Pic-of-the-Week for December 19, 2017

Feliz Navidad, Amigos!

We want to wish you all a wonderful Merry Christmas, and hope you get to celebrate with friends and family, and that you stay WARM!  Please remember the reason for the season.... 

Another two weeks have flown by, and in spite of the Fashion Show being behind us, we are still super busy with various and sundry things.  One of the main things is trying to get our insurance updated.  Of course, when you go to the doctor they manage to find "issues"...for both of us.  Nothing major, but Ben is sticking with our old policy for another year, and I'm going with a new one that covers more things.  And the older we get, the more expensive the insurance rates are.  We just have to console ourselves with the fact that we live in a beautiful place!  It's cloudy today, but this was our view from our favorite breakfast restaurant after church on Sunday.
 

Ben has made several trips to La Paz, one for another car show with his '28 Martin-Parry woody, and another to help our friend Dalia.  Her boyfriend is in the hospital with leukemia, and Dalia is finding people who are willing and able to donate platelets  to him from here in Los Barriles.  It's a sad situation, but she is doing her best to help him as long as possible.  On the last trip to La Paz, Ben stopped by our friends' the Amarilla's, and bought two servings of Chiles en Nogada (chiles in walnut sauce), one of Mexico's most popular dishes.  Ben and I shared one the other night, and it was delicious!  Rosi said she'd show me how to make it, and I just might take her up on it.  She even gave us mild Poblano peppers!

Our lime tree is still producing nicely.  We can go out and pick up a handful every other day or so.  I had to change to a bigger basket to hold them, and today I decided to go ahead and squeeze some for juice, since they'll spoil if left sit long enough.  

And then there are the banana trees!  We are having fun trying to keep up with the ripe bananas.  We gave the last huge bunch to Chuy and Lydia, who run the Jesus Cristo Pan de Vida food program that our church sponsors.  I just went out to take a picture of it and noticed part of it is really ripe, so I'm enjoying a fresh banana from my garden as I type!  I think Chuy might get a good part of this bunch, too!

The Fashion Show Ben and I headed up had abundant proceeds this year; in fact, over twice what was made last year.  Ben came up with a brilliant plan to have the local grocery store create vouchers for the participants of the Pan de Vida program, each for the value of $250 pesos.  That is about $14 US.  We made enough so we can supply the 28 families for most of the year with this monthly voucher   They can use the vouchers for basic food items that they may not be able to afford otherwise.  No alcohol or soda; but certainly cereal or coffee or tea or sugar or fruits and vegetables.  (The store owner had to sign every single one of these vouchers!)  We were very thankful for the results.  

We've been working since last spring with a mechanic here in town to get Ryan's 1976 Ford van restored with a working engine, (we supply the money ... transferred from Ryan, and he supplies the parts and work).  Man, if it's not one thing it's three.  We THINK MAYBE he'll be done with it today.  The soft brakes are the last thing he's working on.  Edgar the mechanic says the engine is working very well.  And I've been learning "mechanical" Spanish!  Then, maybe it can be sold.  We're hoping Ryan will be here in February for a visit with Charlotte.  We hope so; we're excited to meet her.  

This week is going to be busy for me at the piano keyboard.  Our community choir has been asked to perform this weekend at the Saturday market, so I'm practicing all the Christmas songs we do for that, including Jingle Bell Rock, White Christmas, Feliz Navidad, and quite a few others.  Then on Sunday, we have the normal church service, and that evening, our Christmas Eve candlelight service.    Good thing my piano bench is padded!  

Sending our Christmas blessings to you from Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey