Bees are Gone!

The bees are gone and I got back in my house on Monday afternoon. Well, actually, Monday evening -- I had to hang out at the pool (it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!) Monday afternoon because of the strong smell in the house. I saw one very sick bee today but I quickly put him out of his misery and I haven't seen any more.

I did a little coloring yesterday. The butterflies are from Layers of Color and the flowers are from Isabella's Sketchbook. I stamped my inkspots on a piece of acetate and then picked up the ink with my reinker.

A couple of more pictures to share of my friends' papaya tree. Their helper planted the seed back in June and look at what it has produced! I have been promised any ripe papayas because they don't think that they taste good at all! I love 'em -- particularly with a little lime juice squeezed on them! And they're supposed to be very good for your digestion too!



Later,
Betty

A New Adventure

I've had another adventure, friends! I had to vacate my house yesterday because bees decided to move in. Now, I realize my grandma name is "BeeBee" but there were more than two bees buzzing around my place yesterday. It started with two, and ended up with a swarm! At first I was just shooing them out the window, wondering if I should call my property management lady (Sarah). When the bees really started swarming I just wanted to holler "HELP!". The Lord smiled down on me though, and I saw Sarah's car coming down the street. I ran outside and called her name -- she heard me and backed the car up and I said "They're everywhere!!". We stood outside and watched the bees swarming, just as thickly as inside the house! She told me to pack up quickly and she'd arrange for a taxi to take me to a bed and breakfast. So, that's where I am now. The bee exterminator cannot come until Monday morning and then it will be several hours before anyone can go in to clean up and then I'll be able to go back.

My sister is coming next Friday for a visit -- sure am glad this happened before she arrived! Hopefully, all will be back to normal before your visit, Barbara!!

Later,
Betty

A Butterfly Comes to Visit

Captured this picture of a visitor outside my front door today. I actually took about five pictures but decided not to make you look at all of them!


I spent some time at the pool today on a lounge chair with a good book. You can see what I saw as I was looking up into a palm tree. It was a little cool in my house this morning so I went to the pool so I could sit out in the sun and warm up. It worked!


As I was leaving the pool I spied these decorations on one of the houses. Aren't they cute -- you can almost hear the music! (you'll have to click on them to get a better view.)
And the last picture is of the BottleBrush Tree at the rear of my house. A very interesting plant/tree if I do say so myself!
Hope you enjoyed the pictures from the complex where I'm living. It's a very pleasant place and I love walking around and seeing all the interesting plants and ways that folks have their homes decorated!

Out and About in Chapala

Well, I didn't manage to get a picture of the local buses, but here's my bus stop! The one in the foreground is where I wait when I want to go to Chapala and the one in the background will get me to Ajijic! I went to Chapala this morning for a session with my acupuncturist and since I allowed plenty of time I was able to walk to the Malecon (a parklike area along the shore of Lake Chapala). Tomorrow (Saturday) it will be busy, busy with lots of vendors selling most anything you could want and people everywhere, enjoying the market, the beautiful weather and time with their families. But this morning, it was very quiet as the following pictures will show.


Just have two more photos to share -- these were taken from the malecon and show the mountain in the distance. Can you see the chapel(?) with the cross on top of the mountain? To keep you from squinting and having wrinkles set in, I got a closeup shot too -- cause we don't want any more wrinkles, now do we????

Catch you all later,
Betty

Missing the Birds in my Back Yard

I've been missing the birds in my backyard in Conroe, Texas. I've heard lots of birds here but I caught a glimpse of a really pretty one several days ago. It had a bright red head and breast with brown wings. Today I saw him again and had my camera at hand.

My latest adventure has been riding the local buses. My rental house is in San Antonio, a village that is east of Ajijic; I rode the bus into Ajijic to meet at friend at the Wednesday Street Market. Didn't get any pictures -- will have to share some another time. We went to a "Mom and Pop" restaurant and had chili rellanos (spelling?) that were very good. Then spent some time walking around, looking at shops, and having a good time chatting until I had to get back home.

Will try to get more pictures while I'm out and about tomorrow!
Betty

A Trip to Domino's Pizza

Well, guys, I couldn't stand it -- I had to find out if Dominos Pizza in Mexico tastes the same as Dominos Pizza in Texas. Many, many years ago when we lived in Indonesia, we went to Pizza Hut but it just wasn't the same. However, I am happy to report that Mexican Dominos pizza tastes just like Dominos pizza back in the States. I had a very pleasant and interesting experience while waiting for my pizza. I sat down at a long table with a Mexican family and came to find out that they had lived in Pasadena, Texas and their oldest son spoke very good English. It was nice being able to chat with them. After I got my pizza, a little boy from another table brought me a disposable plate (see picture)to put my slice of pizza on. I had noticed that everyone else had one but I didn't -- it was really thoughtful of this young family to notice and provide for the "gringo"! I've been made to feel so welcome by everyone I've met, foreigners and locals alike -- even when we can't communicate well, the locals I've met have gone out of their way to be very helpful. For that, I'm truly thankful!
Betty

Have You Seen the 2 Cute Rubber Stamps Challenge?

Hop on over to 2 Cute Rubber Stamps for this free digi image and a chance to win free rubber stamps! Don't you just love the candy corn noses on these pumpkins?
Betty

Interesting Things

Back again to show you a few interesting things that add to the charm of my rental house.
** in the upper left, you will see a concrete built in mirror with a piece of art with a marble base (the art piece is moveable, but my gosh, it is heavy -- I'd hate to drop it on my toe!)
** the upper middle picture is a decorative tile scene, which is built in to the brick.
** upper right, lower right and middle photos are of the fireplace. It is concrete with carved flowers, stems, and leaves. Stone surrounds the fireplace and goes all the way to the ceiling with a beautiful piece of art work above the concrete mantle.
** middle left and lower left show the tile work in the kitchen. The same tile work on the range hood goes around the top of the cabinets. The circular tile piece is above the microwave. A unique kitchen, to be sure!
** lower middle -- same theme as the kitchen; three small tiles built into the cobblestone door stoop.
Anybody want to come for a visit?? Just let me know!
Betty

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See you again later today with photos of interesting things in my new house!
Betty

Pulled Out My Colored Pencils

Hey stamping friends! Does this look more like a normal post? It looks a little bit like a card but since I don't have all my "stuff" it's just a piece of card stock with three stamped images from Layers of Color. My friend, Melisa Waldorf, let me stamp some of her images when she and I were stamping (mostly talking????) one day. I really enjoyed pulling out the colored pencils and baby oil and coloring a bit today!
I have a worker outside installing a tv satellite system (provided by the owner of the house -- yippee!, 'cause it ain't cheap!) So, I'm hoping that I'll be able to watch Dancing with the Stars on Monday evening!
Later, Betty

Good Saturday Morning!

Hello friends! I've been missing in action the last couple of days since moving into my house. Actually, it took me a while to figure out how to connect to the internet here! I am within walking distance to Wal-Mart (yes, there is a Wal-Mart here; I think it's been around for just under a year) so I went over there the day I moved in to pick up some things I needed. Okay, bottled water, laundry detergent, cooking oil, a papaya and a numbert of misc. items can get quite heavy! Luckily for me, they have a free shuttle van and I was able to get a ride home and it only cost me a tip for the driver! How great is that????
Melisa was wanting to know if I can get American food here or if there are any fast food places. Well, there are some Americans here who have opened restaurants (i.e., 60's in Paradise where the speciality is hamburgers, malts, and 50's and 60's music & memorabilia) but there aren't too many American fast food chains here. But, there is one, and I can see their sign from my mirador (that's an outside living space on the roof of the house). I'm going to go get my camera and take a picture so you can see it too!I used my camera zoom and then cropped my photo in Picasa so it looks like Domino's Pizza place is just next door but actually it's a little walk on past Wal-Mart. At least I'll be able to walk off some of those pizza calories! Haven't tried one yet so can't say for sure that they taste exactly like their counterparts in the US. Will have to report on that later! I had a good healthy supper last night. Grilled a piece of Basa (fish), also grilled some onions, and had a couple slices of fresh papaya. I was so glad to find the basa at Wal-Mart because hubby and I ate a lot of that at home. There's also a fish market nearby as well as a meat market.
Thanks for stopping by to visit!
Betty

A Slower Wednesday

This is the restaurant where I had lunch yesterday. It is on the central plaza of Ajijic which is a common gathering place for locals and expats alike (the plaza, that is!). Very relaxing to sit out under the umbrellas and watch the goings on! I was moving a little slower yesterday (but that's okay in Mexico!). Went to sleep with the overhead fan on and got too cool during the night (not good for the asthma). So I was coughing again yesterday although not too badly. Learned my lesson and turned off the fan before falling to sleep last night!
As I was walking around in exploration mode yesterday, I saw this interesting doorway and thought that it might be one my friends would like to see. I'm also going to share a picture of Lake Chapala. You've seen the mountains to the north and here's the lake to the south!
I'm hoping to be able to move into my rental today. Will let you know if that comes about or not!
Betty

Hole in the Wall

I didn't take my camera with me last night so I don't have a picture to share of where we ate. We all ordered several different dishes (some with the same names as what you would order at a Tex-Mex place but just not quite the same!) I enjoyed everything that I had; but most of all I enjoyed the company of newly found friends! There were four of us -- the couple I met at lunch yesterday and another lady that they had met the day before! It is amazing how quickly people interact with each other here and enjoy one another's company. The couple that I met is from Georgia and they have been here since June of this year. Sylvia is asthmatic too, and has found living here to be very beneficial to her health (sounds like she has the exact same problems as me); I told her that I knew we "connected" for a purpose. Her husband Richard says that she has lost three dress sizes since being here because they don't have a car either and walk everywhere they go; he said that he's even lost one dress size!! I love his dry sense of humor. I'd also love it if I lost a dress size or two as well -- I can always hope, right?????
My picture today is a water lily from the grounds of the Lake Chapala Society; a group that offers all sorts of helpful lectures and classes and a great source of information for newcomers.

Tuesday in Ajijic (pronounced Ah-he-heek)

Hello again! Today has been a fun and fruitful day and it's not even over yet! Started out the day with fresh squeezed orange juice, a bowl of bananas, papaya, canteloupe and mango, an omelet and homemade biscuits, full of blueberries and raspberries -- can you say YUMMY?????? I have pictures of the b&b where I am staying. The first shows where my room is -- on the left at the end of the pathway. (You can see the mountains in the background.)The lobby is covered but not totally enclosed. There are some rooms downstairs and then there's a staircase to the upper floor where rooms are just built onto the roof of the building.
I went out withe a lady who manages rental properties and looked at three different places and I think that I have found the one I want to rent for the next 2 1/2 months. The seconds picture is a side view of the house (it's on a corner lot) and you can see the covered mirador (an open-air living space on the roof of the house). The mirador is accessed from inside the house (some only have access from the outside). The living/dining/kitchen area is one open space; kitchen is nicely furnished with plenty of dishes, cooking utensils, etc. And it has a dishwasher (I'd say that the majority of places here don't have that very necessary piece of equipment!)
Had lunch at a neat little place called 60's in Paradise. Decorated with vinyl lps, pictures of Elvis, Jimmy Dean, Marilyn, etc. Of course, 50's and 60's music plays in the background and the speciality of the house is malts & hamburgers! When they bring you your check, it is attached to a vinyl record (a 45)! I met a really fun couple who invited me to have supper with them tonight at "The Hole in the Wall", and I understand that the name describes the place quite accurately but the food is fabulous! This couple has been living here since July of this year and she enjoys books set in Natchez, Mississippi (my hometown) and especially those of Greg Iles (who also grew up there). She would get along well with my daughter who is quite the book-a-holic! I'll probably have to wait and tell you about that adventure tomorrow!
Until then,
Betty

Monday in Ajijic

Hello friends! I find that I can receive e-mails but not send any! However, I CAN blog and I have couple of pictures for you today!
Had lunch at a pleasant cafe in the Ajijic town square. Sat outside under an umbrella, enjoying music and the lovely temperatures. A lady who was dining alone invited me to sit with her and we had a nice visit. She is from Missouri and has spent a lot of time down here in the past seven years; she just drove in a couple of days ago and is planning to make her home here permanently. The large floral painting above the door of a local art shop is her work.
The street scene is outside my b&b. Aren't those flowers a gorgeous explosion of color? When I left this morning a gentleman was in the process of trimming the trees into those neat box shapes.
Mary Anne sent me a neat site with lots of Christmas art to color -- this was one of my favorites -- I'll have to do it in bright Mexican colors!
Betty

Arrived Safely in Ajijic

I am here in Ajijic!! No problems to report with the trip; my friends took me to an "authentic" Mexican place for lunch on the way to the b&b from the airport -- I had chicken quesadillas unlike any I've had at a Tex-Mex place! The food was delicious and the open air dining was delightful!
I am having some problems with internet access and I can't seem to send emails although I am able to receive them. Hopefully, can get that figured out. I was able to make a few comments on Blogger this morning so am trying a "test post".
I'm waiting for breakfast It's a little cool this am and the light jacket I brought feels very good. Sun is out though, so it should warm up nicely!
Betty

Bags Are Packed

Well, my friends, my bags are packed and I'm ready to take off tomorrow morning! I'm hoping that I planned well enough to pack most of what I'll be needing; if not, Ajijic does have a WalMart!! (bet you didn't know that!) I should have internet service at the bed and breakfast where I'll be staying so should be able to get a note posted to my blog to let you know of my safe arrival (positive thinking, right!?) I received a confirmation email from the sweet couple who will be picking me up at the airport so I shouldn't have to worry about being stranded there without a ride! I'm washing up the last two loads of dirty laundry now and after a few more items to take of on the computer, I'll be logging off and getting it ready for travel.
Give me a kind thought tomorrow!
Betty