Friday, June 20, 2008

APOLOGIES

My apologies for not posting anything for a couple of weeks! There are a couple of reasons... a really large project at work that I was spearheading has just been rolled out, and I have been having some health issues which have meant lots of appointments and tests. In the midst of all this, there are the year-end June BBQ's for various groups I am a part of, so very little painting has been accomplished. I do, however, anticipate being able to post something in the way of painting by early next week. In the meantime, I thought you might like to see some of the pictures of our 4 day stay in Manzanillo, which we took with our family when we visited Guadalajara.



The little pink hotel is the place we stayed at - right on the beach. La Posada is fairly rustic, but very reasonably priced, with a full breakfast included. Full breakfast meant your choice of any or all of eggs, pancakes, bacon, ham, fruit, toast, French toast, coffee, tea, juice, milk. It was really great. La Posada also had a fairly large swimming pool which was wonderful for cooling off when it was too hot to do anything else.



One day, as we were in the pool, a swarm of bees attached themselves to a tree which we needed to pass by to get back to our rooms.  Needless to say, we took an alternate route. Within a few hours, the staff had figured out a way to deal with the swarm, but for the rest of our 4 day stay, we were wary each time we passed by that tree... there were a few bees that stayed around for quite some time.



Manzanillo is a very large port, and even in the evening, large barges of cargo came in. The beaches are literally full of "gold". There is some sort of rock that has broken up and when you are standing in the waves, the gold pieces reflect the sunlight. Long beaches that are quite clean with golden flecks - quite unusual!

 
Pelicans are constantly drifting past very close to shore. They dive and come up with fish just beyond where you stand in the ocean. If you actually swim out just a few feet, you are swimming with the fish!

Although Manzanillo is a lovely area, there is a down side. A coal generated electricity plant is right there, and the plumes of "stuff" that it puts into the atmosphere are huge. My husband, who suffers from migraines, had a low grade headache every day we were there. I cannot imagine what that is doing to the health of those that live there...

Thanks for visiting my blog. If you return next week, I'll have a new piece for you to view.

If you would like to inquire about any of my other pieces, just e-mail me at jogiesbrecht@gmail.com.  

If you would like to see more of my work - watercolor, acrylic, photography - please visit my website at www.joannegiesbrecht.com

9 comments:

Jean Victory said...

Joanne,
Mexico looks wonderful! I hope you had a great time!

Anonymous said...

How nice to learn about Manzanillo from you. Thanks for sharing the photos with us.

Best,
Paz

theresamillerwatercolors said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
theresamillerwatercolors said...

Hope all is well with you! Looking forward to your new postings. I enjoyed reading about your trip to Mexico. Have a great Summer!

Unknown said...

Hi Jean!
I am so glad to see you back painting! Mexico is wonderful and we had so much fun with our kids and grandkids. There was a bit of a downside though when our daughter got sick with dysentry. She was a trooper, though, and was on the road to recovery by the time we left - but not before losing more than 20 pounds in less than a couple of weeks! She was skin and bones. But, all is well now, so we are glad for that. I hope your health is strong - especially with the warmer weather. Finally - no more snow! :-)

Unknown said...

Hi Paz,

Thanks for coming by and commenting. I got some really nice pictures of the city of Guadalajara from the car as we were driving one day - maybe i"ll post some of them in a few weeks. Are you planning on a vacation this summer?

Take care.

Unknown said...

Hi Theresa,

How is summer in your part f the world? I would just love to see Europe, Africa and Asia! Are you and your family traveling at all this summer? Thanks for dropping by - I'll be visiting your site today to see what you have been doing.

Happy painting!

Frank Gardner said...

I can see where the coal plant would be a turn off. Aside from that it looks great.

Unknown said...

Hi Frank!
Yes - Manzanillo is a beautiful place with only one flaw - the coal plant. The weather was perfect - warm ocean breezes, no pesky mosquitos, and lots of fun and rest. Since I returned to Canada, it has been so hectic that I cannot begin to tell you how frustrated I have been to not be able to paint! However, things should begin to slow down a bit at work now, so I am looking forward to a few solid days of painting this summer.

Take care, Frank.