Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

Tuesday, February 28, 2012 Here in Ajijic, the days preceding Lent are celebratory and full of interesting activities like parades, art shows, mariachis and other type bands in the plaza, plus storing up the fat before the fast with lots of eating and drinking!Men seem to enjoy dressing up like women at the parades. I think they signify the devil/evil then are transformed to good. The pictures tell the story better than words. Men on stilts. How do they do that on the cobblestones of Ajijic? Broken ankles are the most common mishaps here due to the uneven cobblestones! Peacock float. Men discovering their inner feminist! Fish float. Disney inspired; I see Cinderella. Just regular horses. We hear them clip-clop past our house morning and evening.

Monday, February 20, 2012 So many of you are suffering through cold weather, no mail and closed banks today for President's Day and I am basking in the flower and sun-filled patio of the B&B we are staying at this week in Ajijic, Jalisco Mexico. From here we could here a parade pass by; a preamble to Mardi Gras, I suppose. It was a little strange to hear a celebratory parade at noon on a Monday work day, but stranger things have happened here in Mexico! We arrived last Thursday and so far it has been a nice relaxing pace. Our B&B is filled with 9 other very nice couples many from various parts of Canada, so the conversation at breakfast is always lively. Yesterday the main plaza in our little town was also very lively with Mardi Gras doings. We went to a parade where among other things, people dress in devilish masks and through white flour on the heads of unwitting observers. Others who follow along later also throw confetti. What is the signific...

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 I was delighted to be asked to teach beginning crochet to a patient in the OB department of my local hospital last week. Many of you who know me, know that I have a background in nursing, so this is not such an odd request. Also, the last non-crochet job that I had was at this same hospital in the Adult Day center where I worked as an activity specialist. I had a weekly crochet group there and it was amazing how therapeutic the weekly crochet was for my clients with dementia! The lady I taught had never ever crocheted and she caught on real fast. Her baby is due in April but her water broke two weeks ago! So, needless to say, she is one bed rest and was beginning to go stir-crazy! Her doctor was looking to provide some activities to keep her mind occupied and she expressed interest in learning crochet. I took her yarn, hook and a basic how-to book and spent an hour with her. She was working nice even single crochets by the time I left an hour later. I didn...