Pet Olympics

In the spirit of sisterhood in sport, Tuli and Thelma are competing in their two favorite events: Olympic Coconut Shredding and Olympic Couch Gymnastics. Tuli has just achieved world record volume from a coconut and Thelma shows her award winning form with her dismount in the pike position, after which she immediately falls sound asleep.
Bravo, girls!

Foggy

Foggy, our beloved 17 year old kitty, is nearing the end of her life. We are keeping her warm and comfortable and letting her choose her time. She has had a terrific life and we will miss her. Here are a few shots of her and Tuli and of her on her red blankie. We know it's coming, but we are not ready to let her go.

Sunset

Tuli says NO!

She yells at him. He talks back. She yells again.

Something's Burnin'

It's a perfect day for a fire!

Perfect Weather

This is the reason we are here....it's the middle of winter, the US is having blizzards (paralyzing even), and it's about 80 degrees, the sun is warm, the sand is filled with beautiful shells and the sea is a mesmerizing turquoise. What's not to like?

Lapdog

Mother Nature is mad

It seems like just yesterday we were walking on the beach in bathing suits and shorts. It was! Then a norte came in. It arrived at about the same time a really high tide was happening. The log in the top picture is actually about 15 feet long and weighs about a ton. It has been on the beach to the west of us about six houses for a year. A few of us discussed the possibility of dragging it to the house, but before that could happen, Public Works started a beach rebuilding project and the log was buried under 3 feet of sand and packed down by a big loader. Eventually it emerged after all the winter storms and a few weeks ago Mother Nature deposited it in front of our neighbors house nest door. We watched it roll around and almost get washed out to sea during this latest norte. Nobody felt like going outside in our Cat .5 hurricane (winds were 40 mph) so the log is still in front of Linda's house with a ton of seaweed and all the junk which comes in with it. Usually we get the junk on the beach prize! This all happened yesterday. Today it is absolutely beautiful out and the shape of the beach has changed once again!

Just another day in Paradise

It was a beautiful morning with a big catamaran sailing by close to shore.

Carnival parade in Merida

Complete and total sensory overload! It was cold and windy, but nobody seemed to mind. We stayed in a beautiful hotel right on the parade route. It had a teeny little balcony, but Chief was able to get some great shots of the parade.. I decided to watch it from the comfort of the reading room downstairs at street level. It was a lot warmer there as well! Apparently there were 275,000 people in town for the parade! Yowza.

Love the leopard speedo and gold boots on him!

They didn't seem to feel the cold!

Yes, it's blurry...there were a lot of drumsticks flyin'.

Waiting for a parade

It's hurry up and wait for these two Mexican policemen. They literally block off dozens of side streets leading to the parade route. These two were having a little break, well, one was having a siesta! The little chairs in the bottom picture were just so cute; one could imagine the little kids sitting ther and cheering and hoping to catch some candy. Actually, when we went back at night right before the parade started, the chairs had been replaced with grownup folding chairs and were filled with grownups. Broke that bubble! There were 275,000 people on the parade route on Saturday night. Fat Tuesday was supposed to be even bigger!

Mexican Fire Department

We glimpsed this old fire truck through the bars of the back room of Amate Books, a good bookstore in Merida specializing in English language books, mostly about Central America. They also have a great cookbook section, including several by our friend Nancy Gerlach. There is an art gallery of indigenous Mexican art, including a fabulous tin frame with beautiful designs stamped in it. 600 pesos (USD $45) not bad, but I need to sell some more aprons or jewelry. Or tablecloths! I'll rationalize it somehow.

More aprons

The top apron is for Bella, who is 6 months old and the cutest, calmest baby around. Her grandma, Deborah, commissioned me to make aprons for her, her sister Alyssa and Bella. Alyssa is 6 and loved the heart apron I made for Carol at Taco Maya. Apparently, baby aprons instead of bibs are the rage in England...maybe in the US as well. Who knows? I googled baby aprons and sure enough, a company named Zazzle makes really cute BBQ style aprons for babies, mostly with funny sayings on them. It's actually a good idea and I can't wait to see it in action on Bella tomorrow. Picture, of course!

I can practically guarantee Alyssa will have a fit when she sees hers; she's very dramatic and loves jewelry, pretty clothes and pretty much anything foofy! And of course, she is cute as a button.

Tug O' War

They can have all the dog toys in the world, but what makes them really happy? A piece of rope they found on the beach. Just like a kid with a big cardboard box, or a stick!

Man O' War

Whatever you do, stay away. It will sting like crazy. This is the first whole one I've seen. It is a Portuguese Man Of War. Trippy looking, eh?

Tuli's new friend

This little guy is Chance. He belongs to Linda, our new neighbor. He is a cute little thing. Stubby legs, a long body, big feet and a big Kenworth head. Adorable. And Tuli just loves to play with him. Earlier today Linda came to fetch him off our porch ( He doesn't get the "Come!" command all the time) and he screeched and yowled as if he were being run over. Tuli started barking and whining in a very concerned way and wouldn't stop. Could it be a maternal instinct kicking in? Neither of us had ever heard her vocalizing in that way before.

Don't try this at home

We were just going to pick up the laundry after breakfast at Taco Maya. However, the laundry wasn't done and we decided to wait for the parade...then five hours later we arrived back home to the smell of carbonized chicken soup and scorched metal. Seems like nobody checked the stove on the way out. The coffeepot was also left on. Is this any way for the family of a former fire chief to act? We are happy to report the house did not burn down. Or up.

Fat Tuesday in Progreso

The Carnivale parade in Progreso didn't have the complete overload of the senses that the one in Merida did, but it was really nice to sit on the wall of the malecon with the Gulf of Mexico at your back, facing Buddy's (a good hangout with friendly staff and clean bathrooms). It was a beautiful day and we all made some memories.