5C's Que Pasa

How hot is it?

Well Carmeh went to go up the outside steps and jumped back with a wee cry, the wooden steps to our home which are in full sun were almost too hot for my hand to touch.  Caeli refused to use the steps and just barked when she was ready to be picked up and carried inside.  We improvised and put pieces of carpet on the steps.  So now we are taking them to the dog park in the coche and even then Carmeh is panting. She does not do well in the heat.  Caeli is a sun dog and could ride around all day.

July 7 32C

July 8 34C

July 9 36C

July 10 34C

July 11 34C

Let's go for a ride in the coche!

…………………and then July 12 we hit a record high of 17C………que pasa???  This was the day the winds gusted to 70km/h at times….this was the day of the Peachland fire which blocked the only highway between here and Penticton and further south….this was the day that was cold, windy and miserable.  End of the heat wave.  Nothing lasts forever or does it?  You tell me!

Okay…so I wake up..

Then it’s time to feed the zoo.

Then I wash & curl my hair…finally I get a coffee!!

I have a one hour long distance telephone conversation with a very dear friend..and usted es epecial para mi!

Now the time has come to start on my ‘to do list’ for today which only has 15 items on it.

First thing it to register our new computer ( I think I am mixing my blog ideas..sigh!) ..instead of a quick 5 minute job online, I put almost 50 minutes into it…good thing because I discovered that we were overcharged by $108.00.

The phone rings..someone is here in the park and they want to rent an RV site (something I do on the side..you know..in my ‘spare’ time).  So off I go to meet them on Ken’s site.  After an hour they drive away clutching a piece of paper with all the pertinent data…they will let me know.

Suddenly I realize I am in the beginning stages of a bladder infection. Don’t ask me how I know…I just know.  I called the local pharmacy and the pharmacist on duty agrees to give me one 1000mg Cipro pill.  Bueno!  I rush to pick it up in Colin’s car because I am almost out of gas and because the only gas stations around here are self self serve. I don’t do gas!  Besides my car has no A/C.

I get home to find out that our local computer guru is here to so some stuff for us!  He can perform magic and he did.  In addition to all Colin’s requests I can now open PPS files.  What is sad is that we always had the capability but for some reason the computer didn’t communicate that knowledge to us.  Much accomplished in two hours, only hundreds of hours of learning to go.

About 3PM I am feeling faint.  Suddenly I realize that so far today I have only eaten an apple.  Quick protein feed to the system.

While saying goodbye to Mr. Computer Guru I see a neighbor across the road.  She works for B.C. Ferries and is not due home till Thursday.  She is baby Bella’s grandmother.  Oh no!  I rush over..not the baby but gramma fell while on the ferry and cracked her head open.  She has stitches and will be okay.  I will keep an eye on her.

Finally at 4PM I look at ‘the list’.  I absolutely have to water and fertilize my flower pots.  This was a challenge as the wind was so strong that we had whitecaps on the whitecaps on the lake.

A quick call to my Dad in Edmonton.

Next we went to collect some willow branches for the bird & to fill our 5 gallon drinking water container & to give the dogs a walk.  In Mexico the water is delivered to your door twice per day for the same price!!

Finally find time to try and track down some long lost friends in Vancouver.  I found a working telephone number and left a message.  Sure hope they call back.

Time to feed the zoo………time to order Greek House Restaurant take out for us.  I am almost done in.

Dinner in front of the TV watching a taped episode of Americas’s Got Talent….made sure to lock the bird in her cage so we did have a peaceful meal.

As I sit and write this blog Colin had been working doing his computer stuff.  I reflect on the day and wonder how this is all possible.  My only regrets are no time to read unlike our “retired” friends George & Suzie who get to read every day and no time to take our kayaks out on the lake but then it has been too windy today.

So here it is, 9:45PM Sunday, July 11, indeed a big day…I shall finish my glass of vino blanco and bid you all buenas noches!

…oh my…..we are on a quest to find a sitter for the upcoming winter.  While doing so we spoke with a very knowledgeable bird person in Trail, B.C.  This lady explained to us that the Mexicans  highly value double yellow headed amazons and will even go so far as to dye the birds head yellow!!

About a week after we got her

As most of you know Colin rescued Chiekka from a mercado in Acapulco in December 2008.  He felt so sorry for this parrot being cooped up in a very tiny cage sitting on the street inhaling bus & car fumes and being poked at by the many stray dogs that he just had to buy her.  So he brought her home to the RV Park at Playa Luces with the intention of setting her free before we left for Canada.  Little did we know that she had had her wing cut right to the flesh and would not be able to fly for a long time.  We couldn’t find anyone to care for her there so we brought her home with us. When we first got her she did not eat for close to a week…..we were calling avian vets in the US for help and finally not realizing that she was so young we started making mashed warmed baby food for her.  She soon started to thrive.  And the love grew…..Carmeh decided that the bird was her baby and to this day still thinks so.

We just had to put them in the same cage!

We have discovered that Chiekka is in fact a red crowned amazon (she is an endangered species but at least alive)and that she was probably captured right out of her nest near Acapulco.  However it is news to us that she may have had her head dyed.  Luckily she was not blinded, if in fact this is true.  The photos show the transition of her colors. She has been checked by a local avian vet and is in perfect health.  She prefers Colin but is very slowly warming up to me.  The first winter we left her behind she spent the time with a wonderful woman and her African Gray called Homer.  Unfortunately they had to move and could no longer take Chiekka and we found another person to care for her the winter of 09/10 but alas that situation has also changed so hence our quest.

Caeli howling in protest that the bird is free!!

…enough of this work…let’s hit the road south!

Carmeh trying to prevent me from working

Poor Carmeh,she really is not happy and spends her day bugging us to get up from our desks and off the computer!  She prefers to spend her day hunting on a Mexico beach.  Caeli is not so depressed as she is happy to sit on the front steps in the sun.

This is a short and very informative clip on how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew.  Ah, les Francais, nous sommes magnifique!

Comment ouvrir une bouteille de vin avec une chaussure

For some reason, probably because I am in training the movie clip only comes up if you click on the above line and then click on it again on the second page…..I haven sent out an SOS….

Thank you Mr. Computer Guru re the repair..the above link now works.