New Murals in Rincon de Guayabitos

We arrived this year to find that several beautiful murals had been painted on a wide wall on the main street of Guayabitos, down towards Coco's all inclusive hotel.

These murals are very colourful and really do tell a story about what there is to see and do in Guayabitos.

Still Hooked on Oilcloth

Did I ever tell you that Oilcloth has to be the absolute best fabric going?

 Down here, the scorching sun shows no mercy and torrential rains can pour for days, but nothing penetrates or damages the good old fashioned oilcloth that covers my outdoor tables.    

Birds can poop on it, messy kids can dribble and drop things on it and red wine often gets spilled on it, but nothing seems to harm oilcloth.  Just a quick wipe with a damp towel and my tablecloths are as good as new.

Oilcloth is so inexpensive that I can buy a piece of cloth, large enough to fit my tables, for 80 pesos or $6.40 Canadian.





























These pieces of oilcloth glammed up my tables for a recent dinner party I had and brought lots of colour to the evening.





My friend, Chely, made me these beautiful, reversible, bound oilcloth place mats to complement the tablecloths.

 

 Even though oilcloth is basically indestructible, and my tablecloths tend to last for years, I do like a change occasionally.

And my friend, Chely, of Unos Chely in La Peñita, just happens to carry a huge stock of oilcloth for me to choose from.  

This year, Chely replaced the dull, old, beige fabric that was on the cushions of these black chairs.
 

I chose this bright cobalt blue fabric for the cushions and this sky-blue and multi-coloured oilcloth for the top of the table.

Chely has designed many new bags this year, and has changed things up a bit, so if you want to see a sample of some of her oilcloth and bags that she carries, go to her Facebook page to have a look. 

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Usos-Chely/531115096903490 

Chely told me that her husband will have a bunch of her newest bags at the tianguis this Thursday, so I'll be there for sure.

Tropical Fruit Season

November is a prime month for fruit lovers in this part of Mexico.

It seems that everything is ripe and being sold everywhere right now.  There are trucks parked up and down the main street of La Peñita selling pineapple, papaya, strawberries, limes, apples, oranges, guavas, cantaloupe, mandarins and bananas.  Vendors are also selling many of these fruits at the Thursday market.

 

Last Thursday, I bought a wonderful selection of these fresh, tropical fruits on the street corners and at the tianguis.

 

I remember most of the prices, but not all of them.   A regular size Watermelon was $2.00 and the larger ones were  $2.40 Canadian

 

Cantaloupes and Pineapples were 3 for 15 pesos or $1.20 Canadian for 3 ripe, juice cantaloupes or pineapples.

 

Papayas were $1.20 Canadian each 

 

Small Mexican Apples were 7.2¢ Canadian a lb

 

Mandarins were 10 pesos per kilo so that works out to be about 3.6¢ Canadian a lb

 

Tunas were 11¢ Canadian a lb

 

Passion fruit was also 11¢ Canadian a lb

 

 Strawberries were 9¢ Canadian a lb

 

Guavas were 3¢ a lb

Bananas were 2.5¢ a lb




























And a huge crate of juice oranges was 110 pesos or about $8.80 Canadian for a 40 lb box of oranges.  That works out to be about 2.2¢ an orange.





I didn't ask the price of the grapefruit or limes, but I know they would be in about the same range as oranges. 

 

I also forgot to price the pomegranates, but because they are grown down here, I know the price would be really reasonable.

 

These low prices are why I'm always in shock when I first get back to Canada and  have to pay such high supermarket prices.

We are so fortunate to have all this fresh fruit for six months of the year.  Yesterday I made this yummy salad with some of the fruit I bought last week.