Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Pic-of-the-Week for October 28, 2014

Hola Amigos,

What a difference a week makes!  After 7 days of being sick, Ben is up and at 'em again.  The biggest difference in his health was when I went to the clinic and got him some anti-nausea pills so that he could eat again.  I think the anti-biotic pills  were doing a number on his stomach!  He felt so good, that he made sure to make it to the season opening of Barrilito's Restaurant last Saturday night!  Yay!! 


Francisco, the chef and owner, outdid himself as usual.  This is our Tuna Sashimi appetizer.  Delicious!


There has been some other excitement this past week....EARTHQUAKES!  This area has had a "swarm" of earthquakes, generally in the "3+" range.  We have our own special fault under us here somewhere.  Ben found an article online about them; and here it is, roughly translated from Spanish: 

La Paz, Baja California Sur (BCS).  Tremors recorded in the Los Barriles and Buena Vista, southeast of the town of La Paz, is located in what is known as a "swarm" and are expected to continue registering continuously for a month.
In an interview, Dr. Roberto Ortega Ruiz, head of seismology of the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE), reported that he has so far recorded 15 earthquakes, four of them reaching the magnitude 3.4 on the Richter scale, from early Thursday.
He said that to have more information on these earthquakes are standing
two stations in that area and staff is also located in the region of San Antonio de la Sierra, reactivating a seismograph which was impaired during Hurricane Odile.
He said that this is not the first time that seismic swarms were recorded in the area, as had already happened in 2012 and 2002.
He said that these phenomena are associated with a particular fault and not associated with a marine volcano in the Gulf of California.
He said that while this type of earthquake is not common that cause the
most problems, they might cause, in most cases, some glass breakage in some homes.
He mentioned that the houses of the residents are very close to the origin of this phenomenon so that citizens could hear the noise and feel the tremors
significantly.  He recommended that people stay informed and comply with the recommendations of Civil Protection.  Likewise he said that after a month of constant seismic activity, the tremors would start registering non-continuous and could take years to re-submit another swarm.  

We did feel and hear most of them.  Pretty exciting!

Many people are returning to town now, so there are longer lines at the ATM machine, and our local grocery store seems to run out of the "in demand" items favored by Americans more quickly.  This is a place where if you see something you like and need at the grocery store, you buy ALL of it!  Thus...things are gone quickly.  Of course, you can wait months for them to stock the shelves with your favorite things, so you can understand the feeling to need to stock our own pantry shelves when things finally arrive!  Ben and some friends are going to La Paz today with a long list of things (groceries and other items) that aren't readily available here.  Hope they find things!  Even the stores in La Paz have been limited in some things due to the hurricane.

One of the good results of the hurricane is all the flowers that are blooming.  You know me and flowers.  I can't hardly pass one by if I have a camera in hand!  I think it's a genetic thing...based on going through my parents 100's of photos of beautiful flowers!  

Here are a few for your enjoyment:

A Pitahaya Cactus bloom.  These produce a fruit from which I make jam.  Delicious at the end, and beautiful to start.


This one?  It's the bloom of the Jimson Weed.  It grows prolifically down here.
 

And this is the bright yellow blooms of the Palo de Arco tree (or shrub...it never gets too tall).  The wood from this tree is used in many ways for shade structures and palapa roofs, because it grows fast and straight. 
 

This start of a bird nest was found on a palm leaf I pruned the other day.  I thought it was a lovely, colorful start to something great! And it looks really nice against that palm leaf, too, don't you think? 


In the meantime, I'm making my rounds on my crocheted rug project.... kind of the same concept, isn't it? 


Well, there are places to go and things to do.  The Fish Man is coming to town today and I've been assigned to find him and buy some shrimp and fish and lobster, but he probably doesn't have scallops yet (not is season until November...soon!) 

I have added photos to my October 2014 Picasa album if you want to take a look-see.  (Dog picture is in there, Marilyn T.)

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


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Pic-of-the-Week for October 21, 2014

Hola Amigos,

If you thought last week was a quiet one... this week takes the cake.  Ben has been sick with an infection of some sort and has been down and out since Thursday.  I took him to the Clinic on Friday, and they did test for Dengue Fever (caused by mosquito bite of an infected bug), but the results were negative for that, thank goodness.  They gave him  prescriptions for an antibiotic and some pain pills (he ached everywhere!), but it is a long process.  He is feeling better this morning after a decent night's sleep and a little food on his stomach, but is still not up to par.  He has been lying around a lot, until he starts to ache, the he gets up and sits a bit, until he's too tired to hold his head up, so he goes back to bed.  

In the meantime, Ryan and I have been keeping up the social calendar, the airport pick-up schedule, the entertain friends schedule, and the Sunday responsibilities at church!  And taking pictures of the local burros for our friends.  We think there is going to be a new one before too long!


The cattle guard makes a great scratching post! 

We were all going to go out Thursday night with friends who had caught fish that day; alas...Ben was too sick to go so we switched it to Sunday, when he was still too sick.  We ate the dorado and tuna without him.  *sad face*  

Oregon friends Mel and Kate showed up on our doorstep on Friday on their trip down, but they were too anxious to get to the camping site at Los Frailes (1.5 hrs south of us) to stay for dinner.  We invited them back for Monday, when they had to come to town anyhow for some errands.  We also invited them to use the washing machine and newly repaired clothesline, and to use our shower.  We were hoping Ben would be feeling well enough to visit with them and cook one of his fantastic shrimp dishes.  They did come back on Monday, used the internet, washed a load of clothes, went shopping, used the new clothesline, and ate Ben's recipe that I cooked.  It did turn out OK, and they also appreciated the Blackberry Crisp that I fixed for desert.  The shower was also greatly appreciated. Ryan managed to get the clothesline pole done on in time for Monday use;  Rustmort application was done on Saturday, primer and final paint, eyebolts and line stringing were done Sunday afternoon.





On Sunday after church and another good Piscies Restaurant breakfast of Chiliquiles for me and Huevos Revueltos con nopales for Ryan, we drove to the airport to pick up our friends Debi and Sandy Stoll.  The closer we got to the airport, the worse the hurricane damage appeared.  There was also the bridge out at Caduaño, which was being worked on even on Sunday.  They do have a nice paved detour in place. 


 This is the new hotel at the airport, which lost a large amount of the exterior panels, and it looks like some windows, too.  Not sure if it is in operation currently.

 The old Alaska Terminal lost some roof, but only one of the windows was broken (far left) there in the front.  The newest airport terminal looked pretty usable...the floor was polished to a brilliant shine, and in spite of missing ceiling tiles, was quite functional (no escalators yet).  When I got downstairs to the waiting area there was no monitor to tell me if our friends plane was in yet, but they did have a helpful person to let you know.  There are several flights coming in daily from the US; Alaska and United, so far.  More to follow, I'm sure. 

On the trip back home from the airport run, we noticed quite a few people enjoying the water in the arroyo at Caduaño.

 These folks are on the east side of the detour, so they can watch the construction crews working.



These folks are on the west side of the detour, where the water may not be as muddy.  Time for a picnic!  There's water in the arroyo!!  

Little by little, I've been planting some garden and flower seeds, and little by little, they're sprouting.  I also transplanted some Papaya starts from the compost pile to a spot near the banana trees, since my newest one was blown down, and the older one broken during the hurricane.   I should have spinach and arugula and lettuce and zinnias before too long!  

There are very few new pictures in the 2014 October album.  Here are a few from around our casa to brighten your day...

The new post in a beautiful red!  (He almost had enough to complete the job!!)

 Above is one of my "reliable" Hibiscus, and to the left is my birthday cactus, which is doing quite well.

 And finally, my Sobre la montana, which looks and smells like a gardenia.  This is a big bush in our courtyard, and I love it!  

Everyone stay healthy out there! 
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

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

Hola, Amigos!

I'll try to make this week's post shorter than last week's... I got a bit carried away with our travel photos.  

It has been a quiet week, although we've had about three projects started and none finished. 
    1.  The heavy rains always wash gullies in our driveway, so Ben ordered 6 yards of decomposed granite to put down.  Ryan, Ben and I then shoveled and raked it out where it needed to go, and it looks and drives much better.  This project isn't finished because there is still a good sized pile by the cattle guard that Ben intends to use to make the hump less severe when we go over it, especially with the car trailer.
   2.  My clothesline post was rusted out and fell over after Hurricane Odile, when Ryan hung some wet towels on it.  Ben found a welder yesterday and got the post repaired.  Then he came home and he and Ryan sweated buckets in the hot sun to mix and pour concrete and reset the post.  Today he is in La Paz and will get some stainless steel eye bolts to run the rope through.  In the meantime, he strung another line for me on the west side of the house under the palapa.   Oh, and we've got to sand and repaint the post, too. 

   3.  Every summer, we come back home with another box or two of books to read, and they were starting to pile up seriously!  Those of you who have been here know we have full bookshelves in most rooms.  This last week, we got serious about emptying and shelving the boxes of new books, and eliminating a bunch of old books.  We're not quite done yet, but we're getting there!  And, we've each got at least one shelf of books we want to read!  I think we're in good shape for reading material this year.  

Other than that, it has been a quiet week.  I took the dogs down to the beach for a walk,

I saw Jesus on the beach,
 

I had a much-needed pedicure,
 
 the dogs are at home on their lounge chair on the veranda,

 and we got together for dinner with friends we hadn't seen all summer at Tio's




 We hope that those of you who were considering a Baja vacation this year are still considering!  Our home seems to be surrounded by a jungle right now, the sun is bright, the water is warm.  We'd love to see you!  The SJD airport is open, but they aren't sending down too many flights yet.  Book your flights early!! 

Our October 2014 Picasa album has a few more new photos for you to see.

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

 

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Pic-of-the-Week for October 7, 2014

Hola Amigos!

We are HOME!  Hooray!  We packed up and left Bend on Tuesday, September 30th, and were back home on Sunday, October 5th.  We had several short days, and several really long ones, but managed just fine.  The roads were not bad after Hurricane Odile (not sure how they'll be affected after Hurricane Simon goes by about mid-Baja).  The road crews are fast about repairing things so trucks can get through to deliver food and gas and other important commodities.  The roughest parts and longest waits were where they were doing new road construction and repairs from a rock fall that happened before we left in May!   We saw the aftermath of several truck accidents but all in all, it wasn't bad.  Here are some travel log photos:

From the driveway of Ben's brother Ken's home near Bend.  Loaded down, loaded up...whatever.  We're ready to go!  


In Oregon, from Highway 31 (La Pine to Lakeview).

The Sierra Nevadas had a sprinkling of fresh snow.
 

 Mono Lake, with a very neat mountain range to the south east.  Can anyone tell me the name of that range?  My California map didn't say...maybe it's in Nevada.
More of the Sierra Nevadas near Bishop.  The Aspen trees are turning color, as you can see on the slopes.




From the Bishop area to San Diego is not that pretty, unless you like Joshua trees, which were blooming nicely.  

Just entering Tecate, and Mexico.  Get out your Spanish dictionary, or dig up those seldom used words again!  We stopped this time to declare our "new to us" used generator, since our old one died after Hurricane Odile.  Ben did it by himself while I guarded the truck and car.  The Customs lady didn't speak any English, so she found a Mexican who did.  Ben told her all about the new Solar Oven, the new expensive coffee pot, and a few other items.  She told him she'd just charge him for the generator, and not for the new items in the truck!  We paid $50, and were on our way.  While we were parked there, many people walked by and took photos of the 28 Woody and asked questions about it.  That car makes great friends for us!  
 

There is an area about 200 miles wide in the northern state of Baja California where Boojum trees (or Cirio trees) grow.  Here, and in the Mexican state of Sonora (same latitude) is the only place in the world where these grow (even though Ben has tried for years to get a crop growing.)  Funny looking trees, but always great to see.  

 The Boulder Fields near Catavina...this is where God put all his extra boulders when he was done creating the earth!  (That's my story and I'm sticking with it!)  



The Woody is still looking good and drawing admirers as we park at Catavina and get a cup of coffee and muffin.  
 

Lake Chapala had lots of water in it this year.  We saw a group of about 10 horses wading and splashing in a little pond beside the road.  They were so happy and playful!  Great to see.

Here's something you don't see in Baja too often... green grass for as far as the eye can see!  Amazing.
 

A cruise ship in Loreto!  We didn't know they stopped here, but according to a friend, have been doing so for a long time.  She thinks it's the Princess Star line.  
 

You knew I couldn't do a Pic-of-the-Week without a flower, right?  This was at the Oasis Hotel in Loreto where we stayed.  
 

Mountains south of Loreto were green, green, green...all the way to the top!
 

Road crews are improving the road where a major rock fall occured last spring.  We waited quite a while to pass, and the crews were working on a Sunday!
 
 The fellow on the front end loader at the top is yelling at his friend below to look at our Woody! 

Beautiful and serene Sea of Cortez; north of Loreto.
 

On the way to Ciudad Insurgentes (heading south west).  There was a lot of rain here in the last 24 hours due to Hurricane Simon passing by to the west.
 

Got some groceries and headed out of La Paz for the last 60 miles to home.  Ugh.... some serious looking rain headed our way...or we're headed to it.  Either way, were going to get wet!  Notice the smoke line in the middle of the picture?  That's left over from a lightening strike.
 

Yes, there are a few sprinkles on the windshield, but I can see our home from here!  (Look just to the left and a bit above the traffic sign on the left.  Our house is square and pink).  

Sitting on our veranda and relaxing after unloading a bunch of our things, we noticed the clouds over the Sea of Cortez to the east.  Beautiful!
 

The "guys" are happy.  Sam is in his favorite lap and position at the table, and Ryan has a dog to pet!  Oh, happy day!  
 

Now, for those of you planning to visit us this year, the San Jose del Cabo airport will be open for the first time after Hurricane Odile tomorrow, October 8th (that's tomorrow, folks!)  If you don't have your tickets yet, book them  now!  We are looking forward to your visits.

I have posted several more photos in our brand new 2014 October Picasa album.   AND, you should really look at this video I took on the road of the CFE trucks (Mexican electric company) ... pretty amazing.  CFE trucks.  You count the trucks as they go by, and see if you get the same number I did!  (Yes, pickups count, too).  

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