Much More Of the Same

Once again we are pretty slow on blogs, mostly because there is not much new to write about. Our life is extremely peaceful, getting up, hanging out on line for an hour, then going to the gym for an hour.  We come home, have breakfast and showers and then it is time to go up town for our daily shopping at the market, sit on benches and people watch for a time and then for a capuccino.  Then home for a nap or a movie or read a book.  Beer time and more computor time is at 5:00PM, supper at 6:30 and then at times we go up town again to watch the masses of people in the park in the evening and so we do something so we don't go to bed so early.  We do love it here and will book again soon for next year.

This first photo is of a street seller that sells balloon like toys for the young.  There are many such sellers and they sell many, we think very few of them get home after dragging them down the streets in Tlaqupaque.



 In southern Alberta, men go to the coffee shop to converse and solve the world problems.  Here they sit in the park, play games, read newspapers and share their worlds with each other.

 Much the same as the previous picture but more discussion going on.

 And more of the same.

 Another street seller, this one selling fruit.   She has had this good selling corner ever since we have been coming to Tlaqupaque.

 This is the butcher shop (and it is a very traditional butcher shop) where Nancy buys all her meat.  Whatever you want in pork or beef, be it hamburger, a roast or steaks, they cut it all off the same quarter that is hanging down from the hooks, grind the hambuger right there, and charge the same price for it all.  When they cut it for Mexicans they cut it very thin and there is really no such a thing as a roast so Nancy has to do much explaining with many hand movements to tell them how she wants it cut but it is always correct and very, very tasty.

 This is something new  to Tlaquepaque this year.  You who were here last year can remember the high end walk street with the many expensive shops. These sculptures were done this year to decorate that street and they look quite spectacular.

 These boys keep us safe.  Last year there were just a few of them but this year the center of Tlaqupaque is swarming with them,  Most on bicycles and very helpful if you are looking for help.

 Ths is a dead moth that was in our laundry room.

 In the last post I mentioned that Carolyn Otto had send a new bridle\harness out with us to give to Juan Carlos for his horse that he uses to pull his fancy buggy.  This is that horse, all decked out in the new gear.  Tomorrow, Christmas Day, Juan Carlos is taking his horse and carriage to the coast (Puerto Vallarta) for an event.  They are getting 34000 pesos (about $3000) and it is good money for them.

 Last week at the Parian, where we go to listen to Mariachi Music and watch folk dancing, a very different kind of dance was performed.  These next three photos show that dance.

 Olivia, our landlord is a great entrepreneur.  Besides our apartments and her restaurant across the street, she makes trips to the US to buy used clothing (mostly baby clothes and other things for babies).  This year she was gone for 2.5 weeks and came home with not only a truck load of  merchandise but she bought a trailer in the US and filled that also.  Then she sets up a garage sale format in front of her restaurant for 4 days and sells and sells and sells.

 I am  not sure how this photo go in at this spot but it is a typical Mexican band playing in the market on a Saturday morning.  It was pretty good but very loud.

 Back to Olivias street sale,

 This is Corrina, Olivia's daughter on the left and Violeta, Olivia's daughter in law on the right.  The whole family was involved in the street sale.

 And finally  our son Dennis and his girlfriend Lee.  Dennis came from Australia 3 weeks ago and Lee has been here for a week, also from Australia.  It has been delighful since they have been here and our menu has changed a bit as Lee and Dennis our both great cookers and are using their skills.  Lee is originally from Singapore so much of the food they cook is from that part of the world. Yummy!!!

Ah---Home Again in Tlaqupaque

We have been here for almost a month and have been a bit slow with blogs as life is full of everyday events and  there just does not seem to be enough time to get one done.  Also, we are lax on taking photos .

And we could not let you get by without at least a couple of photos of the Mariachi singers at the Parian. She is a new one for us and was very good and we hope to hear her again sometime. The second photo has her singing with one of the band members and they also were very good.

We have talked often about the grand celebrations that take place when young girls become 15 years old.  The fiesta is called quince anos.  This photo Nancy took of a young girl getting ready for her debut.  She and friends were taking photos in the park.

Before we left Alberta, Carolyn Otto gave us the bridle/harness to give to Juan Carlos, for his fancy horse that he uses to pull his fancy cart.  He was so happy to receive it.

Our back garden was a mess when we arrived as the following photo shows.  Just way overgrown and full of weeds. But after a few days of cutting and pulling we got it in order and now it looks great.

This is one flower we did not pull out.  It usually has finished by the time we get here and not started again by the time we leave.

And this was a friend we discovered when we were cleaning up the area.  For those who do not recognize the red design on the belly of the spider, she is the dreaded black widow.  There were two of them and they both ended up dead.

And this is what the garden looks like now and we sort of like it.



Our first week here we were invited to a birthday party for Marcos, one of Olivia's grandsons. It was his third birthday and was a grand affair.  They had hired an event planner and there job was to keep the children happy and busy and they did a fine job.

There were about 100 people in attendance, mostly adults and of the children, they were mostly boys and boys will be boys from whatever country they are from.  This is a big inflatable slide that they all played king of the castle from.

This is Corrina and her second child Mateo.  She is the mother of the birthday boy, Olivia's oldest daughter and our very excellent house cleaner.

Kids being entertained.

Olivia and her youngest daughter Fatima

We had a major event at our house.  We celebrated both American Thanksgiving and Mexican Independence Day last Monday.  Here we are ready for our guests, for a party that was to begin at 5:00PM.  We are ready!!!  The first guests arrived at 5:30 and the last at 9:30, 18 in total, comprsing of 4 Canadians, 1 Cuban and the rest Mexicans.  Not sure why we were celebrating American Thanksgiving!!!!!

Rudolpho, Olivia's son and his very beautiful wife, Violeta

Nancy and Olivia, both very beautiful.

The young people soon moved from the patio to the TV area.

And the last people to arrive, a couple who work in Olvia's restaurant

It is not a very clear photo but this is Paul and his mother, Joyce, from Toronto.  We have known them from past years here and they have become good friends.

And more youngsters all belong to Olivia.

We have bought a humming bird feeder and a hammock but you will have to wait till the next blog to get photos and the hummng birds feeding and Nancy in the hammock.

Our Last Post From Debi and Van's Camera

Debi and Van are our last guests for this year and they will be leaving tomorrow and it will be so sad. We cannot say enough times how wonderful our anniversary celebration has been, never to be forgotten. And thanks to all who partook. One other bit of info about the people who came and visited us. Not one got sick, not one got lost, not one got robbed or got to partake in a drug gang shoot out. It just flowed the way most middle class Mexicans live and just like home, most of them do not get robbed or sick or get lost or involved with the drug violence. It is just a wonderful, warm, very peaceful place to spend some time. This first photo is of one of the churches on the main square in Tlaquepaque and we did not think we had shown a photo of it in previous blogs. Most main squares just have one church on them but the one here has two. Don't ask us why. The front gate of that same church with the pretty trees in bloom. These trees are blooming all over Tlaquepaque at this time of the year.

Van has a good eye and it is the same church, taken through the designs on the surrrounding fence.

Here is Debi.

And here is Van.

Another of Nancy's now famous suppers. Juan Carlos and Olivia, Ron and Nancy and Debi. Van is the photo taker.

Downtown Guadalajara has many km's of walk streets and this view is of one of them. They are great fun to explore.

We have shown a number of photos of the main market in Guadalajara but this one is a bit different. It is the bird market as part of the main market. Many hundreds of birds for sale.

Just an interesting store front on the busy walk street in Tlaquepaque.

We were doing a daytrip to the Lakeside town of Chapala and low and behold they were going to have a circus. They were parading around various animals that were to be part of the circus.

And one last photo of the little corner of love. This time it is Debi and Van.

Debi and Van did a 3 day journey to Colima and then on to the coast at Manzanillo. This photo is a street scene in the city of Colima.

The very pretty central park in Colima. It is wirless internet as many central parks in Latin America have.

Just more of the central park.

Nancy and I have been in Colima a couple of times and both times we lucked out as there were celebrations both times we were there. Debi and Van only got a wedding. The bride and groom arrived in a horse drawn cart followed in the truck by a mariachi band.

They have moved to Manzanillo, a tourist town, but more so a very busy Mexican port city. Here is a pretty lady along side some pretty flowers.

Along the malacon in Manzanillo and some kids just having fun.

They searched long before they found this hotel which the dubbed their pink hotel. They thought it was great, right on the beach and included breakfast.

And a pool to compliment it all.

A pretty spectacular sunset but still, the best ones are in southern Alberta when the wind blows. And a great photo for a great ending of 5 wonderful months in Tlaquepaque.

We are leaving here on Friday, stopping in Seattle for a few days to visit children and grandchildren and hope to see many of you in the coming months.