Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Saturday is market day

Barb was going into town, and Saturday is market day in Valle de Juarez, so we went in with her. First, we stopped at her house and used Skype to say hi to our son, then we went to the main square and picked up some meat at the carneceria (butcher).

We got 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) of fresh ground beef, two steaks, and 660 grams (1.5 lbs) of pork loin for a total of 142 pesos ($11.07). Ruth figures we will get eight meals for two out of that meat, so that's pretty good! Then it was off to the main grocery store where we bought 24 bottles of Sol beer for 192 pesos ($14.97). Have I mentioned lately that I love Mexico?! Then, it was a stop at the fruit and vegetable guy. We bought a big bag of carrots, a cauliflower, a green pepper, a bag of green beans, and a head of lettuce for a total of 45 pesos ($3.51).

The workers are making good progress on the addition here at Hacienda Contreras. Yesterday, they built the stairs leading up to the second level and balcony.

The guy in charge of the concrete work is David. He's 65 years old, and never stops!

New steps with fresh concrete

Barb was painting the kitchen area, and Ruth volunteered to give her a hand. Niko the dog was supervising!

Watched game 3 of the World Series last night. After a terrible call by the first base umpire in the fourth inning, the Texas Rangers fell apart, and Albert Pujols of the Cardinals came together, putting out three home runs in the game. Good for the Cards, they aren't going be easy to take down. Game 4 tonight, as the Cardinals take a 2-1 lead in the series.

This morning, we're going to try to hike up the top of this hill. We're going to start out on the dirt road you can see in the picture, but then we'll probably have to go through some fields to get to the top.

15 comments:

  1. Sure do love the markets and prices in Mexico, and the weather is not too shabby either, have fun.

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  2. Ahhh love the farmer's markets and saving the $$ bypassing the middle man. And the food is sooo much nicer too! We have a little meat market down the road here that slaughters only local grass fed beef from our area. What a difference from store bought celophane and styrofoam tray meat selections at the Walmart!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve

    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  3. Whenever you write about the market I get hungry. :)

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  4. Looks like you have great food prices, I hope the Cardinals win tonight and bring it back to St Louis to clinch it here in St Louis, If they win the next two that will be it. Got to be optimistic. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.....

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  5. I saw the word "carneceria" on a truck here in AZ the other day and wondered what it meant. Thanks for the clarification. Niko seems to be doing a great job of supervising.

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  6. I couldn't quite figure out how they tied the steps into the side of the house. Did they install some sort of lag bolts between when you took the first pic and when they towelled out the concrete?
    Just wondering if you happened to notice.
    I've always loved the idea of cantilevered concrete, but it still needs to be attached....somewhere.

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  7. The "hill" looks like it is going to give you both a great work out!
    I cannot believe the prices you are paying for your food. That is excellent! Enjoy your hike.

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  8. I think it's great that you get so much walking in. Exercise is important for the soul. Amazing prices for meat there. Here in New Zealand you would be lucky to get 2meals for the same price! The All Blacks won the World Cup against France! It was really close!

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  9. Hope you have a nice hike, me...I'm going to have a siesta! You guys are right, gota love Mexico!! I'm hanging at aca trl park, run into you folks later! (Not literaly!)

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  10. looks to me like you got some 'great deals' at the market!!!

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  11. never occurred to me till you said you bought some lettuce - I know you need to wash the veggies real well in Mexico but what do you do for sterile water? Do you fill your tank and add a bit of chlorine to it or what?

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  12. I love your blog, interesting text, cool photos, but I hate your new title font which drives me nuts

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  13. George and Suzie...There are many things here to love.

    Karen and Steve...Yep, that's the way a market should be but we find that in Canada especially they are super expensive and seem all artsy fartsy.

    Janie and John...Too funny!

    Sam and Donna...It's back to a tie now, looks like the winning game will be played in St. Louis after all. It sure is a close series so far.

    Jim and Sandie...Niko did such a great job that Sal hired her on for the next job!

    Bob...Talked to Sal about this for you. They drill a groove that is about 10cm wide and about 5cm deep into the brick that follows the slope of the steps and the base of the balcony before they pour the concrete and then they place the rebar in, the ends of the rebar fit into the grove along with the concrete, when it dries it is super strong. They leave the wood support there for 2 weeks before it will be removed and with be safe to walk on without that support.

    where's weaver...We had a great hike up the "hill" a couple of spots were fairly steep but otherwise it wasn't real strenuous. You can see why we love going to the market!

    Paul...Thanks Paul not only is excerise good for the soul it is good for our health. The prices aren't too much different from Canada and the States but the meat is nice and fresh and local. Glad the All Blacks team won for you.

    Trkdrivinfool...Hope you had a good siesta, we had one after our hike. We will try to meet up next month.

    Sue and Doug...Love the market here :)

    Chuck and Anneke...They are really fun to walk around too.

    heyduke...You could put a bit of bleach in you tank if you would like, we don't though. Our tank water is used for washing dishes/ourselves and the toilet. We use the bottled purified water (20L for between $1-$2) for washing our fruit and veggies, and drinking. You can also buy a liquid desinfectant if you are really worried but we have never needed it. We have been doing it this way for 4 years now and haven't had a problem.

    Chris...Thank you for your input and for following along. We have now changed the font.

    Kevin and Ruth

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  14. Chris...Sorry, I got ahead of myself. I thought Kevin had gone in and changed the font already but he hasn't yet...but he will change it soon.

    Ruth

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