Put me in the picture frame!

This is Ishmael our very special bingo caller at the Last Drop restaurant.  We ladies in the park head up there every Thursday night for dinner, drinks and Bingo.  When we play bingo the third game is always the Bingo caller’s choice and sometimes he picks “the big picture frame.”  Then Ishmael asks “why is it a big picture frame?” and we all reply so he can put his picture in the middle!   Eddy and Betty decided we should give Ishmael a memento of his friends from Las Jaibas.  They put a picture of him in a picture frame and then signed all of our names.  When he called for the big picture frame game they gave it to him and boy was he ever touched!  He had tears in his eyes and when we came back the next week and asked where the picture was he said “ Hey man it’s on my bedroom wall at home!”  Who knew a 22 year old guy could like us all so much!

Great job Eddy and Betty!

Mom

Eric’s mother Doris Brown Spence Tycho passed away on March 22, 2014.  Mom would have been 92 in May.  She passed gently with family at her side.  Her last years were spent in the Dufferin Care Centre in Coquitlam. 

Five children and their families are left to remember her.  Eric (Kathy), Ian (Linda), Brian (Frances), Kathryn (Gary) and David (Chiyoko) along with nine grand children and nine great grand children. 

Doris was born on the Orkney Islands in the North of Scotland.  She met her husband Norman during the Second World War and came to Smithers, B.C. as a War Bride.  The family eventually moved to Edmonton, Alberta and then on to Burnaby, B.C. where the family grew up.  

We will miss her.

Doris and Norman in younger days.

Doris, daughter Kathryn, daughter in law Kathy (the blogger) and grand daughters Krista and Erika. 

Erika snuggled up to Gramma, Grampa with his arm around Krista and Eric in the back.  A camping outing in Terrace.

 

Krista on Gramma’s knee.  The first grand child.

The later years and still a fine looking woman.

Relaxing in the sun in our sunroom in Terrace. 

There are many, many pictures of the family but they are too numerous to show.  Dad took many hundreds of pictures. 

She loved the ocean, the sun, Scottish Dancing and most of all her family. 

Godspeed be at peace. 

Good bye Mom. 

People are travelling north.

Marion and Fred are relaxed seasoned travelers.

No muss no fuss, Fred even went for his big walk this morning.  They packed up and left Tuesday morning.

Eric got prettied up this afternoon.  Luis gives him a buzz haircut and a massage.

Can’t get any easier to get a haircut in Mexico. 

Boomer and Betty are getting packed up to go. 

Getting emptier in the park….except for the caravan out the back.  

Marilyn and Dennis are leaving this morning but Marilyn doesn’t look very stressed! No ones in a big hurry so we visit at Connie and Manny’s.

Ramona and Eric have the same outfit on!

Jeannette, Connie and Sharen say bye to Marilyn.

Boomer’s not hooked up yet.

The Bougainvillea is just beautiful.

Dennis is hooked up and ready to roll.So ….are the batteries any good in this walkie?

It was now 10:45 on Thursday morning and Betty/Boomer and Dennis and Marilyn were finally on the road.  Off to a Pemex in Los Mochis.

The Last Hurrah!

It is March and the park is changing.  The winter residents in the park are leaving, the travelers heading north are staying briefly and of course we get the caravans as well.  The caravans are always from Quebec and they are never any fun.  They are not friendly and most of them won’t even say hi!  Lots of traffic in and out of the park so…lots of dust.  One caravan here now for six days and then when they leave on Monday another one comes on Tuesday.  They have spent their winter in Tacho’s in Puerto Vallarta and all travel back to Quebec together which is something I just don’t get.  Who the heck wants to look at the butt end of another rig for 3000 miles.  No thanks!

So…Saturday was our last get together of the season.  John and Jeri are leaving tomorrow,  Fred and Marion on Tuesday and Betty/Boomer and Dennis/Marilyn hit the road on Thursday.

I spent Wednesday cutting up the ingredients for a huge batch of chili and Thursday cooking it so I could cool it until Saturday.  I like to make it a couple of days ahead so the flavors get to meld together.  A big job but it will be enough for the crowd as well as a dinner for us and a dinner to freeze for the road. 

Jeri, Sharen, Betty and Marilyn chat while we have happy hour.

Say Hi gals!

It was hot so the guys moved their chairs into the shade.

And some of the women too!  Val, Jeri, Laurie, Marion and Rita.  

Eric and Dennis discuss important stuff.

 

Remember those crazy pants that we ladies bought a few weeks ago. 

Well since Bill’s wife Jeannette was wearing her pants Betty thought Bill should wear her’s but he said “no thanks” and just laughed. 

And so did Jeannette!

And Betty and Marilyn too.  We all thought he’d look cute in them on his morning bicycle ride.  He declined!Time to eat and put out the food.

Once again we will not go hungry.

A wonderful array of colorful food.  

It started as an appetizer party but grew into dinner. 

Stuffed jalapenos,  Jeri’s cornbread to go with my chili and so much more.

Boomer took pictures too!

 

Lots of chatting before we eat.

Loading up.

Plenty for everyone.

We eat.

John waited till the end but there was still lots left.

Hal, Blake, Dick and Val.   It was nice to see Blake up and about.  His thyroid medication has been giving him grief and he hasn’t been well.  He enjoyed himself and ate a good meal with us. 

Dinner was done by 6:30 and the bugs were starting to bite.  Some people stayed and some people went home….Eric and I went home. 

A delicious meal with good friends and we are lucky to have so many nice people in the park to share our winters with. 

Safe travels all!

A Shopping trip.

I haven’t been downtown much this winter but today Betty, Marilyn and I were off on a shopping mission.  Marilyn was looking for a “princess dress” for her four year old grand daughter and Betty and I had various other things to buy.

The shops are loaded with anything you want.  This is a kitchen shop and you can see the stacks of brown pottery dishes. 

Many shops full of party items…including piñatas. 

Off to the princess store. 

More party items.

It was very hot in the dress shop and I didn’t take any pictures there but Marilyn did find a dress. 

 

These little dresses are absolutely beautiful and guess what they cost…about 35 dollars including a hoop crinoline.  Cheap enough to play dress up in.  Look at the detail. 

On the road back to the market for t-shirts, vanilla and other important stuff!

It was now about lunch time so when we finished in the market we decided to get on the bus and head back to the Golden Zone for lunch and a little more shopping.

Pancho’s on the beach in the Golden Zone was the choice for lunch.  We each ordered a nice cold cerveza to quench our thirst and then we were brought a complementary stuffed jalapeno each along with chips and salsa before we ordered lunch.  I had seafood soup and Betty and Marilyn a chicken Caesar salad each.  Now we were brought a small complementary tequila mixed with some sort of fruit juice and following that a small drink of a chocolate liqueur with cream and ice….. Whewww!  Could we actually do anymore shopping now?  Don’t be silly….of course we could.

 

As we were walking down the corridor that left the restaurant we stopped in a jewelry shop that sells silver.  I have an affection for brooches for my jackets and especially turtles and frogs.  I was looking at this frog brooch and the salesman started at $48.  I didn’t say anything and just put it down and kept looking.  Now he offered it for $35.  I said nothing and just kept looking.  I picked it up again and he said ….how about $30 and I put it down.  Now he picked it up, weighed it and said “ oh what the heck…how about $25!”  Okay.  He did all the bargaining and I got the brooch for $25.  I guess the silent treatment works.  I think it will look lovely on my jacket.  

This is a shot of Michael’s, the shop that sells colorful glass, pottery and many other beautiful things.  I bought some lovely glasses.

At this point we were all shopped out and it was time to head home.

Another hard day!