Friday, 25 February 2021: Casa Colibri

Day two of no water... aargh!

Additionally, it is quite warm.  Justin is happy to take a dip in the gulf but I am refraining since I can’t rinse off after.  I did manage to make mounted eggs for breakfast and then I needed to finish making a big pot of chili blanco since I’d started soaking the beans yesterday.

Aholi came at 1pm for all three of us.  That took my mind off of the water for a while.  

Hoopla continues in Ukraine.  Putin is just nuts.  Major buildings around the world are illuminated in the colors of Ukraine... Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, even the Mason Street bridge.

Thursday, 24 February 2022: Ria Celestún

Today was a flamingo day!  Bill seemed to enjoy the boat ride and bird watching; Justin and I certainly did.  

After an early lunch at La Palapa, we eased home to learn that Santos and his team weren’t able to work since we had no water to mix concrete.  After pouring the concrete to finish the roof yesterday, they were quite happy to call it a day before noon.  

Shrimp and grits for dinner.  I think Bill was pleased.  

On the COVID front in Mexico, the seven-day average for new case numbers is down 12%.  The average number of new coronavirus infections reported each day in Mexico has decreased by more than 20,000 over the last three weeks.

Additionally, the national vaccination rate among adults is over 90%, and no state has a rate below 70%; 69% of adults aged 60 and over have had a booster shot.  It will be interesting to compare these numbers with those of Wisconsin or Texas!

Dellene was to have her eye surgery today but it was postponed until next week.  Dellene said it was 85’ and gorgeous yesterday and today Austin is basically shut down since it froze after a recent rain.  Green Bay is seeing the thermometer top out at 24’ today.  Me, I’m looking more toward Mexico City where it is 76 and partly cloudy.  

Wednesday, 23 February 2022: Merida

 

Breakfast with Bill at his hotel, Maison Merida.   Great location and great old building, and even great bathrooms, but not pet friendly.  

  

Back to the bank to try again.  This time we had success.  I’ve never had so much trouble trying to deposit money!!!  

We bought a new sink for the new kitchen on our way to the Mayan museum.  We hadn’t been here in a couple of years.  I always enjoy these visits.  

Back to Celestún in time to catch Santos and his team pouring cement for the roof.  

After a quick trip around the house, we were off for dinner at Los Pampanos.  

Abraham had had some friends over while we were gone and he was not at the gate or front door to greet us.  There were a few too many beer cans in very obvious locations.   Today of all days… grrr

Tuesday, 22 February 2022: Mérida

Today was go, but only to Mérida to meet Bill.  We got rolling before 6am and were on the road by close to 11 am. Lots to do before we were actually rolling. 

A few quick photos of Santos' progress.  Final instructions to Abraham and Ivan. Hugs to Gemma. Yes, we left her. Maybe it was practice for Mexico City. 

 

First stop, Casa Fernandez to get materials for Ivan for the new kitchen. Then  a store to try to find talavera drawer pulls for our new bedside tables. Next, pick up Bill. We’d been talking about this for six months or more and we actually made it happen. Bill went to university in Mexico City and has returned each year as he continues to follow his anthropology and archaeology passion. We picked him up and first stop, a beverage. 

Then the bank. We needed to deposit money for Peter for operating expenses for the summer.  I ran in with the money and the card.  But I did not run out after a quick deposit.  The account in in Justin’s name and I was not allowed to make a deposit.  Since the bank had closed while I was in line, Justin couldn’t come inside.  Why didn’t we go first thing this morning?  About forty minutes later, I went back to the car with the cash.  Now I was ready for a beverage.  Aargh!

A friend of Bill’s met us for dinner.  At Justin’s suggestion we went to La Negrita.  Jesus was playing and we got to chat with him for just a moment.  What a treat!  

Sunday, 20 February 2022: Celestún

Santos and his team continue their work,  We visited four different places and finally found seven glass blocks here in Celestun.  They are on the outside of the bodega.  I've always liked glass blocks and now I have seven.  

I decided to do a bit more painting so I borrowed a projector from Katherine.  The poor thing was held together with spit and prayer.  Ok, there was some duct tape in there too.  No matter, I need some help with scale and proportion as I start my next project.  

Speaking or projects -- Antonio delivered five bedside tables today.  We ordered ten in November.  I told him we needed four today, no matter what!  Bill is coming to visit and I want the bedside tables!

Justin suggested breakfast at El Lobo and I was all in.  While we were there, we planned a kitchen across the front terrace.  Yes, this will be the 4th kitchen.  Back at home Justin worked on grooming Gemma while I worked on books for a bit.  

All of this pales compared to the big news of the day … Denise Leach is coming to visit!!  I guess the last time we’ve seen each other was in April of 2014 before we moved to Germany.  We will have plenty of catching up to do. 

Justin and I are enjoying Inventing Anna...Gotta love Netflix 

Thursday, 17 February 2022: Casa Colibri

 

We got home before dark last night.  That always our goal and we are pretty good at it.  Yesterday we did just fine.  We only unloaded the perishable items and plopped.  We were beat.  Wait.  What is that?  What is that noise?  Annoying.  Invasive... is that the washer off balance?  Did Abraham start a load of laundry?  Not likely because we hang everything to dry and it was well after dark.  Ok, it stopped.  Maybe Ivan is on the roof???  Back to checking out the stock market and reading news of the day and just breathing.  There it goes again.  In search of the racket, I got to the guest kitchen to learn it was coming from the frig.  The booming lasted for about a minute but then repeated about every 15 minutes.  I unplugged the frig with the intent of moving everything to the other frig early this morning.  With the doors shut all night the food would be just fine.  So, early this morning I consolidated everything and Abraham called Tomas.  Thankfully, Tomas was able to do his troubleshooting over the phone.  Somehow the ice maker had gotten turned on and the tray was turning to empty ... thus the pounding sound.  He told Abraham how to turn it off and we moved everything back into the guest kitchen.  Meanwhile Justin is cooking a turkey in the guest kitchen because, as you know, the oven in the grand cocina is out for repair.  

Oh, and wait, why was there water all over the floor in the bathroom last night?  Justin turned off the water and texted Ivan.  He was here first thing this morning.  Make it stop!!!

Erich from Bulldog Solar came today about 11am.  He is doing an install at Margorie’s.  Justin made arrangements for him to come by and assess things at our house.  Justin has grand designs of going solar if not totally off grid.  All I know is that our brand new solar water heater isn’t resulting in hot water.  Maybe it is plumbed incorrectly but hopefully Erich will be able to shed some insight.  

The bodega is filled with croquettas for the summer.
The dogs will be happy.  

Wednesday, 16 February 2022: Merida

Justin’s phone won’t take a charge!  Yikes, he can’t be without a phone.  We were on the road for an unplanned day trip to Merida.  We left Abraham with money for Santos, money for Magui, money to pay for the circuit board for the frig in the guest kitchen and money to buy lunch.

We found our way into the bowels of the technological center of Merida. Justin got the charging port replaced in his phone (250 pesos) and while we were there, I got a new battery (500 pesos).  I need a new phone but I don’t want to buy it in Mexico and this will hold me for a while.  

We made the best of the trip and got a dozen other things marked off the list... masks for travel, rope to repair the blind in the courtyard, another dog lead.  Both Justin and I got a new pair of sandals... big deal since they cost about $5 a pair and we wear nothing else all winter.

Five more bags of cat food and four more bags of dog food.  One more giant bottle of Fabuloso.  We’d already stocked up on toilet paper and paper towels and other cleaning product so now Abraham should be set for the summer.

 

Monday, 14 February 2022: Celestun

 It took me years to find the right person to celebrate Valentine’s Day with... and I did.  We had a nice dinner at Los Pampanos... just the two of us.  

Saturday, 12 February 2022: Kitchens at Casa Colibri

Tomas, the repair tech came to look at the oven.  As far as I am concerned, the oven is brand new.  We bought it in November of 2019 but didn’t connect it until February of 2020.  We left in March for 19 months.  We got back in October of ‘21 and it died in February of 2022!!!  We’ve got it on a voltage regulator but that wasn’t enough.  Aargh!!!  Leaving a gaping hole in the wall, he took the oven away for repair and maybe he will be back in two weeks. 

Tomas also looked at the Frig in the guest kitchen.  We learned the ants had had a feast on the circuit board.  We need to replace that too.

Justin, who had been busy outside with Santos, got to the kitchen just in time for the big reveal... the oven doesn’t work!  The hell you say!!

 Saturdays are half-days day for Santos and his team and I don’t provide lunch...it is almost like a day off.  

Tuesday, 8 February 2022: Casa Colibri

We had a Norte come through last night.  I think the temp got all the way down to about 64’.  Justin shut the windows for the first time this winter and also a first, I put on long pants and socks.

Santos and his team didn’t come to work in the rain.  Why was I surprised?

I had a long and certainly long-overdue conversation with Miss Mary today.  She is such a dear.  And even after our chat, we had more to talk about since Mary and I are cooking buddies.  She tells me that an air fryer will be life changing.  As a result, Justin and I have been talking about getting one when we go back to Green Bay.  Mary gave me her recommendations and some resources for more info.  We also broached the idea of cooking pasta like risotto.  And I didn’t even share my cornmeal revelation so I’ll save that for another day.

Spoiler alert:  the cornmeal in Mexico is precooked.  The grain is cooked before it is milled.  The resulting product is much more fine and closer to all purpose flour compared to the cornmeal I’ve grown up with.  I did my research and then made a jalapeño cornbread that turned out quite acceptable.  I also made a pot of chili and of course I served that with chocolate chip cookies.  Uncle Harold would be proud.  

Monday, 7 February 2022: Casa Colibri

Last year, Katherine was my inspiration.  If she could paint a mural on the side of her house I figured I could also.  I bought some paint and looked at pictures.  I should have watched Monica more closely when she was here, but I ventured forth.  I chose a spot that was not too invasive as I can shut the door into the guest bath.  Today I finished my painting.  It is oh so primitive.  I thought about adding to the petals to get the scale more to my liking but Lorayne thinks I’ll just mess it up and that I should live with it as is for a while.  We will see.  

Santos mixing cement (by hand) and Justin cooking dinner.  Time for Paula to go to the beach!

Saturday, 5 February 2022: Celestun

Santos and his team started working at our house this week.  We are reconfiguring the bathroom in the family suite by adding a shower and we are adding a kitchen to that side of the house.  Their work will take more than a month and that should line up for when we depart to the states.  They arrive each day about 8am and work until about 5pm.  I’m providing lunch each day.  On Saturdays they work only until about 2pm so no lunch today.

Initial consultation

   

   

The stock market is all over the place.  The January 6 investigation continues. Build Back Better still struggling.  Russia poised on border of Ukraine.  Beijing is hosting the Olympics that are not.  Omicron continues to rage and to divide.  But here in our corner of Celestún all is well.  Justin and I are well, safe and happy.   Time to go for a swim.