Home, Art, Music and Fun- Winter 2018

This picture just about says it!  We ARE happy as clams!  Our address this year is #15 Almejas.  Almejas means clams.  We love our neighborhood and our home here.  We have all kinds of neighbors-Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Full Time Ex-Pats and us Part Timers.  We have fishermen, sailors, vacationers, worker bees and old time original San Carlos families.  It is an interesting mix.

Here is a good example of some fun vecinos (neighbors):

Jim and I, Enrique and Sondra, Ron and Kathi-trying to create
a selfie!

One of the things I do every week is join a local group of Plein Air painters, who now have become good friends.  This day we went to Beth's ranchito casita to explore flow art.  It was a huge mess, so her place with its large dirt yard was perfect for this project.

I just love her place.  It is very much an artist's home, with the inside
full of her various paintings and other art projects.

She set up a great space for us to fill plastic cups with different colors
of paint, add acetone or alcohol and then tip it slowly upside down
on a canvas, moving the canvas around to create a flowing mess of paint.

Rosie, our teacher for this project is
demonstrating how to move the canvas.

 Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch and displaying of our masterpieces.

Diane, Rosie, Laura, Joyce (Diane's sister who was visiting) and Yvonne.
Judy is in the middle-interesting expression on her face!

Norma and Beth are here for this picture.  Such a great space!

 Some of our results:

 Not to be outdone by art, mother nature continues to amaze us every single day here.  The sunrises and sunsets are just wonderful!

One of our neighbors, Bill Neubauer, bought a lot down the street and created a work of art of his own-a beautiful desert garden.

We walked down with neighbors, Sue and Kathi, to participate in The Womens' March Rally on January 20th to coincide with the National March.

Bought the T shirt!

One of the larger yachts going by our place

Jim got this tripod at the thrift store to steady his camera and binoculars.

Some days are a little cooler than others.
Cheryl and Bill got me this great coat for
Christmas and I wear it on the terrace a lot.

 We were going to go out on the new Pinto/Enwall boat, but it was too windy to be safe, so we all went for a hike in the desert.  It was a beautiful new area of San Carlos we hope to see more of.

And back to their house for a great brunch of breakfast
sandwiches.

 Later that day, we went for the first time to Garry and Nancy's party in an area of town behind the Best Western that has a community or two of condos.  All the Mexican bands in town played for a large crowd.  A chili cook-off fed the crowd.  It was a great spot for eating, dancing and enjoying the local artists perform.

Even the kids had a good time.

The next art event was at my house:

 The next day brought us such a gift:  dolphins playing in our front yard!  Mesmerizing.

There is a spot up in the desert behind Diane's hacienda where there is a Cardon Giant Cactus forest.
I went up there to paint but I got into "the zone" and just sat there and looked at the cacti, amazed by their size and beauty.  I hope to get back to that project.

This cloud formation blew me away.

 On Saturdays, Rescate hosts a farmer's market and craft fair for us.  We were visited this day by some Yaqui native children who danced for us.

And no day is complete without a walk on the beach.

A happy group of Super Bowl party goers at Joe and Margene's house

We went out to the La Manga fishing camp for another day of painting.  Norma, in particular, attracted a large group of local families who were interested in learning more about what we were doing.  It was a cold, cloudy day and most of us were trying to paint boats-really difficult!

And in true fishing camp style, we had a coca cola!

 In the midst of all of this were market visits, dinners with friends, kayaking, art shows, gazing at stars, dentist visits, shopping and dancing among other things.  Our very favorite thing however, is spending time with the pooch!

And, as always, a picture of our little Boo, napping
in the afternoon sunshine on our bed!