Here's a snake that was on the fence near where i was working on the palapa. it occured to me that it might just be waiting for the palapa to be done so it could go on up there.

A view of our house from the top of the bull ring. Our house is the low white one on the left in the group of three on the hill in the distance. I was at a rodeo when I took this. Nothing much was happening so i decided to go to the top level and see what views i could from there. It was quite neat as the bull ring is the highest thing, other than a few roof top palapas, in la penita. on one side of the bull ring, behind high walls so not visible from the street, were cages of fighting cocks. I haven't heard much about this but i'm sure cock fights go on all the time. maybe even in the bullring as the big sodium lights are on most nights. Mexico is still a big mystery to me, which is fun.

check out my new writing computer desk. i spotted the frame first and then realized it came with a desk. we got it at a local furniture store that is owned by a brother and sister. he is the master furniture maker and does the carving. he's into antiques and has some very interesting pieces mixed in amoung the furniture. the also sell some pottery and yesterday had metal mirrors from san miguel de allende. my favorite store around here.

beach glass and shells


our very own bananas - almost ripe. the ones on the bottom look ripe but they're not. they have to be totally yellow. even a tiny green spot means a bitter taste. they're yummy when done though. a little tangier and firmer than the ones we get in grocery stores. and a lot smaller!

i have no idea what this plant is. it's viney and is growing on our fence. has a neat little yellow flower then yesterday i discovered the fruits in the open and closed versions.

la colonia beach

Today was a very good day. We hired a ponga to take us to the island that is right out in jaltemba bay in front of la penita. nice ride out there. we arranged for him to pick us up 4 hours later. we took lunch, beach umbrella, snorkel gear, etc. there is a small sand beach there at high tide line then about a 5 foot stretch of small rounded rocks then a strip of firm white sand . the tide went out during the day so this strip went from about 30feet wide to maybe 50. the water there was very clear and a lovely turquoise over the sand and deep blue out further toward town. we were on the lee side of the island so it was very calm most of the day for snorkeling. there are a lot of rocks and in front of the bay that attract various neat colorful fish. i have no idea the names of them but tiny deep blue ones, ones with yellow stripes, a black one with neon blue spots, etc. lots and lots. the water is so warm you never get cold. too neat.

Kris and Paul boogie boarding on Jaltemba Bay about half way between Guyabitos and Playa de Naranja.

check out the squirrel. seems funny to see one in a palm tree doesn't it. the leaves on this type of palm really rustle when the wind starts to blow.

the pumphouse iguana

Iguanas

Yesterday as i was washing the dishes i happened to look out the window. there is a tall dead tree with a few branches at the top just down the hill a bit in the jungle. on top of one of the branches was a big lime green iguana. i suppose it was maybe a foot and a half to two feet long. it stayed up there for hours. i checked again in the afternoon and there was another one, a bit smaller and the same green up there. wow! i thought about how difficult it would seem to be for them to climb up there as they move pretty slowly and awkwardly up there. and probably even more difficult to get back down. i thought it would be fun to try to get a little video of them, if they would move that is. i went outside around the house and was about to turn the camera on them when the smaller one must have seen me and got frightened, though i don't know why as the other one watched me hang up clothes etc for a long time. the little guy just heaved him/herslef off the tree and leaped down into the jungle. hummmm.....slick and it never would have occured to me that would be the way to get off the tree.

we also have a big grey iguana living under our pumphouse. we think it drinks from the swimming pool as it comes out and heads over that way. yesterday the pool was empty so i took a bowl of water over by the hole it goes down in and sure enough it drank out of it.

there is some kind of fairly large lizard living in a pile of bricks beside the house too. i have not seen the whole lizard but have seen its tail. when it hears someone coming it apparently jumps headfirst into the brick holes but about 10 inches of its tail stick up in the air. when i first saw it i thought it was a stick but it looked a bit weird and on closer inspection i realized it was smoothly round and scaly. i had a very strong urge to grab ahold of it but resisted that as who knows if they bite or what!

I couldn't get to my camera cord as it is early in the morning and kris is still sleeping and the cord is in the bedroom, so I put on the photo of a wonderful Chilkat Dancing blanket that i have partially restored. if you look close you can see that the middle section is still unrestored.

the sun is almost up here in la penita. birds are starting to wake up and get noisy. just as the sun hits the tops of the trees is the best time to watch them. i'll have to get out there soon. i think i hear some oriels and maybe a caicique (not sure that is spelled right but it sounds like caw-seek.) they are about the size of crows and look a bit like them but have bright yellow on wings and light yellow beaks. fly around in flocks and are quite raucous.

trying to kill the mold

We arrived here about 6pm after a really safe ride in a Puerto Vallarta taxi. Decided just to bite the bullet and pay for the convenience of a taxi to our doorstep (well not quite as i explain later). We got behind a super slow old truck. Our driver was a nice older guy and valued his life and ours quite a bit it seemed as he didn't pass the thing though cars and trucks piling up behind took every opportunity to pass both our taxi and the truck. i told the driver in my bad espanol that this was just fine, i liked his cautiousness.

This cautioness was not a plus when we actually got to calle oceano atlantico though. Its a rough dirt road and our house is at the end of it. The last two blocks of it were a mess. I guess about a week ago the water company came up and dug a big ditch alongside this road leaving a 3foot pile of dirt in one of the wheel tracks of the road. Vehicles have to drive in the remaining track and in the weeds to the side of the road. Not that bad really but it looked pretty scary to our driver. After he drove us about half way down to our house, leaving us probably a 500 yard walk with our loads of heavy baggage, he said no he just couldn't go any farther. sigh. Kris paid him and we set off with a dim flashlight and a couple of lighter pieces of the luggage along the rocky road toward our house. The neighbors dog heard us and started barking furiously which alterted our neighbors who came to their gate to see what was out there. At any rate they ended up driving their car up to our luggage and helping Kris get it down here.

Inside our living area, the lower part of the house, we discovered (not really to our surprise too much though) everything covered more or less with mold and rank mold smell in all the rooms. Not having enough time or energy to do much about this, we made up the bed in the upper level guest room and called it good for the night. Walked down the hill to find a restuarant but were so tired we opted to get some bread, cheese, milk and cereal and took a taxi back up the hill. (ye we had to walk a couple of blocks at the top but at least it is flat up here)

Photos are of all the bedding etc we are trying to get the mold smell out of. All if this said, it is still wonderful to be here. There are more bananas on the trees than I've ever seen. My plumeria is starting to bloom (after a couple of years looking like a dead stick tree!), bouganvillas thick and healthy looking, butterflys everywhere, and best of all the warmth ad blue sky and lovely greenery everywhere.

AHHHHHHH

Not long now. I can hardly wait as the getting ready to go is pretty intense.

camping trip to wanapum state park

Last Friday, I went camping with Kristen and Margo. We stayed at Wanapum State Park, near Vantage. on the State Park webpage they noted that the site could be windy. What an understatement! We got a good hike in and fire started then about 6 or so the wind started. It just blew harder and harder. We finally retreated to the tent to red etc till sleep time. I didnt' get much sleep. The wind was just too noisy. Finally got up and went to sleep in the car, which I did little of.







The site of the park is really nice and i think if the wind wasn't blowing it would be a lot of fun. Very nice place to swim on warmer days and the desert is nice there. The pinkish flower in the top photo is milkweed. Don't know the name of the yellow ones.



Petrified wood at Ginko interpretive center.

beautiful home in the residential part of guyabitos

HUGE fan palm in guyabitos

brick oven guyabitos mexico

our lemons

There are two lemon trees in the back yard. I know, they look like limes, but they aren't. They're super juicy.

Chilcotin Basket after restoration

Looks a lot better doesn't it, and now it can hang in there a bit longer as it is much more stable too.

Old Chilcotin Basket in need of help

Here's a wonderful old Chilcotin coiled burden basket. It was really fragile. I restored it quite a while ago but thought I'd put it on with the after restoration photo to show a bit of what I do a lot of these days.

casa dos vistas upstairs kitchen and living room

our new equipal furniture

the top photo and bottom one show the furniture. middle is the kitchen part of this room. this furniture is great. very rustic. if you turn it over you can see that the seat is supported by a woven mat of some kind of natural cane type material and it is all fastened together with vines. the wooden pieces do have little nails in them. all the wood but the very bottom is hunacastle (not sure if that is spelled right) prounounced " wan a cost' lay" which is quite resistant to attack by bugs, especially termites which abound, to say the least in the area. i put a paste wax that smells like kerosene on it as best i could to help keep bugs away too. the leather has to be treated a few times a year. we got a 6 foot couch, a 5 foot couch and two large chairs (sort of in between loveseat and regular chair size) for $600 usd. not bad!

hibiscus in our garden

aren't these gorgeous? the bush is right next to the steps down to the lower level of the house. it's usually loaded with flowers.

mexican spider

check out this amazing little spider! when i first saw it i thought it's back was a leaf or some bug that the little black spider had caught. on close inspection i saw it was the back of the spider.

trying to get motivated on a cold january day

today i decided to write a little bit in here. first of all, is anyone out there? like does anyone check this? not that i have sent the address to many people. just wondered. it's been a bit of a struggle to get motivated since i got back from mexico. what is it about being able to get up and go outside and have your morning coffee on the deck or garden and watch the sun come up that makes a person feel so much cheerier about the coming day? i dont' know but i do know it makes a difference. this morning at 7:10 am i stuck my head out the door to see kris off to work and it was just plain old nasty out. thick rain showing in the street light glow and really quite cold. made me want to go back to bed which i did but couldn't sleep so just got up. it's about 1pm and i'm almost ready to face going down to work in my studio. not that the work is bad or the environment either. it's nice. i just have some perverse thing keeping me from going. so..........................here are a few more mexico photos.

bouganvillas in garden at casa dos vistas - my favorite place in the garden