Pic-of-the-Month for June 20, 2021

 Hola Amigos,

The end of June is quickly approaching, as is our exit from Baja for cooler climates.  It has been HOT here this last week, and we've been wondering why we're still here, when we could pack up and leave in our truck anytime.  However, we have a few outstanding things to get done, so we'll stick to our schedule of leaving next Saturday.  But when the thermometer got up to here last Sunday, it was very tempting to leave immediately!

All last week the temps were in the 90's.  Thank goodness we have AC in our bedroom so we can sleep at night.  Today, temps are pleasant 80's and we even had a rain shower or two this morning.  That was very refreshing! 

We have gotten a lot of projects accomplished this year.  The most recent was getting some new storm shutters, mostly upstairs and one on a large window downstairs.

The upstairs has always been a bit of a problem due to the design of the house.  The two sliding glass doors on the bedrooms open on to a large deck, but there is no access to the downstairs from there, so once the shutters are attached from the outside, the only way to get down is via ladder.  I told Ben he's getting too old to do ladders like that, and that we needed a shutter that would close on the inside.  So, one slider has an accordion shutter that locks from the inside.  The rest have stacking panels that are somewhat translucent.  

The view above is from outside; this window has three vertical panels.  The view to the left is from the inside looking out to the large patio over our carport (that has no stairway).  I think it looks great.  That window has three horizontal stacking panels. 

We also have a set of panels for our largest living room window, whose existing wooden shutter was heavy and clumsy to handle, and is getting eaten by termites!  

It took the shutter company several times to come and adjust things before we were completely happy, but they were always willing to come out and fix things.  The last time they were here, we supervised closely so that we knew for sure they were doing it right and we were getting what we paid for.  And yes, it was hot the days they were here.  They wear masks most of the time, and often the long sleeved shirts.  Makes me hot just to think about long sleeved shirts! 

 

 

Another project that finally got done is our new water hookup.  It took a lot of effort on the part of Ben and our new neighbor Brian (who is over seas currently) to get Brian's plumber, the water company and a back hoe operator all at the same place at the same time, and agreeing to hook us all up.  It did happen, although it took a lot of digging to find that elusive water line!  (It was actually between where Ben is standing the the guy to his left.  They dug most of the way across the road, first!)  It's all good now, and we are very happy with our new consistent water supply (a rarity in parts of Baja near here).  

Ben finished up the rocking chair project, and it looks good.  We'll be delivering it to La Paz when we leave town, most likely. I think he did a fantastic job adding rockers to a chair that didn't have rockers to start with! 

Ben also managed to get 4 vehicles in the shop; 3 Model A's and the Willy's Jeep.  Yeah, my new little car gets to stay outside this summer, but at least it will be in the carport under cover.  

We will have a house sitter this summer, and also exciting for us, a gardener who will show up every Saturday.  Ricardo worked the last couple of weeks, several hours a day, whipping our garden into shape (it needed a lot of work).  He also hauled off all the clippings and weeds.  He's excited to work for us, and I think it looks the best it has in ages.  Poor guy came at 4pm and worked 2 hours in the heat of the day.  Phew!  (Our past gardeners haven't been regular about showing up, if they came at all!)  

Our neighbor's Mango tree has a branch over our wall, and I've been busy processing mangos; freezing some, and drying some.  I've also given away many of them.  They are small, but sweet and delicious.  

Mango Margarita, anyone?

I finished the baby quilt I made for our new grand-nephew, Xavier Purkey.  I'll be getting it back from the quilters when we get up to Oregon.  I think it turned out ok.  Certainly is colorful! 

 

We will stop in Loreto next Saturday night to enjoy the Hotel Oasis Saturday Night Clam Feed.  😋  We usually take three days traveling through Baja, and plan to cross the border on Tuesday morning at Tecate.  If you follow me on Facebook, I'll probably be posting highlights of our trip as we travel.  It's hard to get Ben to stop to let me get decent pictures, but I'll do what I can!!  

We are looking forward to seeing many of you Oregonians and Washingtonians this summer, as opposed to last year!  We've had our vaccinations, and we're ready to be a bit more social.  If you want to see us, and didn't let us know after the last p-o-t-m, let us know! 

This may be the last update for a while if Ben doesn't uphold his end of the deal to write these in the summer.  Complain to him if you don't hear from us in July, August or September!!  You should know our e-mail!  

More pictures are in our June 2021 album.

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos de Baja

Harriet, Ben & Zoey 

Pic-of-the-Month for May 27, 2021

 Hola Amigos,

Where, oh where does the time go?  Can you believe it is already the end of May, and just one month until the end of our Baja season for this year.  We plan to head north on June 26 (always a Saturday so Ben can enjoy the Clam Feed at Oasis Hotel in Loreto at the end of our first travel day!!)  Until then, there are things for us to do here, including trying to stay cool!  Maybe I could/should get Ben to go swimming?!?  Looks pretty nice right now.  Temps have been in the 80's to 90's now.  Yes, that's a LOW temperature of 80!  It's about this time of year that I start missing cool Oregon nights.  

This was my view this morning as I was getting in my 2+ mile daily walk.  As I was thinking "phew, it's getting warm...this soft sand is hard to walk in...that sun is sure bright in my eyes", I decided what a blessing it is to live here and be able to walk every day in this beautiful place!  I could be walking in the cold rain, or inside some mall (dangerous if I'm carrying money!  I might have to stop and shop!)  Instead, I get to enjoy this.  Now, if that doesn't entice some of you down to visit, I give up! I just hope my tennis shoes hold up for another month...both pairs are getting pretty tattered!  By the way, Zoey is doing her shorter route these days.  It's just too hot for a black dog (she tells me) to go that far.  Especially one who refuses to get anywhere close to the water to cool off!   

We finally, finally took the '56 Jeep out for an adventure ride to Muertos Bay north of here.  The coast road can barely be called a road in some parts.  Very steep, very rocky, extremely narrow (you hope like everything no one will be coming from the other direction as there are few places to pass).  The good thing is, the Jeep ran exactly like it should have.  The new carburetor worked very well, and the nice new electric fan kept the radiator cool.  (Didn't keep us too cool!  It was quite a hot day!)  We went with 4 other couples in their rigs, and all had a great time.  The reward is there is a restaurant at Muertos Bay, so we all tanked up before the trip back home.  

  The start of the "rough" road.  First thing is up a steep, steep grade.  

Then over some rough, narrow road (Ben says this was one of the good parts!)  Notice the drop off on my side!  

We made it to Muertos Bay, had lunch with everyone, then Ben and I decided to go back via Hwy 1 (San Antonio and San Bartolo) instead of over the rough rocky part.  It took us 3 hours (with a couple rest stops) to get from the start to Muertes Bay, and a little less than one hour to get back home after putting more air in our tires at a gas station in Los Planes.  More pictures of our trip are in our May 2021 photo album.

What else are we doing?  Ben always has several projects going.  I think the car collection is mostly done, but there is always maintenance.  He's been working on a couple of wood-working projects, including adding rockers to an old Mexican chair.  He rebuilt one for our friend Rosy a couple years ago, and added a nice leather seat from Miraflores leather works.  Rosy and Hector Manuel found another chair to match it, other than it didn't have rockers on it.  So, Ben added those, is in the process of refinishing the wood, and will then take it to Miraflores to get the leather seat added.  It should look very nice when he's done.  He's also cleaning up the garden...we got a lot of nice vegetables out of it this year, and he's already ordered seeds for next year!  The burros have been enjoying the old corn stalks, green bean vines, lettuce and whatever else we can give them.  It's very dry here this year (not much summer rain last year), so the wild burros are suffering, as are the free-range cattle and goats.

I've been doing my "spring" quilting.  I made one for Ben and I for our Oregon trailer bed, and I'm making one for a grand nephew who should be making his appearance any moment now.  I used the same pattern on both, but the baby quilt is a bit more colorful!  The big one includes some squares that I embroidered, and that took several years to get done!  So, the cutting and piecing took less than a month, but that hand-work slowed me down a bit.  (I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the embroidery anyway...this seemed like a great option).  

I managed to get the big one done in time to send it north with the couple who will do the finishing; batting, backing and machine quilting.  They happen to live down here near us in the winter, and go back to Oregon and their quilting business in the summer.  (That must be why I do my quilting in the spring!)  

And here are the basic blocks in the baby quilt.  I'm thinking of stopping at 6 blocks, since I'm running out of cute prints!  We'll see how ambitious I am.  By the way, this pattern is called "Bear's Paw".  

As I said earlier, we are planning on leaving the end of June.  In the meantime, we have a few dental appointments, a quilt to finish, new water line to hook up (come on, water company!) and a freezer to get as empty as possible.   

We hope to be able to visit many more of you this summer than last summer.  We have had our vaccinations, and are good to go!  If you'd like to see us, send us a note, or call us, and we'll see what we can work out.  We'd love to see you.  

Like I said, more pictures are in our May 2021 album for your enjoyment.  Maybe I'll get another "Pic-of" out in June.  Or maybe I'll wait until early July.  😏  

Tus amigos en Baja

Harriet, Ben and Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for April 25, 2021

 Hola Amigos,

It's been another busy month for us, and we are getting a lot accomplished.  The best news is that we got our 2nd Pfizer vaccinations, and had no reactions at all.  We are feeling very good about that!  Yes, we will still be wearing our masks when we need to, and are watching the numbers and waiting for herd immunity before we wander far and wide.  

You may remember we had our casa built here in 2002.  We had palapas (palm leaf roofing) installed on several outside areas of our home at that time.  Amazing to believe, but they can last 20 years, barring hurricane damage and fire.  The one on the north side of our casa covering our veranda had some hurricane damage in 2005 (Hurricane John) and survived several others that weren't quite as destructive as John.  But after all these years, it was starting to get holes and leaked here and there.  We got several bids from local contractors and chose Antonio Flores.  

His crew came last Monday and removed all the old leaves, and cleaned up after themselves!  They even hauled them all to the dump!  They also removed the aluminum flashing at the top of the roof, as Ben wants that all replaced.  The existing structure of palm beams and Palo de Arco cross sticks are in great shape, as is the leather that holds it on except in a few spots where it got wet.  The next day a different crew came with pickup loads of palm leaves and prepared them to attach on the structure.  They trim them with a sharp machete, wet them down, and attach a Datil tie (Datil is a very tough fibrous plant...the leaf is trimmed into strips).  They then haul them over and hand them up to the master worker (Antonio's son, Antonio).  He works in his stocking feet, and has an extra board to sit on for comfort. 

I've included a video in our April 2021 album, so you can see how it's done.  Looks like a lot of bending over to me! And yes, he's in his stocking feet.   

They are almost done.  We are just waiting for them to replace a board on the very top most of the way around the edge.  (They had to cut it down, mill it, and cut it to length.)  Then they will put up the final few rows of palm, attach the aluminum flashing, and put on a nice heavy net to hold it all down.  

We can't wait to get out and enjoy our veranda again! We eat most of our meals out there this time of year, sit and watch the birds, and use the lounge chair for reading and naps.  

Our friends Jill and Rudy finally made it here.  They were originally planning on coming in November, but with Covid and flight restrictions and her job and lots of other things, they finally made it at the beginning on April.  We did a few fun things, and they spent most of their time looking for a little (affordable) place here.  And they were successful!  We will be seeing a lot more of them in the future.  They said they'd like to travel down with us next fall, as their new place should close in July.  (Just ask them how much they enjoyed relaxing on our veranda!!)  

The garden is still going like crazy.  We have enough tomatoes (mostly little ones) to feed an army!  I've canned a bunch of beans, but they're still producing like crazy.  We're on our third corn crop, third or 4th radish crop, 4th lettuce crop, 4th Cilantro crop, who knows which squash crop of various kinds, and a few more cucumbers, too .... and there are a few more beets for Ben to process, too!  Hope we have enough jars for him.  

Another project that is "almost" done is that our new neighbor is starting to prepare for his construction project next fall.  He had a power / water monument put in and Brian and Ben decided they could work together.  The water company wants us to move our meter out of our "private property" (the meter isn't on private property, but we can't explain that!)  Anyhow, Brian said we could use his monument for our water meter, too.  All good!  Anyhow, Fernando, who is in charge of the project, got the monument built, put  in all the proper pipes and electrical fittings, hired a backhoe to dig a couple ditches, and we are now ready for the water company to come move our meter AND for CFE (the power company) to hook up the electrical for Brian.  In the meantime, while digging the ditch the backhoe broke the existing city water line (oops!) and we had a flood.  We also found another water hookup that they'd put in years ago for the lot next to us.  We couldn't figure out what in the world that line was for until we thought about it a bit.  But it sure didn't help breaking that one, too, when we already had a flood!  Oh, and that was one of those days when Ben was in La Paz.  Fernando, bare foot and wading in mud with shovel in hand, said "this is not a good day"!!!  All was patched in the end, and we have some new water pipes and faucets on the west side of our new lot....just in case we want to water something over there.  Just waiting for the water company to come move our meter and attach us to the correct water line.  

The dog followed me home from Rancho Buena Vista this day!

There was an absolutely fantastic sunset the other night, and I'll share one of those photos with you here.  The rest are in the April 2021 album.

We have no guests scheduled between now and when we head north in late June.  If you want to brave some airports (or drive down)! we'd be happy to see you.  We are missing our new good friend Maria who left for the US on a slowly meandering trip through Baja about a week ago.  We loved her willingness to cook, and learned several delicious new recipes.  We finally got the books back in bookcases, which Ben just finished building, in one of the upstairs guest rooms.  And a new picture was hung in that room.  So, we are set!  Start planning your next Baja vacation!

We are still missing Sam, but Zoey is learning to make up for it by standing under the cutting board in the kitchen, and generally being underfoot.  

Hasta la proxima mes!

Harriet, Ben and Zoey

 
  

Pic-of-the-Month for March 19, 2021

 Hola Amigos,

We have some good news....and some sad news.  The good news is that we got our first Pfizer vaccinations yesterday here in Baja for Covid-19.  The sad news is that we had to put our dachshund Sam down on March 7.  He would have been 14 in April.

Here's a picture of Sam in one of his favorite places...sharing an old lounge chair on the veranda with Zoey, and with his signature look: tongue out.  (Zoey's look is her "go fast" ears folded back!)

He had some health issues, and he was having some trouble walking, slowly losing control of his hind quarters.  On Saturday the 6th, he found a cat in our yard, and did the "final chase".  I heard some loud yips, and when I found him in the yard, he couldn't walk at all.  We spent most of the night up with him, and he was frustrated and in some pain.  We decided to put him down on Sunday.  The vet who did it for us was very caring and gentle with him (and us!)  We are all missing him a lot.  He's been such a big part of our lives (following me EVERYWHERE except my morning walks), traveling thousands of miles with us every year, and a friend of many.  And no, we are not getting a replacement pup, so don't even suggest it!  When we travel this summer, it will be a lighter load with just Zoey and her accoutrements.   

The good news:  We managed to get signed up and notified of Covid vaccinations available for us folks over 60.  It's quite a story, but some comments I've heard from folks tell me it's not uncommon anywhere in the world.  Here's the paragraph you can skip if you don't want to go through our frustration with us!

On Monday we were notified by email that vaccines would be available in Santiago Tuesday, La Ribera Wednesday, and Los Barriles Thursday. We tried Tuesday in Santiago since we were already there paying property taxes, were sent away because even though we live in that county, they said we could get our shots in Los Barriles on Thursday. On Wednesday, we went to La Ribera, signed up, and waited 4 or more hours and finally gave up and went home when they said they would continue the next day. We went back the next morning, and they said "if we didn't call you last night, you're out of luck. We're out of vaccinations". He suggested Miraflores, so we went there and arrived at about 8:30. We signed up (got numbers 83 and 84). We had time to find a breakfast restaurant, went back to wait with the crowds and found a friend there to visit with while we waited (she was just getting inside when we were leaving). It was really pretty efficient. When our numbers were called, we got signed in, had our temps taken, were accompanied to a room for the vaccination (with 5 nurses in attendance!) then led to a room to wait 15 minutes. We were then allowed outside for 15 more minutes. They also gave us a follow up date of April 8. We are SO HAPPY! Not so funny thing is, Los Barriles vaccinations got cancelled for Thursday. So glad we found the Miraflores group to help us.

This is the Centro de Salud in Miraflores. It is 21 miles from our home, but we think it was worth the trip!

Our garden continues to grow and produce an abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers, squash, beans, lettuce, carrots, and some corn. Oh....and beets! I've never grown them myself (maybe because of childhood memories of weeding beets out in the hot sun?), but Ben decided he needed some. He has already canned two batches of pickled beets, and is hoping to do some more next week.

Aren't they pretty? Quite tasty, too. If they last long enough, we might have to bring a few jars north with us this summer!

I'm hoping also that I'll be able to easily find canning lids this summer. They sure were in short supply last year.

To the right is a sampling of our daily tomato crop. And there are many more left on the bushes! Bite sized and yummy.

We got a new skylight installed last week over the opening outside our kitchen door. When it rains, we get puddles outside that door, and it was always a mess and dangerously slippery. I've been trying to come up with something to put over that area that wouldn't cut out the light. I saw our local glass company advertise something similar and decided it was time to do it to our house. I couldn't believe it when the guy installing the framework was wearing a harness! First time I've ever seen that in Mexico. However, I'm not sure what in the world he attached the line to on the bathroom roof. Ryan suggested it was probably hooked to the water pipe to the solar panel, or maybe the support bracket. Then...see that ladder leaning against the wall? That's what they used to climb up there and attach the safety rope. We watched him climb up there to disconnect it, and it made us very nervous! It's a climb and jump I could have done in my teens and twenties, maybe. Now? Not a chance. I don't even do ladders!

This is what it looks like from below --> I like it a lot. Now I want it to rain a little bit so I can check it out. They did have a very nice scaffolding that they used in the process. 😉

Burros!  We have burros in the barrio, and there are two babies right now.  Every day, they come by our place and bray loudly so we'll come out and feed them some yummy garden leftovers.  They are pretty insistent, and I've seen one of the Mamas kicking the male out of the way.  She gets first choice or else!!

This baby boy is the newest, and the littlest one I've ever seen.  

I have created a 2021 March album with these and more pictures if you'd like to look.  And don't forget to check out the cute grandkids!!  Sure wish they lived a little bit closer than half way around the world.  

We are looking forward to friends Jill and Rudy arriving in early April for a nice long visit.  Our friend Maria is still here with us.  We are appreciating her cooking skills and she keeps improving and winning in Mexican Train, too!  

We hope that you are all staying healthy and getting vaccinated.  It is a great relief to us to have that first shot done.  It will make traveling this summer so much more enjoyable.   

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Zoey and Maria

Pic-of-the-Month for February 24, 2021

 Hola Amigos,

February has almost ended, so it's time to get a Pic-of-the-Month out for you.  

That's Ben and I out on the point, taking a selfie!  

Ben and I are fine, other than Ben had a cold that he generously passed along to me, and friends Mel and Katie while they were here.  Ben always gets over colds quickly.  The rest of us, not so fast!  I'm still coughing a bit, but finally feeling much better. Then, just when I was starting to feel better, we decided to hike up Flat Top Hill near Rancho Leonero.  We made it just fine, but on the way back down (near to top), I slipped and fell and landed on my face and scraped my lip, and twisted my ankle in the process.  Well dang!  We made it down ok, just a lot slower than normal.  Fortunately, our friend Maria found me a walking cane to use, which helped a lot.  As for Katie and Mel's recovery, Katie says they've slowed down their trip north quite a bit to recover, rest and enjoy some warmer weather before they get to the Rogue River for a month of Steelhead fishing in March.  Ben is feeling bad about passing his germs around.  

Our garden is still doing well and producing lots of veggies, although some of the squash bushes are looking pretty tired!  We finally figured out what was getting to our corn, and being very thorough about stripping the cobs....it was the birds!  Every kind of bird; Orioles, Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxias, Cactus Wren!!!  Ben's solution was to use bird netting, and when the birds got in after his first attempt, he covered our entire garden area with bird netting.  He was fortunate to find what he wanted in La Paz, and was able to go back and get more when the first attempt didn't work.  It is now nice and tight.  (Lots and lots of zip ties were used in the construction of this beautiful structure!)    We just hope the bees can find their way in!!   Some corn in our second planting is just about ready.  

The Jeep.... oh yes, there's always something about the Jeep!  Ben has towed it to La Paz, and it is in Edgar Majalca's shop getting painted!!!  (He did the 1930 Model A Roadster for us).    AND... he ordered a nice big fan from the US and had it shipped down here.  A man in a shop next to Majalca's, who builds and repairs Baja Race cars, is making a cowl for the fan and installing it in the Jeep.  We HOPE that this is the solution to it overheating and stalling out when we're going slow on rough roads.  The new paint won't help much, but it will certainly look better!  Ben selected some colors that Edgar suggested, but you'll have to wait to see what it looks like after it's finished.  

We enjoyed our time with cousins Tom and Karan, even though it was short.  I do know they will be back one of these days...they are Baja lovers for sure.   Unfortunately, my friend Jill and Rudy have delayed yet again (her work now!)  Hopefully, they'll be able to get some time soon.  The airport here now has a COVID testing station set up.  You need to get a test before you fly out now, and they have it well set up.  Tom and Karan used it the first week it started, and were pleased with how easy it was.  

By the way, Covid vaccines are starting to become available here for those of us over 60.  I've tried to sign up, but haven't been successful on the computer app yet.  I guess I'll go into the clinic and ask for help!  (Can't believe I can't get a computer app to work!)  We'd probably feel better about traveling if we could get the vaccines before we head to Oregon this summer.  I have signed us up for Oregon, but Deschutes county is slow getting them.  We'll just have to wait and see what happens.  I think things are slowing down a bit here, but we do see several things closing down when employees get Covid.

Our friend Maria is still here, and will probably be here for a while yet.  She is a fantastic cook, and Ben and I have been enjoying her willingness to cook for us.  Ben is afraid I'm getting very spoiled...and I probably am.  It was really nice having her help when I was sick with the cold, and the sore ankle, too.  She's introduced us to a lot of her favorite Mexican foods, and she likes to fix an afternoon appetizer for us several times a week.  

I mean, really.... this is so much better for you than chips and salsa, right?  

Our orchids are starting to bloom again, and we have a lot of them sending out bud shoots.  Here's the first one to "re-bloom".

If you'd like to see more photos of our garden and activities in February, check out the February 2021 album.  And of course, a few pics of our cute grandkids! 😏

We hope that you are all staying healthy, getting your vaccines as they're available, and enjoying life as it's happening in 2021.  We're looking forward to a bit warmer weather in March, and maybe getting the Jeep back.  Thanks for being our friends, and keep in touch!  We'd love to hear from you, too!

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey (and Maria!)

Pic-of-the-Month for January 2021

Hola Amigos,

Happy New Year!  2021 is roaring in with good news and bad.  Vaccines are available to many now, and medical folks in Mexico are first in line, as it should be.  Here in Baja, a number of people are getting the Covid virus, especially after bigger gatherings of family and friends over the holidays. Hospitals in La Paz are quite full.  Ben and I continue to isolate ourselves, and when we visit friends or have someone over, make sure it is small numbers; no larger than 6.  According to the rules in place, both of us are too old to go into a grocery store (over 65), but the local stores don't hold us to that, thank goodness!  

Fortunately for us, the weather has been sunny but coolish for us (55 - 70) for the last several weeks, and today it is sprinkling rain with a bit more forecast.  Our garden is appreciating it very much! We've had our share of windy days, but it is supposed to be calm for the next week.  The kite-boarders don't like that forecast much, but we love it!  

Since our last "Pic-of-the-Month", we've done a few projects and gone a few places.  

1.  At the end of December and over New Year's weekend, we helped our friends Mel & Katie (at least Ben did!) put a new roof on their 5th wheel trailer out at Los Frailes, with a few other friends of theirs helping.  We stayed overnight 3 nights with them while the work went on.  A lot of it is recorded in an album I created here:  Crabb's New Roof  It included taking off some of the old plywood which was rotten and replacing it with new, and putting on a rubberized mat over the whole roof and gluing it down.  Katie made sure we all had plenty to eat!!  

2.  We are re-landscaping areas of our yard.  Last month I showed you where Ben and I took out some cactus and agave plants.  We have now planted some rose bushes there.  We'll see how they do; it might be too hot for them there in the summer, but they will have regular water.  They don't look like much yet, and don't compare to the robust roses we had in our garden in Salem, but they'll add a touch of color to that corner of the garden.

3.  I tried to nurse a Grosbeak back to health who had run into our window, and was then grabbed by one of my dogs and had puncture wounds.  Unfortunately, she didn't make it after several days, but I felt blessed to be able to hold and pet such a beautiful bird.  You can see from this picture how eager Sam was to get her in his grip again.  Bad dog!  

4.  Ben continues to grow amazing things in the garden.  We had our first corn-on-the-cob last night!  Yum!  Yes, we managed to keep the dogs and other critters out of it to get some mature cobs!  We think perhaps a fox got in there, because something peeled back the husk and chewed on a few cobs.  Our dogs aren't as subtle...they just knock the stalk down and eat everything on the cob!  We have also had Patty Pan squash, Yellow straight neck squash, zucchini, a "kind-of" Spaghetti squash, lots and lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes and green beans (I just pulled out my bush beans and planted pole beans).  

  

5. While we were at Mel & Katies, we met a very nice Mexican-American lady who had befriended them and was camping on the beach at Los Frailes.  Maria is now visiting with us for a while, and we are reaping the benefits of her Mexican cooking heritage and skills!  She is visiting Baja for the first time in her life, and likes it very well.  She has been joining me on my morning walks and it is nice to have someone to chat with as we walk.  She's also got my pace speeded up a bit!!  It's also nice to have a native-Spanish-speaking person around to chat with the locals and find out what's going on here and there!  

5.  Ben is building new book cases to replace the termite riddled ones we had in one of the upstairs bedrooms (he already replaced one in the other upstairs bedroom a couple years ago!)  It's coming along nicely, and he prepped all the wood with Bora-care, which will repel the termites.  In the meantime, I've been going through the books from that room and giving away many of them to a local Book Thrift store.  Less is better, right?  I'm hoping the new book cases aren't completely full.  If they are, more will be going to the thrift shop!!  I'm thinking some empty spaces would be nice.  

6.  We have some very pretty and interesting flowers blooming in our garden right now.  Here's some of them...

This one is from a plant our friends Jerry and Susy gave us years ago.  It is an agave plant that eventually, after many years, blooms like this!  So fun to watch it develop.  From my internet search I think it is this one ... "Agave attenuata (Fox Tail Agave) is a succulent that forms large rosettes of attractive spineless leaves atop a stout stem."

These bright red flowers are geraniums and Colancha. I've managed to get the Colancha to survive several years, and it really puts on a great show!  So bright and pretty. 

This is a bouquet of my Zinnias that I planted in a mass planting.  They are doing pretty well, but I can see I need to improve the soil in at least part of the bed.  I'll try again next year for a bigger mass!

It's kind of skimpy there on the right!

We are expecting more company next week; cousins Tom and Karan will be visiting us for a few days before they head on to spend time in La Paz.  It will be great to visit with them and maybe feed the Oregon farmer some Baja corn!  Our friends Jill and Rudy were supposed to come next week, too, but last I heard they are delaying their trip again due to Covid testing that is required to enter the US.  :-(  I heard in the meantime that Alaska Airlines is going to be setting up a testing station in the SJD airport that will have results in 1 hour and cost $50.  Sounds like a good deal to me.  (She was not flying on Alaska, so not sure if the test would be available to them or not.)  

That's enough trivia for this month!  If you'd like to see more pictures, here's the January 2021 album.  Enjoy!

Hasta la proxima vez!

Stay healthy, everyone

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for December 2020

 Hola Amigos!

Feliz navidad y prospero año nuevo!  What a year, huh?  But when we can enjoy God's creation in this beautiful place, we count ourselves blessed!  

We are healthy, happy, busy, and enjoying our life at home and in our little community.  Healthy is a good thing to be in 2020!  I have been walking 6 days a week, usually between 2.5 miles and 3.5 miles.  I walk through sand on the beach (like in the picture), I walk on roadways, I walk on a few trails through the arroyo, up and down hills.  Sometimes, I walk to the flag monument (when I'm feeling very ambitious!) and when Zoey is not with me.  I feel like I've accomplished a great feat when I get up there!  In the picture below, that point of beach sticking out just to the right of center is the same one above in the picture above...just a different perspective.  Anyhow, that picture pretty much contains our house and where I walk.  Los Barriles is at the next point of beach sticking out across the little bay.

Ben has taken on the garden this year for his project.  We are getting some nice results already, in spite of the mystery creatures who have eaten almost every pepper plant, quite a few corn sprouts, most of the lettuce that has sprouted, and have nibbled on just about everything else!  Our first corn crop is sending out tassels!  I'm picking green beans from our bush bean plants, picking cucumbers and Patty Pan squash, and just about ready to harvest some Beet greens.  Our tomato plants have set on fruit, and most of the squash and cucumber plants are producing.  Ben has put in an irrigation system that is pretty slick (as long as the timers and valves work!) and he's out watering (by turning a dial) most mornings.  

Yesterday Ben decided to remove a huge agave and a large nopal type cactus in the front north-east corner of our yard.  That involved the Jeep and winch and chain!  It worked, and today he is taking wheelbarrow loads of stuff to our pile of garden refuse, that seems to be getting bigger and taller all the time!  When we get that all cleaned up, he's going to extend the water line he put in earlier to water whatever goes there.  I'm hoping for some pretty flowers, but probably not Bougainvillea!  (Pretty, but very thorny!)  

One other major project we worked on is that Ben severely pruned our Mesquite tree; Ben finally got to use his new chain saw, which works very well.  It will eventually come down all the way and we'll encourage the San Juan tree growing right next to it to take over.  Mesquite trees have serious thorns on them, so dealing with them is not fun!  We both ended up scratched up after this!  We hauled all the branches over by our fire pit, Ben cut them up into fire pit sized pieces, and I pitch-forked the little leafy branches in piles.  We have been enjoying fires this fall on non-windy evenings, since we do have a nice sized pile of firewood now!  

Another of Ben's projects is to get the 1956 Willy's Jeep running properly.  Soon, he'll have the right combination of carburetor, clean radiator, properly working fan and whatever else it might take to get it to go uphill on a bumpy road without dying or overheating!  We took a ride with some friends a couple weeks ago in the hills to the west of us, and were kicking ourselves for not getting up there a few years sooner!  What beautiful country!!  

This is a canyon where I wouldn't want to be on a rainy day, but it was cool on this day!

We have also been going out the Los Frailes to visit our friends Katie & Mel and enjoying Taco Tuesday with them at La Palapa Restaurant in Cabo Pulmo.   The road hasn't been too awful, and we heard rumors from a person in the know that the pavement would be done all the way to Cabo Pulmo, but it was going to take 5 years or something like that!!  For 5 miles of road!!!  That will be a major improvement for that area.  Some people in the area have fought the development of that road for years, but it looks like it will finally happen.

We had a guest, our niece Chrys from Sisters was here a short time, and spent hours walking the beach and to and from town.  She also came across some baby turtles hatching on the beach, so that was exciting for her!  She loves it here, and would spend more time except for those 2 boys of hers back home!  

We have a "new" Christmas tree this year.  During our house painting last spring, the old one somehow disappeared.  We got this one from a rancher friend who also sells Farm Cheese.  We did two things on one trip when we got our tree!  For those who don't know, this is an Agave bloom stalk.  They last for years, if you don't abuse them.  

We wish all of you a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Please stay healthy, and count and enjoy your blessings!

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet & Ben, Sam & Zoey

Here's the link to 2020 December pictures!