Pic-of-the-Month for May 2023

 Hola Amigos!

This will probably be our last letter sent from Baja this spring.  We are heading north in 3 weeks, in mid-June.  We are going just a bit earlier this year because we have some of my brother Rich's things to take care of, and sooner is better than later!  For your information, we will have a Memorial Service for him Sunday, July 23 at Tom & Karan Malpass house, which is near the West Point Cemetery where his remains will be. 

This May, there was another car show put on by our friend Hector Manuel, so we participated with the 1929 Ford Model A Pickup.  For those of you who don't know about this vehicle, Ben bought it in 1960 when he was 13 years old!  He wanted a go-cart, and his Dad suggested an old car, and this is what he got.  I must say, though, that it looks WAY better now than it did in 1960!!  

Here's Ben in 1960 with his "new to him" $75 pickup!

He   says the color was "dirty black".  The fenders were in very rough shape, but it ran.  He learned how to drive it on their farm near Bend, including the double clutching, and drove it to high school after they moved to Eugene.  This thing followed us around for years;  we brought it down to Baja in our cargo trailer in parts!  When he was retired, he finally had time and money to restore it and put it all together.  We've been showing it in car shows and driving it in parades ever since.  This unassuming little farm truck has carted a lot of queens and princesses around Los Barriles!  (Cousin Tom got to drive it last November in the Revolution Day parade November 20!)

 
Another story that is ending on a good note has to do with our 2011 Ford pickup.  While he was driving to La Paz in late October, towing the 1930 Roadster to be painted and repaired for a minor scratch, Ben hit an animal with the front right corner.  It was low to the ground, and he's pretty sure it was a large pig running into the road.  (Any animal is possible to be in the road in Baja, believe me!)  The truck was still drivable, and there was really no place to pull over and check it out where he hit the animal, so he continued on to La Paz and Edgar Majalca's body shop. They did pull the bumper out a bit so it wouldn't rub on the tire when turning, but that was it.  In early November, he notified our insurance company.  An adjuster came out, filled out forms and said he needed to get an estimate from their body shop in La Paz, Danny's.  At that time, Ben stated that he wanted Majalca's Body shop to do the work, as they've done fantastic work on our Roadster, the Jeep, and polished both of the other A's.  Well, long story short, the insurance company's head guy in La Paz (for all of Baja Sur) was just about as unresponsive, uncooperative and unhelpful as anyone we've ever tried to work with.  He always insisted that we needed to pay $500 deductible.  He insisted on ordering the parts, Ben insisted on genuine Ford parts.  It took months before Ben and his translater Magali, and Edgar Majalca could sit down and talk with Gabriel, the head guy at HDI.  He finally agreed to order the parts, Ben agreed that  Edgar would inspect the parts and install them. The parts all came (according the Gabriel).  Edgar inspected them (Ford?  check!) and took things apart to install everything, and got a lot done when they realized that the main grill was NOT included in the parts!!!  They had to take everything back apart and install the old stuff!  (At least the bumper was installed with no problems).  Gabriel kept insisting on the $500 deductible being paid, Ben kept insisting that his parts be all installed before he paid.  Oh, and Gabriel wanted the old parts BEFORE the new parts were installed!  What???  The pickup was drivable, and needed, so that made no sense at all.  Emails went back and forth between our insurance broker in San Diego, HDI, Ben.  He has a huge file of stuff.  Finally, just a few days ago, after Ben had complained of additional costs of travel and hotel in La Paz and Edgar's shop having to do things twice because the grill wasn't with the original parts, the higher ups in the Insurance company agreed to waive the $500 deductible.  (Ben had it in his wallet all the time.... he just wasn't going to part with it any time soon!)  So, that job is on the agenda for next week.  Just another trip to La Paz!  Phew!  Life in Mexico isn't always easy.  Sorry for the long story, but that took from October through end of May, so a lot of time was involved.  Ben could write a book!!  

We have just started to eat some of our corn.  I had a nice piece for dinner last night, along with a nice big tomato, and it was a lovely dinner!  We probably won't be able to eat most of it that is ripe now, but will most likely freeze some for next year.  

Ben had great advice from cousin Tom Malpass, who grew acres and acres of corn in the Willamette Valley for quite a few years.  The best hint....lots and lots of nitrogen.  So Ben had a special applicator installed on our water line to feed the proper amounts of nitrogen to the corn.  It seemed to work just fine.

The tomatoes are still producing.  And we've got to start thinking about putting the garden to bed since we've only got two weeks before we leave!  We've used almost all of our canning jars, and the freezers are also full, so I hope we can keep the freezers cold this summer while we're gone.

We do have a house sitter.  The man who did it for us last summer wasn't able to come back (he had to go back to work in Canada!  Yikes!) We offered the job to a fellow who has been down here several years and is an avid pickle ball player, originally from Chicago.  We think it will work out well for all.  He does love our house, so no problem there.  We just need to train him on shutter application and generator operation.  

It's pretty dry here now, so we have started giving the cows and burros some water.  If the bucket is dry, the burros will let us know.  HE HAW HAW HAW!!!  I added another bucket today, because the cows were getting selfish.  

Yes, it's dry, and it's starting to get warm.  Daytime temps are in the 80's, lows are in the high 70's!  There's not much variation this time of year.  I'm still walking, and my friend Jill is back for a while, so she walks with me.  So far, I've reached my monthly goals for the year.  I'm currently at 351 miles walked to date.  The challenge will be to keep it up while we are traveling.   

Our neighbor Brian had guests who went fishing several days, and that was when they were catching Tuna.  Well, none of them wanted the fish, so we ended up with all of it!  Wow.  Another thing to fill our freezer!  

Cinco de Mayo!  It's a bigger celebration in the US than in Mexico, generally, but the local restaurants here do put on a great show.  At La Playa there was a Mariachi band and local dancers, mostly young kids to teenagers.  They were great!  We were very impressed with the show.  I took a lot of pictures, and posted them in a special album.  Cinco de Mayo 2023 Especially check out about the 9th video of 3 chicas and 2 guys, who are dancing with machetes.  They are also joined by a younger boy later in the dance with his knives.  Cool! 

My regular May album is here.... May 2023. 

 
Like I said, this is probably the last post until we get to Oregon and something interesting happens there.  Maybe Ben will write something.  Maybe not!  Anyhow, if you'd like to see us this summer, drop us a note and let us know.  We hope to get around the state of Oregon, especially if you want to see us.  

We will be leaving here on June 17th (that's the plan anyhow), and if you're on Facebook, I usually post daily pictures the scenery and our adventures on the trip.

See you in Oregon! 

Until the next time,

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for April 2023

Hola Amigos,

Another month almost gone!  They sure do slip by quickly, don't they?!  We had some busy, fun times this month, so we hope you enjoy sharing some good times with us.

We have a new baby burro in the barrio (neighborhood), and they are hanging around here most of the time.  The other day, Mama and baby followed me home from my daily walk, and I called Ben to ask him to bring them out some water.  Mama drank 3 buckets full!  Since then, our neighbors, Brian and Hope, have been giving her water, too.  That baby is SO cute!  You can see the video I took of them following me in my April 2023 photo album. 

You will see several garden produce photos in our April album, too.  Ben's tomato crop has been fantastic, and it is finally winding down a bit, although our cherry tomatoes are still producing like crazy.  We eat those like candy!  We pop them in our mouths and enjoy the burst of flavor.  Yum!  The big tomatoes have been used to make a very delicious salsa for use with Huevos Rancheros.  Ben has a real keeper of a recipe with this one!  I've also canned tomato sauce, so I'm hoping I can use those jars of sauce in his recipe.  The beans are done; we've canned more beans this year than in many years past.  We quit canning them when we ran out of jars!!  Ben is still waiting for more beets to mature.  He's done one batch of pickled beets (not my favorite!), and will probably do at least one more.  We also like them oven roasted...they're quite good that way (if you like beets!!)  The corn is just about ready to tassle, so we hope to have some delicious corn cobs by late May. 

A fun thing that we weren't involved in personally, is that Rebecca's family got to go to Hong Kong to visit Ryan's family!  They haven't seen each other since 2017, so it was a long over due gathering.  They had a grand time touring Hong Kong, eating, hiking, swimming, taking all kinds of transportation around the city, eating, visiting galleries and museums, and eating some more!  It did our hearts good to see them all together and having a good time.  This is the first time Rebecca's family got to meet Charlotte and Olivia, and vice versa.  So it was very special for everyone.

This photo is from their last night in Hong Kong, enjoying a light show that is put on every night to music!  

 Here's another pic of everyone on a bus or a tram or no... I think maybe a double decker bus!!!  Anyhow, they had a grand time together.  Right now, Rebecca and Tim and family are in Thailand having a fantastic vacation there.  (See the album!!)  

 

 

 

 

 This time of year is when people start migrating north, and town is already a lot quieter.  Our friends Mel and Katie have gone (later than usual for them), and my cousins Tom and Karan are leaving tomorrow.  They have really enjoyed their time here in Baja, and came to visit us often to go to church and enjoy the simple life here in Buena Vista!  They are building a new house in Centenario, a suburb of La Paz.  Hopefully, they'll be here even longer next year!  Tom and Karan like to go on walks with me when they visit, and Tom and I did manage to get up to the Flag Monument at least once! (You can see the monument reflected in Tom's sunglasses!)  

Oh, and Easter week (Santa Semana) was a typical Mexican holiday on the beach. People come and set up tent cities and enjoy time with family, parties, music, fishing, etc., during the week before Easter Sunday.  There were probably thousands of people camped on the beach in a 10 mile stretch near our neighborhood, and from Los Barriles to south of Spa Buena Vista.  It is good to see so many people enjoying themselves.  The picture below is of the beach where I normally walk, and there were even more tents set up a few days later!

 

 

The Lack Family (https://www.thelackfamily.com/ )has been here in Los Barriles area since early March, and their last concert on April 21 was also a fund raiser for Feeding the Hungry, the program that Ben and I and others run here in the community.  We had donation jars set up at the entrances, and people were generous.  We also had a 50/50 raffle, and we made enough with the donations and proceeds from the raffle sales to help support almost 2 families for a year.  We give the families 4 vouchers a month from the local grocery store, each voucher is worth $300 pesos (exchange rate right now is about 18 pesos to $1US.)  Anyhow, we were successful, everyone enjoyed the music, the food was great, and we'll do it again!  

 Our Nopal cactus is starting to bloom.  The yellow blossoms are amazingly bright!  

FYI, we will be here through May, and plan to leave mid-June.  If you get an urge to come down and visit, let us know!  We have two lovely guest rooms to share with you!  Otherwise, see you later; maybe in Oregon this summer.  BTW, May is my favorite month here.  Weather is warm, the wind isn't blowing, the water is getting warmer, and it's less crowded in town.  Can't find anything wrong with that! 

 

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for March 2023

 Hola Amigos,

Rich Malpass, a few years ago...

This month started out tough for me (Harriet).  I shared with you in last month's letter about my brother Rich being very sick.  With circumstances being what they were, and him getting worse, I traveled up to Junction City, Oregon Tuesday February 28 to be with him and help him out.  I saw him Wednesday morning, after he had been to the hospital again on Monday.  He was on oxygen, and had been assigned Hospice care, thank goodness.  Every day I was there, one or more Hospice people arrived to check him over and help him.  While they were there, I managed to get appointments with Veterans Affairs to talk about assisted living, buy him a burial plot, talk with the local mortuary, talk with neighbors who offered to help in any way, and meet with two men who had been helping him a lot in my absence, Donn D and John S.  I was able, with the help of some prayer warriors, to get an awful lot done in the time I had with him.  I found which bank he had directed his Veterans' benefit so he didn't have to worry about that, found many important papers in his "hidden" brief case, including his military dismissal papers.  Every appearance of Hospice people confirmed that he only had hours to live. Thankfully, they showed me how to administer his medications to help him be more comfortable, and he passed away peacefully Friday evening March 3.  Our sister Shelley flew in from Montana later that evening, so she didn't get to say goodbye to him, but it sure was nice to have her there to help me.  

Shelley and I spent the three days she was there cleaning out his RV, and moving his car out of the RV park where he'd been living.  We also went through 6 grocery bags full of old mail and receipts and miscellaneous papers, and got it down to one neat stack, unhooked all his computer gear and peripherals and packed it up, cleaned out the fridge and freezer and pantry and donated much of the unopened food items.  We froze two bank accounts, re-routed his mail, and talked with the mortuary.  We asked for a rush on the Death Certificates, since I hoped to leave on the 11th.  Shelley left early Tuesday morning, and that afternoon, I was able with the help of a very nice neighbor of Rich's, to get his motor home started (a new battery helped) and moved to storage.  I was able to contact the correct people at Veterans and get his Disability benefits stopped (yes, the same ones I'd just "found" for him again!)  And believe it or not, I was able to get the Death Certificates on Thursday afternoon.  I scanned them for my computer files, and they have been very helpful since then!  I'm planning on having a Memorial Service for Rich in July when we are back in Oregon.

While in Oregon, I was graciously offered the use of my cousins Tom & Karan's nice Ford pickup to get around (heated steering wheel and seats were wonderful in that weather!!), and a place to stay and to be picked up and dropped off at the airport (Ben's brother Dan and his wife Laura).  It was a crazy busy time, and the weather was unusually cold for that time of year (at least it seemed like it to my Baja bones), but I was able to get around with no problems.  I was well fed, had a comfortable bed, and had packed almost enough warm clothing!! (I did have to buy a pair of jeans and some warmer socks at Goodwill!)  

I got back to Baja Sur on the afternoon of the 11th, greeted friends and relatives at my casa, and went to a Lack Family concert that night at our favorite beach restaurant, La Playa!  I was exhausted but so happy to be back home.  And the music was wonderful. 

 While I was gone, Ben did a bang up job of keeping the beans picked, as well as tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, and whatever else needed harvesting.  He even canned two canners full of green beans after I sent him the instructions!  First time he's ever done that!!  

We have now done 4 canners full, and our normal shelf is full and overflowing, and we have beans still blooming!!  We've also got a ton of tomatoes with which Ben has been making a delicious salsa (used for Huevos Rancheros), and I canned some tomato sauce.  We've given some away and are trying to keep up; it's a real challenge, but a nice one!

We really enjoyed the times we got to spend with our friends Tony and Janet, who were staying down here at a friend's home for a couple months.  They've just recently left and are almost home to Oregon, waiting for some clear mountain passes.  We didn't get to do any boating, like we talked about with them, but maybe next time!  Janet, who owns GypsyWind Clothing in Sisters, Oregon, sold some clothing down here that was very popular with all the ladies!  (Yes, I managed to find a few new things, too!)  

Our drinks are Jamaica, a very popular (non-alcoholic) drink, Hibiscus flower tea. 

We've also been having fun with cousins Tom and Karan, who come to visit us regularly from La Paz, Centenario area, where they're building a new home.  And of course, Katie and Mel are still here; longer than normal for them, but we're taking advantage of them being here!  (Still having fun and eating good food!)  And, we have some company coming for a few days this next week from Oregon.   

I got behind on my walking while I was in Oregon, so I've been trying to catch up.  I'm pretty sure I'll manage to get my 60 miles in before month end next week, but it will be close! 

We have a new partial wall (from the road to the north about 40 feet) and Ben got it painted.  Our neighbors' new home is a-m-o-s-t done; they are waiting for a few doors and some cabinets and granite counter tops.  It is looking very, very nice. 

Photos for the month are in March 2023 album.  

We hope you are all well, and that spring is about to spring wherever you are.  We are not on Daylight time in Mexico, and not going on it, so we are now the same time as Pacific Daylight time.  

Sitting here with the door open, sun shining, and thinking about dinner.....

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for February 2023

 Hola Amigos,

Happy February everyone!  That includes greetings for Valentine's Day, President's Day, Flag Day and Constitution Day (here in Mexico), my brother Rich's birthday, grandson David's birthday, Rebecca (our daughter) and Tim's 15th wedding anniversary, Super Bowl and Zoey's 12th birthday.  It's been a busy month!  Flag Day was today here in Mexico, and I actually caught the huge Mexican flag up on the flag pole, evidently just as they were taking it down.  They have a celebration at the Flag Monument here in Buena Vista every year, and as I took my walk this morning said to myself, "I have to look up on my calendar and see what day Flag Day is, so I can get a picture of the flag."  Well, when I was coming home from a trip into Los Barriles later in the morning, there it was, blowing in the breeze!  I hurried on south to the entrance to Rancho Buena Vista, and got a few shots of it.  By the time I turned the pickup truck around, they were already lowering it.  Sure wish they'd keep it up there all the time!  

This has been a "stay at home and get things done" kind of month.  No special trips, other than Vet visits for Zoey and to the tax office in Santiago for us to pay our annual property taxes.  This year, we paid about $143 US for the lot with our house on it, and $870 for the lot next door with no buildings.  Yes, that's correct.  You pay less taxes when you have a house on your lot, because then you're a family contributing to society.  Our tax payment includes free garbage service by our house 2 days a week all year long.  We got the tax payment done early enough that we had time for breakfast at Palomar Restaurant in Santiago before we had to go pick Zoey up after her blood tests at the Vet's office.  It's always fun to go there, and the food was very good.  (Palomar for the food, not the Vet's office!) 

I've been working on a project for my friend Janet, who has a clothing store in Sisters, Oregon (Gypsy Winds).  When I helped her at her store during the Sisters Quilt Show last year, she saw a lady with a quilt square sewed on her top, and got the idea that that would sell really well, then turned to me and said "would you like to make quilt squares for me?"  Well...long story short, I did.  I have a few more to do, and there is a possibility of more in the works down the road.  She decided she'd like a butterfly motif, so I bought a template, then figured out I needed some fusible webbing, and these turned out to be different than any quilt squares I've ever made!  Here's a sample of some I've done of the 10" squares.  (I did the flower in the corner, which is regular cut and piece and sew, before I got the fusible webbing). 

So far, this is the only "quilting" project I've don't for a while.  And I might just make myself a small blanket with this theme.  I only have 2 packages of the fusible webbing, so I'm somewhat limited.

I've also done a much better job this month with my walking goal.  I've already reached this month's goal, so I'm adding to the yearly total and this will make up for the months in the summer when I don't always get out there.  This is a task that I enjoy doing (most of the time), and you can't beat the scenery!  I'm currently at almost 120 miles.

Ben has been making his occasional trips to La Paz.  He took our '56 Willy's Jeep up there a while ago to get the brakes re-done.  They needed a lot of work, as someone told him "You've got more engine power than brake power!"  Hopefully, that will be done soon.  He's also going to meet with our car insurance provider, who is being a lot sticky about paying out for parts to repair our pickup truck front bumper, where Ben hit a BIG PIG (he thinks) on one of his earlier trips to La Paz.  Fortunately, he's done his homework, and he will have a good Spanish translator with him who is a real go-getter.  

The garden is doing amazingly well this year.  We don't know if its the TLC that Ben gives it, or the good dirt and cow manure, or the cooler temps, but we have tomatoes coming on nicely, I've picked my first handful of green beans, we are giving away lettuce because we can't eat it as fast as it ripens.  We've been enjoying radishes, spinach, cilantro, squash, beets, cucmbers, beans, and he'll soon plant our first crop of corn.  Thank goodness, the cows have not returned to our garden since last month.  

There's at least one very interesting project going on in Los Barriles.  There has been much land moving / clearing going on the property on the street into town, just past the barrels.  However, there are two huge boulders sitting there, waiting to roll down and crush some unwary person.  They've been hovering up there on the dirt ledge since October, I believe.  Today as I drove by, I couldn't believe my eyes.  There were two men drilling holes in one of the boulders and driving rebar in it (and one jefe watching), supposedly to break off pieces a bit at a time??  Anyhow, you wouldn't catch me standing on top of that thing, not where it's perched!  Yikes!  We've all been waiting for it to roll down the hill, across the street, and into Chapitos Mercado (grocery store) for months now!  I imagine there are betting pools around town on when this thing is going to fall!  Hopefully, no one will be injured in the downsizing of this thing.

I found out that my brother Rich has been ill with Pneumonia, and that his lung cancer has returned (he had radiation and chemo last summer).  Fortunately for him, an old Junction City classmate of mine, Donn D, has been helping him by taking him to VA appointments, getting him food, and trying to straighten out his VA paperwork, and supporting him in any way he can.  Another man, retired military Chaplin John S, has also been visiting and helping him.  I may need to make a trip up to Oregon in the near future, but right now, I think these men have it under control.  Please remember Rich in your prayers, and if you're close by, I can give you his address and phone number.  He can always use some easy to fix food items, or maybe someone to get his propane water heater fixed.

Here in Baja, we're looking forward to more garden goodies, good times visiting friends, and enjoying the warmer weather, which will be coming any day now, we hope!  It has been noticeably cooler and windier here this winter.  Our little heater has been running a LOT!  Today is a nice sunny day, but the temp is only 71F.  

Look in our February 2023 album for more pictures of our activities.

Hasta el proximo mes,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for January 2023

 

 

 Hola Amigos!

 

Yes, it is again the last day of the month and I am finally sitting down to write what happened in January!  Can't be too quick...I might miss something!

 

We had bananas!  Wow!  Did we have bananas!  I think this was the biggest bunch we've ever had, and they were as delicious as ever.  If you've never had ripened in your own garden bananas, you are missing something special!   We probably gave away over half of them, and still had plenty for ourselves.   It took both of us to carry it into the garage where we hang the bunches, letting them ripen. 

We celebrated New Year's Eve at La Playa Restaurant, and I couldn't believe it but we actually made it to past midnight (12am)!! We figured we'd last maybe to Baja midnight (9pm), but the music was good, the company fun, and the food great.  So we stayed, and Ben and I actually got out on the dance floor, which is an extremely rare occurrence!  We did have fun.

The weather has been coolish (for Baja!), highs usually in the low 70's, lows in the 50's or 60's.  We are glad we have our little propane fireplace; it keeps us cozy on those cold days, and friends are always happy to see it when they come visit, too! Of course, Zoey will take advantage of it any time it's on, especially if we put a rug or blanket down for her.  You can see here where she bungled up the rug to make herself a nice bed! 

 

 

 

 

We have taken two trips out to visit our friends Katie and Mel at Los Frailes with our little trailer.  The first time, we were joined by our neighbors Brian and Hope.  Being retired military, he showed us how to make a comfortable bed and cook a meal without all the extras.  They did great cooking over a fire and building a bed platform in the back of their pickup truck.  It worked pretty darn good for them, even on a windy night.  

The first trip, Ben and Mel went fishing and caught a couple fish (nice sized Dorado and another one I've forgotten).  I was planning on doing some hiking, but wasn't feeling up to par after suffering from a nasty cold, so I stayed in camp and read, relaxed and did some needle work.  

The second trip, this last weekend (which was also our 55th wedding anniversary), the fishing wasn't successful, but we had a great time watching an off-road race that came by there, the Baja300.  Ben took our shade tent, and he and Mel set it up near the road and took our camp chairs and a table.  Lots of fun!  And man, did those cars raise a lot of dust!  Fortunately, sometimes it went to the other side of the road, but we got it sometimes, too.  (See a couple videos in the January 2023 album for the race cars coming by.)  The tires and gas across the road are for the CanDoo race pit, just in case. 

Anyhow, it was another fun trip.  Ate well, (too much, usually!), and took some hikes this time since I'm feeling better. 

We had company visit us for a few days mid-month.  Our niece Chrys Purkey came down for a quick trip (a Christmas gift from her significant other who stayed home with their two boys).  She's great company, knows her way around, and loves to hike into town and back from our house.  Hopefully, next time she comes we'll be more healthy and feel like doing more with her, or at least send her in the right direction for things to do.  The picture below is Chrys passing Rancho Buena Vista, on her way to points south, maybe 3 or more miles.  I was taking my normal route, and this is where I leave the beach.

 I'm on my way to my walking goal this year of 650 miles, although the first part of January was a bust due to my cough and cold.  I managed to get out this morning and complete my January goal of 55 miles.  Hopefully, the rest of the year will be easier because I can spread it out a bit!  

One of the discouraging things that happened this month is that a rogue cow got into our yard somehow one night (our neighbor has some very suspicious fence lines), and ate most of my Hibiscus, the roses, a few bean plants, cucumbers, and some Zinnias.  To get out, she jumped over our new gate, and kind of knocked down one of the posts there.  We've asked the neighbor to fix his fences, and he has, mostly.  There are still a few very weak areas, and we'll keep an eye on it.  Surprisingly, I had a Hibiscus bloom last week.  I guess she missed that one in the dark!  

 Zoey's 12th birthday is coming up in February, and she is really showing her age.  She's also been diagnosed with Cushing's Disease ( a serious health condition in dogs that occurs when the adrenal glands overproduce cortisol (cortisone) in the animal's body.)  We are treating it, but have no idea how long she can survive with it as it is not curable.  Right now, possibly due to the Cushing's and a low immunity system, we are fighting an ear infection with her.  Ugh.  Poor thing.  She still always wants to go out walking with me in the mornings;  she goes less than a 1/2 mile, but she's still walking.....SLOWLY!  She also manages to get over to visit the builders working on our neighbor's new house.  Especially when they're having a meal!!  That's one of the symptoms of Cushing's.  Always hungry and thirsty.  

Our garden is looking wonderful.  We have huge amount of lettuce right now, and we're working on the 4th crop of radishes, hope to have more cucumbers come on, and Ben's tomato plants are loaded, but still mostly green.  We've also got beets, the green beans are climbing the wires (not blooming yet), and the peas he planted are doing very well, too.  We've got some squash that are almost ripe (they look like pumpkins, but are called Amber Cup, or Sunshine Kabocha.)  

Left to right:  Peas, two rows of lettuce, 2 rows of beets and then tomato plants.  

Believe it or not, it has been raining most of the day here.  It started sprinkling on my morning walk, and has continued most of the day.  Kind of a nice break, but I'll be ready for sunshine tomorrow or the next day!  (You probably don't want a picture of rain, so here's one from my morning walk of a fellow out paddle boarding in pretty rough water ... at least it looks rough to me!)  

Hasta la proxima mes,

Tus amigos en Baja

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

 

PS.  Again, the picture album is at 2023 January!

 

Pic-of-the-Month for December 2022

 Hola Amigos!

Happy New Year!  Feliz Año Nuevo! Were you wondering if I was going to come through with a final update for the year?  Well, I'm kind of surprised myself.  Time does fly, and things don't always get done in a timely manner.  By my clock, I have a few hours left to get this out to you all.

We have been busy, busy, busy!  Gardening, quick trip to Oregon, parades, car shows, company, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas concerts, ATV fun ride, Christmas dinner, major tree pruning, walking, multiple trips to La Paz to get things done, and at least one trip for fun (combined with the car show).  I hope I can remember the highlights but not bore you to tears! 

 

Karan and I on a morning walk.  Cousin Tom took this pic.  Nice job! 

 I took a quick trip to Oregon in early November to get two skin cancers taken care of, and expected cool, late fall weather.  Well, I got full-on winter!  Freezing temps, strong wind, snow, rain, and more snow!  The weather was bright and sunny several of those days (still very cold), but the day I left from Redmond airport, they had to de-ice the plane!  Thanks to my good friends Tony and Janet Kronemeyer, I got my appointments in Bend taken care of, (they dropped me off and picked me up!) and I managed to get a flu shot and Covid booster done, too.  And I snuck in a little bit of shopping  as well.  The Kronemeyers also hosted me at their lovely home in Sisters. 

The Three Sisters in Oregon after a nice fresh snow fall.

When I returned to Baja, there were a lot of things scheduled for the rest of November.  For the first time in 2 years, due to Covid shut downs, Mexico was ready to celebrate Revolution Day, November 20.  We have participated in the local parade here since Ben has restored his 1929 Model A pickup quite a few years ago.  That vehicle is a popular one for the Queen and princesses to ride in.  The 1928 Woody is used for the younger royalty.  I let my cousin Tom Malpass drive the pickup this year (my usual job) since they were visiting us for the week, and he just loves to double clutch!!  (Ha!)  

 

 

Tuesday of that week, the 22nd, was a

special event in town for all the Non-Profit organizations in the area, including the one Ben and I are part of, "Feeding the Hungry".  Fortunately for us, our neighbor Brian got involved and had a fun "The Price is Right - guess the cost of grocery" game, and Gordon Blackie, the FTH financial guy, invited all his neighbors from his RV park to come play the game and vote for us.  It was a great time, and believe it or not, our group won the vote for the most liked non-profit!  As a result, we won $2500 US from the local Real Estate company that put the show on.  That was a great benefit to our organization, which assists the needier people in town with regular monthly food vouchers.

 On Thursday that week the 24th, we hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 of us.  Ben smoked a turkey that was delicious, as usual!  Of course we had the requisite pumpkin and apple pie and pecan bars, and all the goodies to go with it.  Cousin Tom said it was ALL good!  

That weekend was the car show in La Paz (the 26th & 27th), and the organizer, Hector Manuel Amarillas convinced Ben to bring his Woody, and Edgar Majalca, the man whose body shop restored the 1930 Roadster, asked him to bring that car to demonstrate his workmanship.  SO.... multiple trips to La Paz hauling cars on the car trailer, and figuring out where to park the trailer, and jockeying Model A's from here to there.  The show was at a different venue this year, the city Performance Theatre, and it was really quite nice, other than lack of shade and limited restrooms!  Anyhow, Ben got both cars there, parked in the "Model A" area (there were several others).  Then, as a surprise to us, Edgar Majalca proceeded to polish the Woody with his special ceramic finish.  Wow!  It was beautiful!  What a treat.  OK....it was worth it bringing both cars.  

 After the car show, Ben had to make several more trips to La Paz to haul Mel and Katie's car to a repair shop, and to get the "extra" Model A back home!  Thankfully, Hector Manuel let us store the woody at his house (which is very close to the Theater). 

Phew!  What a busy week in a busy month!

December has been slightly less busy, with a lot of work around the house, and a few fun things thrown in the mix.  Gordon Blackie, our Feeding the Hungry(FTH) financial guy, is also a great ATV trail maker, and organized another fund raiser for FTH, a 28 mile long fun ride up in the hills, down arroyos and canyons, on the beach, through areas with ditches you didn't think possible to cross, up beautiful arroyos with water running in them.  He had also set up rest stops where you could get a cold beer or soft drink or water, and even one area with a campfire where you could make a S'more!  Or have tequila shots!   You don't realize how amazing this countryside is until you can get up there and experience it in that way.  Anyhow, he did a fantastic job as usual, got lots of folks to help him with the Country Music theme, and didn't lose one rig!  Kudos to Gordon for a job very well done! 

On December 17th, I played the piano for the singing group at the Saturday Market.  We sang some good old Christmas Carols, and many folks got into the spirit and sang along.  Fun time, other than trying to keep my music pinned down with the wind blowing!  This was the view from my piano before the music started.  

The next week, I went to a Cookie exchange party (YUM!) and on Christmas Eve, to a Soup share party.  On Christmas Day, we again had a total of 10 for dinner.  Pic is of the cookie exchange.

 

 After all the celebrations, we've been very busy getting things done around here.  Ben got out his chain saw, and has been pruning (severely) some of our Mesquite trees.  He then clips all the leaves and little branches off, then uses his chop saw to cut the remaining branches into fire pit sized fire wood.  He has done an amazing amount of work, and finishes the work so it's all neat and tidy every day.  I help by dragging limbs to the pruning spot, or raking up debris, or holding a branch with a rope so we don't loose them over the bank.  We've both ended up with scratches on arms and legs, since Mesquite are very thorny.  But we have been enjoying the fires in the evenings.  

OK.  That's about it.  If you've got this far, congratulations!  You have persevered!  Oh, by the way, I managed to log 725 miles walking this year.  Hopefully, I'm a bit healthier, and can do the same next year.  

Have a great New Year, and we hope to hear from you whenever you get the chance.  

Picture albums!  November 2022   December 2022  I'm working on captions.  It may take a while! 

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

 

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for November 2022

 Hola Amigos,

This is our first bunch of bananas this season.  All either frozen or eaten!

October was a strange month for us this year!  About a week after we got back home, the pump in the city well gave out.  The entire pueblo of Buena Vista was without water.  Not just for a couple days, either!  We figure it was about 21 days before we heard water running in our pipes again.  We've never seen anything like this in our 20+ years here.  Fortunately, we have a 5000 liter tank buried in our garage to hold our water supply.  So, our house had running water and we could wash dishes, flush, shower (quickly!),  our neighbors, who didn't have a pila, came over and showered, and I did one load of laundry during that time.  We watered our outdoor plants with that pila, a bucket or watering can at a time!  Ben had started garden seedlings, so we had to pay careful attention to those babies!  All our outdoor sprinklers are from city water, not from our pila (water tank).  There was a lot of cheering going on when the water started running again.  Fortunately, there were water trucks making deliveries regularly (for free), and we were scheduled to get water the day it came back on.  The good news, our tank still had 1/4 volume left after 21 days.  

Our first guests of the year arrived October 24 (when we were on water reserves!).  My sister Shelley FINALLY made it down here, and she invited her husband's cousin, Mary.  We had a great time visiting, playing Mexican Train, touring the countryside, and eating good food every opportunity we had.  (They also sampled quite a few Margaritas from various restaurants and bars around town!)  I also made them fans of our niece, Kendra Elliot, who writes mystery novels based in the Pacific Northwest.  I have three of her books in our library, and they each read all three!  I think they're hooked!  

Shelley and Mary.  They spent a lot of time enjoying this view from our veranda.

 They're not smiling in this picture because it was almost time to go to the airport and head back home!  

I mentioned in the last P-O-T-M that I was going to do the American Cancer Society Breast Cancer walk, with a goal of walking 35 miles for the month and raising $$ for ACS.  Well, I walked 75 miles and made $$$!  I had my friend Jill walking with me many days this month, and Shelley joined me a few times, too.  AND.... My walking goal for the year (of 600 miles) was met today on my morning walk!  TA-DA!!!   The great things about my walks is I get to walk on the beautiful beach here, and until Daylight time ended last weekend, I captured some gorgeous sunrises over the Sea of Cortez. 

Ben has been very busy getting our garden ready.  He's hauled cow manure from our Rancher friend Arturo's place, ordered limo (top soil) and has tilled much of our garden space.  We have several squash that are doing very well (thanks Carolyn S. for the seed!) and now have cucumber starts in the ground.  He's also made several trips to La Paz to get some oil changes done on the truck, and fix a boo-boo on the Roadster.  We have a car show scheduled in La Paz for the weekend after Thanksgiving, the first one in a very long 2 years.  

Speaking of Model A's, Ben was asked by our friend Evelyn, manager of our favorite restaurant La Playa, if he could drive her and her Mom to the church for her wedding, and her and the groom back to the reception.  That involved getting the '28 Woody ready to run (putting the battery back in, checking tire pressure, topping off the gas tank, dusting and polishing the whole thing, and a test drive with Shelley and Mary).  Everything worked as expected, bride was delivered at the appropriate time, and bride and groom delivered back to the reception.  

The reception was at the newly remodeled La Playa restaurant, and it was amazing!  Live music (a Cuban salsa band), then a Mariachi band, then a light show and DJ music until 3 in the morning. (We went home well before that!)  The drinks were abundant, and the food was delicious.   

The October 2022 album has pics of the wedding, walks, company, and other things that tickle my fancy.

Zoey is aging, not so gracefully.  She had a nasty infection in an eye that involved several vet visits and 10 days worth of medication....again!  She's doing much better now, and occasionally will go on a short walk with me.  She really WANTS to go, but man, is she slow!  Especially heading back home!  

Friends Katie and Mel showed up last night....in the dark....tired to the bone!  They traveled the length of the Baja Peninsula in 2 long days, driving her big old dually and towing a little car.  Turns out they said they'd cross the border on the 3rd, and I told them I'm flying out to Oregon for a week on the 4th!  So they hurried on down here to visit before I left town.  Anyhow, it's another new experience for them, as they have their Chocolate Lab pup Cocoa to get used to Baja.  She's doing pretty good so far! 

Pouring the roof with a pumper truck. 

Our neighbors house is going up quickly.  The roof is poured and they are doing the finish plastering now.  They hope to move in by February....maybe!  Amazingly, this crew doesn't play loud music!  Brian told them I loved music, but they resisted!  (Thankfully!)  They have a few of the crew living on site in a little plywood shack.  That's fine, except that now Zoey loves to go over there and check for any food or bones that might be laying around.  I had to go over there one midnight in my jammies carrying a flashlight to find her and drag her back home after she told me she was just going out to go potty!  

 

Yes, I will be in Oregon for a week, and of course, the forecast is for COLD and SNOW in the Bend area.  Good grief.  Anyhow, my trip involves a couple visits to the dermatologist and whatever else I can fit in, if I can get around OK!  Thanks to my friends Tony and Janet for A) putting up with me    OR   B) putting me up!  

In the meantime, 4 out of 4 Egrets approve of the fact that we are back in Baja and that I can take photos of them.

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja, 

Harriet, Ben & Zoey