• 31Dec

  What’s up?

  family, food, knitting 15 Comments

  

  Well, of course, it is baby Consuelo!  My son has been wonderful, sending lots of pictures and video, but I just HAVE to go visit her…so I am off to Mexico City for a long weekend Friday.  YAY!  In the picture above, do you notice the blanket  that’s keeping her warm?  Yep, that’s the blanket I knit for her.

  

  I finished a bit of knitting recently.  This shawl is about all I need at night  in Mazatlán, and I just love it.  This is the washable cashmere that came from Crochet last month.  (Why is it every time we take my picture I have just yanked my hair out of a ponytail and have a weird expression on my face?)

  

  It has been getting cooler here.  A couple of mornings this week it was around 65 to 69 degrees.  Yes, that does seem cold to us!  And one thing that happens in the winter is the beach at Olas Altas moves around.  The sand was carved away from the North end of the beach - I mean a shelf was created with a drop off of about 8-10 feet - and the sand moved South.

  We were on a mission this morning - we headed to Bancomer to apply for a credit card.  We have a checking account with them which has a debit card, but you can’t use it online.  This has been frustrating because we could pay all our bills on line if we had a credit card.  There’s also this black hole you fall into sometimes if you want to buy something for delivery here in Mexico but your credit card is from the US.  We were looking at Apple recently…you can specify the operating language and keyboard you want, but if you want it delivered in Mexico you have to pay for it here and the address needs to match the credit card.  We even called their help line twice.  So we spent about 10 minutes waiting for a customer service rep and about 15 minutes at her desk in order to get a credit card.  The banker spoke clearly but it was all in Spanish and we did fine.  We go back in 5 days to pick up the card.  The interest rate is ridiculous (like 35%) but we plan on using it for convenience and paying it off after each use.
  

  We are getting ready for a wild and crazy new year’s eve.  How?  By cleaning out all the kitchen cupboards and rearranging everything.  Now that our cupboards are clean maybe we can actually keep our resolution to not overbuy groceries!  We have had a bit of a time adjusting to the trio of  humidity-bugs-limited availability. Continuing the wild and crazy new year’s eve, Paul bowled a bit on his Wii, and I spent some time on the internet looking for my next knitting project.  Aren’t we just a couple of crazy kids?

  I hope all of you have a wonderful time this evening marking the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.  I am filled with optimism for the coming year, and I hope that you are, too.

• 13Nov

  Baby Knitting update!

  family, knitting 5 Comments

  I know you have all been waiting for an update on my baby knitting marathon!  (that was sarcasm…)  But I am having lots of fun, as you can probably tell!

  Here’s the finished baby blanket for Adam and Martha’s new baby.  It took a long time because I used small needles so it would be nice and warm.  I love it. The pink is very soft and subtle.  I can’t wait to see her wrapped up in it!
  

  

  Then I needed to make something for friends David and Linda’s expected baby, Margarita.  So I bought some acrylic yarn and whipped up another one of these cute hats, but this is in the smallest size.  Wow did I hate that yarn!  These hats are cool because if it is warm you can button the ear flaps inside and still have the ties to tie it on with.
  

  

  Then I started in on a ruffled jacket for Adam and Martha’s baby.  I am excited about this one, and once it’s done I think I’ll make some little ruffled pants.  Am I going nuts here? (Click on the link for the pattern & picture)
  

  It’s funny, the baby blanket required a lot of counting for the basketweave pattern.  And for some reason I started counting everything!  Steps in our staircase - 24. Seconds of Henry’s first pee in the morning - 12. Seconds to fill a glass at the water bottle - 8. I counted and counted. And counted and then counted some more.

  End of knitting report, see you later!

• 08Nov

  I’m getting there

  blogging, health, knitting, maz odds + ends 7 Comments

  I am almost done with the medication for Salmonella and I am feeling close to my old self.  One thing that happened to me during this illness is that I totally embraced napping.  I had really never been able to nap before, but now I can sleep for 15 minutes and wake refreshed.  I love it.

  I’ve become somewhat wary of eating out, wanting to only go to places that we have eaten many times and know are careful with their food.  I hope I can relax soon, although an old standby of mine, the quesadilla, will probably not be something I order in the future.  I really don’t want to get this again!

  The weather here in Mazatlan has broken.  It is cooler and less humid all the time, and the nights are now in the 60’s.  It is wonderful.

  Friends are returning from up North, and more gringo tourists are visible around town.  It’s feeling more lively, and with the cooler temperatures it is wonderful to be out walking around, even in the afternoon!  The arts environment is back to its winter activity level with the First Friday art walk last week and also a Japanese drumming group performed on the malecon.  It seems like every day has something going on.
  

  Son Phil and his family are coming for a visit the Sunday after this.  I am so happy - never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we’d have them visit twice in one year!  We have some fun stuff planned for their visit, but also some time for hanging out, eating and visiting.

  I’ve been knitting like mad, and am getting close to done with the baby blanket.  I also made another baby hat for friends who are expecting this month.  And I need to find just the right pattern to make Adam and Martha’s baby an outfit in the bright yellow yarn Martha bought.  I am having a lot of fun, and have been listening to books and Spanish lessons on my MP3 player while I knit.

  The backyard remodel is almost done.  The main construction is expected to be done Wednesday, and then there will be a couple of small jobs to have done out there before we get some topsoil brought in and install the sod.  It is looking beautiful, I’ll do an update next week.
  

  So that’s a little update on what’s been going on with us.  I think I am back now to my more normal blogging self!

• 10Oct

  Let’s knit for the kids in Xico, Veracruz

  around México, blogging, knitting 7 Comments

  

  Blogger Wayne on Isla Mujeres has come up with an idea to help the kids in Xico, in Veracruz State.  Xico is where blogger John and his wife Anita live.  It’s a small community, and most people work hard to take care of the necessities of life with little left over for gifts for the children.  And it gets cold there!  John wrote a post once about a neighbor working hard and making payments on a Barbie doll for his little girl.  It was both sad and uplifting at the same time.

  So Wayne thought that those of us who are more fortunate might be able to knit some things for the kids to keep them warm, or sew something, or buy something, either new or gently used.

  I love to knit, so I am going to get going on some hats and I plan on buying a few dolls and toy trucks to tuck in the box when I send it over.  I have a favorite hat pattern, an easy one, here.

  We’ll each mail our own box to the local priest.  We’re still waiting for the address. I’ll post the address here once we have it, or you can contact me and I’ll write you an email with the address.  But please start thinking about this community and the kids there and let’s see what we can do to make this winter a little nicer for them.  And you know what, doing this will make the winter more meaningful for you, too!

  The picture above is my granddaughter (a few years ago!) wearing a hat made from the pattern above.

• 03Oct

  Transitions.

  blogging, knitting, our new life 11 Comments

  Transitions.  We used to be all about planning our move.  Then making the move.  Then I wrote about everything foreign and strange.  That was then…now I blog about our ordinary life, but our ordinary life in Mexico.  And it’s a good life.

  Life has been all about the little things, lately.

  We’re back in Spanish class.  Another couple we know is pretty well matched with us skills-wise, so we now have a four person class twice a week.  It is going great.

  The blog continues to evolve. Up at the top are links to pages with Mexico resources/links, Photos, Videos, and Books.  I might even add a page for knitting stuff to keep it out of the main blog area.  What do you think?

  The backyard remodel continues.  Once it gets cleaned up a bit I’ll do another post, but I add pictures frequently to the Photos page at the top so if you’d like to see what’s going on, check it out.

  We bought a set of Mexican Train dominoes at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago.  Both Paul and I love to play dominoes so we were excited about giving it a try.  Friends came over this week and we played for a couple of hours…it was fun, but will probably become more fun when we remember the rules a bit better.

  Son Adam and daughter-in-law Martha are coming for a visit in the middle of the month.  We are really excited to see them, especially with Martha expecting their daughter in a few months.

  Son Phil and his family are coming in November for a few days on their way to a wedding in Colima.  I’m a happy lady about all these visits.

  I bought a sewing machine. I have a few shell type tank tops I like and I plan on cloning them.  But right now I am obsessed with knitting.  I finished the baby hat and then was surprised with a package from Crochet, a yarn store in Mexico City, courtesy of my son and daughter in law. (Knitters, see my note at the bottom of the post)  They bought yarn for the baby blanket, some coordinating extras, a couple balls of baby cashmerino and then some beautiful green yarn for ME!

  So then I had to get a plan for the baby blanket.  I decided to make a basketweave pattern like the sweater in the book below. And then Wayne wanted me to model the sweater I made myself.  It was hot and I look pretty bedraggled but I think when the weather cools here I’ll wear it quite a bit.

  Knitters:  Crochet carries Debbie Bliss, Lion Brand Yarns, Mondial, Gedifra, Balú, Linte 209, Classic Yarns, Wave, Andina, Jaeger Natural Fleece, Rowan, and Louisa Harding.  The manager is Maritza Morell Martinez and her email is mmorell406<at>yahoo.com.

  P.S.  I know many of my fellow bloggers still have us on their rolls with the old blogspot address.  Could you take a minute to update our address?  Thanks.

  Tags: Living in Mexico

« Previous Entries