Monday, January 25, 2021

Week # 9 January 17th to 23rd, 2021

 

Week # 9 January 17th to 23rd, 2021

This week was like any other, there was more maintenance and improvements being done on Casa Pura Vida. 

One of the high priority projects for this year was securing the air conditioners to the roof top. Allan is here cutting the patio stones which were later secured to the air conditioners and then cemented to the roof.

Our friends Rudy and Sharon stayed at our Casa Pura Vida during one of the hurricanes this fall. Rudy being Rudy took a walk about prior to the storms arrival and sited a few things that needed to more secured - the air conditioners were one of them



He tied them down as best he could at the time and                 thankfully to his thoughtfulness, we avoided                   any major damages.  

While Rudy was working on securing the A/C's Allan surprised me with new electrical fixtures, we have a more conveniently located electric plug-in on the roof top 


and an added plug-in by the light switch near the bodega.

Rudy also did some painting for us this week, fresh paint always brightens things up.

The installation of our sunshade was put on hold for a few days, the owner operator of the business had an unfortunate accident having his right femur broken.

He spent 5 days in the public hospital waiting for surgery, due to COVID this hospital was unable to perform the necessary surgery and he was later sent to a private hospital.

This is his Xray prior to Surgery, he said it was very painful and I can see why.



This is the Xray following the 7-hour surgery.

         
His workers came and installed the sunshade later in the week.

Nice!

                The colour blends nicely with the colour                     of the house too, I think.

We added a string of multi coloured lights to the upstairs railing and to the stairway rail. 

Allan was chef for an afternoon, making cheese tea buscuits and stew for supper.





They were as delicious as they look - mmmmm so good.

He is a multi tasker - talented in so many ways  - do you think I am a well kept woman or just plain spoiled??


Claudia had another yard sale this week, she always has a wide variety of "stuffs"


This sale had Mexican candy, the limons (pronounced leemons) which we call limes are stuffed with a coconut mix, you may notice the candied pares, pineapple and so much more.-



This sale also included crockery cookware along with some plastic food serving dishes.

We did get time for Rest and Relaxation again week. We had lunch at Cockteleria El  Sazon Jaracho on Timon - better known here as the Red Chair Restaurant.

It has always been known as the red chair because all chairs were red but this year they have changed to black chairs and left a stack of red chairs out by the street - I can only assume it is so people will recognize the red chairs, realize the restaurant is still under the same management  and continue to eat there.


We made a visit to Louise and Gaston's this week and stayed for a Le Diez Pizza, they are the best. 

Another favourite spot of ours is La Cabana restaurant, Allan had baked potato with shrimp. When we order baked potatoes here, I always think of our Granddaughter Ava who loves potatoes - when she was little her nickname was "Tata Flava"



There is always time to put your feet up and just relax, we used our back patio often on hot days before the sunshade was installed on the roof top.

This week we booked flights to return home  February 28th, the next step is to book appointments for our COVID-19 test. Time will wind down quickly now with only 5 weeks left.😟

Our state of Quintana Roo is going into COVID Code Orange  Monday January 25th to 31st meaning they will begin enforcing more strict sanitary protocols and decreasing capacity at businesses from 60% to 30% capacity.


Until my next post, stay healthy, stay happy,                               stay safe and keep smiling. 


Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Week #8 January 10 - 16, 2021

 Week #8 January 10 - 16, 2021


There never seems to be a dull moment around here, the week was taken up with home renovations - the laying of tile and the cleanup. The treat of the week was staying at Claudia's Bed and Breakfast across the street for 3 nights while the work was being done.


 Carlos Arias and his crew were the workers on this project, Carlos has been available to do  many of our major upgrades since purchasing the property in 2015. 



A couple of tile that had previously been laid were damaged and needed to be replaced,


but the major amount of the work was in one bedroom.

The dust wasn't as bad as it could have been but just thinking about it is making me sneeze again. 

The mess was not only inside but outside as well.



Once the new tiles were laid



our floor went from looking like this in the entrances of the two bedrooms 




to this! It looks amazing - we love it.
Last year before we left to go back home we hired a person we trusted to do tiling for us - the mess we came back to was very disheartening to say the least. Thankfully Carlos and his crew were able to work us into their full work schedule to replace it. What a blessing.

 

When cleaning up after the tile instalation I came across a hollow spot on one wall, Allan scraped the loose surface cement off and this is what appeared - a fish - now is that a good sign or what? 


All of the walls in our house are textured and much to our amazment  within the first year of being in the house  we  found a  definate Christian fish symbol on a wall. I hold a comforting thought that it is the signature left by the contractor when he completed his task and blessed this house. 


Well, this little fish is going to be plastered and painted over, gone from sight but not from memory.

We do love our little casa here in Puerto Morleos and feel so blessed to be here, to have had friends (Abraham and Kris) who found  house for us and helped us get settled in and for the lovely people we have met here,  locals, expats, tourists and snowbirds like ourselves.


Never a dull moment for Mr. Elliott, we like to keep him busy. One evening this week we were without electricity (hydro - lol - people here don't know what this word means - they think it means water - only in Canada eh?) - anyway back to the electrical problem - it seems the problem was wiring shorting out in the meter box. Jose Louis the electrician was called and he had it repaired in no time under the watchful eye of Mr. Elliott.

          Even though there was a lot of stuff happening                            at Casa Pura Vida and it rained most of the week we did get to do some fun things.


Yep, we made another trip to Playa del Carmen.

         While Kris ran some errands the three of us hit                the fabric shop again!



I was looking for more fabric for our granddaughter Brooklyn and found lots. She is going to be so busy at her sewing station this spring.

Claudia keeps us all on our toes with hand sanitizer and masks, bless her heart.

The fabric stores here are a lot different from back home. These guys just know cutting - you pick out t bolt, they carry it to the table, cut off what you think you might need. do up a price slip and take it to cash. Bingo Bango done.


We stopped for lunch at La Floresta Restaurant following our shopping spree. This restaurant was recommended to us by at least two of our readers last week so we tried it out. Kris and Claudia had been here before and loved it.


Wow, service is quick, the food is inexpensive and delicious!

The restaurant is Mexican style and the menu is simple


and these are satified smiles on these faces.

We made a visit to the Pink Elephant on Calle Caoba, the main street coming in from the highway.

When you enter into the building you pass through the bakery - that's just to get those digestive juices flowing.



You pass from there into the 3 part restaurant - the centre section is an enclosed eating area with one small outdoor eating area to the North and a larger outdoor eating area to the South 

This is the  exit to a larger outdoor eating area.

I took a sneak pic here because there were people eating out there and we hadn't, so I felt it might seem like I was imposing. Next time for sure and there will be a next time.


Ann M - Allan ordered the Eggs Benedict, he said they were even more delicious than the ones at the restaurant we usually have them at. As soon as COVID is over and you get back here this is a definately "must stop here".
 

I love to walk past these handsome dudes, 


they always put on quite a show for us. My quick research suggests to me they are a Bantam Hamburg Chicken. If I am wrong hopefully someone will correct me. Rob, do you have any idea? Perhaps your farm experiences are as limited as mine.

One evening we met friends at "Lobster House" in the port. It was not hard to find when you see the human billboard pointing  you in the right direction. 


The food was delicious, Ann M, this is another "must stop here" when you return.

We certainly enjoyed our evening with great food and great company -Susan, Maruice and Kris. One couldn't ask for more.

There has been a lot of rain this week, every day actually and the drainage system isn't the greatest.


We needed to make a beer run to the local OXXO - the water was deep and made us think we  should have brought PFD's.



 
I needed to have chairs reupholserd and luckily found  "Loyda Upholstery" just up the street from us.









She did a wonderful job and the price was quite reasonable. The stitching on the kitchen chairs is all hand done. It seems this is a family run business operated by Mom being the lead and other family members working as cutters and sewers.






                  Other sights in the colonia this week                                                were these two horses,




a police car needing a mechanic,


and a Masked Tityra - what a beautiful bird. It was eating small fruits in a tree. I wonder if Maurice and Susan have seen this one in their bird watching travels. The colours were much more prominant than this pictures shows. I am sorry to say this photo is not mine, it is one borrowed from the internet, I was too far away for a good shot.

It always amazes me when putting my blog together just how much we do in a week. Life is certainly not going to be this busy when we get back to Canada.

Until my next post, stay healthy, stay happy, stay safe and keep smiling.