Saturday, 1 March 2025: Celestun

 Lindsay.  16 years.  I still am so proud of Lisa.  I simply cant image how she gets through each day.  She is so, so strong.  

The biggest thing Justin and I have going today is that, perhaps, I've signed all the amendments to sell Winter and we have a closing date set. My, oh, my!!! I bought that house in 2006 right after my mom died. I’m ready to see it go. 

 Antonio and Eduardo were here earlier in the week. We bit off several new projects… just in time as we are walking out the door. Revise the outdoor shower. We want to rework the doors of the officiant. We are still working on the cabinet in the master bath and the granite in there as well as the lights above the vanity in Dellene’s room, the family suite and in the master bath and the granite in Dellene’s room too

Justin and I took a trici into town to select tile for the bottom of the master shower. Stopped by for breakfast at a new restaurant while we were out. It continues to amaze me that these trice drivers know every single nook through the town. Even when there are no signs, they know. What am I surprised? This is their job and their town. 

 Today was demo day for Justin. Nope, we didn’t get before pics. We just don’t get that step done. 

 Long swim ending at sunset… I want to swim everyday until we leave… not too long now. Not long at all. It was a pretty big day for us and we ended with a big pitcher of margaritas made from sour oranges that were grown on our very own property. Legia joined in for the treat.

Legia and Justin took the kayaks out one day last week.  
What a perfect treat!

Sunday, 26 February 2025: Celestun

 Three weeks from today we will be back in Texas.

Today we returned to Celestun after a whirlwind trip to Merida.  Legia flew to Mexico City to get her Spanish passport.  We dropped her off on Monday, filled the car up with sealer and dog food and came home.  Then on Tuesday we went back for more sealer and more dog food and to meet Legia’s plane.  It was too late to drive back to Celestun so we took advantage of the opportunity to go see Jesus at La Negrita.  Legia was pretty excited to meet him; she said she had his first CD.  When she met him he told her she should bring it in for him to sign.  

Meanwhile, we learned we were without electricity at our house in Celestun.  Something messed up and when CFE came to fix it, we learned that, yes, we do have "black power."  no, this is not a cultural statement.  It has to do with legal electricity.  We were assured that we were all above board when we first moved in and today we learned that was not the case.  Wonder what our electricity bill will look like next month!!!

Had a nice long chat with Dr. Steadman.  My heart hurts for her.  She is all in a twist about what is going on in our country and her discontent is exacerbated by the immediate impact it could have on her kids, specifically Sarah.  No, she’s not probational but she is not mission essential.

Sunday, 23 February 2025: Celestun

Since we were back at home for a few days, I jumped into the sour dough world.  It was not a success.  I know that baking in Mexico is always a bit different and I’ve decided not to waste any more of the starter Mary brought.  I’ll wait until we return to Green Bay and try again.  For now, I’m back to no-knead yeast bread.  

Legia and I went to Oxxo again to transfer money.  One can transfer up to 5,000 pesos at a time and up to 19,000 pesos each day.  At that point, I was told “the card was saturated.”  Gotta love the language nuances.

Saturday, 22 February 2025: Celestun

 

We got an offer on the house on Winter.  It was too low… we moved on. 

I tried my hand at sour dough starter.  I failed.  

Legia cooked dinner one night for us.  She is teaching me how to cook with achiote paste.  

We selected granite for Dellene’s bathroom and for the bathroom in the main apartment.  It is fabulous.  We found our new granite guy, Antonio.  This seems to be the year for Antonio’s since that is the name of our Uber guy too.  And of course, we still have Antonio our carpenter.  But today, we are sending boatloads of money to Antonio Granite from Oxxo. Legia taught me.  

Plenty of time for walks on the beach with the puppies.  Initially, one might have thought we were beating them and torturing them.  But, now, they are getting better.  

We just happened to be in town in time for a Carnival parade.  

   

Sunday, 16 February 2025: farewell to Mary in Merida

 Our visit with Mary is complete.  It was SO good to see her!

Some things went awry … it is Mexico. We cooked together, we laughed a lot.  We enjoyed massages and we got caught up on everything!  We talked a lot about sour dough bread but I’ll wait until I am going to be home to activate the starter that Mary got through customs for me.  

Justin and I tried to fit in a few chores too.  

Dizulbatun was a bust.  They’ve done a lot to improve the experience for visitors but they aren’t ready for prime time.  It was too hot to be without a tienda to purchase a bottle of water.  

Mary says I have changed…

Legia came to stay.  What a gem. She is from Mexico City and she’s decided to stay in Celestun a while…and with us!  

Saturday, 15 February 2025: Merida

We were invited to Eduardo’s wedding.  We finagled an invitation for Mary too.  As great as it was to be invited, it was an interesting event.  It’s been a long time since I went to a wedding with no alcohol.  Tacos as the main dish at the dinner?  Big bottles of Coke on each table?  Ok, it was great to be included.  We sat at the gringo table and had a change to meet Mike and Gaye.  They’ve been in Celestun for the better part of 20 years.  We’d never met them and we’d never even heard of them!  We will be sure to have them over before they return to Philadelphia in early March.  

We left as dancing began.  Mary had a bit of an upset stomach and we'd already asked her to stay well beyond her comfort level.  She was a trouper.  

The bride was radiant.  The groom was dashing.  And a good time was had by all.  

This is how we typically see Antonio and Eduardo.
Quite a change to see them at the wedding!