One of the joys of living in a semi-rural beachfront house is the things that wash up on the beach, land in your pool or fly in for a visit.

I was interviewing a developer today when Coco-Nut Ibrahim Garcia, my darling Chihuahua started barking, growling and pawing at the patio door.
I looked out and saw this small white Ibis checking out my pool.

I let Coco-Nut out so he could see that the small bird was no threat. It took a while for the bird to register the noise Coco-Nut was making.
He lifted his wings and went over to our fence. And there he stayed so I could snap a few closeups.

A few minutes later he was back at the pool,. Intent on capturing prey, I thought he was going to fall in. These are shore birds, and are usually at the water’s edge.

Another day a few months back this funny little shoe-shaped boat washed up.
There it sat for a few days. I asked one of our workers to take it away. I could see it getting filled with garbage by beachgoers.

And on a Sunday last year a seaplane came whizzing by, made a pass over our house and then made a splash landing. The occupants hopped out and fiddled with the plane for awhile then started the motor which sputtered a time or two, finally caught and off they went.

Oh and look at these cuties that showed up around lunch time last winter!

And one day while walking along Pelican Point I saw this gorgeous, burgundy sea star. Since it was dead I took it home. Those are my recently pedicured feet

Ingredients for perfect Sangria: cheap red wine, carbonation, fruit, and you

So what’s the climate like in La Paz? Well most of the year it is wonderful, a place where outdoor living is an art form.
And drinking icy-cold umbrella drinks is expected.

But my beloved likes to say we have five seasons here in Southern Baja:

• Fall
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Summer Hell

And what is Summer Hell you ask? It has nothing to do with burly guys and equally as burly girls on motorcycles. It is that time at the end of summer that you northerners might call the Dog Days, but worse.

From the middle of August through September the sun is broiling, the air is thick and steamy and there is nothing to do but escape into delightful, air conditioning. The air doesn’t move, and you wish you didn’t have to either.
This is the time when just hanging in the pool with a big sombrero and an icy glass of Sangria is about as much activity as one can and should muster.

Hang in the pool wearing a big sombrero and holding an icy-cold glass of Sangria

This is the time of year when even the most casual acquaintance that lives in town and doesn’t have a pool becomes my best friend!

I am a gregarious person. And I have a gorgeous beachfront home with a pool. I love to pamper my friends. And it is a lot more fun to enjoy the pool with other people around. So tomorrow I am having the first of my summer “Salad Days at Susan’s Pool” parties. I invited 7 other women to bring a salad and come for a swim.

I am making sangria. And here is the recipe:

Wine:
– I used two bottles of a Santa Silva blend of Shiraz and Cabernet $90.00 (pesos each)
Other alcohol:
– I used 2 jiggers of Controy, this can be skipped or you can use gin, rum or Triple Sec
Carbonation:
– I used Fresca; you can use anything from plain mineral water to any flavor carbonated water or citrus soda.
Fruit:
– 2 limes
– 2 oranges
– 1 grapefruit,
– Fresh or frozen strawberries (I use frozen so they act as ice cubes and do not dilute the brew. I am not a scientific cook; I splash, dash, and dump ingredients. So use as many strawberries as fit in the pitcher or look good to you.)
– ½ pineapple (Pina Miel) or you can use canned pineapple chunks and the juice.
– 2 tablespoons of sugar or a dash of simple syrup. (See simple syrup recipe below.)

Get a big pitcher that can hold two bottles of wine. Pour in the wine. (Or use two smaller pitchers and put half the ingredients in each.)

Squeeze the juice of the two limes, two oranges and one grapefruit into the wine. Remove the seeds first! Then dump the squeezed fruit in the pitcher.

Cover the pitcher and refrigerate.

Just prior to serving add the carbonation. This is where the fun begins, add the flavored carbonation to suit your taste.

Warning:
Taste with a spoon, don’t get sloshed while preparing the sangria. Otherwise you may be a bit wobbly on your pretty flowered flip-flops with a tiny heel and drop the pitcher in the pool.

Add the frozen strawberries. Remember they act as ice cubes so let them plop into the glass as you pour.

Garnish the glasses with a lime or orange slice or even a paper umbrella.

Enjoy!

Simple syrup:
1 cup of sugar and one cup of water, boil till sugar dissolves. Let cool.
Sweeten the sangria to taste.

Little boys of barely 8 years old should be in school. They should be playing with friends, riding their bikes or scooters, going to scout meetings.
They should not be in a hospital bed far from home at the end of a valiant battle with cancer.
My darling grandson Thomas has been fighting the fight since August. And is surrounded by his parents, his brother and his other grandparents at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. They live in California.

We grew up on the beach in New Jersey. And as far back as I can remember we wrote our names and the names of loved ones in the sand.
A few days ago I went to the beach out towards San Juan de La Costa, we have affectionately named
“ Wong Beach” after a nice man Jerry Wong that built a lovely home nearby.
This beach is great for shelling, but is not that great for writing love letters in the sand. The sand is either dry and deep or wet and rocky. There was not a stick or a feather to use as a sand pen in sight.

The next day, back at our sandy beach I went with Coco to collect shells to frame a message to Patrick my 10-year old grandson and Thomas’ older brother.

Coco was no more cooperative that day then the day before.
But the results are an act of tradition and love for my two darling grandchildren.

And in my mind, February belongs to me!

What a month, two presidents and George Harrison all had birthdays in February. And of course Valentine’s Day! I was born in Valley Forge in the middle of a blizzard! And yes I have heard all of the George Washington; hard winter at Valley Forge jokes! In fact my mother wanted to name me Martha or Georgette. But, my OLDER sister, Delia said that the new baby was so pretty that she should be named Susie after her Susie doll. Thank YOU, Delia, neither one of those other names fit me at all!

And yes I am so pretty too. Here I am with my beloved.

My dear friend, Kass is coming to help me celebrate this year. I have not seen her in about three years. She is a friend whose bond was forged as we stood tot-to-toe with the anti-choice bullies that thought they would close down the abortion clinics in the Bay Area. She is a warrior, and a writer, a photographer and my friend! Look out whale sharks here we come!

Kass do you still have your BACORR scarf? For those of you that weren’t there BACORR stands for Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights. How about you Lenay? BACORR was a big part of our lives back in the 90’s, and while we battled for control of the clinic door and won most of the time, life-long friendships were forged.
We changed the law in San Jose, and changed the behavior of the police.
And now we shall kayak, soak up sun and enjoy some icy Margaritas.
Here is a scarf that we all wore, proudly.

My daughter, Melissa has cooked up a surprise for me, she and Kass are in on it, I have no idea what she is doing.
In the past there were two surprise parties, and for my 50th a black-tie bash at the Hotel St. Claire in San Jose, CA.
I still have the wonderful memory boards with photos and captions that she and my sister, Delia made for that occasion.

I am back to blogging. I thought I would tell you all about my favorite Christmas ornaments. Well events transpired that kept me from writing and almost obliterated our Christmas. But, we are OK, and I am back to blogging.

The gray, cold, weather that came down from El Norte is gone. And our beautiful sunshine is back.
We have a new doggie, a tiny, tiny Chihuahua named Coco, and the HoneyMoon Hut is booked solid.

I am starting a juice fast tomorrow to cleanse my body and soul.
So stay tuned in, I’ll have lots of things to say about a lot of things!

Photo by Claude Vogel of MexSense

What If The Shoe Was On The Other Foot? Some Thoughts On Violent Crime And Tourism
Posted: 07 Oct 2010 05:12 PM PDT
By Lola
What if CNN headlines blared “Drug Violence Claims 4 Lives In Popular Vacation Destination” every time a gang-banger (any color, any race) shot up a rival gang’s sidewalk in Los Angeles? What if Fox News ran a constant ticker that read “Murder Chose Chicago 131 Times This Year” and held forms discussing why the city should be boycotted? (In fact, September in that city ended last week with 30 homicides. Nearly 20% of the victims were teens.) Should travel warnings be issued for the Windy City? Should we close up California because, according to the LAPD, even though overall gang crimes fell 12.2 percent, 31 more people were shot [this year] in suspected gang crimes, an increase of 4.9 percent?
I wouldn’t be lying if I said the US has more violence than other first-world countries—and that’s been a fact even before drug use in this country escalated to the point where every enterprising dealer south of the border wanted a piece of the action. We have more robberies, rapes and assaults here. We glorify violence in our movies and our TV shows. We breed serial killers. Meth labs are popping up like daisies in the suburbs (and we all know how sweet and mellow meth-heads can be). We are now even venturing into suicide promotion with the sudden spike of bullying in our schools.
So… honestly. Where are our travel warnings?
Are you mad yet? You should be. This is a great country. It’s a beautiful country. And if you stay away from the scary section of town, if you don’t deal drugs, if you aren’t a hooker and you steer clear of shady bars, chances are you’ll have a ball and be safe as houses in every city, coast to coast. It’s not a guarantee, though, because even in this great nation of ours, innocent lives have been claimed in crossfire. But the police scanners certainly won’t keep me from enjoying the fall weather along the Navy Pier in Chicago or spending a weekend of pure fun in Los Angeles.

So why should I cancel my visit to Puerto Vallarta? Or forget my plans to visit Mexico City for a week?
I shouldn’t. And neither should you.
Yes, be careful. Yes, take normal precautions. No, don’t go to the locus of the cartels for a drive or a drink.
I know I’m not the only one out there who thinks this way. I’m not a lone voice in the wilderness, but sometimes it sure feels that way. So, I’m doing what I can with the tools I have.
Here are just a couple of links from like-minded people. I know there are many more of you out there. Raise your voice. Let it be heard. Thousands upon thousands of people in Mexico depend on tourism for their livelihood. People who can’t feed their children become desperate. And we all know about desperate people. Please help reverse this desperation by looking beyond the headlines.Thanks for your time.
Lola
The Economist blog:Mexico Safer Than Canada?
Mexico Boutique Hotels Blog: Mexico Safer than the United States

We could push it to La Paz!

Sunday at the beach.
What does that evoke for you? Sun, sand, brightly colored umbrellas? Kids yelling, waves breaking? Girls gathered ‘round the lifeguard stand?
Maybe a small plane would fly by trailing a message about Bob’s Lobster Pot, or a yacht would motor by causing some bigger waves to play in?
All of these were part of Sundays at the beach when I was a kid growing up on the New Jersey shore.
Now I live in La Paz, Baja California Sur…right on the beach. I mean my front yard is sand.
There are no lifeguards. There are families that come in their cars laden with coolers, tables, tarps and picnic tents. The kids fly kites, play soccer, and have all kinds of flotation devices. But that is later on Sunday afternoon.
In the mornings on Sunday and all day for the other six days of the week, our beach is mostly deserted. Even though my pool is beachfront I could saunter around on the terrace naked and no one would be there to see me.
Today, we returned home after breakfast with friends. I heard a noise that sounded like a light plane flying low, and looked out the sliding glass door to see a white seaplane skimming the water then landing.
Still dressed in our Sunday go to town clothes ( nothing like what we wore in New Jersey, but still more than we would wear just hanging around the pool…see naked above) Patricia and I went down to the water’s edge. Had we been wearing shorts we could have waded out to the floating plane.
It looked like they were having engine trouble and the tiny waves were enough to move the plane around.
Since we could not wade out (and we badly wanted to) we decided we had seen enough). As we walked back to the house we heard the engine splutter, then stutter, then come to life. The little white plane with yellow trim sped across the bay, making a frothy white wake, and took off.
And here are the pictures I snapped.

Gathering speed to take off, headed for La Paz

They're up and over the Bay of La Paz in El Comitan, heading for La Paz or the open sea!

Mother Daughter Pedicure La Paz Malecon Beach

Well MissMeliss came to visit. She arrived last Tuesday after completing a marathon of flights and plane and airline changes to get here from Dallas using miles.

But it has been wonderful to have her here by herself to while away the days.
We have had lazy days of sitting around the pool, reading and enjoying a margarita or two.

Tere my hairdresser, manicurist, massage therapist came and gave us pedicures. Yes my dear readers, my hairdresser comes to the house! I have installed a shampoo sink, chair and manicure stool so she can work properly and we can both be comfortable.

We had new color a hot pink called “That’s Berry Daring” an OPI color, hot and bright and oh so tropical. It was one of te many wonderful gifts Melisa brought me!
After a lovely lunch at Azul Marino in Marina Costa Baja, we sauntered down the Malecon ( like a board walk) and sat in the soft white sand.
The next day we went into town and lunched at the Cantina Mejicana also in Costa Baja, and also serving gorgeous and delicious food!
We, well MissMeliss, took lots of photos and sent them to Facebook via her iPhone, which she keeps tucked demurely in her bra. And the comments rolled in. They said things like: “Beautiful!” “You are bragging.” “Now you are really bragging!” “I want to be there.” And “I am jealous!” Her friends all over the US of A wanted to be adopted as my daughter so they could sit on the beach sipping mocha and gaze on azure waters. I am sure that “with your mother” was part of their adoption wish. I am a cool mother, as I have been told so many times.
She’s a seductress, my Melissa, she took photos of the food, the views, shells, our feet, and anything she thought would delight her friends.
Those are our feet on the Malecon beach in downtown La Paz.
My two and her one. Nice pedicure, Yes?

El Comitan Real Estate

Early afternoon on a windy, sunny Saturday in La Paz…

 We were just sitting down to a gorgeous bowl of homemade chicken soup. “It looks like something from Martha Stewart Living.” I said to my beloved. “ The white chicken, the clear broth and the gorgeous green vegetables. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.” I was raising the spoon to my mouth when there was a knock at the door.

It was Juan, the  man that had cleaned the hula skirts from our nine venerable  palms. Hula skirts are the dead palms that hang down below the green swaying fronds. They drop off at inopportune times and hit people on the head. Our hula skirts were not  near the danger zone yet, and my lunch was calling. I said  “ No gracias, proximo vez,” Which means: “I want to eat my lunch, go away!” Well it really means: “No thanks,  next time please.”

Well the tenacious guy was not leaving if he thought he could make a few pesos and buy himself some beer.

 So he pointed to our recently decapitated double palm at the end of our row of nine stately palms. This double palm was 30 years old and close to 30 feet tall. But a disease struck many palms in our neighborhood, and this one fell ill and died. Just before hurricane season we had it cut. We feared that it would fall on the house during the storm. It made us sad to see it come down.

  The stumps were about five feet tall, and our dramatic landscape lights were still illuminating the sorry site. Our regular gardener and his two sons tried to dig out the palm, but it was too big and heavy for them. He told me  he would see if he could find someone with a backhoe willing to take on the task.

So the stump stood upright from its three foot deep hole, but no longer illuminated since the dramatic landscape light was now buried in the pile from the hole.

 So back to Saturday. “How can you do this by yourself?” I asked. And Juan replied that he would use the might of his Ford pick-up and a chain. He would be back shortly with the chain. Seeing a chance to get to my lunch while it was still fresh, I agreed to his price of $500 pesos ( about $40 US).

A few hours later Juan arrived with the chain and a friend, an ax and  their determination.

They chopped at the trees roots, dug around it, hitched up the truck and started to tug. Well gravel flew and wheels spun, and the tree pulled the truck smack into its wher e it bounced off the trunk and shattered a tail light. Juan smiled and said “No importa, senora.” ( it’s not important) “Honey”, said I, “Move our car please, I don’t like the way things are shaping up.”

And so he did, thankfully.

I could regale you with more details of this misbegotten afternoon activity, but I  a made a video instead. And yes , Juan is deliberately smashing the back end of his shiny red pick up into the tree trunk.

After he was all finished, Juan said he would be back on Monday to  shorten the stumps, clean out the root ball, and turn them into planter for me. And I did not even have to ask!  Dead palm trunks make wonderful planters, the root ball area is rich ansd fertile.

 The stump is turned upside down, the wide part is the planter. they are elgant, and an example of recycling at it’s best. More ont this tomorrow.

 So here is the video proof…don’t try this at home!

I am back! For those of you, my loyal readers, and new ones too, it is true I disappeared. My blog was hacked and malware installed.

 No matter how many times we cleaned it, more malware was there.

  Finally we took the entire blog down and re-started it!

Hackers are criminals. They are malicious, nasty, selfish and immature. What they do is worse than vandalism, worse than trespassing. What they do is more like character assassination. Their actions make it look like their victim has done something wrong.

 My blog was banned from Twitter and I was sent a less than friendly message by the Twitter admin team. I did nothing wrong!

So I am back, do you like the new look of the blog?

 I do! My darling daughter did the work!

 I will be blogging about life in Mexico, and anything else in the world that catches my attention.

 Did you miss me?

 I missed you.

 So please let me know you are there, leave comments.

 I’ll answer them.

But I will not answer or approve those sent by black hat bloggers blogging for companies trying to get back links off my site.

 I am back, I hope you are too!