Hola Amigos!
I got a late start on our weekly letter today, because as soon as my dogs saw me getting dressed, they started going crazy! In their little brains they were thinking "pants + shirt on Mom = WALK" and "GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!". Really, I do get dressed every day, and I think they're just trying a new ploy to get me out the door! At least it wears them out for a while! Sam even got a tummy shower when we got back home, since he usually wades in for a drink, then drags his belly in the sand the rest of the way home (by default, being a low slung dachshund!) I was thankful to them for dragging me out there, because this is one of the first things I saw.... a double blooming Pitahaya cactus! Love it!! A bee is working on the lower part of the bloom to the right.
This is what the cactus actually looks like; not very attractive on it's own, but those flowers (and the eventual fruit) sure make up for it!
OK. We've got a little less than two weeks before we head north to Oregon and other Northwest states. We have been getting some garden projects done, mostly pruning. That included our volunteer Fan Palm. Ben pruned leaves as high as he was comfortable on our ladder, then we hired Ben Hur (yes, that's his name), a young local Mexican whose family prunes palms for a living. His Dad is nicknamed "Monkey" by the locals since he can climb trees so readily. Anyhow, Ben Hur came over and cleaned up the stem ends quite a ways up, using his climbing tools (no spurs).
He used an exacto knife type tool to do the trimming, and it looked very nice when he was done. Ben (Purkey) chatted with him and found out that he is 18, finishing up high school this week, and planning to go to University this fall near Guadalajara to become a dentist! I was thrilled to hear that. He is such a pleasant young man, and we've known him for 15 years and watched him grow up.
After the palm tree prunings and the bougainvillea pruning and with all the other stuff that was already in the back of the old blue pickup truck, Ben and I loaded the truck and made a dump run. When we got there a Mexican lady (dump caretaker?) came over to help. Ben asked me to tell her we didn't need help, so I did. She then came over to my side of the truck and started chatting with me in Spanish. Her first question was "you speak Spanish and your husband doesn't speak Spanish?" I agreed with her, she laughed and we continued to chat and watch Ben work. It was great practice for me. (Those verb tenses need work!!) I think she understood most of what I said, and I understood most of what she said. I should do that more often (speak in Spanish, not go to the dump!)
The weather has been pleasantly cool in the mornings (high 60's), and in the low 80's during the day. We've also had quite a few cloudy days, which is good for when Ben wants to work on our front door (although he does take the doors down and puts them in his shop to work on them). The weather forecast is promising hotter weather later this week, though. We haven't used the air conditioner in our bedroom yet, but did test it so it's ready to go. I'm sure Ryan will make good use of it this summer when he moves down to our bedroom.
Ben got a pleasant surprise last week from Claudia, the Mexican lady for whom he made the kitchen cabinets. She had Edgar Fuentes make him a wooden car! Edgar is the brother of Arturo, the contractor who built our house in 2002. Ben was thrilled! This is a REAL woody! The wheels turn and everything.
Some others also had a pleasant surprise last week. I cleaned out my corn crop and hauled it outside our fence. The burros found it, and we spotted them chowing down after our walk the other evening. Yum!
I started with a flower picture, and I'm going to end with a flower picture! This is a bloom from the Cholla (choya) cactus. It reminds me of a wild rose bloom, and I love the sweet pink/lavender color. Probably not a color you'd associate with a cactus bloom.
More photos are in our 2015 May Picasa album. Just scoot on down to the bottom of the album to see the latest photos.
OK. I lied. I've got to end with this sunset photo from the other night. Taken from our roof, our agave "tree" is on the right, Los Barriles is in the distance with lots of fishing boats moored in front.
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja (until June 12)
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey
I got a late start on our weekly letter today, because as soon as my dogs saw me getting dressed, they started going crazy! In their little brains they were thinking "pants + shirt on Mom = WALK" and "GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!". Really, I do get dressed every day, and I think they're just trying a new ploy to get me out the door! At least it wears them out for a while! Sam even got a tummy shower when we got back home, since he usually wades in for a drink, then drags his belly in the sand the rest of the way home (by default, being a low slung dachshund!) I was thankful to them for dragging me out there, because this is one of the first things I saw.... a double blooming Pitahaya cactus! Love it!! A bee is working on the lower part of the bloom to the right.
This is what the cactus actually looks like; not very attractive on it's own, but those flowers (and the eventual fruit) sure make up for it!
OK. We've got a little less than two weeks before we head north to Oregon and other Northwest states. We have been getting some garden projects done, mostly pruning. That included our volunteer Fan Palm. Ben pruned leaves as high as he was comfortable on our ladder, then we hired Ben Hur (yes, that's his name), a young local Mexican whose family prunes palms for a living. His Dad is nicknamed "Monkey" by the locals since he can climb trees so readily. Anyhow, Ben Hur came over and cleaned up the stem ends quite a ways up, using his climbing tools (no spurs).
After the palm tree prunings and the bougainvillea pruning and with all the other stuff that was already in the back of the old blue pickup truck, Ben and I loaded the truck and made a dump run. When we got there a Mexican lady (dump caretaker?) came over to help. Ben asked me to tell her we didn't need help, so I did. She then came over to my side of the truck and started chatting with me in Spanish. Her first question was "you speak Spanish and your husband doesn't speak Spanish?" I agreed with her, she laughed and we continued to chat and watch Ben work. It was great practice for me. (Those verb tenses need work!!) I think she understood most of what I said, and I understood most of what she said. I should do that more often (speak in Spanish, not go to the dump!)
The weather has been pleasantly cool in the mornings (high 60's), and in the low 80's during the day. We've also had quite a few cloudy days, which is good for when Ben wants to work on our front door (although he does take the doors down and puts them in his shop to work on them). The weather forecast is promising hotter weather later this week, though. We haven't used the air conditioner in our bedroom yet, but did test it so it's ready to go. I'm sure Ryan will make good use of it this summer when he moves down to our bedroom.
Ben got a pleasant surprise last week from Claudia, the Mexican lady for whom he made the kitchen cabinets. She had Edgar Fuentes make him a wooden car! Edgar is the brother of Arturo, the contractor who built our house in 2002. Ben was thrilled! This is a REAL woody! The wheels turn and everything.
Some others also had a pleasant surprise last week. I cleaned out my corn crop and hauled it outside our fence. The burros found it, and we spotted them chowing down after our walk the other evening. Yum!
More photos are in our 2015 May Picasa album. Just scoot on down to the bottom of the album to see the latest photos.
OK. I lied. I've got to end with this sunset photo from the other night. Taken from our roof, our agave "tree" is on the right, Los Barriles is in the distance with lots of fishing boats moored in front.
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja (until June 12)
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey
No comments:
Post a Comment