This month hasn't been a
busy one. As far as craft items, I made a sign,
and some flowers out of
plastic beverage containers to decorate my yard. The gate guard's
wife, Brenda, showed me how to make the base and then I created from
there. They are fun to make and paint and it adds color to the yard.
One thing I like about
being here is we can look out our window and see the fishermen
netting for fish to sell in town. This netting is allowed because
the fish they are catching don't bite hooks. So the only way to
catch them is by net. This is how life was many years ago here in
all of Mexico. Fishing is how they made money and fed their
families. They still rely on the sea to feed there families and make
money.
Most of the Americans here
are getting ready to go to their homes in the States for the
holidays. The ones that are still here are playing train on
Tuesdays. My luck hasn't been that good, but it is fun to get
together once a week with the ladies.
I started crocheting
scarves and dish cloths since it is too cold to work in my art room.
Glue doesn't set up quick when it is cold. We have had to use our
little buddy heater more than last year as once the sun disappears
behind the mountain the chill moves in. The breeze has been cool too
which doesn't help. We have had many cloudy days which cuts into our
solar charging, but running the generator helps with the batteries.
Just the way life is here in the winter. The folks in the states are
having it much colder, and wetter then we are.
I have an aloe vera plant
that is blooming!! It bloomed for the first time last year and now I
expect it to bloom every year. Just by itself it isn't that pretty,
but with a lot of them together they are. Here are a couple pictures
of the plant and flower. I also have a baby plant that I am trying
to keep alive. I have to get some potting soil as the soil here
holds too much water and salt.
On the 13th we
found out that our daughter-in-law, Brooke, Ernie's wife, has cancer
on her kidney. Her back was giving her problems and she could hardly
walk so she had an MRI and they found 2 bulging discs in her lower
back. They gave her meds to help with the pain, but she was still in
pain and not able to get around much. Being able not to take it any
longer she ended up having a CAT scan and they found a spot on her
kidney and told her they thought it was cancer. So that shook
everyone's world apart. She did get some relief on her back as she
got a cortisone shot in her lower spine. But now they need to find
out what the doctor is going to do. The doctor is not going to do a
biopsy, just take the part of the kidney that is affected. The best
thing about all of this is that if it hadn't been for her back they
would have never found the spot on her kidney. The doctor said that
the spot is encapsulated so it isn't spreading and it is stage 1. So
that is why they only have to take the part from her kidney that is
affected. It truly is a blessing in disguise. I was planning on
going to Washington in January for Ernie's shoulder surgery, but
looks like we will need to be there after Brooke has her surgery.
She will be out of commission for a month. So we are just waiting to
see when her surgery is and plan from there. We also need to find
out when Ernie will have his.
So in the meantime I am
keeping busy crocheting and reading. When the tide is out and the
wind isn't blowing sand, I take walks on the beach. I have found a
lot of sea glass this time around. We've had a lot of wind so it is
churning up the bottom of the bay and dumping treasures on the beach
for me.
Our gate guard Tito and
his wife Brenda invited us to dinner for Christmas Eve. That is when
they have their big celebration for Christmas. They had planned on
having their family come out to their place here. But the weather
turned and it was threatening to rain so Tito's dad thought it might
be better to have it at his house in town. Tito and Brenda don't
have an inside place to entertain. They invited us to go with them,
to his dad's, but knowing they would have the whole family there, it
made a lot of mouths to feed. We thought it would be better if we
didn't go. Tito told us they were fixing a lot of good food. Food
they don't eat on a normal day as it is expensive for them. I told
them we were honored to be included in their family dinner but
thought we would just stay home. I didn't want to hurt their
feelings as it is rare that Americans get invited to a Mexican home
for any reason. They understood and thought we were kind. As it
was, Tito and Brenda didn't come back for a long time so that was
another reason we were glad we didn't go. It didn't rain until early
in the morning but being indoors was a much better plan.
We received an invite to
Christmas dinner at a friends house. His daughter is visiting from
Tennessee and he wanted to have a few friends over. It was a small
get together and Larry smoked a turkey and Laura, his daughter,
cooked the rest of the meal. It was good and we had an enjoyable
time. I brought an apple pie for dessert. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
Another one of our friends
invited us to her 60th birthday party. She made several
different kinds of pizzas and a huge salad, and after that we had
cake. It was fun.
It has been pretty quiet
here with most of the Americans are gone. It is nice. We had some
beautiful no wind days which was awesome. It was still chilly, but
nice to get out and get some fresh air. We have neighbors that come
down at Christmas because that is when they can get some time off
work, and they have been enjoying kayaking and paddle boarding. It
is fun to watch them play!!
We finally found out when
Brooke is having surgery. It is January 14. She will be in the
hospital for 2 days then home and flat on her back for a while.
Ernie is having his shoulder surgery on the 30th so Dave
and I will be with them a month and a half taking care of both of
them, 2 dogs and 2 boys!! Oh boy!!!! It will definitely be
challenging but as long as they can get this behind them, the better
it is for everyone.
We were trying to decide
whether to fly up or drive and we finally decided to drive. We need
to get some things for the house so it is better just to take the
truck and get some of the things we need and bring them back. Plus
we have been invited to the Howling in Yuma, Arizona by our friends
that live there. They have been trying to get us to come for a while
now. So we figured it would be fun to stop on our way home and
experience the Howling on the full moon in March!!!
We will be leaving here
around the 16th of January, and be at Ern's either the
19th or 20th. They are having their close
friends from Spokane, WA, come for a couple days right after Brooke
gets home from the hospital, so we will be there after they leave.
Happy New Years Eve!!!!
Two other gals plus myself went into town and played Mexican train.
We had lunch and then the owner of the restaurant toasted us with a
shot of tequila for the new year!! It was very nice. After getting
back home, I finished the book I was reading and then we saw our gate
guard build a fire. He invited us to join them at the fire tonight a
few days ago, but it had been raining and cold so I wasn't sure we
were still getting together. It was 4:30pm so Dave was going to go
down to Tito's to see what he was up to. I wasn't going to go but
changed my mind. I am really glad I did. He had chairs set out for
us to join them at the fire, plus fixed dinner to share with us. It
was such a nice gesture and we really appreciated it. So we had
dinner and Tito had a great fire. It was trying to sprinkle while we
sitting around the fire, but it stopped. Then later on it got more
serious so we had to call it a night. There was supposed to be a big
party (Fiesta) in town starting around 9:30-10pm but I don't think it
happened as it rained pretty steady about that time. The party was
to be held outside. Dave and I walked home and sat and watched some
TV and had a glass of wine and later a small glass of Irish Whiskey
for me, and single malt scotch for Dave to cheer in the New Year. We
did not stay up until midnight as it isn't necessary for us to do
that anymore. Here is to a prosperous, healthy New Year.
