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I survived the noise of the August Festival, but, have decided to move out of Centro. Realized Christmas and New Years are right around the corner, and then in February is Carnival...yep, time to move. I have chosen an apartment in the town to the north, San Clemente, and since they have their annual festival in September, I will wait until its over, and move on the 8th. It is a bitter sweet decision to leave my beloved San Jacinto, but I have friends and clients in that neck of the woods, and a new chapter will do me good.

Last week Perry and I were house sitting, so a bunch of crazy ladies could go to Quito and Banos for a much needed vacation. I was watching three dogs and a cat! Made me realize just how easy Perry is to take care of!

This is Dallas, the Min Pin and Chloe some sort of terrier. Super loving when they want to be, but also VERY demanding...demanding breakfast at 5AM! The other dog, Senor Guapo, who can not be left alone, and I had to take everywhere I went...was a street dog, but I guess not all street dogs are as easy as Perry.

I finished another paint project before I left for pet sitting, and now just need to make a cushion. I also had a minor catasrophe when the metal fittings for my bed rusted completly, but I got to looking at the bits and pieces and decided I could make a bench. Need to finish painting it, and varnish and Voila, a bench to match my chair. Will be nice in my new apartment.

While house sitting I finished a sign for a friend Patricia, and also a birthday gift for one of the ladies I was sitting for.

I will see Mike today, he has been painting and got back into his clay recently. Im sure he is glad the town has quieted down too. His lease is up in December, and will also look to move out of Centro. We did it, enjoyed it, now time to change. So, stay tuned, the adventure continues!

August festival in San Jacinto

My little town has been a buzz of activity getting ready for the annual festival. Painting projects on street curbs, houses and lots of mad dashes to get construction projects finished. At my end of the street the old lighthouse was getting a facelift, it was two weeks of cement mixer right outside starting at 7am! But the finished product turned out very nice.

Here is what it used to be.

Then they started busting up rocks, and adding cement...

At first I thought they were adding stairs down to the ocean, and thought...thats not a good idea, but no.

Then they filled in the "moat" for what I thought was going to be planters, but no...

There are colored lights in the "waves" and they really made the background so they can have performances on the stage and not get splashed from high tide. They used this stage on Saturday night for their "night of culture" which turned out to be Karaoke! Great! Right outside my door!

Sunday was another boat parade, and in town was a food festival with games, like this one a "de-cobbing corn" race. (Im sure there is a real word, just could NOT think of it, schucking?)

By Monday I had had enough, and went to San Clemente for a couple nights. Wednesday night there was one last hooray in town and they partied and danced til the wee hours of the morning. So glad everyone had a good time, but made me realize... living in town, well is a little noisy. So, stay tuned, the adventure continues!

Painting, painting and more painting

While my Mom was here visiting I finished up a project for Cynthia's jungle resort, getting paid for that, well made me want to finish some more projects!

Another project I have almost finished is a toy boat. I had ordered these boats as gifts for the children, but when they arrived bigger and more expensive than I had planned, I had to switch gears, so custom paint job it is.

And the other side

I also was commissioned to paint some murals at The Cottages by the Sea. They recently installed a new bar, and needed a menu board and something pretty to look at.

Before the paint job. And a couple other signs sprinkled around...

Fun stuff, as the town gears up for the big August festival, I will get some kids to help me do murals around town, so...stay tuned, the adventure continues!

Annual Blessing of the Fishermen

After Mom and I returned home from our adventures in the Sierra, we got to enjoy one of the special things we do here on the coast. My favorite, the Saint Pedro and Saint Pablo festival and Boat parade. If you have been following for some time, you will remember Mike and I went on one of the Big boats a couple years ago, this year, Mom and I watched it from my kitchen windows.

I knew from Facebook that this Procession would take place on Sunday, so as we ate breakfast of fresh bread and drank papaya smoothies, we watched the people start to congregate. From my recollection the parade really got underway at noon, and sure enough I started to see the big boats make their way from Crucita. Looked to me like there were more big shrimp boats this year, and last year with the recent earthquake we didnt have a parade at all.

Maykel hanging around, and other people began watching outside the windows. Little boats ferried people to the big boats, and finally the statues were brought down and loaded into a boat. They are blessing every boat, fisherman and praying for bountiful harvest thru out the year.

I dont know this kid, but found the picture on Facebook, the statues were displayed in town the night before and early in the day before going to the boats.

Great picture taken from a drone flying around. Also found on Facebook.

And after it was all done, and the boats had headed to Crucita, the beach was a mess, I saw a couple of my neighborhood boys out on the beach and decided to bribe them to clean up. The twins mom and aunt saw me talking to them, and helped translate, bags of trash for ice cream, that got them moving!

Two big bags collected, and the smiles on their little faces when I handed them each a fifty cent piece, priceless! A good day was had by all, I enjoyed seeing the festivites while staying out of the sun, and off the water for four plus hours, but...maybe next year. So, stay tuned, the adventure continues!

Waterfalls and wire baskets

After the Tree house we went in search of waterfalls, and we found them! There are so many spilling out of the rocks, we actually drove thru one, it was like a carwash in the middle of the road! We eventually found the place Lucia was looking for and got out for a look.

This one was coming out of the rock with such force! Amazing...

We bought tickets to ride a metal cage type gondola across the river gorge, Im not usually afraid of heights, but I didnt really like it, and then he stopped in the middle for a photo op! No gusta!!

We got out on the other side and walked around a bit. Checking out wildlife, and plants.

It doesnt show in the photo, but this was neon with little purple hairs. What a masterpiece!

Back into the basket, and across the river again, here is a picture of the machinery that made it all happen. Watched a couple people zipline across the river gorge, Wow...I dont think I could do that!

Back to downtown Banos for lunch, and some shopping. What a cool day! Saw this fun painted building, and my creative juices got flowing, I gotta get back to my beach and paint!

And a map of Banos I found online, really a cute little place.

There is much more to see in this area, but we needed to get back so the next morning Lucia went to the hotspring one more time, and after breakfast we headed back to Quito. On the way we stopped in a town known for its cheap jeans, and I got 7, yes 7 pairs of pants or shorts for $30! And the next day I got to return to some warmer weather!! We boarded the early flight to Manta and I was home having coffee and Nexar's bread in my kitchen by 8am. Ahhhhhhh the Ocean!

Mom's visit isnt over yet, she has another week with me at the beach, so stay tuned, the adventure continues!