TRAVELS OF ANN

Of all the parts, I was most concerned about the electrical. During demo, we found a fuse box in the kitchen. Ugh! Yep, I needed a new sub electrical panel. Some electricians are squeamish about fuse boxes. I was getting electrical bids while the walls and floors were open…don’t want to hide anything. One electrician looked at my kitchen and went “Nah” and left. You feel such rejection!…Maybe I’m not up to this task?

My budget was $2,000. I got 5 bids..the cheapest was $2,300 and the most expensive was $3,600.  I went with Alex the lowest bid and a personal recommendation. It was the right choice. They were great. Alex had working for him, his grandson and nephew. Really nice young guys. I passed them a little cash, with permission from the boss, each time they came.

When they had to come back to install the light fixtures. They were very responsive and came right out each time.

First the insulation. Thought I’d use the foam insulation but it was 3X the price. Miguel installed the pink insulation.

ON the drywall, I used the green moisture resistant sheetrock. It cost a little more but only a couple of dollars more per sheet.

I thought I’d do the kitchen painting myself. Miguel quoted $400. I knew what color I wanted…the color of the Caribbean Sea…the most beautiful place in the world. I looked at paint stores, Pinterest, got color samples and tried them on the kitchen

wall.

Decided to have a professional paint job. Miguel suggested that I use a “Satin finish for the kitchen walls. He knew his painting..it came out wonderful. He suggested that I use “Monterey” texture finish…I just knew orange peel.

The result is fabulous! You can tell a difference in a professional paint job!

In the planning phase, I started with Lowe’s and Ikea for cabinets and appliances. I selected Ikea due to cost, function, and the look.

I knew I wanted something waterproof, low maintenance. I planned a high-grade sheet vinyl. My sister in law put it in her bathroom, it looks like wood. I ordered samples, got everyone’s input, agonized over it ( not really).

Miguel looked at it and said “can’t”. There would be too many cuts because the island was bolted to the floor.

Back to samples and agonizing…. it’s so difficult to make a selection of a whole floor, looking at a 4″X4″ sample. Choose the top of the line “luxury vinyl plank”, got many samples. Narrowed it to 2. Showed them to Miguel. He said this one….was one of the 2 that I liked.

After the installation…I wasn’t sure? Maybe too busy, did it flow into the other room’s wood floors. That night I woke up, walked into the kitchen. It looked beautiful! The floors went perfectly with the cabinets. The verdict is in….I love it.

Guess what I’ve had in the past has influenced my decisions. I was tired of tile. My previous house and this one has an overabundance of tile. I want minimal tile.

Planned to just a white 12″ long subway tile going along the counter. I found a glass tile that looks like the ocean. Used it as a medallion over the cooktop. Luckily Miguel does tile. He made my vision come true with a few little adjustments. Couldn’t use the 12″ because the windows were too low, too much cutting. We used a 6″ white subway tile bordered by white glass pencil tiles.

Was so worried that the weather might be bad this morning and the harbour is closed like yesterday. Up early, got message at 8am that it was a go. Met the captain at 8:30.

The water was rough, it was windy, the visabiliy wasnt too good. You can tell how strong the current is by how the coral sea fans bend over.

I didnt care….it is still wonderful to me. Capt. Joaquin took just me out to the reef.

Like a great divemaster…he throws his gear into the water, dives for it, and puts on underwater. Im not that talented.

One of those weird things in sea horse family. Look closely…hard to see…blends in

Sea Urchins in the hole.

When I swam up the the boat to leave the water, a huge school of fish swam up, as if to say goodbye.

Last night, I arranged snorkeling at 8:30 am. Set my alarm for 7:30. Left for the peir at 815.

Due to the weather, strong wind and waves, the harbor master closed the underwater park. No snorkeling.

Read for awhile after returning. Caught up on news. Packed and wrote in my blog.

Went out for lunch and walked around the boardwalk around beach.

That little animal in the stone is a coatie, a mexican racoon. Randy, my late husband, had an interesting encounter with one in Cozumel….on one of our many adventures.

Sure miss you Randy, everyday.

My entrance to the beach from Casa Velero. the pier, and a typical Puerto Morelos street.

Back to Casa Velero…to pack

Today I had lunch with Tamara Adame, divemaster and ocean conservationist.

She’s doing very important work, to eliminate plastics from the oceans. We must all do our part.

Here’s her website:

https://tamaraunderwater.tailorsites.com

You Must read her article, just published in Greenpeace

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/stories/diving-sea-plastic-something/

She is part of a film making crew, developing a film, to be used to educate the public and especially tourists, like me. We all want to preserve these presious oceans.