Lakeside to visit

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Ken could not sleep after he woke-up at about 4:00 am.








Then when i woke up around seven or seven thirty he fell back to sleep. I was anxious to get up, talk to Niki, pet the dogs and also get another view of her wonderful home. It is a two bedroom home - one up and one on the main floor.

The upstairs bedroom is the master with a huge walk-in closet. The master bath has a jetted tub plus a shower. There is lots of light coming in this spaces area. The home has a courtyard. Much of the terrazzo is tiled and has a counter with a sink. The metal bound windows are arched, as are the livingroom double doors. She has two fireplaces (livingroom and bedroom). There are brick ceilings with beams, I am sure this has a special name.

There are several copulas, a big one in the kitchen with a fan. The livingroom/diningroom features a staircase hugging a curved wall which leads to the second story. It has a wrought iron railing with fused glass inserts looking like coloured jewels. There is an outside mirador with the same wrought iron railing.

She has a downstairs office that could be another bedroom as there is an attached bathroom. The kitchen and bathrooms have Puebla style tiles, the kitchen has two painted scenes of traditional, Mexican village life, made out of tile. She has stainless steel appliances and lots of cupboard space both in the kitchen and in other areas. It is gorgeous, I love it! It is all totally enclosed by a high fence topped with concertina razor wire, so safe and secure, too

Niki made us breakfast. We chatted for a lengthy amount of time then had coffee or tea.  Then we had the best chocolate brownies I do believe that I have even had. We all then went to the Chili Cook Off (36th annual). We were distracted by many stores and other attractions along the way.  By the time we actually got to the gate and heard there was no chili left we decided not to go into the Cook Off. We did lots of walking that day. The dogs, Meesha Marie and Jack Joseph were very well behaved and drew an audience several times. They were showing off and were impressive. We went to Super Lake and Walmart while Niki stayed outside with the pooches. After lunch at her home Ken and I walked into Chapala -very busy on a Sunday. Back at Niki's Ken and I cooked supper. Niki started the barbecue. Ken pan fried the potatoes and I fried up the fish (amber jack) on the barbecue. Good day all around!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Niki made Ken a big breakfast with bacon and eggs. I had granola with dried fruit. Once ready we drove to Niki's friends home - Kelly and Randy which do do live very far away from Niki's home. We  also met Kelly's sister Pat who was visiting from Delaware.  We sat and sipped coffee flavoured tequila, never tried that before. Pat showed us the quilts she brought with her as gifts. Very friendly, nice people. Kelly's husband Randy and Ken seemed to get along fine, too.

We then drove to the Chapala Market, parking at Soriana. I was not over the top hot like the last time we were at this market. All three of us ate at a vendor selling fish and shrimp tacos. Niki bought two crates of strawberries. Once home the three of us took the green tops off all the strawberries. We went for a walk to Walmart and Super Lake for groceries we need for supper. Meanwhile Niki prepared the berries for fermentation into wine.

We had big sandwiches, actually those two had hamburgers and I had some of the left over fish. Another great day!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Niki was gone to Spanish lessons when we woke-up.










The construction site next door was a bit noisy today. We found out later they were installing the big, metal garage doors (not like those NOB). We ate breakfast and got ready for the day. By that time Niki was home.

The three of us, minus the pooches, went to pick up Kelly and Pat. Kelly had bananas and biscuits for us. Niki drove us about a third of the way to Guadalajara to a huge warehouse which was for fabric. The fabric was piled on pellets. We ll bought something - Niki bought material to fix her backpack and purple material for curtains. I bought a huge amount of different coloured headbands. It was an interesting drive as Kelly was pointing out landmarks, etc. to her Sister, Pat, and me.

Ken went with Randy into Guadalajara he is Kelly's husband. The technology mall and Costco were the main places they went.

We walked around the neighborhood and ran into a variety of other loose dogs. From cute to down right scary.

Just a quick note on the weather here so far. It seems a bit cooler than the coast because of the lack of humidity. The evenings are definitely cooler, you need a sweater. During the day it is hot and you need a hat if walking in the direct sun. It is in the low thirty degree Celsius temperature range. Where as the PV area is a bit cooler according the the weather app but it feels a lot hotter because of the humidiy.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The three of us went to Dental Express together.










Niki dropped her backpack off at the shoemaker not far from where we stayed last spring. Everyone was pleased with their 150 peso dental cleaning experience by trained dentists. My teeth appeared and felt very clean. While Niki was getting her teeth cleaned I was privileged to be able to take Meesh on the leash.  She listened to me but was very interested in what was happening with Niki and Jack.

We took Niki out for lunch to an Italian restaurant. They have a big table in the back where they make fresh pasta. Our meals were very good. Mine was arugula pesto with shrimp on fettichini noodles. Those two had bogolonas sauce (tomato and meat).

We all took a walk and walked passed a home in Mirasol that I have been checking out on the internet for several years (I did not get to ever look at the house because while we were in the Lakeside area the owners were not available. Too bad for them). On our way back to Niki's some of her friends or neighbors were out in their yard. They are famous for making some wonderful beer. They gave her some, lucky girl.

Niki made supper of handmade biscuits and a red sauce with garlic - yum. We had a jovial evening watching TV and a Leonard Cohen DVD. I got to sit on Niki's love-seat with Jack the dog and Meesha up beside me. I was in doggie heaven.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

We got up kind of late.








It is surprising because of the constant hammering on the construction site next door. Are they hammering out the little valleys in the concrete walls for electrical wires? The is our best guess at to what is being hammered.

We drove into Ajijic today. Shade parking is hard to find, actually parking was hard to find. Walking around the main square of Ajijic was delightful. We discovered metal animals around the main kiosk, along with other art we did not notice before. We toured the community art centre too.

Ajijic Tango was where we ate lunch. It was its efficient self with delicious food. Always lovely art by local artists on the walls. Our walk on the malecon was uneventful except for seeing the white pelicans.

It was really hot and we drove to Azul Fridas for big aqua frescas.

Our evening out was with the Breakfast Club. We had pre-ordered meals at Adilidas. Ken had great ribs. We met Richard and Annie. Richard was in the Vietnam war in 1967 and 1968. He also lived in Hawaii. We also sat outside at this restaurant as we did last time we went to a Breakfast Club outing. We walked back to Niki's at dusk.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Today we decided we should leave and move on.








I have mixed feelings about this decision - I love this area and want to explore and put down some roots, yet we took out the calendar and realized we must be homeward bound. It takes a long time to drive that far and we want to explore other areas both in Mexico and the USA.

We explored downtown Ajijic and a few restaurants settling on one near the lake. Great service, less than desirable food. During our walk we saw Raul, our real estate agent, and we greeted each other. Nice to see him.

Ken took the car in for a it of a chemical sponge bath. We had rubber tree sap on the windows and these fellows cleaned it up good. In the hour and a half of waiting we returned to Azul Frida's Restaurant. We talked to the English speaking waitress about Mexico, its trails and tribulations politically - she is very sweet. Returning to Pepe the van we saw a little black puppy tied to a pole on the side of the carratera (highway, and main thoroughfare for Ajijic area). Poor little guy! When I finished petting him he put up a horrendous fuss and noise. I was walking to talk to Ken about perhaps taking him to an animal shelter, etc. The guy who works in the nearby liquor store told me the little pup did not have an owner and he had seen someone tie him up there. The person then went away. Meanwhile another Gringa was with the pup. I walked over and told her that the dog she was petting did not have an owner, and asked her if she could take him to Anita's Animal Shelter. Another Extrajero couple came on the scene and between the three of them the pup was rescued. I know whichever home he went to for the night he would have been well cared for and pampered. He would have been taken to the animal shelter in the morning.

We bought some liquor to take to home. Niki made us great open face burritos, the green sauce made them. We talked and watched and "Eagles" DVD. The would be our last night at Niki's unfortunately.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

We woke up knowing we were moving on again, from Niki's and from the Lakeside area. We sat and chatted with Niki until after 1:00 pm. Her an I exchanged business cards - she is a dog trainer. She showed us how Jack the dog could go through the weave poles and other obedience tricks. I said good-bye to Jack and Meesha, her two pooches. We did a group hug of us three humans as a hug good-bye. We hope to meet again in the fall. Ken and I helped clean up the room Niki to kindly let us use for the week. Other guests will be following us next week.

Lunch along the carritera was our last Lakeside act, then off to Guadalajara. It is sad to leave as we really like it in this area and enjoyed our stay at Niki's. We will definitely want to return. Then just before we left we realized we forgot to pick up our laundry at the purple painted house near where we stayed last year. That would have been great - driving back from who knows where for our laundry.

Our hilltop hotel El Tapatio is safe, clean and on-line the price is discounted. It is forty years old. The shuttle took us to Tlaquepaque. Once downtown we felt quite at home as we have been there several times in the passed. It is quite an arty place and we toured several wonderful stores. One thing I did not get a picture of was a wonderful couch and two chairs. They were done in a classic Equipale Mexican style but not is the regular leather material. Mostly they were upholstered in the Chiapas state classic embroidered flower material. The arms, being a high wear area, were upholstered in sometime of suede.

Our supper was bought on the street. Ken had two hot dogs at the usual street vendor. I tried a tamale rojo and also tried steamed, green garbanzo beans - yum.