Tom, Dick, and Kate pulled out yesterday, headed home. We all agree we will miss them, and hope we meet again next year - if not sooner. It sounds as if we will all be heading to the Yucatan next year, so with any luck....

In the afternoon, I made a solo trip to Guaymas to buy masa for tortillas and a few other things. At the fabric store, I bought another tablecloth, and I asked for samples of a couple of fabrics I'm considering for curtains. I think I've made up my mind now. I'll be buying a cream-coloured fabric with a scrolly floral pattern on it, for 36.90 (that's pesos!) a metre. They were selling decorated masks at the front door, so I picked up one for Chantal and one for me, in case we get brave enough to go into town for Carnaval. In all likelihood, we'll skip it, not being crowd people, really - and in that case, we'll just have our own Mardi Gras party here. Chantal introduced me this morning to a lovely lady named Joyce, another Washingtonian. Joyce apparently throws a big Academy Awards bash every year, complete with red carpet and evening dress. Surely she would help us put together a Mardi Gras celebration!

Today, R&C&R and I drove out to the pearl factory. We stopped along the way at the Hotel Playa de Cortes, just to check it out - because it has an RV park. It's lovely, but a little isolated. We found an artisan in the courtyard, and I bought a little something from him. I won't say what it is, because it's a present. We had an interesting chat, some of which I understood. His name is Juan Pablo Romero, if I remember correctly. He's half Yaqui and half Mexican (whatever that means) and he told me about his 93 year old father, Pedro, who does a special dance at Holy Week every year (I'd like to see that). As for the pearls, they were lovely, but they were way out of my price range. The colour of the pearls was quite different from what I've seen before. They were neither black nor white, but a bluish/greenish-grey - and quite large.

We could see fishing boats pulling up on the shore nearby, and after a bit of wandering through a rather pretty little neighbourhood, we found our way to them. It turned out that the fishermen were bringing in a huge catch of squid and having it weighed. Then, other men loaded the squid into trucks for shipping while the fishermen roared away again in their boats. It was all very interesting. We may go back tomorrow, armed with cameras.

After that, we made a foray to the tortilleria and the supermarket. I was proud of myself. I managed to ask the butcher to give me some minced beef with only a little fat - and he understood me. I planned to use some of the beef to make enchiladas for my dinner, but I don't have to, because Chantal is doing enchiladas, and she's going to feed me. Bonus.