5C's Que Pasa

This was to have been published 24 hours ago, somehow it did not.

This past Sunday afternoon we saw a motorcycle being stopped by the first lifeguard but the motorcyclist thought he could get away and ride around the lifeguard, We saw the lifeguard physically try to restrain him as he drove the bike. Ouch! So both guys on the bike were detained and the police came on an ATV. After a lot of discussion both fellows were sat in the back of the ATV with a policeman sitting facing them with the other officer driving the four of them away to the police station. The lifeguards then delivered the no longer working ( water damage? ) motorcycle to the police. Never a dull moment around here.

Sadly we had yet another experience with folks leaving their puppies for us to find. Every night before lock up Colin goes around with a large flashlight and checks the perimeter, the beach out front etc. This same Sunday night he found four black very wee ones. They could barely grunt and were certainly less than two weeks old. I only saw them from a distance. Colin spoke to our night security who said he would move them somewhere for the night where they would be warm and would be fed in the morning. We have already saved 13 puppies in the past few years and just could not take in four more right now and pay for their care at the animal shelter, 17 is much too many puppies. We were very very unhappy about the situation but somehow they were delivered to us and now they have been moved to another place where hopefully they will thrive. We did not ask about them the next day. Is that natures way or just the cycle of life?

I promised you an update on Carlie. We have not resolved the problem and will be taking her into the vet first thing tomorrow morning. She is so delicate right now. I have mentioned it before that she guzzles her food and does not chew it. Even as a puppy she did this and would regurgitate what she had eaten. Not every day but a few days per week. Once she eats she starts to shake and can’t walk. So she spends the next 3-5 hours in her crate  ( her choice, she loves her crate ). We have held her, sat beside her, gave her love and pats and whatever we could do.

Colin has always softened her food and we feed them three times per day instead of the usual two. About 3 days ago he decided to soften her food even more.

Colin hoped that the ‘wet’ kibble would be more easily absorbed into her system. It seems to be helping but we are concerned that there might be another reason. She has had a few smaller reactions but does seem a bit better. Remember this been happening since she was a puppy and we have discussed this a few times with our vet. We even tried digestive enzymes for a full month.

We are off to our Mexican vet in the morning.

We are having a really wonderful winter but that means lots of visitors and activities. We are not complaining.

I am still doing my exercises and have been walking the beach. My last physio appointment is tomorrow.  Every visit takes about three hours out of our day. Happy to say that the girls are doing very well being left alone. They only bark as we drive back intothe RV park from the lancha and they see us park.

Last Tuesday my knee became swollen all over again. Personally I think that the Mazatlan physio exercises were too much for me. I haven’t ridden a bike for at least 30 years but they wanted me to do five minutes on the stationary bike. First time I managed almost two minutes. The Nordic bike was very hard for me and hurt so after 4 times I said no more. Colin and I think ( and hope ) that the recent swelling is because the exercises were not directed to an almost 70 year who is not at all active. However I kept going and finally when the swelling began again I said no more exercises ( I am still doing my kinesiology which is now aimed at strengthening my knees) and just had the electrical stimulation done and the ultra sound treatment the last two visits to physio and will have the same again tomorrow. I also decided to stop walking on the beach since last Thursday to do all I could to rest my knee.

Of course I called my Mazatlan orthopaedic surgeon. I had sent messages but he claims he never received them. Glad I just called him. He was driving and pulled over to speak with me. He was very surprised about the swelling. He explained that I have two choices, get arthroscopic surgery to go in and clean out the knee and see what is happening. Dr. Cervantes claims that that would last 6 months to three years. After that I would need a knee replacement. However I am not bone on bone or anywhere near that yet. Needless to say I was very shocked. So I made a phone appointment with my GP in Kelowna.  As of Friday a referral has been sent out to an orthopaedic surgeon back home. Hopefully it won’t be a one year wait to see the doctor. I asked Dr. Cervantes here if I could do another set of the special mix of anti-inflammatory meds and he agreed. The swelling has gone down perhaps 50%. Hard to tell. But I am on top of it. I really miss walking the beach and hope to get back to it in a few days. We also have several sets of friends in town this month that we want to visit with. So I am hoping that my knee will go back to normal all on its own and stay that way for a few years at least!

So lots of little changes happening and I am adapting day by day. Carlie had been having physical issues and has been in pain for part of the day ( 4 days ) this past week. We think we may have resolved the issue. It all has to do with how fast she eats despite her puzzle bowl. More on that next post. How do you teach a dog to chew?

 

 

It was difficult enough getting photos with the sunglasses never mind adding sombreros to the situation. They certainly look older and wiser.

Thank you for your comments and emails re the current drug cartel situation. We are very safe and we certainly enjoyed a quiet beach day yesterday – no banda 🙄

As I mentioned in my post yesterday you all have much more information of what is happening than we do. The airport opened at 10AM today and shortly thereafter the Culiacan/Mazatlan highway did as well. We have been able to piece together that the reason for shutting down the airports by the drug cartel was to prevent Chapo from being flown out by by the military. The Mexican forces had anticipated this and had him flown out on a helicopter. He is believed to be in Mexico City. As of noon today the burned out vehicles blocking the Isla entrance and the road to the airport were still sitting along the road. The cartel has given the Mexican government 72 hours to free El Chapo’s son or face the consequences. It should be an interesting few days. Very difficult fo us to get current news online, so If you gave any breaking news send me a comment or an email.

Very little current news here in Mazatlan, you all pretty much know more than we do.

Sandy please let me know if you have landed here, worried about you both.

A drug cartel is creating chaos in Culiacan, Mazatlan, Los Mochis and Gusave. The airports, schools, many businesses, most restaurants and sporting events have all been cancelled until further notice. The Canadian government has asked us to stay home until further notice. Even the local lancha between the Isla and Mazatlan was shut down for several hours today. Burning trucks blocked the entrances into Mazatlan as well as to our airport. There was shooting from the airborne government airships to the bad guys on the ground at the Mazatlan airport ( per King David ).

Click here for a concise update on what is happening. Another article here. This is the latest information I can get.

We are more than safe. We are no where near any fires or gunshots. We did see a few military helicopters fly over earlier in the morning. We all feel very safe. However there were a few from RV1 who had gone into Mazatlan early in the morning and of course they could not get back.They did get back mid afternoon once the launchas started operating again.

Colin even walked the girls twice today on the beach.

Life certainly is interesting.

 

 

 

 

Thursday, December 29th started out with an amazing sunrise.

That certainly was the best sunset this trip. What can I say? We are all still talking about it.

So many photos to share and we are running out of days for 2022. Are you looking forward to the New Year?

 

 

So I woke up the morning of December 26th still feeling worn out and I had a bit of a cough. I rested most of the day so that we could get on with our Christmas celebration. Colin and I have no need to exchange gifts so it is always fun to do a few things. Some years are fuller that others, we were down to a minimum this season. Our biggest thing at Christmas is cooking our two favourite holiday casseroles that we only eat at this time of year. I guess you might say that these are recipes that we have been enjoying at this time of year for over 35 years plus a good bottle of wine make the holiday special for us. Oh and of course a really good Christmas movie.