Family news

The town fiesta is May 1st, so a lot of the relatives will be visiting back from the US and Manila and Germany and Canada and... well, I'm sure I left a few countries out.

our local virgin is the Divina Pastora, the holy shepherdess. This is a photo of the original statue, which is Mary, complete with her wide brimmed straw hat, surrounded by sheep.

photo credit: Raymond R. Valmonte

Wikipedia has more on how this Spanish madonna , and a 2014 article in the Inquirer discusses the pilgrims, while the local parish website has photos from past fiestas.

Fiestas don't just mean prayers and masses, but parades, and family reunions and lots and lots of food.

I went grocery shopping yesterday because the traffic etc. will be a mess. Our cook does the daily shopping for fresh meat and veggies, but I usually buy coffee, sugar, snacks and soap/detergent. The grocery store next door closed, so it means the regular stuff can be found in a nearby grocery, but the westernized food like Yogurt has to be bought at the grocery store in the mall. However, a new grocery store is being built next door

The problem is that the Palenke is a block away, so regular people go there for bargains...

it continues to be very hot, so I am avoiding going outside during the hot part of the day.

Ruby jogs (sometimes) at 5 am, and there is a dance/exercize class at the town square two blocks away at that time. Lolo used to jog there at 5 am every single day until he hit 88 years old, and I used to go with him and sort of lag behind. But now, forgetabout it. The bad news is that since I stopped walking I have gained 20 pounds. Oh well.

Ruby says her friends are all watching Sherlock: and are all gaga over it. I downloaded them a couple years ago (not illegally: No copyright law here then) so we had a Sherlock marathon. We are up to season 2.

Of course, he talks so fast, I suspect they are missing some of the humor.

(Presumably it has finally reached the local stations, TV shows tend to show here after 2 to 3 years, although The Walking Dead and other shows are advertised as "same day as in USA").

finally: We are being over run by cats again: nine kittens from three feral mothers who figured there is safety (and left over dog food to eat).

Alas, George the killer labrador, is getting too old to chase cats. Sigh.