Running an animal hospital in the middle of construction

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - Lucky the dog has begun his slow climb to recovery, poco a poco as they say here (little by little). Each day, we clean his various sores and then give him an injection, all of which he suffers without a whimper. I probably whimper more when I give him the injection. Not my favorite time of the day, and I'm on the non-painful end of the procedure.

Yesterday he actually barked at several dogs walking by on the outside of the fence. I think the boy has potential as a guard dog.


Treating Lucky's bruised ear

When we brought Lucky home to the property, we were a little worried about how he would interact with the workmen who are laying tile, doing plumbing and moving our ramada. But he seems relatively oblivious to their presence. It's only other canines outside the fence that seem to bother him.

All three projects are moving ahead very quickly, with the plumber promising he will be done Monday, the ramada movers likewise and the tile guy... well ... that might be another week at the current rate of progress. But the tiles look very nice, a sharp contrast to the concrete we've been walking on for the first few weeks here.


Laying tiles in the palapa

The biggest event this week was the arrival - and placement - of the water tanks on top of our bodega. As soon as they are plumbed into the water system, we will have a steady flow of water all day (a 1,000 gallons worth anyway). Currently, when I hear my drip irrigation system start hissing (when the town water is turned on for its one-hour-per day), I grab a hose and fill the tiny water tanks in the two trailers and any containers I can find.




It's also near the end of the Christmas vacation season, and the highway is already clogged with overloaded trucks and cars as the Mexican families make their way back to their homes - and work.

The La Manzanilla beach still looks a lot Coney Island, but less so day by day.


Enjoying the beach