5C's Que Pasa

I always have something to write about…..I guess stuff is always happening in our lives.

Today I have to start with a story about Carmeh, the one who misses the bird so much.   Yesterday I had just poured myself a glass of Pinot Grigio and made a plate of 9 crackers with 9 slices of cheese.  A knock at the door sent  me outside to purchase some organic cherry tomatoes.  Yum!!  Back inside I found Carmeh had been snacking on my appies.  The cheese was all gone as were 5 crackers, she looked so sheepish but I did not get upset with her. It was my error for leaving the plate in the sofa, I was just about to sit down with a book when I ran out the door.  My fault totally.

The bird by the way is apparently adapting to her new home very well,  Good news indeed.

When I went to Tippy Toes for my acupuncture appointment ( Dr. Judy leases space from Tippy Toes ) I met Carol, a fellow RVer from Vancouver. She has been reading my blog and recognized me. Too bad I didn't get her 'after' shot, her hair looked fabulous.

We had an early dinner at Paulina's, a Mexican restaurant just down the street from Macaws, another restaurant across from Tippy Toes. Paulina's has excellent food for very low prices and they make a great margarita I discovered. We found out that 3 other sets of people from the Isla also ate there that day. Popular place indeed.

I took this shot thru an old boarded up window. What stories these walls could tell. This place is looking for someone to make it whole again, an inviting Mexican home.

Next down the street we passed a bakery. Looks like the next holiday is coming up.

You can barely make out the dog in the entrance way to the hotel, he and the fellow out front just waiting for some hotel business. Yes this in the Plazuela Machado. Have you ever seen it before?

We were crossing the Plazuela on the way to pick up my repaired camera.  I had a dust spot on the CCD.  In Canada they tell you to throw the camera away and buy a new one.  Here it can be repaired for only 250 pesos.  The fellow is a genius and can also repair a variety of camera lenses.

We met these Mennonites on the panga back to the Isla. They are from Salmon Arm, B.C. and come to Mazatlan every year for 6 - 8 weeks to help out at a variety of orphanages. Today they were coming to the Isla for a special function at the Vineyard Church. I had no idea there was a Vineyard Church here on Stone Island. Now I even know where it is as we drove them to it. They were going to walk and we had the car so why not.

I was tired and so glad to get back home from Mazatlan. Interesting colors in Thursdays sunset.

Friday was just a quiet day at home, lots of relaxing and a bit of beach walking.

I am happy to report that I received an email from my MLA in B.C., Canada and he is going to support the bill to extend the out of country time to 7 months as discussed in my last blog.  Now we just have to wait for the vote.

Meanwhile a friend made a comment on that post the other day about the amount of time a Canadian is allowed to stay in the USA without paying taxes.  Certainly food for thought.  Thanks Ken for sharing this information with us…..

Tags: food, Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, Stone Island, sunsets, travel, USA

For B.C., Canada snowbirds and RVers.

Would you like to be able to stay out of province for up to 7 months per year rather then the current 6 months?  Who wouldn't like to have that option and still have our benefits covered?

If you want this to actually be passed in the B.C. Legislature I suggest you send an email or make a phone call to your MLA and to the Premier supporting this bill.  If hundreds of us make our wishes known, this bill is more likely to pass.  But it is up to you to make an effort.

Here is an easy way to find out who your MLA is and to send in your support for this bill.  This is the link for Premier Christy Clark. If you have an extra moment how about another email to the Minister of Health, Dr. Margaret MacDiamid.

Might I suggest that you not only send in your personal support for this bill via email but also forward this to all of your BC snowbird and RVer friends.  You might not need the 7 months now but in the future it will be appreciated.

Together we can make this happen. Do it today.

Tags: health, insurance, medical, Mexico, travel

After we dropped the bird off on Tuesday I did a quick grocery shop at Soriana.  We are expecting our Culiacan friends on the 9th of February and I took advantage of our car being in Mazatlan to stock up.  Because we had spent extra time with Martha and Chiquito we were an hour late for our vet appointment.  Of course when I went to call them to advise our delay my cell phone ran out of minutes.  Only in Mexico!!  By the time we did get to the vet, he was in surgery so l left the gang and walked down the street to put 200 pesos on my phone.  By the time I returned (was I on Mexican time or was the vet rapido ) the anals had been done and we were ready to roll.

Umm forgot to mention while I was in Soriana, Colin went to Home Depot across the street to get a new BBQ propane tank.  While my sister Lise was here we noticed that the tank was leaking when we used it on the fire pit.  It did work fine on the actual BBQ.  After several research emails ( thanks for all you help everyone ) it seemed that Home Depot was the place to go, thank goodness for Chris from Monterrey.  He suggested we take in our connector hose to be sure we had the proper fit.  Good thing we did that as there were many many 20 lb tanks for sale but all with different adaptors and fittings. The tanks cost 620 peosos, about $49.00.  Perhaps a tad more than at home but worth the extra so we could have our fire pit.

However it only took 114 pesos to fill the tank. Now we will use the new tank for the fire pit and the old tank for the BBQ and Colin won't have to keep heaving the tanks all over the yard. So we are set for another few months.

Finally we were back on the highway and soon on 'the road' to home.  The road is still in excellent shape compared to other years but has now become washboard like in some areas.  Just go slow.  No vegetation overgrowth at all so a great drive in for any size RV coming to Tres Amigos RV Park.

We got back only twenty minutes late for my book club but found it had been delayed till 2PM so I was able to grab some lunch.  We had had a very busy day for us and I just wanted to sit and relax.  Can you believe I never even took a photo of our discussion group!

An interesting novel that none of us would have otherwise read. Was there really a female Pope? We think so. A great read about the life of an intelligent, headstrong woman in 9th century Europe. There is much documentation today that shows Pope Joan could have really been.

The girls seemed alright with coming home to no bird.  Carmeh actually got out some toys and played for a bit.

For dinner last night we found we had fresh caught salmon in our freezer which we had frozen in September. So we put the BBQ to use. I just love the taste of onion cooked in foil on the BBQ. It was nice to just have a quiet Wednesday at home.

As of right now, Chiquito has been gone almost 48 hours and I am starting to see some signs of withdrawal from Carmeh.

She hung out with Caeli yesterday, either inside or outside. In this shot Carmeh is just laying there with her eyes open. She looks so sad.

This morning Carmeh did not want her food, very very unusual.  We are about to head out on a family beach walk, maybe that will help distract her.  Unfortunately Colin and I are heading into Mazatlan ( yes, yet again )  for another acupuncture session for me.  Two trips in one week, way too much for us. I hate leaving the girls alone but it has to be.  Really looking forward to returning to the Isla later this afternoon and not going anywhere for days and days.

Tags: book club, Chiquito, Mazatlan, Mexico, pets, The girls, Tres Amigos RV Park

Adios Chiquito!

Yesterday we drove Chiquito to a new temporary home in Mazatlan.

Over the past weeks we had come to realize that we could not let Chiquito live in a cage for the rest of it's life.  It so much enjoyed the freedom of roaming around and even flying a bit inside the RV.  This bird had a strong spirit and a strong body and was afraid of nothing.  We knew that when we went back to Canada in April that whoever took over the bird would have to keep it in a cage.  Not everyone is willing to turn their home over to a bird plus most homes here in Mexico are open and most have no screens on the windows.

So we began to research options.  One was putting him in with other birds in an aviary at the zoo.  Another involved possible re release to the wild.  Mazatlan has an organization called Conrehabit.

CONREHABIT, AC, (Conservation and Rehabilitation of the Habitat) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness of the effects of economic development on the fragile Mexican tropical dry forest ecosystem. CONREHABIT promotes conservation efforts in northwestern Mexico, actively seeks to educate the public in the importance of conservation, works with governmental agencies to minimize the detrimental effects of development on the local ecosystem, and maintains facilities for the study of, and rehabilitation of wildlife.

This group has rescued ducklings, a Howler Monkey, many birds and conures and now our Chiquito.  Martha Armenta ( President of Conrehabit )  and pictured above is passionate about wildlife.  This is a quote she has on their website.

“The wild animals and birds that are smuggled north are sold for hundreds of dollars at the border towns,” said Martha. “They do terrible things to the birds. Immediately upon capture, they clip their wings so short that they go into shock. For every bird that makes it alive to the border, eight die.” It is not only smugglers which concern CONREHABIT members. Knowingly, or unwittingly, tourists purchase lizards, parrots and other wildlife in contravention of federal laws. The sellers tell the tourists to put the animals or birds in their suitcases if flying home and they will be fine. Needless to say, the lizard or bird suffocates to death. “If there´s one thing I want to say to tourists,” said Martha, “it is don´t buy wildlife. Vendors on the highway, or the streets, are selling them illegally. They kill the adults to take the young, leaving no adults to procreate.” While fighting an active campaign against wildlife smuggling, the members of Conrehabit are dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing wildlife closer to home. Originally a wildlife clinic at the Mazatlán Aquarium started by the late Kittie Jepson and veterinarian Aldo Barragan Arias, the non-profit association has grown to comprise professionals with doctorates and masters in the fields of biology, veterinary medicine and wildlife rehabilitation.

So lesson learned, we will never buy another bird on the street ever again.  However at least we saved this monk parrots life.

We placed Chiquito's cage on top of a large cage with 3 conures inside and immediately they all began talking to each other. Chiquito is sitting on the bottom of his cage.

Once we left Martha was going to move our bird into the huge white cage which will give him lots of room to move and fly about.

Plus Chiquito will be able to see the other birds and get to know them.  Martha is also expecting two more parrots in the next few weeks and possibly one might become a roommate to our little guy. As it is winter here this will be the temporary solution until March.

At that time Martha will re check with the head of the environmental enforcement office here in Mazatlan who has approved Chiquitio's re release as to the actual location.  Ideally the location would be a 60 acre piece of land that currently has a huge ( several metres ) cage that is set up for the birds to come and go as they please.  Food is left for them daily but they are free to stay out all day and only come back at night or if they are ready they don't return.  This piece of land is not too far from here and is known for its multitude of free flying parrots.  The best news is that we will be able to go there in March and see Chiquito make this final transition to freedom.

We made a point of bringing each of the girls in to see where their bird was being left.

We were quite concerned about Carmeh being depressed but she seems to be alright.  She definitely is wanting more cuddles but seems to have accepted that her baby is gone.  Caeli of course doesn't care.

From there we did some grocery shopping, took the girls to the vet for anal gland expression and rushed back to the Isla for my bookclub.  It was a very tiring and emotional day.

I was glad to get that bottle of vino open at days end.

Wonder where this jet is headed?

Tags: Chiquito, critters, Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, sunsets, vino

What a perfect day….yes another one.  Blue sky, sunshine and wonderful heat on the old bones.  The surf crashing, the sun shining on the water and the parade of a few people up and down the beach.  Paradise!

After our massages Casa Maria scored a new/ old bike for her use here on the Isla. How come she matches the bike so perfectly?

Even Chiquito had a sparrow or two drop by for a visit.

Some chose to rest....

Others had more energy to play a game or two....

A mysterious maiden was seen among the gardens....

A serious reader whose dog wanted to roam the beach....

Even we were out enjoying the afternoon.....

A late walk on the beach showed us how the hardiest of fishermen gets their boat in the water at a lower tide....

Chiquitos' last freedom while his cage gets cleaned.

Remember I mentioned that changes are coming and they start Tuesday. The final love in. Sniff!!.

...from this to.....

..this. Don't you agree, a perfect Isla Monday?

Tags: Chiquito, friends, Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, Stone Island, sunsets, The girls, Tres Amigos RV Park