Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Pic-of-the-Week for January 31, 2017

Hola Amigos!

We have been having a great time the last several weeks!  We have been back in the Los Frailes wilderness, been to the big city of San Jose for a fancy night, had a Paella cooking class, toured around on the Baja 300 race course (before the race!) and other assorted fun things.  We also celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary on January 27th.  Wow!  
Our friend Perla surprised us with a cake for our anniversary... It was so cute!  She got all the details, down to our two little black dachshunds!  The shot with us was the next day, and the cake cover kind of smashed the little people down into the beach, but the fresh look from the night before is just precious.








The day after our anniversary, we had our friends Hector Manuel and Rosi Amarillas come from La Paz and give us a Paella cooking class.  It was fun AND delicious!  

She made the final dish in her father-in-law's 50 year old aluminum Paella pan.  They brought chicken thighs, pork ribs, little clams, shrimp and other goodies to add to the final dish, and it was wonderful to watch and to eat.  (Thank you Ryan, for buying the Paella rice...she forgot to buy some in La Paz, and what you bought was just perfect.)







She even fixed up Ben's Mole sauce.  She added a touch of peanut butter and a teaspoon more of brown sugar.  It was very tasty with the Paella.  



Good news here in Los Barriles....they are finally paving the street they've been working on for over a year.  The street goes from here next to Tio Pablo's restaurant up the hill to the LB Delegacion, then on out to Hwy. 1.  They are only paving to just past the Delegacion for now.  It also goes right by our church building, so we may be parking a distance away while that new concrete cures before driving on it.  (Ben, the old ODOT employee, says 7 days).  They do have some nice equipment (again; Ben was impressed!)  

We took a couple days to go to town and celebrate.  Karan's birthday was the 26th, and our anniversary was the 27th, so we went to San Jose del Cabo.  We stayed at the Tropicana, an old hotel in downtown that is in the center of everything, and has a nice pool and very good restaurant.  We decided to have dinner on Karan's birthday at the restaurant of her choice, and ended up at Don Sanchez, which was right next door.  Delicious!  We each ordered 26 oz. Rib Eye steaks and split them with our spouses.  


Ben got a good photo of the resident parrot at the Tropicana.  He was better than a rooster in the morning when he got very vocal!  I'm sure he woke up everyone in our hotel, and some down the street!


Another January celebration is our granddaughter Eleanor's 3rd birthday on the 28th.  She loves everything pink, including the pink frosting on her birthday cupcakes!  (Yes, her talented Mom made and frosted them).  




On our way home from San Jose, we stopped off in Miraflores, and decided to go home the "old" way to Santiago, which also happened to be at least part of the course for the race that was run this Saturday.  No pictures of the race, this time, but the drive on the old Baja roads was fun.  We saw "pig on a rope" at several places (fattening it up for you know what). 


One last time, we took the drive out to Los Frailes to help set up Mel and Katie's new place.  They had the 5th wheel in place by the time we got there, but Ben installed a great little stairway he built to make the steps more manageable (5" each)  for Katie from one level of the camp to the other.  She was thrilled!  It is lightweight, so they can pick it up and move it to a safe place while they are gone.



Believe it or not, more photos are in our January 2017 album.  It includes a few more photos and videos of making Paella and the Frailes rancho set-up.  I think you probably believe all we do is eat good food all the time, and you're not far off!  (We ate a wonderful meal at Frailes, too!)  So, if you've got a hankering for some good Mexican food, come on down!

Tom & Karan are leaving tomorrow, but are already planning their trip for next year (start earlier, stay longer...)  and have put a deposit down on a place to rent.  We've had a great time with them, and are sorry to see them leave.  

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


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

PIc-of-the-Week for January 17, 2017

Hola Amigos!  

Sorry I'm so slow today.  We took a trip today to San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas  for various and sundry reasons, and since we didn't get home until 4, decided to go out to dinner, then decided to play 3-handed Pinochle with Pat.  Phew.  Just one of those days when more "important" things are happening than Pic-of-the-Week, if you can believe that!  

Another two weeks have flown by; it's amazing how fast time goes when you have friends visiting who are counting their days here!  (They were counting the days until they came down starting late last summer, so they are really good at counting!)  My cousin Tom and his wife Karan are getting into the Baja good life. They're renting a nice casa nearby, and have a fantastic ocean view, easy walking distance to our house (or Rancho Buena Vista round bar), and are enjoying the food and the life style.  They are staying a whole month, and plan to come back next year for even longer!  We've played some wicked good Mexican Train domino games.  We've all won a few, and lost a lot!  That's the full moon coming up behind them the other night, when we were at our favorite restaurant, La Playa, enjoying the beautiful evening (and of course, thinking about friends and family freezing in frigid Oregon.)


 Here's another shot of the moon, with just a little more "zoom".



Lord of the Wind Tournament is here in Los Barriles this week.  Trouble is, there is not much wind right now!  That is always a problem when people are ready to compete.  It is a pretty big deal; hopefully they'll get more wind as things start up tomorrow.  

We took Tom out to Los Frailes last week, and just about rattled his teeth out on that nasty road.  We took some supplies to Mel and Katie for their new campsite, and it ended up that poor Mel did most of the work.  But it looked really nice when he finished.  (It's a sewer pit for their camper). 

Ben and Tom supervised, as well as Katie and Ellie from the peanut gallery!  (I was assigned to picture taking, so I was working!)  They plan to move their 5th wheel and camper up next Monday, and we hope to be there giving moral support (and watch expert driver Katie maneuver that big ole trailer into place). 


We spotted a great big white bird across the canyon from their camp site, and I was able to get a few pictures of it, although none as good as I'd like to help identify it.  Katie and I figured it's either a Ferriginous Hawk or an Osprey....maybe!  What do you bird experts think this is?
 

As we were driving back to their beach camp, we saw a huge splash in the water in the bay, obviously from a whale breaching.  We didn't see it jump again, but saw lots of spouts.  Someone was also flying  bunch of kites on the beach, and they were so colorful and beautiful!  I should fly some from our roof!  The ones we saw were tied to a barb-wire fence.  Some were rotating, some just waving in the wind, like this one.  




There have been a few "coolish" days, and we and the dogs have appreciated the little propane stove.  So cozy!  For those of you who have been living in igloo conditions, we won't tell you our temps.  Just so you know...we're wimps when it comes to cold temperatures.  

And on the road to home from Los Frailes....what will YOU do to get great pictures with your GoPro camera?  Maybe ride on top of the jeep?  

And from the other side of the world, this is our 5-year old "teenage" grandson Aaron, who is enjoying his Dagwood sandwich.  This guy is a true gourmet!  He helps his Mom cook all the time, encourages his big brother to try exotic foods like mushrooms and garlic.  We're looking forward to having him and his Mom and sister and brother visit us here in late May.  (Doing my "Happy Grandma" dance!)  

And, just because I haven't done it for a while, here is a Hibiscus from our garden.  This is the BIGGEST hibiscus I've ever seen... it's probably over 6" to 8" across.  The bush itself is floppy, branches going everywhere, but the flowers are outstanding!


My vegetable garden is doing well.  I've strung my green beans, and they are working their way up the strings.  The onions are maturing, and we've eaten some Arugula, Spinach and radishes from the garden so far!  (I'll have to take some photos of our neighbor's Hydroponic garden....that stuff grows by leaps and bounds.  Truly amazing.)

Hope you are enjoying your January as much as we are.  If you're not, then you need to come see us for some Baja therapy.  

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

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Pic-of-the-Week for January 3, 2017

Hola Amigos!

Feliz año nuevo!  Or, Happy New Year 2017!  We wish the best for you and yours in this new year.  Now, the first challenge for all us is to write 2017 instead of 2016!  I hope you're up to it.

Zoey is looking forward to more mobility, and getting in and out of this dog door in our kitchen screen door all the time instead of just once in a while!  She often comes in and goes out when the wood door is closed and she goes through both dog doors  She goes out this door.  But coming in?  She'll sit there and whine at us until we open it for her! Silly dog.  At this point she was thinking she might want in, but the sun felt pretty good laying outside the door.



I'm thankful that my garden is doing well.  The lettuce, onions and spinach continue to grow nicely; I planted my favorite Blue Lake green beans last week, and they are already popping up.  Ben said I should string them now, but it is just a bit too soon!  We should have beans to eat by February some time.


It is about time to put my soaker hose out, though, now that I can see the plants.  

On Sunday afternoon, we picked up our cousins Tom and Karan Malpass from the airport.  They said there was snow at the Sea-Tac airport, and a runway needed to be cleared and the plane de-iced before they could take off, so there were very thankful to get here where there is no snow in sight!  (Just white sand beaches!)  They are spending the month here, renting a house nearby us.  We had a rousing game of Mexican Train last night after dinner, and I'm sure there will be many more.  

Ryan is heading out for Thailand next week, to spend several months or more with his good friend Mike S, a college buddy of his.  Mike lives there and hopes to start a couple of enterprises with Ryan's assistance.  (The east room will be available!)  I think Sam is really going to miss him.  His lap is just the right height so that Sam can sit on it and rest his chin on the table...one of Sam's favorite places to be.  I don't think he tells him which cards to play.... Oh yeah, we'll miss him, too!!   Then we'll have our children all around the world.  Good thing for Skype and What's App to keep in touch!  I'll be anxious to see pictures of Thailand.
With those modern communications, we get to see pictures like this of Eleanor getting her hair cut.  (Or Aaron doing his own haircut.)  And pictures of David writing Arabic and Korean letters on the sidewalk to "make people think" as they walk by.  







We helped our friends Mel and Katie last week clean up the lot they will be moving their RV(s) to soon.  They spend about 5 months dry camping at Las Frailes, and this year they are going further up the arroyo almost to the ranch where there is a lovely spot available for them to set up, and keep it set up.  They do an elaborate camp every year, and they will be able to keep a lot of things in place at this spot.  

Katie is sitting about where they want the front of the 30' 5th wheel trailer to be.  She'll back it into here after winding her way up the arroyo and the road up the side of the hill to this camp spot.  We hauled brush Mel had cut previously, moved rocks, and picked up old garbage.  There used to be 5 or 6 little trailers parked here, and they were recently hauled out (lots of little bits and pieces left behind!)  They'll be getting a backhoe in to level some ground and dig a septic hole soon, and we hope to go back out to help them put things in place.  (I want to see her manuever some of those corners and skinny spots and be properly amazed at her driving abilities!)


After our work party we had lunch in Cabo Pulmo, and it was a windy day with very rough seas!  It looked like the Pacific Ocean in Oregon, except it was still the tropical turquoise color of the Sea of Cortez.  Oh... and you couldn't sit in an open air restaurant in December in Oregon and feel comfortable!  You can be sure no one was snorkeling at Cabo Pulmo that day!


Ben built a new platform for our bird feeder, since the old one was termite ridden and falling apart.  I'm sure the birds appreciate it (as long as we keep it full of seeds!)  The post is called Palo Brazil, which grows only here in southern Baja and parts of Sonora and Sinaloa. It is so hard, it is often used for fence posts.  I think the termites bypassed it, and just worked on the platform instead!  





I have created a January 2017 photo album just in case you want to see more...

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