Monday 29th April 2013….the blog

is going to take a few days off should be back by Sunday…the Vonage is acting up and so is the Internet stay tuned…Les

Sunday 28th April 2013………..took it a bit easy!!!

So back to our regular foursome for Sunday morning tennis, two great hours and again a wonderful way to start the day..I then came home and watched the Canadian junior hockey team beat the USA 3-2 in the Under 18 Championship.

Had to go and try out my new lounge chairs for an hour!

So comfortable I had a snooze!!!

These chairs are from my Ramona days!!

The roof top will have to wait a few months till I figure out what to do up there.

I then found out that the good folks who live one block away have agreed to rent me their garage space for Little Bluey

It will be nice to get her off the street and covered and the cost per month is very reasonable at 425 pesos…so it will great to have her close by for the odd times that I use her.

Now the problem was that Little Bluey is at  L & G’s casa and if I went there on the scooter the scooter would be left there so I took the bus.

I walked to the end of the street waited about 5 minutes and the local bus came along I paid my 5 pesos fare and it took me to the big grocery store Mega and from here it was about a 30 minute walk to the house.

I then on the way home stopped at Mega at bought some groceries…amazing how the time goes by I have just had supper and it is almost 8pm and time for my evening bath.

Not a busy day but a nice one…

 

After reading my blog yesterday Carol sent this to me thanks!!!

 

 

In 1885, Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky rented a cottage in a small village some 50 miles northwest of Moscow. After years of restless wandering through Europe, the 45-year-old composer found his new living arrangement a wonderful relief. “What a joy to be in my own home!” he wrote to his patroness. “What a bliss to know that no one will come to interfere with my work, my reading, my walks.”

Those walks were especially important. Before sitting down to work in the morning, Tchaikovsky took a short stroll, lasting no more than 45 minutes. Then, after lunch, regardless of the weather, he went out again. Tchaikovsky's brother later wrote, “Somewhere at sometime he had discovered that a man needs a two-hour walk for his health, and his observance of this rule was pedantic and superstitious, as though if he returned five minutes early he would fall ill, and unbelievable misfortunes of some sort would ensue.”

Tchaikovsky’s superstition may have been justified—his walks were essential to his creativity, and he often stopped to jot down ideas that he would develop later at the piano. But then this is true of the majority of the composers in my Daily Rituals book—most of them required a long (and sometimes very long) daily walk to keep the ideas flowing.

Beethoven went for a vigorous walk after lunch, and he always carried a pencil and a couple of sheets of paper in his pocket, to record chance musical thoughts. Gustav Mahler followed much the same routine—he would take a three- or four-hour walk after lunch, stopping to jot down ideas in his notebook. Benjamin Britten said that his afternoon walks were "where I plan out what I’m going to write in the next period at my desk." Working outside of Paris in 1971, Morton Feldman described his routine: "I get up at six in the morning. I compose until eleven, then my day is over. I go out, I walk, tirelessly, for hours."

But the most extreme example is the French composer Erik Satie, who each morning would walk from his home in a Paris suburb to the city's Montmartre district, a distance of about 6 miles. There he would visit friends, work on his compositions in cafés, eat dinner, and go out drinking—often missing the last train home, in which case he would walk back again, slipping into bed just before sunrise (and then getting up and walking back a few hours later). The scholar Roger Shattuck once proposed that Satie’s unique sense of musical beat, and his appreciation of “the possibility of variation within repetition,” could be traced to this “endless walking back and forth across the same landscape day after day.”

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Of course, it is not just composers who take long walks. Søren Kierkegaard had his best ideas during his daily walks, and sometimes he would be in such a hurry to get them down that, returning home, he would write standing up before his desk, still wearing his hat and gripping his walking stick or umbrella. Immanuel Kant took a walk every afternoon at precisely 3:30. Milton walked up and down his garden most afternoons, for three or four hours. And, according to one biographer, "If it rained, he would swing himself to and fro in a seat suspended from the ceiling, pulling on a rope."

Most artists prefer a solitary walk, but I ran across some figures who enjoyed company. Mahler liked to drag his wife along on his afternoon hikes. Ludwig Wittgenstein would ask a close associate to accompany him on his walks. “A walk with Wittgenstein was very exhausting,” wrote Norman Malcolm, in a memoir of his friendship with the philosopher:

“Whatever we talked about, he turned his mind to it with great seriousness and intensity, and it was a formidable strain on me to keep up with his thoughts. He would walk in spurts, sometimes coming to a stop while he made some emphatic remark and looking into my eyes with his piercing gaze. Then he would walk rapidly for a few yards, then slow down, then speed up or come to a halt, and so on. And this uncertain ambulation was conjoined with the most exacting conversation!”

Yashi Koshi!!

Saturday April 27th 2013……….Saturday is sports day!!

Started out by watching live soccer from England and at 8am Usvaldo arrived and painted for 3 hours he has now finished all the living room and dining and entrance and kitchen and it looks really great!! As he is working 2 or 3 different jobs he cannot come back till Tuesday when he will start on the bathroom and bedroom and I hope by Thursday he is finished and then we can hang all the stuff and be done!!!!..I have put a few things on the wall and it looks so classy!!

At noon I went to pick up Paola and we went to L & G’s casa and got the bike out and rode up to the sports center and spent three hours there…she was smiling a bit but there is still something happening with her I can tell she is not herself by her eyes and her mannerisms…but she did enjoy the riding…

We watched a bit of a soccer game

while she ate this concoction she bought from the little store..it had fruit, onions and I do not know what else in it but she enjoyed it!!!

Before I took her home we went to the store and I spent about 20 dollars on groceries for her Mum.

It was good to be out with her and see her have some fun and exercise and I hope she has a good evening.

 

 

 

I was home by 4.30pm and decided it was time for a long hike..I always enjoy these times as I can relax and examine what is happening and not happening in my life and make some choices…this time I found the canyons and the view was really spectacular!!!

Not a bad shot with my little point and shoot camera!!!

 

It was a good work out with wonderful scenery.

Had my long hot soak and now settled down and watching the end of one hockey game and the Vancouver game coming up soon.

Yashi Koshi!!

Friday 26th April 2013….another working day!!!

Usvaldo was here at 8am and got straight to work…I finished spray painting all the white rocks for the fireplace black, did some laundry and some more sorting…at noon when he had finished painting the kitchen is done and also the two walls by the entrance way so I spent a bit of time hanging the things back up but lots of things have to wait till he has finished painting completely and then Carolyn will come over and supervise the hanging and Osvaldo and I will do the work…it is starting to look so great and even though living with such a mess is a bit hard for me only a few more days and it will look like a show home.  Amazing that two talented friends can make such a difference..thanks!!!!

Late afternoon I went and met my fiend Carol for an afternoon drink and we got caught up on all our happenings and I was gifted with a bath pillow…more on that later.  I did some errands around town and then went back to Sherman Williams paint store to buy 2 more gallons of paint and also to return a few items I bought 2 days ago that Usvaldo does not need and you can imagine my shock when the manager told me that their return policy is only for returns the same day!!!!  No point getting upset with the employee but be sure I shall be sending an e mail to head office the same day return policy is a bit silly.

Arrived home around 6pm and did some cleaning and sweeping had a wonderful bath with my new pillow thanks Carol.

Now settled in and going to watch some TV and of course that tea and cookie routine!!!!

Also want to wish Sara a very happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Wish you all a wonderful weekend………..Les

Thursday 25th April 2013…….a rare occurrence!!!!

The usual wake up and at 8.30am Usvaldao arrived and started painting it is a big job and as he is going to do lots of walls I think he needs at least three full days.. then off to tennis for 2 hours only bad news is that the owners of the courts will not let me wear my new green shoes they say the tread is too deep and cuts up the court so I will have to go back to my old runners for when I play at the RV park at the exclusive club where I also play it seems I am OK…..anyway enjoyed the game.

I then went to get Paola and we went out to eat and again I am sorry to say she is just not very happy, very sullen and will not talk….there is obviously something going on for her and this is where the language is a problem there are a couple of agencies in town I will go to and see if they can intervene I think it has a lot to do with her living conditions…anyway it makes me sad to see her this way and I hope brighter days are on her horizon!!!

I then did some errands in town and then went to pick up my car as I had just been to a garage sale and bought two very nice reclining lounge chairs for my roof patio and then delivered them home..I also took time to get Little Bluey washed and cleaned inside she looks great now.

I then took the car back to L & G casa and then started to drive home when the dark clouds moved in and in seconds I was in the hugest downpour ever..I had to take shelter

 

It came down in buckets and this is one of the side streets I had to maneuver

I was so wet when I got home I jumped straight in the shower but already it had stopped raining and the roads were drying up.

After supper I did some sorting but it is hard because everything is all over the place for the painting but it is now 9pm and I am going to make some tea and for the first time in my casita watch a live hockey game!!!!

Yashi Koshi!!

Wednesday 24th April 2013……and I thought I was retired!!!

Here we go again another great sunny and lovely day and this is the start of a busy time first off it was into town at 8.30am for some errands then I went to pick up my car and go to the paint shop.

Carolyn is lending her wonderful talented skills to help transform my beautiful casita to a world class home..her ideas are for some of the walls in all rooms to be painted hence I was picking up the paint.

Back home at noon and Carolyn and her painter/handyman, Usbaldo arrived…he is a small man with an infectious smile and Iater found out a skilled painter…..I had spent a long time taking everything of the walls unscrewing the curtain rods just so Usbaldo could concentrate on painting…

He never stopped until 5pm and the wall with two coats looks wonderful ….he charges 45 pesos an hour that really is a joke that is less than 4 dollars…..rest assured he will be a very happy man when he is done!!!!

He is coming tomorrow at 8am and he thinks in two more days he will have the painting finished then it is hanging up my “stuff”.

So I spent more time putting some things back and making sure the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom are all clear for him to go ahead…..I also painted black all the white rocks in the fireplace and what a difference it makes…Carolyn sure knows this business.

Linda just sent me this!!!!!!!

 

A wonderful hot bath….. oh I forget to tell you that the cable guy came today and in 45 minutes hooked up my cable and I now have Shaw cable all the sports stations I need and over 150 other channels….life is good.

Yashi Koshi!!

Tuesday 23 rd April 2013……where does the time go??

I do like living in this Colonia..it is for sure Mexican with some Gringo's inter dispersed everyone seems very friendly even the dogs who were singing a bit last night..I know the road outside is not paved and it is not the high class area but I like it here…I enjoy I can be in the hills in 10 minutes only 7km to the tennis courts and less to town..I love my roof top and over the next couple of months going to look at doing something up there….I really like my casita and in a few days after some walls have been painted and treasures hung it will be exactly the way I want it…the Shaw cable guy came today to check things over and he is coming back tomorrow to make the installation..I am not a big TV watcher but as you may have guessed I love my sport and some of the documentaries and I just thought it would be a treat for me to have and to know my family back in Nanaimo are watching the same shows….I have to this weekend sort out where I am going to keep Little Bluey I have a couple of options. There is a good washer and dryer here in the complex but I only use the dryer when it is raining otherwise sun dried clothes for me….my Vonage phone is acting up a bit but the guy is coming around tomorrow so I will talk to him..did I mention I love the BATH TUB!!!!

The entrance way and steps are so pretty with the flowers and plants and my landlady Sharon is quite lovely……with the influx of some extra cash next month and every month  after I turn 65…yes I know I look many years younger…life will be a breeze.

I do realize that my relationship with Paola and Daniela is ever changing and I accept that fact hopefully this week I can get some resolve on my visitation rights but I do have to remember that I have no idea of the terrors and abuse they may have suffered as young  girls and the problems that is causing them now but I hope I can get to see Daniela again and if not then I will deal with that feeling.  Paola is different she is a fearless girl coming up on 12 years and all the changes that brings into her life I notice my relationship with her fluctuates and it seems now she does not want too much contact with me and again I am OK with this I will just try and wait it all out and see what happens and then plan accordingly.

The changes in my personal life have been a bit of an ongoing issue but I think I am now hoping to start to regain my previous happy and carefree and loving lifestyle…I am thankful for all the friends in my life I am so blessed…so all in all I am happy content and living in a little part of paradise!!!

So 8am it was mixed doubles tennis Carolyn and I resumed our partnership on the courts and it was a great 2 hours…I then went to a lady who is helping me obtain my Visa card and I dropped off some papers there and have to return again tomorrow I think to pick up my visa the permit for the car is a bit more tricky and I have to go to another city 40 miles away to get that next week,  The only thing is that I thought I could get the visa for 4 years but the first visa is only issued for one year but that is OK.

Did some grocery shopping and then spent the afternoon relaxing and doing some paper work.

Went for a nice walk after supper and now a bath and then tea and another episode of Downton Abbey which I seemed to be hooked on ……

Just found out I have an appointment at Casa Hogar next Tuesday so I hope to have some answers then.

Pura Vida

Monday 22nd April 2013….. a beautiful Day!!

Up at 8am and again went outside with my morning tea it is so wonderful to be outside and warm…..there is a lady Pati who was cleaning the apartment here for the previous tenant and she did come and clean for me once before I left..the casita does get a little dusty so I have  decided to hire her 3 times a month…I really am not comfortable with having someone clean for me but I understand the dynamics and it is income for her so I am happy for her to come..she is a very good cleaner and she charges 40 pesos about $3.25 cents per hour and I need her for 2 hours so I gave her 100 pesos and we are both happy with the arrangement.

I had some chores to do and went into town to get some photos taken for my visa application..also took some photos to get framed….bought myself a nice wrist bracelet the one Sara gave me a few months ago has broken.

Next stop was to L & G’s casa to do a few things and see Rafael the gardener and then went to see Paola at 11.30am…..she answered the door and I must say she did not seem very thrilled to see me..she looked tired and not happy..I realize the changes she may be going through and some of the challenges she has living in less than ideal situation…so I was not upset..I just told her that I was happy to see her and that I had missed her…. Ashley’s Mum had given me so many clothes and shoes and art work for her but I only took a few of the things around for her…Pauline Paola did say thank you!!!….I told her I was having the tire on her bike fixed and later in the week we can go bike riding.

The beautiful Jacaranda trees!!!

I then went around to the English class where Daniela goes three nights a week and spoke to the lovely owner Ms.Josefina who told me that Daniela was doing much better in her English studies and she also asks after me every class……..on this subject I have heard from my contact at Casa Hogar and I am trying to get an appointment to go and see Daniela's councilor but the news is not great but I do not want to expand further at this point…hopefully I will be able to resolve some issues this week.

I got back home at around 1pm and my landlady had asked me if I don’t mind to be in charge of monitoring the gas tan and levels that is on the roof and so I checked and called the gas company to come and fill up the tank…less than 30 minutes later they were here..this is taken from the roof...

It is a great system one of the workers comes up the staircase to the roof with a looped rope

He then throws the rope down and the guy on the ground attaches the hose and the man on top pulls up the hose attaches it to the tank and fills it…so cool!!

Next was the garbage truck and this is how this works…a worker walks about 300 feet ahead of the truck ringing a bell and that is a signal for us to take our garbage out wait for the truck and pass it up to the worker in the truck!!!  I had three bags and the neighbor young boy across the street from me was there with his Mum and without asking he picked up two of my bags and gave it to the worker…only in Mexico can you get a smile doing garbage detail!!!

After all this it was time for me to go on the roof and relax with a drink and my Spanish book!!

Some shots of the casita and the street… inside shots will have to wait a few more days!!

 

This is the main compound and I have all the top floor windows!!

The main door

The main 2 bedroom house

The small downstairs one bed room apartment ..both these are available for rent… at the moment I am the only person here.

The stairs to my casita the door on the left is the laundry room where there is storage and a nice washer and dryer.

This is the roof top patio of the main house and this is what I see from my front door…so nice!!!

It was then time for a hike I walked to the top of my street and found a nice trail into the hills!!

There are lots of different trails I can explore another day always there is a view of the main down town square and church!!

Even though it is so dry still color!!!

My casta is about 80 yards away from the tower!!

Shot of the tower from the front door…..I had a good hike it was hot but I took lots of water.

Tonight I had one of the meals that Sara had made for me and frozen..thank you it was great..did some more sorting and now going to watch a Netflix movie….

Yashi Koshi!!!

Sunday 21 st April 2013…..good to be in my casita!!!

Still not many suggestions for names yet!!!!

Had a wonderful sleep till about 7.30am and got up and went on the roof top to do some stretches then came downstairs made a cup of tea and checked stuff on the computer..then it was time to get to work to sort  out and put away all that I had bought and apart from my bookcase it is all done and it looks so great.  I just have some personal stuff to hang, a few things to change and move and I have a work party coming on Wednesday afternoon..there is one long accent wall that is pink and it needs to be changed so I have a man that will do it for me I just have to get the right color scheme.

No photos until it is all done!!!

I then went to see Paola but sadly there was no one home so I shall go around again in the morning…I also wrote ask for a meeting with the head Madre.

It was lovely day very hot and it just feels so right walking the streets and seeing the smiling faces of the children.

The parking of Little Bluey is not resolved yet the people that offered me a space just around the corner are having some second thoughts and will let me know this weekend coming up so I drove her to L & G and left her there and came back on the scooter who I shall now refer to as Little Blackie////I KNOW what some of you are saying I need to get a life……

Was home about 7pm and took these from the roof..

So tomorrow starts a busy week for me………Pura Vida!!!

Saturday 20th April 2013…..Little Bluey is HOME!!!!

After another 1000km drive which again was long but enjoyable and uneventful we pulled up to the beautiful casita at 5pm this evening and I unloaded all the stuff wow I did not realize I had bought so much and amazed it was all inside with room to spare.

After a cup of tea I started to unpack and sort but stopped around 9pm the rest can be done tomorrow…..jumped into a wonderful hot bath and now ready for some quiet time.

This is the painting that Linda and Guy had done for me it is an original and it is of one of the waterfalls I swam in Croatia last summer it is lovely thanks!!

Lots to do this week the main thing is I am going to see if I can get an appointment with the head Madre at Casa Hogar and try to resolve that issue also going to see Paola tomorrow.

Thanks for coming along on this journey hope you had much fun as I did!!!

yashi koshi!!!

Friday 19th April 2013…..Day 38!!!!!

I was up and out on the road leaving behind my hidden hideout on the beach at 7am..I was well stocked with drink, food, good music….a great car…GPS and a couple of towel wraps with ice for my knee and neck..it really was an uneventful drive I went through 2 immigration inspections and 3 military inspections and I was waved right through them all.

After the first couple of hours I was travelling on major toll highways that are well maintained.

10 Toll booths which cost me 600 pesos….

Not much to photos of

Too funny!!

I like this photo the translation is self explanatory

Seeing the word Camino which means way got me to thinking about my proposed Pilgrimage of 550 miles next summer on the Camino Santiago!!!!

I do love my beach walks and long drives as it gives me lots of time to think about stuff, my life, the direction I am going, the blessings, the family, the friendships……after I put that photo on the blog yesterday of Connie it got me to thinking about my marriage and how it went so bad so quickly and the aftermath and the suffering but I rebounded and now I think on those times with an insight that it needed to happen to allow me to me exactly where I am today!!

It was about 5pm and I needed gas so I pulled in here

The gas stations in Mexico are Government owned and all called Pemex with virtually the same price everywhere so what is special about this gas station??

Free life subscription to the blog if anyone guesses correctly!!!!!!

This is the gas station that I drove Ramona into on November 12th 2010…..and read the extract from the blog that day!!!!

 

 

I knew it was time to find a Pemex gas station to spend the night and after 495 miles of driving I did find one and stopped for the night after asking permission and filling up with gas.

I feel very safe here and as luck would have it there was another motorhome parked here for the night. This was the first RV I saw all day. I went over and introduced myself to the couple and got invited in and had a chat for an hour, they are lovely and from Vancouver and going down to Puerto Vallarta for the winter.

So a good first day…I plan another long drive tomorrow and maybe hit the little town of Rincon de Guayabitos where I plan to have a few days of beach…..

WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In hind sight I should have parked next to the other RV because I went and parked in the corner away from the traffic and I have just been robbed at gunpoint!!!!

I heard a knock on the door so I turned on the outside light and heard this voice shouting at me to open the door, I shouted back no and the next thing there is another man standing outside the small window by the sink he pushed in the screen and is aiming a gun at me and telling me to give him my money……..I remained very calm and told him OK OK my money is in the front so I grabbed the keys pulled in the slide went to the front where he was telling me to open the door so what I did was open the window a crack and threw him my wallet and I immediately started up and drove around the parking lot, I saw them leave in a black car at a fast speed, they were really only young men not scruffy and I have no idea if the gun was not real BUT>>>>

One of the security precautions that I took this year was to order a new visa with a 500 dollar limit, bought a wallet put 200 pesos(20 dollars) in it and some old cards and kept it by the drivers side door and that is what they got…..not the 500 dollars I had gotten earlier in the day at the bank machine which is hidden in the RV….

I tried calling the emergency number of the police from the phone at the gas station but I could get no reply so I will try and report the crime tomorrow.

So after all these years of coming to Mexico this is the very first nasty incident and I just feel lucky that it could have been much worse..there was no way I was going to fight with a gun pointed at my head…..….I am now parked right behind the other RV .

I am surprised at myself and pleased that I remained calm I could have challenged them in the parking lot but what is the point, didn’t get the licence plate number nor really a good description.. ………I think a cup of tea is well earned!!!!

I know some of you will be alarmed and worried for me but now 2 hours after the incident I feel OK and just thankful that it went down the way it did the last time I had to face a similar situation was in the Police in Bermuda but that was a totally different scenario……

What a shame my first night this happens but it will not deter me from my journey but I guess tomorrow I should buy another throw away wallet…..blessings to all.

WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woke up at 5.30am and decided to do another long days drive, went to the drivers door and there under the wind shield wiper is my WALLET!!!!

The 200 pesos are of course gone but all the cards are intact including my credit card!!!! I have no idea how it got there I don’t believe the punks had chance to go through it and ditch it whilst running to their car, did they come back? What happened did the attendant find it in the bushes I have no idea all I know is that it is awesome that I don’t have to go through the hassle of reporting the card…so there is good news!!!

I will post later about todays drive but rest easy I am happy, safe and at my favourite beach town, parked 50 feet from the water safe and doing good!!!

 

That sure was an experience and it was fun to come to the scene of the crime and I must say the gas station still had some unsavory characters hanging around.

So 7pm and I found this nice hotel in Culiacan..a total of 1140 km about 700 miles a long day and I can hear some of you saying I am nuts but I beg to differ…I enjoy driving Little Bluey never once felt tired and it was a good day and I just hope my stuff will be Ok I am sure it will be it is a classier hotel and Little Bluey is right out side the front door and the un iformed and armed guard received a nice tip…

I had a long hot shower did not feel really hungry so had some cereal and now the blog and then bed……I have looked at the maps and have decided that with another long driving day I can be home in my lovely casita in SMA before dark tomorrow….Blessings to all Les