Lil' Update of the Journal . . .

These few images covering these pages are basically a window into our first few days here in Ajijic, Mexico.

The upper left image is our first dinner just up the street at an outdoor seafood place. What I loved more than the inexpensive prices was watching the Mexican families as they dined and played with their children. No one seems to have such reverence and patience with their wee-ones as Mexican families. I watched one large, macho-looking man continue his dinner talking with his wife as their lil' boy crawled over dad like monkey bars.

The next fond sketch is of the horses we have befriended just at the corner field. It's a mom and her baby ... we now have a practice/agreement that we bring mom a carrot or some treat each evening as we begin our walk. We were concerned for the mother, seeing how her hip bones stick out and our "carrot feast" is our way of hopefully helpin' mom and thus, the baby too.

I have a fresh new romance with all the vivid colors here in Mexico and this rich, coral colored home was one of the first we passed in our neighborhood with one of our first walks.

Now, the large street scene was a must for me to paint! Not only did it have the flavor of the regular street traffic with the bicycles, the Coldwell Banker RealEstate sign and the dramatic white mansion on the hill but, it also was the day we walked to our first organic farmers market. We were surprised to see so many English-speaking people, just an introduction to just how many ex-pats there are here. I enjoyed seeing some of the local native people with unusual items for sale too, like Mexican cheeses and bread, organic eggs and organic kale.

A collection of "first impressions" is what these sketches reflect. And you can see they all echo fresh, friendly and, of course, colorful. I mean, we are in Mexico!