Pic-of-the-Week for January 29, 2013

Hola Amigos,

Wow!  Have we had a busy week, home improvement-wise!  Yes, the granite guys came Friday and installed our countertop....well... they installed 1/2 of it!  They got the first piece in (it takes three of them to haul and maneuver, the granite is so heavy).  When they tried to put in the second piece, which meets in the middle of the sink area with the other piece, they found they were about 1 foot short!  How that happened, they have no idea, because one of them spent a good 6 hours here fitting a paper pattern and putting in concrete board on top of the cabinets so that the final granite counter top would be the same height as our old one (1 1/2 inch).  I guess having our sink on an angle like it is messed them up.  Anyhow, they managed to cut another one correctly, and came and installed it on Saturday.  It took most of the day!  Haul it in.  Place it.  See if it fits.  Measure.  Take it out.  Cut a little bit off on the corner.  Haul it in. Place it.  See if it fits.  You get the idea!  They must have done that at least 3 times.  The end result is beautiful!  This is the first attempt.  That angle piece was a challenge!  (That is the back side you see, by the way).

 
They even cut out the sink hole and set the sink in place, and grouted the edge between our tile and the granite, and put a sealer on it.  Here you can see them cutting the sink hole.  One guy cutting, one guy vacuuming the dust away (believe me, there was PLENTY of dust!) and one guy underneath catching the pieces they were cutting!

AND....the solar guys came twice this week.  Once to deliver the solar panel, and once to deliver and place the water tank and mount the solar panel, which is now on top of our upstairs bathroom.  It only took 6 guys to get it up there, including Ben and Ryan and a fellow who was visiting Ryan!  With that many, it was a piece of cake (and I missed it with my camera, somehow.)  Here you can see two of them lugging it up the stairs.

Hauling the water tank up the stairs was a trick, too, especially turning that corner!  But they got it up there, and it fits in the niche in the bathroom like a glove!  Just like we planned for it when we built 10 years ago!!  

So, the solar panel is in place, the tank is in place, and we're waiting with bated breath for our plumber Carlos to come today.  He will do the plumbing to supply cold water to the solar heater, and add the hot water to our existing recirculating hot water line.  We have left our propane tank in place so that we'll have hot water on the cloudy winter days, but the rest of the time, the solar heater should take care of it.   

And not only that... we're hoping he'll have time to plumb our kitchen sink so we can start using it again!  It's just a bit inconvenient to have to run out to our courtyard sink every time we need to get water or wash a dish!  But I'm glad it's there...much nicer than doing the dishes in the laundry tub or a bathroom sink! (And we just thought it would be a fish sink!)   I imagine we'll be without water for a while today while he's working on those lines. 

Oh!  And Ben managed to get the crown molding rebuilt and re-installed.  And believe me, it is well treated for termites!  Ben slathered the bug-stuff on all the wood, so it should be untasty for years to come!

 

In the midst of all this excitement at home, it was our 45th wedding anniversary on Sunday!  Ben was a sweetheart, and (with only a few hints) brought home a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers to celebrate the event! 

 

Of course we went out for dinner (multiple times last week, in fact!).  

The red truck is still being worked on in La Paz.  The mechanic did get the parts he needed, but when Ben drove in to La Paz on Saturday for some more errand-running, he stopped there, only to discover that the head mechanic and the diesel mechanic were hundreds of miles away working on one of their company's milk delivery trucks that had broken down.  Oh well....manana!!   

There are a bunch more photos of the granite, a carnita fiesta at our church, and scenes around the area in our January 2013 Picasa Album

Hasta la proxima semana,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey  

PS.  Carlos the plumber just arrived!!!  Hooray! 

 

Pic-of-the-Week for January 22, 2013

Hola Amigos,

This is the week when things are finally happening here at Casa Purkey, as far as home improvement projects go.  First, we need to tear the place apart....then, we build it back!  We have a major kitchen "fix" happening right now, and are surviving without counter-tops until Friday.  Those ding-dang termites have eaten their way through some crown molding, and the nice oak edge on our formica/ plywood countertop.  Ben was a bit surprised that it wasn't as bad as he thought it might be on the countertops when we finally got those off and out yesterday, but they had certainly done a number on the edge.  This example is where there was a piece of oak plywood against it (where the refrigerator sits), so we couldn't see it.  Munch, munch, munch!!!

The hombre cutting and fitting the granite countertop actually came to our house early yesterday morning to let us know that he couldn't measure until Tuesday morning, and promised that they'd be here today, and that the counter would be ready to install this Friday.  This is what it looks like in here right now... no countertop I could probably live with, but no sink is a bit of a problem in a kitchen!  (We do have a sink outside  in our courtyard, which is our official kitchen sink this week!) 

Ben spent much of last week dismantling the crown molding on one section and rebuilding it, and repairing areas where the termites had done damage on some other edges. It's amazing how they figure out how to eat all the wood "behind the scenes" without breaking through.  But when things start collapsing, you know something is going on back there!  And, for the good part... it's not often that you get to clean the floors and walls UNDER and BEHIND your cabinets, so I'm taking advantage of it!  The photo below shows Ben working on the the refrigerator surround, replacing the eaten edging with new. 

Our 2006 truck is still in the shop in La Paz.  The mechanic called on Thursday (Ben took it in last Monday, as directed by the mechanic) and told Ben that he had to order the part because it wasn't available in La Paz and he needed to pay 1/2 the cost ahead of time.  We're scratching our heads here wondering why he didn't check on the part on Monday, when he took the truck in, or tell Ben that he needed the 1/2 payment when he was there!!!  As it was, Ben had to run to the bank here in Los Barriles and transfer the money to the fellow's account.  The part is coming from Guadalajara, and will take 4 days.  (We don't know if that includes the weekend days or not).    We're hoping it will be ready by Thursday or Friday.  Ben will ride the bus back to La Paz and spend the day doing more errands there (he has it all figured out on a spreadsheet...where he needs to go, what he needs to get, and how much time it will take.  This next trip he figures to be 18 hours!!!!  WHAT???)  

Our garden is coming along well.  We even have a few volunteer tomato bushes that are producing right now.  I was taking a photo of a handful of little yellow pear tomatoes, and Zoey wanted to see if it was something she could eat!  She's like a spring!  Boing!  Boing!  Pretty amazing for a dachshund.

  
We are still enjoying the bird life around here.  There is at least one Cardinal family that is very comfortable around us.  I can put sunflower seeds in the feeder and the male will just flutter away a few feet and wait.  The female is a bit more cautious.  We always love to see these guys in our garden... they certainly add a splash of color!

  
Our friends from UK, Ray and Rita, have been visiting here, getting another load of their things to take back to Scotland.  It has been so good to see them.  We are hoping when they return for another visit in May that they will be a bit healthier!  They have both had respiratory issues while here! Here is Ray enjoying the view from our friend's casa with Ryan and Ben.  (Rita was home in bed recovering from her cold!)

There are more photos in our January 2013 Picasa album.  

And the granite guys are here to measure!  Hooray!  It will look pretty in my kitchen next week!  

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey  

Pic-of-the-Week for January 15, 2013

Hola Amigos,

Winter is here for sure!  This last weekend, the Lord of the Winds kiteboarding and windsurfing contest was held here, and the winds cooperated....and HOW!!!  The first day, Saturday morning, it was calm and sunny until noon, when the wind picked up in a hurry.  And it didn't quit after that, and it is still blowing this morning.  We are also having cooler temperatures.  It was all the way down to 50 the other day for a morning low!  And by the way, I didn't go to the tournament to take photos...we looked from the comfort of our house at the point of the beach in Los Barriles where much of the action was taking place, and the sand was blowing in a huge cloud about 40 feet high!  Didn't look like a fun place to be to me with my good camera!  

 This is what the beach and surf looked like on Saturday before the winds started.  Sam was getting a little drink on the way home, and Zoey was being ultra-cautious, and telling Sam to look out for that huge wave behind him!  (This morning there really are huge waves out there!)

The good news about this season (for us, at least) is that we occasionally see whales here in the Sea of Cortez . We saw one the other day when we were out driving, and stopped near the flag monument and watched a whale out about 150 yards, splashing his fin, blowing and cavorting in the water.  We watched for several minutes, and he just kept splashing!  This reminds me; Ben said to remind all of you who want to go whale watching in Baja someday that this is the ideal time, from now through mid-March.  We go over on the Pacific side to Magdalena Bay and take a panga out where we can get close and personal with the whales.  If you're considering a Baja vacation, that is a fun thing to do!  

For more whale photos from a trip we took last year.  January 2012 Whale Watching. 

Most of the time, when we're home, we appreciate being right HERE.  In fact, we set up a little table and played a good game of Pinochle there just last night (Ryan and I won; Ben & Pat lost badly!!!)   We certainly appreciate the warmth of this little heater this time of year!  
 

 
 Now for the bad news.  :-(  Our 2006 truck, which had the head gasket replaced last summer is in the shop in La Paz..... to have the head gasket replaced!  Ben talked to our mechanic in Salem and he said he had already replaced 3 that he'd put in last year.  He said the company where he got the gaskets (a very reputable one with top quality products...usually) will pay for the cost of replacement.  It may be a little more difficult being that we're in Mexico and will pay in pesos, but hopefully the company will accept the paperwork.  Ben took it in yesterday and the mechanic in La Paz said it should be done by Friday or Saturday...unless he can't get the part and needs to order it.  Another first time experience for Ben...he took the Aguila bus home.  It worked well, although it wasn't one of the nicer buses.  

We are still waiting for the solar water heater work to be done.  We will be counting cloudy days from now on!!  And we've ordered our granite for our kitchen counter top.  Ben will remove the old counter top next Monday, the granite guys will come in and measure it up for the granite, and will install it on that Friday.  So, we'll be without counter tops and a sink for 5 days!  I imagine the solar guys will probably show up next week, too, so we could be without water for a while here!!!  It will be interesting!  (Don't plan on coming to visit us in the next couple of weeks!)  

  

Speaking of hot water...here's a place we like to visit in the winter:  the San Jorge hot springs.  It is a wonderful thing to do when the winds are whipping at our house.  This photo is from several years ago when they still allowed dogs down there.  Sam can't go any more!  (And he really liked it, too!)   Until he had to get out!  
 
A few more photos are in our January 2013 Picasa album.  (I really haven't been far from home to take pictures this last week, other than a trip into San Jose and Cabo...and I forgot my camera then!) 

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos from a cool and cloudy Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey   

Pic-of-the-Week for January 8, 2013

Hola Amigos,

January decided to be winter.  We've had cloudy weather and wind and cooler temps for the last several weeks.  It was 57 here for a low this morning.  Thank goodness the sun is shining brightly today!  Many of us living here notice that it is often cooler in our houses that outside.  That's a good thing in the summer...not so good in the winter!  And most homes don't have heat sources, because they're not needed most of the year.  But let me tell you, our little propane heater is very popular this time of year!  Yesterday was balmy, with very little wind, and it was very nice to sit outside in the sunshine to read my book.

 

 

After we turned out the lights last night, the wind started blowing like crazy!  We found things blown helter-skelter on our patios this morning!  Crazy!  (It usually doesn't blow at night, unless there's a hurricane going by!)  

Our dogs love going to the beach, even on the windy days.  They're a little unsuspecting of the wind on the beach at this point, as the arroyo is nicely protected from the wind. 

 
When we got out there, though, the wind was blowing the sand about knee-high on me, so I knew it couldn't be pleasant for little dogs!  We explored just a little bit and headed back home!  Ears were blowing!!

 
Ben has started work on another "home improvement" project.  We've been battling termites since our house was built, and last year noticed that they were eating the plywood in our counter top, and the oak around the edge of the counter.  They can't do much damage to the cabinets themselves, as they are made from melamine with oak fronts, and they don't like to eat plastic and glue (thank goodness!)  But they eat the cabinet bases, and they're working on the crown molding on the upper cabinets, and wherever they can find easy access to plywood.  Ben removed the set of drawers by our back door to get to the base.  It was just a shell; the termites had done their work on it! 

 You can see the trail coming up from the floor (they did stop and work on the base before they went upstairs to the counter top!)  Ben managed to get the new base built and re-installed in one day.  He made it out of melamine (in the back where you can't see it) and some exotic hardwood we had on hand that is supposedly termite-proof.  Here's the finished product.  You can see that the base wood is quite a bit darker than the oak, but if the termites don't eat it, that's fine with me!  We'll be taking the counter top off sometime this winter, and replacing it with granite.  Ben is hoping that the other cabinet bases are in better shape and won't need to be replaced.  I told him he could replace them when the cabinets collapse on top of the bases!  (He didn't think that was funny!)  
 

Another project we've started (but someone else is going to do the work, thank goodness!) is solar water heating.  We'll be praying for sunny days the rest of this winter for sure!!!  Hopefully, it will be installed next week, and we'll report on it then.  We are looking forward to using a lot less propane for water heating in the near future.  

My garden is doing well.  The pole beans have reached the top wire, and I'm hoping they start blooming soon.  My stock of beans I canned last year is just about gone!  I'm looking forward to fresh ones.  I also planted sugar snap peas for the first time here in Baja, and I'm curious to see how they do.  And so is Zoey (the dogs like to get up in the beds and dig, but they're being pretty good...mostly!)  These are the peas.  At least we don't have iguanas eating our veggies like they're doing at our friend's garden!  
 

 Here's my weekly flower shot.  I don't know the name of this bush, but it blooms year-round.  It was a wonderful addition to the garden.  I really should try sprouting the seeds it has produced from long skinny beans. 
 
There are more photos posted in our January 2013 Picasa album.  

By the way, for you University of Oregon Duck fans.... GO DUCKS!  We got to watch them beat Kansas State at our friend's house (with a nice warm fire going in the fireplace) and enjoyed every minute of it!  They should have been the team playing Alabama last night!  

Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey 

Pic-of-the-Week for January 1, 2013 - Happy New Year!

Hola Amigos! 
Happy New Year!  Feliz Año Nuevo!  Might as well start the new year out right with a short letter and lots of photos.  
We'll start with a Baja sunrise, taken from our driveway.  You can't quite see the Sea of Cortez from here...
Then we'll give you a Baja sunset, taken from the new location of Buzzard's Cantina near Spa Buena Vista.

Then we'll give you the people who came to our house for Christmas Dinner last Tuesday.  Alexandra and Ben, Ben, Ryan and Harriet, Harold, Ellis and Marsha, Pat and Jim.  Ellis and Marsha had just returned that day from Eugene, where Ellis had had his carotid artery cleaned out. 
And it is always a good time for our local winter fruit.  Ben stopped along the road in El Triunfo and bought a bag of Pitahaya fruit from the locals who line the road with buckets of them.  There must be huge amounts of these cactus out in the desert, and they know where the best ones are located.
The taste is kind of between a strawberry and watermelon!  Yummy.  I'll probably make jam out of what we haven't eaten yet.  
And here are Sam and Zoey heading for home after their beach walk.  We had lots of cloudy days in December, and it rained most of the day last Sunday.  We've had our heater on several times, and our dinner guests without heaters in their homes always appreciate backing up to it! 
January 2013 Picasa Album is where you can find some new photos.  Actually, they were all taken in 2012, but I had to have something for today!! 
And what better photo to end up with than our two grandsons.  Their Mom (our daughter Rebecca) sent us the December album of the boys today.  Aaron turned one in December, and David will be 3 in February. This photo will make you just want to reach out and hug them!

OK.  That one is so good, I'm going to give you one more of them, a bit more serious pose...

We hope your new year is healthy, happy, and prosperous. 
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey