5C's Que Pasa

Where does the time go?  The hours is a day pass too fast, a day is over in a flash and now a month gone!!  Life is precious so I have to try to make every moment of every day count.  How does one do that?  I am going to try by doing things that I want to do.  There are always things that have to be done but it is my choice at that moment in time.

We are just the other side of a full moon and the fish are hanging out in certain spots in the ocean and that brings the birds.  Spent a bit of time just watching nature yesterday.

As the fish moved the pelicans and other birds just followed along. It was an amazing site.

We managed a bit of R & R yesterday, Colin got some guitar in and I read a few pages of a novel for our bookclub.  Just before we went over to RV2 for the fish fry Colin took the girls for a walk……

....of course Caeli had to find a week old dead sting ray and roll in it!!! Then I couldn't find the dog shampoo so he used Ivory dish soap. It worked, not so stinky now!

Got over to RV2 in time to see the dorado and sailfish all cut up. Several of the ladies made salads and it was a great meal. Thanks to the fisherman for sharing their catch and doing all the work. A great treat.

Can you find me in the photo? Extreme right sitting.

I was up early this morning in time to watch some fishermen bring in their nets. I was still inside in my nightie when I took this.

By 9AM we were out with coffee and fruits.  Had a vendor come by and we bought a tablecloth.  Then Gord came by from Mazatlan for a visit. I had picked up some fresh lobster for him and Pat yesterday, only 100 pesos per kilo!!  Cheap, cheap!!  While here he & Colin attempted to put up our insect screen tent but decided not to as we would rather have a gazebo.  The bugs are not so bad here that we need it but the shade would be welcome.

Then I loaned him the use of my bike for a bit as I won't be using it for a while yet. So it was, adjust the brakes, fill the tires, etc.

All of this by 10:30AM!!  I only read 5 pages, oh well!

Later today we have been invited to a wedding celebration.  It starts in four hours.  I had better go relax some more.

Tags: food, friends, Mazatlan, The girls, Tres Amigos RV Park

…in a day!!  The day seems to just disappear.  We are still trying to set up but with this and that, things are going slowly.  Oh well as long as we are enjoy the day so be it. Yesterday in photos, posted in the order they were shot!!

Still working on getting the lights up.

Chiquito gets indoor time both in and out of the cage and lots of outdoor time, constantly guarded by Carmeh.

I have oranges up for the orioles and set up a constantly moving water source for the birds to visit. I have hummingbirds, orioles and sparrows but none in the water yet.

The shrimp boats are out there doing their thing! The stump on the left is part of the new fencing we have. Can't always get it out of the foreground. Yes that is a seagull that just happened into my shot.

Caeli relaxing as per the norm. She likes to sit in her special chair with a thick cushion and watch life pass by on the beach.

RV2 hosted a happy hour and raffle as a fund raiser for the Christmas Hamper project we rvers do here on the Isla. 2500 pesos was raised plus a golf club was auctioned off for 750 pesos. We also donate money separately. It costs about 500 pesos per basket and we want to to at least 50 families.

Colin left a few minutes early to walk the girls before sunset.

We were back home in time for the sunset.

Yesterday a few of the guys went out fishing and came back with dorado and sailfish.  So tonight we are all going back to RV2 for a fresh fish dinner!!!  How lucky are we?

....sometimes you just have to go with the flow!!

Tags: Chiquito, friends, Stone Island, sunsets, The girls, Tres Amigos RV Park

Life is busy here on the Isla.  Lots of people coming over to say hello and check up on us.  We turned down a happy hour party last night as we had already committed to one tonight plus we have been invited to a wedding celebration on Saturday.  Between setting up and now getting our decorative lights out, it is difficult to find me time.  I am not complaining at all, just mentioning it.  Soon we will be in a routine.

Colin took the girls to the beach this morning and from the amount of time they were gone I guessed they found a crab.  They found 3 and the last one kept going into the ocean and the waves kept bringing it back and the girls were both swimming after it.  Colin said it was fun to watch.

My first gift of the season from the ocean!

Lots of comments on the parrot, one of which brought up the issue of Chiquito being caught illegally.  I have emailed Nancy and will do a separate post on this in a few days.  Meanwhile the bird is settling in nicely.  Birds do take a lot of care because they are very messy eaters.

Carmeh thinks the bird is her baby.

My first veggie/fruit purchase off the truck. All this for 50 pesos, about $3.85 US.

...another sunset for you all!

...our site from the beach even before putting up some lights.

…and that is the que pasa of the 5C's!  I promise to answer all your emails soon, sorry for the delay.

Tags: Mazatlan, Mexico, pets, sunsets

Years ago we rescued and adopted a Mexican Red Head Parrot while in Acapulco.  We were forced to give her away in July of 2010 due to sudden extreme circumtances in our life at that time and we have missed her.  She is in a good home but we have not seen her.

Every year as we travel through Vicam, Sonora we see vendors selling parrots in small cages.  Last time we asked they wanted 2500 pesos.  Too much for just a few months.  We would not bring the bird back to Canada.  So last Friday, our second day in Mexico, Colin stopped to have a chat with a vendor.  This year there were several birds that Colin liked and the price was 1200 pesos.

Meet Chiquito, the newest member of our family.

The bird is supposedly a male but we don't know what type of parrot it is.  I have spent several hours online to no avail.  Caeli just ignores the bird but Carmeh is obsessed with it.  We got Chiquito for 1000 pesos, about 77.00US dollars.  He is supposed to be 3 months old and of course the cage is way too small for him.

The best we could come up with is an upside down stool on the table.

When Isela and Heriberto arrived at the Pemex in Culiacan that night we came up with a plan.  We would keep the bird till we leave in April and they would pick it up from us as we travelled thru Culiacan and keep the bird while we are in Canada.  Then early in November we would pick the bird back up for the winter and so on.  Sounds like a plan.  We shall see how it works out.

Meanwhile we had been told that Chiquito could not fly.  Well even with just the one wing clipped he is managing to get around the RV.  So this morning Colin took him into our vet in Mazatlan to get the other wing clipped.  It is difficult to train a bird if it can get away.  He also picked up a large  bird cage which we can bring in and out of the RV so it can enjoy being outdoors.  Now I can leave my door open without worrying about the bird escaping.

It was doing a good job of getting out of its original cage.

Colin just got back with a great cage and the news that the birds head has been dyed yellow which I suspected.  Here in Mexico everyone seems to prefer yellow headed parrots so they dye them.  It took us a few years to discover that Cheikka was not a Double Yellow Head.  So now we will wait and see what Chiquito turns out to be.  No wonder I couldn't find him on the internet.

So that was the big surprise....

…now we are back to the 5C's……Colin, Contessa, Carmeh, Caeli and Chiquito!  Those tail feathers are a gorgeous shade of teal.  He is a very vocal bird, no words yet of course but does like to hear his voice.

Tags: Chiquito, Mazatlan, Mexico, pets

We did have a bit of a problem again with the airbags at the Pemex in Culiacan but after several attempts we were good to go and go we went but not until 7:45AM, a bit of a late start.  There is quite a bit of construction on the Autopista mostly before Celestino and after there the road is full of pot holes in both lanes.  Fortunately being higher up we could see which were filled and which were not so do be careful.  Quick stop at the last toll before Mazatlan for food and pee breaks for all.

The road construction in Mazatlan is 50% completed and what is done is great.  I heard that the funds had dried up but they are at work again so we can only hope.  We got to Estrella where the last of the pavement runs out and then we have 8.5 miles to drive on a basic gravel washboard pot holed road.  Surprise!!  After last year's experiences on the road we made several requests for it to be ready for us.  Many other RVers don't mind but we still consider our paint job new from a few years back and want to keep it that way.  Possibly because we arrived later in the season it all worked out.  The road was nicely graded and the brush was totally cut back.  Just perfect.  We drove the road in about 45 minutes. I'm sure that the 2 large coaches that came in yesterday also appreciated the work done.

Carmeh decided to give Colin a break from all that hard driving!

The Amaitlan project and all the gardens are looking wonderful. We still have to negotiate past the horses in front of Lily's.

Finally the entrance to Tres Amigos RV1. RV 2 is just down the road a tad.

Our site just patiently waiting for us.

Joy!!!! The first time in 4 years I have my plumeria blooming when I arrive. Last April I was certain my two trees would be dead. My entire garden except for the hibiscus looks wonderful.

With hired help we got the dog fence completed and the dust screen up. Saved us hours of work. We only arrived at noon so we did have time to get a few things done.

We did not get it all done! We still haven't but everyday is a bit better. Where does all this stuff come from??

Notice the steps in the photo, Colin carried those as is in the back of the HHR.  I still wish we had our Mexican made ones but as I mentioned a few weeks ago they had disappeared.  Another benefit to being delayed as we were able to bring these from home which we will no longer be using as the RV will now be in storage during the summer months.

We have had 3 glorious nights here and are so happy to just be here. The weather is much warmer than normal which is okay by us.

The breeze off the water is very refreshing.

No complaints from us!

We have massages booked for today.  I have been counting down the hours.  Details tomorrow and the big surprise reveal.

Sandy….sunset photo just for you!

Taken Nov. 25th.

Tags: garden, massage, Mazatlan, Mexico, palapa, Stone Island, sunsets, Tres Amigos RV Park