5C's Que Pasa

Breaking heat records today. Yesterday it was scorching but today it is searing hot, we got up to 102F. Finally down to 86F at 9PM tonight as I type this. The A/C is still on. I had to drive into town for my kinesiology appointment early this afternoon and then I made seven stops on the way home 😯  About six too many. Some short and some much longer. It was wonderful to walk into the cool air at home. The A/C is working just fine in my car but with all the stops it barely cools down. Sadly the heat is generating many new fires 😥

The first morning that Colin was gone I looked outside. Where were the girls? They usually spend the morning hours in this dog bed.

We leave in seven weeks and six days for Mexico. I have to start doing all the to do’s. I don’t even have a list, I am doing things as they pop into my mind.  Colin spent the last two ( very very long and hot ) days doing photography ( interiors and exteriors of a multi million dollar home ) for one of our clients. He will be home now for at least a week sitting at his desk doing editing and photoshop. The girls missed him so much, it was sad to see. Each time a car drove past they jumped up to see if it was him. Last night when he finally got home after 10PM ( he left at 8:30AM and never had a break all day ) the girls very firmly expressed to us that they would be sleeping in our bed. In fact they were asleep on top of the bed covers with 15 minutes of Colin getting home. They could finally relax and rest. The last few days had been difficult for them.

How could they lay on that hot concrete? Can you see who is the dark chocolate and the milk chocolate girl?

This might be why they call them hot dogs!

The lovely couple who are extremely interested in purchasing our home came by this past Saturday. They were measuring a variety of areas inside and outside of our home. Once done we sat down to have ‘the’ discussion. The numbers seemed to work, however there was no way that I could sell, pack up my home and find a place to store everything in just eight weeks. I kindly explained that we were interested but the time was not right for us. I refuse to be homeless. So we agreed to speak again May/June. Such a relief, decision made. We will look at the Isla and other areas in Mexico through different eyes this coming winter. Depending on what we find and where, then we will rethink the house sale or just keep it 😎

This just might make the perfect new home for us! Doxiemobile.

Lovely sunset this evening, likely in part due to the smoke we have had for a few days.

The triplets, February of 2021. They were so very tiny. Wish I could go back and hold them at that size again.

Here at home in March of 2021. Those tiny noses grew so fast. I love them all over again.

We have been living in a whirlwind this past week. Just under nine weeks from today we will heading south once again. We can hardly wait. If I say the word beach the girls get excited. So many things happening and to be decided.

A lovely couple has approached us and asked to see our home as they want to buy it 😥  The price is right. However there is no way that I could get my house emptied for someone else in just nine weeks. Colin and I have been thinking long and hard, twisting things over and over, asking so many what ifs that my head is spinning. Bottom line we are not selling right now. The buyers are okay with waiting until May ( June I hope ) to make the final decision. Obviously we will be looking at Mexico with a different perspective the next 5 – 6 months. We can move anywhere we want in Mexico but where? I see a few road trips within Mexico coming up. Apparently many new condos are being built on the Isla right now.

Morning nap on the window bench. This might be the first time that they have shared the space. They do so daily now.

One thing we have decided is that we will only rent and not buy in Mexico. We are free to start closing down the company next year and to stay as long as we want anywhere in Mexico. We will need to explore different locations. I think that I need the ocean and the beach otherwise I would be unsettled. Nothing stopping us from renting eight months on the Isla and then moving inland to enjoy cooler weather during the summer, or traveling in the RV to visit places in the US or even back here for two months or so. However if we find something just perfect for us then we will sell this house in the spring. On the other hand what if my body gives out in 2 -3 years and I become housebound, I can’t imagine myself anywhere else but here on the lake. Money is not everything. If we are careful then we can keep this house and rent somewhere. As you can see there are so very very many decisions to make. We did build this home as our final forever home which is why we put so many extras into it. We have also considered renting out our home for a few years but certainly don’t want it to get trashed.

Late afternoon visitor to the lake this past Tuesday.

I refuse to be stressed. Yesterday I turned my loaner hearing aides back in. I had to either return the loaners or order my personal set. I just don’t have the time nor the patience to figure out why such and such is squealing or snapping and creating noise in my ears. I will try again in May or June when I have time to go get things checked out weekly to create the optimum use of hearing aids. $8,000.00 is a good deal of money to spend for something you won’t use.

He taxied for a long time.

In my heart of hearts, I want to take this coming winter off to just sit, relax and regroup ( and read and read ) in our new location and of course walk the beach. With our temporal visa we have four full years to decide what we want to do. I am always so organized and structured but at this point we have an idea but no firm date of when we will come back to Canada. I have even let our accountant know. I have to have the company year completed by the end of April but who knows when that will happen in 2024. Our accountant said that he can handle it and make it work for us 😎 New location information still coming in a post.

He must have had a heavy load as it took a long time before he achieved lift off. These photos were taken from inside our house.

Two nights ago I made a tasty stir fry with our garden veggies plus baked our main in the oven. The oven would not shut off. It just kept running. In the end we had to shut down all the electricity in the house. We called Coast Appliances where we purchased all of our kitchen appliances back in 2012. Basically all they could advise was to call a repair company. Just before the power went out, I saw error code F11. That gave us something to research yesterday. We also called Frigidaire Professional directly but they were of little help. In the end we went from what we learned on Google and reset the oven. We made pizza last night and heated the oven to 500F and it shut down perfectly as it was supposed to. Domtech told us they we needed a new code board and that you couldn’t get then anymore but they happened to just have the one. No thank you, for the cost of the board and their hourly rate we will wait and see if this happens again. Besides we are still able to get parts of our ancient 2001 RV.  A 2012 oven should not be so difficult.

Slices of zucchini, tomatoes and Swiss chard from our garden were added. It is always so good that we seldom have leftovers.

Getting into our dentist for a cleaning has been difficult this year. We go once a year and I usually just book a few months in advance. However this year we have been on a waiting list for two months. Yesterday we both received a call to come in, me in the morning and Colin in the afternoon, two separate hygienists. When I paid they asked if I wanted to book for next year 😯 I have no idea where I will be next year so no. Glad to cross that off the to do list. Yes I know we can easily get our teeth cleaned in Mazatlan and in time we will.

Just now I got a phone call from Rogers, they are taking over cell phone coverage from Shaw. I have no choice in that decision but they are giving me a pretty good deal to transport my phone keeping the plan I have, but are also willing to change it to a three country plan ( Canada, USA and Mexico ) for $55.00 per month which is the Shaw rate and guarantee me that price till April 2028. The Rogers price for that three country plan service is $105.00 per month. Off I go to research which is best and of course checkout the current Telcel pricing. If anyone has some great suggestions re cell phone plans this is the time to share.

Thanks for the photo of this cute guy, Sue K. His pockets are full of beans.

Yesterday at dusk. Chairs are in a planned disarray as an eagle distraction tactic.

It is not much better to shake up your life sometimes? Who wants to get stuck in a rut doing the same thing over and over, year after year?  Not us 😎 Life is short and we want to make our final years the best that we possibly can.

Our very recent road trip took us to the Mexican Consulate in Vancouver.

We have been Rving to Mexico in our RV since 2002. After having traveled around most of Mexico ( no further south than Veracruz ) including to parts of the interior, as well as both coasts, we stopped at Tres Amigos RV Park in 2009, on Isla de la Piedra for a few days and stayed for 14 years. We will still be returning to the Isla but to a different location. That is a post for another day.

Never in all of our years in Mexico did we even consider becoming a resident. Many friends did but it just didn’t appeal to us. We were happy just going down to visit for 4 -5 months each winter. However with all the changes in our world it seems to be the right time to make a change. Just to mention a few reasons, the economy, the huge climate changes, prices of food and lack of food choices not to mention politics and peoples behaviour in general made us realize that we could move. We only decided in May to make this huge change in our lives

To become a resident to Mexico you must apply for a Temporal Visa for four years and then are able to get a Permanente Visa. If you wish, after another year you can apply for citizenship. But the first step is to start the Visa process at the consulate. Much paperwork and requirements but we aced it. We have our Mexican Visa and have 30 days once we cross into Mexico to complete the process ( more forms and paperwork ) and then we get our Temporal Visa Card. Of course the transfer of money is also involved.

Colin and I are no longer restricted to a six month stay. We can now stay as long as we want in Mexico, for up to four years. We can come and go as we wish. Freedom to make a choice to live in a better place than Canada or the USA. Our departure date is October 16th.

We honestly have no focused plan other than getting set up in our new location starting October 31st. We then will look at the Isla with a different perspective. Would we want to live there or move elsewhere within Mexico? We have four years to figure it all out. To stay on the Isla, to rent or to buy somewhere else, to open a Mexican bank account and so on. Then we have to sort out closing down Colin Jewall Photos Studios Inc. And what will become of our very special home here on the lake? I never thought that we would sell it, but for the right price we just might do that.

The only negative thing we can see at the moment, is that after our four year temporal we are not allowed to keep using our vehicles in Mexico. There is an approximate 40% import tax. Much more economical to buy a vehicle in Mexico, prices are much cheaper than north of the border. The motorhome is a different situation. RV’s are imported once every ten years and our expires in 2026. So that gives us until 2036 of being able to come and go in the RV. I am 98% certain of that, but things are always changing.

We are just happy that our appointments at the consulate went well and we came home with our visas. The rest will fall into place poco a poco ( bit by bit ). The most difficult part is done.  Well not quite true, as we have to create a new RV site for the next few years. We are already ahead of the game by only paying 50% of what we have paid monthly at Tres Amigos.

Stay tuned for the next post in our exciting lives regarding the new RV location.  I might sneak in a few smaller posts before that post – it will be difficult to write 😥

Tres Amigos sunset.

New location sunset.

First time crossing the new Port Mann Bridge coming into Vancouver. It even has an HOV lane.

We left Monday about 9:30AM and returned last evening ( Tuesday ) at 6:30PM. 840kms driven / 522miles. Vancouver is one of Canada’s prettiest cities but the roads have not kept up with the increased population and heightened traffic. Per Google maps from here to where we stayed could be driven in 4hrs and 23minutes. It took us 6 hours and 30 minutes and the traffic was constantly moving. In the past it has taken 8 hours or more.  Much construction due to the floods from a few years ago. Plus the new pipeline construction. However we lucked out leaving Vancouver as we just beat rush hour traffic. Very few slow downs coming home. It was only a 5 hour drive 😀

The pipeline is moving along quickly.

Needless to say we missed the girls but Jordan our sitter kept sending texts and photos which comforted me. I could not have asked for a better sitter. The girls were happy, greeted us with much enthusiasm and then moved on to look for snakes Today they were perfectly normal. For some reason we had many phone calls to return today and a few deadline matters to handle.

The girls waiting for us.

I had spent several hours a few weeks back to find a place to stay for our one night in Vancouver. We stayed at the Sandman Suites on Davie. For $360.00 It was okay but not perfect. Friends kept telling me to go with Airbnb. Yes the prices were lower but they had close to $200.00 in added costs including over $100.00 for cleaning 😥 The expensive hotels were cheaper.

The Downtown Westend of Vancouver is riddled with apartment buildings.

Stunning sunset over English Bay from our 15th floor balcony.

We did have the best Thai curry dinner in this tiny restaurant on Davie Street. Two huge meals, coconut rice and one liter of Hungarian Pino Gris was only $70.00 cad. I can still recall all the various fragrant tastes.

We did a few touristy things on our last morning. This was the Olympic Cauldron from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Wish we could have seen it at night.

The waterfront is full of activity.

Lots of places to walk and many sitting areas. Wished we had had time to enjoy these lounge chairs.

Colin and I have lived in Vancouver separately and as a married couple for at least 20 -25 years. We have been to the Vancouver area over the years but not exactly downtown where I used to work. So very very many changes. New lovely buildings, bike lanes, efficient transit but as everywhere else there is a horrific homeless problem. We loved living in Vancouver, first in the False Creek area and then Tsawwassen before moving to Ladner. The city became larger and larger and more congested. We made the big move to Kelowna in 2003. What we saw the past few days confirmed that we had made the correct decision to move here to Kelowna.

I have read about the homeless situation but it is even worse in person. Block after block filled with people living on the sidewalk.

It was wonderful to get back home to our girls. We are rather tired, too much time in a vehicle in such a short time. Next post will be about the purpose of our trip to Vancouver.

We left on a road trip to Vancouver this morning. Hope to be back late Tuesday ( August 1st ). This is a big step for us in more ways than one.

We are leaving the twins at home with a puppy sitter. She is a fully qualified sitter as she owns two dachshund but has to keep them at her parents as she is unable to keep them at her apartment. She loves all dogs but has extra love for doxies. I am sure that you all know how difficult it is for me to leave the girls. We have never left these two alone for more than ten hours. Our sitter just happens to be an RN who works in our only hospital in the operating room. I do  have confidence in her.

However I will be missing my girls so very very much.

Yes, this  is a task that we have to do in Vancouver.  Fingers crossed that it all goes well.

Taken September 14, 2021.  Wish they stayed babies for at least another few years.

I know they will missing us as we will be missing them.

We are not traveling in the RV. Where would you park this thing?

Not long after my birthday, the end of May we began to have trouble in that the house breaker kept tripping. We suspected a transformer but in the end that was fine. It took about 6 weeks for Jordan, our electrician, to have time and check out our problem. It took hours of trying this or that, much trouble shooting. Colin spent hours trying to find a replacement transformer. It also took many many phone calls. Our 2012 transformer cost $350.00 but a replacement ( if it worked ) cost $1000,00. Being a special order it had to be prepaid and there was no refund.

Jordan came back June 21st  ( he is regularly employed and often works 12 hours days ) as he had been thinking about our situation. He wanted to re test the transfer yet again and discovered that the transformer will not show voltage unless there is a load attached. So there was yet another problem.

So he started to take it all apart and was shocked. Possibly an install error back 2012.

As you can see the wires had melted. We could have very easily had a major fire. Jordan said that we were lucky. He replaced and rewired and once again we had full light in the kitchen. We had been doing our cooking before dark so we could see.

Jordan returned for a third time on July 21st. He insisted that he needed to install fuses to protect the circuitry. That way, there could never be a fire.

As you see our kitchen lights are somewhat unique. We had to invent a curved rail that includes two types of low voltage lights, including five Rock Candy lights and four Swarovski Crystal lights. All on individual dimmers. Photos taken a few years ago by Colin when we entered our home into the Tommies Awards. We won several Silvers but no Golds. No matter, we love our home just as it is.

While were he changed our door handle ( faded from the sun ) and lock. We are in great shape electrically. The girls love Jordan, who wouldn’t? He is so handsome. He is looking for a girlfriend, but he works too much.

Does your dentist come to your home?

Is anyone else concerned about what is happening with the climate? No wonder ocean birds are dying by the hundreds. They can only dive so deep and those fish have died because of the extreme heat.

This fire was back in June. Love how the six planes are coming in to load water, great photo. We continue to have wild fires around us. The newest came across the border last evening from the US ( Oroville, Wa area ) to Canada in Osoyoos, BC.  Over 700 evacuations and another 2000 on evacuation alert. Saying prayers for our friends in that area.

Shawney, Carlie, Ciela and Colin. All three girls are within 4 -6 months of each other. Mom Heather came over for a walk and a visit.

I spied this little robin as we passed by.

Quick visit to show Heather our garden. All three were drinking at the same time but I was too slow with the camera.

On the way back to our place we stopped for snacks at Inger’s and Steve’s. Inger has trouble with our terrible two but Steve had immediately complete control of all three like magic.

They sat at his command and waited for their turn for a tiny piece of kibble.

Heather, Colin and I could not believe it. I suspect that Steve must have been the disciplinarian of their family.

Back home relaxing with the girls. Shawney did get up once but was not too sure.

Just last Wednesday on the 19th, Heather had a “hot dog” party. I think there were 8 doxies there.

Heather and Ciela have a ‘thing’ going.

Not one but two pools with soft balls.

Carlie being offered a treat in exchange for photo. Photo by Tim Tish, Svens’s Dad.

Even Ciela got a photo sort of!

Sven and Carlie.

It was a great few hours spent in a lovely shady garden with happy dachshunds 😎

Good thing we did not show the doxies this movie clip!!

Thank you all for the anniversary wishes and Colin’s special birthday withs. So nice to know that you are still out there 😉

We had a visitor the morning of Colin’s birthday ( July 22 ).

It was a different celebration this year. Our park had a huge back to the 80″s party on July 22nd. We loved the band but Colin really wanted to spend his actual birthday at home. Turns our the event was sold out. Here it was just us and the girls and we had so much fun. What surprised me is that Colin spent the morning doing a deep clean of the house. His choice. I kept trying to get him out of the house so I could put up some decorations. That did not happen. He  finally did go out and then I had to wait and wait for him to come back home. He had left his phone here.

We began the party by opening a lovely bottle of champagne that just happened to be in our wine rack. A Winter Edition, 2021. Freixenet Cordon Negro from Spain. It was the best champagne that we have had in perhaps forever. It is no longer available. A great choice this his 73rd,

Then we decided to do a ‘go find it’ with the girls. That means they hide in the bathroom which they did with Colin and I go around hiding bits of their kibble all over the house. Then the race is on as they find the various pieces hidden all over. They love the challenge and excitement and of course getting some extra snacks.

And so began our party. You likely recall that Colin did riddles and hid my birthday gifts which I only got once I answered correctly. We have been busy ( when aren’t we ) so I only had yesterday to get ready once he left the house. First of all I had to find where I had stashed his presents.  It took a while. Then I had to find and figure out the riddles ( thank you Google ). I wrote one up for each gift. Except today I discovered another gift  😀 Then I numbered the gifts and hid them here in the house. I did make a note of where I had hidden the gift. Actually I forget some hiding places and I forgot to write the answer down to a few riddles. we had a blast.

Once the girls had their fun it was time for us to play I had to create a system. Colin waits with his drink.  Those were how many beans he picked that afternoon. Want some? Each riddle was on a separate piece of ‘recycle’ paper and a number from 1 – 19 as well. Colin would pick a price of paper randomly from the bowl and hand it to me. I then read the riddle and he had to figure it out.

Once he figured it out – he was good at this, I read the number and checked my gift list. Then I gave him a clue as to where to find it. So two challenges to solve before he got that gift. I did have to give very few clues. Colin is very clever. Then Colin started asking if it was food or whatever. Example – what room has no doors nor windows? This was a tough one. He asked if it was one work or two, many questions. Yes bit was food, yes it is something we eat, yes it is in the fridge. Finally he said “mushroom”. Good one, eh 😎

He got the riddle correct but then had to root thru his two sock drawers to find the gift. The clue to find the gift was where do you keep the things you put on your feet?

A pair of socks but these have our very own girls on them. I will get a better photo another day. Meanwhile we kept sipping our yummy champagne.

Can’t remember the riddle but the location clue was where do we keep things at night that are only out during the day. I was referring to the corner where we store the bed pillows at night. This big and heavy box was there. He got the riddle easier than the location clue.

It took forever to open this box but has not been put together yet. Perhaps manana.

The girls hoping to be let out onto the patio.  Not yet, have to wait until the sun goes down a bit. No burnt paw pads on our patio.

The party went on and on. It took close to three hours to finish the gift hunt. We both had a wonderful time.

The stash included limoncello and limoncello biscuits.  Many socks of course, a few lights  for the Isla, chocolate, wine, Amaretto and on and on.

Colin wanted to make a meal at home. So with very little help from me, he created a shrimp ( yes from the Isla , I have been saving it )  Alfredo fettuccine with penne. The green stuff is Swiss chard from our garden.

Wonderful white wine, a great movie and scrumptious dinner. After a bit we enjoyed Dairy Queen ultimate chocolate ice creme cake. Colin purchased his own birthday cake. He actually bought two. So tonight I imagine we will be having the apple crumble pie with ice cream following our Isla shrimp burgers.

It was a very fun day.

Isla sunset tonight taken by Dallas.

It is now 6:00PM here at home and I only just realized that today is our 36th wedding anniversary 😮

July 18th, 1987. We were married in a private garden and it was ever so hot. But we were too much in love to notice.

We are still very much in love. I have no idea how I would function without Colin in my life. Our lives are very intertwined. We live in an open area RV and as well as we do here in our home. Somehow it all works. We have melded and just make it work. Everyday is a holiday and we just go with the flow. I do believe that large eyeglass frames are coming back into fashion 🙂

Happy Anniversary mi amore. Wishing us many many more years together.

Carlie has been on constant patrol since we saw the bear last week. She does not relax.

Actually it was July 1st, after a very long and fun day, that the bear paid us a visit. Three nites ago someone posted they had a bear in their yard, they are also on the water. Yesterday afternoon, more bear sightings. In fact, about 6 people saw the bear here in the park. From our neighbourhood it moved to the gardens and then to two condos on the lake before it swam across to Turtle Bay. Security did call the authorities…they are not going to do anything until someone is harmed 😯

Keep an eye out and watch your pets!!”   per security this morning 🙁  This morning our hounds did a sniff pattern search thru the entire yard, patio and along the fence. They were on a mission and kept rechecking what why had already sniffed. They never lifted their noses. Obviously we had some sort of visitor last evening.

There tomatoes are growing here in pots in our yard. This large one just might be ready to eat tomorrow. Someone gave Colin a cucumber from their garden in exchange for one of our zucchini. So I am planning on a greek salad for dinner tomorrow.

Our weather has been all over the place, wind smoke, heat, no wind and so on. Unusual for this time of year. This gal was just relaxing with her dog as the sun was setting.

Last Thursday I went to kinesiology. I thought that I had not done a good job last week as I likely had not interpreted 3 of the exercises correctly. Instead I was told that I had done a great job. Lise also told me that she could not believe how far I have come since last August when I started.

Car show in the park today. It was so hot: 33C/92F but there were many many more vehicles than last year. Breakfast was served by one volunteer group and another did lunch. We do live in a wonderful place.

After my kinesiology I went for my long awaited mind test. I definitely was nervous. There was almost 30 minutes of direct questions about how I perceived what was happening to me, my mind and thinking and now I reacted to certain situations. Next there were three different tests. It was not easy and was difficult to concentrate, I had no idea how I did. At the end she told me that I was above normal which was 11 out of 30. She did not think that I had dementia nor Alzheimers. However having said that it was possible ( she was covering herself ) that I might be I the very early stages. I pressed for my scores and was told that I had 26/30, 28/30 and 28/30, above average. One question that I blew was to say as many words as I could starting with the letter ” F “.  All I could think about was fart and fat 😳 I came up with maybe ten more but my mind was a blank. I think I also lost points retelling a very long story she had read to me, back with as many details as I could. One story had to do with football and all of that was way over my head. At one point she gave me five ( hey that starts with and F )  words to remember for later.  As in 15 minutes later, I did not get them all but I think I got three. It was interesting and I could see how someone who had memory loss would not score well. Drawing, numbers and letters were also involved.

I was so relieved when I left. Next stop was to pick up a few belated birthday gifts from Colin to me. We just never had that time to do it together and I was just 2 blocks away so I went. I actually parallel parked twice that day and learned how to feed a meter with a credit card. My brain continues to function. Of course as I parallel parked I had my father sitting on my shoulder giving me instructions 😎

Even a pink Barbie trailer. It was for sale.

They continue to hang out together.

First time planting patty pan squash. This was todays haul from the garden. The squash have been hiding from us as have the zucchini.  Colin wanted to keep this large one to hollow out and make tuna BBQ boats! Anyone have some patty pan recipes to share?

This is how I feel. Going to do what makes me happy…..PERIOD!