Gardening in the tropics

A few days ago I spend some time in my garden here. The plant guy came and I bought some geraniums and a hydrangea. I haven't seen hydrangeas anywhere but I may have just missed them or looked in the wrong places. Some plants that are familiar from home look a whole lot different here, like the hibiscus plant which is a house plant at home but here it is outdoors and can grow as tall as a tree and wide and bushy. So maybe I just didn't recognize the hydrangea. I bought a pretty purple one and planted it in the corner of my garden. I have started some watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes and peppers from seeds that I collected and dried the last few weeks. It amazes me how fast seeds germinates here, tomatoes germinated in 5 days. From morning to evening I can see they have grown, it's amazing. The dirt is sand, horse poo and not fully composted vegetable and fruit scrapes. 

My pretty little hydrangea in the corner, it looks small now but I hope it has filled it's space by next year

Trying to create a bit of a hedge here

Daniel planted these coconuts and asked me to water them while I am here and I am being very faithful in that

There is an ugly corner here, the barb wire fence is the neighbors so  I hope this hibiscus will grow into a huge bushy tree

More little pepper sprouts coming up

My little garden

The plant truck that comes by every Sunday and sometimes one more day a week......you have to guess which day that will be, but he always comes on Sundays

My little seedlings that will get transplanted into the garden when they get a little bigger, since I took this picture a few
days ago more have popped up

I have my own machete now, (and I know how to use it) I don't have to ask strange men as they are walking by to open my coconuts anymore

Every once in awhile when I am working away I look up am just in aww at where I am, I am so blessed to be here. Sometimes I can't even believe it myself.

A update on my hysterectomy

As some of you read here a year ago my doctor here in Mazatlan advised me to have a hysterectomy “chicken louy fast” How fast is that you ask? In Mexico it means tomorrow but in Canada it means a year later...yup I just had it done January 5^th, exactly a year since I got back to Canada.

When I first got back to Canada and told a doctor what I was told here the doctor laughed at me, right in front of me he laughed and made fun of the doctor in Mexico. I then asked him to refer me to a gynaecologist, he said it wasn’t necessary. He says that the Depo Promera does not affect bone density. I ask him why it says so right on the package, he claims that is old information and new studies have been done since. I then see a different doctor and he tells me the same thing as if reading from the same script. I again ask to see a gynaecologist; he finally agrees to refer me. In Canada if you want to see a specialist of any kind you cannot just walk into his office and make an appointment, you have to be referred by a doctor; this is to ensure that more money is passed around and it pisses me off. I finally see a gyno and he agrees that the only way off the drug is a hysterectomy but again assures me that the drug is safe, and once again is speaking in a rehearsed tone repeating almost word for word what the first doctor said. They have to stand by their drugs because that is where the money is. They make way more money treating the symptoms and so they don’t want to fix the problem. I tell him that I want off this drug regardless of all their studies. He agrees. The earliest he could book me for was April (it is February now) I can’t have surgery in April it’s the start of golf season so he says he will put me on a waiting list in August. I finally get booked for November but 3 weeks before that I get a call, my doctor has moved and I now have to start all over again with a new doctor, but if course I have to be referred by my doctor here, and he laughs at me again saying that it is impossible that my cervical cannel is collapsed and tells me that if I don’t want to use this “harmless” drug anymore to just go off it, I ask him what happens if I get my period and it all runs into my stomach, which is where it will go if the cervical cannel is blocked, he says “we will deal with that when the time comes” I tell him I am not ok with that and he finally referred me to a new gyno. I am put on a waiting list again. I finally get an appointment for December 02. On the 1^st I drive the 5 hours to Grande Prairie where I am to have my surgery and the next morning when I am in the hospital ready for surgery they cancel me due to an emergency. I get sent home and am told to wait by the phone for a new appointment. By now I am very fed up with our medical system, I feel it has failed me. January 5^th I finally had my surgery. Shortly before surgery the anthethiogoist came to see me and asked all kinds of questions regarding any health issues I may have had, he asked if I had any health issues other than my collapsed cervical cannel. I told him that I now have osteopenia in my spine; he looked shocked and asked why I would have that at my age. I said “do what the doctors version or mine” he looked surprised again but asked for both. I told him that the doctor thinks I didn’t drink enough milk as a child but I know it is from using Depo Promera for 10 years, he right away said that that those first studies that were done have since then been proven to be wrong, I told him I did not believe him, I said it nicely, quietly, and not in anger. He didn’t say another word, just walked away. He knows I am right and he is wrong but as a doctor he has to stand by the drugs they give. My surgery went well, it was done laposcopically which just left me with 3 same incisions on the outside, I am sure how many stitches on the inside. Half hour after I woke up I was sitting up in bed having lunch, 2 hours later I was up and walking and feeling very good. I was offered painkillers, Heparin, and shots of gravel and declined them all. I think if I would have taken all those painkillers and drugs I would have laid in that bed in a haze for days. The more drugs the doctor prescribes the more he can bill the Health care system and because he prescribed them the nurse has to give them to me so they just keep putting them on my tray and even though I didn’t take them I am sure they got billed for. I went home the next day.

For the next 10days I stayed at my mom’s house to recuperate, there really wasn’t much recuperating as I felt totally fine, unbelievable fine. My doctor told me Advil and Ibuprofen would be my best friends for a few weeks, I never took a single one. I was told I would bleed a bit for about 4-6 weeks which is normal as long as the bleeding gets less and less, I had not a single spot of blood at all ever. Aside from the incisions wounds healing and being a bit itchy I did not feel like I had had surgery at all.

10 days after surgery I got on a plane to come here, Mexico. I didn’t handle my own luggage but other than that it was a normal trip for me. I was not uncomfortable in the least.

Today, 7 weeks later I had what was supposed to be my 6 week check up (ops, a week late) my doctor in Canada told me what the doctor here was to look for. 1) Do a speculum exam checking the top of the vagina to see if stitches are still visible 2) check if any granulation tissue has formed? He did also advise me not to go to Mexico until I had had this checked done by him but I was not about to delay my trip another 6 weeks and unlike him I am very confident with my doctors here in Mexico, more so than with the doctors in Canada. I did however dread this check up, I though the area would still be very tender making a painful experience but it was not....zero pain. He did an ultra sound on ovaries, he could not see my left ovary which apparently is normal, they do float a bit and are not always visible but he had a clear view of the right one and he showed me on the screen that it was ovulating which means it’s working fine, which means I should not be going into early menopause. I was told my ovaries would stop working now and I would immediately go into a state of kookooness which would require hormone crap which would also drive to craziness which would lead to more drugs....ha not happening. After finding that my ovary is all fine and dandy (what a relief) he proceeded with the spectrum exam which was really educational for me. I could watch on a TV screen (why don’t we have this in Canada) he showed me where the markings from the stitches should be, there was not a mark, not a spot, nada, completely healed, he showed me where there had been some “reconstructing” and the tissue was completely smooth, no granulation tissue....by the way, I did not tell him what my doctor in Canada had told me to check for. Watching the whole thing on the screen was so awesome it completely took my mind off the yuckyness of it all. From now on I am having my regular pap exams done here instead of in Canada. From there we went into his office and he just repeated everything he told me in the exam room and he asked me if I had the lap results with me from my uterus. I told him we don’t get to see our lap results in Canada and wouldn’t be surprised if my uterus went into the garbage. He said it would have gone to the lap to get the tissue and cells tested for cancer. So I will be calling my doctor when I get back to Canada and asking him about that. He never said anything about having any tests done on it. I have been poked and proded a lot down there in the last year and I must say this was the nicest experience I have had.....yup it was down right nice, sound crazy huh.

He did also tell me I was due for my first mammogram, which I knew and had already decided I would get that done here as well, in the next week or so I will head back in and do that, I could have done it today but I was so excited about my “nice” exam I just wanted to go home and be excited about this for awhile before I start something else......mammograms can’t possible be “nice” can they?

I accredit a few things to my amazing recovery, the very first being God. I have prayed about this surgery for a year, ever since I found out I needed it. I was so afraid of being laid up in bed and being in pain and not being able to take care of myself, I prayed for God to put his healing hands on me and I believe he did. However, God does want us to help ourselves as much as we can. All summer I have been eating a lot of “healing “ foods, which are raw fruits and vegetables making sure I ate plenty of garlic and onions which are antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial. I also ate a lot of honey, I bought it by the buckets, honey is supposed to be an amazing internal and external healer. (I have a story about how I cured a very ugly infection in my angle from a burn when I was in Africa) I also drank lots of bone broth (read my story about soup) and I tried to stay away from processed, canned and packaged food as much as possible, these are things that hinder the healing process. One other thing I can accredit my quick recovery to is that I had a good surgeon, I don’t think he is a good doctor, I believe he failed me as a doctor but he is known to be one of the best gyno-surgeons in Northern Alberta and I can agree to that.

I also took Probiotics capsules before and after surgery because when they do surgery they pump you full of antibiotics that destroy all biotics including the good ones that fight infections resulting in what they "secondary infection" I am  still taking them, I figured it's a little extra insurance that I don't get sick from all the street food I eat here in Mexico.....I've never gotten sick from it but I know my immune system is working full time healing my body so I figured I'd give it a helping hand. 

Even though this ordeal is behind me I am still drinking bone broth because I love it am still trying to stay away from processed, canned or packaged food....except for tomato consume of course and the occasional bag of Cheetos and Toni-col. I have come to love fresh fruit and vegetables and will continue eating them, all 5-10 
servings a day


If you are taking Depo-Provera read these;
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/depo_provera_contraceptive_osteoporosis_class_action.html
http://www.osteopenia3.com/Depro-Provera-Osteoporosis.html
http://www.monheit.com/depo-provera/side_effects.asp

Aging can be a beautiful thing......or not?

Aging can be a beautiful thing....if we keep our clothes on

I have never really worried too much about looking old, I have thought about getting old and how I will function, Will I be healthy, will I be mobile, how will my eyes and hearing be, will I remain sane, I have thought of all these things but never too much about how I will look. Until now. When you live on the beach you tend to see a lot of people uncovered, many uncovered people, people that should never be uncovered are shedding their clothes on the beach. You would be surprised at who is walking around in a 2 piece bathing suit. For a few years I just thought "if she is comfortable walking around looking like that who am I to judge"........not that I am judging I am just noticing, but lately it has made me ask myself a few things, do I look like that? Will I look like that soon? Is she sick or unhealthy or is that normal to look like that at her age? Age...when people are uncovered it is even harder to tell how old they really are because almost everyone looks terrible when they are uncovered...seriously. Undress your self and jump up and down in front of the mirror a if playing volleyball.....how young do you look?
There are a few things contributing to this unpleasantness from what I can see. One is skin that does not fit. There are people that are clearly not wearing the right size skin, this effects all sizes of people. What causes this? I did some research (Google it) This is caused by the skin losing it's elastic over time, it starts happening at the age of 30.Oh dear.
Another thing that contributes to this unpleasant look is skin that looks like hamburger,  have you seen that red and white bumpy skin. It's a combination of sun damaged skin and cellulite. Not pretty. Cellulite also starts at age 30.
So how do we prevent this from happening?
As always it comes down to our eating habits. It's really very simple. A diet of fresh fruits and vegetables and plenty of water and less sun exposure, and using natural oils as moisturizers like Olive oil, coconut oil and almond oil, and as little sugar as possible and daily exercise. (the jury is still out on which exercise is best) In order for the skin to keep it's elastic it needs live enzymes, any food that's processed has no live enzymes in it anymore, we need to consume more raw fruit and vegetables or you can buy enzymes tablets in a health food store but I say why not just eat the food, it is so much tastier.
Smoking causes the elastic to snap as well and forms the winkles around your mouth, I did quit smoking 10 years ago but I can see some damage has been done. Massaging oil onto the wrinkles and lines is suppose to minimize them, so I will be trying that.
Sun damage is also a factor, I am not convinced that the sun causes Cancer but I know it can make your skin look like a worn out old leather shoe. I am also not convinced that sunscreen isn't one of the causes of cancer so I would say (but what do I know) just to cover up during the hot times of the day, which happens to be 11am - 2 pm here. A simple hat and a long sleeve thin t-shirt or light gauzy weight blouse would do.
Another thing that could be making you look old and ugly is the fact that you have next to no clothes on....put some clothes on and you will immediately look younger.

A case of the wrong size skin and not enough clothes

Too much sun......and not enough clothes



It always comes down to the food we eat......love the fruits and vegetables

By the way, I did not take these pictures I don't sneak photos of people on the beach, I'd rather other people do that and then I can copy and paste off the internet.
Where I got my information
http://factoidz.com/how-to-tighten-sagging-skin-naturally/
http://www.healthlady.com/articles/12-ways-to-get-rid-of-cellulite-naturally/

A miracle at Casa Damasco

Casa Damasco has come a long way since I was here last winter. Some of you recall me writing about it during my times here the last 2 years. I wrote about how dirty it was and how small it was, and how I felt that every person should be able to live and die with dignity and how that wasn’t happening at Casa Damasco. I am not and was not then blaming anyone, everyone that was involved did the best they could with what they had at the time. What was needed was a miracle and that is just what they got last March. I visited them last Sunday in their new facility and I was so overwhelmed at this miracle before me that I actually cried, I stood there and cried, not full out crying but tears running down my face. What has happened there is unbelievable.  They have a huge facility, with a huge lot; they have a huge dorm like room. Each person has his/her own bed with a chest of draws for their own things and clothes, they are no longer sleeping on the floor, there is no longer a pile of clothes in a corner where they would just wear whatever they grabbed that day.  Each bed has a ceiling fan above it (this room has a very very high ceiling), there are windows and big sliding doors at each end of the room also with sliding screens. There are a couple of smaller rooms in case someone needs to be contained or quarantined. There is a bathroom (an actual room, not just a toilet in a corner) with a big shower with hot water. They have a laundry room with a brand new washing machine. There is a separate building for the ladies, with a kitchen and bathroom and a washing machine as well. The main kitchen is on a nice tiled patio, with a juice bar like counter and a walk in pantry, there is lots of room for long tables and moving wheelchairs around, this patio also has 3 ceiling fans. And here is the biggy.......they have 3 paid staff members that live on the premises and the place is clean, very clean. The floors were gleaming and shining (is gleaming and shining the same thing?) anyway, the place was clean. The yard is huge, with 2 patio tents set up for shade. There are no plants or tress but there is certainly room for a big garden and many trees. There are plans to do some landscaping yet (I would love to be involved) the people can now move around if they are mobile, they are comfortable and can now live and die in dignity that they deserve. The moral of the place seems to have changed too, before there were a few people that would just sit with their heads down and just never look up, this was not the case on Sunday, every person that I greeted had something to say to me, I of course didn’t understand it all. Nobody looked lost and forlorn. A few people have been transferred to different facilities where they can receive specialized treatment. Anyone that has ever donated and is still donating needs to know that they had a part in making this happen. This is an example of how one should never feel that you can’t make a difference even when the situation seems hopeless. When you leave room for God there is always hope  The financial situation hasn't changed a lot, they are still paying rent there and they are still relying on donations for all expenses. I would also like to point out that this move had nothing to do with us North Americans that are and have been volunteering there, there was local people that stepped in and made that happen. This  just goes to show that we can lend a helping hand, minister to the people, show the people we care, we can even put money to the problem, (like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it) we can buy tea towels and spoons (remember how I was disgusted with the tea towels last year) and we can create awareness about the problem but in the end it is the local people that need to step in in order to fix the hole in bucket. The hole in Casa Damsco's bucket has been fixed and now we North Americans can keep loving these people and help in keeping the bucket full.

Oh, when the locals reorganized and moved them into their new facility they also changed the name, it is now called "Una gota an el oceano" which means "One drop in the ocean" I am not sure what the reason was or how that came about but I think it's nice, it shows that they have taken ownership. 

The dorm room

The separate unit for the ladies, right now there are only 2 ladies

In the ladies unit they even have separate bedrooms, this is the sitting area

The yard, they have a nice tent for shade. As you can see the ground is rock and not great for wheelchairs but there are plans for some landscaping

And there are some puppies for entertainment ...yes he is wearing a sweater

and some rabbits...2 of them hummmm

and a bird......there is something for everybody 

The dining area with the kitchen in the back, check out the ceiling fan and the shiny floor

Let me tell you about soup......

For some years now I have been making my own chicken broth, actually most of the time I use turkey. If I use the turkey bones from Christmas and Easter dinner I usually have enough for the year. I had a pretty easy method that I thought was working for me. I just put the bones in a large stock pot and added some carrots, potato peel, a few onions and a lot of garlic, some parsley or/and oregano and maybe a bay leaf or 6. I let this concoction simmer for about 4 hours and then pour it through a sieve and put in container and freeze. I always thought I was so clever by using my broth instead of the store stuff with all it's sodium and preservatives in it, it even made me feel healthy when I was eating it in my soups, stews, and stir frys........and then I find out I did it all wrong. Just before I had my surgery I researched (goggled) on how to prepare my body so that it would heal quicker....because you know I am always in a hurry and have no time for slow healing....things to do and places to go. So, I read that chicken broth is the amazing healer but.....here is where I was wrong. The chicken needs to simmer for at least 12 hours to get the nutrients out of the bone, the bone has every nutrient under the sun in it. Seriously you can read about it here. http://nourishedkitchen.com/the-benefits-of-bone-broth/ and here http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_259-260/ai_n10299306/?tag=content;col1
And, you need to add some vinegar to extract the stuff from the bones, didn't do that either. Turns out I was missing all the goodness of homemade broth all these years. But, I know better now and will put up a new batch right after Easter when I get back, a healing batch that will protect me from any germ, bacteria, virus or any ailment on earth.....by the sounds of it. This is why chicken noodles soup was always said to be the healing soup for a cold, and it used to be, way back when, when women had time to tend to a pot on the stove for 12 hours, but then life changed, it got faster or maybe we got faster...something got faster and then the soup lost it;s integrity all together and it became just a filler, like most of our other fast food.
Now let me tell you about the Caldo sauce here in Mexico. Caldo is served with Tostadas and is more of a broth than sauce, it is a tomato base and I love it so much,  I could drink it by the cupfuls. I have over the last few years tried to recreate it at home and here and have not been successful. I have gotten recipes from a few different people and they have varied from one person to the next. A week ago I ordered Tostadas again and I asked the cook again for his recipe, the man told me chicken, carrots, salt, garlic, onion and oregano, this is what I have tried over and over again. The as I am talking to him his wife comes and says "not chicken, just the bones" Cook the bones for 12 hours and, here is the secret ingredient that I have missed all these years, Tomato Consume cubes. Now adding these cubes make my soup what I call "unclean" meaning they have loads of sodium and other stuff that is not "real food" stuff that I am trying to avoid.....but I tell you it adds that missing flavor that I have been missing and it is so good....drink it by the cupfuls good. Seriously, it's amazing. Then I made tortilla soup with that broth and oh my.....spoon lickin good it was. I ate it so fast I didn't even take a picture for you. My suitcase will be full of Tomato Consume cubes coming home. A friend of mine told me that she just puts a cube in a cup and adds hot water and drinks it just like that, I won't go that far but I will be brewing up batches and batches of broth.....save your chicken bones people, save the bones and it will save you..haha  just made that up. Seriously do not buy chicken broth from the store anymore ....ever. And if you are really nice to me I might share my Tomato Consume cubes with me, I wonder how many customs will let me bring until they start thinking I'm a dealer and start charging me duty.

These are Tostadas and that little cup is Caldo, you pour it on your tostada and pick it up and eat it with the sauce dripping through your fingers and running all the way down your arm and dripping of your elbows.....it's so good. The Mexican napkin is just not designed to deal with this you have to lick your fingers and elbows...kidding about the elbows. It is a sloppy mess and as you can see it doesn't photograph very well either.

These are the tomato consume cubes

A stormy day in Paradise

I woke up this morning and checked the weather via the internet, I am a weather geek, I love checking the weather. It was 6C with a 20 km/hr wind yikes....good thing I had filled all the hole is my house last night with newspaper, there was a 1 inch gap all around my door frame. Luckily for me my house is 14 x 14 and it does not take much to heat it up, we had had some heat yesterday and the brick seemed to have held it overnight.  You could probable heat this place up with a few candles. I can’t imagine how hot it is for the locals living in these houses during the hot months, it must just be smouldering in there. As I walked over to my bathroom I was almost blown away by the wind and got 2 eyes full of sand. I had made plans to met a friend on the mainland in Centro, so I dressed warm, longjohns, pants, 3 long sleeve t-shirt and a coat and a scarf (what I wore when I arrived here) if I would have had a toque I would have worn it too. I choose to take the tourist boat out of here this morning because from the other side I can take a bus right to Central whereas if I had taken the village boat I would have had a bit of a walk. However, I had not factored in the wind, I walked along the beach (as this is the shortest way), I discovered that walking on a beach in a wind storm is not pleasant, you get your eyes blown full of sand and that stings, it was not a pleasant walk. I also almost got hit by a flying tent; one of the restaurants tents got lifted out of the ground and got tossed into the ocean...just missed me. It wasn’t until this happened that I realized that I was walking all alone on the beach in the middle of a very bad storm, good thing it was a low tide because the ocean was wild and loud, I had gone to far to turn back so I just kept going.  I was the only one at the dock but he didn’t make me wait, he took me across right away. The poor captain of the boat was so bundled up and still looked so cold (I need to knit hats next year for these guys)  Despite being cold he was still very friendly and we both laughed at this crazy weather. Once on the other side I had planned on taking a bus but it was too cold to stand there and wait so I just started walking and then realized it was only 5 blocks to the Plaza so I walked the whole way, by now I shielded by tall building so walking wasn’t so difficult anymore ....I sure was thankful I had put a scarf on, people I met walking were all bundled up as well. Once at the Plaza I treated myself to a 48 peso Vanilla Cappuccino (my first coffee here) it was so good but the wind was miserable making it not quit as much fun as I had hoped. My friend and I wandered through a few fabric stores and ohhed and awed and touched everything I think, oh the possibilities of new projects were just endless, but of course I have to keep thinking of the luggage restrictions. I actually stuck to my list that I had brought and only bought a few table cloths and 2 metres of yoga mat.....yup you can buy it by the metre here. It also makes a nice soft swishy floor mat, and warm on a cement floor on a day like this. I may just go back and buy some more and cover my whole floor....but surely it’s going to warm up. From there we went to the market and picked some things there, we parted way here and I went to the bank and then over to my favourite pedicure place on Serdan and she was closed, although the sign on the door said she was supposed to be open. This is typical here but yet annoys me, this happens to me so often at her shop. I decide to have lunch at a nearby place and tried again in a ½ hour later...still closed. I had no other business here so I head back to docks, the village dock this time; I am not walking on the beach again. As I walk back to my house I pass a new little manicure/pedicure place that has just opened, I hesitate, I think Rocio on Serdan does an amazing job on my feet,  regardless of how bad they are she always takes her time and cleans them up perfectly. I have walked on the sand lots already and so a lot of the hard skin has already worn off so they aren’t too bad right now. I decide to give this new place a try and even managed to get an appointment for tomorrow. I feel bad, I have been loyal to Rocio for 5 years now, maybe I’ll get her to cut my hair in a few weeks.

I get to my house and am surprised to see what the wind has done, garbage everywhere, leaves everywhere and sand has blown in, there are sand dunes in my backyard, what a mess......and it’s still blowing. I see the trailer park people have lost some umbrellas and a tent has blown down. Nobody is outside.....everyone is holed up inside, which is my plan now that I am home. My house is surprisingly still warm. I hear the tortilla truck comes, and the dessert truck, but I don’t even want to venture out to get anything. Poor guys, sales will be down today. As I sit here typing I cringe at the sound of the wind and the ocean once in awhile, it sounds so terrible....I tell myself that it is well past hurricane season....right? Plus, this little house survived hurricane Rick last year, we will be ok.

Internet is down and I am expecting power to be down soon too, it already flickered when we were in the fabric store. My candles are ready.

PS: Here is a link to the local newspaper, the stormy weather has made the news, this is a serious storm blowing through. It may have already cases damage to the corn crop and has closed the ports to small boats and all beaches are closed, even here on the Island. Today is was 2C at 6 am with a feels like temperature of -2C. I will not be leaving my house today....I may not leave my bed. 

http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=658818

The Stone Island Freeway

The beach in front of my house is busy busy everyday with all kinds of traffic. I never get tired of just sitting and watching the traffic go by.

Farmer guy

Fisherman guy

Dud with the horses

Another farmer delivering a water tank somewhere

Even a loader

Cowboy taking his horses to work (horse got to work here too)

.....and coming home from work

and he loses the pony again, poor little guy can't keep up and then when he loses sight of them he cries and runs in circles. Cowboy never looks behind him until he gets home I think. He comes back towing the mare and the reunion is so beautiful I almost tear up.

One day cowboy decided mare and pony need a bath

I was surprised to see them jumping the waves. I thought the little guy would get knocked over but he stuck close to mama, this was not their first bath in the ocean

All clean.....then cowboy jumps on mare and tears up the beach kicking up a sand storm....what good was the bath? 

A crab slowly slowly going somewhere.

And so it goes all day long. The other day the police got stuck on the beach (I didn't have my camera) It took about 10 guys pushing and grunting to get them out. One guy came with a wooden ladder to put under the tires as traction, they also used what looked like body boards under the tires. One day I saw 2 kids on a quad, one was facing the front and steering and the other was facing the back and holding to the handles of a wheelbarrow that was bouncing along behind full of coconuts. Last weekend Eli from Benji's Pizza catered to 80 golfers at the Estella Del Mar Golf course (3 miles up the beach). He loaded his stove up onto his truck and drove up the beach to the golf course......I wasn't home, I missed this. These people are never stuck, there is always a way to get something from one place to another. I passed a guy on the street today carrying a wooden bed on his back, later he passed me again carrying the mattress on his back. Very resourceful people.