Greetings From Rincon de Guayabitos, Mexico

Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year.

We hope your Christmas season is fun and festive and we wish you health and happiness in 2015.

Whatever is beautiful -
Whatever is meaningful -
Whatever brings you happiness -

May it be yours this holiday season and throughout the coming year.

Love and hugs, Jeanette and Bruce

Very Young Military Cadets

When I got up yesterday morning, a bunch of Military Cadets were gathered together on the beach in front of us. 

Before too long, they were busy practicing their manoeuvers.

 

At one point, all the cadets were huddled together in a patch of long grass that is loaded with prickly burrs. 

After doing a bunch of squats and rolling around on the ground, they had sand and burrs everywhere.  Just before leaving, the cadets were busy trying to get all the annoying burrs and sand out of their pants, shirts and socks.  I know from experience that these burrs are extremely difficult to remove from clothing.  They really and truly do stick like glue.

 

Eventually the guys formed a line and headed back down the beach to wherever they were staying.

In Mexico, cadets are recruited at a young age in preparation for a stint in the military.

I'm Back !

I know I've really been slacking off lately 'cause my mind just hasn't been into writing.  Today my daughter dropped me a note telling me to get blogging 'cause she's in need of a fix, so here goes. 

My buddy, Maggie sent me a link to this video and song titled "I don't look good naked anymore".   I know most of us can relate to this, so turn up your sound and have a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OOgd9hitEAE?rel=0

Another Wall Gets Raised

Over the years, I've had to look at an ugly brick wall on the adjacent lot.  Last year we had the wall near the ocean raised and this year we decided to get the wall by our pool elevated too.  I was just so tired of looking at the eyesore that can be seen in the following photos.

Our existing courtyard wall is about six feet high, but not nearly high enough to block out these grungy, unplastered bricks.

 

At the beginning of the week, the boys arrived to start adding new bricks to our wall.  It wasn't long before they were picking away at the existing wall and getting the new bricks in place.
 

As you can see, there's not much room to work between the pool and wall, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Today Diego and Edgar are busy mixing mortar, sand and water which they then haul over to Javier who is plastering.  All the concrete and plaster gets mixed by hand right on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally I'm in a state of chaos once again.  There are bits of sand and concrete dust everywhere in the courtyard, and a lot of the debris is getting tracked into the house.  But it is going to be so worth it.

 

It's surprising how much warmer it is in the courtyard now.  There's very little breeze getting into the area, and after the wall gets painted white, it will be even warmer.  All the sweltering rays of the sun will get reflected off the wall during the day and heat the pool.

 

The whole area is really starting to feel like a private, tropical oasis with only the sky to look at above the raised wall.

Happy American Thanksgiving

Lyle, a friend of ours, sent us the following photo.  These kids are just too cute.

Many of our American friends, who spend the winters down here, will be celebrating Thanksgiving today.  

Sam's and Costco just happen to sell big, plump turkeys, so hundreds of expats can still prepare and enjoy their much loved, traditional Thanksgiving dinners while here.

Many Americans will no doubt be finishing off their dinners with a piece of good old fashioned pumpkin pie topped with whipped or ice cream.

The whole pie you are now looking at now was actually baked by my friend, Heather, who also lives in Qualicum Beach.   She sent me this photo last week to make me drool.  And it worked, because she truly does make wonderful, scrumptious pies whether sweet or savoury.

Heather's traditional French Canadian Tourtiere (pastry covered meat pie) is normally served on Christmas Eve.  It is a mouth watering, savoury pie that contains a yummy combination of chopped or ground meat, mashed potatoes and various other finely chopped veggies, herbs and spices.  

Because of all the horrible weather conditions in the States, our American friends will be truly thankful they are here to celebrate Thanksgiving 2014 and not back home.  They are avoiding mountains of white stuff, heavy snow packed roofs, horrible road conditions, clogged airports, flight delays, and now copious amounts of rainfall that is flooding everything in sight.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends down here.  We hope you enjoy every single bite of your delectable  turkey dinners this evening.

Delightful New Decor

This morning I went out for a swim and when I went back into Casa Que Sera, there was this tiny, new, chartreuse ornament on the shelf in the living room.

And it just happened to go very nicely with all my other limey green décor.

 

I guess the baby iguana had decided this shelf was the perfect place to sun himself.   It's a safe, warm spot between two windows where there's no fear of prey.   We decided to leave the little guy alone 'til it was ready to leave.

When I looked a couple of hours later, the little fellow was still there soaking up the warmth of the sun.

Banana Carrot Loaves

I tried a new loaf recipe today that turned out very dense and delicious.  The bread contains no oil or butter and is loaded with lots of "good for us" stuff.

I started out by spraying a couple of loaf pans, and then I lined the bottoms with parchment.

I combined all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in another bowl.

Then I gently folded everything together and spooned the fragrant batter into the prepared loaf pans.

I baked the bread for about an hour along with some Beef Ribs I was making for dinner.   Both things filled Casa Que Sera with enticing aromas.

 

When I took the Banana Carrot Loaves out of the oven, they were a lovely golden colour.

 

The loaves sliced beautifully and tasted every bit as good as they smelled while baking.

I think this is another "keeper".  The following recipes only makes 1 loaf.  I doubled the recipe to get two loaves.  

 

Banana Carrot Bread                               325°

1 1/3 cups flour

¾ cup rolled oats

1 tsp ground flax seeds

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp cayenne or a pinch of chili flakes

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup pecan pieces

1 cup toasted coconut

1/4 cups dried cranberries

3 ripe bananas (mashed)

1/4 cup honey

½ cup orange juice

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup grated carrots (squeeze all the juice out before adding)

whole flax seeds (optional) 

Spray or butter a loaf pan and line bottom with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, oats, ground flax seeds, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, baking soda, baking powder, pecan pieces, coconut and cranberries.  In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the wet ingredients: bananas, honey, orange juice, egg and vanilla.  To this, add the grated carrots.  Combine wet and dry ingredients.  Gently fold the ingredients until a thickened batter forms.  Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and top with a sprinkling of flax seeds (optional).  Bake for 60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.   Slice and serve plain or spread on a mixture of honey and cinnamon.

Grupo Vidanta & Cirque du Soleil

Bruce recently came across an article I'd like to share with you.

NUEVO VALLARTA, Mexico, Nov. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/-- Cirque du Soleil, a leading entertainment company, and Grupo Vidanta, a leading developer of world-class resorts and tourism infrastructure in Mexico, today announced plans to construct and operate a first-of-its-kind immersive theme park experience in Nuevo Vallarta. The entertainment experience, which is still in development, may include water park and nature park elements and will feature an outdoor evening show accommodating as many as 3,000 to 5,000 spectators. Each experience within the entertainment park will be animated by Cirque du Soleil artists and follow a common storyline.

Grupo Vidanta is offering us an amazing sandbox in which we can unleash our creativity," said Guy Laliberte, founder of Cirque du Soleil. "Both our groups strive for perfection. Grupo Vidanta is passionate and cares for the environment. We set ourselves the challenge of creating something unlike anything the world has seen before."

The entertainment park will create thousands of new jobs in the Mexican state of Nayarit and was imagined to encourage tourism visitation to the region. Construction is expected to be complete in 2018.

Grupo Vidanta is a leading developer and operator of world-class luxury resorts, properties and tourism infrastructure in Mexico and Latin America. Founded in 1974 by Daniel Chavez Moran, Grupo Vidanta was conceived with a vision of creating extraordinary experiences and inspiring generations of happiness. Today, Grupo Vidanta employs more than 12,000 people and operates membership-based resort properties in Mexico's most sought-after luxury beach destinations. Grupo Vidanta's resort and hotel brands include AAA Four Diamond and AAA Five Diamond Award winning Grand Luxxe, The Grand Bliss, The Grand Mayan, The Bliss, Mayan Palace, Ocean Breeze and Sea Garden, with more in development.

Vidanta Golf is the largest golf course operator in Mexico with three Jack Nicklaus designs and an in-development Greg Norman course.

The company's real estate division has built and sold more than 2,000 vacation homes and its construction division developed Mexico's first privately built and owned airport, Mar de Cortes International Airport in Puerto Penasco, and the Vidanta Theater in Riviera Maya. Grupo Vidanta's innovative partnership with Cirque du Soleil has produced JOYA, the first resident Cirque du Soleil culinary and theatrical experience in Mexico, and will yield a large entertainment park currently under development in Nuevo Vallarta.

JOYÀ follows the adventures of a rebellious teenage girl whisked away to a mysterious jungle in her grandfather’s fantastical world. Surrounded by a strange band of half-human, half-animal assistants, the extravagant naturalist is on a relentless quest for the meaning of life.

 

When the reluctant Joyà finds herself in this strange land where logic has no bearing, she must face a series of outlandish challenges that her mischievous grandfather has secretly set out for her. Is she ready to take over the quest her granddad inherited from his own ancestors?

Inspired by the fabulous migratory journey of the monarch butterfly in which life is passed from one generation to the next to ensure the survival of the species, JOYÀ reveals a world inhabited by entrancing characters that work hand in hand to perpetuate the love of life.

 

JOYÀ – A thrilling, whimsical show in which joy, courage and friendship conquer all! 

 

JOYÀ opens November 21st and take residency exclusively at the Cirque du Soleil Theater in Riviera Maya near The Grand Mayan resort.