Pic-of-the-Month for August & September 2026

 Hi friends,

Normally at this time of year, you’d be expecting to hear that we are on our way back to our home in Baja.  It turns out, this wasn’t a normal year for us!  We’ve been calling it our “Medical Summer”!  We won’t be leaving Oregon for another 3 weeks and a few days.  Our goal is to head out on October 24th.  

Fort Rock before the rain clouds

 

Why so long in Oregon?  Well, we are catching up on medical stuff pretty seriously this summer!  And you know how doctor appointments go… you wait for them to schedule you, then after the appointment, find out you need a follow up appointment!  I’ll try to be brief, because I already told you some of it in the last issue of POTM.  This medical stuff is also why we may not have visited you this summer.  Hopefully, we’ll do better next year.  

 Harriet - the cancer on my shoulder was Squamoid Eccrine Ductal Carcinoma.  Never heard of it?  It is an extremely rare and aggressive skin cancer. And the Mohs surgery I had in July didn’t successfully get all of it, so I went in for another Mohs.  This time he went deeper and wider!  He finally did get it all, then after a week (waiting for the Lab to confirm the edges were clear), stitched me up.  It is healing nicely.  Seems like I’ve had a bandage on my shoulder most of the summer!   Then he referred me to a Radiation Oncologist, and a Medical Oncologist…just in case.  I saw the Radiation Oncologist this last Monday, and she said I didn’t need the radiation.  (Hooray!) Next Monday I’ll see the Medical Oncologist, and I’m expecting the same response from him.  So, I’m keeping the top of my right shoulder covered and away from sun for the foreseeable future.  

I saw the cardiologist who specializes in Ablation procedures in mid August, and he promptly had me scheduled for an Ablation August 27.  It was a one day deal in the hospital.  They accessed my heart via arteries in my groin, did the electrical zapping as needed, and my little heart is finally beating normally again.  And the good news, I’m off of blood thinners just a month after surgery!  Hooray, again!  I need to monitor my heart rhythms carefully, and I have a clunky looking smart watch, and a clever little device called Kardia that I use to do a daily EKG, which is recorded on my phone.  

And, I had to do an eye exam because my glasses broke twice this summer.  I missed the warranty, and am now getting new frame and lenses, because of course the old lenses don’t fit in any of the frames they have!  Dr suggested my cataracts are bad enough to warrant surgery.  I didn't give him any details about my summer, but I told him NO rather emphatically!

So, I’m ready to go, but I’ll stick around and wait for Ben to be finished up with his procedure.

Ben - our primary care doctor decided Ben needed to see a cardiologist, because his heart murmur and echo-cardiogram indicated some issues. He finally got into a cardiologist who immediately prescribed an Angiogram, which he had done within a week (which could be a miracle, based on how hard it’s been to get quick appointments!). The doctor doing the procedure happened to be the head of St. Charles Hospitals Heart Valve unit.  He determined that Ben’s aortic valve was in severe condition, and that he needed a valve replacement.  He was then scheduled to do a CT-TAVR scan to measure the size of his valve, and other measurements.  He saw the surgeons, and finally scheduled the procedure for October 14.  It will not be open heart surgery; they will access his heart and the valve via his groin.  He will have a one night stay at the hospital, then 7 days of no driving, no lifting over 10 pounds.  He will not need to be on blood thinners, only baby aspirin.  Then a follow up appointment, and a final appointment with our GP for a blood pressure check, and then on the Baja!

Here's a diagram i took a photo of in the office so you can see what we're talking about. The valve will be made up of metal mesh and pig tissue.

You may remember that he fell early in the summer…his arm is still hurting, but he’s finally getting an MRI this Saturday to check it out.  We probably have no time to see anyone for this injury, but at least he’ll know what’s wrong.  

So, in a big nutshell, that’s what’s been going on with us this summer and early fall.  We can’t get to our home easily right now, because Hurricane Polo went across the the Baja Peninsula with copious wind and rains, and there are quite a few areas where the road is washed out.  They are very good at putting in detours promptly and fixing what they can, so by the time we are traveling through they should be in fair shape.  The storm went over Baja quite a ways north of our place, and we got no damage.

We did manage to change a doctor appointment so we could go to the Pendleton Roundup, and got tickets for my cousins Tom and Karan, which were seats over the bucking chutes.  What fun!  I have an album dedicated to the Roundup and the parade, which is the largest non-motorized parade in the US, if not the world! click here -> Roundup  There are lots of videos of the action, so check it out!  

We have been spending quite a bit of time at our friends Mel and Katie’s place in Fort Rock.  It’s so quiet and peaceful here; we appreciate their driveway space, their electricity, and their friendship!  And they let us use their laundry, too!  It’s a great place to be between doctor visits.

On our way to Hart Mountain for some camping.

 

I’ve created  August and September albums that you can check out if you’d like. 2026-August    2026-Sept

You may not hear from us again until we are back home in Baja.  Please add Ben to your prayers for the operation in the 14th.  We have a lot to get done before his surgery.  We are waiting on the arrival at Lowe's of a new range for our Baja kitchen, which needs to go in the truck first!  We’d like the truck all packed, the trailer put away, and hope to be somewhat organized while we live a few weeks with Katie and Mel, then Ken & Bea (Ben’s brother) during and after the surgery.  Phew!  Crazy summer!  

Until the next time, (hopefully from Baja!)

Your amigos still in Oregon,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho.

2025 June -July

 Hello friends!

Our summer in Oregon is almost 1/2 over, so I thought I'd catch you up on our adventures so far.  

Running horses sculpture just east of Sisters, Oregon.  

 

We had a mostly uneventful trip north.  This year, Ben's brother Greg decided he'd like to see more of Baja, so we picked him up at the La Paz airport and took him north with us on our journey.  He did volunteer to help Ben drive, but after seeing the narrow roads, and the numerous potholes here and there, he said he was happy that he just let Ben drive!   All went well, except when we stopped in San Ignacio to show Greg the old mission church and the village, I fell down the last two stone steps and scraped up both knees and strained my ankle a bit.  I was ok, and Greg and another nice lady helped me up (Ben was walking the dogs).  I cleaned up and applied band-aids to both knees...it reminded me of my childhood "look"!  I wore them for several days!  

Of course we stopped at our favorite hotel and ate at our favorite restaurant in San Quintin, and they didn't disappoint.  

 

The border crossing at Tecate took way longer than we were hoping (several hours, at least), but we made it through finally.  

Shortly after arriving in Oregon, we had an appointment to renew our passports, which were expiring this summer.  That process went very well.  We went to the Bend Post Office (Ben had made an appointment ahead of time for us), had our pictures taken, and had the passports expedited.  It cost a bit more, but Ben wanted to have his in hand ASAP just in case there was a hurricane that he needed to hurry back home to help get our house ready.  We had them within 2 weeks!  

We spent a couple weeks in Fort Rock with our friends Katie and Mel.  They seemed to be happy to have us, and Gus and Pancho, our dogs, were very happy to have the beautiful green lawn to run around in (and cats to chase).   And the dogs do love Katie!  (I think Katie might need a dog about Gus size!)  

We helped out with meals and other things when we could, as the family  was dealing with taking care of Guy, Mel's ill son.  Helpers included Guy's mother Sherry and brother Mel Jr.  Sadly, Guy passed away peacefully last week after his battle with brain cancer.  

They were also the recipients of my first homemade pie for the summer, a nice fresh blueberry!  And it was yummy!

While we were at Fort Rock, Ben took a tumble off of the temporary wheelchair ramp (trying to get around their dog Cocoa, the chocolate Lab) and hurt his right arm.  He thought it might be broken, but a trip to urgent care in La Pine resulted in a "no break" answer, but the possibility of a Rotator Cuff injury.  He's still hurting, but not as bad.  (Add that to our medical issues this summer!  See below!)

 After our stay in Fort Rock, we went to Ben's brother Ken's place near Sisters, and stayed there while we had  doctor appointments.  I had several biopsies at the dermatologist, and just this week, had one of the spots removed.  (It took most of the day for the Mohs surgery.)  Fortunately, even though it is a rather weird type (the lab hadn't really figured it out yet), he got it all.    

I also saw my cardiologist, and he said my heart was in good shape, other than the constant Atrial Flutter.  He referred me to a specialist who can do an ablation AND insert a Watchman device, which eliminates the need for blood thinners.  I'll be seeing him in mid August.  Ben will also be seeing a cardiologist. He's had a heart murmur for quite a few years that our GP has been monitoring, and thought he should check in with a cardiologist this year. Fortunately, our appointments are on the same day!  (We do tend to have the same kind of things going wrong with us!)  

Obviously, we are tending to spend more time visiting doctors these days!  But we also did some fun stuff.  Mel and Katie took us fishing up at Deadhorse Lake one day.  We had a blast, and caught a bunch of beautiful trout.  We used wet flies and fished out of Mel's drift boat.  Even the dogs got to go, and Gus was sure excited about the fish!  I just found out today that they want to go back there with us next week, so we're looking forward to that!

 We also celebrated Ben's birthday with our good friends Janet and Tony.  Janet's birthday is the same day, so we often celebrate together.  

After all the doctor appointments we went over the mountains to the valley.  First place was in Salem at George & Carolyn's place.  They have a lovely spot for us right next to their patio with an electric and water hook ups.  We met up with various friends from the area, and visited Willamette Valley Pie Company, which is very close to where we used to live in Salem.  I purchased a pre-baked Marion Berry pie, which we enjoyed with George and Carolyn.  Yum!  

On to Eugene, and up the hills to our friend John's house.  After setting up our trailer, we went out to meet John and his friend Sue at Bennett Winery near Cheshire, Oregon.  There was live music, and some good wine, and a car show for whoever wanted to participate with their classic car.  John drove his 1956 Mercedes Gull Wing.  It makes quite the statement!  

 

The next night, we made sure to make it to our favorite Eugene restaurant, Mazzi's. Our waiter said the owner's grandson, a good friend of his, is now the main chef of the restaurant!  We started going there soon after he opened in 1970, raised our kids on their food, and ALWAYS make at least one visit there a year.  Delicious as always! 

Next "trailer park" for us was cousin Tom and Karan's north of Eugene on the farm.  It is so pretty out here, which makes up for some of the farming noises of big semi trucks filled with hay being unloaded into the barn.
You can see our trailer hitch in the pic to the left, and the big trucks come through the back area to unload.  

Gus got in big trouble this morning when he got into the baby chick pen and killed two of them!  They are raising about 30 for meat.  Well, now maybe 28.  Bad dog!  And, did you know a full grown chicken can move faster than a speedy dachshund?  We didn't either, but thank goodness they can.  (Dogs are now wearing their "pay attention!!!" collars on the farm).

We marked July 27 on our calendar a long time ago to be in Eugene for a Purkey family reunion.  We met at Greg's house and enjoyed visiting with 3 of Ben's brothers and their wives (and one niece). John came all the way from North Carolina where he lives now.

Me and John

 

We took a couple days this week to go back to Bend for my dermatology appointment and left the trailer on the farm.  Coming back, we took the old McKenzie Highway over the mountains, since we weren't towing the trailer.  It's a beautiful drive, and we stopped at Dee Wright Observatory, where I managed to go to the top (my dermatologist said to take it very easy today and the next week after the Mohs surgery, so I walked up slowly!)  I remember hiking up this monument when I was a little girl!    

 OK.  I've caught you up, and we've got two more months to enjoy Oregon.  There are many wild fires going on right now, most started by lightening strikes.  Where we are currently in the valley is not smokey at all, but evidently it's pretty awful in far east Oregon and Idaho.  

If you want more photos, just check out the June 2026 album and the July 2026 album.  

Your Baja friends in Oregon,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho 

 

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for May 2026

Hola Amigos,

Here it is already the end of another month.  Isn't it amazing, the older I get, the faster the time goes by!

  

Of course these Cormorants are just hanging around enjoying having a rock to sit on and rest up before hunting for some fish for breakfast, and that's their only timeline. Pancho tried to scare them off, but they knew he didn't want to get his feet wet, so they were safe!  (OK... this picture is from a different day, but it's the same rock, same dog, maybe the same birds!!!)

We are in "summer mode", getting ready to move to our pickup with the dogs and travel up to Oregon.  This year, Ben's brother Greg, recently retired, is going to fly down to La Paz on June 8.  We'll pick him up, and spend the night in La Paz.  The next day, we'll take off north on our 2000 +- journey to Fort Rock, Oregon, where we store our "summer suitcase" (trailer).  Greg has been down here several times to visit us, but never seen the Baja Peninsula up close and personal.  He says he doesn't mind sitting in the back seat with the dogs, so we'll see how that works!!  (I might share my front seat with him, but don't count on Ben taking his tightly gripped hands off of his steering wheel and giving Greg, a former train engineer, a chance to drive Baja's narrow, curvy roads!) Anyhow, should be fun.  We hope to show him some interesting Baja sights.

Yes, we are getting ready to leave a smidge earlier this year.  We had planned to visit a Sunstone Mine in Oregon with friends George and Carolyn S, but they realized the weekend planned was Father's Day, so we'll do that with them later.  Ben and I decided to go ahead and come early and get started on our Passport process.  Both are expiring this summer, and we need to get them done ASAP so Ben can travel back to our house here if there's a bad hurricane threat.  If it's bad enough, Ben wants to be here to ensure things are buttoned up properly.  We have already put up storm shutters upstairs and some down, but depending on which direction a storm is coming from, he'd feel better being here to make sure things are good.  Besides, he likes living off a generator when we have no electricity, and rationing water!!  It is threatening to be a severe storm year; El Nino is very strong this year, the sea water is warm, and there are indications that we could have some serious storms.  We do have a house sitter lined up to stay here, a young 25 year old Mexican who works a full time job at East Cape Health Clinic.  We think he will do well, and we'll have Dalia to back him up!  

 We had a nice visit a week or so ago from a former house sitter and good friend, Perla.  She brought over her little 6 month old sweetheart Mar to visit with us.  It is really great getting to know locals  and watching them grow and make life changes.  In fact, this next weekend, our friend Benhur will be over here with his Dad to prune our palm trees.  We met him with his Mom when he was 5 and she did some gardening for us.  He has graduated from University and has worked various tech jobs and restaurant jobs, and still helps his Dad on some days with the palm tree pruning.  Our trees are TALL now, and they climb with ladders and no spikes, just ropes and carefully placed feet!   We appreciate their craft very much.  And so do our palm trees!  

Since this was the month of May, I celebrated a birthday early in the month, then celebrated Mother's Day (and Ryan's birthday, same day as Mother's Day), and enjoyed every opportunity.  Ben took me to La Paz for a couple nights and we had dinner out with cousins Tom and Karan, did some fun shopping, and just basically lazed around.  Picture is of drinks the bartender was preparing for the order ahead of ours.  This was on the rooftop bar of the hotel where we stay in town.  (Our room was a couple doors down from the bar and outdoor swim pool.)  Too bad we can't stay there when we pick up Greg, but we will have two little doggies with us, who are not welcomed in this upscale hotel.  Oh well....

Ben has put the garden to bed.  We harvested the last tomatoes and lettuce and enjoyed all of it very much.  I still have some Zinnias blooming, but they won't last long (especially if I forget to water them a couple days in a row!)  Car batteries are on trickle chargers, things are tied down, and we'll be good and ready to leave by the 8th.  

I will most likely post daily in Facebook while we're traveling to let you know of anything exciting happening (or not!) Sometimes, it's just long days, narrow roads, and hot sunshine.  

Meanwhile, here at the casa and barrio, it's fun finding various cactus blooming.  More photos are on my 2026 May album.  Check it out.  Dogs, cactus, flowers, food, beach... same ole, same ole!   

Not sure how often I will post in the summer.  If you are in Oregon and want to see us during our stay there this summer, send us an email and let us know!  We'll see what we can do.  

Also.... If you have Ben's Mexican phone number, we hope it will work all summer. (It should work with WhatsApp * all the time).   But if you can't reach him, try my US number (541-854-5303).  It always works. 

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja, ready to head north because we can't take the heat,

Harriet, Ben, Gus & Pancho 

 

 PS.  * WhatsApp is a very popular phone app here in Baja (and world wide).  It has made a huge difference in our life here in communicating with service agencies, like the Propane delivery guys, or Amazon or DHL deliveries.  We can point out our location to the delivery guys so they can actually find our house (there are no sensible physical addresses here.  Most of the streets in our neighborhood aren't even named, so this is a definite advantage!)  Ahhhh....progress in a third world country!

  

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for April 2026

Hola Amigos,

Well...April zoomed right by!  It was a warmer than normal month, and we are wondering how hot May and early June will be.  Thank goodness we have some decent AC units for sleeping, and in our kitchen/family room, when we need them.  We do use the one in our bedroom at least part of most nights, but haven't turned on the family room one yet.  

We saw this guy the other day sitting on his beautiful nest...in Hotel Pescadores, about 10' from the bar (just in case he got thirsty!)  Unfortunately, our friends say the eggs were compromised the other day.  Hopefully, the birds will try again. He was very calm while lots of people took his photo!  

 Easter was in early April, and as usual, the beaches were very crowded with campers.  The photo below is from the Flag Monument looking south.  Campers were right next to each other for several miles up and down the beach!  (With my curious pups, I chose the route less crowded, and hiked with them up to the Flag Monument.  OK... we drove to the base, but we still got in our mileage!)  

  

The campers all pretty much disappeared early the next week, so we were back enjoying our "private" beach.  The pups especially enjoyed finding left over treasures. (Ugh!)  Anyhow, this is what it normally looks like.  I can walk several miles some days and not see another person.  Crowded days, there will maybe be a couple ATVs and fishermen, and some folks hiking.  I love it!  And, there have been some nice low tides, like in this photo, so walking is easier.  

 

 

The city water for Buena Vista had a serious pump outage in April.  We were without water coming into our storage tank, or available for outdoor watering for several weeks.  We have a large storage tank under our garage floor which holds over 5000 liters, so it lasts a long time when we're careful.  However, this time, with much of the garden still growing, Ben had to hand water from the only outdoor faucet that is attached  to that tank.  We had hoses strung everywhere!  Fortunately, the shade cloth he just installed helped, and they were able to repair the pump after several weeks.  Of course, we never got the straight story.  The water company folks said "it's almost ready to deliver water to your pipes", and the water truck guys said "No, they don't have the new pump yet, it's still broken"!  Sigh.  

Anyhow, when the water was getting low in our tank, Ben decided it was time to clean it (first time in 24 years!) as it had a little dirt in the bottom.  He hooked up a little pump and PVC pipes to get the last foot or so of water out, then vacuumed up the rest.  He also added a bit of Purex and mopped that around.  Then, we waited for a water truck to show up!!!  Fortunately, they got our message and delivered some water within a couple hours, so we didn't have too long to worry.  Ben tipped them nicely, and they came back and gave us the rest of their truck load after filling some neighbor's tanks.  (The water from the city was free, by the way).  Then, the fellow we tipped came back the next day and filled our tank all the way!  Woohoo!  And the water came back on the next morning from the city pump!  

In this picture, he'd already unhooked the line that ran down into the tank to suck the water out and was mopping on the Purex.  (He said he's never doing this job again!!  And no, you can't hire him to clean yours!)   

The garden is starting to wind down.  Ben still picks a basket of tomatoes every day, and we have the best lettuce of the year now, although we have to water it several times a day or it will wilt.  We've also had a couple bunches of bananas get ripe, and we've been enjoying them.  They are so sweet! 

Ben is starting to get some things done for our summer schedule, including moving our little camp trailer over next to the carport, and tying it down!   We actually got it moved without too much trouble yesterday, and both commented later on that that was the easiest move ever.  I think we're finally getting it figured out how to wiggle it into that particular spot (without killing each other!) 

The good news is that we've found a reliable house sitter for this summer.  He's excited about it, and we hope we don't overwhelm him with too many things to do!!  We are planning to leave here June 10.  

Our latest album is here:  April 2026  Most photos have captions.

Blossoms from our new orange tree

We are headed to La Paz for a few days this weekend to celebrate a birthday, and life without dogs!  (We have a dog sitter at home, don't worry!)  I personally am looking forward to some quiet days and some shopping and nice restaurants, and maybe a couple nice long walks on the Malecon.  Speaking of walking, I'm reaching my walking goals, but they're just a bit less than last year.  I'll blame the dogs.  They do tend to wimp out on me fairly regularly!  I will not carry them, so I let them rest for a bit, then get them up on their feet to hike on home.  (They do just fine off leash on the beach...zoom, zoom, zoom!)  

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for March 2026

Hola Amigos!

It is the end of March already, and the weather has been warming up like it's May or something!  Humidity is up, temps are up, winds are down.  It should be an interesting spring!  (I'm glad we have AC in our family room/kitchen!  We'll be using it soon, most likely).  And the fishing is still good, and the water is warming up, so bigger fish will be around soon.

 

We had company in March, and we had fun!  My sister Shelley came to visit for 10 days the first of the month, and we managed to visit lots of our favorite restaurants and places.  We also got to take her to a Lack Family Concert, which was a ton of fun, even though it was a bit cool and windy that evening.  (See a video of the Lacks performing in my March 2026 album.)

She did some fun shopping, and had her suitcase stuffed with nice things to take home with her.  I'm sure glad she finally decided to get her passport a few years ago and start visiting us in beautiful Baja!  Come back anytime, Shelley!

We were going to pick up friends John and Marilyn from the airport the day we took Shelley back, but not naming names, someone didn't bring their passport booklets to the departing airport, only their passport cards.  Doesn't work for flying out of country... so they delayed a couple days.  When they did arrive, we again got to take them to our favorite places.  They have been here before, but it's been probably 20 years, so things have changed a LOT!  They, too, got to go to a Lack Family concert (I stayed home sick that night. 😞)  

They also found a bunch of goodies to take home with them, and we took them to a trip to La Paz for overnight in the big city.  We stopped in El Triunfo, a little old mining town in the mountains, and toured the new Cowboy Museum there.  They've done a great job with this museum, and it is very informative and cleverly laid out.  

They have a bunch of mannequins dressed up, including this one in typical cowboy leathers, as well as some historic figures.  It was very enjoyable.  See more photos of the museum in my March album.

 Marilyn walking Gus.

Marilyn said her favorite place to be was on our front veranda, watching the birds and enjoying the view of the Sea of Cortez, and the warmth, of course!  I took them walking several times, and although they walk paths at their winter home in Cathedral City, she said it was much more difficult to walk on the beach!  She was a great help with the dogs, but darn it, I couldn't get her to take one home with her!!  Next time, maybe!   

John, being extra tall, was able to help Ben get on his new 50% shade cloths over his two garden areas (this short person thanks you very much!)  Ben is hoping that the shade will extend the life of his numerous tomatoes, and his new crop of lettuce seedlings are coming up like gang-busters! We have been enjoying the garden very much this year, and have given away almost as much as we've eaten.  Maybe more!  He brings in a colander full of tomatoes every day, as well as cucumbers.  The second squash crop is done, and the beans are winding down a bit, because we have two little dogs who like to get in at the base and look for beans to eat, but pull off leaves instead.  Stinkers!  I have canned my year's supply, and had some left over from last year, so we're not suffering.   

 By the way, we ordered the shade cloth on line, and watched and waited for it to be delivered here.  One day, I got a message that it had been delivered to the hotel up on the highway.  Cool.  I could go up and get it there.  I got there, the office was locked.  I tried the two numbers posted on the door.  The first one the people said it wasn't the hotel, they had taken over that number and the hotel number was different  (all in Spanish).  I said OK, and dialed the next number.  It went straight to the message that said "number not available".  Sigh.  So I went exploring, and found a lady and asked about my package.  "No esta aqui, senora.  Es en la otra lada de la carretera.  Cerca la tope."  OK... gracias (I guess!)  I wandered over to the other side of the street, and there in a covered breezeway between two casas were a couple ladies with a ton of packages, including ours.  She was the one who sent the message that the package was at the hotel.  I guess I was just supposed to figure out that's not what she meant, and of course it was at her house.  At least I'll know for the next time if the delivery guy doesn't show up here, and at least she sent me a message!  (She also showed me that she can see my house from her back yard!  Small world!)  

Tomorrow is the start of April, and our season is starting to wind down.  We don't have a house sitter yet, and may just have to find someone reliable to check on things and water a few plants regularly.  We will be here until mid-June, when we'll need to head north for the start of our summer schedule.  Seems like the older we get, the more doctor appointments we need to do.  Also, I broke my glasses, so need to get those repaired (not an easy fix on the frame, I'm afraid).  

BUT, if you're hankering for a Baja vacation, we're here until then, so come on down!  We can guarantee some good eating and great weather.  

These guys came to visit just last night, but I wouldn't let them (or their Mamas) in the gate.  You...I would!

Don't forget to check out the pictures at March 2026 

Hasta la proxima vez!

Tus amigos en Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho.
 

  

  

Pic-of-the-Month for February 2026

 Hola Amigos,

Let me start out by saying that those who know the news heard about a major take down of a Cartel leader last week in mainland Mexico. In that area of Mexico, there was a lot of Cartel kick-back, and a lot of cars, buses, trucks and some businesses burned to make a statement.  Nothing took place here in Baja Sur, although there were a few instances in Tijuana, Tecate and Ensenada near the US border.  We were 1000 miles from that action, and were never in any trouble.  Things seem to be pretty much back to normal in mainland Mexico.  Viva Mexico!  We still love it here.

Thank you to all of you who answered my question last month about a short or long monthly letter / post.  Most of you responded with "yes, I read it, and make it as long or short as you want.  I live vicariously through you and your adventures!"  (Our daughter admitted she skims for the pictures!)  

So, this month's letter will be "normal" length, whatever that is!

 Gus and Pancho are showing you the section of road on our morning walk that finally got repaired.  There has been a wide and deep ditch on the left side since last summers' rain storms.  It was just barely wide enough on the right for one car at a time to go through.  We are always cautious walking back up it because the sight distance is bad... we always hope cars or ATVs coming that way stop to look before they roar down the hill!  

Pretty sunrise on my morning walk.

Speaking of morning walks, I'm close to my goal two months into the year, and I should reach my month goal tomorrow.  Once we get down to the beach, I let the dogs off leash (depending if anyone or any dogs are within sight). They really appreciate the ability to run like crazy to the next enticing smell.  I occasionally have to go after them and hook them up if they're getting into camping leftovers, or dead fish, but they're getting slightly better.  Now I know when they stop and sit down, it's time for me to detach the leash!  At least that's what they hope I'll do!  (I'm a slow learner!)

Today, I had enough beans picked that I could can 7 one and 1/2 pint jars.  Yummy eating for next season!  I have 17 jars left from last year... not sure how that happened, but I'm not complaining.  It seems our dogs have become bean eaters/pickers, and when they can't find a bean, they'll pull off a leaf or two.  There are sections of the bean row that are looking pretty sad!  I'm not sure if I'll have another canner full or not.  We'll see!

 

Those lower stalks should be nice and leafy still.  Who knew we'd have dogs who were vegetable lovers?  At least they're not eating our cucumber crop that is outside of the fenced areas.  

We are really enjoying the fruits of Ben's gardening efforts.  Tomatoes of all sizes and shapes every day, cucumbers, squash (2nd crop of both cukes and squash), corn (not much of it, but pretty tasty), and lettuce and radishes.  I can easily put together salad with things completely from our garden.  We have also been giving a lot of it away to friends and neighbors, who also appreciate it!  

We had our first guest this month, our niece Chrys from the Bend area.  She came without her boys this time, and she got in her miles of walking.  She'd go with me and the pups every morning, then after breakfast she'd head out for her serious walk.  She walked MILES!  She enjoyed herself very much, and loves it here, so she'll be back!  

Cousins Tom and Karan also visited us from their place near La Paz.  We gave them the whole tourist deal... meals at our favorite restaurants, a Lack Family concert, visits to local plant nurseries where they found some really nice things, a visit to pick up 3 bags of composted cow kaka at our rancher friend Arturo's place (plus farm cheese, fresh eggs, home made BUTTER and cottage cheese.)  We really scored on that trip.  Then we took them to the little town of Santa Cruz, where a local farmer has a fruit and vegetable stand set up.  That's where Ben bought our new little Avocado tree a few months ago, and Tom and Karan wanted one, too.  While we were there, we found a nice little orange tree, too, so bought that.  And of course, we had to figure out where to plant it, and decided to put it near our old Neem tree stump, and also decided that the stump had to go!  We hired the local backhoe operator, and it took him about 10 minutes to dig it out, and he even hauled it off for us!  And dug a hole for the orange tree!  Tada! 

Next week, my sister Shelley will be coming for 10 days.  It took forever to convince her to visit us, but she's glad she finally did it and is willing to come back whenever!  She's looking forward to good eating, more Lack Family music, a horse back ride and lots of relaxing!  The day she leaves, our friends John & Marilyn arrive (thankfully, the same airport!!)  So, we will be busy for the first several weeks of the month, but are looking forward to sharing some good times with them...and another Lack Family Concert on St. Patrick's Day!  The Lacks are really quite good, by the way.  I have a few videos of them in our February 2026 picture album for your enjoyment.  

Lack Family concert at La Playa.  

 Ben and I both did a 4 week Efudex face treatment recommended by our dermatologists (in Oregon and La Paz).  Ben did 1/2 of his face, and needs to do the other 1/2 after our guests leave.  I did my whole face.  We were pretty ugly for those 4 weeks; red and scaly and scary looking!  Our faces are looking a lot better now...skin like a baby's (almost!)   I took pictures, but you don't get to see them!  (Lucky you!)   With our red-headed complexions and all the sunshine here, this isn't the ideal place for us to live, but we'll deal with it!  

We deal with puppy love all the time!  They love to snuggle.  

 Hope you enjoyed this month's read.  We'd love to hear from you any time, and if you want to visit, that could be done, too!

Pictures for the month are here :  February 2026 

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja Sur,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho

 

 

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for January 2026

Happy New Year Amigos,

Yes, 2026 is already almost 1 month done.  And I decided my new goal this year is to keep this short.  I'm thinking a lot of you don't bother reading it, and I can't blame you...I do tend to blather on and on!  So OK, lets see how I do...

Weather:  Has continued to be warm, but winter winds are starting, and we get enough to keep the kite boarders happy, and the rest of us grumbling on those days!  We did have some serious rains last weekend, enough so no watering was needed in the garden that day, or the next.  Nice to have as it freshened things up.

 

Special days:  Ben and I celebrated our 58th anniversary on January 27th with dinner at Hotel Pescadores on Music Night.  The Duo sings songs from our era, and they are good.  We are both doing Efudix treatment on our faces.  It's a cream that we rub on nightly for 4 weeks, and it kills per-cancerous cells.  Needless to say, we both look pretty awful!  Ben is doing one side of his face the first 4 weeks, then will do the other side.  I elected to do my whole face in the 4 weeks.  It started slow, but is pretty itchy and scaly now.  Here's a pic from our anniversary dinner that wasn't too close!

We spent a lot of time cheering on the Oregon Ducks this season.  They won the Orange Bowl, and they did great until that final game with Indiana University.  Next year! 
 

Projects:  Ben spends a lot of time tending his garden, and we are being rewarded, as are lots of friends and neighbors.  Lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, squash, tomatoes!  Bring it on!  We should be enjoying fresh produce for several more months.

I am walking the dogs daily, and we should meet the monthly mileage goal in a few days.  (I do it early in the day to stay out of the strong sun, especially since I'm doing the skin treatment). 

Friends and Family, Guests:  We had nice times visiting with Katie and Mel while they were here for 2 months (they were mostly cleaning things up at their camp in Los Frailes, but came to our place weekly).  Mel helped Ben plant a cute little Avocado tree in our yard, that the rancher says should produce in a couple years.  We'll see!  They hope to come back in April & May, so we're looking forward to that.  First guest of 2026, our niece Chrys, is coming this Friday for a short visit.  It will be nice for her to get out of the frigid weather for a bit.

 

 

Picture album for the month is 2026-01-January.  Most pictures are captioned.

Hasta la proxima mes,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho. 

PS.  Let me know if you made it through this shorter letter, and if you prefer the shorter version.  Or would you like me to just carry on and on.... (hahaha)