We're decorated!

Yes, it's done. Not much, though, as both the RV and the casita are small. Still working on the big wreath for outside (cacti skeletons and seashells). Here are some pictures:

My little lighted tree with the "special" ornaments I culled from the gazillion I left at Jon's.

My cat Rocky, photo taken during the nanosecond these antlers were actually on his fat head.

Jon gave me this when he was 5. It says To Mother With Love, Merry Christmas 1980.

I love this: Eli screaming and Ruby grinning on Santa's lap.

Lighted garland in the RV with the big, fragile glass ornaments.

My sweet Ella. 

The tree and OUR STOCKINGS, with Rocky growling at the neighbor's cats on our porch.

Check out the Kino section in My Photos to see new pics of inside/outside.

The BAD part of full-time RVing...

...are holidays and birthdays without family and friends back home. Today is Thanksgiving, typically associated in my memory with a houseful of relatives, great smells from the kitchen, and plans for Christmas and upcoming birthdays. (Many in my family were December arrivals.)

Holidays in our Mexico RV community are sort of pitiful. Our member resort next to us cooks the turkey, and we RVers bring the trimmings, plus our own plates, cutlery, and drinks. The air's too soft and warm, salt breezes off the water. No giggling, shrieking toddlers, no football on TV, no nip in the air or any hint of winter approaching. I won't be eating Freeda's cranberry salad,  Edie's beets'n'pineapple, Andie's bread or Terry's gravy. And I don't get all caught up with everyone's news and plans.

Thanks to cyberspace, I do get to "talk" to many in the family, some regularly, right from the casita. Others I don't hear from: either out-of-sight-out-of-mind, or not into computer contact. And I miss them all, and will be thinking of them often throughout the day today, with love and sadness. I usually get teary once or twice on holidays and birthdays "away" and wish I wasn't here.

Addendum: (Whispered) They didn't have gravy, only "jus". Pitiful... 

Eddie on the right, park manager

 

Pat (standing) looks like my dad. I call him Dad.

Mexico Life

Yesterday was fairly typical of the throbbing, hectic existence we endure here. Although I was up too early again, I was glad at the time, because I would have missed the cardinals. Six cardinals came to visit my yard, singing their little hearts out at 4 AM.

In the morning DH (hubby Ron) was supposed to go try to help a neighbor get his internet working. Happens a lot here, satellite equipment baffles a lot of this "older segment of society". But the neighbors weren't home, so we went on to the village for dog food and toilet parts. (The flapper broke, probably a casualty of the bad water.) Dog food is sold in small baggies here: it's painfully obvious from the starved appearance of the dogs in the streets that the locals can't afford dog food. The poverty is heartbreaking. We needed more than a baggy or two (Ella weighs 100 pounds), so drove the extra 40 km. to Calle Doce (12th street), a bigger village with two actual grocery stores. (Our village Bahia Kino only has 7-11 type stores, called bodegas.) Found and bought the dog food, some eggs (bring your own carton), and more tortilla chips. Also beer and toilet parts. In the grocery store, we met a pair of newby RVers from Canada, looking for a liquor store for Margarita ingredients. They don't have liquor stores here, but every bodega and grocery store carries an assortment. One may have to visit several to find everything to make them from scratch, or drive another 60 kms. to The City (Hermosillo) and go to Costo or Sam's Club. We're not that picky, just use Cuervo mix and tequila.

Drove back to Kino, stopped for fuel, and then home noonish. Neighbors were now home, so DH went over and fixed their internet. Then to the beach. This time we took the truck and the dog, and drove about two miles up the beach to "The Christmas Tree" ( a bottle-festooned cactus, landmark for a good fishing spot). Since the hurricanes, the beaches are littered with an amazing assortment of debris. We were actually looking for a dead giant squid to cut up for bait, but didn't find one. Filled the bed with firewood instead, and my fat dog got some exercise swimming.

Back from the beach at 5PM and stopped at the RV park clubhouse, where they were starting Happy Hour. Chatted a bit, but since we had the dog with us, we didn't stay. Home in time to watch another terrific sunset, then fixed supper (last night's beef/rice/peppers/onions/cheese casserole rolled into burritos and nuked, with beans on the side. Hey, I'm not a cook) Must have been good, DH ate four. Watched Survivor (Oh that Russell, what a character!) and CSI, and then I went to bed, and slept WELL, til 4AM today.

Today I'll do laundry and vacuum dog hair, and DH will repair the toilet. I may try to make a big Christmas wreath of cactus skeletons and seashells for the outside casita wall. Tonight we're grilling marinated venison for the neighbors, a reciprocation for the shrimp they fixed for us a week ago.

Other bits here and there include watering my cactus garden daily, walking the cat on his leash, crocheting, and watching TiVo'd stuff that DH doesn't like (Super Nanny, Cash in the Attic, What Not To Wear). I'll usually chat with my Ex or SILs on Windows Live Messenger every day,

Went to a dinner and show on DH's birthday Tuesday, a local Jimmy Buffet-like singer, Mark Mulligan. It was in a hotel courtyard, and we went in a large group and had lots of laughs.

 

That's me and DH on the right, and friends Maggie and Harold on the left. God, I'm fat.

So it sounds a bit boring and a lot self-indulgent when it's all down in print like this. I would never in a million years have imagined I'd be leading this sort of life at darn near 57 years old. It's not ALL glorious indolence and contentment, because I miss the grandkids so much it causes actual pain. Plus, there are two friends missing from the park this year AGAIN that I love and wish were here: Delfie and Jose feel like family to me. But I have my DH, my cat and dog, my beach, my casita, my crafts, village outings, and my TiVo. Life is good.

Time to take my coffee up on the roof palapa to watch the sunrise.

What I Know For Sure About Felting (for crocheters)

This will be of ZERO interest to most, as it's a summing up of all I've learned so far in felted crochet. Which isn't much. You crochet something, then you scrub it in hot water. But yes, there are nuances.

First, I rarely use patterns. They're hard to read, harder to find my place, and I always count wrong anyway. I just seem able to "see" it as I go, and increase/decrease/shape accordingly. Crocheting a piece intended for felting is either easier or harder: it shrinks, that's the point. So certain projects give me free rein. It doesn't matter what size a purse or scarf ends up, just so it's big enough. Slippers-made-to-fit are different. My crocheting shrinks more in width than length, but is by no means dependable. When I'm stressed, I crochet tight and it doesn't shrink much. Inebriated,  I crochet REALLY loosely and it shrinks a lot! Too small? I then find myself eyeing other people's feet "Hey, Chica! What size shoe do you wear?"

By way of clarification, our casita doesn't have plumbed hot water or a stove, just electricity. The RV has everything. When felting in the casita (where the TV is) I use the microwave to heat water. In the RV (where there's no football game on the TV) I heat water in both the microwave and on the stove at the same time, and feel very modern and technologically-advanced.

So, the felting part. You can actually felt and do something else at the same time, great for multi-taskers or folks like me who've lost prioritizing skills. First you boil water. My 8 cup Tupperware measuring pitcher takes 8 minutes in the microwave, long enough to go potty AND untangle the cat/leash combo from the cactus outside. Then dump your carefully constructed crocheted project in the water and add a squirt of Dawn. I use 2 wooden spoons to then simulate a washing machine. Yes, it'd be easier to just USE  the washing machine, but no hot water.

All the felting knowledge bases agree that felting requires hot water AND agitation. So of course, I tried to omit one or the other at first: they're all correct. The hot water part means you might have to boil two, three, maybe four kettles of water depending on the size of the project. And the agitation part is MULTI-nuanced.

You can stir/swirl/agitate rapidly with the wooden spoons while watching TV. During commercials, you fish the piece out of the hot water and run enough cold water on it so you can handle it. Then you scrub the hell out of it. Rinse in cold water and throw it back in the pot when the commercial's over. Repeat three- four-whatever-it-takes-times. It's never "done" after the first rinse, rarely after two, usually three or four minimum. (I NOW usually wait to felt until I have a few projects ready because it's nice to be able to scrub them against each other. Nobody else tells you that, you heard it here first. It's probably one of those things they thought would be obvious, but...)

So here's what I know for sure. Finally.

1. The piece is done when your arms are tired.
2. Don't wear a sleeveless shirt if you have that loose-skin thing going on the insides of your upper arms. Very distracting, all that jiggling.
3. Oprah and Phil have lots more commercials than content.
4. It's backbreaking: get a stool and sit.
5. Hot water doesn't stay hot when you keep dumping a cold lump of crocheting into it. Start another pot of water heating as soon as you pour one in your "cauldron".
6. Despite the lore, white wool felts eventually. Takes 2 episodes of Super Nanny. (I love my TiVo.)
7. After the first 2 cycles, expect that the felting will be "done" every cycle after that, i.e. rinse, squeeze dry, and examine the piece closely. (It's kind of like when you're bleaching facial hair: it says to check after 8 minutes, and if not light enough, to wait another 5 minutes. But it SHOULD have said to check every 30 seconds after that instead. I'm using eyebrow pencil on my white eyebrows for the first time in my life...)
8. The process truly seems to need ALL of these elements, order is negotiable: hot water, detergent, agitation, cold water (to "shock" the fibers) and scrubbing. Time is of no importance whatsoever: it's not going to do anything in your absence should you need to run to the store for more Bailey's.
9. When you use a washing machine, you lose the cold shock part, and it's harder to check the piece often. If you stick it in a pillowcase and rubberband it closed (who has zippered pillowcases?) then you have to fish it out of there (OW OW OW remember, water's HOT) open it, then do the rinse/scrub thing, then put it back in the pillowcase and restart the machine. Some machines you can leave the lid open and it won't progress to spin while you deal with the cat puke on the computer keyboard or your Alzheimer's mom calling out "Bye!" and a door slamming...
10. Lots of time for mind exercises. Try to figure out if it's cheaper to nuke a bowl of water or heat it on the propane stove in a kettle. Suddenly you've progressed to a mental picture of yourself with an iron kettle swinging over a wood fire ala Wilma Flintstone, and from there to general musings re: earth's energy resource depletion and OH LOOK, A SQUIRREL!
11. You might want to do different colors separately if you really LIKE those colors...

Settled In

Took a whole week to get things smoothed out. I was a Mucus Dispersal Machine for part of that, and was VERY agitated and freaking out over the No-See-Um bites. Head to toe itching sort of trumps good intentions. After a whole Medrol Dose Pak (brought in case of a Ramsay Hunt relapse) I'm all better, and the winds are picking up now, so maybe those little bastards will go away.

Finally got some photos loaded. Here's what happened when we tried to leave The Swamp in Louisiana:

 

 

 

 

And this is when finally out.

 

And here's the aftermath of trying to pass that truck on "The Road"

 

And here is my sweet baby Rocky in his favorite spot; on the golf clubs out of the sun.

But when Ella's "Homies" come around, he guards his territory.

Last night we went to the village for Happy Hour at Club Deportivo, the local organization of expats and seasonals,  followed by dinner at Jorge's (steamed clams again, no pearls).

 

Today I need to go back in and get some produce: Apparently it's too early in the season for Martin the Veggie Man to make his weekly trek out here. I plan to follow this with an afternoon at the beach, although there's a negative low tide (best for finding clams and shells) just AFTER dark. Probably with No-See-Ums. Get it? Dark, NoSeeUm?

Have finished 14 more felted amulet bags and a set of nested bowls, and need to photograph those. No hurry, can't mail them anyway. Have about decided to ship the whole batch to my SIL in Louisiana, and wait to list them on Etsy after they've arrived safely.

Have heard only from Fran, not much from the rest of the Buffalo Bozos except for jokes, which I won't open so don't waste your time. Actually, if you copy/paste the joke in the message space  instead of forwarding it, I'd really like to read them. I talk to my SIL and Ex regularly on Windows Live Messenger. You should download it, as I'd love to talk to you, too.

Would love news from The Family.

Manana.

The Dark Hours...

... are actually my favorite time of the day here. Up at 2:30 today, crashed at 8:30 last night. We sleep in the RV (with the A/C) as that bed is comfy and the futon in the casita is NOT. I go over to the casita and make coffee, boot the computer, and peruse my list: today is laundry. Later. There's a gazillion stars outside and the salt air is so soft. Sometimes I take my coffee up on the roof and sit, listen, look. Not today, still overwhelmed with huge itchy welts from the No-See-Ums and not anxious to get more. My body seems to be organizing a mass revolt or coup or something. Insect bites become life forms of their own, and the last time I got stung by a bee I nearly died. (Now I have Epi Pens everywhere. Today I might crochet/felt a holder for one so I can wear it around my neck.) And what's up with the skin? More of it, looser, spots, mottled, dry. My hair decided to part on the opposite side one day, just like that, after all these years.

Found a bag of yarn here in the casita (we bought it furnished, surprises galore. Who has TWO steam irons?) One skein was washable wool, the label said, so I didn't think it would felt. I made a quick little amulet bag yesterday with it and it felted beautifully. I never thought that one day I would painstakingly crochet something only to intentionally scrub the crap out of it in very hot, soapy water to make it shrink. I have a dozen or so new "items" to list on Etsy for sale, but can't because I couldn't mail them if they sold. The mail system in Mexico is corrupt, very few things arrive unmolested. Maybe RVers will buy them at the resort craft sales.

Think I'll spend the morning on the beach today, although I should do laundry or drive to the village for produce. I like to saunter, love that word. The pace is important, slowly so I don't miss a pretty shell or juicy clam. The beach is piled high with debris from the storm, and I poke at it with a stick. I'm usually the only one there, several miles of solitude and debris to poke.

Ahhh!!!!

Arrived Thursday afternoon, nearly without incident. The last 5 miles garnered 2 broken windows on the fifth wheel: stalled truck in the "road", Ron thought he had room to pass, Ron was wrong. But he put the rig onto the pad STRAIGHT on the first try! One broken water line in the casita, and another one in the rig, both easy fixes. 85 degrees daytime and 70 overnight. Very bright sun, slight breeze, and NO SEE-UMS galore. Supposedly they leave when the winds pick up. Any time now... I'm one huge welt. Rocky isn't mad anymore, and Ella's in her element: all her homies were here to meet her.

Took two days to get the internet dish working, and another day for the TV dish. We had books, TiVo'd shows and sunsets to watch instead, though.

Got to the beach after it was almost dark Thursday night, low tide, still managed to find (and cook/eat) 3 clams. Delicious. Couldn't find a dead squid, though. We need one for bait.

Off to Happy Hour at the clubhouse. Made rolled tacos, all by myself, deep-fried'em. They kept puffing up and trying to unroll. How do they do that, rubber bands? Toothpicks? I ended up just pressing them down with tongs. Would've helped to have an oven mitt on.

Later!

Getting there!

Left Monroe, Louisiana Sunday after finally calling a tow truck to unstick us from MIL's "bayou". Sunday night at Diamond Jack's Casino in Shreveport, last night in Sand Springs Texas, tonight in Deming New Mexico. Were able to rendezvous with Ron's brother at an El Paso truck stop for lunch today! Nogales Arizona tomorrow afternoon with a WalMart stock-up, then crossing the border Thursday AM. Will hopefully have internet up by the weekend. Adios!