Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Pic-of-the-Week for April 28, 2015

Hola Amigos!

We've had another "vacation" week with our guest Dick here.  It's kind of nice to go places and do fun things that we haven't done in a while!  I mentioned last week that we were going to go to Zorra Falls and the hot springs.  We didn't make it to the hot springs, but we did manage to get to the falls.  What a neat place!  It has been years since we've been there.  (Used to be free, now they charge since it's part of the Biosphere Park).  Ryan and Dick took advantage of the deep pool for a swim.  Ryan also did several dives off the rocks


Dick enjoying a swim.  


In the bottom photo here, Ryan is climbing out to a diving spot.  You'll have to look in the 2015 April album to see the contortions he went through to get out there!  I was going to do a video of his dive, but that's when the camera batteries died!  Getting down to the pool is interesting...someone carved steps out of the solid rock, or where they needed to, placed stone and concreted steps.  The first time we visited, there was a rope to hang on to to get up or down!  I am very thankful for the rock steps!  Of course, there is no guardrail or hand rail, and it's always a challenge doing stair climbing with bifocals!!  FYI, after Hurricane Odile last fall, the pool at the bottom was much, much higher!  We saw evidence of several palm trees washed out and jumbled rocks at the bottom.  

Another day we took a drive to the rock paintings near Boca del Alamo.  As usual, it was an interesting place to visit, not only for the paintings, but for the plant life that we see there.  Again, be careful on the trail, because there are many cactus growing right by the trail.  You don't want to grab a cactus for support as you step up on a rock on the path!!  




We stopped in El Cardonal to check out the new hotel there, and the little bit we saw was pretty impressive.  Look at this neat table and seating in the pool!!  Very clever to put a shade cover over this section (this is where I'd be for sure!)  


On Sunday afternoon and Monday we took a quick overnight trip to La Paz.  We did some shopping and some touring and some good eating!  We met Ryan and some sail boating friends of his at Ryan's favorite Chocolate clam place on a side street and had clams on the half shell for an afternoon snack!   (Yes, they were raw clams....Ryan claims he's seen them still wiggling when he squirts them with lime juice!)  

You can see all kinds of fancy sail boats in the La Paz Harbor, but this one was about the "least of all".  Since the guy was using oars we decided he didn't know how to use the sail, but it was fun to watch from our "bar seat with a view" at the Taildragger and tell him what to do!  

 And believe it or not, La Paz has finally put up readable and visible street signs in a large part of the city.  These signs are going up on buildings at the street corners, for the most part.  Truly amazing, after years of navigating this large city with map in hand, and counting blocks from a known street to the desired destination!  

La Paz has many sculptures throughout the tourist area, and especially on the Malecon (the street beside the bay), but this is one of my favorites of musicians...nautical musicians, of course, playing their shell instruments.  

Today, we are taking Dick to the airport for his trip home.  We've enjoyed having him here and just wish more of you would visit us so we'd have more excuses to have some fun!!  He also got to enjoy our first corn harvest with us, and there is a lot more to come.  


And, being my Mother and Father's child, here are your mandatory flower photos for the week.  The first is the bloom of a little bitty cactus we have in a pot (I think the stalk and bloom are taller than the little cactus!)  The second is our red Amaryllis.


As I said earlier, our 2015 April photo album has a bunch of photos from last week for more details of our adventures.

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

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Pic-of-the-Week for April 21, 2015

Hola Amigos!

It's a beautiful morning here in Buena Vista; the birds are singing, the doves are coo-ing, and our guest Dick is enjoying his morning coffee and toast on our veranda analyzing bird behavior!!  He designed a "baffle" for our bird feeder so that the doves (who are pigs) wouldn't congregate there and eat all the food.  Ben decided it was easier to just feed everyone on the ground instead of using the feeder and trying to build the baffle.  The dove's piggy-ness isn't quite as apparent that way.  Even the Cardinal will eat from the ground, and he isn't shy...he got pretty close to us.   This is him enjoying some cracked corn last evening.  



We've been doing more "vacation-oriented" activities with Dick here, including going to a beach restaurant in the afternoon and ordering some drinks, only to realize that it was Happy Hour, and the guys had to drink 2 beers each (2 for 1 at Happy Hour).  Notice our nice snack...fresh vegies with a bit of chili powder to dip them in.  Not bad, actually!  


Today we're going to take a tour to Zorra Falls and the San Jorge Hot Springs.  It is really getting too warm to visit the hot springs this time of year, but we'll do our best!  Maybe we'll take a dip in the cooler creek, too.  Of course, the trip will include lunch somewhere along the way.  

Ryan's long-time friend Mike was here last week.  They spent 3 or 4 days in La Paz (we didn't ask for details!), but we do know that they each got a haircut....it cost them each about $4 US, and took 10 minutes or less!  They ended up looking pretty good!  Mike did tell us that Ryan, with his red hair and very white complexion and muscles from his body-building routine, is very popular with the Mexican girls!  




...and the rest of us at our dinner party at El Barrilito.  Below is our favorite chef in town, Francisco on the left, and his friend who is learning the business.  They are making the sushi we ordered here.  (Look out for that sharp knife!!)  Would you believe both of these guys are Portuguese Bull Fighters for their other career???  (Look it up on the web if you haven't done it before.  Here's a link:  Portugese Bull Fighting  Both of these men are forcados.  No weapons but their bodies!)  



This is the perfect time of year to enjoy our veranda.  Ben and Dick have been spending a lot of time there solving world problems, and they're still smiling about it!  Things just have a different perspective from our veranda!  


Here is a Desert Rose in full bloom right next to the veranda.


And hot off the camera this morning... our big Agave "tree" is starting the bloom, and the birds a loving it!  Dick noticed the Orioles flocking to it, so I gave him the camera to get a few shots.  The flowers aren't anything to look at, but the nectar must be really sweet!  


We were invited over to our friends' house, and Sandy showed off the beautiful new door that he built to replace a window.  They now have easy access to an area of their yard that they use for gatherings.  It turned out beautiful!  The metal work was done by a local artisan / welder, Robin.  Nice job all around!

Debi is very happy that the work is done and there is no more plaster dust flying around!  

More photos are in our 2015 April Picasa album.  

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

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Pic-of-the-Week for April 14, 2015

Hola Amigos,

Another week has already flown by, and believe it or not, we are anticipating our FIRST guest this season.  Ryan has had quite a few friends and acquaintances drop in for a few days or so, but all of our guests have cancelled for one reason or another!  In fact, Ryan's long time friend Mike showed up on Sunday for a week's stay.  (Don't worry Dick...we'll boot him out of your room!)  Our friend Dick is making up for it since he's planning on a nice long stay!  We're picking him up today.  

One big event this last Sunday...our daughter Rebecca turned 40!!  How did that happen?  She's had such a busy decade for the 30's.  It's hard to imagine that she'll accomplish quite as much in her 40's as she did in her 30's, but we're just waiting to see what's next on her agenda!  (Photo from last September in Oregon).


Today, since we're going to the airport anyway to pick up Dick, we're taking our friends Tony and Janet so they can fly out to San Diego.  They've been waiting patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for their renewed US Passports to arrive at the Consulate in San Jose del Cabo.  They had to be renewed at this point in time, but while they were in process, Tony had a serious hernia happen!  He has been pretty much bed-ridden while they've been waiting on the passports.  He'll be heading to the VA Hospital in San Diego for surgery later this week.  So, we'll be taking them to the Consulate first to pick up their passports, then to the airport. To lighten the tedium, Janet made sure Tony had a birthday party with friends last week.  Hopefully, it cheered him up!



Here's Tony, with his famous smile.  Friends Ellis and Colin are joining him here. 

And here is a beach view from the Bayview restaurant where we had Tony's lunch.  Notice the ATV at the extreme right?  He was actually pulling the guy on the board!!  I think he stopped at the beach umbrella, then they continued on down the beach.  Funny!  (I took this picture because you can see our casa in this picture....look hard!!)


And then there is Easter week in Cabo San Lucas.  Which beach would you prefer?


I've never seen the beach at Cabo this crowded, but then, we avoid Cabo San Lucas most of the time, and especially spring break time!  Crazy!!!  Not my idea of a fun time on the beach.  Lots of Mexicans from the mainland come over to Baja to vacation.  

A major project got finished this week in our garden.  Ben completed pruning our mesquite tree, and Ryan hauled all the branches to our truck, then to the dump.  Now I know it looks rather severe, but just wait until next fall when it will be lush with new growth.  You've got to admit, the birds think it's a lot easier to land in now!  Ben saved some of the bigger branches for some mesquite fires next year.  While they were doing this, I was hauling rocks out of  the yard that we don't need for a path any more.  Ugh.  Guess I should take a picture of my rock pile so you can see how much I got done, too!


There are TWO new baby burros in the barrio, and they hang around this area most of the time.  Several adults and a baby came by our casa the other day.  Baby is learning to eat gum drops, muchas gracias!  Ain't she sweet?


Our Shaving Brush tree is done blooming, so some of the Nopal cactus are now starting to bloom.  I love these bright yellow flowers, and this one at the edge of the driveway should have plenty of blooms in the next couple of weeks. 



Sam and Zoey's latest treat has been coconut!!!  Zoey found an old shell somewhere, and they both bothered that old shell until they got every possible taste of coconut out of it.  Ben was so impressed, that he bought them several fresh ones yesterday.  Between the two of them, they had it cleaned out in several hours.


Sam wanted to take the shell to bed with him last night, but I convinced him it wasn't necessary, and put it up where Zoey couldn't get it in the meantime!  

A few more pics are in our 2015 April album.

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


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Pic-of-the-Week for April 7, 2015

Hola Amigos,

What a beautiful week this has been.  Our church here, East Cape Community Fellowship, had our annual Easter Sunrise Service on the beach in Los Barriles, and it was beautiful!!  I borrowed this photo from a talented photographer who was there.  I don't have the liberty to get up and wander around with my camera, since I need to stick close to my keyboard!




Speaking of my keyboard, this is my view after I got sound and electricity just before the service started!


And here's the choir, with flashlights in hand so they can see the music!


Ben, Ryan and I got to the beach to set up all of the sound equipment a little after 5AM, and the all-night party was still going on!  This is one of the most popular camping weekends of the year in this part of Mexico (not too hot or windy, usually no rain), and there were tents set up all over the beach.  When we got there, there were several vehicles parked in our path to where we unload, and they were standing around their cars singing and having a good time!  They  finally moved the car, and they eventually moved the other cars, too, along with their sing-along and Ei-Ei-Ei-Ei at loud volumes!!  One friend who helped with set-up and lives near there said they had a boom box somewhere on the beach that shook his bedroom walls...until 3 in the morning!!  Mexicans do love a party...especially a LOUD one.  

After the service and sunrise, we all went up to our friends' home behind us on the beach for a potluck breakfast.  It was delicious, and even though it looked like some folks came who weren't at the service, there was plenty for all.  (The coffee maker had a hard time keeping up, but other than that, it was great!)



Let's see.... what else happened this week?  Our plate licking dog turned 8 years old on the 4th.  He's doing pretty good, considering all his health issues through the years, including a major dog bite on his rear end when he was about 1, and being allergic to grass and beef, and having a bad back several years ago.  He's moving very well, considering!  And still enjoys his job as Mr. Pre-Rinse. 


 Our garden continues to grow well.  The corn is starting to tassel, the beans are still blooming, I've got another crop of Zinnias coming up from seed and our Amaryllis are blooming nicely right now.  You know, here in the "almost" tropics, you can leave these outside all year!   We just leave them in pots, and move them around so they get some shade and water all summer when we're gone.  We've probably had this plant for 10 years now.  We found it at a market in La Paz and are happy we did since it has done so well.   And we have two pots of them because the bulbs keep on producing new ones.  *grins* 



And this Agave stalk just keeps growing.  The birds really seem to like it!  (Notice the dove perched on one of the branches.  Our daughter thinks we should keep it and string Christmas lights on it, but I don't think so!!  (We don't have a ladder that tall, for one thing!)  

More scenes from around our casa are located in our April 2015 Picasa album, and I even remembered to fix it so you can see it!   

I started with a sunrise, and I'll leave you with a sunset!  



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