Saturday, September 30, 2006

NO INTERNET ACCESS YET...

We still don’t have an internet connection in our Bucerias casa – Telecable (pronounced tay-lay-COB-lay) does not have a line on our street and would have to run a cable from the nearest cross street to hook us up (only about 10 meters away). They haven’t decided yet if they want to do that, so we wait. Our other options are satellite dish (expensive and not very fast) and waiting about two months for a phone line. Hmmmm. But we have found a café not far from the house where we can take our laptop and use their wireless internet. That will have to do for now. Not a bad gig – the café is called “Pie in the Sky” and serves fresh mango pie and great coffee!

So much has happened since I was last able to post. We have lived in our house for four weeks today, and it is proving to be a lovely place to live. Very quiet and peaceful, especially at night, when we can hear the iguanas whistling “goodnight” in the trees, the ubiquitous geckos chirping away and many other (so far) unidentifiable jungle-type noises just outside our windows. We are the only gringos in a Mexican neighborhood and our neighbors have been very friendly and welcoming.

Today, the cement is being poured for the outside stairs to the second level, and our new gate will be installed. We have gone through so many bags of cement that we can’t count them, and we have inhaled enough cement dust to construct at least one pillar of the Fremont Bridge. We have accomplished a lot in the last four weeks:
  • the house has been completely rewired, with LOTS of electrical outlets;
  • the kitchen has been renovated, with new counters, shelves and beautiful tile, a new stove and refrigerator;;
  • the entire interior and exterior have been painted with bright and cheerful colors;
  • the wall has been completed on the north and west sides of the house;
  • a new elevation was created for the driveway and a cement driveway was built, with flower boxes along the outside wall;
  • new fans were installed;
  • beautiful new patio built in the backyard;
  • a "bodega" (storage space) was built in the backyard;
  • a staircase to the roof level has been built (almost);
  • new wrought iron gate (almost).

I know there is more, but can't think of it all right now! I wish I could post more pictures, but for some reason, this connection won't accommodate - perhaps it is not powerful or fast enough. I'll keep trying!

And our three Mexicano gatos are having a great time – climbing trees, chasing bugs and playing in the goat pasture next door. They are much happier – and safer- than they were in Vallarta, and so are we. More later – hoping for internet access soon!

Friday, September 08, 2006

Morning sky in Bucerias




Ahh, we have moved into our house! It is a mixed blessing, because it is also still a construction site...but it is lovely and quiet there at night, also much cooler and less humid than Vallarta. . The cats are having lots of adventures and progress continues more or less smoothly - the subject of another blog when I have more time.

Yesterday, the workers pointed excitedly up into the large mimosa tree and I got some great pictures of our resident iguanas, thanks to a 10X zoom lens. The big one is about 4 feet long and his esposa is about 3 feet long. They are magnificent. One word of caution if you come to visit - don't sit under the tree. S**t happens. And it is BIG.

I will post again soon - no internet access for awhile until Telecable hooks us up in Bucerias. Who knows when that will be!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Tiles!



I was right - Manuel and the team have been hard at work and the tiling is done. And look at the pretty new gas range! Cesar is polishing the cement on the shelves and putting on a primer so they will be ready to paint. We bought the paint today, no mean feat when you consider we were ordering several different colors and we wanted to come back later to pick them up. Between the clerk's good humor, a Spanish-English dictionary he kept behind the counter and our own feeble efforts , e.g. "regressar esta tarde?" (What is the word for "mix"?) we managed to get all of our paint. Also, the refrigerator, bed, bookcase, washer/dryer were all delivered today and tomorrow we start to move! Hooray!