Knitting Group

There is a lady, several blocks up the street, who hosts a Stitch and B*tch every Wed morning from 10 to noon. I know lots of groups like to call themselves by that name but I can't say I'm a fan of it. It sounds so negative. Luckily, they all seem like nice folks and there wasn't any b*tching. Just a group of like-minded gals spending time together. I really enjoyed myself and I'm sorry that I'll only be able to meet with them once more before we head back north.

This group collects caps for the cancer kids in Merida. I had brought some down in November but wasn't able to get in contact with anyone to drop them off to. I made a few more to bring down this trip, hoping to get in touch with someone. And that someone is the above mentioned lady. Yay!!

Here is the first batch I made.

And here's the second batch that I brought down this trip.

I've been knitting up a storm while we've been here. I thought I had brought enough yarn but I'm going to run out. I might have to go shopping. Gosh darn...lol.

We Have Internet...Sorta

Sr. B figured out if we move the laptop into the bedroom, we get a better internet connection than in the dining room. Not fantastic, but quite a bit better. I'm hoping to make daily posts now.


We haven't been up to too much exciting. A group of us went for supper at a cool little restaurant called La Casa del Faro in Chicxulub. On Tuesdays, they offer all you can eat ribs and on Fridays, all you can eat fish and chips. We went on Saturday so missed out on both offers but we're planning on checking this out at some point.


This morning we had a couple of errands to run. We were standing at a corner, waiting to cross the street, when a little girl who looked to be about a year and half to two years old stumbled and fell, landing at my feet. I tried to catch her but she fell faster than my old joints could react. She looked up at me with a wounded look on her face. That look that says, "Why did you do that to me?" That look that says she blamed me. Oh dear. Poor baby didn't know it wasn't my fault. I just happened to be the first person she saw when she looked up. Luckily, she wasn't hurt. Good thing those little folks come rubberized.


Last night, before I went to bed, I noticed 4 !!! mosquitoes in our bedroom. Waaaaaay up on the 9 foot ceiling where we couldn't reach them. Rotters! So we both sprayed down with bugspray so we wouldn't get chewed during the night. I felt like I was camping. That Autan is fantastic at repelling mosquitoes but, egads! The stuff is practically toxic. You definitely don't want to breathe it in while you're spraying.


This afternoon was spent at the pool and the evening with neighbours Bindi and Owen.

We Made It!

Once again we have a really crappy internet connection so daily posts may not happen. We're considering getting our own cable once we're down here for the whole winter. But for now, we'll make do.


Our flight was mostly uneventful. We were supposed to leave our home airport at 6am but, once we were all loaded, a fuel discrepancy was noticed. Apparently the computer didn't match up with something else so they had to do a manual check. So we had to wait for that. Because of that, we lost our place in line for take off. And then we had to de-ice. So our 6am flight didn't leave until 8am. There were quite a few folks who had a tight connection in Houston. Not everyone made them.


Lucky for us, our flight to Merida doesn't leave until later in the day, so we were fine. Our flight out of Houston is normally at 7:30pm but this time it was at 5:30 which meant we were at the condo by 9:30 instead of 11:30. Can't complain about that!


Gustavo, the taxi driver who gets a lot of business from the complex, always asks us if we want to stop and pick up a few things. So we hit up an OXXO to get bread and eggs for breakfast. And while we were there, we met up with the local gentleman we had met on the plane. We saw each other at the same time and did that, "Heeeyyy!!!!" and chatted a bit more.


The weather is just soooooo fantastic! It's been a long, cold winter and we're glad to be out of that.

Some Quickie Catch-up News

Well, here I am, after a long absence. Shame on me!


Last trip down our internet was so spotty it made it hard to post so I had planned on doing that when we got back, but I haven't even kept up on reading my blog list for the past month or more.


We'll be arriving in Progreso on March 6th and staying until the 24th. Just a quick trip this time because our daughter is expecting her second child on April 2nd. Hopefully Baby waits until we get back so we don't miss the show.


Sr B's rotator cuff surgery has left him with limited mobility. Not because of the rotator cuff issue itself but because he has so much arthritis in the joint. The surgeon did a debridement and Sr B thinks that by clearing out the junk, it caused his joint to shift. He can raise his hand to head level but no higher. The surgeon said he would eventually need a shoulder replacement. He's already had both hips done. When we got married, I had no idea I was marrying the future bionic man! He says when they dig up his bones, 1000 years from now, they're going to wonder about the robots we had way back then...lol.


RED LETTER DAY One year from today, Sr B will be retired. He can't wait. He's been with the same company for 34 years and, while the pay has provided us a decent lifestyle and he'll have a great pension, he's getting tired of the bureaucracy of a big corporation.


If March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, then I'm expecting, no...demanding...that the end of March be downright tropical. Old Man Winter has been especially cruel to Canada this year. The past few nights, and for a couple more upcoming, night time temps are in the -38C/-36F range with windchills of -47C/-53F. The whole winter has been colder than usual and has made us even more enthusiastic about being snowbirds.


I guess that's all. Looking forward to leaving the cold behind and seeing everyone in Mexico again.

More Shopping

Yesterday we went in to Merida with upstairs neighbours I and N. We went to Costco and Sr. B and I finally!! got ourselves a membership.

Back in Canada, we live about 3 hours from the nearest Costco so we've never bothered to get a membership. Although plenty of folks from our town will make the drive, we can't be bothered. But the Costco in Merida has some things we like and, since the store is very accessible and a membership costs less here, we decided to go ahead and get one. It's funny how having this small card that says Mexico on it makes us feel more like part of the local community.

Today, neighbour Kris and I went uptown to the tourist market. I picked up a cute little summer dress for our g'daughter. She likes those ones with the shirred elastic top. I just hope she likes the colour I chose. She's 13 and a bit fussier than she was when she was younger...lol.

In March, I bought a beautiful salad sized bowl and a matching botana sized one. There was only the one small bowl at the time but today I found another one, so I picked it up.

I noticed something interesting at the market. As soon as Kris and I told the various vendors we dealt with that we lived in Progreso, their demeanor changed just a wee bit. They became warmer, friendlier. Not that they weren`t friendly in the first place, but there was a slight shift in how they interacted with us.

I also bought myself a couple of knit dresses that are styled like a tank top at the shoulders. Washed them up and put one on. Oh my goodness! They`re the next best thing to being naked. These are going to be great when it`s beastly hot.

Speaking of which, a norte is apparently in the forecast. The breeze picked up a bit late this afternoon, its chill portending the upcoming storm. The cooler temps and rain will be a nice respite from the heat of the past few days.

Last night we had a mosquito in the bedroom that we couldn`t find and murder. I awoke to a half dozen bites on my arms. The good news is that Ì seem to have finally developed a degree of tolerance to their bites. I don`t swell and itch anywhere near as badly as I did when we first started coming down. Tonight`s breeze will help keep them at bay. Fingers crossed that one didn`t sneak into our room during the day.

I've tried to post some photos but our internet connection is too slow and the page to load pics onto won`t come up.

An Evening in Merida

Well, I didn't succeed in posting before 3 days had passed but that's ok. Not too much has happened.

Tonight we went into Merida with neighbour Bindi and W and S, who also own a unit on our floor. They've recently purchased a new-to-them house in Merida so we went to see it. Lots has been done in the courtyard and it's gorgeous. The kitchen is being worked on and it's going to be fabulous. The house is built in a U shape with 4 bedrooms on one side.  Each bedroom has a door leading into the next bedroom, as well as a door to the outside. I found this flow-through odd but I suspect it's actually fairly common in older homes such as theirs which was built in the 1920's.

We stopped for a drink just outside Teatro Peon Contreras. I mentioned having gone to the symphony there in March. S and Bindi have never been but would like to so S, who is a native Spanish speaker, is going to find out if there's a symphony in the next few days. If so, we're going to go get ourselves cultured.

We went down to the park that's at the end of Paseo Montejo. S told me the name of it but I've forgotten. The big Christmas tree was being lit and we made it with just a few minutes to spare. They did a 1 2 3 countdown and then played a trick on the crowd by pretending the lights weren't working. They did this a couple of times. Well, karma and all that...it turned out the lights really didn't work. After fiddling with them for a few minutes, the lights came on. The tree is gigantic! This is probably only about a third of it.

 

Then we went to the Cafeteria Impala, which is also located at the end of Paseo Montejo, for a bite to eat.

 

 

 

Good food at a great price. I couldn't eat it all so I brought home leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

 

It's been very hot out here at the beach so I was expecting it to be even hotter in Merida but I found it to be quite pleasant although Sr B, who happens to be half polar bear, said it was too hot.

 

It would have been nice to stay longer but the last bus to Progreso is at 10 so we had no choice but to leave.

 

 

 

 

Quick Catch-up

Whew! I've finally got a good enough connection to get on here so I figured I'd give you all a quick update.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. We had planned on going down to the main square in the evening for the tree lighting but we just didn't feel like going out. So we didn't.

Monday afternoon I went with neighbour Kris to go wrap Christmas presents for the food hampers, at Sharon Helgason's place. This year's toys were much nicer, and more plentiful, than last year's. I think there will be some very happy kiddies at Christmas. There's another wrapping session tomorrow afternoon that Kris and I will attend.

Tuesday morning I went to a monthly meeting of The Beach Gals Club. They're involved in all sorts of good things in the community. I decided to pay my dues so I can receive the newsletter to know what's going on so I can be more involved. Neighbour Bindi, along with her dachshund Queenie, spent the afternoon visiting.

This morning we went uptown for groceries, bright and early. Well, bright and early for this non-morning person. We left about 9:00 so we could get back home before it got too hot. It's about 2pm and, according to our thermometer, it's 30C. A far cry from back home where those poor folks are suffering through -30C.

And that's it. Hopefully I don't have to wait another 3 days before I can post again.