Pic-of-the-Week for January 14, 2014

Hola Amigos,

Another week gone by *whoosh*!  Where did it go?  Well, Ben and I spent about 2 hours on Friday morning waiting our turns at the Immigration office in Cabo San Lucas.  We will FINALLY be getting our permanent Immigrant status, which means we don't have to do an annual renewal of our immigration status ever again!  Hooray.  We tried to do it last year (we were eligible), but, to tell it shortly, used the wrong fellow to help us with the process last year and ended up with the same status as before.  (The laws and procedures were changing right when we were renewing, so that didn't help at all!)   We should have our new cards in a week or so, hopefully before I leave for Chicago in early February!  This picture is from last year, when we were still smiling because we thought these were the correct cards!  (NOT!)  At least while we were in Cabo, we got to eat at a nice restaurant, bought some nice baby clothes in the mall, visited our favorite money exchange place, a wine store, Costco and Home Depot!  Phew!!! 

Our newest grandchild has not arrived yet.  The baby is due on January 20, and Rebecca has been 10 days late with each of her boys, so we'll see if a girl will come any earlier.  Maybe next week!   Thankfully, the weather in that area of the US is starting to warm up a bit.  You realize that I have no gloves, no warm socks, no boots.... My wardrobe is definitely of the summer variety!   February in Chicago should be balmy, right??

The weather here has been pretty nice; a few windy days, then a few calm days, with temps in the mid to high 70's.  We do seem to be having more sunny days this year than last year.  That is always nice, because on the windy days, you can always find a sunny spot out of the wind.  Ben claims that the hot spot is wherever he's working on his car trailer!  He's had it re-painted, has rewired it, and has installed a new plywood top on it.  We'll be pulling the car trailer with our 1928 Ford Woody on it for a car show in Washington this summer, so getting the trailer done is high on his priority list. Two trips to La Paz were necessary last week, because when Ben was paying for that nice pre-covered plywood (used for concrete forms), the clerk was loading two bad sheets along with the good ones.  They were not willing to deliver to our house, so he had to travel all the way back there to exchange them.  He was not real happy about that!   If you're wondering how Ben gets a car on this trailer... it's no problem, as long as it is a Model A!  The distance between the wheel wells is about 1" wider than the wheels of a Model A.  This trailer is great for hauling anything on Baja's narrow roads.  (It also takes a good guide to get him lined up right...that's me!)  Ben and Ryan spent a lot of time underneath this thing yesterday getting the plywood bolted on!  Lookin' good!   

I must admit that it has been a pretty quiet week here.  No special trips anywhere (other than Ben's trips to La Paz), so no special photos.  I did wake up to a beautiful sunrise the other day, and went up on the upstairs deck to get a shot of it.  

Then I turned around and shot a photo of our upstairs bedrooms from the carport deck. Isn't it nice and rosy in the morning glow?  And look....you could lay in bed in the mornings and watch the sunrise from there!  Or, if you felt so inclined, you could do pull-ups from Ryan's pull-up bar on the right there.... or maybe not.  The lounge chair with the cushion is looking pretty good!  (It is one of those non-windy, sunny spots!) 

I was told that the name of our exotic looking agave plant is Agave Attenuata.  Thanks, Susie and Jerry, for giving us the plant originally, then letting us know what it is!  It is also known as "Lion's Tail", "Foxtail", or "Swan's Neck".  And yes, it is still blooming and drooping further down.  A smaller agave is also blooming, but it's bloom is only about a foot long.  

Our friend Alexandra, who has a place down here where she spends as much time as her job allows, gave me the Gardenia plant she bought at the Saturday Market a few weeks ago.  She told me that a bloom was just about ready to open, and was sorry she had to leave and miss it.  Well.... it looks just the same!  I did get it planted in a nice spot, and I'll watch it carefully and take a photo when it DOES bloom!  Right now, it looks like this...

It was an interesting hole to dig for this plant.  I kept hitting big chunks of concrete, and it didn't take long to figure out that our contractor had dug a BIG hole and buried, instead of hauling off, the concrete they broke out during our construction project last year.  Once I got the chunks out of the ground, it made for a good space to fill in with good dirt.  That flower bed used to have some really nice dirt in it! 

I've added a few more photos to our January 2014 album.

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

PS.  The dogs each got a bath, so it is safe to come visit us!  :-)