Zihuatanejo

Our balcony has two planter boxes, one has some shrubbery growing in it the other is just dirt. We decided it would be fun to grow a tomato plant in the other, but we have never seen tomato starts anywhere local.

While shopping at the Bodega we found tomato seeds and a bag of “starter dirt” and decided to give it a try.

The dirt in the planter was hard and dry and had a lot of broken tiles in it but we loosened it up spread a layer of “starter dirt” sprinkled the seeds, and added another layer of starter dirt and hand

sprinkled it so as not to flood it and wash the seeds away.

The senor was insistent that we needed a sprinkler can.  So I took a plastic water bottle using a needle punched a lot of holes in the top /cap end,  filled the bottle up with water

put the cap back on and we have a great sprinkler bottle. After 2 days we have sprouts

After a week we have little tomato plants but a ton of grass also. So some judicious weeding took care of that and 10 days into this project we have 6-8 inch little tomato plants growing happily in the sunshine. Who knows we might get a tomato by mid March when we leave.

Signing off KO

Having heard about the Ixtapa Marina,  and the big expensive yachts that moor there naturally I wanted to go and see how the other half live. Our friends Faye and Paul offered to be our “tour guides” on this breakfast adventure as they knew the places to go on this adventure. So off we are on the Ixtapa/Marina bus where our first stop was the liquor store, probably the largest liquor store in the area, huge selection, prices seems normal and it also has so some interesting goodies.

Next stop “The Oyster Bar” well at least until 1:00 when it becomes Fishers with a whole new set of prices. The menu was full of items I had never heard of.  While I am a  believer that ” breakfast is what you call a meal with out wine” but here this menu had 3 suggestions under the heading BREAKFAST COCKTAILS.  Now how can you refuse that! I ordered a Pepenillo or something spelled similar to that . It was

Tangeray, cucumber and lime soda and probably the most refreshing drink ever created beautifully served in a large green rimmed glass. So pretty and tasty that Faye found it necessary to have one too.

I always enjoy trying something new so I ordered a poblano enchilada with eggs which arrived on a large platter smothered in a delicious sauce. It was super good, but too much  so I was able to share some with Paul and Faye.  The Senor, who rarely tries anything new, stuck with his fish tenders refusing my offer to share with him.

We had a great view of the marina with all the big expensive yachts.  This is quite a change for us coming from Puget Sound, the small boat capitol of the world were every marina is jammed full  but not many of these big boys.

This is definitely a place to revisit.  Signing off KO

After 10 plus years in our current apartment we are making a change.  We have contracted to rent the new apartment year round.  It is a one bedroom, definitely bigger than our current studio. Among the biggest pluses are only one flight of stairs, a cab can pull up to the door. No more schlepping groceries almost a full block from where the taxi stops and then 3 flights of stairs. A cool breeze blows through the apartment so we will be less reliant on the air conditioner and we are still only a block and half from the bay. Oh, it only costs  half of what we pay now. Along with the pluses there is a minus or two, we are a block further away from where we are now and our balcony now looks over a street with traffic instead of just pedestrians. We will miss the daily camaraderie  of the folks in our building,. While we still only plan to be there 4-5 months we will be able to leave our personal belongings in place,  acquire as much personal stuff as we need to make ourselves as comfortable here as at home.  It also allows for the possibility that family  or friends might  want an opportunity to sample Zihuatanejo could take advantage of our apartment.

We are so excited with all the possibilities, but unfortunately we can’t move in in March like we hoped as it is rented March to April so we have to wait until next year to begin feathering our nest. Signing off KO

On the morning of the first day of December the Christmas Flags went up on our street soon followed by inflatable

Frosty and other characters appear each night after dark at the corner by the statue.

This morning I walked up to the “Buenoche” market and bought two beautiful poinsettia plants to make our apartment more festive. And every evening our balcony has solar Christmas lights on the railing.

Buen Noche

Christmas marker

Pinatas and poinsettias

But Christmas arrived early for us in the form of a long awaited for fed ex package. En route to Zihuatanejo I had left a small purse with a debit card and my drivers license at and  the Seattle hotel.

My son retrieved it and was to send it along with the computer hard drive that my daughter copies movies and TV series and mails to us for use in Zihuatanejo. It arrived at our home the day after we left, so my son put my purse in that package readdressed it, put the  debit card receipt in the box showing how much he paid fed to send it priority to us. It got to Mexico in 2 days and then was held hostage in Mexican customs for 16 days.  FedEx was little to no help in helping to resolve what the problem was, or what items were in question. But 17 days later  and $175. we have the package with everything in it except the receipt. So we got the Christmas presents from my daughter ( we never would have brought them with us, no need of a sweat shirt or the medallions for my walking stick) But I am enjoying the framed photo of all 4 of my kids, especially since  they so rarely are all together. signing off KO

When we began staying in Mexico long enough to need laundry being done the Senior would weekly load one of our wheeled suitcases up to the local “laundaria” where for very few pesos they would wash dry and fold your laundry having it ready for you at the end of the day. At home the Senior always does the laundry and just assumed the job here. This worked great for a couple of years until some thing got ruined in the process, water too hot for the fabric and once crusted undissolved soap power crusted on clothing leaving stains. Our choice were at that point sit at the laundaria and do it our self taking up half a day or do it on our roof top as a washing machine had been installed there.

But as with many things in Mexico, the washer didn’t  work exactly as expected.  This washing machine fills with very a slow drip.  We soon discovered that by  filling buckets of water at the wash sink and dumping them in the washer it would save considerable time, but it is considerable work and the Senior decided he didn’t have the patience or the desire to spend that much time on the hot roof top and the job fell to me. It takes 6-7 buckets of water for each wash load and again 6-7 buckets for the rinse.

So now I weekly collect our clothing, personal bath towels and sheets and head to the roof in the cool, cool, cool of the evening about 9 pm, take up my kindle a glass of wine and proceed to do the laundry. I’m entertained by my kindle and the bar down the street that pumps out music for the whole town to hear and enjoy a glass or two of wine while our clothes wash. Each load is then hung on the lines to dry.  Usually by 10 am its all dry and can be taken in and the clothes didn’t spend the whole day baking in hot sun for the colors to bleach out.  My system works well and now the Senior in charge of maintaining our supply of ice and arranging for the timely delivery of drinking water. Fair trade!

This year the was a new wrinkle in the laundry system. They hung badly needed new  clothes lines, but they are higher than I can reach. Lucky for me there is a nice ladder on the roof, its a little awkward hanging clothes on the line from a ladder but do-able. Signing off KO

Once again we woke up to water in our apartment.  About an inch covered the kitchen floor. Upon further investigation we discover the source of the issue is in the apartment next door with a leaking  intake water pipe. The Senor blocked the flow of water from our kitchen into the rest of our apartment with a large towel and decided to wait until daylight to mop up the mess.

The first year we were in this apartment we had 2-3 inches of water across the entire apartment floor due to a rain storm that had filled one of the balconies that didn’t have a drain. It proceeded to flood all 3 apartments, we swept so much water down the stairs it looked like a real water fall. A couple of years ago friends down stairs woke to water in their apartment that came from the apartment next door to them. A hot water line broke making that apartment look like a sauna. Why is it these thing always happen during the middle of the night and aren’t discovered until morning maximizing the amount of water to be dealt with.

Had a pleasant Friday evening listen to Jimmy Mamou, marveling at his energy.  Then we stopped by Legends as we heard music coming from there where a young Mexican fellow was singing  good old american rock and roll. He was quite good. But we were home by 11, not much of night owls any more.

We have never been “La Ropa beach people.  We have preferred Playa Las Gattas or Ixtapa Island for beach life and swimming.  But this year will be different and I don’t have enough bending ability in my new artificial knee to handle the getting on and off the water taxis and we can take the bus to La Ropa.  I’ve been going to the gym daily to ride the exercycle, sometimes twice daily but I’ not seeing any noticeable improvement. Very frustrating as it is keeping me from doing so many of the things I enjoy doing.But for ever the optimist I will persevere and see what happens.  Signing off KO