Our version of an old nursery rhyme

Thinking of the nursery rhyme "Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub; there was the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. In this story, the laundry lady takes the place of the candlestick maker. So, in that order ...

The butcher:

In this town, visitors are for the most part very friendly, and are happy to strike up a conversation. The usual "where are you from?" and "how long are you here?" is commonplace, and other discussions develop from there. Yesterday, in one such conversation, we were told we have to try the butcher on the main street, especially his bacon - which we were assured doesn't even shrink when you cook it - and also that the ground beef is amazing. Apparently this butcher still grinds your meat to order, with a hand grinder. That takes me back to my childhood days.

Here's the butcher, and that's our bacon on the scales. We didn't get the ground beef, but Greg couldn't resist the pork, so we had those big pork chops for supper tonight. Like everyone else so far, this butcher was happy to have his photo on the Internet. 

The baker:

Almost everyone in town knows of the rustic clay oven used by the busy (and maybe the only?) bakery in town. Walk to the back of an area with tables and upturned chairs, past the elderly lady sitting in a chair with a plastic jar for cash, and right into the working operation of the bakery. No storefront area here; you just dodge around the workers and fend for yourself.

Here's the clay oven, with a tray of rolls fresh out of the oven.

It is hot in this small area, and this man was really sweating. He glanced up a few times, but most of the time his eyes were focussed on the baking. I noticed the single light bulb hanging down in front of this hot oven, but I guess he needs it to check the colour of the baked goods. It looked a little precarious to me.

I think that's a batch of donuts sitting there now.

Workers then prepare a variety of baked goods on trays. This area is only a few steps away from the oven, and a large commercial food mixer stands between them, off to the side. In this space we've seen about six workers working their own trays, dodging each other to pull from the shelves and racks, some of which you can see in the background here.

All the while, customers come in, grab a plastic bag, and try to stay out of the way of the workers. However, customers are pulling off the very same shelves, so it's a bit of a dance, trying not to slow down their production. How they put up with customers coming in all the time is beyond me!

Each tray is slipped into a big plastic bag and batches are placed into the back of a pickup truck with a cap. The trays are then delivered to most of the small stores operating from the front of people's homes. The same baked goods can be seen everywhere around town, so that's why I think they may be the only bakery in town.

The laundry lady:

We dropped laundry off to be washed and dried. Greg's a firm believer in giving business to the local people whenever possible. Personally, I just think he doesn't want to sit on our balcony, dodging our laundry clothes line. When we dropped the laundry off, the lady's daughter was there with her, while she worked. She was just so precious that I saw an opportunity for one of our sheep to be loved.

The mom's eyes lit up when Fluffly (hey, that was her name on her tag) peeked her head out of the backpack. She was excited. She went to get her daughter, but her daughter was shy and more hesitant. At her mom's prompting, she did manage to say "gracias". I think Fluffly has gone to a deserving home.

As an aside, notice the ceiling in the background. Most ceilings have this pattern, including ours, which you'll see here. 

There are metal girders about three feet (1 metre) apart, and then red bricks cemented in with this undulating design. Every ceiling I've seen has the same design, and they fascinate me.

Greg particularly likes the colours in this flower. Oh, and what did Greg tell our friends when he came home, carrying the bag of laundry? "Oh, I've done all the laundry now". Yeah, right Greg!

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Location: Lo de Marcos, Nayarit, Mexico
Weather: High of 76ºF (24ºC), low of 68ºF (20ºC)

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Note: The people posing for photos in this blog are aware their photo will be on the Internet and have happily agreed to it.