Month: March 2020

We were told, this afternoon, that, as of the publishing of this post, quite a bit of businesses throughout the city will be closed, hoping to reopen sometime in April. The amount of people gathering in any one place will be limited to less than six in a car, for example.

Needless to say, we went shopping. Not like you folks have done up North, but we bought enough essentials to get by for the next two weeks. It is rumored that some of the larger grocery stores will reopen, with reduced hours, within the next two to three weeks.

Tomorrow, I will be making a batch of tomato sauce, freeze it in one cup servings, and, when frozen, I will vacuum seal them. That way we can use the beautiful tomatoes we bought today, at the market over the next few weeks.

I have made two different salsas within the last two days, luckily for me. We shared half of both of them, however, so, I will be making more of those as well. They are both so yummy, we use them with almost everything we eat.

Too funny, though- we bought six large containers of yogurt, just in case we really cannot go to the store. We have just discovered apple flavored yogurt- my new favorite. We also bought blueberry with pecans and cereal pieces- my second favorite, and coconut with cereal pieces. We also bought a case of boxed milk, so we should be good.

The day before yesterday, we bought flour tortillas, one kilo with extra butter, and one kilo that are jalapeño flavored. Earlier in the day, we were at our local smaller store, Superama, and bought fresh corn tortillas, also a kilo. Also shared quite a few of all three of those.

This will be an interesting experience, as neither of us has been much involved in any kind of epidemic, much less a pandemic! We are trying to teach, and, remind people to wash their hands. But to live for who-knows-how-long within a semi-closed city will be something new. I will let you know how we progress.

And, to top that off, today, we left the condo about nine o’clock, and, came back around three o’clock. The administrator of the condo had scheduled the cleaning of the cistern on top of the condo, so there was no water available throughout the day. That said, everything I did after we came home required hand washing. Alas, there is still no water. I had to pour some over my hands, over the toilet!! Lovely. Oh, the things we take for granted!!!

Ivan has gone from 230 lbs. to 190 lbs. this morning. It has taken him about eight months, but, just by decreasing the amount of food he eats, he has lost 40 lbs. That, and us walking in the park!

I am so proud of him. It is amazing what changes we can make when we are able to get outside, daily. It has made all of the difference, in both of us.

You have never seen garage trucks like we have here. They look like beetles that are covered with ticks.

Each of the large bags holds different types of garbage – one has plastic that can be resold, another has glass, some have paper, and cardboard, etc. Most trucks, however, have barely an inch of space left on the entire outer surface.

When they stop at any particular place, store, or someone’s house, they immediately go through everything left for them, and divide it into its necessary bag. I am not really sure what happens after they have a full truck, and that is probably for the best.

I am just glad they do such a good job keeping the city clean.

This post will be, mostly, photos.

That wraps up the kitchen. Next I will show you the first bathroom, wheelchair accessible.

I heard the weather is warming up. Enjoy. Remember, though, it is only the beginning of March.

There is a small river, more like a large creek, at the “end” of our colony, called Rio Churubusco. When we first moved here, the water was a neon green, presumably with algae.

Since the end of January, the government has been reconstructing the banks on both sides, as well as constructing concrete walkways. The water has been diverted, somewhere, while they work.

They have completely redone the small walking bridges that cross over the river, as well. And what a nice job they have done, too. I am anxious to see what it looks like when they are finished.

There are six lanes of traffic, three in each direction, that separate one side of the river from the other. I was unaware of the path the river took until we drove on the other side of thee road the other day.

I will attempt a photo of it in the next few days. I am not holding my breath. Nor should you.

I took a walk today- from our condo to Juan’s house. It turned out to be one, and, one tenth of a kilometer, and took me about fifteen minutes to walk there.

The sun was shining, there was a beautiful breeze blowing, plus, there were several others walking, as well. Of course, they were not going to Juan’s house, but they were walking all the same.

As my father in law is still residing at Juan’s house, while we finish unpacking, and putting things away, I needed to refill his medication container, but forgot to go yesterday. So, this morning, about ten thirty, I started out, eventually having to finalize the walk, going through the “maraneras”. (The squatters). Not a very safe place to go, but the walk around the area would have taken me several extra blocks out of the way. I was not interested in that much walking this morning.

I did have my collapsible baton with me, however, and, yes, I do know how to use it. Fortunately, everyone along the way minded their own business, and not mine. I, unlike them, mind everyone’s business, mindful of where I am, and who is around me, in my vicinity, so as not to be taken unawares. That does not interest me in the slightest.

Now, I am back home, cleaning up the kitchen from the breakfast of machacado con huevo that we had. Yummy. However, it is time for lunch, so, I think we will each have a chicken taco, with homemade salsa, and avocado. Delicious.

We were sitting in the median, on the edge of a large planter, (see photo) between oncoming, and going, traffic on one of the main streets in our area of the city the other day.

We were having the car washed. The temperature was twenty eight degrees Celsius, (eighty two degrees Fahrenheit) and there was a lovely breeze blowing. It felt like late spring up North.

Today it is in the upper seventies, low eighties. With a breeze that is directly from Heaven, which makes the heat, dare I say it, lovely? Ok, I said it. One could not, nor should not, ask for a more beautiful day. I do not think it possible.

The trees and flowers are blooming again, the breeze is blowing, and the sun is shining. We are blessed. .

Ivan was unpacking, still, a tote the other day, that had, as we both like to say, “more kitchen stuff”. We have enough “kitchen stuff”, for two or three kitchens.

The pan and lid on the right were hand hammered in Italy, and have brass handles, while the other two are from France, and have cast iron handles. This photo was taken after a quick cleaning with a powder called Bar Tenders Friend.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed cooking with the copper. They are so easy to heat, cook with, and clean. The small fry pan, in front, in the above photo, has a small area of exposed copper so we are trying to find someone that can re-tin the surface. There are places in the US that re-tin, so there must be someone here that can do it, as well.

Between these, and my cast iron pans, I am set for life.

PS: we have decided we are going to redo them ourselves. We can get the supplies we need right around the corner from the condo. I will let you know how they turn out.

We inherited the best shower heads ever! I have discovered, after a bit of work, that they are Helvex, with, I believe, seventy some little silicone schnozzles to drench us in a torrential downpour every morning!

When we first got here, we had every intention of changing out the heads because there was very little water coming through them. The mineral buildup was intense.

On Sunday evening, I placed the shower head from our bathroom into a reusable (of course) silicone “ziplock” bag, and let it rest until Monday morning. This is how it turned out.

With the best water pressure in the whole condo, we have a torrential down pour every morning. The perfect shower.

There are some parts of the city where you cannot go two blocks without some kind of “wings” restaurant. “Alita’s”, (wings), “Wing Stop”, “Pollo Felix”. You get the idea.

Every time we drive by one I tease Ivan that “one of these days we need to stop, and see what all of the fuss is about”. Usually does not get much response, not very often anyway. He could not possibly respond each time, as there are so many of these, we would not be able to talk about anything else! (LOL)

Wings are very popular in southern Texas as well. Within the few blocks surrounding our hotel, there were at least five chicken restaurants, most of them featuring wings as the top sellers.

Not sure why wings are such an attraction though. They are mostly bone, and skin. I do suppose that they are small enough that you could have several different flavors without having to eat half a chicken. Not a bad idea. That is my thought on the subject.

Why do you think wings are so popular. I would like to know your thoughts.