in a row.  So we battened down the hatches at dusk last Thursday and a few did go over us.  Nothing on Friday.  Colin spoke with an old fisherman on the beach who explained that the wind had brought the large batch on on Wednesday.  Just our luck that we were out.

Not an easy task to capture swarming insects.

So once we got control of the insects I lost control of me.  For some unknown reason I became very weak, total lack of energy and appetite.  I just lay about for over 48 hours.  You have to know that if I don’t want a glass of vino or to look at the computer, even my emails, that things are pretty dire.  Today is my first normal day.

Semena Santa/Holy Week began today. We saw more people on the beach today than any other single day thus far this season.

The week ahead promises to be as interesting as the sunset tonight.

Every now and then we see a horse being trained directly in front of us on the beach.  They do work them hard, having them go around and around in a tight circle.  I missed getting a photo of that as my camera just would not open.

It finally worked once the horse was moved into the water.

The exercise was continued but not as aggressively. I believe that the intent was to cool the horse.

We haven’t seen many herons this season as compared to years past.

This beauty was standing directly in front of our site. Love the zoom lens on my Canon.

The girls are going to miss their daily beach time.

So will Colin and I.  Not just being on the beach but sitting and watching all the activity both on the beach and in the ocean.

We leave in just 15 sleeps 😥

The camera sometimes isn’t fast enough…..here Carmeh has her two back feet up off the sand as she runs along.

Good news, Colin just got back from picking up my camera in Mazatlan and it appears to be repaired.  The fellow said that there was dust within the mechanism.  Even though we are very careful to keep the camera protected there is lots of dust in the air here on the Isla.  So now we just have to test the camera for the next few days to be certain it is functioning properly.  Repair cost was 150 pesos/11.16CAD/8.51USD,  you just have to love Mexico. I am fairly certain that I have saved myself a ton of money.  FYI it only cost Colin 76 pesos round trip ( you do the USD/CAD math 😀  ) traveling by lancha and pulmonia.

This was our spectacular sunset just this past Monday. It was another grey day but Mother Nature certainly made up for that at sunset. As seen thru the lens of my camera…..we are so fortunate to see some marvels.

While Colin was away the hours in the day simply slipped by.  Just the everyday living of keeping things tidy both inside and out, walking and then washing the girls off, gardening, and keeping up with emails and reading other blog post left me little personal time.  Of course everyone knows that when you are near the end of your vacation time, time itself seems to speed up all on its own.

I never missed a sunset though. This fabulous one was taken last Saturday evening.

The girls did obviously miss Colin but were much better than in the past.  Hard to explain other than to say they were more laid back.  Carmeh did not have to sit at the gate waiting for him to return day after day although if they heard a vehicle they went to check who it was.  They did stick close to me 24/7.

I started a double batch of homemade beans last Friday.  First sorting the beans and rinsing them, then soaking them overnight.  Saturday morning I simmered them on the stove top, well actually my fabulous induction cook top for an hour.  Meanwhile I chopped onions and mixed all kinds of wonderful things like mustard, ketchup, molasses, etc into the bottom of my crockpot.  Soon I added the beans and then covered with water.  They cooked on low for about eight hours when I took them out to cool.  If I were home I would have cooked them in a bean pot @ 250F for 7 hours in the oven.  I think they were better cooked in the oven, next time I would cook them for 10 hours on low in the crockpot.  I haven’t made these for a few years now.

Colin arrived just about 7PM Sunday evening.  The girls were over the top with tail wags, barks and face kisses.  We all had a grand reunion.  Once things settled down dinner was a reheated batch of beans.  They were great but such a lot of work, guess that is why I don’t make them too often.  I have a meal of them in the freezer to be enjoyed one night on the road North, likely when it is wet, windy and chilly.

We have spent the last few days getting back into a family routine as well as Colin catching up on his sleep.  It has been overcast for a few days, still around 26C but gray and windy but still humid.  The weather should pick up in a few days.  It has been a week now of unusual weather for the area.  I am not complaining as walking is much cooler this way.

Sadly my camera started acting up just before I went to Culiacan, something with the contacts.  Sometimes I could turn it on and other times not.  It is only two years old but very well used.  New ones, for the very same model and year are almost double what I paid 2 years ago.  So today we took a quick trip into Mazatlan to visit that wonderful camera repair fellow just off the Plazuela Machado.  He said he would have an answer for us tomorrow afternoon.  While in town we took advantage of a most delicious lunch at Tony’s, a shrimp burger of course.  We also bought some produce at the mercardo.  It would be so great to shop there every few days but I’d rather live on the Isla.

This was the sunset last Sunday, Colin of course just missed it.

A very large city indeed, it is the capital of Sinaloa.  It is host to many Universities and is very cosmopolitan.  It is also one of the main drug cartel cities.  It even has a Narco cemetery that I wished we had had time to visit.  Next time for certain, I want to see these condos built for the dead.

But the main focus of my visit was to attend the Wednesday concert featuring David Russell.  As I mentioned in my last post I had met him and his wife Maria four years ago and seen him perform then.

David’s music was superb. I heard music and sounds that I never have heard before from a guitar.  The concert was incredible and he did receive a few standing ovations.

We all trooped back stage for the tributes and congratulatory hugs.  Some of the students had David sign their guitars 😀   I can’t imagine Colin ever having someone sign his precious guitar.  He never lets any one play it 🙄

The honored musicians and invitees headed out for a celebratory meal at an Italian restaurant. I can’t say how many we were.  That is Isela and Heriberto, 2nd and 3rd from the top left.  I certainly never spent anytime with them.  Colin is staying at their home so he is seeing them daily.

There were five featured guitarists at the Guitar Festival this year.  Four of them currently live in Spain.  In fact David has taught three of the in the past.  Rather amazing.  It was an extremely festive dinner with lots of conversation and fun.

The lady on the left of Colin is Mabel Millan, she is 21 years of age. She is from Barcelona and performed Monday evening. Mabel has been playing since she was eight and had just finished recording her first CD.  Marco Socias is on Colin’s right and performed Tuesday evening.  That is Zoran Dukic on the far right and he is from Croatia and also resides in Barcelona.  Zoran first met David Russell when he was thirteen and started taking lessons from him.  David says that he knew way back then that Zoran had that special something.  Both Mabel and Marco have had some instruction from David.  They all loved being in the same place together for almost a week.

Zoran, myself and Rodolfo, a good friend of ours.  We enjoyed New Years Eve at the Plazuela Machado a few years ago with Rodolfo.  Colin also took the photo of him that is on the cover of his latest CD.  He is the artistic director for the Festival this year.

Myself with Anahid, she is the wife if Vinicio, the Presidente of the Festival this year. Such a beautiful smile despite being on the go from 7 AM until 2 or 3 AM six nights in a row. Colin did their wedding photos here on the Isla a few years ago.

David, myself and Zoran leaving the restaurant around 1:30AM. We were all staying at the same hotel.

It was fun to have breakfast ( which was included in the room rate ) surrounded by several of the guitarists, one of the judges of the student competition and one of the students.

It truly was enjoyable and I only worried periodically about the girls.  I do believe that I could leave them again next year.  Likely I will as it was whispered to me that my boyfriend Ricado Gallen  😳 will possibly be one of the featured artists.

We never know what the future holds for us.  It is so important to live each day to the fullest.

Colin remains in Culiacan making memories.