'the dreamers'

Angel and Anahi's Wedding

2008-04-07T06:43:00.001-07:00

We went to Angel and Anahi's wedding on Saturday. It was a lot of fun! The ceremony was in a church in Zihua and then we went to Ixtapa for the reception. It was in a place next to the golf club and it was a beautiful setting.

I think there were 300 people! The ceremony was at noon and the reception at 2:30. We ate when we got there and then again at 6pm, then before we left at 8pm they had tacos for everyone! Unfortunately we missed the fireworks!

Fish Story

2008-04-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

We have been here for 5 months now and Syd has only caught one fish because the lagoon closed in November, instead of March, and the sardines left. Then Steve arrived and headed out to the beach to take pictures this morning. The next thing I hear is Steve calling Syd for his fishing rod, shortly after Steve calls me to say he caught a fish (the small one!) and he was really excited! Then the birds arrived chasing the sardines and behind the sardines are the juarel (yellow fin tuna). Syd ran down the beach, casts into the waves and hooks a big one. Steve is so excited watching it all , they were quite a pair!

Ground Breaking Ceremony

2008-04-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Annabelle and her property partner's ground breaking party last night. We rang little bells, burned sage and spread fresh basil around the property.

Afterwards we had champagne, wine and snacks made by Carmen and Tito.

We realized how lucky we are to have such good neighbors.

Patzcuaro (Madeleine's Birthday)

2008-04-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed up to Patzcuaral for three nights with Barb and Ernesto to surprise Madeleine for her 60th birthday. We had a great time surprising her. We went for lunch at the Patio and then to Mistango for a lovely dinner. We even had birthday cake back at the hotel!

The next day Madeleine and Yves left on the bus and we went to some places along the lake. Barbie got some lamps and a stone pig and Ernesto got a stone boat with a man and elephant in it. Really cute! We got one of those stone carved Mexican men having a siesta for our door stop and we got 4 big fish planters (below) to go on the wall in Bamfield.

The following day we walked around the square, had breakfast and then headed home.

Playa Tortuga

2008-03-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of months here at Casa Puesta del Sol. The new property is coming along nicely, we now have a palapa roof constructed at the front of the property on the beach. We often go down there to watch the sunset.

We celebrated birthdays and anniversaries and have been busy with different social events over the last two months. Most recently we welcomed my cousin Darlene and her husband Ron for a visit. Yesterday we headed over to Playa Tortuga with them and got to see some baby turtles.

Turtle tracks:

This is where the turtle eggs were laid:
This little guy is trying to make his way to the water (without getting eaten on the way):

We made sure to watch until he was safely on his way:

And this is a sunset from our new property at 'Los Sonadores':

Karla's Baptism

2008-01-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Karla's baptism. I just found out today that her name is spelt with a K. We went to San Jeronomito for the baptism. We realized that was the church we were in for a wedding 20 years ago! There were 7 children being baptised and it was a lovely ceremony to watch. Karla was beautiful in her new dress and was a princess for the day. After the ceremony we went to La Barra for lunch at Tito's parent's house. We had delicious pork and chicken along with rice and tortillas. I believe there were about 20 people for lunch. Two of Karla's cousins were baptised as well. Herminie and Olga's daughter is married to Tito's brother and they had their youngest child baptised today.

Turtle Release

2008-01-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Carmen found three baby turtles making their way to the water about 1/2 mile down the beach. She brought them home to show us and to have Karla and Angel release them. Here are some pictures. Osito was worried about the slowest one. At one point he nudged it to get it moving faster and then he kept laying down beside it.

Sunrise

2008-01-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

Syd took all of these pictures of the sunrise this morning:

Family Visit

2008-01-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

Our daughter and two of her friends spent two weeks visiting with us this month. Unfortunately they were all sick with colds/flus at various points during their visit but we still managed to have a great time and get them out sight seeing.

You can see some pictures from their visit here:
Puppies in Mexico
Iguana Reserve
Rebeca's Animals
Early Morning Photos
Chole
Lunch at Casa Frida
Last Stop Before the Airport
Home

Xochipilli's Wedding

2007-12-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from the Xochipilli and Juan Carlos' wedding. It was a lovely wedding! The church was beautiful and the reception was at Playa Larga. They had a mariachi band in the church and at the reception. The food was great! We had pork, chicken and beef. All delicious! The cake was chocolate on the bottom and white on the top. Juan Carlos and Pilli were the perfect hosts.

This is Pilli dancing with her Aunt. They danced a whole song with the bottles on their heads.

A Wonderful Evening

2007-12-19T12:59:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was our 26th wedding anniversary and when we arrived home from Zihuatanejo we found that Carmen had decorated the bed with flowers, it was beautiful.
We invited Yves and Madeleine to join us for the dinner that Carmen had prepared for us. We had a white fillet of fish with shrimp and octopus plus veggies on top. It was done in foil and was absolutely delicious. I had made an apple pie for dessert - which was also delicious, I might add! We played cards and all had a bit too much wine, it was great! It sure beats last year when we spent out anniversary in the cold and dark during the storms in Bamfield!

Sunrise on the Lagoon

2007-12-18T12:20:00.001-08:00

Our Puppies

2007-12-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

This is Osito (little bear). He is a rescue dog from our beach here at Barra de Potosi.

This is Terra, our rescue dog from Canada. Terra had around four families before we finally adopted her in 1997.

And this is Kiwi, he is the 'community dog' here. You'll find him walking the beach with any one of the locals and he knows his way into your heart (and right to your dinner plate!).

La Playa

2007-12-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken today from in front of our property (Casa Puesta del Sol).

El dia de Guadalupe

2007-12-12T11:33:00.000-08:00

Syd is disappointed because he took his new camera to El dia de Guadalupe in the village last night and decided not to take the flash. The flash on the camera wasn't adequate so his pictures are a little blurred.

All the women looked beautiful and the village was brightly decorated.

Some more celebrations went on today.

Kindergarten Fundraiser

2007-12-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we attended a fundraiser in the village for the local school. The school, which is just down the beach from us is needing basic supplies, including pens, pencils, books and other learning materials.

Last year, one of our neighbors donated fans to help keep the school cooler while the kids are in class and Syd helped install them.

This fundraiser was for the kindergarten class and was well attended, even Betsey Johnson was there!

If you would like to donate to the school or bring along some supplies on your next trip to Casa Puesta del Sol, please feel free to contact us.

Bad Advertising

2007-12-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

This the hotel at Barra de Potosi, Syd captured their new 'advertising campaign'!

Karla meets Jeff!

2007-12-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

We had a visit yesterday from our neighbor, Madeleine, with her new grandson, Jeff. As you can see from the pictures at six months old, Jeff is almost the same size as Carla!

Home Sick. . . Not a Chance!

2007-12-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a little comparison between the weather in Mexico this weekend and the weather outside Danielle's apartment in Vancouver. . .

I think we'll stay put in Barra de Potosi a little while longer!

Kayaking the San Jeronemito River

2007-11-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

We had a great day yesterday. Syd and Yves decided they would kayak down the San Jeronemito River yesterday. This entailed driving 7 kms off the highway to a place called La Palma. I asked friends to come with us as I didn't want to be driving back alone. As it turned out we reached La Palma and sure enough it only had one palm tree! Grin! The road was really rough and unfortunately after we arrived, and after some great debate (about 2 minutes) Syd and Yves decided that there may be rapids so would go back to the highway and paddle from there. We got them into the river and drove back to La Barra.

I got home, got organized and called some friends, we planned to meet the guys in a place called Chole. As Danielle knows, this is the place that not only has artefacts and an amazing 500 year old cactus, but it also has the 'Road Kill' Restaurant. Here you can eat any number of endangered species (just kidding)!

We travelled to Chole in three vehicles and arrived at the very moment that Syd and Yves arrived in the kayaks. We then decided to try a new restaurant (on the way in to Chole) because some of our friends weren't as adventurous as the rest of us. The new restaurant was rustic and lovely. I'm not sure they have had a group of 12 before but the kids got out of the tiny pool, dressed in clean clothes and helped out. They were so cute. We had a lovely meal and everything was so fresh.

On the way home we visited the Reserve de Iguana. A family has been incubating iguana eggs over the past nine years and trying to get the government to put them on the endangered list. They raise the iguanas to a certain size and then with written permission from the government they will take 1000 to small villages to see if they will survive. Apparently the korobos (another type of iguana) that we often stop to see on the way to the airport are all from Costa Rica and somewhere along the line someone had brought them into Mexico. They are not good to eat so usually survive for 25 years. The black (the ones that are hunted for food) are only in Guerro state. We also so some rare ducks, snapping turtles (they live for 200 years) and deer. A tiny fawn actually licked my hand. He was only 2 months old.

Then when we got home we had a drink on the beach while watching 4 whales go by and then the sunset was spectacular. This is the life!