We've Been Busy...

Aside from spending my time as a Happy Woman, Bill & I seem to always be doing something.  Our Spanish classes are twice a week, and we both spend quite a bit of time studying at home, but that isn't our whole life.  Before inundating y'all with a bunch of photos, I must add that the internet here is the pits.  We're early rising folks... good thing, because by 8:00 AM, we're lucky to be able to maintain a connection or have a strong enough connection to get our e-mail the rest of the day.  Reading Facebook posts is pretty much impossible.  I know this has dampened my spirit for the blogging world...  not only do I seldom post these days, if I am able to read my friends posts I almost never am able to comment.  That said, I'll attempt to show some of the things that have been happening...

This is Pirate...  the photo below shows more clearly how he got his name.

Anyway, some of my friends here think I don't like dogs...  not so...  it's usually the owner's fault if the dog creates problems... like barking or biting.  Pirate has been my special doggy friend for over a year now.  He has an owner and a home, but he lives right across from the Plaza and often hangs out with folks at the the bus stop across the street.  He used to go on walks with the Monday Morning Walkers.  But sometime around Thanksgiving, Pirate got hit by a car... got rolled under and was in pretty bad shape for quite a while.  I took this photo December 11...  it really doesn't show how thin and bone-y he'd gotten.  I tried to get him some "vet" help, but with my limited Spanish and reluctance to offend the owners, time moved on.  So every day I started taking him cooked chicken meat along with the fat and broth....

I don't think you can see how much his body has filled out, but it has... and see how much more alert he is.  But...  he's not been neutered so he keeps getting into fights.  This past week I saw that his ear was about the size of a bowling pin (really, it was huge).  I did manage to arrange for a vet to see him...  he did, and now Pirate has staples in his ear... antibiotics every day and seems to be on the mend....  again.

I would never admit this to anyone, but that big chicken is going into a pot and be divided into about 5 days worth of good, fat (no bones) chicken stuff for Pirate.  His owners feed him and care about him, but ole "bleeding heart" me wanted to build him up more.

There are a couple (that I know of... maybe more) places around us that sell chickens "entero" (entire).  I went there to buy one the other day and the lady said she'd have one in about a half hour.  I joked with Bill that she'd probably go into the chicken house and select one.  But that's exactly what happened.  I got back when she was still plucking the darned thing.  No problem...  I've killed and dressed more chickens than I could ever count so I'm very familiar with all that.  

That chicken went from cackling around with the other hens to my stew pot in just a few hours...  talk about fresh!

Lo de Marcos Amigos sponsors a sterilization clinic 3 times during the winter months.  It's a free service (donations are appreciated) and the hope is that the locals will have their pets spayed or neutered.  Bill & I work at the clinic...  last Sunday 28 dogs and cats were spayed or neutered.

  For the February clinic, 21 critters are already scheduled.  Unfortunately, Pirate is not among these.  Sometimes it's difficult to get people to understand how much better off their pets would be.  I don't know how many more fights Pirate can survive.

This is our friend Christian.  He spends his days on his surfboard or fishing.  He brought us this Toro...  a big ocean dwelling fish....  filleted it and now we have at least 4 meals in the freezer.  It's a dark meat kind of fish ...  doesn't taste a lot like fresh tuna, but is similar.  

I don't have a scales, but there is a lot of meat on these guys!

Our friend Citlali stopped by this week to visit and brought her daughter, Ruvi to see us.  Ruvi is just 13 months old and starting to walk really well.  In fact, she has a "boo-boo" on her face from falling when she was running.  Ruvi was afraid of my camera...  but usually she waves to us and even blows us kisses.  Citlali moved to a nearby town recently so we don't see her as often now.

This is St Mark's...  the church I go to.

A couple of weeks ago, a Mariachi band played at the 7:00 am Mass.  For me it was totally unexpected and I enjoyed it immensely.  Much more lively than the Latin masses I attended as a kid!  You can see most of the Mariachi members at the upper right of the photo.

And...  speaking of music...

Bill and I are now going to the Monday evening Salsa Dance classes!

Wow!  What rhythm!  Wish I had even a teensy bit of the rhythm and "moves" our instructor has!

Bill and I are like 2 marionettes... jerking around like we're on a string...

Oh well...  we have fun and the music is great!

We still go on long walks....  just not every day.

We were walking down this road the other day and got behind these brothers.

The little guy was supposed to hold his big brother's hand...  and I watched as the big brother gave him a finger to hold on to.  

But here you see a lot of young kids watching over their little sibs...

we see little girls, not older than 5 or 6, carrying around their younger sibling, and there doesn't appear to be any prejudice about boys being the caregivers.  

We saw this iguana hanging out high in this tree the other day....  look...  his tail is as long as his body!

I want one of these trees in our yard!

It's an African Tulip...  not native to Mexico, but because the flowers form a cup that holds water it attracts hummingbirds and others.  Aren't the flowers gorgeous!!

Another of our walks we saw this Purple Gallinule

It's the first one we've seen here so we watched it for quite a while.  We've spotted a few other "new" birds this year as well, and while the birding hasn't been as prolific as last year, we are seeing some new species.

Melany and Angelina...  two more frequent visitors to our house.

Melany is 7 and her cousin (primo) Angelina is 9.  They live down the street but come to our house to play.  Not having had kids around for years I had to stock up on crayons, coloring books, sidewalk chalk and the like.  Here we're playing "lotterio"...  kind of like bingo.  Right now Bill & I are trying to learn enough Spanish to talk with them, but maybe soon we can interest them in learning the English words as well.  I just know our great-granddaughter, Evie, would love to be here playing with these little girls.

Our fountain burbles and bubbles every day.  I had hopes that the running water would attract some birds...

And...  I have not been disappointed!

I really don't know what species this little guy is, but he/she really enjoyed taking a bath yesterday.  I know it looks like a drowned rat here, but it was great just watching it!

Another new bird for us...   A MacGillivray's Warbler

While it didn't bathe in the fountain, I think it was the water that attracted it.  It didn't stay around long enough for me to take many photos, so I felt lucky to get a fairly clear shot of it.

As you can see, we seem to always be busy.  Busy, but in a very good way.  We're more "social" than we've ever been (when you live on a farm way off the road, folks don't walk down the road and just stop by)....  This may be a small town but there is a lot to see and a lot to do.  It's easy to get more involved with the people (and even the dogs) around you... 

Not a new bird at all, but one we see in many states throughout the USA...

Mockingbird...

So if I can put my frustrations with the internet aside, I hope to post a little more often in the couple of months we have left here this winter.

But for now... it's "The End"

That's All for Today!