Punta El Custodio & Jalapeno Chiles

There is a small bend in the road between Las Varas Nayarit and San Blas Nayarit called Punta El Custodio. Keith and I had pulled over there once on a road trip from Scottsdale to Puerto Vallarta. What looks like a small local beach with no close town is actually a front for a very exclusive and expensive couple of Villa’s. It also serves some nearby local tourists. But my guess this place is pretty sleepy except on occasion. It is beautiful. I would expect that being on an estuary it might get buggy and smelly on occasion, but I am still impressed by its beauty.

Bill and Charlotte drove us up there last week for a look around and Keith snapped this great photo. Now even though this is not tourist season, it was still very very slow for a Saturday. Keith and I were last there in mid March 2008 and it was no different. After we drove up to the gates of the secluded Villa, we drove back towards Las Varas and stopped to take the 9 kilometer dirt road to Playa Tortuga. Along the way we passed a Jalapeno Chile field. There happened to be men out working the field and we happened to be looking for jalapeno plants. We had been to 3 nurseries and they don’t carry them. They told us to start them from seed. Well, that already been tried and fail, we thought BONAZA! We hit the jack pot. The farmers had just finished planting their last plants and had several left over that they were happy to give us along with instructions and a liter of pre-mixed fertilizer. Bill gave them 20 pesos and we took home 15 tiny little plants. Only 2 look like they will make it. But it was a lovely experience all the same. Reason 43 that we will live in Mexico. Farmers delight in sharing.

The Wet Season

Call me a freak, but the wet season in Guayabitos is one of my favorite things.

As the sun goes down, the critters come out. Our first sign was this green frog in the chive planter. He still had not left come noon, so I hosed him down good and he finally went back into the jungle. Later that night the smaller brown frogs started scaling the 2 stories up to the Mirador. The first time I saw one advance over the wall, I was fascinated. The second one that jumped onto my calf was terrifying.

The mornings are like walking a trap line or pulling crab pots. You never know what you are going to find. I race out the door just after sun up to see what has crawled upstairs and has either died from the poison Bill sprays or I catch snoozing. I found signs of a large iguana, but didn't spot him until a few days later when Bill and Keith came screaming like little girls for me to come remove the big lizard from the bodega. I was able to toss a piece of cucumber down his gullet while he hissed at me. After his snack he left with a little encouragement of my stick. He was also sporting a new stubby tail, so it doest look like this was his first brush with adversity.

and cried wee wee wee, all the way home.

Phoenix is not home, but it is where we work and collect mail.
It's getting harder and harder for me to leave Mexico. Keith promises that within 3 years time I won’t have too. This trip was no different. We arrived into Puerto Vallarta as scheduled, full of joy, breathing in the humidity and the smell of aviation fuel mixed with burning garbage and grilled meats.
I shall over the course of the next several days write about some of our adventures and observations, but for now I am in mourning. A deep dark bout with grief. For a good deal of the flight back to Phoenix, my eyes leaked. People must have thought that I had either recently been a kidnapped victim or I had been quarantined for the flu. My poor husband has had to deal with this weakness in me since the first time he ever took me to Mexico. He stays close to me and just keeps handing out tissues. Comforting me as if I just burried a loved one.
I had planned on blogging while we were in Guayabitos, but I become a jealous lover of my time in Country. I did not want to share a moment away from my surroundings.
I don’t know if it is the reality of work and life as usual, stopping at Walgreen's to find everything that I want all in the right place. No unusual retail groupings, like hair color and canned tuna. All is perfect here in the United States of America. A fault I cannot overlook, but tolerate only with the anticipation of our next trip south.

Mexican Laundry Products

I am not persnickety about much, but one hang up I do have is the smell of my laundry. I would pack extra clothes to Mexico just to have them laundered so I could breath in the scent of Mexico when I returned home to Alaska. Now that we live in Arizona, I am able to replicate that aroma because all the same detergents and softeners are available here. This is my latest favorite. Reason 12 why we will live in Mexico. They have way better smelling laundry products than the USA.

Mission Marmalade Accomplished!

I made Limequat/Jalapeno marmalade for Mothers Day. I have to find something to do with the limequats. I consider myself a pretty good cook, but I have an aversion to baking or anything that might require an exact measurement. My nemesis is that gang of spoons with numbers on them. They lay in wait year after year in my drawer, taunting me with their perfect math and righteousness. I punish them by leaving them in the dark and winging my recipes. We will soon find out if my spite prevails. This batch of marmalade required me to try several things I have never attempted before. Using stuff called pectin and canning. I recall my mother canning ions ago and our neighbors in Alaska used to can salmon all summer long. I should have paid more attention in both cases. If this modified recipe works out I will post it. The directions on the pectin say that I should wait 2 weeks for it to set up properly. We will be in Mexico then, so I am taking 1 jar with us.

Limequats

My Limequat tree is crazy. This little tree I planted 2 years ago produces lots and lots of fruit all the time, non-stop. I need to find a good way to use the fruit. I was thinking about making a marmalade with jalapeno peppers in it for a little zing. This tree is very hardy and is tolerant to my murderous pruning. Does any one out there have any recipe suggestions and have you seen this plant used in Mexico. I would really like to have a few down there when we move.

Enough with the hair!

So, I bet no one else can say that within the last 96 hours that your hair has been the same colors as the Mexican flag. Me, yes only me can probably say that. On Saturday morning, it was white. One Saturday afternoon it was green. Today it is a dark red. It is way better than the Barbie doll brown it was. And a far better look than green. Notice that I am well qualified to drive in Mexico as I show my prowless for driving and taking self photos.

Green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I Am.

No, this is not about eggs or ham, but rather green hair. For the first time in all my life I have experienced a box color emergency. A few weeks back I posted my new-do as a platinum blonde. That was fun for about a week, and then I felt like it made me look old. So while we were at the grocery store, I picked up a box of Ash Blonde and headed home to get my youth back. Just for the record, green hair makes me look old and weird. Something had to be done and at once. I put on my favorite hat and headed back to the store for more liquid youth restorer. Needless to say, this color is slightly better than the green, but is still not normal. I have placed a frantic call to my stylist to see if she can repair this mess. Oh well, again another lesson that I might just need in preparation for our move to Mexico.

Update: I have an appointment this afternoon for repair. Stay tuned...