Wednesday December 5, 2012

Wednesday December 5/12  update #305

I had all great intentions again today but ended up staying by the camera and the computer.   I did get a pretty decent shot of Tom Thumb, hope you like it.  I spent a lot of time on different variations but kept only this one.

I am just sick!!   I finally had to cancel my proposed photography tour to Saraguro for Dec 21.   I only had 9 others committed but, as soon as I cancelled it, 4 more held up their hand….   These 13 are really keen to go and one couple wants to go with just the 4 of us.   So I am still trying to get something worked out if we can find a 15 passenger van……

I got really upset yesterday and today with GringoTree now gouging expats for 5c a letter to post an ad!   And they think this is fair!!  Gringos sticking it to Gringos is just too common here and I refuse to put up with it.    We have already quit frequenting many Gringo businesses that have priced themselves out of the market.   

I was also very upset with the Saraguro Tourist office who must see dollar signs when they see Gringos.  They quoted us over double the price for a guide and two measly lunches that we would pay here.   

Then family problems over my Mom's care expenses.   I am definitely not a happy camper over that either.

It has not been a good day.    I better go to bed before anything else hits the fan.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.  

Tuesday December 4, 2012

Tuesday December 4/12  update #304

I was up at 6am and worked until about 11am when the Internet went down in the middle of my photo uploads.  So Bella had just gone off to buy the turkey for Christmas dinner when I decided to go to Coral myself and get myself a new optical mouse.  My computer says my fancy laser mouse is broken and it won’t recognize it so a change was necessary.   I ended up with an optical wired mouse for $4.73.  I got in the Express line-up with only one man in front of me but after 10 minutes of ridiculousness, I went into another line-up and still beat them.

Bella found a turkey with some fancy inscription so she asked Jorge what it meant and he told her this turkey had double the breast meat…  Does this mean it is genetically engineered??? 

Bella was about to leave for her bridge game after lunch when I got a call from Emilie at Hearts Of Gold asking for a favor.  They wanted some urgent photos of a rather large painting hanging at Joe’s Secret Garden, made by some children they sponsor, which may be raffled off at the Gala on Thursday.  I said I would join Bella on her trip over there momentarily and get that looked after, which I did immediately upon entering.

Today was the third installment of Bella’s bridge instruction and (I was shocked) she asked me to stay and turn cards for the bridge players since I am there anyway, so I said OK.   Bear in mind that Bella has never wanted me within sniffing range of a bridge table…. It is the kiss of death for spouses to play bridge in the same vicinity, something about justifiable homicide rules applying….   Anyway, I ended up doing more than just turning cards, I was actually playing hands somewhat nervously, and making the bids, but I definitely needed help with the initial bidding and Bella was just great about it all.   I was very impressed with her manner of instruction, very informative and with solid reason to back every instruction.   It is a game I would probably enjoy but I don’t want to run afoul of the Boss.

We headed to El Centro, meeting Manon at the bus stop so we all rode together.  Around San Francisco market I picked up a couple more Xmas presents destined for Canada in January.

We had made plans to meet Jay and have supper at La Vina but we sadly found the premises locked up tight.  Bella had heard that the Café Austria a block away had good food so we took a chance on it.  We ran into our friend Rommie, freshly arrived after 40 hours of travel from Australia, so we had a short reunion.  Once we got seated we all tried the day’s special of Hungarian Goulash, with salad, soup, and dessert.   It wasn’t bad, but not much different than a usual almuerzo around here.

We caught the #3 home but were asleep at the switch when it got to our stop and we didn’t disembark.  Oh well, we had a sightseeing trip to the end of the line to the east and back.   The driver just gave us a curious look but didn’t say anything or make us pay again.

The new mouse works very well….

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Monday December 3, 2012

Hmmmmmm, has anybody seen yesterday's Blog???   Somehow it disappeared........   I know it wasn't much and there were no photos but it is upsetting nonetheless.

Monday December 3/12  update #303

It is getting so frustrating to go to bed and be awake an hour or two later but yet I refuse to get hooked on pills again.  I am forcing myself to stay in bed and doze away, so I didn’t get up until 10am and actually felt quite refreshed.

Bella was off for groceries this morning then had to head out again for her bridge instruction classes again.  She has 4 tables of 4 people each, but is certain that a few will drop out as they do not have the memory to retain the information necessary.   Bella is very patient but the fact is that most people can’t absorb everything necessary to even begin to comprehend the correct way to play the game.  This isn’t rummy or hearts, and Bella is a Life Master is trying to retrain a lot of bad habits.

It is such a glorious day today, an eternal reminder as to why we moved here.  We don’t miss working or shoveling snow one bit.   We will admit that we miss the beauty of a fresh snowfall, hoar frost, the Rockies, and the deer in our back yard.  For a photographer, there are few places we could live so well and have so much to do every day.

While the sun is to the south of us I will continue to try to get the magic formula to get a definitive shot of Tom Thumb bathed in sunlight to show off his colours.  I got a few decent shots today, but not the perfect shot that I strive for.

I started to play Mr Fix-It today too, screwing down the seats of our dining room chairs.  They had been badly held by small staples and I got fed up with them always coming loose.   Then Bella had two school photos of Kim’s kids framed so I had to mount those on the wall.   Now I have to get photos of all my grandkids too.

Bella made nachos for supper, a perennial favorite to our palates, but without sour cream it just wasn’t the same.  She said Coral doesn’t carry sour cream, can you believe it?

I am trying to organize this trip to Saraguro but was shocked at the price quoted by their local Tourist Bureau for a guide, a snack and a local lunch.  Nothing is ever getting easier for me any more it seems.   I am going to have to sleep on what response to make.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Saturday December 1, 2012

Saturday December 1/12  update #302

I spent most of the day trying unsuccessfully to find some plug-ins to augment my PhotoShop arsenal while Bella  went to teach her first class on bridge lessons.

In the afternoon I also headed west and stopped in at Manon’s to sell a couple of raffle tickets before settling in to do my job at Joe’s Secret Garden.   Joseph mentioned that one couple was upset at having their photo put on Joe’s Facebook page and asked that the photo be removed and to be removed from Joe’s email list.  It is no doubt one of 3 couples that refuse to have their photos taken, don’t know what they have to hide….   Anyway I was pleased to see that this did not faze Joseph.  Joseph wants mostly crowd shots, which is pretty much all I did last week, knowing I was risking the ire of any of the 3 couples, but heck, that is my job.   Everyone else enjoys having their pictures taken in a good-natured way and it is a real pain to try to shoot around those other folks.   Tonight I did a combination of group and couples shots, that seems to be what most of the people want.

The supper tonight was the famous Southern Fried Chicken and we all stuffed our faces pretty good.   We also had interesting company at our table, all world travelers, so the conversations were lively.

Today was just a glorious day weather-wise but the evening cooled off nicely.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Friday November 30, 2012

Friday November 30/12  update #301

I thought I had bought a DVD of the TV miniseries “Empire”, 360 minutes long, but it wouldn’t play in either the DVD player or the computer.   It turns out the disc is completely blank!  From now on I will have every DVD checked before I buy them. 

Tom Thumb is continuing to visit much to my delight, although I am now convinced this is a new friend.  He isn’t frequenting the same haunts in the trees, nor is he chattering and singing from on high, like my old buddy did.   This one chatters on every approach to the window though and is not scared to be fed from my hand.   I hope he sticks around for a long while.

Bella is off on errands and to play bridge, leaving me to open the place for Rosa to do her bi-weekly cleaning.   They have switched to Fridays now so we will be splitting those duties monthly.

I then met Bella for our favorite burgers at Big Kabuda’s.   Bella informed me that she found a store near the University that sells quilling supplies as she is anxious to teach Carolina this craft.

When we caught the bus home we were fortunate to find seats as the bus soon filled up to the brim with folks heading for El Valle.  We took lessons from the school kids when we had to barge our way through to disembark.

We are already making plans for Xmas dinner and have already filled our guest list.   We don’t have enough chairs for any more anyway.

No photos today.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    

Thursday November 29, 2012

Thursday November 29/12  update #300

After forcing myself to stay in bed until 8am I hurried to do my uploads, emails and chores as hurriedly as I could since I was determined to get out of the house today.

There was a strange helicopter that buzzed by and landed on the hill where the amusement park had been set up last month.  There was a great cloud of dust and then they lifted off again about 10 minutes later.   This is only the second helicopter we have seen here, and the other is the police helicopter which has been conspicuous by its absence in recent months.

I heard from my buddy Chris that he is recovering well from his hernia surgery on Monday.   That is a relief I am sure for Bettye who relies on Chris for many things.

I met Jay Shink in front of Immaculate Conception and we started roaming from there.   I bought two of the pan flute CD’s and got them autographed for gifts.  Then we wandered west to San Sebastian Square, checked out the church and park before going into the Museum Of Modern Art.  There were some very interesting impressionist pieces today but also some realism that was so incredible they looked like a photograph.

Otorongo Plaza appears to be setting up for some sort of fair, probably starting tomorrow.

We headed over to La Condemine to see my Maypole sculpture then we went by that macabre museum which had doors and windows open so we could witness some of its ghoulish contents.

I then took Jay to Almacen Ochoa to buy himself a switchblade for $5, just like I have.   Next we started to ask around to find him a spare battery for his Olympus camera.   I remembered being referred to a Fuji store 3.5 blocks east of Parque Calderon when Dan had broken his camera so we headed there.  And guess what?!  They had the battery we needed, and at less cost than in Canada!

I then caught myself looking at cameras trying to find an SLR that would allow for manual focusing.  There was an incredible $800 Fuji camera with a short lens that went from 55-720 and it even had the tilt screen, etc.  Unfortunately the camera was still too smart for me when it would zoom in as I was trying to focus, to give better definition they said, but definitely annoying when it is not zooming in on the spot you want to focus on…

The fellow in the store then gave me a tour of their developing facilities and then their lovely studio and we got to chatting.  Guess what?  He runs tours and has access to vehicles of all types!  He and his wife are photographers so this could be a very good fit.  I briefly discussed that I am thinking of doing a trip to Saraguro for solstice day celebrations and then maybe to Ona for the late afternoon.    This could be interesting.

I have taken artistic licence with many of the photos today.  I hope you like them.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Wednesday November 28, 2012

Wednesday November 28/12  update #299

I was up at 4am and didn’t finish processing photos until after 1pm.

Then I hopped the bus over to the Hearts Of Gold office to pick up some of their $5 raffle tickets to sell.   Contact me if you are interested in buying some.

I then stopped at the Papeleria Monsalves to get a new black ink cartridge for this bulimic HP printer.  I asked for a discount because the price was $20.42.  When she didn’t discount it I gave her the $30 I had with me.  That got me the $0.42 discount in a hurry….

Bella was out all day with errands and visiting friends.    The sky was looking really awful to the north and we had more wind today than any day in the past 13 months so we were expecting something bad, but so far we only got as few drops of rain…  I was glad to see Bella get home before any nastiness occurred.

No photos today.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    

Tuesday November 27, 2012

Tuesday November 27/12  update #298

Bella was feeling under the weather and wanted to stay home and work on her bridge instructions so I stayed home too.

Almost all of my day was spent working on photos from the Mindo trip and I got about 60% of it done.  I chatted on Skype with my brother Germain in Saskatoon and with Ed from Montreal.

I had the most pleasant surprise this afternoon when I heard this “demanding” chattering at my window.  Yes!!  My little buddy Tom Thumb has returned!!  He ignored the tired old nectar that I had on hand so I ran downstairs to get a fresh batch.   As soon as I opened the window he came right back and ate again from my hand!  I am amazed that his little brain would remember, but I guess animals and birds have homing instincts for food.   Welcome back my little friend!!

I also took a video so you can see I am not making this up….

http://youtu.be/M2J2R7fl3-k

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Monday November 26, 2012

Monday November 26/12  update #297

I had a load of laundry washed and hung to dry before 7:15 this morning and I got kinda caught up on some of my photo sites and even uploaded some photos today.   I started to process some of the work from our latest trip and I am getting choosier because I already have a 400+ photo backlog for uploading….   I am still uploading stuff I shot in April for Pete’s sake.

Once Bella got up we went on a little shopping jaunt to Mega Hierro, Kiwi, Papeleria Monsalves, a Christmas store, and then Super Maxi, all near the airport.  Bella wanted a Christmas tree so we had to do some measurements…, well that is because we need to be able to store it later, and we only have so many places to hide things for 11 months of the year.    We finally settled on a 3’ fiber optic tree with a star on top for $15 on sale.  They were in better shape that the 4’ models, better constructed, and they had new ones in stock.

Upon our return we unpacked, had lunch and then headed to Coral for a few Xmas decorations and as many groceries as we could carry in our roller cart, and by hand.

We had picked up an extra black ink cartridge for the printer because Bella had 300 pages of a book she wanted to print.  All our ink ran out with 36 pages to go, even just using Grayscale!    HP makes a bloody killing off us idiots who buy their cheap printers that suck ink like a jet plane.

I am happy to report that my temporary fix for my computer’s memory loss is working great!  It is only a few extra clicks when I start up but then my computer is twice as fast as before.   I guess there was a silver lining after all.

We have set up the tree in the front window along with a garland with LED lights and it looks pretty sharp.   That is the only photo for today and that was today’s excitement.   

We wish you all the best for this holiday season, 

and especially a happy and prosperous New Year!

Hugs to all.    Al & Bella

Sunday November 25, 2012

Sunday November 25/12  update #296

I had to be up very early at 5am this morning to meet 4 other photographers at 6am in Parque Calderon.   Paul Wolf was leading this expedition and he was looking to get some nice downtown shots with “decent skies”.   Ron Phillips, Neal Adams and his buddy Michael were the other 3 fellows and they all had some pretty fancy equipment compared to mine.   Heck, Paul’s tripod is worth $1,000 alone. 

Oh well, I am not ashamed of my shots compared to theirs and I took many more shots than they did , almost 100 today, many of subjects they completely ignored.  I even tried out a couple of effects that my camera provides.   I hope you like them.   Hopefully everyone got the shots they wanted to get, although the skies were mostly overcast.

Bella was off to Joe’s to play bridge this afternoon.  Everyone is asking her to give bridge lessons so I probably have to help her compile a manual from 300 emailed PDF pages she sent herself…   That should be an interesting project.

We also had a call with an offer from Barry and Maxine Wilder of Calgary regarding some lodgings in the Galapagos for a week after I return from Canada.  Things are beginning to fall into place on that score.

We still haven’t completely shut off the possibility of getting to Africa next year.   We really need to find some cheaper and simpler transportation to make it work out.  Hopefully something will turn up there as well.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Saturday November 24, 2012

Saturday November 24/12  update #295

Last night Bella told me that Raoul suggested we come to a security meeting at 8pm at the local community center and that he would help translate so we went.   However Raoul was nowhere to be seen so I called him and he said something unexpected had arisen and he couldn’t make it.  We stayed through most of the meeting and tried to garner as much information as we could with our rudimentary Spanish.  It sounds like the Governments and Etapa are going to install a Panic system in the whole neighborhood via underground fiber optic cables and that the cost should be about $200 for installation but that it will only cost everyone a pittance.  Time will tell.  Hopefully Raoul will get the story from some of the other locals and relay it to us.

I keep crossing my fingers that my temporary fix for my computer problem keeps holding off the nuisance “hang times”.  When it is working, my computer is now as fast as when it was new.  So far, so good.  

I had intended to work on the many photos from our trip and to process them in a decent way today but I was just too exhausted.   I got up, washed clothes, did my chores then collapsed into bed until lunchtime.   After lunch I went right back to bed. 

On my way to Joe’s I stopped to watch Jorge Beltran play volleyball but he wasn’t there yet.  One of the fellows phoned him and he came down rather quickly.   We had a good chat while the others played and I got a chance to try some more Spanish.  Somehow we manage to understand each other.

Joe’s was having a shrimp fricasee dish tonight so Bella is staying away.  We met another Canadian tonight named Louise Lewis who lives on a boat in the Toronto Harbour.  There were four at our table and most of the conversation centered on American politics so I stayed out of most of it.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Friday November 23, 2012

Friday November 23/12  update #294

WooHoo!   I think I have mastered my computer problem by myself with a simple click on an instruction in the processes menu!   It doesn’t seem like a permanent fix but it is allowing me more confidence to try some of the many things I need to accomplish.   So much for all the so-called experts who have said I would have to reformat my hard drive.

Bella and I discussed our proposed excursion to Africa next year.  Bella has worked all the numbers and figured it would cost about $15,000 for under 3 weeks and it would set back one year from being debt free.  It doesn’t seem like a good trade at the moment but we will continue to think on it.   We would need to do something like this when we can be reasonably assured of being in good health so that is the main reason to do it right away.  I just have trouble justifying all that expense for so short a time.

I have downloaded a couple of movies I took in Mindo.   The first one shows the family where we had supper the first night and the kids practicing some dancing.   http://youtu.be/pHjADkiObkU

The second one is a combo of 2 videos from 2 different spots at Sachatamia just to show you the incredible abundance and variety of hummingbirds here.   http://youtu.be/o7x3XVudpPk   Be sure to watch this.

Bella went off already to play bridge with her cronies in the afternoon.   It is good that we each have our hobbies.

I slipped out for a badly needed haircut and decided to get a manicure too, totaling $5.  I made the mistake of stopping at our old video store and one of the first movies I saw was “The Gods Must Be Crazy” and my eyes lit up.  I picked up “Earthquake” *the original, “Skyfall”, “The Last Detail”, “Tin Cup” and 3 more for $10.

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   

Late update:   Just got these photos from Jason Gordon, a really nice young Australian we met from Melbourne who joined us to see the hummers the first day in Mindo.  I guess this is how we want to visualize our retirement.....

 

Thursday November 22, 2012

Thursday November 22/12 update  # 293

The fellow at the Quito B+B was very kind and drove Mavis to the airport at 4am.  We were very thankful that he gave her that feeling of security.   I had been up since 1:20am working on my photos and blogs so I was able to say our goodbyes.  

We had a leisurely small breakfast then caught a cab to the airport ourselves at 10am.   Bella’s concern that I didn’t have my passport was for naught as I got along with no problem with my copy of my Cedula.  I didn’t expect that they would ask for a passport since it was only a domestic flight.

It was very cloudy and I was seated at the window right in the front row but my hopes of seeing the high volcanoes peeking through the clouds were dashed.  I was hoping to see Cotapaxi adjoining Quito or perhaps Chimborazo or Tungurahua to the south, but no such luck.

The flight was right on time and the flying time of 35 minutes is pretty easy to take in comparison to a 9-hour drive!   We were very happy to get home and see the Boys who had been looked after so well by Gertie in our absence.

Then there was just enough time to change clothes and bus over to Joe’s Secret Garden for a scrumptious Thanksgiving deep-fried turkey dinner with all the trimming followed by 3 desserts.   Life is so tough here!!

I really got busy tonight and my laptop did yeoman’s work getting all caught up on our Blogs.  A big feeling of relief on my part.

Now I need to find someone who can solve my computer problem with an overworking svchost in the processes.  I really don’t want to have to reformat everything.   Any ideas?

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Wednesday November 21, 2012

Wednesday November 21/12 update  # 293

There were many more activities we could have done today including rafting, horseback riding, canyoning, ziplining, etc,  but we decided to go back to see Mr. Santa Pants at Sachatamia again   I wanted to get more, and better, shots of our adopted friend.  I also managed to catch a couple of hummers washing themselves in a tiny waterfall.  You will love these as much as the earlier uploads.

We couldn’t dally too long because we needed to catch the 1:45 bus to Quito but we did hand around for over 2 hours.  When we went to buy our tickets a mechanic was under the bus making some adjustments so we crossed our fingers and off we went. 

I sawed a few logs on the journey and we made it to this lovely family B+B we had been referred to, close to the airport, where Bella and Mavis has stayed on heir way in 3 weeks ago.  The family is delightful in spite of their worry over the 89 year-old matriarch’s very recent stroke and hospitalization.   They managed to get us onto their wi-fi and we all did our necessary chores on that before retiring early.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Tuesday November 20, 2012

Tuesday November 20/12 update  # 292

There were many activities we could have done today and we started to go to one hummingbird preserve which boasted 10 varieties but our new adopted cabby from down the street suggested a cheaper alternative that purportedly had 35 varieties.   So off we went and we certainly did not regret this decision once we got amongst the feeders.   You will love these selected photos, as long as Google doesn’t give me too much more grief on this slow laptop.   The hummers did not mind us being 3’ away as they swooped in and out right by our ears.   They are very territorial and try to chase away other birds once they have a favorite feeding station.   They are the fastest things on earth and such a delight to watch.

We quickly developed our favorite, a racquet tail hummingbird.  Bella quickly nicknamed him Mr. Santa Pants because of the amazing white fur (feathers) around his tiny legs.  He is mostly green and sports a long swallowtail that ends in 2 heart-shaped racquets of blue, so he is a very Handsome Dan.  The others are all very pretty in their own ways with a large variety of sizes, colours, beaks, and tails.   We even managed to get some shots of a few other local birds as well.

In the afternoon Mavis and I went to the Butterfly preserve and saw some very pretty specimens, some of whom hitched a ride on my back and on my hat.  

Then the girls went on a chocolate factory tour and got to work to make their own samples.   They sure enjoyed that!   I amused myself with a little of the local colour before we had delightful trout and tilapia meals, followed by a huge elephant ear for dessert.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Monday November 19, 2012

Monday November 19/12 update  # 291

We were up early for a leisurely breakfast on the terrace of the Hostal Chimenea and were treated to some lovely sequential pencil drawing instruction.  Gosh I wish I had that talent.

We caught the same cab as the night before to the bus station for a 9:30 departure to Quito with a connection to Mindo.  What was supposedly a 2 hour ride was really 3 ½ hours, stopping at every town and for every person that stuck their arm out.  

This bus ride was not a happy one because Mavis noted that her cel phone was missing upon arrival in Quito.   She had put her purse under her seat during the trip and admitted that she did feel it move at some point but had just yanked it forward.  I asked her to quickly check further and she was horrified to see that all her cash was gone too.  That was a very costly lesson the keep your valuables close in any foreign country.  Luckily her passport and credit cards and documents were untouched, so at least she was able to get some replacement cash at a bank machine.  The connecting bus to Mindo was within 20 minutes of our asking so we had to rush.  It was another very picturesque ride and almost twice as long as quoted.  We were left on the highway with 10 kms to go but there were vehicles waiting to assist.  They directed us to the crewcab pickup n the lead and started loading our luggage in the back.  However when we looked in the cab we saw there was only room for one more person!  I asked him what gives, and Bella suggested they expected us to ride in the box.   I just shook my head NO, and right away the two Ecuadorian men were asked to occupy the box with our luggage, which they did without argument.  We found out that everyone was very accommodating because we were sharing the $3 cab fare.

We were taken to our lodgings at the Casa Cecilia which is right next to a rushing river.  The chalets were built by someone not very professional and were a hodgepodge of rooms and bathrooms.  My bathroom had the sink facing the side of the toilet so it was most awkward to do anything.  The room had no electricity except outside the door and security was non-existent.  Anyone could have come through any door or window within 3 seconds, however we noted the whole town was like this, no grates or security bars and many homes were wide open, no windows or doors!  Very different!

Mindo is a town of ecological wonders, plants and birds to whet anyone’s appetite for adventure, as well as waterfalls, canopy tours, rafting, butterflies, etc, etc.

Since it was late we wandered down a couple of blocks and saw a family cooking all manner of local food which was being frequented by the locals (always a good sign) so we sat down.  The pork chop was monstrous and the beer delicious as we devoured this great food.  The family was very close and colourful.  It still amuses us how the local children and teens interact with their parents and play happily with their siblings.  Think back to the 50’s for any such possibility at home….   The daughter and son were playing at a combination dance and playful kick-boxing.   When I took a video of them the whole fam damily came down to watch and laugh.  Gotta love the Ecuadorians.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Sunday November 18, 2012

Sunday November 18/12 update  # 290

We were up bright and early to be picked up by Orlando to be driven in a comfortable Toyota Camry to the town of Banos-Ambato, which is in the shadow of the recently active volcano Tungurahua.  Banos is a hot springs visited by almost every Ecuadorian and visitor alike.  It is a 6 ½ hour drive through the Andes and very scenic.  Banos itself is a tourist town with all the usual tourist related sales.

We stayed at the very convenient Hostal Chimenea which was only a block from the hot springs, fed by a lovely bridal veil-style waterfall.

Other residents suggested we wait until evening to tackle the hot springs as the afternoon is still loaded with weekenders and kids.   We took their advice and did a little shopping and had a nice supper.   While there we noted a brochure to go to the Café Del Cielo which promised a spectacular view of Tungurahua while you sip their tea.  It is a $5 cab ride both ways but we decided to do this quickly before sunset so we would hopefully get the best of both worlds, if it was active at all.  We actually got a great view of the mountain on the drive up which made up for the disappointing view at the restaurant, which really should advertise their view of Banos which is spectacular.  Sadly the volcano was not even puffing or glowing so it looks pretty ordinary, although it has a slight snow cap.  When it was erupting in mid-August they had to evacuate Banos.  When I tried to see it in late August we were not allowed in Banos and sadly the mountain was covered with a rain cloud for a week.  Our taxi driver indicated the trepidation with which they live in the shadow of this dangerous giant.

Upon our return we grabbed our swimsuits and headed for the hot springs.  Well it actually seemed busier at night because they were refilling one pool so only two big pools were available and they were wall-to-wall with people of all ages.   It was tremendously relaxing, especially after rinsing off in an outflow of the waterfall above which is very noisy and helped us sleep at night.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Saturday November 17, 2012

Saturday November 17/12 update  # 289-2

We had a lovely Mediterranean supper at Joe’s Secret Garden, but time was against me.   Luckily for me, Joseph was willing to download my photos direct from the cameras which saves me about 4 hours work.

Our main computer is still acting silly so we have only the laptop to work with.  I have again simply used the Photoscape batch edit mode for a single dedicated enhancement to all the photos in my file.  It will have to do the trick for now until I get the big macjine working again.

We are off on a short trip tomorrow for a few days, so we will do our best to keep up with the blogs, but don’t count on it..

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Saturday November 17/12 update  # 288

We made it to the morning start of the 2^nd Annual Expat Day being held at the Broken Bridge (Puento Roto) today.   There were many folks there that we knew but it seemed like a disappointing turnout. 

I did meet some new Canadians with English names, Janet & Ron I think, who speak French as well.   Janet would be interested in some photography lessons so I will wait for her to call.

There were many of my photographer friends there, and many new ones, who all seem interested in another tour.

You will note many photographs of children and dogs today.  Gotta love the Cuencanos.

There may possibly be a later blog today with photos from Joe’s Secret Garden, but time may be against me.   With my main computer on the blink, I am forced to upload with my very slow laptop.   I have very little time to process the photos so they are “batch” edited with a different program to selected upgrades.  Uploading here involves doing them painstakingly one by one.

We are off tomorrow for a few days so please expect a break in the blogs.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Friday November 16, 2012

Friday November 16/12 update  # 287

Today we met Jay at the bus station and took a trip to Gualaceo first.   Upon arrival we caught a cab to the Orchideria outside of town to see some of the 2500 orchid varieties they have.   What a truly beautiful experience.  I will try to upload a few just to give you an idea.

Then we went back to Gualaceo to shop for boots for Mavis, have lunch and tour the town square and church.

Next we caught a cab to the nearby town of Chordeleg which is famous for its silver and gold jewelry.   We shopped around for an hour or so, checked out the town square and the church here too before catching the bus back to Cuenca.

Note that I am going to post this blog first, before I attempt to upload just a few photos.  It may be too much for the laptop, so please forgive me if they don’t get posted right away.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.    Enjoy the pics at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

Thursday November 15, 2012

Thursday November 15/12  update
Sorry, I honestly tried to upload a bunch of photos today from the laptop and it is just not working.
We got up early and went to meet Jay in front of the Old Cathedral to take a city Tour Bus, which we have never done, even though we have been here a year.
We were early and there was a red bus waiting so the the guy just told us to get on.  We could not see Jay anywhere.  One of the passengers said this bus leaves at 10am and we were supposed to catch a bus leaving at 10:30 so we did not know what to do.   Our arrangement was to meet there at 10:10 and the bus started to move away at 10:10, and still no Jay...    I tried phoning and he was not picking up.   The bus made the circle around Parque Calderon, back to the Old Cathedral, and still no Jay.  As it swung around again in front of the new Cathedral I spotted Jay on the sidewalk, so I motioned him to jump on as we were waiting in traffic, which he did.
I had the front seat on the upper deck while the others sat further back.   The bus took us to places we had already seen, including Turi, so I did get some good shots from the higher vantage point, and my intention was to show these to you as I spent all afternoon processing them, but Bill Gates and Microsoft and Google are conspiring against me.
Bella really enjoyed the tour while I thought it was barely worth the $5.  I felt he route was bad and the commentary very poor, and they only had one stop, at Turi!  Regardless I got a few scenic shots and many shots of indigenous folks.
When we returned we went to the Panama Hat Museum and Factory, then went to the Dies De Agosto market for a hornado lunch which was particularly good today.
My desktop computer has been struggling to upload all Microsoft updates but that is like pulling teeth.   I found my problem that the svchost process is claiming to be using up all my memory, so nothing else wants to work.  Updating the computer is supposed to be one of the cures, but I guess I haven't found the right update in the 42 crirtical ones, of which I am fighting to get the last 8 to upload.   I could just scream.
Gotta rush to a late supper at Julio and Paola's tonight...
That was today's excitement.   Hugs to all.

Wednesday November 14, 2012

Wednesday November 14/12  update #285

I had to fight with my computer early this morning to get photos, etc copied onto a memory stick so I could use my old laptop to upload and edit yesterday’s blog.   

Then I had to rush to Hearts Of Gold to sell more tickets to their Christmas Gala and to try to sell more raffle tickets.   Sadly we never had one bite while I was there but hopefully they will be more successful in the afternoon after folks have digested the GringoTree reminder.

The photos are now posted.   I am now trusting my old laptop to carry me through until I can get a computer guru to solve its problems.  I just hope we don’t have to reformat the whole hard drive since I do not have discs for most programs.  Richard said his son is really good at this and has programs that will help to narrow down the problem(s) so he is going to ask him if he will help me.

So please bear with me on the quality of the photos, today taken in boredom.    I do not have very great editing software on the laptop.

Bella and Mavis headed off to the weaving store for some pow-wow about something so we will be having a late supper of chicken soup.   Then, more movies to watch...

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Tuesday November 13, 2012

Tuesday November 13/12  update #284

We all took the bus to the Book/Movie Exchange this morning while I exchanged 7 movies and Bella exchanged 2 books.  Another reason was to meet Gertie and bring her back home with us to give her instructions on watching the Boys while we are away next week.   Then we had to be home by 12:30 to open the door for Rosa to clean the house.

The computer had again been hanging on me all day despite all the work we had done to try to get it back to normal.
Bella and Mavis cooked all afternoon so we had a lovely "thanksgiving" supper and dessert.  We were joined by Jay and enjoyed a really lovely evening.

Sorry but I can’t upload photos or do anything on this computer for long.    I will be lucky to get it to post this blog.   If there are no subsequent blogs for a while, please understand.

I will attempt to copy some stuff onto a memory stick and work with my old laptop but so far this machine is not cooperating.
UPDATE - OK, I managed to get the images up on  souvenircuenca.blogspot.com

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   

Monday November 12, 2012

Monday November 12/12  update #283

I woke at 6:30 again, a result of the gas delivery trucks doing their beep-beep-beep as they criss-cross the neighbourhood trying to sell gas to people before they head to work.   Very handy but very annoying.

I seemed no further along this morning with the computer when I had to restart twice in the first hour.  I then decided to use CCleaner to clean the Registry and that seems to have really helped.  It showed only 308 issues to correct and it did that in a nanosecond!  We are crossing our fingers!

Well, it is not getting any better.   I had to fight tooth and nail to get 3 photos uploaded so I am probably going to delete all the extra programs that I have recently uploaded, and also those that I never use.   Hopefully something will open this up.  Word doesn’t want to work properly and neither does my Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, which I use a lot.  This is not fun at all.

Finally I deleted every program I had added recently or hadn’t used in over 6 months.  Then I did a defrag and a CheckDisk again.  It is not perfect, but it is working better.

We gave the puter  and our brain a rest while we had supper and watched 2 more movies.

No photos today either, sorry.

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.  

Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Sunday November 11, 2012

Sunday November 11/12  update #282

Lest We Forget…  Remembrance Day.

I fought with the computer again all day.  After the hard kill I did a checkdisk scan and finally it seemed to work great again but that was short-lived.   ARGHHHH!!!

I managed to get my SC Blog off, finally, and then the CU one luckily.   Gosh I hope this sorts itself out soon!

Mavis went to early mass then the ladies headed to the International Food Fair at Mall Del Rio.   Bella missed out on the Baby Back Ribs at the California Kitchen booth but they seemed to have enjoyed their meals.  I didn’t go as I was still trying to get this computer operating with a semblance of normalcy and finally gave up at 5pm, after almost 12 full hours of battling, and countless restarts.

We all sat down and watched two long movies until almost midnight.

No photos today as a result.

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   

Saturday November 10, 2012

Saturday November 10/12  update #281

I tried installing Adobe Lightroom 4 last night and was so pleased that at least one program I bought was working.   Then it stopped and said I need to have Vista or higher to operate…   Bummer again…  I only run on XP so I will definitely be returning that software too.

Bella wanted some time off so Mavis and I headed downtown and went to return all the software.  The fellow tried to show me how to save the PhotoShop CS6 file to the Desktop, then to run the program and install the Patch.  He did take back the Lightroom4 disc and gave me an older version that is supposed to work on XP.

We headed for the escalinata where GringoTree said there would be some dance group performing.  Strange… Nobody was there, not even other shocked spectators like us…   So we wandered the riverbank and took some photos.   Mavis wanted a few shots of herself along the riverbank so I accommodated her.

We walked all the way to Otorongo Plaza where I spotted a fellow Canadian crossing the street, Joanne, from Vancouver.   She had left her husband Kevin to enjoy his coffee at a nearby restaurant while she went shopping at a nearby art supply store.  We joined Kevin and yakked for a while until Joanne returned.

The Mavis and I scaled the huge Otorongo steps to go to San Sebastian square.  We snapped a few shots then continued to the Jewelry Market on Mariscal Lamar where Mavis filled her bag with more presents for home.

We continued east to skirt a nasty looking rain cloud and made it to the Rotary Market unscathed.  Mavis again made a few purchases before we caught the #50 home.

I don’t know why I decided to try and load the CS6 on my computer again, but I did and that started a chain of nasty events.  I could not find the serial number to complete the normal installation so I asked to use the trial version.  It did not appear to want to work so I gave up.

We barely had enough time to get cleaned up to head west again for a BBQ night at Joe’s Secret Garden.   Joseph said he wanted more crowd shots, almost no individual shots so I did my best to accommodate him.   I warned him of the difficulty to get clear shots that way, especially as it gets darker.  Trying to balance focus and light for a wide range shot is almost impossible.  I also had to warn him that I would be away next week and maybe I could get him another photographer.   He said “No, there is only one photographer, and that is Al”!.   That made me feel pretty good.

Upon arrival at home I tried to get cracking on the photos and was shocked when they opened in the trial version of the PhotoShop CS6 but I must say I was not impressed with the upgrade.  The changes did not seem to be for the better.  But then it was playing with Jekyll and Hyde.  One minute everything is working good, then it is slow as molasses, then it locks up and won’t do anything.  I gave up around midnight.

At 5:20am I decided to give it a try and run the AVG scan.   For over 2 hours it was the whole Jekyll and Hyde things again until it locked up totally and I had to do a hard kill even though the scan wasn’t completed.     Frustrating!!!

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Friday November 9, 2012

Friday November 9/12  update #280

I had to be up early as I volunteered to sell the Xmas Gala tickets this morning.   The girls went out to get some manicures and pedicures, some shoe repairs, and then take a city bus ride to the northwest corner of the city.   I understand they had a chicken dinner at Segundo’s restaurant on Paseo de Los Canaris.

We had some fun with the gate at Hearts Of Gold refusing to close but I somehow managed to coax it shut, twice.   We had lots of visitors for various things today so the time passed quickly.

Walking up Avenida Solano I saw a futbol game going on, on the boulevard, with cars and buses zipping by on both sides.   I held my breath when the ball ended up in the traffic.

I then scooted up the hill to El Centro and went to the software place, only to find it closed.  I had seen Jay and his friend Steve at the Coffee Tree so I asked them to join me for almuerzo at Long Street, so they did.  While we were discussing this we saw two policemen rousting up 3 teens and checking through all their clothes for drugs presumably.     

Steve wasn’t hungry but Jay certainly was, so we enjoyed a wonderful meal from our favorite Ecuadorian cook.  The soup and the meal were superlative as always and had Jay raving about them.

I went back to the software store and exchanged the Adobe PhotoShop CS6, Apple versions, for Windows versions that the fellow copied while I waited.   I also picked up a copy of Lightroom 4 for $3.

Next I decided to go to that video store again and gave the lady my old wish list.   She actually found a few of the titles I wanted and we did some negotiating.   I made her check every single DVD I was buying to be certain they were in English, and that the lips matched the sound.   Even though she was certain that they were all in English, we found about 10 that weren’t!  Some of them showed that it was supposed to have an English track, but they didn’t, so it was very strange.   In short, I came out with 28 titles on 22 discs for $22.

I noticed Raoul’s new place is closed in and looking good.   I’ll have to stop by tomorrow and have a closer look, if I get the chance.

I came home to find that Bella and Mavis had already returned so Mavis and I tried to download both new discs of the Photoshop CS6 to no avail.   We kept getting the errors that the disc couldn’t set up some required files.  So I guess I will be going back for refunds in the morning.

Mavis helped me catalogue my movies which saved me a lot of time.

Bella cooked me a separate supper of the smoked sausages that I had purchased at SuperMaxi.   I was hoping to find something that was very close to the Smokies at home and thankfully these fit the bill nicely.

I then helped Mavis download photos from her phone, adjust them all in PS, then upload them to her DropBox folder for family and friends to enjoy.

Now, while concentrating on my own photos I decided to take an extremely long shot of the amusement park a mile away at night.   The shots are somewhat interesting, but certainly not what I had hoped for.

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Thursday November 8, 2012

Thursday November 8/12  update #279

Bella and Mavis went to the weaving store this morning to get reacquainted with all the crafts people.  They get busy and crochet and knit stuff for cancer patients, etc.  Bella is always very popular with the ladies because of her extensive knowledge in those crafts.

I spent my morning uploading to my photo sites and it is always gratifying to see my work featured in many groups and favoured by many other artists.

After the ladies got home and had lunch, we hopped on the #15 to go to the top of El Valle and explore.  We walked the road above the church and came across this cute family and really giggled when this pantless boy was searching the laundry for something dry to wear.  They were quite happy to pose for us, except the matriarch always dropped her head and did not smile because she had very few teeth, and those weren’t going to last long either.

I still love the extreme quiet and feel so at home up there compared to the city.

We saw many animals and also many folks working in their large gardens, most of which seem to be freshly hoed for planting soon.   We even saw a man unhooking two bulls from a single blade wooden plow.   I later got their silhouette travelling on the ridge.

The house I had been eyeing up there appears to have been sold, or at least the For Sale sign is down.  It was reportedly 1820 sq ft but we had a pretty good look at and the house appeared to be maybe 900 sq ft on the main floor with only a ½ second floor.   They were also asking $135,000, way over the usual asking price around $50 a sq ft.  Oh, well, I can still dream.

The house across the street is progressing very slowly but they have begun bricking in the outside walls now.

Mmmmmm Lomo Fino (Filet Mignon) for supper….   So-o-o-o-o good!

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Wednesday November 7, 2012

Wednesday November 7/12  update #278

We coordinated jumping on the # 16 bus with Paul Wolf this morning to see his photos, and those of Christine Magee on display above the Kadaffa Café on Avenida Solano.   We were too slow getting to our bus stop so we caught the #15 and actually got ahead of them by a block!  The exhibit is quickly throw together, poorly advertised, and there are no signs outside, so the show is bad for the artists.   Paul and Christine’s work is superlative, but there is just nobody finding it in this remote spot.   It is really too bad.

Bella had to cash a cheque drawn on a particular Credit Union and did so with no problem.   She had tried to deposit a US cheque at Banco Pichincha yesterday by showing her Bank Debit Card and was refused by the minions on the ground floor.  Today we went up to the “Private Banking” folks we know and asked what the problem was???   We talked to Diana and she said they would handle it for us up there as long as we endorsed the cheque and showed our account number.  No problemo.

Next we went up the stairs to El Centro and checked out The Remigio Crespo museum which had all kinds of old artifacts before stopping at Sabor Latino on Calle Larga for lunch (almuerzo).   We noticed a new lady behind the counter but were hoping it would be the same great menu, just a replacement cook…  Actually the meal was less money, only $1.50, but the soup was pasty potato soup, not to my liking at all.    As we departed there, we saw another new lunch place opened up just 2 doors away called Long Street Café Bar, at 6-60 Calle Larga.  We were pleasantly surprised to see the former lady from Sabor Latino now running that place, so we promised her we would be back to have lunch with her another time.

We stopped at a premier software shop, not far from the Coffee Tree (which is mysteriously closed) and Mavis and I each bought a Photoshop CS6 disk for a whole $5.

It was threatening rain but we headed for the San Francisco market anyway.   Mavis was looking for Christmas gifts for many of her extended family so we had many, many bags to cart home upon completion.   We did some shopping at one booth, then went and had juice, coffee, and a beer, respectively at a nearby lunch place.  Then we returned to a different booth, bought more stuff, then went back to the original booth and bought more.  The fellow at the original booth gave Mavis a “yapa”, free gift of a shawl, for spending so much with him.

We caught a cab home and I tried to load the CS6 on my computer with Mavis watching.   I felt pretty stupid when nothing would load and the instructions made little sense to me.  I even “phoned a friend” for help but we were none the wiser after that.   I had noticed many references to Apple in the instructions but kept hoping there were some dual instructions because we had specifically told the man we wanted the Windows versions several times.  When Mavis showed me the Apple logo on the packaging I was a tad upset at these guys so they will be seeing me tomorrow!

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Tuesday November 6, 2012

Tuesday November 6/12  update #277

Today the three of us caught a bus over to Joe’s Secret Garden for a special luncheon with the Bridge group put on by our good friend Bettye Petersen.   The meal was a shrimp pasta dish that was absolutely superb!!   Thank you Bettye for allowing us to come!   We ate outside in the BBQ area and the weather brightened up.

I was a seatmate with Chris Petersen and a lovely lady named Joanna, and we were occasionally joined by Manon Stephenson.   Joanna is the nice lady who is going to help us get the Poor Man’s Galapagos on Isla de La Plata in about 10 days.   Bella has the trip all planned.

We abandoned Bella to play bridge while I went to the Las Americas interchange to meet Jay Shink as well as Dan and Chona Pamenter.   I showed them where the Visa office was then took them for a quick tour of Joe’s. 

We were joined outside by Chris with his new responsibility, a cute Papillon dog named Jedi who actually belongs to Brad and Cindy.  

From there we went to Feria Libre for a quick tour.  Some of the female market sellers were having fun with us when we were taking their photos.  Mavis felt very sorry for all the animals for sale there, especially the puppies.

We then caught the #11 bus to Banos which unexpectedly stopped short of our destination at the church.   Luckily it was a short uphill walk.  We tried to find a banos (bathroom) but found that is pretty difficult in a spa town of the same name!   They kept giving us maps to the various hot springs.

We managed to get some nice photos of the church against some very dramatic skies that soon opened up into a ½ hour downpour.   Unfortunately Dan had a breakdown of his camera mirrors so he was unable to see what he was shooting through the lens.  It abated enough for us to begin our descent down the mountain. 

Time was running out on us so when we saw the #11 waiting at the stop we just hopped on and headed back.  Jay got off at Feria Libre while the rest of continued downtown.  We stopped at the Fuji store to get their recommendation for a repair shop.   Oddly enough they recommended another Fuji store 5.5 blocks away.  We left Dan & Chona at Parque Calderon and proceeded to Ristorante La Vina to meet Bella for supper.    I never get tired of their wonderful pizza!

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Monday November 5, 2012

Monday November 5/12  update #276

I had my first good night’s sleep in ages, purely from exhaustion, and I slept in until almost 9:30.   The girls decided they were doing outside chores all day today so I was on my own.    I tried to arrange meeting Jay today but I guess our timing was bad as I didn’t hear back from him.

I emailed veronica Maldonado with the Chamber Of Commerce to see why we haven’t heard anything about Expat Appreciation night this year.  The “fist Annual” was last year on November 10^th.

I started to upload my photos to two sites and I noticed the weather was turning sour pretty early and it started to rain.   I just went back to bed for 2 more hours.   I know I will pay for that tonight unfortunately.

At 4:00 it was still raining when the girls returned with their haul from shopping.

We had a lovely supper and then we all sat down and watched two movies.

That was today’s excitement.   No photos today, Recharging our batteries.   Hugs to all.   

Sunday November 4, 2012

Sunday November 4/12  update #275

Today I was up at 4:20 to finish off my photo duties because we were all rising early to go to 9am mass at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in El Centro.  It turned out the mass was at 9:30 so we took a quick trip to the Cathedral crypt for Mavis’ benefit.  When we came out we discovered we had been locked in and a hapless priest was frantic until he found the right nun to free us.

We went to the Diez De Agosto Mercado for a hornado lunch of pork.   That is a nice treat.  Then we headed to show Mavis the view from Laura’s Antique Shop’s roof, then descended to go to that wonderful maypole sculpture.  We heard the story behind the sculpture as follows:  When a large family gathering occurs, there are always multiple children to keep occupied, so they will hoist up “presents” to the top of this “maypole”, grease it well, then sit back and laugh as the kids try to shimmy up the pole to reach their prize.  Naturally they can’t do it without a lot of help, so the kids are kept busy for a long time while they provide the adults with much amusement.

Bella was headed to play bridge at Joe’s so Mavis and I were left to go shopping at the artisan fair lining the banks of the Rio Tomebamba.  Mavis has 16 grandchildren to get Christmas gifts for so we found many beautiful items this day.  We kept making our way east and stopped at the Broken Bridge for a while to view the many artworks.   I noted they still had not sold my favorite 3D painting of Jesus.

While taking a few shots I noted another photographer with many lenses shooting from above before descending to the riverbank.  I went over to chat with him and we got along well.  Dan from Wisconsin and his lovely Philipino wife, Chona, joined Mavis and me as we headed east to El Vergel, the Pumapungo Inca ruins, then the Metals fair.  

I was trying to time everything so we could meet Bella at Big Kabuda’s for supper around 5:30.   It started to rain while we were in the metals fair so we had to dig out the jackets and umbrellas for the few blocks to have our supper.  Dan and Chona joined us and really enjoyed the burgers that Jesus and family serves up.   Jesus served us a Venezuelan dessert with some fruit that tasted somewhat like apples with nutmeg.   Not bad….

We caught a taxi home with all five of us cramming in and had some lovely conversation.   Meeting new people is always fun and I got to compare notes with Dan and hear about his exploits and the different companies he operates.  They are seriously thinking of moving here but have many companies and properties to divest themselves of, as well as trying to arrange for the immigration of about a dozen family members.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Saturday November 3, 2012

Saturday November 3/12  update #274

Today was one busy day!!  I was awake at 4:30 and up at 6am to do multiple photo uploads, etc, until the gals woke up to.   Bella put me to work hanging on the walls 3 more items she brought from home.  They look pretty darn good in those spots.   Thanks again to Emily Berberich for the lovely hand-made quilted cat wall hanging.

Bella even brought the Boys’ little tent which we have set up on the tabletop on the terrace and they are sure enjoying the shelter from the gorgeous sun we have been having.

I updated Bella’s new computer to include Skype with the same old information and tested it out.  It works.  She is under bbourassa50.

The two military jets that were flying yesterday brought 3 more buddies today and buzzed us a few times, of course always when I had no camera at my fingertips.  There is only about a 5 second window to catch those guys.

Bella and Mavis went to Coral for a few supplies while I was working and then I got a surprise call from Paola and Julio (the nice Ecuadorians who rescued us at the zoo months ago when we got caught in a downpour) inviting us to lunch at 1:30.   We readily said yes!

They arrived right on time and all the children were with them, Carolina, Rafaela, Juliano.  But a huge surprise was when Jan, their mentor from Holland, jumped out of the vehicle!  What a great reunion!! 

All the boys piled in one vehicle and all the ladies in the other for a trip to the Cajas for lunch.  We went to Dos Chorreras which serves excellent trout.   However, since we were having Trout Almondine at Joe’s later, Bella and I opted for the beef and Mavis had the pork.   We were also joined by Julio’s brother, Juan Carlos, his wife Wilma and their 3 boys..

We had a delightful afternoon solving the world’s problems and enjoying the ambiance.  It was so nice to see everyone again, and the added surprise of seeing Jan again was very special.  Jan is a world traveler and a very interesting and well- read man, as most Dutch people are.  Paola said she would call me to go to a soccer match, as Julio doesn’t care for soccer but she loves it.

Dos Chorreras is a monster place with trout ponds, Horn Billed white geese, and a black swan.

They drove us to Joe’s Secret Garden by 5:30 and we brought them in for a look.   They were very impressed with the garden and the huge palm tree.  We have made plans to meet with them all again shortly.

Joe’s was sold out again tonight and we got to sit in the library tonight which is so much quieter than the main room.  Somehow we managed to eat another whole meal and rolled out of there.

Today is the Anniversary of Cuenca’s Independence so we caught a cab to Los Sauces, hoping to replicate the fun we had in that community last year on our second day in Cuenca.  We were so disappointed that there was absolutely nothing going on there, so we sadly continued on home.   Actually we were secretly relieved because we had already had a very full day, and I had lots of chores to complete with the photos.

Our eyelids felt like some lead weights have been added, but we struggled to get all the photos processed tonight.  We finally collapsed in bed at midnight and got up at 4:20am to finish the upload of Joseph’s photos and to do these two blogs.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.   Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/