Pic-of-the-Month for May 2024

 Hola Amigos,

It is the end of May, and the weather has already been getting plenty warm!  Its in the high 80's or 90's most days for high temps, and night time temps only get down to mid 70's, so the AC has been in use for at least part of every night.  The humidity is also getting up there, which is the hard part for those of us raised in Oregon, where it's plenty wet, but not hot and humid!  (According to my Dad's old gauge, the humidity is 75% right now, and the temp is 88).  We may just sneak out of here a bit early, even though I just read an article about high temps in Oregon in the next several weeks!  

I can tell you about a critter we see in our garden who appreciates this warm weather... it's a good sized Black Spiny Tailed Iguana who hangs out on the wall between our place and the neighbors, near our veranda where we have most meals.  I had to get out my "good" camera to get this picture of him.  We've had fun watching him.  I often see him on the back side of the house near my clothesline (still on the other casa or the wall).  He has another iggy pal who isn't as big, but they seem to get along ok.  He's probably 2' in length, counting the tail.

We have also enjoyed the bird watching this time of year, when the quail couples start bringing out their fluffy little babies.  We count about 4 couples, and one poor single guy who cant seem to find a mate.  Only one of the pairs has a batch of babies.  There were 7, and now there are 4.  Still waiting for the others to show up with new hatchlings any day now!  I also used my "good" camera for these pictures, but they don't hold quite as still as the iguana!!  

Ben, as usual, has been working on multiple projects.  He finished the cabinet repair in our bedroom closet, and had enough left over material (and a drawer base) to build some drawers for the bedrooms upstairs.  One for upstairs is almost done.  That project took a lot of time and effort!   He has been shutting down the garden little by little.  I cut down my bean row the other day, and he pulled them out this morning.  He also pulled all the remaining beets, which did very well this year.  He spends a lot of time repairing our 20 year old irrigation lines, which seem to spout  new holes with regularity!  I guess it doesn't help that we're on the newer city water line, which has very high pressure (and they don't really regulate it...no gauges!!) 

We've been hoping that the Jeep would be finished "any day now", but alas, the parts the mechanic ordered didn't work, so Ben is going to go get the Jeep and put it in summer storage (towing it home) and get the parts when we're in the US this summer.  Man, this has been a long process.  We sure didn't get to use the Jeep much this year.  Seems like it spent it's season in La Paz, at various mechanics!!  Next year!  

I finished my latest quilt top, which we're going to use in our Oregon trailer.  It looks very Mexican, with it's red and green and lots of hot chili pepper print fabric.  It has been a fun one to do, and since it's for me, doesn't have to be "perfect".  I've made up most of the layout, except for the "Spinning Star" blocks.  We'll take it to Oregon and send it to my friends June and John in Brownsville to finish it; backing, batting, and long-arm quilting.  She is even willing to sew on the binding!!  What a deal!  

Anyhow, that's 4 quilt tops I've put together this spring. 
I think that's a record for me!  And, I still have a ton of fabric remaining, so need to keep putting more together.   

This is the Spinning Star block.  I like it.  Fairly simple, with a twist! 

We have our "house closing for the summer" list out, and need to get started on it.  We will have house sitters again, and we'll have a bit of time to train them on the care of our casa over the summer, and what to do in case of hurricane.  They'll be here in a few weeks.  In the meantime, we're enjoying our time here, in spite of the heat.  (Thank goodness for AC when we need it).  It will be very different for us traveling without a dog or two.  Kind of luxurious, actually!  Ben is threatening to get a new dachshund pup this summer, so I guess I'd better enjoy the dog-less-ness while I can!  

I have been walking as regular.  There aren't many people on the beach, but I saw an interesting one the other day.  The man was beach fishing, but also running a drone.  The drone landed just as I got to his spot.  He told me he used the drone to take his fishing line out because he couldn't cast it that far!  Crazy, but clever!  

This is a photo of the man hooking up his line to his drone again.  

 

If you want to see us this summer in Oregon (July - September), let us know, and we'll see if we can schedule you in.  One of our first priorities is getting doctor visits out of the way.  Hopefully that won't take too long.  

I have created an album for 2024-May with a bunch more pictures.  

We'd love to hear from you!  

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja

Harriet & Ben

 

Pic-of-the-Month for April 2024

 Hola Amigos!

It's the end of a warm, sunny April, so I'm sitting down at my PC to let you know all the exciting things we did this month.  

Let's see.... we gardened, we made pies, we cooked and canned tomatoes and green beans, we cleaned up a major termite mess in our bedroom closet, and Ben built a new, bigger cabinet, so my fabric stash totes will fit better.  We had a new net for a palapa upstairs, and while they were here, we had the palapa guys tear down our little old one on the south side of the bedrooms and rebuild it. Didn't take them but a day to do this one.

In the garden, Ben continued to harvest tomatoes, so I've been using about 3 pounds of them each time I make a batch of Huevo Ranchero  salsa.  Ben experimented with some recipes a couple years ago, and he came up with a really good one.  It makes over 1.5 quarts, and is nice to keep in the fridge.  (Let me know if you want a copy of his recipe in anticipation of your summer tomatoes!)  We've also got enough green beans, in spite of the cow damage, to can a couple of canners full, and they are still producing fairly well.  Unfortunately, I'm not real happy with the beans, as most of them are flat, not nice and round like normal Blue Lake green beans. They seem to taste ok, but they tend to also have strings on them.  Oh, well.  At least I have something in the pantry for next year!  

At the beginning of this month, I pointed out to Ben that the termite damage in my shoe drawer was awful, and things were starting to fall apart.  So, he rebuilt that cabinet, and then rebuilt the drawer cabinet next to it that holds most of my clothes.  He also had to re-do several drawer fronts.  Then the big cabinet next to the window had to go.  It was also fairly well eaten after 22 years.  After he had the old one out, I did some calculating, and asked if he could make it wider than the original so I could fit my fabric stash totes in it.  He agreed, and is in the process right now of trying to squeeze it in there!  It's going to be very nice!  He was fortunate that he found the melamine and oak to do the rebuilding down here, as his supply was low!  And...during this process, he noticed a shelf support in his shop had fallen.  It, too, was termite riddled, as well as the old wood from his 1928 Woody that he'd saved.  That wood is now fuel for our camp fires in the evenings!  

 

While Ben has been doing wood work, I made another baby quilt, and I've also started on a bigger one for me.  I got the baby quilt done, which had a time-line. It's another very colorful one which will probably keep the baby awake... sorry about that, parents! 

The one for me is not a rush, so I've been averaging about 2 squares a day.  (Four squares so far!!)  Poco a poco!  Again, I'm using fabric I've had for a long time.  It's been very convenient having the totes stacked around the bedroom (my sewing room!)  I've found all kinds of treasures!  What is surprising, that after making 3 baby quilts, my supply doesn't seem to have gone down at all.  And when we cleaned out the closet, I found even more treasures hidden here and there. What I seem to be running out of is decent thread to sew all these seams!  

Never one to be out of home improvement projects, Ben decided it was time to put a sealer on our roof top.  It's flat, and when it rains, the drains are not built quite low enough to get all the water off.  So, while he ran the pressure washer this morning, I swept like crazy trying to push gallons of water out those stinkin' little holes.  Ugh!  Anyhow, when we don't sweep it when it rains, water will sit on the roof, and we have a few places that it has leaked.  We will pay Martin, an excellent painter, to fix the cracks and put on the sealer.  

We were able to spend a little vacation in La Paz and Centenario this last week.  I had a dermatology appointment and a dentist appointment on Tuesday, then we stayed in our favorite La Paz Hotel, Catedral, and had a lovely dinner out.  The next day, we did a bit of shopping, and headed over to Centenario to spend a couple days with our cousins Tom & Karan, who have a new home there.  We ate very well on this little trip, and set our diets back a bit.  Tom and Karan are becoming La Paz experts and know where to go to eat!  We really enjoyed Friday night at a restaurant in Centenario called KM14 (because....it's at kilometer marker 14!)  Excellent steaks and salad and potatoes and veggies.  We will be back! In fact, we have to go back to La Paz this next Friday to get the stitches out from my dermatology appointment last week, so we'll spend the night again.  (Not with T & K, as they've left for Oregon).  Also, one of these days, Ben's Jeep is going to be completed with all the repairs it has gone through.  We keep hoping!  

I'm still walking, although my walking companion Jill left town...something about a granddaughter's wedding she had to go to.  I'm still ahead of my goals, and have managed to get up to the Flag Monument more than once a month.  Now that it's getting warmer, it's time to keep an eye out for Rattlesnakes, so I've been doing more beach walking.  And look who went walking with me when we were in La Paz!  Wow!!  This is a rare picture!   

Our April 2024 album is here for even more photos.  

We are looking forward to May.  It's my favorite month down here.  Not too hot, not windy, and the days get longer.  (Mexico doesn't do Daylight time anymore, so we don't have to change our clocks when we drive north to Oregon in the summer!)  Also, the garden is winding down, so Ben will have less to do.  Maybe we can take a ride in that newly completed Jeep???  We can dream! 

We hope you are all well and enjoying your spring season.  (I guess Central Oregon had some snow yesterday!  Crazy!)  We will be here enjoying Baja until late June, when we will meander up to Oregon.  We'd love to see you when we get there (between doctor appointments and other obligations!)  Keep in touch!

Hasta la proxima vez!

Tus amigos en Baja,

Harriet & Ben 

Pic-of-the-Month for March 2024

 Hola, Amigos,

It's the end of another month, and there are things to share with you.  It has been an eventful March.

With tears in our eyes, we made the hard decision to put Zoey down this month.  She was blind, deaf, incontinent, and always hungry and thirsty (due to Cushings disease).  So, I took her for her normal walk one morning, then we took her to the local vet and he put her down for us.  We were there with her to the end.  It is pretty strange around here to not have a dog to greet us (Actually, lately, we'd been hunting the house for her to see if she was still alive!  She slept so soundly and was so deaf she never heard us come in!)  We miss her a lot, and Ben has been hunting for a replacement, although I'm trying to hold out.  The picture below is one of my favorite of Zoey (left) and Sam, when they were both much younger.  Handsome dachshunds, for sure!  I made an album of Zoey's Life pictures if you're interested. 

We had company at the beginning of the month; our niece Chrys Purkey and her two boys, Devon (14) and Jack (5) came for 5 days.  They were great.  Jack loved the dirt and sand right outside our back door, and the beach was fantastic!  He talked non-stop, and it was fun getting to know him better.  Devon loved the beach, too, and got to use our snorkel gear at every opportunity!  They did a bunch of hiking; shopping and eating around town, hiking home from town, or just exploring.  They were great with Zoey (Devon had known her a long time), and she got lots of petting in her last week. I think I heard the boys talking about a return visit! 

Our garden is doing well and producing like crazy.  We've been making a lot of tomato sauces, and Huevos Ranchero salsa, among others, but I still have a bunch waiting for me to do something with them!  We are also sharing with friends and neighbors.

The poor green beans are another story....again!  A cow got in during the middle of the night and ate most of the leaves on the green bean row, all the blooming roses (which were looking very lovely), and of course, the Hibiscus.  They left my Zinnias alone, and the Geraniums and Petunias.  Ben figured it had done a diagonal jump across the cattle guard, so he has added fencing to stop that trick.  Pic to the left shows the new fence post and barbed wire (that was from the old fence between us and neighbors...nice to have that available to use!) 

Ben got the police involved, but if you don't know what cow did it, and don't have a picture of it's brand or ear-tag, there's nothing they can do.  The police men did say they'd be happy to rope it for us and tie it to one of our trees next time one got in!  That's something I'd like to see!  

I am getting beans, and might have enough to do a canner full soon.  For some reason, the cow eats the leaves, but not the beans or blossoms, thank goodness! 

The Zinnia crop did quite well this year.  Very colorful!  I just need to keep dead-heading them to keep them blooming a bit longer.  

Ben has been very busy with multiple projects.  He's always busy in his garden, and keeps planting new seeds to replace cucumbers, radishes, and lettuce. He's also spent a lot of effort trying to cow-proof our yard, including fixing the neighbors rickety, non-cow proof fence in one area.  (More uses for the used barbed wire!)  Right now he's rebuilding some of our wardrobe drawers that have been termite riddled for a long time, and are falling apart!  He's enjoying getting into wood working again, and is taking advantage of his pretty new chop saw that our friends Jill and Rudy brought down with them.  The old one broke when he was cutting some very stubborn mesquite wood from our yard into firewood.  He'd had that old one for over 35 years, maybe more.  

 

The wall is done.  We didn't have to do much at all but supply the sealer and paint.  The two ladies who painted it did a fine job (Metty and her daughter Betty!)  

I've been working on a quilting project for a month or so.  I looked for a simple pattern because I made two quilts!  (Twins!!).  I used a lot of scraps, but still have plenty left to make more!  In fact, I know  one I used was for Rebecca when David was born, coming on 15 years ago!  I think that one is finally all used up.  These two are definitely "colorful"!  Hope they don't keep the babies awake!  I'll have them quilted and finished by my friend June Macauley in Oregon.  She and her husband do such great work, and I found out that she loves to hand sew the binding, too!  God bless her!  That's not one of my favorite parts of the process, so I'm always willing to let her do it! The convenient thing about all this, is that June and husband John live very near us here in Baja, so I'll be giving them to her to take up to Oregon when they go in May.  Perfect plan!  Now, maybe I should get to work on another quilt....??? 

I have a walking companion for a few weeks, since my friend Jill recently arrived in town.  We're a great pair out there with our walking sticks, trying to keep our feet dry!  I have managed to meet my goals so far this year, in spite of being sick several times.  (Of course, goals are adjustable!)

 View below is what I enjoy daily on my walks. 

 

Ben and I wish you all a Blessed Easter.  Remember that He is Risen! 

Hasta el proxima mes,

Tus amigos en Baja,

Harriet and Ben (and the memory of Zoey)

PS.  Here's the photo album for March 2024.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for February 2024

 Hola Amigos,

Another month is coming to an end, so it's time to let you know what we did and share a few pictures with you.   

We had visitors!  Our friends George and Carolyn Sackinger came from Salem, Oregon, for a return visit, and George's brother Paul joined us from Texas.  We had a great time showing them around, taking them to favorite restaurants and showing them the sites.  One trip we took was out to El Cardonal, with a stop at Hotel Punta Pescadero for a snack and a cold drink.  The view from there is amazing!  This is looking south towards Los Barriles and our casa. 

This is the view to the south from the outdoor bar.  Not bad, huh?  After our refreshments, we stopped at the beach in the above picture.  We can usually find some pretty nice shells there.  I also like the rocks just off shore, and on the edge of the beach.  There are some interesting formations there.  It's a great place to snorkel (which we didn't do!)

 

Mardi Gras is a big thing in Mexico, and one night, La Playa Restaurant featured a group from Tijuana who sang and danced.  It was a very high-energy, entertaining show.  They also dressed up in sparkly outfits, high boots, and short shorts!!  There is a video of them in the February 2024 album in action.  There was no break between songs...they just kept going and going!

We took our guests for a ride in the 1928 Woody to breakfast, played quite a few games of Mexican Train, watched the Super Bowl at our neighbors and had a darn good time with them! 

Shortly after the Sackingers left, Ben's brother Dan and his wife Laura arrived in Cabo San Lucas for a luxury tropical vacation.  We went down to see them one day to show them around a bit and have lunch.  We generally avoid Cabo San Lucas like the plague, but we will do special things for friends and relatives!!  We had a nice time catching up with them, and explaining how things work in Mexico! (You always have to ask for your bill at a restaurant... "la cuenta, por favor" or you will sit there forever waiting.  They want to make you relaxed and happy to be there.  Maybe you'll order something else!)   They said next time, they'd come visit us.  We're not holding our breath, but they might just show up one year! 

This picture is on the edge of the Marina in Cabo.  Dan's entertainment for the next day was to climb that hill behind his head.  Not far up, but something this 80+ year old former mountain climber could do easily.

Here on our rancho, Ben's garden is growing great, as are my green beans, which are just starting to blossom.  No more cows have gotten in, so that's a plus!  We are enjoying radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro.  The squash are getting ripe, the roses have started re-blooming after the cow invasion, and things are looking pretty good.  

Our neighbors Brian and Hope just started another project, and are building a wall on our mutual property line.  That will give them some privacy in their yard (especially since Ben has been severely pruning the trees and bushes on the fence line!  So there is a lot of activity going on here for the next few weeks.  The workers are fast, so I expect it to be done quickly. 

This photo was the end of day progress yesterday.  They dig down deep to put in the foundation, use lots of rebar, and whip out those concrete block walls in quick order.  The rebar on top of this short wall is to strengthen the wall.  That will be about ground level, then they'll build about an 8' wall on that.  There will still be an opening between our two lots with a gate.  It will be different, after that being an open space for so long, but I'm sure we'll get used to it quickly!  

I read some sad news yesterday.  Rosa Maria Ruiz Van Wormer (Cha Cha), owner of Palmas de Cortez Resort here in Los Barriles died yesterday.  She and her husband built and ran that resort, Hotel Playa del Sol and Hotel Punta Colorada (which is now closed) starting in the 1960's.  Her husband Bobby died in 2010, and she and her sons have continued running the resorts.  Two of her sons, Eddie and Carlos (Chaky - or Chucky as we say), are our  neighbors, Chucky right next door, and Eddie around the corner.  We bought our property here in Baja from the Van Wormers in 2002, and have known them since we started vacationing down here in 1985.  It's the end of an era with her passing.  Rest in Peace, Cha Cha.

And, someone else had a birthday!  Zoey is now 13 years old, and we're pretty amazed she's still with us.  She continues to want to go for a (very short and very slow) walk with me in the mornings, and rarely misses it.  She is mostly blind, pretty deaf, sleeps most of the day until her internal clock says it's time to eat (5am, 12 noon and 3pm, which I try to make 4pm or later).  Not sure how she's made it this long with her weak rear end and Cushing's Disease, but she is hanging in there.  

Ben is hoping to sell his boat this spring.  He has spent a lot of time cleaning it up, then going through the garage and finding all the bits and pieces that go with it.  He recently moved it so that it's very visible from the street, and hopefully we can sell it quickly.  

We have more company coming this Sunday.  Our niece Chrys and her two boys will be here for 5 days.  We're looking forward to seeing them!

That's about it from this little corner of the continent.  Hope to hear from any of you who'd like to let us know how you're doing!  And you're always welcome to come visit, since we have 2 guest rooms with amazing views.  

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja,

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

PS.  Don't forget to check out the February 2024 album!

    

 

Pic-of-the-Month for January 2024

 Hola Amigos,

January has not been a busy month, since Ben and I were spending a lot of time recovering from our nasty colds and cough.  I actually still have a cough hanging on, and I'm more that ready for it to be done!  So, we have been staying pretty close to home most of the month.  

We did go out to Los Frailes so Ben could help Mel put a new awning on the fifth wheel trailer that is permanently parked on their rental campsite.  Of course it wasn't easy, but between the two of these clever do-it-your-selfers, it got done!  No fishing trip this time, since it was just a one-night stay, but we still ate very well!!  

We had another cow invasion into our yard one night this month.  She ate roses, bananas, Hibiscus, lettuce, radishes, cilantro.....  ARGH!!!  I think she and a calf came in through our neighbors' from the beach, and jumped over a wall into our yard.  We're trying to convince him to strengthen his fences.  Ben has also discovered there is a brand new law that the rancher is responsible for damages his cows do on or to your property.  Look out ranchers who are raising free-range cattle here!  Here's a picture of some really pretty roses.....before the cow ate all the flowers and a lot of leaves!

I hadn't planted my green beans yet, but I have now, so I'm hoping they don't come back!! Fortunately, last year was a bumper bean crop year (and no cows in the yard), and I still have jars of beans left.  We've been enjoying them all season! 

We have 4 bunches of bananas developing right now that hopefully will get ripe before we leave in late June, and some Papayas that are getting bigger.  Can't wait for those to get ripe...they are so sweet and tasty.  

Ben started doing some more pruning on our newer lot to the west of our house.  He has a lovely wood pile for next season, and a few more things to prune before he calls it good for this season.  This mesquite wood burns quite nicely after we let it dry for a year.  We also burn all the twigs and leaves in our outdoor fire pit, so nothing gets hauled to the dump.  We've discovered some nice plants in the "jungle", including a Queen of the Night cactus (which is a rather ugly plant!) and several trees without thorns, which is a real good thing in a Baja garden! (This area of Baja is classified as a Tropical Thorn Forest as most all plants have thorns). 

There have been some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets this month.  I am usually not quite up yet for the sunrises, but this sunset lit the sky on fire a few weeks ago!  Wow!

 

The highlight of January for us is our wedding anniversary on the 27th.  We went to La Paz, stayed two nights at a very nice hotel, and ate at two of our favorite restaurants.  What a treat, especially since Zoey stayed at home! Our friend Dalia was kind enough to dog sit for us.  While in La Paz, we managed to do some shopping and get a few rare items.  Ben found a nursery that had Hoya plants, several varieties.  One he got is a Hoya Kerrii, which has thick, heart shaped leaves.  The other one is a normal Hoya.  No blooms on them right now, so we'll have to see what they look like later on in the year.  Here's the Kerrii plant to the right.  We used to grow one of the normal ones as a house plant when we lived in Salem.  I'm anxious to see how these do here.  Here's a picture of a flower we saw on a Hoya plant at our hotel in San Quintin on the way south this year.  I wanted to snip a start off that plant so badly, but was a good girl and didn't do it!! 

Here's the last picture for this time.  Cousin Tom took a picture of us after our anniversary dinner on our hotel roof top.  We've been married 56 years, by the way!  Amazing.  And yes, we were bundled up.  It was a bit breezy, and probably 68 degrees.  That's better than the snow and ice on our Oregon Anniversaries! 

I have created a 2024 January album with a few more pics. 

Company is coming this Saturday!   Check with us for availability.  We'd love to have you visit.

Hasta la proxima mes,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben & Zoey

 

Pic-of-the-Month for December 2023

 Happy New Year, Amigos!

I did it again.  Procrastinated long enough that it is the next month before I get out our Purkey news.  I do have an excuse this time... Ben and I both came down with nasty colds and didn't really feel like even sitting close to a computer screen!  We are on the mend now, hopefully, and will survive to tell the story.  

We had another busy month... and I made my hiking goal and surpassed it, putting in 730 miles.  However, in a phone conversation with my 5 year older sister Sharon, I asked how many miles she's walked this year, and she nonchalantly said, "oh, I don't keep track, but usually 4 to 5 miles every day (7 days a week!)"  Good grief.  That's about double or more what I do.  So, I have my work cut out for me to try to keep up with her!!  I haven't done any walking other than around the house so far this year, but maybe I'll get out later today with Zoey.  She'll not walk too fast for me!!  At least I have lovely weather (usually) and beautiful places to walk.  This scene below is from one of my morning walks. 

 

 Ben took his 1956 Willy's Jeep to another car show in La Paz early in the month, and I had agreed to go play piano for the community choir at a Los Barriles Art Fair on the same day, so I couldn't go with him this time.  He didn't win any prizes, just participated with the Jeep for the first time instead of a Model A.  (It was easier to tow to town than load on a car trailer).  It's the one right in front.

We went camping in our little trailer twice this month, both times to Los Frailes to visit Mel and Katie.  Mel took Ben fishing both times.  The first trip they caught a couple of nice Dorado.  The second trip, they managed to hook onto a nice Marlin, that took them forever to bring in on the light-weight tackle they were using!  They were both sore the next day!

Ben just smoked a nice little batch of Marlin today, and it is pretty tasty!  

On the second trip out, my sister Shelley was with us, and she very much enjoyed her time in the wilderness.  Very relaxing!  We walked the beach and found shells and coral, and as usual, we ate very well!  

We also took her to the Santa Rita Hot Springs, and found that there is a new one, just downstream from the original.  And the rancher running it, has his booth set up before the original rancher's!  We got sucked in, and it was OK, but not as hot as the original.  It will be interesting to see how they get along!  

The original hot springs is up stream to the left a bit.  These folks put in a lot of effort; nice stone walls, nice solid bottom to the pool, lawn chairs, a place to change.  They'll probably do just fine. 
 

Shelley and I in front of a huge old Cardon cactus. 

On December 15, we participated in the 3rd annual ATV Fun Ride to help support Feeding the Hungry.  It was a great success, a lot of fun (in spite of taking the wrong track and having to turn around in very tight quarters!) and made a bunch of money for Feeding the Hungry program.  We rented a side-by-side with Mel and his nephew, and had a grand time on the back roads trails.  It was also a Classic Movie challenge, where you could answer questions about movies and the stars in them at various "rest stops".  Challenging for sure for Ben and I, who rarely watch movies!  

This is the starting lineup at the beach, where we were having some of the highest tides I'd seen this year!  (Don't tell the rental place, but we did get the ATV a bit wet with salt water!!  Oops!)  

One really special thing we did this year is get invited over for Christmas Morning breakfast of Pozole at our friends Daniel, Ingrid and Ruben's house.  Daniel and Ruben's Mom fixed it for us, so it was really special, and something we've never had before.  

Chicken, chicken broth, lots of hominy, and all kinds of good things to put in it.  It was very good!  

We had several friends over for Christmas Dinner at our house later that day, and it was very nice!  The Lemon Meringue pie I'd made was a hit!

 Katie and Mel came to our place right after Christmas to have a good place, and lots of tools, for Mel to work on their car, which wasn't starting.  They figured it was the starter, and it took a day to get it out! (With Ben helping).  They took it to a place to have the starter worked on then re-installed it.  Still didn't start.   They could get it started by shorting across the solenoid (by applying an ice pick to the starter solenoid!).  They drove it back to the original guy who repaired the starter, and he found that wiring from the ignition to the starter went through an after-market security "thingy", and a wire was bad.  He replaced the wires, and it started!  They were very, very happy.  And it only cost $700 pesos ($41 US).  They were going to stay and spend New Years Eve with us out partying.  By that time, Ben and I were pretty sickly, so they decided to go back to Canyon Camp.  

New Years Eve, Ben was in bed by 6pm, and I was there by 7:30!  We heard a few fireworks at 11pm (by my clock) and welcomed in the New Year!  

I've created a December 2023 photo album with a bunch more pictures in it.  Enjoy!  (Most pictures are captioned if you want to know what in the heck it is!!)  

Hasta la proxima vez (this month?  Next month?)

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben and Zoey

 

Pic-of-the-Month for November 2023

 Hola Amigos,

Hey!  It's December 1st and I didn't get our November post out on time!  Oops.  So, maybe you'll get 2 in December, you lucky people!

So what happened with us in November?  (I always have to go back and look at my pictures to figure it out!!)

Our curly cactus, which only blooms at night, bloomed like crazy this year.  It had at least 30 bloom buds on it.  The only problem is ... it blooms at night, and we're usually asleep then, so I made sure to get up while it was still dark (which is when Zoey usually wakes up) and got some pictures.   Absolutely gorgeous palm-sized blooms!  This picture gives you an idea of how many were blooming at once.

We hadn't seen many burros in the neighborhood in October, but they are back!  There is a group of 3 who like to hang around here, so we've started putting out the water bucket for them.  No goodies from the garden yet, but someday!

We visited our neighborhood plant nursery and bought a bunch of flowers to brighten up the place; geraniums, petunias, hibiscus, and others.  It's looking really nice! 

 We needed to buy the hibiscus because the cows got in once last summer and they usually go directly to the hibiscus first.  They must be a special treat!  The plants usually survive, but they struggle to bloom after that. 

 

This is one of the new hibiscus that has been blooming nicely since I bought it.  

Ben has been working really diligently on our garden.  We have radishes, tomatoes, beets, lettuce, spinach, chives, squash, and some wonderful cucumbers.  The cukes actually survived over the summer, and they started producing nicely after we got back and started watering them regularly (lots of water!)  The other plants are still maturing, but we have harvested some radishes.  

Ben started a new area just outside our kitchen, and it's been a struggle.  That particular spot is where much concrete and plaster was mixed up on the ground.  And guess what?  There was a several inches thick layer of that stuff still there, under several inches of dirt!  Lots of digging and raking and wheelbarrows full of old concrete removed, but it is looking very nice now!  

My old washing machine died.  Fortunately, we knew its end was near, and had just purchased a new one from Home Depot in Cabo San Lucas.  And believe it or not, it was delivered the day the old one died!  It took Ben most of the rest of the day to get it unpacked and installed, but we did it!  Not an easy job, but Ben is very persistent!  And it works very well (the instructions are all in Spanish...good thing I'm getting more proficient in the language so I can choose the correct washing cycle!)

 

For those of you who know our dachshund Zoey, she's still kicking (barely) and going for very short morning walks with me.  She is pretty much blind now, and it seems she can only see shadows.  She still manages to wake us up early every morning (4am or so) for her first morning walk.  I let her out our bedroom slider by herself and she comes back in the dog door at the kitchen.  She's only gotten lost once!!  Obviously the old nose is still working quite well.  And she hasn't forgotten how to tell time.  She knows exactly when we should feed her, and isn't shy about reminding us!  She also still appreciates a spot of sunshine!

 

We participated again this year in the November 20 Revolution Day Parade in Los Barriles.  They said the parade starts at 8am.  We figured, as usual in the past, start lining up at 8, parade will start about 9.  We got there 15 minutes before 8, and the parade started exactly at 8am!  First time ever, that we can recall.  Wow.  It's also the first time since we started participating in about 2007 or 2008, that we didn't have any princesses or queens in our cars.  They had a fancy Corvette for the Queen, and a big float for all the other royalty.  This year, I actually got pictures of the parade, because cousin Tom Malpass was driving the pickup for me.  

There were 10 of us at our casa for Thanksgiving dinner.  Ben smoked a turkey (that he fortunately found in La Paz...a Butterball), and we had all the regular fixings that go with it; potatoes and gravy, 2 kinds of stuffing, cranberries, salads, green beans, pie and ice cream!  We were very happily "stuffed"!  It was nice enough weather that we ate outside on our veranda, which is always very pleasant.  

 

For the second year in a row, the non-profit Ben and I and others run, won the most votes as the "charity of choice" in the Los Barriles area!  We won $2500 dollars which will go a long way in feeding people in need in Los Barriles.  To read more about the program, check out this blog link:  Feeding the Hungry

We were very pleased with this outcome!  On the table, I showed what items could be purchased for $300 pesos or less (less than $15 US right now, as the exchange rate is going down for the dollar).  $300 pesos is the value of each voucher we give to the families, 4 vouchers per month. 

I made my walking goal for the year of 650 miles on November 27!  I really do love walking here in the pleasant weather and beautiful scenery.  I'm hoping to match the same number of miles (or maybe get a few more) as last year, of 726 miles.  (To keep me humble, my neighbor Hope is doing a run today, and the next 2 days, from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean, over the Sierra de la Laguna mountains!  68 miles.  Here's the web site for it. https://maramartrail.com/en/  )

That's about it.  I've created a November Album where you can see more photos and I will make sure there are captions on the majority.  

My sister Shelley is coming to visit in just over a week.  It will be good to see her again.  We still have room for you to visit, too!  Come see us!

That's all folks!

Hasta la proxima vez 

Tus amigos en Baja

Harriet, Ben and Zoey