dry day, wet night

We went off to Tecoman yesterday morning, list in hand, to do some chores.  We decided NOT to go to TelMex because the lift-the-phone-to-reconnect, although a total bore, seems to be working.   Fernando came to check this morning and said he'd relay this strange set of circumstances to the company and see if he can get them to actually show up and check the lines.  ¡Que milagro!

The section of town we had to go to is in the heart of market streets adjacent to Cathedral Square.  I absolutely love this area, the sounds, the smells, the sights.  Ladies with their big shopping bags crammed with goods, sidewalk vendors hawking delicious looking tacos and tamales, stalls selling nopales  and strawberries, bolillos and taleras.   Lots of  interesting shops selling all sorts of things including this place which I call the Everything store.

The store goes way back and is crammed with everything you can imagine, including this huge display of cookware.  A pot for every need.

First stop was the warehouse to buy potatoes ~ 4 kilos of a variety that makes the best hash browns and papas fritas ~ to be divided among us, Blanche and Mrs. NN.  Next to the bacon and cheese store for said products.  Then on to the paint store to find a new color for our garage and front doors and lot gate.  I've never really liked the color I chose a couple of years ago; too brown.  I really wanted the red that ship hulls are painted but couldn't quite match it.  So the new color will be much more red but I think it will look just fine.  I'll put up a sample when I get the paint.   While we were there I asked the proprietor, a very delightful chap with whom we've done much business over the years, if he had one of his usual colorful calendars for this new year.  He gladly gave me one; here are a couple of pages.  It is a  beautiful addition to my desk.

Next stop was the vivero for a bag of soil.  What I saw, to my great surprise, was a SE VENDE sign on the gate.  The gentleman inside assured me that the nursery is not for sale, just the property it sits on and if it should actually sell he will move his outfit down the street a few blocks.   I was relieved to hear this as it's a particularly good nursery and the closest one to our house.  Otherwise it's up to Colima.

A quick stop at La Bodega and then on to the chicken joint in Armeria for a rotisseried dinner.  Back home for a quick lunch then off for the Tuesday domino game.  The day had started out warm and beautiful but was gradually getting windier and darker.  By the time I got home around 5 PM it was clear that some sort of weather was headed our way.

Sure enough, at 10 o'clock it started to rain but only for about 20 minutes.  However,  a really heavy rain began falling later and kept it up most of the night.  We had earlier taken down the lights in the front of the balcony but not the electric luminarios on the stairs.

Sometime in the  night Mr. C got up and unplugged them and gathered them up.  His opinion is that they may have been flooded might henceforth be unusable.  We'll try them out when things get dry.

Here's what we found in the living room this morning.

Right now, at 11 AM, it's not sunny but it's not raining either.  Earlier something ominous was heading our way from the southeast but it seems to have faded, although the weather report says occasional thunderstorms ~ of which there was a BIG one in the night with very loud thunder that set off the neighborhood dogs.

 It's a good day to stay in and read, I think.