Hola Amigos,
Can you believe that May is already almost over!? How did that happen?
With the days going by so fast, we are managing to get some more things accomplished. In this case, we just had to pay for it! We decided that since Miguel, who repaired our palapas last week, does such good work, we'd have him build us a brand new palapa in our courtyard. This time of year when the sun is so straight up, it gets very hot in there. We though a shade structure over the sink and barbecue area would be a good idea, so Miguel was very happy to build it for us. He and Abernardo showed up most mornings at 6:30 or 7AM to start work. (Good grief!) I had to get up and get dressed way early!) They built it like we suggested, he provided a beautiful support post, and it turned out just great.
Here it is "in process", and you can see from the shadows on the wall that in the hot afternoon, we'll have lots of shade here. It turns out that Miguel's helper, Abern, did most of the labor for the construction. Miguel took care of wetting down the palm leaves and threading the datil tie on the leaves, and sanding and finishing the post. Abern did all the measuring and cutting and drilling and hammering and wrapping and tying. Here is what it looks like this morning, all finished.
Can you believe that May is already almost over!? How did that happen?
With the days going by so fast, we are managing to get some more things accomplished. In this case, we just had to pay for it! We decided that since Miguel, who repaired our palapas last week, does such good work, we'd have him build us a brand new palapa in our courtyard. This time of year when the sun is so straight up, it gets very hot in there. We though a shade structure over the sink and barbecue area would be a good idea, so Miguel was very happy to build it for us. He and Abernardo showed up most mornings at 6:30 or 7AM to start work. (Good grief!) I had to get up and get dressed way early!) They built it like we suggested, he provided a beautiful support post, and it turned out just great.
Here it is "in process", and you can see from the shadows on the wall that in the hot afternoon, we'll have lots of shade here. It turns out that Miguel's helper, Abern, did most of the labor for the construction. Miguel took care of wetting down the palm leaves and threading the datil tie on the leaves, and sanding and finishing the post. Abern did all the measuring and cutting and drilling and hammering and wrapping and tying. Here is what it looks like this morning, all finished.
Sam's big discovery during all this is that all our palapas are held together with dog chews!!!! They use cow hide strips to reinforce the structure (hold it together better, and going up the stairs there is one that he can get his nose on! What torture!! He's been spending a lot of time on the stairway...waiting and hoping!
Check out our May Picasa album, near the end, to see photos of the work in process. I got lots of opportunity to use and practice my Spanish, since Miguel speaks no English. Also, I got to supervise the job, since Ben went with our friend John H on the annual Baja Flying Trip. I decided to give them a "guy's" trip this time. They suffered, (I'm sure!), but managed to have fun without me. Ben did remember to take quite a few photos, and he got some nice ones. You can find them in a new album, May 2013 Flying Trip. I uploaded the photos for him, and told him he was responsible for adding captions. If you are wondering about any of those photos, just send Ben an e-mail and ask him "what?", "who?", "where?", "when?" and "why?"....if you're curious! It should keep him busy!
Ben & John were back by Sunday, since they again, couldn't get over to the Pacific side due to clouds and fog. Yesterday, we took him on a land tour of Baja... we drove up to El Triunfo for a nice lunch and tour of that little town, then drove back towards our casa, but off on a mountain road. Ryan had found a "retirement" home on the internet that a hotel owner had built almost to completion, but the man had died before it was completed. So, there is this little house sitting up in the mountains. Ryan had his handy i-phone with the Google map on it to guide us. Unfortunate, after driving these windy dirt roads for an hour, we ended up here:
Big chain, big lock, and too hot a day to hike the rest of the 5 kilometers or so to the end of the road. Turns out that at this point, our casa on the beach is about 16.5 miles directly east. Of course the roads don't go that way! It was a pretty drive. Several of the arroyos (The Buenas Aires arroyo starts up here) have Wedego trees; beautiful big things that look a bit like Cottonwood, and there are many Oaks. That big old tree is a Wedego (see the cow for size comparison).
And this is a close up of an Oak, just because I like this bark.
We managed to find our way home out of the mountains, and enjoyed our first corn on the cob for dinner. Yum!!! They weren't real big ears, but they were sweet and delicious, and went nicely with our Aracherra steak.
While Miguel and Abernardo were building the palapa, I finished building my quilt! I think it turned out pretty nice...certainly colorful! And all constructed from my fabric stash. I was thinking about quilting this one myself, but I'll be taking it north to be quilted, since my sewing machine is acting up. It keeps sewing when I take my foot of the foot pedal control, and that's not a good thing!!! Guess I might be taking my sewing machine north, too. The baby isn't due until November, so the timing works fine.
Ben is heading back to La Paz this morning, and I'm taking John and Phyllis out to Punta Pescadero where their Cessna is parked. (This photo is from Loreto). It's a great ride, and a neat way to see a lot of Baja (just not close up!)
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos en Baja
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey
