Wildcats are not limited to Kentucky

In case you think things are boring in this sleepy expat community, take a look. This headline was at the top of the front page of the weekly English-language newspaper:

There seems to be some debate as to exactly what kind of cat this is.  The paper calls it a jaguar; others insist it's a cheetah.  Some call it a "tigre." Nevertheless, there's widespread agreement that wild cats of this sort don't belong in residential neighborhoods.  This happened about a block from where we were staying last summer in La Floresta, near where the horses are tied up.

On the Chapala webboard, I like this exchange:

Question: But what about the OP who said someone's dog was killed by this jaguar? That's horrible, if true.

Lexy

      

 Response:  It was a chihuahua.

*******************************************************

Oh, well, that's different--not a real dog, just a bite.

Odds and Ends

Just some pictures to share:

These trees are all over, seemingly in full bloom overnight.  Appropriately enough, they're called Primavera (spring).  Soon the jacaranda trees will bloom--deep purply blue.  Of course, the bouganvillea are in bloom all the time along with lots of other flowers.


We met this cool cat in a shop the other day.  The shop also had two big dogs, but this character clearly ruled his empire.

In our search for rentals, we saw this house, itself brand-new, very sleek and modern design, no garden though, just a patch of grass.  But the view--oh, my!

Almost enough to make up for no garden, but not enough to make up for no bathtub.  And on that note, I'll share one of the bathtubs from the Galeana house--the tub with a view:

The tub

The view from the tub

Nothing I've ever seen though tops the view from this bathtub--from a house that was for rent last summer but is now for sale.

Oh, well. Can't have everything.

Lunching with Peacocks and Birds of a Feather

Yesterday we went to a new (for us) place, The Peacock Garden, just a couple of blocks toward the lake from the plaza.  You wouldn't know it was there because there's only a narrow entrance with a white boards announcing the day's specials.  There is a sign but it sort of gets lost in the rest of the signs above.  You walk back along a long brick pathway until it opens up into a wide, spacious, beautiful garden.

To our right was a huge mango tree with lots of air plants hanging from it.  There are several seating areas, under the pergolas or out on the lawn.  All kinds of tropical plants, including orchids and bromeliads, fruit trees--orange, limes, lemons, grapefruit.  The garden takes its name from its resident peacocks who apparently stroll the grounds when they're in the mood. But we had to go in search of them yesterday; they were hiding out behind a large wall fountain.  We also found free-ranging chickens and roosters, but nobody seemed to be in a sociable mood yesterday.

We did find a more sociable bird.  He didn't have much choice since he was in cage.  Pancho the parrot didn't talk much although he did do wolf-whistles when women walked by.

Lunch was pretty much forgettable.  Bob had shrimp tacos which were ok but not as good as the tacos we get at Lake Tacos--yummy.  I had a BLT, but I should have known better.  Bacon (tocino) isn't always the "streaky" (as they call it in the UK) bacon we know; this was more like strips of Canadian bacon--hard to eat and not at all what one expects in a BLT. Oh, well. Live and learn.  But the margaritas were good!

And Bob is getting downright hairy.  Already had to trim his beard.

What have we been doing all this time?

Well, I'll tell you.  I haven't been blogging because we've been busy house-hunting.  We wanted to pick up where we left off last summer when our plan was to come down here and look for a place to spend at least a year to see if it might be the place we would want to live for a few years.  Of course, other events overtook those plans, but we're ready to start again.

Order of business then was thus:
1) Find a place that we would like and be comfortable for a year or more
2) Go back to Louisville and put the house on the market again.  This time, we hope to market it more aggressively than last year.

So we've been looking at rental houses--a lot of them--and rejected most for various reasons. But we finally decided on this one:

54 Galeana

That link will take you to the sale listing (it just sold in January, I think) and there's a YouTube link for a virtual tour.  I don't know what the final sale price was, but yes, you are looking at a half-million dollar (USD) house.  There are many of these and upwards, difficult to sell since the crash.  These new owners are a cardiologist and an accountant who live in Atlanta, who've bought the house for their eventual retirement.  Many people do that.  Meanwhile, they want renters to keep the house occupied.  The furnishings you see in the pictures are mostly from the previous owners.  The new owners are refurnishing the house.  Right now, the living room is the same, there's a dining room table and chairs, beds in all the bedrooms, a couple of recliners in the study, and some patio furniture.  They plan to come down a couple of times during the summer to continue the refurnishing and the lease won't start until 1 September for a year. That timing was also an important consideration as we didn't want to start a lease right away. Of course, we'll be coming back to the US during that year and hope to have visitors here!

It's a big house with huge rooms, but very reasonable.  We happened to be looking at rentals with the agent who had just sold the house and knew they wanted to rent it, so it never went public. We like the location: walkable to shops and restaurants; the view: of the village, the lake, and the mountains; the garden and the pool; bathtubs!!; the fantastic kitchen; views of the garden from every room.  This is one of my favorites, the view from the study:

There are two master suites, one up and one down, both with huge bathrooms including separate showers and bathtubs, another guest room with two queen beds and full bath across the hall.  And the study and a living room and a dining room.  Lots of room for company and plenty of privacy.

So, now we're relaxing, enjoying the weather going out for dinner or lunch a couple of times a week, meeting up with friends.  For me, I'm trying to get used to retirement.  I know I don't want to work, but it seems strange not having work--like I"m supposed to be doing something. I read but get restless.  I think I need some kind of schedule.

Anyway, there's the house.

Canadians in the Pool, or What in the World Are Gooeyducks?

The community clubhouse, gym, and pool for Riviera Alta are only about half a block away.  Since the weather has warmed up considerably, so has the pool--which is heated also by solar panels, currently at the temperature of 91 F, just the way I like it!  Anyway, we've taken advantage of the facility recently.  Bob has been using the stationary recumbent bike to strengthen his leg muscles, then joining me by the pool where he swims a couple of laps, increasing every day. (Yay, Bob!)

Yesterday while Bob was biking inside, I relaxed under an umbrella by the pool to read a little.  A young couple were there with their very young children (maybe 3 and &).  Daddy was in pool in giving very loud directions and encouragement to the kids.  Then another couple who were sunning climbed into the pool to cool off and swim.  Conversation ensued (again, quite loud) and they exchanged where they were from--the young couple from Vancouver (which they pronounce something like "Vancyouver, " the other couple from Ontario (where I think 9 out of 10 Canadians down here are from; sometimes they say more specifically "Trano," translated to the city most of know as Toronto.)  Anyway, the strangest conversation ensued as they played the game of who do you know in Vancouver:

 "Oh, my brother lives there."
"Oh, yah? Where?"
"Surrey."
"Oh, we have lots of friends who live there. They like it, eh? What does he do?
"Oh, he's a "gooey-duck" diver."
"Oh, yah? I know somebody who does blah-blah-blah....." also related to :gooey-ducks.

So, by now, I've given up reading because the loud voices are so distracting and I'm amusing myself listening to the accents so like the ones that people imitate and make fun of.  But at the word "gooey-duck," I began to pay closer attention.  What in the world are gooey-ducks and why do you have to dive for them? They mentioned growing vegetation on the ocean floor to improve their habitat.  I'm thinking, that makes sense, but ducks don't dive that deep, why do humans have to?

Thoroughly mystified, I recounted the bits of conversation I had overheard when Bob came out to join me.  We joked a bit about the Canadian stereotypes, and I puzzled over how I would look these ducks up since I only had a phonetic spelling in my mind.  Nevertheless, as soon as we got home, I went straight to my buddy Google and typed in

What is a gooey-duck?

Be my guest.  Hint: it doesn't have web feet and go "Quack, Quack."

Baby Steps

Things are looking up today! I drove all by myself somewhere. Freedom!

I hadn't really missed driving.  In fact, I didn't know it made a difference until I was out on the carretera, having successfully navigated the left turn across traffic at the bottom of the hill.  I was on my way to my first yoga class all by myself. And as I settled into the (relatively) easy Mexican road, I realized that the radio was on, tuned in to SiriusXM to one of my favorite stations.  Wow--instant happiness boost!

Later, as I was prepping pico de gallo for our dinner of black beans and rice, it occurred to me that since Bob has unraveled the mysteries of streaming Roku etc. out of the US, maybe we could get Pandora streaming on the TV as well.  Yes! So (of course you'll never guess my cooking dinner station), I happily chopped away.  The rice is ready, the pico de gallo is ready.  All I have to do is heat the beans.  And even more daring, I'm going to have a Corona with dinner, maybe the whole bottle.  Too soon to say.

Bob is reading with his feet up and we have plans to watch last night's Downton Abbey and maybe the James Bond Spectre we've been saving--pirated copy from the market.

And I think I'm going to create a Dean Martin station for our Pandora. Even more happiness. The power of music.

(Somebody please comment so I know you're out there??)

Super Bowl Sunday: A Cloudy Day

Not that one has anything to do with the other, but for some reason I had the blues today: missing my own home where I know where (most) everything is and if I need something I know where to go shopping to find it.  Most of all, I'm missing the kids and friends--all y'all, including Susannah and John who aren't where "home" is, but it feels different here somehow even though we communicate the same way--at a distance.  As the day wore on, that feeling of displacement, dislocation, whatever it was just hung over me like the overcast skies today--the first cloudy day since we got here about 18 days ago.  We got to talk to everybody which helped a lot.  But I really found my own personal cloud lifting when I started cooking tonight's dinner--risotto and shrimp.  Maybe the familiar movements, having everything I needed at hand, doing something productive, but it helped a lot.

Super Bowl? Only the background to my cooking. Time to eat dinner.