Day 2 of palapa

Tuesday at the bookstore was a hot, quiet day, with very little activity in the town square and very few customers as well. We had 3 big book deliveries during our days there, so there are lots of great new things waiting for Rob and Jo to unpack!!!












The second day of palapa building was another transformation. Now that the first layer of cement has been put on, we are starting to see how great it will be to have shade over both windows.









In additon, it will provide a nice shaded area for our outdoor dining area, cover our hot water tank (on the wall) during rains, and provide for a covered area to the right of our sink, where we will install a counter area from the sink to the hot water tank on which to put our barbeque and outdoor cooking stuff.
















Ok, so we have 5 cats we feed and are taming, hopefully enough to be able to catch them and get them all spayed and neutered. We now have a street dog (decidedly unphotogenic, as you see) who is quite sick. He is full of parasites, worms, mange and fleas, and is very underweight, so we feed him every day and leave water out all night for him - and whatever other street dog is thirsty. Our friend and rescue animal queen, Diane, is finding out from the vet what it will cost to give him a series of antibiotics and pills to help him recover. He is very sweet and gentle, but the second I brought out a camera, he hit the trail. I will try to add a better shot soon.

The new palapa!

This is our year to add some shade to our very sunny hot patio. We packed away all our patio furniture into the living room, threw a tarp over the pool to keep out cement dust, and they are starting with this bare site. The big downside to this patio is that it faces south (which is great for the pool) but it means the sun pours in those 2 windows, each one belonging to a bedroom, and we have to keep the curtains pulled all day to try to keep out the heat.




Our friend and master builder, Rauol and his Papa, arrived Monday morning to start the palapa. In just one day, they installed all the wooden posts and upright, as well as the chicken wire which will hold up the cement which goes on top.
Amazing to us that so much work can be done in just one day.

This tree centre post and the poles under the cement are made from the zapote tree, also known as the chicle tree. This is the same tree that the sap was extracted from and used to make Chicklets gum, unltil Mr. Wrigley figured out the composition artificially. Put an entire indigenous group of people out of work and brought an end to a whole way of life.




The zapote tree is an extremely hard wood, and is VERY heavy. It is used to make furniture and is a deep red colour at the centre, almost like a west coast cedar.

Friends arrive!

Friends Ed, left, and Kevin, arrived on Dec. 2 for two months! They are renting an amazing 3 level penthouse on the top of a local hotel, with views of the town, the ocean, the reef and even the mangrove.

Here they are on their 3rd floor patio, where they served us wonderful ginger tea.









The views are just lovely, and there is enough greenery all around the building that you are not looking down into someone's back yard, and there is wonderful privacy.















The other side of the patio faces the mangrove - almost a 360 view of the area, and when it gets too hot up there, there is an outdoor shower in which to cool off. Note the patio lights for enjoying in the evening.

Guadalupe!

OK, so we are suckers for the kids.....!!! There are groups all over town (and on our street at home) doing their little song and collecting money on behalf of Guadalupe, which goes to families in the area.

Big kids, little kids, all boys, all girls, mixed boys and girls - they are all sweet and we happily add to the coffers every time we see them. I am sure our house and the bookstore are well known as a "soft touch"....nice!

friends.....2 and 4 legged.

Wednesday eve we had an impromtu evening of food and wine with friends Diane and Jill. Great to get together with friends on a warm lovely evening, enjoying some appies, homemade spaghetti, fresh bread from the local patiseria (at 2 pesos a loaf - that is 20 cents each) and then fresh fruit with yogurt.


Yah, our littlest kitten, the blue eyed baby of our black and white cat from last year, is gaining weight and coming to eat every day. We hope she will continue to thrive and that we will be able to catch and spay her before she comes into heat. In addition to our 5 cats, there is a street dog, covered in mange and tick bites, who we are making sure has water every day, and our Rescue Animal Queen, Diane, is bringing dogfood and checking out the costs of his treatment. He is a black and white lab sized dog - pic to follow soon.

Guadalupe is coming!

Almost bigger than Christmas in Mexico is the celebration of Guadalupe, the Virgin who was seen by a poor farmer and told to tell the bishop of his sighting. The main day is December 12, but every day leading up to the 12th kids go all around town, to stores, restaurants and homes, with various versions of a decoration and a song. This 4 amigos sang to us at David Lau's restaurant while we had supper and then on my urging, hopped inside to collect money from the other diners, all of whom were very generous. The funds go to the church to support programs for local families.

The final event of the Christmas shows the other night was a series of pinatas, strung over the basketball court in the town square, where all ages of kids were given a chance to bash out the candies and toys. They kept being put up until everyone had something.
The youngest members of the audience weren't all that interested, but enjoyed all the music, lights and people everywhere.

December 1st!!

We arrived in the square around 7 pm, just in time to find the whole town out for a Christmas concert, put on by all the children of Puerto Morelos. Starting with the littlest ones, doing several dances to Christmas carols, all the way up to teenagers in sparkly costumes, every age was represented and cheered wildly by all the parents and tourists, all of whom totally enjoyed the show!

The square has been undergoing Christmas decorating for the past week - every day another string of lights gets put up, and the Christmas scene in the middle of the gazebo is especially amazing.