SHOPPING IN PROGRESO

Every few days we head over to Progreso to check out the sights, go to the local fruit and vegetable market and just look at the treasures in general. I love going to the market and buying flowers for the house. I can usually pick up a great bouquet for about $5 US. I love seeing the exotic Bird of Paradise flowers, Ginger blossoms and more mixed in with the more conventional Sun Flowers and Lilies.

This week I didn't buy any flowers, I was on a mission to purchase a new mirror for our downstairs bathroom. We are finally getting around to redoing it after living in our current home for nearly a year. Still, I couldn't help but wander around the market a bit.

Check out this beautiful flowers:





The craft items are just wonderful at the market too!

And then there is all of the fresh fruits and veggies, works of art themselves.




Once we finished strolling through the market it was time to get serious about finding the perfect bathroom mirror, we thought we would visit a few of the local gift shops.

Many cool things
Pocketbooks anybody? But no mirrors that matched what I had in mind,

While many parts of the US and Canada are covered in snow, this is what it looks like here at the beach today! A little breezy and about 80 degrees...
I love this guy with his horse and cart. He travels around the Progreso area and sells bags of dirt for your garden.
Progreso beach
However as great as the day is, still no mirror, so off to Merida......... There is a guy that sets up alongside the road and sells beautiful Talavera pottery and home accessories, maybe he will have exactly what I'm looking for,

Many beautiful and tempting things here, but still not what I have my mind set on...


We left the shop and I had a brainstorm, how about Pier One? I have always loved that store and thought they may have something that is just perfect for my bathroom. Pier One is located inside Sears at the Grand Plaza Mall. Got there and found a great mirror! Of course there was no price as is a common practice here. It was made of shells and oval, a little smaller than what I had in mind but just gorgeous! Unfortunately, Pier One was very proud of this masterpiece, about $250. Many things are cheaper here, but when it comes to imported items, you had better sit down when you hear the prices!

Doug and I decided that we could make our own mirror, we already had the one in the bathroom that I didn't like, all I need to do is go pickup some more shells. Soooooo, off I go, heading to the beach with a bucket, pictures to follow soon!

In the meantime, don't forget to checkout our real estate website, find the home of your dreams and live the easy life here in sunny Mexico!

Chillin' in Chelem

Weather in Chelem

The last week has been very unusual here in Chelem. After going through months with no rain, it has rained now all week long. And I mean rained! The wind has blown and the temperatures have dropped down to the high 70's. Our normally green Gulf Coast waters have turned rough and gray. The tides have been much higher than normal and much of the coast has seen the effects of erosion. Now we have hurricane/tropical depression/tropical storm Ida heading towards the Riveria Maya coast. While we have no fears of it hitting us, it means more rain! This morning I got up and saw a ray of sunshine, I grabbed my flip flops and shades and headed to the beach. The smell of the salt was much stronger than normal, the high tide mark was higher than I have ever seen it, the beach was full of seaweed and treasures. I only had a few minutes, clients were coming over to look at houses at 9:00, but here is a quick sampling of what I found.


First the ocean, gray and muddy, looking more like the Atlantic than the Gulf

A variety of sea shells, unfortunately I don't know their names, except for this one, a conch


And this one a starfish, or in Spanish: estrella de mar

Don't know what these are, but thought they were cool looking
We used to call thes cone shells when I was a kid, may not be correct
Some kind of whelk possibly

All my treasures accumulated in about 10 minutes
The weather here may not always be perfect, it may be too hot or it may be rainy like the past week, but there is always something here to be thankful for! Good friends, good food and small treasures. Until next time, Chillin' in Chelem

Update! Today (Sunday) has been lovely, the storm clouds are gone, the sun is shining and the time is right for heading south! Now is the time to move south. Contact us at www.mayanliving.com to buy your piece of paradise now! For all of you up north where the weather isn't so nice, check out this: