Pic-of-the-Week for August 14, 2018

Hola Amigos,

Well, the baby won!  The car still isn't done, but should be by this weekend.  Not-so-little Olivia Su Purkey arrived Sunday morning, August 12, weighing in at 4070 grams.  (That's 8.97 pounds!!)  Everything her mamma was eating, she was grabbing!  She's got the cutest fat little cheeks!  

And here is Ryan admiring God's creation!  (It looks like she didn't get the long straight Purkey nose or her Daddy's red hair, just the BIG part!)

They are still in San Jose in a hotel right next to where the baby was born (Hospital H+) for one more day.  Charlotte isn't real mobile yet as she had to have a c-section when the baby didn't want to drop.  (Olivia was quite happy where she was!!)  

We haven't got our hands on her yet, because I have been battling a nasty infection under my arm where the lymph node was removed during my surgery in the US in July. Feverish, taking antibiotics that caused nausea.... I've been pretty much bed-ridden since Friday.  I went back to the doctor on Monday and he changed my meds and gave me something for my stomach as well, so I'm feeling much better.  Not the best way to lose weight, but it's worked! The infection doesn't seem to be getting any better, so I'm typing this with an ice pack under my arm (it is do-able!)  I'll return to the clinic on Thursday, and I'm sure he'll then send me into Hospital H+ to have it lanced and drained.  He said it's too big for the clinic to do.  (Thankfully for you all, I'm NOT taking pictures of this for you!)  

Nor are there pictures of the car being assembled.  Ben took the chassis into La Paz Friday morning and they worked on it for two long days, getting everything to fit together properly; they did some slicing and sanding and pounding and shimming to get everything lined up.  Then they took it all off.  They are spending this week painting it.  Ben will go back probably Friday with the chassis again, and they will do it over again....more carefully since it is painted.  Hopefully, that will be it, or at least enough of it to get it put in our garage to wait until we return in October.  

This has been a crazy summer, not like our normal ones at all.  Getting the car done took way more time than we (and the body shop) thought it would.  The baby was promised to come early August by the doctor (the original due date was August 11, so she was only one day over!)  Ben said last night he'd almost be convinced to just stay here if we didn't need a new truck to replace old Red.  I'm glad we need a new truck!  He works too hard here, and needs a vacation!  

Basically, we'll leave here sometime next week, and have the last week of August and all of September in Oregon, leaving for Baja sometime the first or second week of October.  Depends on if we can take the cold weather in Oregon that time of year... our wardrobe doesn't include a bunch of wool clothing!  

Here's a Baja treat for you!  Our twisty cactus is blooming.  You've got to get up early in the morning to enjoy this one as it's a night bloomer.  Seems like those buds were about 1/2" long when I saw them 2 weeks ago???  

If you're somewhere in Oregon, we might get to see you in September.  No promises this year.  (Sorry Purkey family, we won't make it to the family reunion next week. 😞)

There's an album for August 2018, (probably lots of baby pictures, maybe no car pictures!)  Lots of birds in this album...enjoy!

Until Ben writes one of these in Oregon,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Charlotte, Olivia, Sam and Zoey (whew!)  

PS.  Yes, we're bringing Sam & Zoey with us.  They deserve some green grass time, since they didn't come last summer!  

Pic-of-the-Week for July 19, 2018

Hello friends,

As you know, I (Harriet) traveled up to Oregon for routine doctor visits and time to visit some friends in the Central Oregon area.  The first appointment on Monday last week was to a new dermatologist in Bend.  They looked me over carefully, froze off some pre-cancerous spots here and there, and looked at and took a big slice off of a mole on my right shoulder that I was concerned about.  On Tuesday, they called back and told me that it was melanoma!  Oh my.  On Wednesday I saw a surgeon, and we scheduled surgery for last Friday, the 13th.  Surgery went well on Friday, and they also removed a lymph node under my right arm (that incision is more painful than the one on my back!)  Today I finally got the results, and it is benign.  Hallelujah!  Thanks so much to those of you who knew about it and were praying for me.  Of course, I need to be extra careful of sun exposure (and I live in Baja??) and watch moles very carefully.  Probably need to see the dermatologist more than once a year.  Anyhow, I'm feeling blessed and very satisfied with the timing and the results.  God is definitely in control!

Panorama of a sunset on Sunday night, with the end of the rainbow to the southeast, the Three Sisters to the southwest (?) and the sun going down in the west.  

In the meantime, I visited the Sisters Quilt Show for the first time ever on Saturday (I had a driver, so didn't have to walk too far when I was supposed to be resting  24 hours after surgery!)  This is just one sample of some of the beautiful quilts we saw.  It's the Virgin of Guadalupe, a very important figure in Mexico.  More pictures of quilts are in our July 2018 album.

I've visited and helped out at my friend Janet's Gypsy Winds clothing shop.  And of course, I had to buy some of her beautiful clothing.  Every time I go in the shop, it seems like I see something new.... to buy!!!  

This jacket is beautiful inside and out... yes, it's reversible!  

Our friends the Telecks came over from the Willamette Valley for a few days, and I was able to go out with them to dinner several times.  Also got re-acquainted with their cute dachshunds.  (Marilyn also discovered Janet's shop, and thinks it's wonderful!)  




I have been shopping for baby things, ordering parts for the smoker and our solar water heater pump, ordering things with Ryan and Charlotte for the baby, ordering things for me and eagerly awaiting delivery.  There is no way my one suitcase is going to work for the trip back, so I'm borrowing a big one from Ken and Bea and return it when we come back in August.  I'm also leaving most of my clothing here (most of it is too hot for Baja right now, anyhow).  

The weather here in the Bend / Sisters area is as hot as it is in Baja, but it is NOT humid (and the house is air conditioned!).  Ryan said that it rained at our house the other day, and those summer rains do help it cool down for a bit, as well as green up the desert.  

Ben is still monitoring the restoration of the Model A in La Paz.  They said he could bring the chassis in this next week and they'd start putting it together.  He pointed out to them (again) that the running boards and fenders need to go on first and the body sets on top of them.  The fenders are done, but the running boards?  Not done!  He said they looked just a bit panicked when they heard that!  We'll see how it goes!  

I'm scheduled to return to Baja on July 25th (I have a 5AM flight from Portland to Phoenix!!  Check in at 3AM???  Yikes!)  We will be in Baja until the baby arrives, and help Ryan and Charlotte out for a couple weeks before we head north, driving as usual.  This is one "different" summer for us, but we are adjusting.  I'm betting we'll have some great baby pictures to share in the next P-O-T-W!!  

Until then,
Your friend in Oregon, Harriet
and the Baja contingent, Ben, Ryan, Charlotte, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for July 3, 2018

Hola Amigos!

Happy 4th of July and Independence Day to you!  Tell me, is it a 5 day weekend, taking off Monday and Tuesday, or is it a 5 day weekend, taking of Thursday and Friday?  

Photo from my morning walk at low tide: Rancho Buena Vista

I (Harriet) will be coming to Oregon July 5th, so I'll miss the parades and fireworks this year.  Yes, my list of things to take and bring back is made, bags are getting packed, and "to do" lists are getting ready to be posted for the gang remaining here.  I will be "almost" footloose and fancy-free.  No husband, no dogs, and not too many responsibilities.  I will be house and dog sitting for my in-laws where I'm staying for a few days, but Duke is an easy guy to take care of.  I hope he likes walks!  

I am ready to get out of town... it is getting plenty HOT!  This is the longest we've stayed since the summer we built the house (2002).  I checked the temperatures in Bend for this week, and lows are in the 40's, compared to lows in the high 70's or low 80's here!  

Ben will be busy, busy as soon as he gets the Model A Roadster back from the body shop in La Paz.  He keeps saying "2 more weeks", so we'll see.  They are making great progress; unfortunately, it was in worse shape than anticipated as far as rust was concerned.

  
Here the body is upside down as they work on sanding the bottom.  The man in the blue shirt is the owner of the body shop; the man next to him speaks English and is our interpreter (he works at this shop).  The older man behind Ben was hired specifically to work on the Model A, as he has lots of Model A experience!  They have since hired one more man to work exclusively on it, so it should get done even faster!  I hope to see pictures with the final coat of paint on it very soon!  

I mentioned the dump fire and the noxious smoke in my last letter.  Ryan took matters in hand and contacted the proper authorities, developed a web site and we have seen a caterpillar at the dump to put out the fires!  Good job, Ryan!  There are still a few residual fires, but we're hoping they're out soon.  Here is a link to Ryan's web site.  Check it out!  Los Barriles Dump 

My morning walks with Zoey are still a highlight of my day.  After the rain so many things are blooming in the desert, especially the cactus.  Here are a few things I've seen:

 This shrub is blooming like crazy everywhere right now.  I love the color of the flowers.  

This last picture is an example of the Pitahaya bloom, and the fruit!  A small bird flew away as I was snapping the photo.  I think it had been eating the fruit, since it's pretty "holey"!  






I've finished another year of one-student piano lessons.   When Paloma likes a song, she excels!  We work hard at finding songs she likes!!  This was her 3rd year of lessons, and at 13, in spite of all her other interests, she still wants to do piano lessons!  Good for her!  It's my pleasure to teach her. 

Charlotte and Ryan have been to the baby doctor several times, and brought back some cute ultrasound pictures the other day.  I'm going to make you wait until we have the real baby in hand before I start sending pictures (so be prepared!  I'm a Grandma, after all!!)  Baby and Mama are doing well, and they still have the same anticipated due date of late July.  Yes, I will be back!  

I was rewarded for my beach cleaning diligence this morning.  As I was picking up empty beer cans, plastic bags and cups, and drink holder rings, I came across one can of beer they'd missed!  Wow.  Too bad I don't like beer!  I ended up with two plastic bags of trash and a gallon plastic jug!  I think they're going to miss me when I'm gone for a couple weeks....the beach could get messy!  














My other reward is beach glass.  This is what I've picked up since I started my daily walks in early January this year.  I just moved it to a gallon jar, because I'd filled up a quart jar and a 1/2 quart jar.  Don't ask me what I'm going to do with it... other than line it up on a shelf with the rest of my collection! 






I have created a July 2018 album with some more photos in it.  



























Not sure when we'll get the next issue out.  Will Ben write it?  Will I?  Who will have time?   Until then.....

Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan & Charlotte, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for June 19, 2018

Hola Amigos,

Exciting news here.... we had our first tropical storm, which was earlier in the hurricane season than normal.  Hurricane Bud had some strong winds, but fortunately for us, it weakened to a tropical storm (Bud Light) before it got to us last Thursday, so we just got a lot of needed rain. It rained steadily most of the day Thursday, and a bit on Friday.  Things are greening up nicely now, and even more cactus are blooming in the desert.  The picture below is from Thursday morning on my abbreviated walk.  I did want to get home before the serious rain started!  

Another great benefit of this storm is that the weather has cooled down to "reasonable", and it should be that way for the foreseeable future!  Highs in the 80's and lows in the 70's are much more tolerable!  

It was pleasant enough during the storm to sit on our veranda and play Mexican Train while the rain was pouring down!  (I think I won that game!)  

Today, for the first time this year (I'm a creature of habit!) I took my morning walk heading north up the beach.  I did it because someone has lit the El Coro dump on fire, and it happens to be in the arroyo to the southwest of us, and where I usually walk.  The toxic smoke is awful, and it tends to just follow the arroyo down to the ocean during the night, and drifts over to our house.  Ugh.  Ryan has done lots of research, and found which government agency to complain to, but I'm not expecting much to happen.  Hopefully, the fire will go out soon.  

Summer plans.... we think we've finally figured out what we're going to do this summer, and when!   

• Ryan and Charlotte's Baby Girl is due around the end of July, according to the doctor here.  I am planning on coming back to help them out, and get some baby snuggling in.
• Ben's Model A is not going to be done for 3 or 4 more weeks.  He needs to stay here until it is done and bring it home, and start putting it together.  It may be done the week of July 16th...maybe sooner.   He will stay here until a few weeks after the baby is born.
• I (Harriet) have doctor appointments scheduled in Bend starting July 9!  So, I'm going to fly up to Oregon on July 5th and spend about 3 weeks there; doing doctor visits, finishing up a baby quilt, shopping for baby things 😉, visiting friends, and house/dog sitting for Ken & Bea if they want to go somewhere.  If anyone is in the area, I'll have time to visit with you! 
• I (Harriet) will return to Baja around July 25, and wait with everyone else for Baby Girl to arrive.  
• After Ryan, Charlotte, and Baby Girl are settled in (a week or two), we will head north to Oregon, with both Sam & Zoey in tow this year.  Not sure if we'll bring the new Model A.  Charlotte has informed us that new mothers in China are treated to a life of luxury during the first month, being waited on hand and foot, and others taking care of the baby in the middle of the night.  We'll give her a couple weeks!!

As a result, Ben and I will have a shorter time in Oregon this summer.  We will have to plan carefully to make sure we get everywhere we need to be and see who we need to see!  (When is your first corn ripe, Tom?)  

We didn't get to see Rebecca's family this year.  They vacationed on the East Coast of the US and in the Midwest.  They will be heading back to the Middle East this Friday, so we will have to look forward to next summer for a visit with them.  Sure glad Rebecca made it to our Anniversary party! 

So... tropical storm, summer travel plans, baby arriving, car taking forever... not sure if there is anything else to share with you except a few pics.  

 Our "deformed" cactus put out a few blooms this year.  I think it is actually a Pitahaya Dulce, but with a deformed gene.  I never see the blooms open in the desert, although I see lots of this kind of cactus (not deformed).

We have a Guanabana (or Sour Sop) tree and this is the fruit it produces. The fruit is white with black seeds that look like watermelon seeds.  I haven't tasted it yet, but Ryan says its a bit sweet and a bit sour, kind of like a green apple.  Mexicans make a drink out of it.  Guess I'll have to find the recipe and try it out!

This is the inside of the fruit.  

We ran out of black oil sunflower seeds for our wild birds, and just can't get the place where we found them last to order new ones, so our poor birds are out of luck!  I did plant some of the seeds in our corn patch, and they are coming up.  If "someone" waters them, there is a chance the birds will have a few more later this summer!

I will leave you with another beautiful cactus bloom ... I can't stop taking pictures of these beauties!  More photos are posted in the 2018 June album, including a video of our "river" during the rainstorm.

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja, 

Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Charlotte, Baby Girl, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for June 5, 2018

Hola Amigos,

Whoa!  It has been HOT here in Baja!  We are really appreciating our air conditioning, especially at night.  We had a hot wind from the southwest yesterday, so we closed the outside doors, turned on our bedroom AC unit, and set our big old fan in the bedroom door and blew cool air into the living room and family room.  It felt pretty good, especially for Dalia, who was cleaning our house at the time!  It's supposed to get a bit cooler (highs in the 80's, lows in the high 70's) for the next week, so we'll probably survive.  (We are wimps, I admit it!  Especially when you throw in some high humidity!)  

Why aren't you leaving, you may ask, and heading north?  The biggest reason is that our 30' Model A is still being working on in the body shop in La Paz.  It's got several more weeks work, probably.  Ben's latest plan is to do as much on it as he can here, but load it up and take it to Oregon to finish up.  We will not go to the National Model A meet in Reno 😕😞 but hope to enjoy it in Oregon, including taking Shirley for a ride.  She's the family friend who sold it to us.  

We did go for a couple rides in the '28 Woody lately.  We took it to La Paz for a parade and car show there, and got lots of exposure and admiration.  This is near the end of the parade route (lots of "normal" cars had got in from the traffic flow).  

 Oh, and the La Paz Calafia Queen got a bit of admiration, too!

Her outfit was embellished with beautiful shells and feathers, and then she was wearing 5" heels!!!  And she was gorgeous, to boot.  She also had a head dress, but I think it wasn't too comfortable so she didn't wear it much.

It was very warm in La Paz that weekend, so we stuck to the shade as much as we could.  The show was popular with the Sunday crowds, and Ben won a prize for oldest vehicle there.  

We stayed at a little hotel a few blocks away, Maria California.  Our room was the "economy" version ($40 per night), but we checked out their nice rooms across the street, and they have a great view and look very comfy, too, for $80 per night.  We just might stay there the next time!  



One of the "nice" rooms.  

And the view....





Ryan and Charlotte are getting acclimated and met with their obstetrician on last Monday.  They also had an ultrasound and found out that they are having a girl!  The baby seems to be very healthy, and is also bigger than expected, so the due date has been moved up to the end of July.  I will be coming back to help them out after the baby is born, so I guess I will be getting acclimated to Baja summer weather, too!  She is also appreciating the delicious food here; we eat at La Playa regularly, for breakfast especially.  This photo happened to be when we were there for dinner.  We hope they continue to stay open as long as we're here!

Ben & Ryan have been working on a bookcase project...our old one we've had since Salem became termite riddled, so Ben happened to have some nice oak plywood with which to make a new one.  It's a bit taller than the old one, and Ryan has been helping out with the finish.  We put the old one out by the driveway the other day, and it disappeared quickly!  (We figured it would).  It didn't have any shelving other than some cross members, but I'm sure they'll figure out something for it!  Hope they like termites!  😏

It is still cool enough in the mornings for my walks with Zoey.  Sam still refuses to go... he stays home and protects the house!  I was looking at some of the drone pictures our friend George took last year, and noticed that one had my walking route on it!  Our pinkish casa is right about in the middle of this photo, and I walk out the driveway to the left, then wander around in the loop to the left of the picture.  Sometimes I do the loop, then go down to the beach.  Sometimes I walk up almost to Highway 1, then down into the arroyo on the left, and on down to the beach.  This was taken in May 2017, so it is dry looking now, too.  But the cactus are blooming, and the trees and shrubs are just waiting for the summer rains.  I've seen several fox, and this is where the burros hang out during the night, and there are often cattle wandering around in there, too.  The other morning it was a great BIG black bull!  He went his way, and we went ours!  Zoey is pretty good about not bothering other animals, especially ones bigger than she is!  

Here's the bull!  

Our Jeep is still sitting around unfinished, BUT we did finally get the new fiberglass gas tank from a Mexican fellow who works in the Palmas boatyard.  It has taken FOREVER, and we heard more stories from him about when we'd get it and where it was ... we could have written a book!  It is here now, and looks like it will work nicely.  This is a project for next season.  Our friends Debi and Sandy took pity on us, and let us ride with them (on ATV's and in their Toyota) up to a little falls and pond on the Buenas Aires Arroyo.  It's a pretty little spot, and of course, Ryan had to climb to the top of the falls to see what was on the other side of the mountain!

Here he is starting out...

And there he is at the top.  Nothing too exciting over there...just more palm trees and water.  Oh well...at least he made it down safely.  

I'll be adding photos to the 2018 June album for your enjoyment.  

You might expect one edition from me before summer starts and Ben takes over.  We hope to see many of you this summer when we get to Oregon....whenever that is!  Keep in touch!

Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Charlotte (& baby), Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for May 23, 2018

Hola Amigos!  

Wow!  I'm almost on time....just one day late.  I guess I've turned over a new leaf....maybe!  

Since the last post, we have had some delightful company (they played Pinochle AND Mexican Train with us, and enjoyed our wine selections!  They also brought a nice selection of NW wines to share with us!)  Lori and Jack will most likely be back, as they seemed to have a great time here, relaxing and enjoying the area.  Lori used to work with Ben at ODOT, and we were very pleased when she called on the spur of the moment and asked if we had space for them.  We did, so they came! 

We took them to Rancho Buena Vista (we went for a walk on the beach with the dogs, and somehow ended up there!  Go figure?!) 

And we took them to El Viejo for tacos....  they really got into the spirit of the vacation!  They also loved La Playa for beach location and food, and we got to listen to Miguel de Hoyos on guitar one night, too!  

 The day before they were scheduled to leave, we took them to San Jose del Cabo for a look around town and some requisite shopping (at least on Lori's part!)  We went to Jasmine's again for dinner, which is the same restaurant we went to on my birthday a week before.  As then, the food was excellent.  

On the day that they left, Ryan and Charlotte arrived!  Hooray!  It is great to have them here, and right now, they are working hard on spoiling me.  They do all the dishes (and empty the dishwasher), and last night they fixed a nice "home style" Chinese meal for us.  They did a great job.  It's hard for Ben to relax when someone "inexperienced" is cooking his dinner, but even he was pleasantly surprised that Ryan can cook!  

We had a "Meet and Greet" party for them last Saturday, and invited friends and neighbors to say hello.  Of course, we had to have a nice Carrot Cake and some munchies.  

 Since being here for a week now, they are pretty much over their jet lag after traveling from Shanghai to Vancouver, BC, to here (they did take two days to do that, with a night in Vancouver).  

Charlotte and Ryan will be going in to Hospital H+ this Friday to meet the Obstetrician and get set up for delivery of their baby in August.  And yes, this Grandma will be coming back to Baja this summer to help them out for a bit.  

In the meantime, our daughter Rebecca and her family have traveled to the East Coast of the United States from the Mid East, and are visiting friends there for a couple weeks before they go to Chicago for a month.  We won't be able to see them this summer, as they will be heading back to the Mid East before we leave Mexico this year.  Hopefully, they will definitely plan on an Oregon summer NEXT year! (And after we get there).   

I have been busy finishing up the quilt I'm making for Grand baby #4.  I plan to add more border fabric (I'll buy it in the US, since I don't have what I want here in my stash), and have it quilted by our friends at Quiltmasters in Brownsville.  Then I'll finish it up with the binding.  That hand sewing always takes some time!  Hopefully, it will be finished by the time I need to come back.  

Ben has dozens of projects that he is working on, or it seems that way.  We added Air Conditioning to the bedroom upstairs that Ryan uses, so that is available for them this summer.  We actually got it done in a timely manner, especially for Mexico!  We bought the unit at Costco the day we picked up Lori and Jack; Ben called Carlitos, our favorite electrician, and he made a special trip over to check it out, and another special trip back here that night to splice into a 220 line in the shop, with a neat conduit up to where the AC unit was located.  He recommended another fellow to install the mini-split unit, and he came the day after Lori and Jack arrived.  He spoke no English, so Ben asked Dalia to come over and clean up after the workers, as well as let them know where we wanted it and to pay them (since we were out for breakfast!)  They installed the drain line, but Ben and Ryan have reconfigured it so it doesn't show as much.  That turned out very nice.  The AC in that room will be great this summer.

Another project we did was some front porch / veranda improvements.  We took down the shade cloth curtains and threw away the clunky plastic grips we have been using.  Ben put a bunch of grommets in them, then we used carabiners to attach the curtain to the guy wire we have strung between the posts.  The next job was to stretch out the curtains and wash all the dirt and dust off of them.  Now, they look nice and neat AND clean and they are very easy to open and close!  This time of year, that sun goes down in the northwest, and the veranda gets too hot and sunny without them when we're having dinner or playing games out there.  Finally, Ryan strung a string of LED rope lights on the underside of the palapa which really improved the lighting out there for our game times.  It's so nice out there now, it's hard to come in at night!!  

I saw a fox running by on my walk the other day (no time for a picture), and the burros are reaping the rewards of our corn growing adventure this year.  (Isn't that fluffy baby a cutie?)

Our cactus garden is looking nice, especially with our Cochemiea  blooming (that Latin name was for my sister Sharon's benefit!)  The first picture is one Ryan took from laying on the sidewalk.  The second is one I took bending over!  (It's hard enough to get up from bed, let alone a hard surface on the ground!)  

 I love when this cactus blooms!  

I have added more pictures in our 2018 May album.  Enjoy!  

Weather report:  We've had an unusually warm May this year, several times in the 90's already, and it may be an indication of hotter weather to come this summer.  Glad we have AC in our bedrooms to sleep with! 

At this point in time, we are not sure when we will be leaving Baja to go north.  The 30 Model A is taking longer than the body shop expected, even though they are adding more people to work on it.  They are doing a fantastic job, and are very meticulous.  Ben then has a bunch of work to do on it, so he's thinking about doing as much as he can here before we leave, and finishing it up as needed when we get to Oregon. (We'll probably need shop space, Ken!)  That also means we won't be going to the Model A National Meet in Reno, most likely.  I told Ben that I have doctor appointments starting July 9, so we have to be there before then!  We will keep you informed!  

Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Charlotte, Sam & Zoey  (phew!)

 

Pic-of-the-Week for May 9, 2018

Hola Amigos,

I think this is becoming a habit.... it's been almost a month again since my last post, and I really haven't been that busy.  Oh well.  I at least have a few pictures and things to report.  

The burros are happy that we are harvesting our corn.  They get to eat the stalk and any other left-overs.  Even baby was chewing on a leaf the other day!  

We get this part of it!  We had a pretty good crop, but it wasn't as sweet as I'd hoped.  That may be due to lack of water or good fertilizer, or just the variety of corn.  But it was fun to have and share with friends.  

Zoey and I are still doing daily walks (except Sunday, when I don't have time in the early morning).  I love making discoveries either in the desert, or the arroyo, or on the beach.  It seems like there is always something blooming!  This is the bloom from a Pitaya Agria, which produces a very tasty fruit.  The indigenous Indian population here staved off hunger by eating this fruit, and it's more popular cousin, Pitaya Dulce.  

The next picture is a Cardon cactus in bloom.  The tennis ball sized fruit are popular with lots of birds and iguanas, and animals who live on the ground when the fruits drop.  

I spotted this blooming plant close to the beach.  It is actually a reed of some kind.  I really liked the interconnecting star shape blooms and the buds waiting to bloom at the bottom.  

This is the bloom from a Palo de Arco, very common here in Baja.  The long straight sticks from this tree are used for many things; shade covers, fences, decorative arches (it bends easily).  This was growing in the arroyo.  

On the beach, I pick up beach glass, pretty rocks, and most of the garbage I see.  I usually have a plastic bag with me to pick up plastic bottles, bottle caps, old fishing line, etc.  Most people are good about picking up after themselves, but there is often evidence of parties on the beach with empty beer cans strewn everywhere, and sometimes the plastic bag they brought the goodies down to the beach is available!  I used one of those to pick up the "dead soldiers" from someone's party, and the next weekend, there was another batch of empties in the same (evidently popular) spot!  Grrrr!   The other day I picked up a Pacifico beer bottle, and didn't realize until I got home that it had tar all over it.  I didn't have a plastic bag that day, so just stuck it in my little fanny pack.  Was that ever a mistake!  Sometimes, though, I come across interesting things like this little star fish!

We have company coming later today, and they will be here until Ryan and Charlotte arrive next week, so we will be busy, busy!  The weather has heated up for May, and everyone is saying how hot it is already for early in the season.  It may portend a hotter summer.... or it may just stay like this the rest of the summer.  Hard to say, but our bedroom AC is very nice at night!  

Ben is making weekly trips to La Paz to check on our 1930 Model A Roadster.  It's coming along nicely, and they are doing great work.  They promise that it will be done by the end of May.  Then Ben has a bunch of work to do in June to get it ready for the show in Reno the end of June!  
















I managed to survive another year, and we went to San Jose del Cabo with friends to celebrate my birthday on May 4.  Had a lovely relaxing day and a delicious dinner.  It was low key and perfect!  

I have started a 2018 May photo album, so you can check that out if you'd like.  

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