Heads or Tails – Sea or See

Image via Wikipedia

Skittles started a meme some time ago called Heads or Tails, this week the theme is Sea or See.

When we were in Mexico we could see the Sea of Cortez also called the Gulf of California from  our front door. We were sheltered by small islands so the water was relatively calm but it was not unusual to have very high waves on the other side of the islands between the mainland and the Baja Peninsula.

There is a great variety of creatures living in the Sea of Cortez and many migratory species visit there, for example the Humpback Whale, California Gray Whale, Killer Whale, Manta Ray and Leatherback Sea Turtle, and the world's largest animal, the Blue Whale. Also there have been sightings of the world’s largest fish the Whale Shark. We also saw Dolphins and Pelicans many times chasing the anchovy and sardine shoals offshore.

We saw a small Manta Ray but there are some very big ones and they give a horrible sting if you should stand on one when it is burrowed in the sand which it does in February to lay its eggs. We met two people who had been stung and it caused them quite a bit of suffering.

Renting a boat was too expensive for us but next time we go we are taking down hubby’s small zodiac and we will be out there in a sheltered area enjoying what the sea has to offer. We will not be going for anything big though.

 

Goals for the next few months

I have not felt like blogging much since we got back and not having the water on has been a little frustrating and slowing me down a bit. There is so much ice build up around the bottom of the trailer that it is a major undertaking to get at the pipes. I don't know how long we will have to wait for a good thaw.

I have several things I want to try to accomplish in the next few months. I hope they are realistic goals.

1. Learn some basic Spanish. I wish I knew someone who spoke it. I may learn it but understanding when someone talks back to me could be a problem.

2. Do some bead weaving, I want to make some dangly earrings with this method. I saw some Native American earrings I really liked and I thought I would try to do something similar but in other colours.

3. Make some wrap around skirts and possibly some tops to take to Mexico.. I thought I would make a reversible wrap around skirt with different patterns on each side so that would be two skirts for one and less packing. I might make some pants too with the same method. I had some trouble with my sewing machine, in that the thread would get tangled on the bottom side and then break so I have to try and fix that.

4. Finish a sweater I started eons ago but had to stop because of carpel tunnel, which is all better now and if I take it easy should be OK. It is in three colours, sage green, cream and blue. I knitted a cable in blue on a plain sage green background with cream ribbing on the edge. Doesn't sound great but it looks quite good. I only got the right front done when I had to pack it up and it peaks out from the bedroom cupboard once in a while and reminds me it is still there.

5. Last but not least and probably the most important really, is give this place a good spring cleaning. It is terrible what a wood stove does to a place. I pulled out our entertainment centre the day before yesterday and took everything off and you wouldn't believe the dust behind the TV. No wonder I have allergies. Yesterday I started on the kitchen cupboards, I got two done but today I thought it was time I got outside and cleaned the inside of the car up a bit. I wasn't out long as the wind was bitterly cold.

So I have been gainfully employed and no doubt will fall right back into blogging as the days go by.

Heads or Tails - Common

Some time ago Skittles created a meme called Heads or Tails, this week the theme is Common

 

We arrived back in Granisle, BC on Saturday, March 21, after our long trip down to Mexico. It took us seven days to drive back as we took the scenic route on Hwy 191 most of the way through the States.

Unfortunately on our return we found that our water is frozen. My husband blew out the pipes before we left and did all that was necessary, he thought, but somehow there must be a chunk of ice blocking the flow. So what is that to do with Common.

The common tasks that I take for granted are now twice as hard. Luckily we can get water from our friend in the village and there is lots of snow outside but it has made things more of a challenge. For example we haul in snow to defrost on the wood stove to put in the toilets to flush them. I have a large pot of clean water on the wood stove to have ready for washing dishes as I can’t use the dishwasher obviously.

I take two jugs full in the morning to have a faux-shower. I stand in the shower and pour one on myself, shampoo and soap down and then pour the other over. It works quite well although I miss my hot shower but I am conserving water for World Water Day which was on the 22nd but in my case it may be for weeks.

Luckily we have a very large jug which my husband gets filled every morning so we do have access to water and our friend has let us do laundry at his place so that is a relief.

Under normal circumstances water shortages are not common in my part of the world and I can now appreciate how difficult life is without this precious commodity being commonly available.

Our last few days

We are winding down now on our visit and are leaving on Sunday 15th and should be home by the 20th or 21st. There is apparently in a couple of feet of snow waiting in the driveway. We are returning by a different route and going straight up to Calgary, it looks as if it may be slightly shorter that way, we hope to cut off some of the travelling time and see two of my boys briefly.

It has cooled a little here the last few days and we had rain last night which has held the dust down, so not a bad thing.

A couple of little crises though. Hubby lost his credit card and we were really fortunate to track it back to a restaurant which had kept if for him. Meanwhile I have been unable to access our bank accounts in Canada with my laptop, so not sure what that is all about and finally we had trouble getting money from the local ATM machine so had to drive into the nearest town and try again. Fortunately my card worked but hubby's wouldn't. So we did get some money out after all but we learned a few things from that experience for next time. Always have a back up, so I will be opening another account in another bank, probably HSBC which is an international bank having branches in most cities in the world including down here.

I find the laptop is not as comfortable as the desktop for typing and may get myself a keyboard for it. I found out today that if you bring a desktop computer into Mexico you have to pay duty at the border but not for a laptop. Seems crazy to me.

We went back to the apartment we are renting today just to see what we may need to bring down next year. On the whole it is well fitted out but I will need to bring some additional cooking stuff as there was only a frying pan and two small pots, which maybe adequate for short stays but for five months it would be a challenge.

We have met so many great people down here many of them Canadians from BC.  Where we are staying we have neighbours from Sooke, BC and we have run into people from all over the province, in fact at church on Sunday the pastor asked if anyone was left in BC to put the lights out as 80% of his congregation in San Carlos was from BC. Between the Canadians and Americans they have contributed a great deal to San Carlos. Two fire engines, afive ambulances with American trained medical staff plus many other things. Of course it is for their benefit but also for the local Mexicans. There is such tremendous poverty here. The orphanage that is run by a couple from the church here, just took in a five year old girl who had been trying to look after her two younger siblings. They had been living in a box in a village nearby and I am sure they are not the only ones. Some of the men of the church have been putting up extra buildings so more children can be taken in. It is a small orphanage run by a Mexican couple but every little bit helps and there is a lot of generosity and time being contributed from the foreigners who visit here. Hubby has already talked to several men about being on a team to help with more construction next year. I am not sure what I will do, they need people to teach English as this opens up many more job opportunities for the locals so I may look into that although I hear that Mexican children are no better than Canadian and American kids these days as far as obedience and respect is concerned and I may be too old school British to tolerate that. If there is an opportunity to help adults that is more in my line.

I will try and get this posted tomorrow and a few emails off and it could be from Canada that I post again.

Met another blogger

We connected with Brenda a fellow blogger and her husband on Monday. They moved down here, or at least a town nearby, four years ago and love it. They are from Alberta and don't miss the winters at all. It was lovely to meet another blogger. We sat and chatted for a while and they had lots of insights into living in Mexico. It was very enjoyable, thanks Brenda and Roy.

I am at the Marina this morning drinking coffee and typing this. It is always a hassle getting on the internet here as they change the password all the time and my laptop gets confused, or at least I do and it takes me my first coffee to get online.

So far I have not seen a cockroach, thank God, but we have had crickets visit us and last night a spider, the first one, not poisonous, which hubby dispatched promptly but we have a couple of geckos sharing our accommodation and that I don't mind as they eat bugs, not that there are many at this time of year. We also have an iguana living under a rock on the property but I have not been able to take a picture as it is too quick.

We attended church here on Sunday and it was four times the size of our church in Canada and very friendly, funny to see all the white heads, mostly all retirees, I guess we are joining the snowbirds now too.

I went for a walk early this morning before it gets too warm and then had a shower and now we will just take the day slowly and go for another walk this evening. We  bought giant shrimp for dinner last night a kilo or 2.2 lbs for $16 CAD or which is cheap. We will be able to have two meals out of that. These shrimp are almost as big as a small lobster or crayfish and absolutely wonderful. We find the food much cheaper here but there are many foods I have to find out what they are.

I absolutely must learn some Spanish, although many Mexicans do speak a little English it would be a lot easier if I spoke some Spanish. Hubby can't learn much as he can't hear probably, being deaf, and relies on me a lot in conversations even in English. To speak to him you don't realize that he is missing every third word and there is a bit of pride there on his part, which is foolish, I tell him.  He hates to repeat back what he thinks he heard to confirm  and that leads to some problems. He arranged to meet someone on Thursday at 8am now he is unsure maybe it was something else. It stretches my patience sometimes, I wish he would try and lip read but he feels he is too old now but I don't think it would be that difficult. Sometimes another's handicap becomes ones own. I figure somewhere along the line I must have prayed for patience and no it is getting tried somewhat. Don't think I don't love him dearly just get exasperated sometimes.

I must also have prayed for self control at some time in my life as keeping my diabetes in check through diet alone is hard, not that I indulge at any time, I am very strict with myself but foregoing all the things I would like to try is burdensome but I figure it is like being an alcoholic, I simply can't eat lots of things and that is the way it is. Even delicious things like papaya I have to measure in case I take too much. My father was an alcoholic  and I have seen how a life can been ruined through lack of self control.

Well that is all for now. I probably will be able to post a few more times until we leave on March 15. We decided to go straight home to Canada rather than do our USA tour which we had planned since we have to attend a wedding on Vancouver Island on May 1st, so we will only be home for a few weeks and then have to make the long trip to down to the lower mainland again. My eldest son, his wife and two boys will be there and my middle son so it will be a family visit as well although my youngest will be working  I hope, work has been difficult for him lately as he is in construction.

Well that is it for now. I am running out of time. Thanks everyone for keeping in touch via my blog. There are a few that have visited that I have not visited in return but when I get back to Canada I will take time to do so.