Saturday 30th September 2017.....a celebration!!!

Weekend after September 29 (October 3-5 for 2008) - The Feast of San Miguel Arcángel. This September event is San Miguel de Allende's very own party, the saint's day for our own patron saint. Unlike the grito, this feels like a big family party. It's for the locals. It doesn't draw flocks of tourists from far-flung places, but families come into town from the campo to enjoy the holiday. On the nearest Friday, everyone stays up all night for the Alborada, which roughly translates as something like "to attack the dawn." At 3 a.m. the larger-than-life puppets known as mojigangas arrive in the square. Around 4 a.m., another monumental fireworks display begins, featuring several castillos.

The famous Voladores de Papantla, the Papantla Flyers, set up their pole in the esplanade in front of the church and perform their gut-wrenching feat several times throughout the weekend. This involves five men climbing to the top of the pole. Four of them attach themselves to ropes while the fifth stands on a tiny (like 12" square tiny!) platform at the very top and plays a flute. The other four fall off the top and slowly spin on the ends of their ropes until they reach the ground. It is graceful and lovely to watch, and the voladores' performances are always among the most popular of all September events in San Miguel de Allende.

The weekend also features more conchero dancers, the Xúchiles—huge floral arrangements made of cactus fronds and marigolds mounted on bamboo frames—carried to the church and a pair of parades with dozens of floats.

It's the happiest party of the year.

Enjoy my photos of the wonderful activities around the Jardin finishing with the blessing of the horses!!!!!!

I say it many time the local people sure know how to celebrate!!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Thursday 28th September 2017...the Botanical gardens!!!

I am beginning to forget what a tennis court looks like...tennis cancelled again this morning...so I decided to go for a hike around the Botanical gardens....

They are about 2 miles out of town and a wonderful of plants, trees, rivers and history all for 40 pesos admission......

I had come here mainly to see the waterfalls..the big lake you see below is normally below the water line but with all the recent rains the water is flowing over the dam...

It really is a view to be seen!!!!

After going over the dam the river flows down the canyon...hard to believe I was at a musical concert in this very same spot in March!!!!

Quite powerful.....

This is the canyon where the water flows down towards town and you can see on the far bank the brown pipe running all the way along the canyon wall this was used years ago to transport the water down below to the mill.....

Lovely flowers everywhere....

At the far end of the gardens there is this wonderful view of all down town....

The building to the right that looks under construction is actually called the Agua Hotel, quite appropriate!!!!  It was built a number of years ago and construction stopped because of what you see the water from the dam and it has sat empty ever since!!!!

Got to like the zoom on my little camera!!!!

Just glorious views...

and more flowers...

I really enjoyed this hike....

This afternoon went to my session with Joe my trainer..he tells me I am getting stronger every week and can see definition in my upper body which I have never had before and I am still at 173 pounds down from what I have been for 45 years 185 pounds!!!!

A little Mexican anecdote!!!

I took my friend Karen today way across town to drive her car back to her house so Gregg will have it when he arrives next week...we went to get it two days ago but found the battery was flat...this time I brought cables.....

We took a taxi up to the garage and Karen asked the driver if he would help us and let us hook our cable to his battery and of course he said yes.....

So he pulled up nose to nose with the car...he set up the cables and made sure it started before he took off...Karen gave him a nice tip and when he left he made sure he hugged Karen and shook my hand and wished us a great day!!!!  love these people!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Wednesday 27th September 2017...Wednesday musings!!!

Wednesday is the day I really do not have any exercise apart from walking so I took advantage this morning of a lazy long breakfast...tea outside in the sun and reading my book.....

It is almost a month since I moved into my new Casita Doris and I have to admit it was a great choice...everything is so nice from the light space, the gardens, my own roof top, room to park Little Bluey, a washing machine, now I have my own internet modem, the new TV and the Fire stick..and to boot my landlady Jen is lovely and kind!!!

Margarita my lovely friend who cleaned my last casita at Karen and Gregg's comes over here every Wednesday afternoon and spends a couple of hours and cleans for me..she is a wonderful woman and does a fabulous job.

On my walk to poker I always go by this bridge and I have never seen the water flowing so quickly....

The river flows under the market and the Police had to close the market today because of flooding...

Just an amazing amount of water coming from the mountains!!!

Poker as always was fun and my winning ways continued only 10 pesos i know but a win is a win!!!

Another part of town was also flooded and a bridge over run it was so bad that the school administrator decided to cancel class tonight...... a shame because I do look forward to the class.....

So a night home and i bet i can find some sort of game on my fire stick TV.....

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Monday 25th September 2017...a magical hike!!!

One good thing about all this rain is that the best hike and my favorite would be flowing with water and I set out this afternoon on the hike...this is really amazing to have sights like this only 45 minutes away from the major grocery store the noise and fumes of the buses.....

First this lovely sight!!!!

 I  blessed when ever I do this hike I always seem to see this horse..I left him a few carrots!!!

This is the bottom of the canyon and this pool only gets filled in rainy season..

 Views on the way up...

 and after a steep climb the cross and the panoramic views of the Pressa!!!!

 Anothert 15 minute hike and we get to see the bridge over the canyon!!!

AND YES>>>>the waterfall!!!!

A few minutes away from this is another slot canyon and another waterfall this is where I like to sit and listen think and watch!!!!

Then just another short hop to where it all starts the water coming down from the mountains!!!!

and a similiar view to end the hike...I do love going there and wish everyone in town knew about it!!!

Had a great English class tonight....I printed off an article about President Trump and his clashes with North Korea...they were very interested...Love my students!!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Sunday 24th September 2017...Grand slam of tennis!!!!

Today was another one of the slams of tennis that I have organized for over the last 4 years......it takes a bit of work to get it set up but I do not mind and we  12 avid players were ready at 1 pm for 4 hours of fun and tennis....NOT TO BE!!!!!!

On Friday evening we had a storm the likes of which I have never seen before..the streets became rivers....a small glimpse of what some of the States and the Islands have been going through.

Combine that storm with another one last night and the event had to be cancelled.....a shame because the theme of this slam was Mexican Independence and I know  the participants had worked hard on their red, white and green outfits......

BUT

Not is all lost the event is going to be re scheduled for 29th October........

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Friday 22nd September 2017...I could

show you a photo but I won't of my dirty, bruised and bloodied fingers after I did something today I have never done before!!!


Yes I had a flat this morning...I was coming back from driving my friend Karen to Costco..the tire blew on a bad part of the highway and it was a couple of hundred yards before I could get off on to the side......where with just a tad bit of help from a passing motorist I was able to change the tire!!!

Never done it before as my hands will attest!!!

After dropping Karen off I went to my tire guy and as I thought the tire was done, finished , totaled....he checked the tire I had put on, sold me a new tire and away I went 1400 pesos later.....great service in Mexico!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Tuesday 19th September 2017...what a 24 hour of weather!!!!!

My heart and thoughts go out to all my friends in places that are effected by the storms and earthquakes!!!!!

Mexico: Strong earthquake topples buildings, killing scores

• Share this with Facebook
 
• Share this with Twitter
 
• Share this with Messenger
 
• Share this with Email
 
• Share

Media captionThe strong quake was felt in the capital, Mexico City

A strong earthquake has struck central Mexico, killing more than 100 people and toppling dozens of buildings in the capital, Mexico City.

Rescue workers are searching for survivors buried under rubble and officials warn the death toll may rise.

The 7.1 magnitude quake caused damage in Morelos and Puebla states and in Mexico State.

It struck while many people took part in an earthquake drill exactly 32 years after a quake killed thousands.

The country is prone to earthquakes and earlier this month an 8.1 magnitude tremor in the south left at least 90 dead.

The epicentre of the latest quake was next to Atencingo in Puebla state, about 120km (75 miles) from Mexico City, with a depth of 51km, the US Geological Survey said.

At least 54 people were killed in Morelos state alone, south of the capital, and 26 reported killed in Puebla state. Thirty are confirmed dead in Mexico City with another nine in Mexico State.

About two million people in the capital were without electricity and phone lines were down. Officials also warned residents not to smoke on the streets as gas mains could have been ruptured.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told TV network Televisa that rescue services were dealing with collapsed or badly damaged buildings at 44 locations.

The earthquake drill was being held in Mexico City on the 32nd anniversary of a quake that killed up to 10,000 people.

Earthquake alarms did sound, correspondents say, but some residents apparently thought they were part of the day of drills.

• Live updates
• In pictures: Huge earthquake

Media captionPhone footage shows the damage caused by the earthquake in Mexico

The prolonged tremor hit at 13:14 local time (18:14 GMT) and sent thousands of residents into the streets.

Jennifer Swaddle, a teacher at the British International School in Mexico City, told the BBC that part of her classroom collapsed after the earthquake hit.

"Something that started as a tremor quickly escalated into something where the classroom shook," she said.

"As we were leaving, the outside of my classroom wall fell, so there was a big pile of rubble. Luckily, fantastically, nobody was hurt, but it was incredibly frightening."

President Enrique Peña Nieto urged people to avoid the streets so emergency services could reach the most affected areas.

---

Panic on the streets

By Juan Paullier, BBC News, Mexico City

Mexico City is a city all too used to earthquakes. But this tremor, on the anniversary of another one that left thousands dead in 1985, was especially powerful.

It sent thousands of people into the streets, trembling, shaking, crying, and trying to reach their loved ones by phone.

As time passes it is becoming clear that there are going to be many victims. In the capital alone, about 30 buildings collapsed.

In one of the worst-affected areas I saw dozens of people desperately removing rubble because they believed someone was trapped.

---

US President Donald Trump tweeted: "God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also tweeted his support following the "devastating news".

I am sure the death toll will rise, so sad!!!

I am blessed to be living in a part of the world that seems safe....

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Monday 18th September 2017 ....Foot!!!!!!

It has been a while since I talked about my foot, more specifically about my toes ...so sit back grab a cuppa tea and enjoy hearing the latest!!!!!

I think you all know that for such a handsome and George Clooney look alike I have terrible toes, NO I won't subject you to photographs..just trust me on this one...

The gap between my big toe and the next toe on my left foot has given me problems as long as I can remember the second toe sort of overlaps the big toe causing a  callous to form at the base of my big toe and it needs to be treated and scraped down every so often.

It has started to get sore the last few days so a trip to the foot doctor was in order and I had been told of a great clinic close by and I stopped by this afternoon to make an appointment and to my surprise the young female practitioner saw me right away.....

She was very good examined my foot and said she could make a small bridge that would stop the toes from rubbing together and she cleaned my toe scraped away the callous and then made me a rubber type insert to place between my big toe and the next one and fitted it to my foot......

Very professional and the toe felt good and I have been walking with it for the rest of the day and it feels perfect.

The cost for all of this 380 pesos  work it out in your currency incredibly cheap and for good work I was impressed!!!

I  invited Linda to come to my English class tonight and it was a really good time the students loved hearing a new voice and it was a confidence boost for them to talk in front of a stranger...I even had a new person join the class.....it was great they are such a wonderful group and I feel honored to be there to help them a little.....

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Saturday 16th September 2017....the weekend.....

This morning I got my first chance to watch Live soccer from England with my new Fire TV stick and new 43 inch television!!!

This shot is of the match at Bramall Lane Sheffield featuring my beloved Blades in the red shirts.....

Nothing special about this photo?
 WRONG!!!

Well to me anyway!!!

This shot taken this morning...see the guy in the yellow vest, i know not very clear.....

OK this team was my team since I was three years old I had dreams of one day going out onto this field in the beautiful stadium..sadly I was never good enough but in 1968 I did indeed get to go out on the hallowed turf...as a Rookie Police Officer...

In those days we were there to assist crowd control and my very first time I was where that guy in the yellow vest was and I was so excited so much so that when my Blades scored a goal into that net I jumped up off my stool and threw my police helmet into the air I was so thrilled.....My sergeant was not so thrilled with my antics and I was given a good talking too......

A great game of tennis this morning under blue sunny skies and afterwards I stayed in town and saw the lovely parade...these people sure know hot to celebrate and have fun!!!

Viva Mexico!!!!



Yashi Kochi!!!!