Newest Acquisition Etc.....

I've been trying for 2 days to post a blog...  I couldn't load photos... every time I tried it just showed a bunch of numbers, letters and symbols that looked like I was swearing.  Finally, I asked Bill to take a look.  He did...  then at the top he saw 2 buttons...  "compose" and "HTML".....  (I guess I never noticed them nor did I know what they do...)...  He hit the "compose" icon...  and...  What do you know!  That gibberish magically turned into my photo....  Took him less than a minute.....

I never said I was computer literate...  but darn!  guess I'm extremely illiterate.  Oh well..  I'm ready to tell you about our new table and chairs...

The house came with a big glass-topped patio table, which we use out on the patio as a dining room/kitchen/catch-all table.  Inside, in the living area, was a round plastic table, like you'd use on an outdoor patio.  We wanted "real" furniture and headed up to La Penita on Friday to check out the furniture stores there.  The first one we went to had several kinds, but all were way too modern for our taste.  Our house is very traditional Mexican... stucco/bricks/tile... lots of arches... and we wanted a more rustic look...  

At the third store we found this...

The table is around 5'6" long...  just over 36" across.  It came with 6 chairs.  I can't remember what kind of wood it's made from, but it's VERY heavy!  That red price tag on the table top says it cost $7,700 pesos...  but in the small print at the bottom, it says if you pay cash, it costs $6,610 peso.  As it happened, Bill took a wad of cash with him thinking we just might find what we wanted.

Since the peso to dollar ratio changes every day, I just rough it... divide the pesos by half and put in a decimal...  so our table cost approximately $335 USD.  Bill gave the salesperson $6,600 pesos and they called it good.  They delivered it on Saturday...  

Here it is...  set up in our home.  Doesn't it look nice?

That's a printer on the table.  We brought our laptops with us but printers are fairly inexpensive these days so be bought that printer at Walmart last week.  Seems we are always wanting to scan or print something.  

I think I wrote earlier that we have some fruit trees around our yard...

While technically not a tree, the bananas will soon be ripe.

And for my Ohio friends who have been seeing Jack Fruit in their local Kroger stores (at $1.19 a pound)...  our tree is producing nicely...

These will grow to be watermelon size...

However, the tree is going to be cut down soon...  

See how the root system is already pushing the concrete retainer in front ....  and the wall behind it is in danger of being crowded out too.  The tree provides some shade, but it's just in the wrong place here.

Bill spiffed up that Weber grill by painting it a metalic brown.  We're using it fairly often and  since it has a permanent place on the patio it might as well look nice.

A week or so ago I posted a photo of a reptile we'd seen along the river.  Our friend Francine, who lived here last year, wrote that she thought it was a "Jesus Christ Lizard".  That one wasn't, but I kept my eye out hoping to see one...  and sure enough...

A Basilisk Lizard, also known as a "Jesus Christ Lizard" because it runs on water.

This guy was about 12" in length and we never did see him run, but I've read that they can really move fast.

You never know what you'll see as you're walking along the streets.  Folks here do a lot of their living out on the sidewalks or even in the street in front of their home.  It's nothing to see an extended family totally blocking the sidewalk from walkers because they have their chairs..  maybe a table..  sometimes a grill or outdoor fire arranged outside.

I think this family has a small tienda in their front room...  

This guy is relaxing in his hammock on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

And this guy is patiently waiting for his owner to finish shopping and come back to get him.  We see horses tied up in various places along the sidewalks, but almost always in a shady spot.  

I got a kick out of this one..  wouldn't the meter maid in my hometown freak out!  

We see a lot more cats than dogs here.  I don't think this cat is feral, but she lives in a kind of rough area.  One thing I've noticed about the dogs...  a lot more males seem to be neutered than when we were here last year.  Hopefully the local Spay and Neuter Clinics are becoming more popular!

That's All For Today!