Sparky's Epic Adventure Across North America (Halifax NS)

Aug 3 to 6th: Hey there! I haven't written a blog post for a few days, and you probably thought that I had fallen off the edge of the earth. Honestly, when I arrived in Halifax, I was worn out and needed some serious downtime. My car has hardly moved since Sparky and I arrived in Halifax on August 1st.

City of Halifax (not my photo)

I've poked around the city a bit, visiting a few of the better-known attractions, but mainly I've napped. Slept. Napped. And slept some more. 

Now, I'm ready to get back to the adventure. 

My Penticton friend, Kyla Damen-Willems, arrives tomorrow. She's joining Sparky and me for the 5600 kilometre (about 3500 miles) drive to BC. It will be great to have another human along because Sparky isn't a good conversationalist. When I talk to him, he just looks at me as if I'm slightly bonkers. 

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Cadets at Halifax Citadel

From the internet: Halifax, an Atlantic Ocean port in eastern Canada, is the provincial capital of Nova Scotia. A major business centre since the 1840s, it’s also known for its maritime history.

 The city is dominated by the hilltop Citadel, a star-shaped fort completed in the 1850s. Waterfront warehouses known as the Historic Properties recall Halifax’s days as a trading hub for privateers, notably during the War of 1812.

Inside the Halifax Citadel

Our hotel is near the citadel (the star-shaped fort in the middle of the top photo), and across the street from a beautiful public garden. 

Strangely, the public garden does not allow dogs, dog walkers, cyclists, joggers, scooters, or photography of wedding groups. The sign left me wondering who was allowed to venture through the gorgeous wrought iron gates.

The Point Pleasant park has an interesting policy about dogs. They are allowed off-leash until 10:00 a.m., then not allowed at all later in the day. I think that's a great compromise.

On the return trip to Penticton, BC, Kyla and I will share the driving, and we expect to arrive back home around the 21st of August.

Cheers, Lynda, and The Sparkinator

Point Pleasant Park, Halifax

Point Pleasant Park, Halifax

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Halifax, Nova Scotia

The chaotic colonias of Isla Mujeres

Business and residential mixed together

The neighbourhoods of Isla, the colonias, have a vibrant atmosphere with a chaotic mix of residential and commercial, much like the small towns in Europe. 

They are lively and lived-in. New visitors occasionally remark that they see extensive poverty. We see diversity. We see hard-working neighbours and friends who live where they work, and work where they live.

Tiny tienda on Juarez Avenue

On Isla Mujeres, the tiny storefront businesses intermingle with modest living spaces. In the street just south of our casa, there is a myriad of small houses and apartments interspersed with a variety of establishments. The majority of the proprietors live behind or above their business. Within a few blocks, we can get our golf cart repaired, purchase a gift for a child, visit the veterinarian with a pet, get our laundry washed, or have documents photocopied.

Lawrie at Orlando's Golf Cart Repairs

There are two dental offices just a few blocks south of us. One is situated on an upper floor of a house, and in front of the car repair business. The other is tucked behind the air conditioning and appliance repair shop. Our favourite upholsterer is located between two houses near one of the island’s animal shelters.

If we are hungry or thirsty, there are several little tiendas selling sodas, eggs, bread or snacks. Our preferred tienda carries a good selection of fruits, vegetables and freshly squeezed juices. A tortilla factory operates six days a week, scenting the air with the delicious smell of freshly-baked corn tortillas. When they close for the day, an evenings-only restaurant sets up in front, selling tasty food to their neighbours. Two nearby stores sell cold beer to complement the evening meal.

The guys having their morning get-together

Scattered among the businesses are the long-time residents, living and working their entire lives on Isla. Every morning, a group of seven or eight people from adjacent dwellings gather on one large street-side verandah to share a sociable cup of coffee and the local gossip. 

Another man walks two blocks south to buy his morning newspaper, returning to sit outside his front door while he carefully reads each page. In the evenings, when the sun has shifted behind the buildings, another long-time resident sits on his shady patio, waving at passersby and shouting pleasant greetings.

Vibrant colour combinations are common.

Every home on the island is unique, whether it is an expensive house or a humble dwelling. 

Cookie-cutter neighbourhoods are virtually unknown except for a new development of beautiful high-end homes at the southern end of the island. 

Typically, the colonias are an unruly mix of brightly coloured buildings and unfinished houses, varying from simple huts to three-storied residences. 

Until recently, a mortgage in Mexico was almost impossible to obtain. 

Even now, with an increase in the availability of bank mortgages, the interest rates are astronomical compared to the three per cent that a Canadian or American would pay in their own countries. Consequently, buildings are finished when, and if, the owners have a few dollars to spend.

We love the chaos, the colour, the vibrant feeling of lived-in neighbourhoods. It’s what makes Mexico so interesting.

Hasta Luego 

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Max

Isla Mujeres Mystery series

Have you got yours yet?

Isla Mujeres Mystery series: a humorous Caribbean adventure set on Isla Mujeres, a tiny island off the eastern coast of Mexico. Murder and mayhem. Pirate treasure and hurricanes. Lovers and families. And there is a dog, a lovable rescue-mutt, Sparky. Come join us for the adventure. 

Cheers Lynda and Sparky

Just photos! We are entertaining family members for a few days!

Just a few colourful photos to keep you entertained.  

The new camera has an HRD Paint program. It's fun to fool around with. I hope you enjoy!

Painter jazzing up house on Juarez

Looking down on square from The Reef Bar

Fun colours on Juarez Avenue

Tuggui popsicle salesmen headed back after long day

Another colourful street

Cheers Lynda, Lawrie, and Sparky

Sadly our 17 year old Tommy is no longer with us.

He has two bilingual books for children commemorating his unique personality.

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky

Spice it up! Living in Mexico!

No bueno!  Too hot!

Piling the bags of groceries on the counter, we started putting things away, and then it struck me how we are gradually acclimating to this culture.  

On the counter were two types of chillies, onions, tomatoes, limes, mangoes, avocados, tortillas and a bottle of our favourite spicy chipotle mayonnaise. 

These are just some of the ingredients we needed to make delicious arrachera fajitas for lunch. Yum!

                      

Beginning of a tasty meal.

Three years ago, when we were touring Italy, with Lawrie’s siblings and spouses also known as “The Family,” Lawrie and I discovered that we really missed the spiciness of Mexican food – the heat, the zip, the zap.  

The Italian food tasted good, but it used to taste great before we moved to Mexico.  Perhaps we have burnt out the more delicate taste receptors in our tongues by eating hot sauces and salsas.  Now, don’t get me wrong, Ghost chilli peppers, the world’s hottest peppers, are not for us! A bit spicier is good, crazy hot spicy is no bueno!

Living area 2007

The other obvious change in our lives is the amount of colour that has slowly crept into our house. When we moved here, our casa was tastefully furnished in North American colours: black, neutral beige, and of course white. Attractive?  Sure. Interesting? Not so much. A few years later, the main floor sofa and our patio sofa morphed into green, blue and yellow stripes. I have plans for the next reincarnation that include navy, yellow, pink and orange.  

Living area 2015

Our assorted candle lanterns have been spray-painted several times to combat the rust and corrosion, and each time the colour combinations are more lively: green, blue, yellow, and orange.  

Even the dishes piled in our open-front kitchen cabinets have undergone a colour infusion from white and whiter to multi-hued hand-blown glassware from Guadalajara, hand-painted margarita glasses, turquoise plates, and stacks of blue or yellow bowls.

I wanted pink, orange and yellow; this works.

Recently, I decided to update a small bathroom cabinet that we had purchased in 2007. It was painted black, of course.  

I wandered into a local paint store and explained that I needed small cans of perhaps orange, pink, and yellow in something similar to Varathane, but no luck there.  

The new look - 6 colours.

The clerk helpfully pulled out a selection of 250ml tins of enamel paint in a variety of blues, yellows and turquoise. Sure! Why not? Colour is colour.  

For the next few days, I painted and experimented with the various shades, eventually getting a fun result that I am darn pleased about. Now I find myself eyeing other furniture items in the house – thinking, hmm, I wonder.

On a grander scale, we could bravely follow in the footsteps of other pioneering ex-pats and paint our house a multitude of eye-pleasing hues, but to be honest, we are a bit lazy.  On this side of the island, the paint takes a beating with the constant but pleasant cooling breezes. One colour inside and out suits our lifestyle. Patching and touchups are easier with one shade to deal with – a little here, a little there.  All done. We are back to reading a book and sipping on a glass of wine in record time. 

Boats one of my favourite things to photograph

Less house maintenance also leaves me more time to photograph my favourite things, like brightly painted boats, jazzy houses, and tropical flowers.  

Even laundry hung to dry outside other casas can be eye-catching and bright.  

And then there is our laundry basket.  It is currently filled with t-shirts instead of long-sleeved shirts, shorts instead of long pants, and everything in shades of blue, green, and turquoise to orange, pink and yellow. 

But the one thing that doesn’t change about the laundry basket is the smell!  Canada or Mexico – stinky laundry is still stinky laundry and needs to be dealt with. 

All clean - hung to dry

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

September 2015 new colours

Grab your copy today!

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Or

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky

Isla Mujeres, quirky, haphazard, and delightful

Interesting old building in Centro

I have an accumulation of thousands of photographs taken over the past few years, photographs that we like to include in this blog, to write about, to explain. 

When stumped for an idea, I will sit and peruse the files, clicking and scrolling, mentally sorting out the where, when and why of the photos. Usually, an idea for the weekly blog post will pop into my head after a few minutes of contemplation. This time, Lawrie was casually looking over my shoulder and suggested a focus for the article just as the idea was formulating in my head! Damn! He's reading my mind again.

Fruits and veggies - near our house

We were both thinking about the contrasts on the island: the big and the small, the expensive and the economical, the grandiose and the modest. 

Contrasts such as the unlit, narrow aisle leading into a quaint little neighbourhood tienda, a small local store providing fresh vegetables and a few assorted dry goods to customers within a few block radius. 

Chedraui Super Store 

Contrast that with the large, bright Super X-Press, or Chedraui Super Stores, offering new motorcycles, alcohol, baked goods, vegetables, meats, dairy products, or pharmaceuticals. 

 Everything from refrigerators to toothpicks.

Expensive plaything

Then my eyes flicked over a series of photographs featuring sport fishing boats, yachts and cruisers ranging upwards to over a hundred feet in length. 

Grandiose indeed! 

Five fishermen headed out at sundown

Contrast those luxury playthings with the average twenty-six-foot-long open-topped work boats, loaded with fishermen, nets, hooks, and bait, heading out at sundown in hopes of catching fish to sell to local restaurants.

Modest and cozy

Or housing. On Isla, there are many humble little old-style houses made from wooden stakes or concrete blocks protected by roofs made of corrugated cardboard, impregnated with waterproof tar. 

 These tiny homes are just wide enough to comfortably hang a hammock at night.

Colourful and charming!

In the colonias, the thickly populated neighbourhoods, a myriad of modest, brightly painted abodes lend a colourful, haphazard appearance to narrow streets. 

Cozy and charming, these houses vary in shape and size with sufficient room for a family and pets to congregate for meals. 

Architectural wonder - Villa del la Vida

And then there are the splendorous shapes with commanding views of the turquoise ocean - the architectural wonders of shiny glass, glittering metal, and dazzling white walls.

Contrasts; everywhere you look. It is part of the charm of Isla Mujeres, quirky, haphazard, and delightful.

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas the Cat

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky