5C's Que Pasa

We asked Ismael to trim our palm tree last Saturday. He trimmed all you can see and more. As the branches die they fall off but several bits remain attached to the tree.  I imagine that over time they would fall off as well. We had Ismael trim down to the level of his left hand.

I like the look of a clean palm trunk and now our tree looks taller. 

Now you can see why I wanted a clean trunk.

Now our outdoor lights are complete.

A quick snapshot but Colin will do some night shots eventually. We have not put up near as many white mini lights as usual but what we have is just perfect for us.

We plan to make Christmas cookies, just not sure when. They won’t be as cute as these though.

At least we don’t have to deal with this doxie problem.

Third major beach walk. In real time we are trying to figure out how to tame these monsters.  They have become out of control since their 7th  beach walk and when we catch them and hold the leash they struggle to be free and have a high pitched hunting bark. VERY loud.  We are unable to stop them, it is like they get into a trance. Suggestions please.  Is it better to take them to the beach 3 -4 times per day for short periods instead of one long walk? Any other advice please.

Doing good here and coming when called. But now they run so far along the beach that we can barely see them.

If they turn and look at us they will come on our signal and of course get a treat. Maybe their time at the beach needs to be limited.

We needed to add some palm fronds to the edge of our palapa to get more shade.

The sun set to the right of this shot yet you can see the colour reflected into the ocean.

To the west this is what we saw. All of the above photos were taken last Friday the 10th.

I can see us doing this if we were home.

Really Mom!!

The photo tells all, my morning driver did have a full windshield as well as a partition and a mask. Cost to the GZ now 150 pesos, double what I paid in 2019. Same price back.

The malecon Christmas decor appears to be decorations and gift boxes.

They must be very pretty at night. Carol perhaps you can get some photos as I will never get there at night this year.

Just seeing the pelicans at the embarcadero was relaxing. Two out of three better than nothing.

Taken last Tuesday. Carlie is so very relaxed. Before beach walk.

Day two beach walk last Tuesday, Colin felt confident to let them go free based on how well they behaved the first walk. They were even wilder and just ran back and forth non stop. When we finally corralled them and picked them up to go back to the RV they started making a high pitched excited  bark – never heard these two make this noise. It is beyond excited and seems to be expressing the need to be free and running. It was like they were in a different world and it was difficult to communicate with them.

After a brief rest they just kept wrestling.

and rolling and rolling.

So entertaining.

Back to real time and our sunset this evening. I sat for an hour and slept for half that time – sure sign of relaxation. This is our real view from our chairs. Yes we have that screen to look thru unless we stand up and move to the left ( which I usually do ). The post holds power to the security light. Happy to have that. Then our palm tree.

By getting up off my chair I can create this lovely photo for my special friend Sandy ( so happy that you and Rex were able to spend some time here with us a few years ago ) and of course for myself and you all. Life is wonderful here on the Isla.

The plant man showed up ahead of schedule and I rushed to his truck. He smiled as he saw me and said that he had lots of hibiscus, I bought eight and other plants.  He knows me well. So we looked at our new plants for a few days and decided to make some changes. First we had Ismael ( we can do a lot of this work ourselves but this is wonderful way to put extra money in his pocket ) clean out some areas and mix the soil with new that we had brought with us. We also are planting in pots which hopefully will let the plants live longer. The palm tree roots strangle most of the plants. Note the girls trying to help out.

Someone found their first crab, disturbed by all the work in the garden.

They think that this is their new sandbox.

Nap time.

Starting to look good.

On the first beach walk we took them out on their regular six foot leashes. The girls were going wild and pulling and tugging so we switched to their long leashes and eventually let them go.

The girls as you can see thought that they were greyhounds. They never stopped running.  We had brought a few kibble to give them as they came back on our call or signal. It worked perfectly.

Most legs are in the air. Here we let them go with no leash and they did come back time and time again for that piece of kibble. It was a great day for all of us. They napped for hours.

Sunsets here are so special.

The colours just keep changing.

I was sad to see the extent of the devastation of my garden. All those dark brown pieces are dead  parts of my Desert Rose, but it is working hard to make a come back. It was the first plant that I cleaned up. I have had this plant since we first arrived here 13 years ago in 2009.

This mix of bougainvillaea and a favourite ten year old hibiscus has been torn out.

Only two of my many potted hibiscus made it.

My plumeria ( Hawaiian sweet smelling flower ) the first plant I ever purchased here on the Isla is still blooming and smells heavenly.

This coleus has doubled in height since we were last here. So very colourful and a wonderful surprise.

Someone had stayed in our site last winter ( they had left their RV here and flew in ) and decided to tear up our patio and make a flower bed. Sadly they wrecked the small patio that was there, it held many memories for us for a number of reasons.  Worse they took apart most of the brick perimeter that Colin had dug and levelled in order to use our bricks to build their planter. These people had no idea the significance of the patio or even why it was there. So we had to pay Ismael to remove it all. Colin still has to rebuild our perimeter once he gets some free time.

Taken November 9th 2011. We were two sites over in 2010/2011 and this was our first year in this wonderful site but it was barren.  Our first season was in RV 2 in 2009/2010. Colin was so proud of his first mini patio which is now no longer as of  last winter.  Not our fault that we could not leave during COVID. Several years back the owner of the park decided to build a higher wall to deflect the ocean waves during extreme tides. It was sad to lose our stairs to the beach.  We were not happy when the wall only went 4.5 sites to the south. The rest of the park still have their private steeps to the beach.

Palm tree roots are very destructive. After a few days the sun dried them out and they were easily removed. The girls love being helpers.

We were 13th on the list for a permanent front row site but no one wanted this site as it was next to a dusty road. We purchased a dust screen and this is the start of our paradise in November 2010. The plants you see here were brought to this site from our previous site.  There was nothing here at all except a great view.

Our palapa begins to take shape.

The beginning of our garden jungle way back in 2011 with plants purchased in 2009. Everything on this site means so very much to us.

In real time we unexpectedly had to pick up our things from storage for a number of reasons on Sunday afternoon  ( Dec 5th ) –  I had made a pact with Colin that that would be our ever so special day to just sit and relax – did not happen and still has not. The good part is that Colin and Ismael were able to get the dust screen from storage and set it up Sunday afternoon. But having the dog fence up and the dust screen are basics that needed to be done. Hopefully we will get the rest of the bins sorted out in the next week.

The band becomes stuck – some things never change.

The girls spent their first 3 -4 days digging holes everywhere and Carlie especially loved covering this newly laid carpet. They dug and ate everything, especially palm tree roots, they dug up crab holes and so on. Not having much space since we left on November 11th they chased each other and of course wrestled.  It was fun seeing them spread their wings so to speak. They loved being here and had not even been to the beach yet. They did not miss it as they were so very happy in their new yard.

Monday I had an emergency massage appointment. I could not move my left arm without crying out loud in pain.  Isaurio really helped me. I keep doing exercises and self massage a few times per day.  For some unknown reason my right hip has gone wonky, hard to get in and out of the RV. I do have a massage booked for Friday, the first day he has free to see me.  I am a mess but still happy to be here.  Now I just need time to sit. It is really important to walk the beach with the girls but I am taking the next two days off.

I am working on it.

Oh they know the difference, they just have that innocent look all the time.