The Arroyo Seco fiesta will be held sometime this week --- and you have to be here to figure out when....
Chena and Chon did a booming business this weekend in their tienda across the street by selling silk flower arrangements, which they picked up in La Huerta the day before. They started with about 25 arrangements, including a 3-D piece of artwork with pitchers of flowing water (Michael suggested it would sell quicker if it was pouring tequila). By the end of Mother’s Day, they only had a few flowers left.
Several women stopped by to give me flowers and gifts, a very sweet and appreciated gesture.
But the real gift of Sunday was an impromptu visit by Sasha, accompanied with parents Dustin and Camelia. This was Sasha’s first real trip to an ocean beach.
She loved it.
Sasha's first trip to the ocean
She loved the textures, the water, the sand, the whole she-bang.
Sasha recharging the batteries for more beach time
We took the quad down to the surf beach for sunset on Saturday night. Then an afternoon at Tenacatita beach where Sasha loved being in the water and the waves. Even our 8-year-old neighbor, Julliette, swam with us in Tenacatita, where the water is deliciously warm.
It’s a relief to know our granddaughter has inherited the water gene required for holidays at the beach in Mexico or the lake in New York.
Dustin, of course, loved our Honda quad, and Cami was game for a sunny vacation on a beach and out of the house.
Really, this was safer than it looks!
While they were here, Dustin mentioned wanting a smaller dog as a companion dog to Max, their black lab mutt.
Careful what you wish for.
He went home with a tiny three-week old black and white pup that he has to feed formula and bathe daily.
Dustin feeds the newborn while Mama dog takes a snooze
We walked down to our neighbor’s house whose cocker spaniel had given birth to nine pups about three weeks before.
We were surprised and disappointed to find all the pups had died but one --- and that one was left was in a back room on a dirt floor, in the dark, with the owners out of town for the night.
I had given their cocker spaniel, Canela, a flea bath and a haircut right after the pups were born because the owners were complaining about the fleas.
Fleas? Yes, and dozens of ticks.
An ugly job.
I had taken Rocio, our friendly vet, to see the mom and pups right after they were born and she had encouraged the owners to get the pups out of the dirt and to get the mom more nourishing food so she’d have enough milk.
The advice apparently wasn’t enough.
A neighbor hopped the fence and grabbed the puppy for us. Dustin brought it back to our place for its first of many baths with a mild flea soap designed for puppies.
Our first report from Dustin and Cami, back home in Puerto Vallarta, is that the puppy is eating and sleeping well and starting to walk around, albeit a bit wobbly.
The last of the nine pups
As the last one of nine pups, he must be quite a survivor and he’s just gotten a real chance at a good life.
And Dustin must have gotten that ‘save the dog’ gene from me.
A quick update on the dogs:
Capitan is doing well again and living back at home with Marta, who is in charge of his medications. He seems to be getting energy back and is happy to be at home with his buddy, Paloma. We go up to give the occasional injection, provide antibiotics. He has a severe case of ehrlichia, which he got from a tick. One of the symptoms was the anemia and the bleeding. It’s treatable with a 30-day regime of strong antibiotics and a lot of vitamins.
Leona, the female with TVT, a venereal cancer, has suddenly gotten a lot better. We were three or four shots into her treatment with little improvement. On Sunday, she looks almost normal. She’s also getting a little easier to handle. It still takes three of us to hold her down, with a muzzle, to give her an IV injection. But there’s less thrashing, gnashing and gnawing going on. We’re all relieved (especially Leona?).
Canela, the cocker, has just gotten a full-strength flea bath, which we’ll follow up with a frontline treatment and spray around her house as well. We’ll find a way to get her spayed soon. No more pups!
I’ve learned a lot about how to help the animals down here and I’m more committed than ever to getting as many of them neutered as possible. This year I’ll be raising money in the states for the spay and neutering clinics, so please let me know if this is something you’d like to support.
You can email me a fitzfoxATgmail.com ---- we'll be back in the states at the end of the month.
