Score!

Sam and Grace spent Sunday night with us, Jim and Millie went on an anniversary mini-trip.  So Grandpa took Sam fishing and I took Grace to Jo-Ann's to pick out pajama flannel for Christmas since it was 60% off.

We had to stop at Starbuck's for a little refreshment.

This is what Gracie picked out.  The scotties are hers, the black & red guitars are Isaac's, the footballs are Chris's, and the race cars are for Syd, Sam and Daniel.  Now take a look at the racecar flannel, and then look at the blankets below:

It's hard to see, but the bottom left blanket, Sam's, is the same racecar print!  That little boy is going to be so happy!

After a day of ice fishing, Sam dug into the little cooler Grandpa had filled with his food.  He ate just about everything in the cooler, then fell asleep with his hand in the cooler!

It was a good day, Mom and Dad had a great stay in Chico Hot Springs, and came home refreshed.  I had a little relapse of the flu and spent the rest of the night on the couch.  This stuff is mean and keeps trying to come back.  I've had one acupuncture treatment and will have another on Thursday, so I think I will eventually get over it.  I bought a cool vapor humidifier and run it 24/7 to counteract the dry, dry air here in the mountains.

Coughing and Knitting

So now I have ANOTHER virus!  Looks like bronchitis this time, I think it probably was last time, but the trip to Mazatlan cured it quickly.  This time I really had a hard time breathing, and the rattle in my chest would wake me up.  I've been on the couch propped up sleeping since Thursday night.  I decided to opt for one of my alternative remedies, so I brewed a batch of colloidal silver and started taking it.  The congestion in my lungs has lessened quite fast, so I think I'll keep going with the therapy.  A lot of people say they end up with a sinus infection, so I'll keep on with the silver for maybe a week or two.  I haven't found anything better than silver for sinus, not even the most powerful antibiotics.  Plus you don't have to rebalance your body afterwards.  Keep'in on, I'll keep you posted on my recuperation. (I'm very impatient, I've already given 4 full days to this bug and I think that's quite enough, thankyouverymuch!)

I have been knitting.  I started this scarf for myself just for a project, something brain dead that I can do while visiting, watching TV, or just drinking coffee.

It's good old knitting worsted in a simple K2 P2 pattern, alternating every 2 rows.  It lays flat and will be nice for the dead of winter.

It's much longer now, I'm just knitting until I think it's long enough or I run out of yarn, LOL!  I'll post a picture when it's finished.  Some people love to knit when they're sick, but I can't focus so I don't get much done.

Scarves

I've been knitting those curly scarves-you've seen the green one.  I just finished one for the DIL-hope she doesn't see this post before tonight!  This one is from Bernat Twist n Twirl. I don't care for this yarn as well as I did the Red Heart.

I got to this point and lo and behold-a knot!  Now if you know this fabric, you know that you only knit the very top edge and the rest ruffles out, giving your effect.

So having this is a big no-no!

This is how I fixed it, with hand sewing.  I found out later you're supposed to overlap 3-4 inches and knit together.  That would have been so much easier!

It's okay-and with blue for Millie and purple for Gracie!

I'll make some more, perhaps, but with Red Heart this time.  I did "like" Bernat on Facebook and told them about the knot.  They were very gracious and said they would look into their production methods.

A Few More Pictures

A few more shots of Machado Square-truly a great place to go!

Al is keeping watch.

Interesting tree-the beanlike pods are about a foot long.

Ice ready to cool some beer, lots of beer.

Preparing for the big weekend.

A great place to people watch.  Last year there were a few hippies in the square.  One guy didn't have any shoes on.

This is what I came home to.  Apparently I left a bit of a bread sack sticking out of the freezer door and it was just big enough to let air in.  We were worried that the freezer was on the fritz, but the ice is all gone now.

Quiet Days

We didn't get too carried away with excursions, etc., this time.  We've done them all and have progressed to being quite familiar with the area and just go where we want to.

Tuesday was a pretty easy day, got some groceries and hung out at the resort.  Tuesday night was the Fiesta the resort holds weekly.  A buffet with lots of good food and great singers and dancers.  Could have won some tequila if I memorized a Spanish phrase and stood up in front and said it.  Didn't need the tequila so I memorized the phrase and stayed sitting! 

Wednesday we went down to Olas Altas, which is in Old Town to meet some friends for lunch.  Irene had a tummy bug (not something she ate, lol!), so it was just the two of us.  We left a little early and got a nice guided trip from our taxi driver.  I had wondered about the Machado family that Plazuela Machado was named after, since I have a friend by that name.  Found out they are very wealthy and at one time lived in a mansion on the Plaza.  The mansion is now a museum and the Machados live in El Cid, one of the most exclusive areas in Mazatlan.

Colin and Contessa, a couple I first met through their blog.  We get together at least once while we are in Mazatlan.  The Jewells winter in Mazatlan and summer in Canada.  The restaurant we ate at was La Cueva Del Leon, The Cave of the Lion, and is a place we will return to a lot!

Al Jolson was in Machado Square, the rest of the statues were along the Malecon, or public beach.

The theme of Carnaval this year is "La Linterna Magica," or The Magic Lantern, referring to the old-time projectors used in the early movie theaters.  Here is Marlon Brando.

Marlena Deitrich

Pedro Infante, a very famous Mexican singer who was born in Mazatlan.

Marilyn, complete with flying skirt!

Back for happy hour and Italian Night at La Palapa, the four star restaurant at our resort.  And of course a sunset.  This night we saw the green flash, but it's just about impossible to photograph, at least with my little carry-along camera.

Gone and Back

We're home from our week in Mazatlan.  Interesting trip, but we still had fun.  We did get plane tickets from Cal Jet and they fit very nicely in with the other connections I had set up.  We were due to arrive in Mazatlan just after 11:00 on Sunday night, but we got as close as below the streetlights when our pilot pulled up and circled for a while.  He came on the loudspeaker and said that it was too foggy to land so we flew to Puerto Vallerta to fuel up,  Then we flew to Guadalajara where we were informed that we would stay the night. By this time it was 3:00 in the morning.  They provided us with hotel rooms and meals and we flew out at 2:00 the next afternoon.  Crazy way to start a vacation but sort of an adventure, too.  I was impressed with the friendliness of Guadalajara, the same as the people in Mazatlan.

The fog had finally burned off, they got new air space, and the crew got their required rest so off we went, all 60 of us.  50 minutes later, 2:00 Mazatlan time, we touched down in Mazatlan.  The whole group clapped and cheered!

We were exhausted, but we managed happy hour and supper, but were in bed by 7:30.  We did get to see the first great sunset.

Quick Update

Haven't posted much lately, I thought I'd better let you know I'm still alive.  Actually I got the flu-took me out for a few days.  The whole family has been stricken.  It's made its way through almost all of us, hope it's finished!

We are supposed to fly out on Sunday for Mazatlan, but there is a problem in the works.  Cal Jet Air has decided to suspend operation as of February 5.  This means as of now we don't have a way home, and possibly no way to get there.  The last news bit I saw said they were going to combine remaining flights.  Yikes!  I hate things being up in the air like this!  I've been in contact with them-a lot.  Hopefully they will get this resolved soon-we have separately booked flights between Denver and here that might need changed, too.  I'll keep you all posted.