Hola Amigos,
Happy Veterans Day everyone, especially to those of you who served the USA in the military in years past. I salute you! And here are 104 horse mounted US flags at the Pendleton Roundup Parade to salute you!
The local Baja California Sur government has instituted an admirable program here in the last several years. They hire local people for a short term to clean up along side the roads here; picking up garbage, pulling and cutting down weeds, and hauling off the debris. We were surprised last evening when we drove down our little dirt road and saw about 25 or so people cleaning on both sides of the road, some Moms with their kids along side (one even in a stroller). We've seen them up on the main road, and were happy to see them on our road. I didn't get a picture of them, but waved and smiled and got waves and smiles back! They get a minimum wage for doing this, but it helps them, and it helps the community.
In our own yard, we've had hired help to keep the weeds at bay. They grow by leaps and bounds in the summer, so Ryan has hired Claudia to come in regularly to keep it neat and tidy. There is some BIG stuff that needs taking care of, and that's when we call in Marco. On Sunday, he pulled out a huge Nopal cactus (we have more of the same elsewhere), carefully dug out some sharp Agave, as well as some Blue Agave that was getting out of hand. He tried to dig out the stump of a Neem tree we cut down last year, but couldn't get it to budge!! He'll be back later this week to try again.
While he was trying to dig out the Neem tree, he discovered the ground water was about 1 foot below ground level. OK, OK.... we decided we need to do something about this ground water, which is from our drain line. If this soil wasn't solid clay and rock it would work fine. So Ben went to the hardware store yesterday and bought a bunch of pipe and fittings, and dug up the junction box to see if the water was draining properly (it was). Ryan found the end of the drain line, and I took our nice sharp new clippers and forged a path down the hill. I'd already made a path here when we first moved in 12 years ago and envisioned it as our way to the beach, but in the meantime, we've put up a barb wire fence at the bottom to keep the free range live stock out of our yard. Let me tell you, at this time of year, it is a jungle down there!!
Anyhow, Ben & Ryan got the pipe put in at the bottom of our property, and hooked up all the way up the hill. Now they just need to dig out a big rock in the ditch, and hook it up to the end of the pipe at the top.
Ben and Ryan are working at the bottom of our property, which is a mini-arroyo. At least it was fairly easy digging here. (See the jungle above?? Lots of San Miguel vine growing abundantly there, among other things!)
The "old" end of the line. There's a nice big rock to dig out just to the left of this picture.
Dengue Fever, caused by the bites of infected mosquitos, has been a problem here this fall; our friends Ellis and Marsha came down with it last week, and we've heard of several others who have contracted it, including some in Vista del Mar below us. Getting rid of our wet area will help, I'm sure!
Enough of the sweat-producing, back-breaking work! We were beat at the end of the day, and so were the dogs, who had to go up and down the hill to keep a watch on everything and everyone! (Have you ever seen a dog get a drink out her water dish lying down?) Ryan, who is young and strong, worked hard a good part of the day, then entertained a traveler from Poland and went camping at Frailes!!!
Since Ben has recovered from his illness, we've had lots of company over. A dinner date at our house is always colorful! I've decided to use my locally made dishes all the time, (Ibarra from La Paz), and they are colorful! We are still enjoying eating al fresco, in spite of it getting dark earlier. We just pass out plenty of bug spray!! Ryan came up with this method to hold down our table clothes on windy days, and it is working well!
I did finally get my 2014 November Picasa album up and working, so you can find a few more photos in there (including the dogs, M.T.).
And here's an "artsy" picture for you of some Palo de Arco and Ryan.
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam and Zoey
Happy Veterans Day everyone, especially to those of you who served the USA in the military in years past. I salute you! And here are 104 horse mounted US flags at the Pendleton Roundup Parade to salute you!
The local Baja California Sur government has instituted an admirable program here in the last several years. They hire local people for a short term to clean up along side the roads here; picking up garbage, pulling and cutting down weeds, and hauling off the debris. We were surprised last evening when we drove down our little dirt road and saw about 25 or so people cleaning on both sides of the road, some Moms with their kids along side (one even in a stroller). We've seen them up on the main road, and were happy to see them on our road. I didn't get a picture of them, but waved and smiled and got waves and smiles back! They get a minimum wage for doing this, but it helps them, and it helps the community.
In our own yard, we've had hired help to keep the weeds at bay. They grow by leaps and bounds in the summer, so Ryan has hired Claudia to come in regularly to keep it neat and tidy. There is some BIG stuff that needs taking care of, and that's when we call in Marco. On Sunday, he pulled out a huge Nopal cactus (we have more of the same elsewhere), carefully dug out some sharp Agave, as well as some Blue Agave that was getting out of hand. He tried to dig out the stump of a Neem tree we cut down last year, but couldn't get it to budge!! He'll be back later this week to try again.
While he was trying to dig out the Neem tree, he discovered the ground water was about 1 foot below ground level. OK, OK.... we decided we need to do something about this ground water, which is from our drain line. If this soil wasn't solid clay and rock it would work fine. So Ben went to the hardware store yesterday and bought a bunch of pipe and fittings, and dug up the junction box to see if the water was draining properly (it was). Ryan found the end of the drain line, and I took our nice sharp new clippers and forged a path down the hill. I'd already made a path here when we first moved in 12 years ago and envisioned it as our way to the beach, but in the meantime, we've put up a barb wire fence at the bottom to keep the free range live stock out of our yard. Let me tell you, at this time of year, it is a jungle down there!!
Anyhow, Ben & Ryan got the pipe put in at the bottom of our property, and hooked up all the way up the hill. Now they just need to dig out a big rock in the ditch, and hook it up to the end of the pipe at the top.
Ben and Ryan are working at the bottom of our property, which is a mini-arroyo. At least it was fairly easy digging here. (See the jungle above?? Lots of San Miguel vine growing abundantly there, among other things!)
The "old" end of the line. There's a nice big rock to dig out just to the left of this picture.
Dengue Fever, caused by the bites of infected mosquitos, has been a problem here this fall; our friends Ellis and Marsha came down with it last week, and we've heard of several others who have contracted it, including some in Vista del Mar below us. Getting rid of our wet area will help, I'm sure!
Enough of the sweat-producing, back-breaking work! We were beat at the end of the day, and so were the dogs, who had to go up and down the hill to keep a watch on everything and everyone! (Have you ever seen a dog get a drink out her water dish lying down?) Ryan, who is young and strong, worked hard a good part of the day, then entertained a traveler from Poland and went camping at Frailes!!!
Since Ben has recovered from his illness, we've had lots of company over. A dinner date at our house is always colorful! I've decided to use my locally made dishes all the time, (Ibarra from La Paz), and they are colorful! We are still enjoying eating al fresco, in spite of it getting dark earlier. We just pass out plenty of bug spray!! Ryan came up with this method to hold down our table clothes on windy days, and it is working well!
I did finally get my 2014 November Picasa album up and working, so you can find a few more photos in there (including the dogs, M.T.).
And here's an "artsy" picture for you of some Palo de Arco and Ryan.
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam and Zoey
Lovely to see your blog again, and especially the cactus!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amalie! If you want to catch up, you can see plenty more! (Grandkids were with us in September, and I finally have a granddaughter and she even has red hair!!)
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