St. Joseph's Day in PM

A huge tent was raised in the town square to celebrate St. Joseph's Day, patron saint of carpenters, the working person, and even those buying and selling homes......so we had a tip of the hat to St. Joseph for our quick sale at home.....!










The priests came out from the church and did mass for the assembled followers, and the outdoor service was well attended.











After the service, the whole evening was devoted to traditional dances. There were tiny dancers, teen dancers and adult dancers, all in their regional finery.










This was quite a large troup.....these local kids practice for weeks for these shows.....and have such fun!!

Especially the littlest ones...........

This is the daughter of a shopkeeper on the square...very serious in her fancy dress......

And this little muffin was the smallest of all, and didn't miss a step......!

A full moon Guinness night...!

Friday night was almost the full moon, and a day after St. Patrick's Day, but it felt like the right day to enjoy a pint of a special treat - Guinness!!!!










My Guinness buddies are Les and Mick, so Miki, Bev and Sharon all drank their own favourites. We had a great meal at Sharon and Les's of rotisserie and grilled chicken and a wonderful baked veggie dish in fillo pastry. It was a fun night, with the moon shining overhead.









A quiet moment at Mama's bakery in the morning with 3 of Diane's many cats enjoying the bird sounds.











My personal favourite is Chester, a handsome street cat who will let a couple of people pet him, and I am honoured to be one of those. Could be Sitge's cousin, don't you think.....????

South Beach.....

One of our most special places is South Beach......so we wanted Laura to see it before she left........













We set up our chairs in the shade of a palm and enjoyed the deserted beach and wonderful breakers rolling in.











Laura was suitably impressed.....a very different beach from the gentle beaches of town....











The only thing missing from these pics is Botas, and this is his favourite beach, so were sure to take home 2 coconuts for his enjoyment.

almost last lunch...

We went with Laura to a new restaurant this year, La Choza (formerly Rosie's Juice Bar) and were very impressed. The decor is lovely, the food was great and the service was very good.












the waiter even picked fresh chaya for our chaya drinks....now THAT'S fresh....and the drinks were yummy!









During lunch one of the St. Joseph's Day parades went down the street with the maypole, used later in the evening during the traditional dances in the square.........












.....followed up by the "band" .........

beach and mangrove

Today after work, I met Laura and Miki at the beach.....ah, such a lovely place.........!  We had lunch at Ojo de Agua hotel, and then I sunbathed while my 2 companions went snorkelling.

The Girls getting their gear on and making sure everything is working properly.

After about 45 minutes, they came back with tales of great fish and wonderful warm water....

Then we took Laura to one of our other favourite places, the walkway out into the mangrove across from the Ceiba del Mar hotel. 

Here she is cheerfully watching for crocodiles in the water......and pretty damn glad there weren't any....:-)

I think you can tell from this smile that she enjoyed the walkway, which reminded her of the one around Swan Lake at home in Victoria. 

It was a fun afternoon, and it is always great sharing our 'hood with special friends. 

movie night in PM

Bev and Mick invited us to come for a homemade spaghetti dinner and a movie last night.













It was a great feast in their lovely condo, and we brought our toothbrushes and stayed overnight in the luxurious guest room.











The movie was The King's Speech - an excellent flick! We had popcorn, lots to drink and no driving as we took a cab to their place. Walked to work this morning at 7 am and when Miki got home later in the morning, even the dog was no worse for wear for being in the porch overnight!!

passports and haircuts

We headed off to Cancun on Wed. to start the process of replacing our passports. They were lost in December when we tried to get our new car sticker (long story) and it only takes 15 business days to do this process, so we have lots of time before we leave. This is the lawn area behind the Canadian consulate and altho the sign looks like it says Piss Off, it actually just means please don't walk on the grass.....:-)






Upon closer inspection of the lawn, it was clearly home to many large iguanas, and here is one lovely fellow, smiling for his pic.











This guy took off slowly, but managed to get a pic anyway...they are such prehistoric looking creatures.....I love them!










A couple of weeks ago I decided to get the back of my hair cut (as some of you know I cut the rest myself) and last year had a disastrous cut in Puerto, so tried our neighbour. Her salon is in a house just like ours, and I got the best cut I have had in years.....for 40 pesos, less than 4 dollars!!!!