The Journey to Casa Madera - Moon over Vallarta

October 27, 2012  -

We are often asked about medical care here in Mexico.   Most ask out of curiosity or concern for our well-being.  Some ask out of disbelief - as in "Really ,they have doctors in Mexico?".  The truth is yes, there are a lot of doctors here.     Many have studied not only here in Mexico, but in the US, Canada and even Europe in some cases.    It is also true that just like home, some are better than others and it is our job as a patient to find a doctor that works for us.

After 4 years of living here, I had an opportunity to experience Mexican medical care first hand.  That is not to say it is the first time I have seen a doctor here, we do have our annual physicals and blood tests; but my first experience with the Mexican "drop-in" health care system because I had a health issue that needed a doctor's care.

I had an earache.

I think I can best describe the set up as a version of a Canadian Medi-centre.   The idea is the same, people drop in to see the doctor on call.  The difference is that these "drop-in" places, called Consultorias, are attached to a drug store.  Actually, ina drug store attached to the medi-centre, so in actual fact, there really is no difference.

The doctor is either in or out, and he or she will take patients on a first come first served basis.    Just like Canada, one could wait a long time in that hot little room while waiting to see the doctor.   But, here, happily, that does not have to be the case.  There is, literally, a drug store on nearly every corner, and most have a Consultoria.    So, if the waiting room in one is too busy, we can simply drive down the street to the next one.

We do have a favourite doctor we see, but he is a whole 10 minutes away in Mezcales, so we decided today, to take our chances in Valle Dorado, which is much closer to us.  The waiting room at the Farmacias Medism was empty when we pulled up!   What a stroke of luck.  NO waiting at all today!!  Within 2 minutes of getting out of the car,  I was ushered into the examining room by the doctor himself.   The good doctor also invited Kevin to sit in on the consultation.

I speak some Spanish, the doctor spoke some English, so between us, we were able to communicate very well.

I told him I had an  earache and he promptly plopped me on the examining table and told me to open my mouth.  Whaaat??     He was very happy to tell me that my ear problem was related to a throat infection I did not know I had.  He continued to explain that the ear, nose and throat were all related. . . .  and did I want meds or a shot?

A shot? For a throat infection?  I have not had a shot since I was vaccinated in high school!  My efforts at asking questions to determine if this was a better option than 5 days of pills were totally drowned out by my ever loving husband, Kevin.   It was as if he had suddenly turned into a contestant on a game show, and be began yelling out   "Shot!  Take the shot?  Just take the shot!"  I could barely hear the doctors answers over Kevin's' encouragement to opt for the needle instead of the pills.  Naturally,  the doctor was very amused by all of this, and though he tried to remain as professional as possible,  I could see he was siding with my husband.  Must be a male thing.   How bad could it be, I thought.  One shot or a weeks worth of meds.   Really, the shot did sound like the better option.

Then the medication came out.  3 vials of stuff, all mixed together, my "shot" turned out to be 5 cc's of meds.  if you are not sure what 5 cc's looks like, it pretty much filled the needle.   The old joke about horse tranquilizers leapt to mind.   In my arm, right?  Oh, no, lie on the table, face down.  Oops, I forgot to ask, can you inch your waistband down just a little.

I don't think I need to mention that as I hopped off the table to undo my pants and peel them down far enough to reveal the target for the needle that my loving husband and best friend, Kevin, was doubled over with laughter and would have suffered serious injury from falling on the floor laughing had he not already been sitting down.

I hopped back up onto the table, target side facing the ceiling.  By now, the doctor, being egged on by my husband, was also laughing.  Lucky for me, his mirth did not affect his steady hand, so he hit the "target" on the first attempt.

Slightly embarrassing, but nothing I would not live thru.  Then he said "this is a series of 3 shots".    I need to find looser pants to wear to his office tomorrow.

I should also mention that the cost of this afternoons entertainment, aside from my eternal embarrassment was $211 pesos and my ear ache will be gone in a day or 2.   We shall see…..

The Journey to Casa Madera - Technology and useless twits....

A couple of months ago our Facebook fan page, www.facebook.com/CasaMadera started to get likes from a lot of people we did not know.  We have found over time that this does happen sometimes but we can generally follow the trail as to how they found us.  A friend, relative or a surfer who saw a picture of great looking food.

This time we could not discern where they came from.  However, we liked seeing the amount of likes go up higher so we did not think too much about it.

We are not techies.  I have enough computer intelligence to get by but if things go south I am screwed.

I had just arrived back in Canada at the beginning of September for a visit when Heather, who was still at home, let me know that people were not able to access our website.  They were being redirected to either Google or a page full of Malware.  Now there is a great way to get clients!  Infect their computer.

This needed to be fixed.  I went to work and did what I could but it was not much as I had absolutely no idea what the problem was or where to find it.   We contacted our web designer to see what he could do.  He got the page working again and with people clearing their recent history the page was loading and operating correctly.  Yay!

Then last week it was happening again.   This time however I could not even get into the files, it was redirecting so quickly.  I contacted the host who were very helpful and deleted the appropriate files.  The website was working again except for a couple of minor glitches which I could fix.

An hour later, it was redirecting again.  I put in another support request and one more time they cleared the files.  The website is still working correctly but the source files need to be updated.  This involves a lot of stuff that should wear the brain of this useless twit out.   I could ask our tech to do it and pay the fee but I am stubborn.

I have to for the same reason people climb mountains.  Because it's there.  Technology is not going away and it is Heather's and my lifeline.  Most of what we do here revolves around the computer.   We look for clients on the computer.  We see the grandchildren on the computer.  We keep in touch with family and friends on the computer.

And for that reason I have to fix the website issue myself.  If I can do it, then it is one hurdle that the technologically challenged (aka useless twits) won over todays youth.  The question is can I get this old brain over the hurdle.

And the questionable Facebook likes, we deleted them all.  I cannot help but figure they were involved in this somehow.

The Journey to Casa Madera - The garden is a mess!

August 22, 2012  - It is the middle of rainy season here at Casa Madera Bed & Breakfast in Nuevo Vallarta.  It is sunny, hot and humid.  It is a typical summer’s day in the Bay of Banderas.

We may get rain tonight, we may not.  You really never know.  The potential is always there but it does not always arrive.

We like the rain.  It cools the air and makes everything green.  The plants grow with the rain, and I mean grow.  Some plants will put on a foot in a day or two just because of the water and the sun.  I have never seen plants grow like this, it is incredible.

[caption id="attachment_479" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The front of house before Ramon got here today[/caption]

This does cause a bit of an issue for us as we have some green space.  At this time of year it is really green space.  Grass grows where none has been planted.  7 foot weeds shoot up while you are hanging laundry.  We cannot keep up with it.  So today we hired a gardener.

Yes, a gardener.  He came over yesterday to have a look and see what needed to be done.  Personally I think he wanted to cry but he said he would be here today at 8:00 AM.

At 8:00 AM Ramon was at the gate.  By 8:30 the hedge had been trimmed and plants that were growing in it were gone.  He cut, trimmed and cleaned until 2:00 PM.  The garden area looks amazing.  For the first time since we planted the pineapples a year ago we were able to see that they were actually growing.

[caption id="attachment_480" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Today after Ramon left[/caption]

On Saturday he is coming to fertilize and apply weed killer to the areas where we would like to have grass.  Now I know what you are saying out there.  “Kevin, why are you not doing this yourself?” Quite frankly, I don’t have the time nor the energy to spend for the amount of time required to keep this garden looking good.

[caption id="attachment_481" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The front garden[/caption]

The other problem is we have no idea as to what some of this stuff is that grows in our yard or how to care for it.  Is this a full sun plant, partial sun or shade?  Will it bear fruit?  What bug likes to eat it?  What is that black stuff growing on the palm tree?

The questions go on and on.  We try to ask at the Vivero’s (plant centers) but in a lot of cases we have not asked correctly or we have misunderstood the answers.  We are hopeful that this will clear all of this up for us.

A Gardener, I never thought we would have a gardener.

 

The Journey to Casa Madera - Watching the Olympics!

August 5, 2012 - The skies are greying and the distant sound of thunder reminds us it is still rainy season here at Casa Madera Bed & Breakfast in Nuevo Vallarta.  Last night we had a doozy of a storm.  3 or 4 inches of rain and spectacular lightning.  It takes your breath away watching it and now it looks like we are going get to enjoy it again.

Today we decided to do something different with the blog and Heather has taken the time to put her thoughts into cyberspace.  We hope you enjoy it!

Watching the Olympics - Heather Wood

To say that we have felt removed from "real life" since we moved to Mexico would be an understatement.  We do listen to the daily news on CKUA radio, which gives us the highlights, and honestly that is about all I have ever really been interested in.  I have made it a habit since I began living on my own to not watch the evening news.   Call me silly, but I always felt it emphasized the negative, rather than the positive aspects of the world in which we live.  However, even without my daily dose of  the evening news, I was still able to have an idea of what was going on in the world, thanks to everyday conversations I would have with friends, co-workers and family.

Now, by our choice, we live in a different country whose first language is Spanish, not English.  We can watch the evening news, if we choose, and we can choose to buy several newspapers, in Spanish, at any street corner with a traffic light.  That does not mean that we will be able to understand everything spoken or printed.  Even though our language skills have improved 200% since moving here, we still have a long way to go.  Fully understanding a newspaper article or Television broadcast is still far into our future, I am afraid.

Which is why I was so surprised when my friend who lives in the UK started commenting about the Olympics in her Facebook posts.  I used to take major news events like this for granted.  Things like this were something everyone was talking about on every corner, in every newscast, and it was written somewhere in every newspaper for months leading up to the big event.

Perhaps it is the same way here.  I really don't know, for reasons already stated.  :)

I can tell you that we are watching the Olympics daily and that I am having a difficult time picking a country to cheer for.  I am torn.  Of course, I will always cheer for Canada, my homeland and where my heart lies.  But, I have a soft spot for Mexico as well.     I am and always will be, a proud Canadian. I  also remember that  Mexico accepted me and my husband when we decided to experience life away from the 9 - 5.  With that acceptance, comes  a certain pride in my adopted country and its achievements.

I am loving watching the  Olympics and consider myself very lucky that Mexico and Canada will not battle it out for the medal in  all events.

GO TEAM CANADA!!!

The Journey to Casa Madera - Guadalajara, It took a year but we finally got there!

On June 7th, 2012 a remarkable thing happened to Heather and I.  We drove to Guadalajara!  I attribute this to not parking the Jeep near any trees or other things that could fall down on it.  We made sure to visit the mechanic to have the oil changed, the brakes checked and the bolts tightened so it was running well.

It all worked.  At 11:30 am on Thursday June 7th, we backed out the driveway of Casa Madera Bed and Breakfast and hit the road.  It was exciting.  Our first road trip in quite a while.  We were giddy with anticipation.

Or was it hunger.  It had been 4 hours since breakfast.  So we made it as far as Bucerias (12 minutes) before we stopped for lunch.  But hey, we were on the road!

A quick lunch and we were off.  It was a nice day for a drive, sunny but not too hot. The traffic was relatively light which was really nice.  It was a pleasant 4 hour drive to the big city.

We had booked ourselves a room in the Suites Bernini as it appeared it was close to the fabric store area.  We had never been to the hotel before and really had no idea where it was but thankfully the gps was able to pinpoint it and made it relatively easy to get to which at 4:30 in the afternoon is a good thing.

After checking in and putting the Jeep in the smallest parking lot known to civilization we took the elevator up to our room on the 16th floor.  Only the penthouse was above us.  The view should be spectacular!

[caption id="attachment_457" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The view from the 16th floor[/caption]

We were right, the view was spectacular.  The interesting thing about this view was that the entire wall was glass, floor to ceiling.  The top half, opened.  Totally opened.  We could open the window up 4 feet.  It was just a little disconcerting.  We got used to it but neither one of us ever really got close to the glass.

The area had many watering holes and restaurants.  It was tough to make a choice of where to eat but we did and the food was great.  So many places within 4 blocks and so little time we will definitely return.

[caption id="attachment_459" align="aligncenter" width="300"] One of about 15 stores where you could buy a wedding dress[/caption]

Friday morning we were out and on foot looking for the fabric stores that Heather wanted to visit.  We hit the area right, there was a street of fabric stores, bridal shops and general formal party wear just a couple of blocks from the hotel.  It was a beautiful street with a pedestrian walkway down the middle of the road with benches, fountains, shade, plug-ins and wi-fi.

[caption id="attachment_458" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Could walk this all day long[/caption]

It was a great way to spend the morning before it really got hot.  Once it did we headed out to the Galeria's mall.  I know what you are saying, a mall is a mall.  And you would be right but this mall had a Krispy Kreme kiosk, sigh...oh and a Best Buy.  All it really needed was a Golf Town.

On Saturday we were going to move hotels over to Tonala as we wanted to do the market on Sunday.  So we checked out of the hotel after breakfast and headed out.  Our plan was to spend a few hours in Tlaquepaque to check it out but do all of our buying in Tonala.

[caption id="attachment_460" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Refreshment time in Tlaquepaque[/caption]

Tlaquepaque is another must visit in Guadalajara.  Beautiful galleries, totally different handicrafts than we have seen here before and a nice traffic free pedestrian only mall.  It was fun.  It was there that we found the Tapatio Tourist bus.

For 110 pesos you could ride the double-decker bus to downtown Guadalajara where you could take the Guadalajara tour, or change to the Zapopan bus and take that tour.  From Tlaquepaque you could catch a tour bus to Tonala.  We decided to take the Guadalajara tour.  It was cool.

[caption id="attachment_461" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Great way to spend the day![/caption]

The roof of the bus is open air so you can take it in all the sights and sounds.  It also has stops along the way where you could get off, see this attraction and catch another bus an hour or two later.  Great idea.

[caption id="attachment_462" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Beautiful cathedral just outside of downtown[/caption]

We really enjoyed the Guadalajara tour.   When you are not driving you can take it all in.  It allowed us to see where things are so in future visits we will have more of an idea where we are going.  When the tour is over they park downtown by the government buildings and main cathedral.

When getting off of the bus they told us that the bus back to Tlaquepaque leaves at 4:30 and it is bus number 4.  This gave us about an hour to kill so we wandered around, toured a corn exhibit in the main City square, bought a cold lime and salt drink and then just headed for shade to wait for bus number 4.  At 4:15 a bus pulled in, number 2.  At 4:22 I wandered over to just double-check where it was going and just before I got to it the bus pulled away.

[caption id="attachment_463" align="aligncenter" width="300"] There are 6 traffic lanes in this traffic circle, there are at least 6 of these in town. Fun to drive in! Really![/caption]

So we waited for bus number 4.  At 4:40 we finally asked the tour people where the Tlaquepaque bus was and they told us it left 20 minutes ago.  Well this was a problem.  First off, it left early and was not the right number.  Our car and our luggage was sitting on a side street in Tlaquepaque.  There were no more buses.

They did eventually see the problem and started to make phone calls.  Finally they said a bus would be by at about 6:30.  This was just under 2 hours away.  We had yet to get a hotel, this was too long to wait.  So we eventually took a taxi back to Tlaquepaque.

Will we take a Tapatio tour bus again?  You bet.  It was great.  Yes there was that little glitch but it was our fault as much as theirs.  And where else can you spend a day travelling around a city getting on and off a special tourist bus for less than 10 bucks.

The taxi driver knew where we needed to go and dropped us close to our car, into it we got and started searching for the hotel.  We knew where we wanted to stay it was just finding our way there.  That is always the main challenge.

Surprisingly it did not take that long to find our Hotel, the Hacienda del Sol.  Once registered and luggage put away we headed out in search of food and drink.  Found a great restaurant 4 blocks away with super cold beer and great beef.  It was a lovely meal.

Sunday brought the market.  Always a lot of fun.  People everywhere, stalls everywhere.  You can buy everything under the sun there.   And we did.  More artwork, soap, lamps, mugs and so many other things it just too hard to list them all.

[caption id="attachment_464" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Just a tiny, tiny bit of the Tonala market.[/caption]

On Sunday night we went for a walk.  It was a beautiful evening and while walking during the day we stumbled upon the town square so we wandered down to check that out and see if there was anything good to eat.

Sunday night is the night to go to the town square.  It is teeming with life.  Food stalls, music stalls, bands playing music, places to get drinks.  It is something else.  On this day we found something really special, a corn dog.  Hot out of the oil.  Heather thought she had died and gone to heaven.  There are just some things you don't regularly see on the street here for food and corn dogs are one of them.  Alas he only had one left so I was forced to have a deep-fried taco instead.  Oh, poor me.

Monday morning it was time to head for home.  So after a quick stop at Krispy Kreme to pick up a dozen glazed for the road (they really are the best donuts in the world) we were on our way.

[caption id="attachment_465" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Monday morning rush hour in Guadalajara. All this for Krispy Kremes.....[/caption]

Passing by the town of Jala we could see the new 4 lane toll road being built from Jala to Puerto Vallarta that should turn a 4 hour drive into 2.5 to 3.  I can hardly wait...

 

The Journey to Casa Madera - The Leak

June 4, 2012 - Summer has hit at Casa Madera Bed and Breakfast in Nuevo Vallarta.  The weather is warm, the sun is out and the humidity is building.  Our first potential tropical storm of the year came and went without so much as a cool breeze let alone 50 mile per winds as the weather people kept saying we would see.  In other words, things are progressing as per normal or as normal as things get around our house.

Heather and I were taking Alexa for morning walk one day last week when we noticed that there was water on the ground around our water meter. Our water meter is located outside of the property on the main sidewalk.  The water line comes up from below, the water meter is installed, and the line goes back down underground.  On the left hand side of the meter at ground level there was water.

This is a problem.  The water is not coming from the part of the line above the ground but below.  Part of the line belongs to us, part of the line belongs to Fibba.  Whose problem is this?

And a problem it would be.  It was under the concrete.  Who wants to break concrete to find a water leak?  I know I certainly don't, especially when it is 35 degrees outside.

So with that in mind on Saturday morning we showed the problem to a FIBBA employee who said the problem was on our side of the line.  It was then when my eagle-eyed wife spotted some used teflon plumbing tape on the ground just a little bit away from where they were standing.  Heather told him that we had done nothing to the line so why would there be plumbing tape here?  FIBBA must have done something so it is your problem!  It was worth a shot though we really did not believe it would work.

All we wanted to know was whose responsibility was it to repair.  He still said ours, which we kind of figured.  Ok, so we have to fix the line.  We can get a plumber, no problem.  What is a problem was we don't know exactly what was going on underneath the concrete so Heather decided that we should speak to the people in charge.  We wanted the line inspected and if we needed to fix it ourselves we wanted a FIBBA employee on site when the ground was opened so they could not blame anything else on us.

So on a beautiful Saturday morning at 9:05 Heather made the call to the office and spoke to the person that we were told to speak to.  She explained what the problem was and we would like someone to inspect it.  The woman on the phone said that she would send someone right out.

After 90 minutes of nobody coming to the house we decided we should call one more time.

Heather attempted to stay calm, cool and collected on the phone.  That lasted about 45 seconds.  A runaround, is a runaround and she called them on it.  She was very forceful going back and forth between spanish and english which I believe caused them some concern.  Finally she asked in english, "Is anybody coming out to look as this today?"

No, came the response and she hung up.  Heather was absolutely seething.  Unfortunately there is not much you can do about this.  Putting people off is a national sport here and it is not just us that get it, they do it to the Mexicans too but they are better equipped to deal with it as their spanish is flawless and they give as good as they get.

So we went shopping and resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to phone Jose on Monday to get him to come out and find out what is shaking with this leak.  If it is after the meter it is costing us money so it needs to be repaired.

Sunday morning we were coming back from our morning walk and I caught something out of the corner of my eye.  A curled up piece of plumber's sandpaper was lying on the sidewalk.  I looked over it and saw that the concrete around our water line had been chipped out and new solder had been installed.  No more leak....WTF!

And therein lies the great mystery of this country.  Just when you are ready to go over to the office and throttle six or seven people your problem gets dealt with and they don't tell you.

Sigh

 

The Journey to Casa Madera - I said I wanted A cat!

March 7, 2012 - We had to go to Costco the other day to pick up new glasses and supplies for Casa Madera Bed and Breakfast.  It's funny, a year ago our supplies at Costco generally involved items we could not buy anywhere else and were limited to foods and wine with the purchase every 6 weeks of dog food for Alexa.

We never bought cat food at Costco.  Zorro was fussy and Costco did not carry Whiskas, the only brand he would eat.  The other problem was the large bag would probably go rancid before Zorro would eat it all.

[caption id="attachment_434" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Zorro, the coolest cat I know."][/caption]

Now for the first 6 months we had him we did buy the cat litter at Costco but we soon found that he stopped using the litter box and used the jungle.  Typical male, the whole world was his bathroom.

We did not complain about that aspect of Zorro's existence as it was one less item to clean up and 20 bucks we did not need to spend every 8 weeks or so.  Oh how things have changed.....

July 8, 2011 - My annual trip home to Alberta to see my kids, Allison and Brendan and my granddaughter, Elizabeth.  Always a joyous event to see the kids and to spend time with them.  As always when I go home in the summer my brother Alan, his son Jonathan, Brendan and I journey out into the foothills of Alberta to go fishing.

Well that's what we call it anyway.  Many would wonder if we actually do any fishing as we rarely come home with any fish but do come home with a fair amount of empties.

This year we made a change to the trip due to high water levels where we normally go and headed out to Jarvis Lake outside of Hinton and spent the weekend camping with Heather's brother, Neil and her brother-in-law, Denis.  The fishing was no different from normal and we were still having a good time.

It was on Friday afternoon while we were sitting around shooting the bull and enjoying the sun when Neil while checking his Facebook said "hey you have 4 more cats".  Oops I was not supposed to tell you that.

[caption id="attachment_436" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lluvia the one and only female"][/caption]

Cats??  What do mean I have 4 more cats???  I can't wait to hear how Heather could get 4 cats.  I had only been gone for 4 days!

[caption id="attachment_439" align="aligncenter" width="149" caption="Esperanzo - The Union Leader"][/caption]

It seems that the night before it was absolutely pouring rain as it is apt to do in Nuevo Vallarta in rainy season when Heather heard Alexa making strange noises and pawing at the garage door.  When she went down to investigate she saw a little paw coming under the door.

[caption id="attachment_438" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Blanco - trouble with a capital T!"][/caption]

Now a lot of people at that point would have ignored it and went back upstairs.  However, Heather is not like a lot of people.  She opened the door and into the garage ran 3 kittens.  Well this was a bit of a shock, especially for someone who never wanted a cat.  They were all over her and Alexa.  It was then she made that fatal mistake.....she took them upstairs.

[caption id="attachment_440" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dulce - he is "special""][/caption]

Kittens are cute.  Even when they are ugly, they are still cute so I understand the pull to protect them.

It was raining, hard.  This brought Zorro home.  He was not impressed to see the little things in his house so this was a problem.  Heather put them into the library where the door could be closed, added some litter to Zorro's litter box and gave them food and water while the big mean adult male sat outside the door and tried to figure out how he would get in to deal with them once and for all.

The next morning a girl who would walk a couple of dogs for her neighbour yelled up that she saw something strange over on the other side of our neighbours house.  Heather went down so she could show her what it was.  And there laying in the sodden dirt was one very wet and looking dead black kitten.  Apparently there were 4 kittens not 3.

The kitten was covered in muck, flies and eggs.  Apparently it was dead.  Heather went back to the house and called the Vet.  He said to try a little food around its nose and see if it responds.  He was already coming out to have a look at them and deflea them but it would be an hour or so before he got there.

Heather did as suggested and went down with some wet cat food on her finger and waved it in front of the kitten's nose.  CHOMP.  The kitten was very much alive but weak.  However it still managed to break the skin and cause a little bleeding.  So Heather picked it up and brought it to the house.

[caption id="attachment_441" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kitty armour"][/caption]

The Vet examined the kittens and made sure they were good to go.  Heather made a trip to Mezcales to see the Doctor about her finger.  He told Heather that if the kitten dies it has to be brought in to be tested for rabies being as it bit her.....great, just what she needs.

Needless to say I was interested to see these little additions to the household when I arrived home a week later but I still did not want them.  I love cats but one cat was enough, we did not need any more.  Heather had been trying to give them away or find a shelter for them but the only one that might be able to take them wanted a $100.00 US a kitten.  400 bucks!  I don't think so!  However, looking back...that would have been cheap!

It was two days before I arrived home that Heather made the largest mistake.  She named them.  Blanco, Esperanzo, Dulce and Lluvia.  They should have been known as 1, 2, 3 & 4, not real names.  Nope they had names.  I knew at that point that we now have 5 cats.  One whose main goal in life was to kill the other 4.

We still tried to find someone to take the cats.  No luck.  2 weeks after I got home Heather headed to Alberta for 2 weeks.  I put up posters, I posted on Craigslist.  I put them on various Yahoo group boards.  One phone call.  They wanted a fluffy cat.  Something these weren't.  Why they would want a long-haired cat in Mexico I will never understand but its their furniture.

When I was not trying to give the kittens away, I was running interference, as was Alexa.  It became her duty to protect the kittens from that dastardly Zorro.  It was entertaining watch though I must admit I was getting tired of constantly keeping the kittens in the library when Zorro was in the house which became more frequent as he stalked the kits.

There were no takers on the kittens even after we had them sterilized and they got their shots.  All that happened was they wormed their way into our hearts.  That and they were great fun to watch.

It was early October and the break through was coming.  Zorro was becoming more tolerant.  He still had to be watched but more time was going by when they were all together before he attacked one.   It was apparent that in about a week the worse would be over and they should all be able to live in peace.  He was starting to play with them and it was not all aggressive, we could hardly wait.

[caption id="attachment_443" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="If you are going to be around me you must be clean!"][/caption]

It was a couple of days after that when Zorro did not come home.  We called for him constantly but nothing.  He always answered when he was within earshot.  There was no trace of him anywhere.  Last time I saw  him he was walking across the downstairs hallway by the pool with a lizard hanging out of his mouth, his favourite non Whiskas snack.  We don't know and never will know what happened to him.  It still makes me sad.  He was a really cool cat and we miss him a lot.

[caption id="attachment_445" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="We miss you more than you can imagine!"][/caption]

Now we have 4 cats.  They are growing like weeds and are no end of entertainment though I have to say I never thought a king size bed would be too small!

[caption id="attachment_446" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Are you sure we can't go up there?"][/caption]

The standard Costco shopping trip now consists of: a big bag of cat litter(every 2 weeks), a big bag of cat food(every 3 weeks), a big bag of dog food (every 6 weeks) and maybe some cheese....to go with our whine.....

[caption id="attachment_447" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="You know, you kids are really starting to piss me off...."][/caption]