The musical town

Friday night was the second to last Concert in the Square - the annual biweekly concert series that is a major fundraiser for our town. The music, as always, was excellent, lots of variety, and very well attended.

On Saturday night at David Lau's, Cooker John (in blue) rounded up an amazing assortment of musicians for an evening of great music.

It was almost a jam session and even Kathy (who plays on Friday nights) sang a number with the gang.

The place was packed, and Yubecca and my favourite tourists I met at the bookstore grooved to the tunes!

Music at David Lau's

This is an awful picture, but John Stewart has now taken over the Thursday night slot playing his amazing repetoire of music. It was a cold windy night, so the audience was small but devoted.

Jill and Yubecca (a former student of hers) joined me to listen and enjoy the show


JP and Brenda were also there, grooving to the tunes and wrapping themselves around hot tea and coffee....good grief! It was a beautiful sunny day, but the nights are very cool (down to 12 - 15 by late night). A local cab driver says 2 more weeks of this weather and then it gets hot again. Probably as accurate as any other weather forcast!

The mangrove

Ever since the hurricane of 2005, the mangrove has been slowly recovering. It was stripped clean of leaves and even uprooted, and a lot of the area is still pretty desolate looking.

Some areas are a combination of dead and growing mangrove.



And some of the mangrove looks great - lots of water, lots of new growth, and birds galore - little ducks, herons, ospreys, - all the water birds.



Even in this dead section of the grove, this snowy egret is fishing for his lunch. The whole mangrove is a delicate balance of flora and fauna and is such an integral part of the ecology of this area.

Beach dog!

Today was Botas first ever day at the beach! We went to my favourite spot, the Shell beach, way beyond all the hotels. I put a long rope on the end of his leash and he had a wonderful time. I went equipped with treats, water (for both of us), my chair, my book and of course my camera. We set up and then took long walks in both directions. He has never been so free and even grabbed up sticks and pieces of coconut shells to play with.





He didn't know what to make of the waves. He rushed at them, barked at them and tried to catch them in his mouth. He is a very bad car chaser, so what did he find to bark at - a couple of skidoos going by.....!








I went into the water but couldn't coax him in past his chest, even though he is a lab cross. Swimming was a bit too much for the first day. I think he will do fine at the PM beach where there is no surf.





Here he is trying to catch the surf in his mouth. Luckily, he didn't actually try to drink the water, but he sure must have gotten some down - he drank his whole bottle of water back at my chair.

Aren't I the most handsome beach dog you ever saw???

Gold for Canada!

The only bar in town that had the Olympic matchup between Canada and the U.S. was Don Pepe's, and he must have made his whole years income in one day. The bar area in front was packed and the inside bar was packed, with people sitting on cement ledges and all over the sidewalk! They did a great job keeping up with the drinks and food - thanks, Don Pepe!!!!!!!




Sharon and Les and I got there at 1 pm to get a good seat - Sharon and I each wearing our team Canada shirts!!!









The audience was about 2/3 Canadians and 1/3 USA, so it made for lots of fun. Someone brought their Canada flag and hung it up, and many were wearing Canuck hats, pins, shirts and anything maple leaf.



One of the Americans brought HIS flag and hung it up too - the rivalry was strong, but all very good natured.

Of course Canada prevailed in overtime and won the Gold medal - Go Canada!

Friends from Victoria!

Wayne and Pat from Victoria are staying in the Akumal area but took the collectivo to Playa del Carmen where I picked them up and brought them to Puerto Morelos for the day. We did a driving tour of PM and then had lunch at John Gray's Mother In Laws - thanks guys! Then it was back to the casa for a visit with the menagerie.


Drove them back to their all inclusive in Akumal - Grand Sirenis - very modern! Here is a shot from their balcony overlooking a very lush jungle area.


In case you thought my little dog house was pretty pathetic, I snuck out last night and suprised Botas who was very happily ensconsed on his Winnie the Pooh blanket....so there!!!

Animals and Olympics

Ok, as you know, I rescued the street dog, Botas, from certain death at the pound. So I have been keeping him in our courtyard - first the front, where he terrorized all the cats and wouldn't let them come in to eat. So put him in the back, where he pooed on the rim of the pool......OMG! So I got some plywood and screws and built him a quasi doghouse in the front right beside the water tank - covered, with a side piece for the rain, and a new green carpet and Pooh bear blanket. Doesn't look like much, but building doghouses is not my forte. He likes it, which is the main thing.


Then I had to convince the cats that they could come into the back patio to eat (some of them walk all the neighbourhood walls, so they are immune to dogs. Smart kitties. I made a wooden ramp for them, but as you can see it is too steep and so far no cat has ventured down it. Plan B - I will have to do a platform half way down somehow......hmmm!

Thursday night was the Canada-US Women's hockey game......what a great effort by our gals - and THIS is why I gave up touques when I was a kid! Go Canada!!! Another Gold medal!

It was all too much for Chi'ik, who went mad during the game, running around and cheering, but kittens just run out of steam and fall asleep wherever they land - this happened to be under a chair on the floor. Go Canada!!!!!!