The next morning we settled in properly, we unpacked, put the shopping away, wandered to the beach and relaxed into our home for the next 2 weeks. The house was lovely and a brilliant Mexican blue. We had a pool, hammocks, a couch and best of all a KITCHEN!

We went into the village for a wander and it is so rustically Mexican. The Pan man (Bread man) opens at 3pm and sells his home made bread well, from his home of course! The fish man is there at the beach when he gets in from his early morning fishing and when its gone its gone. The vegetable lady opens at 2pm and the lady with the gorgeous handmade meringues, coconut balls and chocolates opened at 3pm 3 days a week. Everyone sold their wares from the front of their homes and would greet you with the biggest smiles ever and tell you (in Spanish) all about what was best, the weather and whatever else you pretended you understood.
There was no-one in that village that wasn’t what you would call a real ‘character’. There were whole families on motorbikes, old men sat drinking cerversas on the street corners gossiping the day away and women sweeping pavements like their lives depended on it. The dogs were a plenty and we even had our own pair of hounds at the apartment. Blanco and Negro. Negro spent most of his days fastened up as a guard dog but Blanco was a mischief, she would sneak into the apartment and steal what she could off the kitchen worktops. She made off with several bread rolls and a couple of muffins.

All of these things added to the charm of the place and we really felt at home. We spent the days pottering and cooking and exploring the nearby villages. We lazed on the beach and collected massive shells,we even think we found a new species of sea beast! I found them (dead) on the beach and carried them to the house to show Janet and Alex,they were fascinating, like creatures from outer space with honeycomb eyes, armour shells and hairy legs and pincers underneath!

Once all our exploring was done locally we headed further afield. We took Peggy for a service and a well needed carpet clean. She got new breaks, new oil and her air filters checked as well as a good polish! While we waited we wandered the markets and had lunch at a lovely little Mexican hotel. We managed to finish and submit the Colin Cowie wedding video which we didnt get through for but enjoyed making and we even found a tiny, well hidden Seafood restaurant and ate like Kings and Queens for the evening.

Alex spent one morning cutting open coconuts so we could make a fish stew for dinner and we even fit in a game of Monopoly (which I won yey)! We truly, truly relaxed. Our only problem was the lack of internet service oh…AND the ant invasions!!!

We returned home one night to see hundreds of ants Marching along the steps to the house, I ran in to see what was going on and as it was dark couldn’t really see how many there were. I flicked on the lights and they were everywhere. I followed them through the house into the kitchen, through the utility room and back out of the door! They weren’t in the cupboards or the fridge or even in the bin, they were obviously were just passing through!! It was so strange to see. Alex called Ricardo (the housekeeper) who came right away and explained (again only in Spanish) that it was because of the moon! We swept them all out and sprayed the steps hoping to put them off. They visited us again the next night and one other night that we were there but we were well used to them by then.

By the time it was Christmas day we were so relaxed we didn’t even know what we were having for Christmas dinner! We had breakfast and opened our presents sent by my family and the gifts Janet had brought along with her. We were spoilt witheverything from Camera lenses to thermal vests, fluffy socks, earrings, PJ’s, chocolate, calandars and teabags and even our very own snow!

But there was one particular gift that had me in floods of happy but homesick tears. A box of things to keep Alex and I sane on our journey! A paperclip to hold us together, a cotton ball to soften the rough roads ahead, crayons to colour our day bright and cheerful and a map so we can always find home are to name but a few of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever had. We really are so lucky to have family that are so thoughtful even when we are so far away.

The box of trinkets really made my day and once I had finished crying about being a little homesick I felt alot better. After skyping the family and a glass of champagne with our lunch on the beach we started preparing the feast…which ended up being a plate full of varyingly cooked and dressed prawns, a bottle of wine and Scrooged the movie! We were all so full we could barely move to cook or eat another morsel! In all it was a weird and wonderful Christmas. We were so lucky to have Mum Janet with us and to be able to skype everyone back home all the way from sunny Mexico.

See what happens next on our traveling wedding adventure!