May 12, 2012

Chutney and money!

What ever do they have in common?  They rhyme.  I lost the chutney and found some money.

I knew we had carted a jar of chutney down to Mazatlan and back home again but when I went to open it last night for dinner it was not in the pantry.  Who took the chutney, finally found it in the one cupboard I hadn’t unpacked in the RV.  Wonder how I missed that one?  Oh well we will be moving back into the RV for good in two weeks.

As to the money, our financial advisor called Friday to suggest we sell some stock that had been taken over and was up 40%!!  Of course we said yes!  Over all it seems that year to date the Toronto stock market is down 15% while our investments are year to date up 6%, giving us an overall leg up of 21% above average.  Found money!! No, I will not spend it!

We finally signed off on the plans of the new house yesterday, paid a 25% non refundable deposit.  A huge relief to have it  moving ahead.  The selling and the move are becoming more real, exchanged some emails with the new owners of this place, they are very excited.

Finally we are getting some heat.  I have been chilled to the bone since we got back from Mexico.  Bring on the sun.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Comments(2)

May 11, 2012

The story of a lost camera and a determined Canadian!

Do you remember Jessie & Gary from Tres Amigos RV Park on Stone Island?  On one of their many beach walks Jessie spotted a camera floating near the beach.  I remember them spending hours first drying out the camera, downloading the images and then many trips into Mazatlan to try and find the owner.

 

Let me have them tell you the rest of the story themselves:

 

Hi Colin and Contessa.

Gee are we excited or what!!!
After Jessie spotted the digital camera floating in the water on the Isla de la Piedra shoreline, I dried it and removed the memory card. We were able to look at the pictures. 434 photos in all taken by what looked like a young couple on their honeymoon.
While in Mazatlan,we identified the ‘all inclusive’ hotel they were staying at and visited it on two occasions, seeking information about the people in the photos. We asked around to no avail and subsequently, brought the memory card home.
Thinking about it, I contacted the editor of the Mazatlan Messenger Jack Sieber, to see if they could run a story or help us in some way. Jack is also a member of the ‘Blue Church’ in Centro who  put us in touch with Patricia from the same congregation. Tish was eager to help us find the rightful owners so I sent her pictures of the people and the room they were staying in, but no luck.
After musing over the pictures once again, looking for that elusive clue, I  zoomed in on the blue bracelets given to ‘all inclusive’ guests. Most pictures just showed the punched holes but I found two that were turned in such a way that I  was able to read the serial numbers. (One on her and one on him). Tish took the numbers to the hotel and viola… she came away with a telephone number and email address.
Excitement vanished when she emailed only to have it bounce. She phoned with no answer. Persisting, she finally got through and eventually  connected with Yeraldin the young woman in the photos.
Yeraldin got a new email address for us to communicate with her. She is somewhat thrilled, no,,, ecstatic. They are from Chihuahua City,  Chihuahua. It was her first visit to the ocean beach and she thought her pictures were gone forever. Here are a couple of emails from her.
hola, Mr Gary yo soy la persona dueña de la kamara que encontro en mazatlan, hable con Patricia y me dio su email, para comunicarnos y ver si me podia mandar las fotos.
hi, i hope you speak Espanish, i dont speak english very well im from mexico i visit mazatlan in DECEMBER and i lost mi camara, patricia call me and she say you have this pictures so i hope you can send me the pictures for email. and i hope you understeand mi ugly english.
thanks.
Followed by,
Bueno pues muchas gracias, son unas buenas personas,tomarse la molestia de localizarme……. me da gusto recuperarlas porque fue la primera vez que iba a una playa …… en ese viaje conocimos el mar asi que son un buen recuerdoo muchass graciass
As you can see we are very pleased to bring this to a happy conclusion. We have Yeraldin and Oscar’s home address and plan to send the memory card to them. I have uploaded the pictures to Windows Skydrive and sent her the link. (I will send you the link separately).
Sounds like you are having fun planning the new home.
Cheers, G

Photo of the camera owners, Yeraldin & Oscar!

Here is Yeraldin’s lastest email to Gary……

Hi i cant waith for see my pictures and thanks again i hope the memory card dont lose in the tripp again thank you im so happy this is something inusual please you can keep it all the pictures in you computer just for security bye
Isn’t that a great story.  Gary you did a wonderful job following through right to the end.  That couple will never forget you and your good deed.  Now you have to come back to Mexico to meet them!

Comments(8)

May 10, 2012

Vote results!

First of all I am flattered by the hand full of you who emailed about my lack of a blog post yesterday.  Yes it is because we are swamped.  We have to be out of here in a few weeks with all that that involves but are still finishing up details on the house.  Many small glitches that either Colin or myself have to deal with.  It is just easier to call the supplier and check on CSA approval etc., do the leg work, make the calls then to rely on someone else.  Much quicker in the long run.  Today we hope to be able to sign off on the house plan and specs, pay a deposit and move on to things like flooring, lighting, paint colors and be able to pack a box or two.  I also will be renting two storage sheds here at Holiday Park so we can cart some stuff out of here.

Colin’s ear ringing is returning, mainly because he hasn’t had time  to do the Egoscue Exercises.  Proof that this program does work.  He is doing them as I type.

66% of the votes were for the Ivy Green while 39% of the votes were for the Colonial Red.  Most comments were in relation to blending into nature.  I appreciated all your comments and it did make us think about our choice.  Despite the majority vote for the Ivy Green we are going with the Colonial Red.

The Colonial Red combined with the Desert Sand trim is lovely and somewhat Mexican.  We plan to have a tiny Mexican style courtyard as you walk into our yard.  A few years ago we created a Terra Cotta coloured patio at the beach site and we will continue that theme in the courtyard using some existing coloured patio blocks and stamped concrete.

The lake front side of the house will be floor to ceiling windows so we will be a part of nature.  The yard itself will be totally private and the only thing someone walking past will see is the house and our cedar hedge.

Things are coming together bit by bit and we know we will love the final result.  Yes we live in an RV Resort but this home will be like no other.  When we got married we moved into a brand new 1070 sq. ft. condo, from there to a 5600 sq. ft. home, to a brand new 3600 sq. ft. townhouse, to this 968 sq.ft. ( the maximum size allowed ) park home designed by us and soon to our new 968 sq. ft. home on the lake which will look totally different on the inside as it will on the outside. This home plus our home on wheels is all we need, allowing us to work in a great environment and to travel where ever we chose.

The beach site!

Our current home outlined in white with the beach site. We aren't moving far!

Life is good!

 

 

Comments(5)

May 08, 2012

Poco loco!!

Today was crazy!  Our builder woke us up, to say he would be here in 5 minutes.  That was the start of 7 meetings, all house related.  Only two were planned.  A 12 hour day all for the new place.  So now I sit with Papa Murphy’s Pizza in the oven and a glass of vino blanco at hand.

I apologize for the lack of a proper post today.  Also, as many of you likely noticed, our Captcha security code has been ill for a few days.  That is now resolved so please get back to your part of this blog, the comment section.

Some pretty intense discussion at the granite place. The fella was pleased with our choices.

The girls even had some thoughts about colour choices.

 

My glass is empty and the pizza is listo…..adios till tomorrow!

Comments(6)

May 07, 2012

It was a normal Sunday….

…for us!!  Colin worked ( photography ) for half the day while I did stuff.  The best part was I took some me time and painted my toes for the first time since we left Mazatlan.  A sure sign that things are slowing down:)

I guess that Holiday Park decided that Sunday was a good day to pull out the rest of my plants. The big box under the blue tarp will become our new shed....one day.

I thought they were going to save the Blue Spruce but it was trashed. Nice shot of our current home in behind the Bobcat. As you can see we are not moving far at all.

We managed to get everything in the RV put away into various places.  Last Wednesday we had the RV carpets and  upholstery cleaned and today we have a lady coming in to do a deep clean front to back and top to bottom.  I just don’t have time to do it.  Once that is done we can slowly move things over to the RV, never ever walk over empty handed!!

We had an unscheduled three hour meeting with our builder late in the afternoon.  In these parts Sunday is just another day in the week, Colin worked, the tree removers worked, the builder worked and so did I.  It was a very good meeting and we are happy to have the details down on paper.  There are tons more details but the important ones have been made.

Celebrating the beginning of our home, thanks Ram for being so patient with us. It is going to be a great home.

It seems that I never run out of ideas to blog about.  I have so many stories and incidents and just ‘things’ to share with you, so stay tuned.  The siding colour results will be revealed very soon.

Anyone care to join me today?

 

Comments(2)

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