We moved into our lovely house on the western outskirts of Ajijic on Friday 27th November with only 3 weeks to spare before our daughters and grand daughter arrived for Christmas. I guess, normally, this wouldn't have presented a problem but as we'd sold every single one of our possessions and had arrived in Mexico with only our clothes, golf clubs and our dogs we had a reall challenge on our hands. Although we'd bought the main furniture with the house, we hadn't even a coffee mug to drink from ........ oh yeah, I forgot - we hadn't even got any coffee!
A very steep and frantic learning curve ensued - finding out where to buy household stuff, bedding, dog beds, food and drink, navigating our way (mostly unsuccessfully) in and around Guadalajara where the traffic is manic. BUT we succeeded! I don't think the girls have lacked any creature comforts while they've been here. They all have their own bedrooms and bathrooms, so why, I wonder, do they all congregate in our bathroom to fix their hair and make up?
So far we've managed a trip to Tonala to buy some artwork for our house, somehow managing to cram five adults and a large picture into a very small Nissan Note much to the amusement of onlookers who watched all the contortions involved in getting in and out of the car. Gill & Lyn had broken body's by the time we got home!The following day we recovered by taking ourselves to Aguas Termales, the wonderful restorative thermal pools which are only 5 minutes drive from our house. Being Christmas Eve, the place was wonderfully quiet and we had personal waiter service all day long. The hottest pool was a scalding 41 degrees so we only managed about 3 minutes at a time in that one! Christmas lunch was a treat at Maria Isabel's Restaurant on the shores of Lake Chapala although someone had a warped sense of humour in providing Dave with a shot glass for his Diet Coke!
Then there was the Tequila Trip! A mahoosive 12 hour car trip to Tequila via the unique, circular pyramids at Guachimontones, a fabulous lunch at Hacienda El Carmen which dates back to the mid 16th Century and then on to the small family owned and run tequila distillery, La Alborrada. What a wonderful, personal tour we had, followed by a mega tasting session of all the tequilas made here. It has to be said that you really do need to go with a tour guide because 10 tequilla shots in 40 minutes was pretty heavy going even for the dedicated drinkers in our group!
Meantime, as if we hadn't been busy enough, we rescued a stray dog from the lakeside. The streets of Ajijic are full of stray street dogs which tend to run in small packs but little Braxie, a 10 month old German Shepherd / Alsatian was all alone on a patch of land between two established packs. She appeared about two weeks ago and we thought she belonged to a couple of fishermen we camp out there from time to time but apparently not. She followed us on our daily walk with our two dogs every day but two days in a row she was attacked, though not hurt, by a pack of dogs guarding a local farmers cows. She's such a happy, friendly little thing so ...... we brought her home and she's settled straight in with our two dogs. Now we start the round of vet visits to check her over, vaccinate and then spay her. The vet doesn't think she's been on the streets too long because, although skinny, her teeth and gums are in good shape but we now have a very loyal pup - a wonderful Christmas present!
