Me and You and a Dog Named Boo: Day of the Dead through Thanksgiving

Although many of my favorite people in Boulder have November birthdays, no one was "doing it up" quite like Cindy Nugent for her 70th. Alot of November was about celebrating at various venues with Cindy. So much so, as a matter of fact, that Cindy's birthday celebrations require a post of their own (stay tuned). There were lots of things going on this month.....that had nothing to do with Cindy's birthday.

DAY OF THE DEAD

This was an altar to Juan Gabriel, a famous Mexican singer
who died last year. He had just bought property on the sea,
right down the street from us when he died. We have heard
recently that Leo DiCaprio was looking at the property! Wouldn't
that be something if we were neighbors of Leo's (ha! There are
always a ton of rumors going around in San Carlos)

Our art group got together at Margene's to learn print making
with a Day of the Dead theme.

Margene designed, Love on a Leash, and I printed it. She is one talented lady!

Our altar at home

My original print-it's a crazy chicken or turkey

We had a Dia de los Muertos party at our house.

I seated 7 of us for the first time-not easy!

A great picture of Katie (our landlady
and friend) on a spooky night

BEACHES AND OTHER FUN VENUES

Jim in the shade below our house-a fine day for snorkeling

Enjoying sunrises

And pelicans

One day we watched as the herring came in when thousands of birds
fed on them below our house. The next day, the beach was littered with
bodies of the ones who didn't survive, just washed ashore! Since Boo walked
through the bodies, he sure needed a shower when we got home that day!

There were weddings at the event center on the beach below..

And spectacular fireworks!

Parties at friends' houses (note Allison's new kitty on the table!)

and parties with Boo!

AND NOT SUCH FUN VENUES

A speeding ticket!!!! Going 84K in a 62K zone. Everyone speeds in Mexico
(except for a few very, very slow old Mexican drivers). People usually go
at least 20 mph over the speed limit. But, with our luck, this day started
a real crack down on speeding and we were caught with a radar gun.
We were told to go to thispolice station but it was closed for business.
A man in the back room showed us a book where the fine was
the equivalent of about $75. We got out of there for half price.
I'm sure it went right into the pockets of the two cops.

SHOPPING

Buying oranges...
These were green but made terrific juice!

And shrimp! We have been told that Empalme was the
best place to buy them but we weren't as happy with
these shrimp as we are with Tony's, which we buy locally,
but are more expensive. Tony is a Mexican man who
originally sold fish and produce out of his truck.
Last year he opened a great little outdoor store near where
we live this year. He apparently couldn't make a go of it,
so found another smaller venue where he takes orders for fish
and has a little Coco stand (for seafood cocktails served
in a coconut shell).

AND STAY-CATIONS

Boats to watch..

and sunsets!!

Sunrises

Birds to discover!

And dolphins jumping!

MORE OUTINGS

Horses in the desert

And paintings of cows!

Tidepools to discover!

Fresh vegetable market at Loma del Mar

And the Oaxaca market at Soriana's

Nights for dressing up...(very rare)

And watching the sky and the water turn pink

AND THANKSGIVINGS

We celebrated one with Cindy and her family, (Jack, Karla, Ellie and Jackson), as well as Leslie and Pat, but didn't get a single picture since we were so busy creating, serving and celebrating. The next day we went to Diane's hacienda/horse ranch to celebrate with 30 of her closest friends.

Diane in a simply gorgeous orange lace dress!
The girl knows how to have a party!

Some of the little ones

The venue
Her ranch includes stables for about 12 horses, a hangar
for a few planes, a building for the bedroom, another for
the kitchen, a garden or two or three, many porches, and a
margarita deck.